Salt – table salt Salt, also known as table salt or rock salt (halite), is a crystalline mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of ionic salts. It is absolutely essential for animal life, but can be harmful to animals and plants in excess. Salt is one of the oldest, most ubiquitous food seasonings and salting is an important method of food preservation. The taste of salt (saltiness) is one of the basic human tastes. ( Wikipedia) “Salt is a major culprit in depriving the body of calcium. The more salt you eat, the more calcium gets carried away by urine. Sticking to a low-salt diet can help you keep more calcium to strengthen your bones.” WebMD Salt is the world’s oldest food additive. Nine out of ten adult Americans eat too much salt each day, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The problem is not even the salt that we add at the dinner table. People are consuming high amounts of salt in processed foods and at restaurants. High sodium levels increase blood pressure, and this puts people at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke. “These diseases kill more than 800,000 Americans each year and contribute an estimated $273 billion in health care costs,” says CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. The CDC found that 10 types of foods are accounted for more than 40% of our sodium intake. They are: Breads and rolls Deli lunch meats Pizza Poultry Soups Cheeseburgers and other sandwiches Cheese Pasta mixed dishes Meat mixed dishes Snack foods such as pretzels, potato chips and popcorn Even though some of these foods are not high in sodium, eating multiple servings raises our salt levels. SO go easy on the salt or hold the salt. Read Most Americans should consume less sodium. Eating less sodium can help prevent, or control, high blood pressure. To learn more about sodium in your diet, visit http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/Sodium/index.html. References Wikipedia, CNN Health,...
Steps to Christ by Ellen G. White “As your conscience has been quickened by the Holy Spirit, you have seen something of the evil of sin, of its power, its guilt, its woe; and you look upon it with abhorrence. You feel that sin has separated you from God, that you are in bondage to the power of evil. The more you struggle to escape, the more you realize your helplessness. Your motives are impure; your heart is unclean. You see that your life has been filled with selfishness and sin. You long to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be set free. Harmony with God, likeness to Him—what can you do to obtain it? It is peace that you need—Heaven’s forgiveness and peace and love in the soul. Money cannot buy it, intellect cannot procure it, wisdom cannot attain to it; you can never hope, by your own efforts, to secure it. But God offers it to you as a gift, “without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1. It is yours if you will but reach out your hand and grasp it. The Lord says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” Ezekiel 36:26. You have confessed your sins, and in heart put them away. You have resolved to give yourself to God. Now go to Him, and ask that He will wash away your sins and give you a new heart. ” Excerpt from Steps to Christ, Pages 49-50 by Ellen G. White.. [Read more books at Ellen G. White...
Light Through Darkness “The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God’s dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time. No truth is more clearly taught in the Bible than that God by His Holy Spirit especially directs His servants on earth in the great movements for the carrying forward of the work of salvation. Men are instruments in the hand of God, employed by Him to accomplish His purposes of grace and mercy. Each has his part to act; to each is granted a measure of light, adapted to the necessities of his time, and sufficient to enable him to perform the work which God has given him to do. But no man, however honored of Heaven, has ever attained to a full understanding of the great plan of redemption, or even to a perfect appreciation of the divine purpose in the work for his own time. Men do not fully understand what God would accomplish by the work which He gives them to do; they do not comprehend, in all its bearings, the message which they utter in His name.” “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” Job 11:7; Isaiah 55:8, 9; 46:9, 10.] Excerpt from Great Controversy by Ellen G. White pages 344-345 Read more books at Ellen G. White...
“You need to exercise temperance in all things. Cultivate the higher powers of the mind, and there will be less strength of growth of the animal. It is impossible for you to increase in spiritual strength while your appetite and passions are not under perfect control. Says the inspired apostle, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” My brother, arouse yourself, I pray you, and let the work of the Spirit of God reach deeper than the external; let it reach down to the deep springs of every action. It is principle that is wanted, firm principle, and vigor of action in spiritual as well as temporal things. Your efforts lack earnestness. Oh, how many are low in the scale of spirituality, because they will not deny their appetite! The brain nerve energy is benumbed and almost paralyzed by overeating. When such go to the house of God upon the Sabbath, they cannot hold their eyes open. The most earnest appeals fail to arouse their leaden, insensible intellects. The truth may be presented with deep feeling; but it does not awaken the moral sensibilities, or enlighten the understanding. Have such studied to glorify God in all things?—Testimonies for the Church 2:413, 414, 1870 Ellen G. White [Excerpt from ‘Counsels on Diet and Foods’, Page 63 Ellen G. White.] Read More books at Ellen G. White Writings...
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (Romans 8:35, 37, 38 KJV) King James Version
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”Isaiah 40:3-5 King James Version...
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a very common virus that leads to mild, cold-like symptoms in adults and older healthy children. It can be more serious in young babies, especially to those in certain high-risk groups. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects almost all children at least once before they are 2 years old. Most of the time this virus only causes minor cold-like symptoms. However, for some babies infection can be more dangerous. For certain infants who are extremely preterm (infants born before 32 weeks of pregnancy) or who are born with severe heart disease or severe lung disease, RSV infection can be especially serious. Preterm infants often have underdeveloped lungs and may have difficulty fighting an RSV infection once they become infected. How to Protect your baby There are important steps you can take to prevent exposure to RSV and other viruses, especially in the first few months of your child’s life. These precautionary measures include Make sure everyone washes their hands before touching your baby. Keep your baby away from anyone who has a cold, fever, or runny nose. Keep your baby away from crowded areas like shopping malls. Keep your baby away from tobacco smoke. Parents should not expose their infants and young children to secondhand tobacco smoke, which increases the risk of and complications from severe viral respiratory infections. For high-risk infants, participation in child care should be restricted during RSV season whenever possible. All high-risk infants and their contacts should be immunized against influenza beginning at 6 months of age. Symptoms Symptoms vary and differ with age. They usually appear 4 – 6 days after coming in contact with the virus. Older children usually have only mild, cold-like symptoms, such as cough, stuffy nose, or low-grade fever. Infants under age 1 may have more severe symptoms and often have the most trouble breathing. RSV symptoms include: Bluish skin color due to a lack of oxygen (cyanosis) Breathing difficulty or labored breathing Cough Croupy cough (often described as a “seal bark” cough) Fever Nasal flaring Rapid breathing (tachypnea) Shortness of breath Stuffy nose Wheezing INFORMATION FROM HealthyChildren.org-Protecting Your Baby from RSV...