A New Year! I wish you the very best for 2015. And I hope that you will find ways to visit someplace you have always wanted to experience AND learn something new - something you have never done before AND that you will find a way to 'give back' to share your talent and energy with someone else.

Now if you are serious about learning something new, I suggest that you write it out and tape it someplace where you will see it each day. For me, it will be a long held desire to draw - just plain pencil drawing. And this year I have decided to give myself 3 days a week of practice for at least a half hour. There are so many lessons on line and there is the book, "Drawing from the Right Side of the brain".

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Now, for you , it may not be drawing but what is it you want to learn before you die? There will be no better time than now. And if you are ill, live with pain or are going through 'rough times' taking a bit of time to do some thing you have always wanted is even more important. As the NIKE commercial says, "Just do it".

Coconut oil

Still there are some studies. When I checked the web site of the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, I found some studies showing that "Dietary coconut oil intake was positively associated with HDL-c levels". And other studies with rats showed positive impact on blood pressure, on preventing bone loss (osteoporosis) and for anti-stress." But there is little by way of scientific studies concerning cognitive impact. .

OK. I thought I know this is pure oil (fat) but maybe I will give it a try. Try I did and after 3 days I feel like a new person. I am out of the fog that had arrived some months back. I feel clear headed and energetic. This has me excited. .

Now as someone with cardiac issues, I will get my lipids checked in a week or two to see if my HDL has improved (or gotten worse). No, I am not advising anyone to try virgin coconut oil - but I am fascinated by the positive change it has produced in my life. And if, as they say, I begin to lose some belly fat after taking this for awhile, I will be doubly delighted. .

One of the things I know is that we have just begun to scratch the surface with research about brain health. I am convinced that the increasing numbers of person with Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease is not just 'random'. Diet, ambient chemicals and electromagnetic currents of modern civilization may well be having impact on our neurological and cognitive health. (We do not know for sure about all this) I may be wrong in this belief but in the meantime, I am acting as though it might be true and trying to eat less chemicalized food...use electromagnetic blocking agents for cell phone and computer and experimenting with things like coconut oil. Time will tell if this has been useful or not. That is it for this month. Be well. Be happy. Use your days well.

And again, if there is some topic you would like me to research, please let me know. I want this newsletter to include things that matter to you.