Clearwater Blogs

Business and Technology blog

RLS is a condition described as a neurological disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs and an uncontrollable urge to move when at rest in an effort to relieve these feelings. RLS sensations are often described by people as burning, creeping, tugging, or like insects crawling inside the legs.

Nowadays, with most symptoms being given some or other lofty title ending in "disorder" or "syndrome", it becomes increasingly more difficult for people to figure out what is truly happening and RLS sure sounds like a nervous system malfunction.

What could possibly cause this? Well, how about just plain old deficiencies of some or other nutrients?

Your nervous system starts in the brain. When a fetus is formed, one of the first things you see when looking at scans or ultra-sound images is the brain. The tiny fetus looks a bit like a tadpole but you can clearly see the brain. As time goes on in the development of the fetus, a protective bony covering is formed.

This bony covering is formed over the brain and down the spinal column and is there to protect your nervous system. The nerves lead to every part of your body. Some go to the liver, the heart, the arms, legs, and so on.

The brain is the central communication system, like a switchboard. Just as a switchboard operator answers the phone and directs a call to a certain person, messages come from the brain and go to specific target organs or body parts so they can get the "message" to carry out a certain function. If there is any interference in the nervous system, it can result in no message arriving or a jumbled message, much like that game we have all played "broken telephone" or there could be static on the line so you can't hear what's being said, which is extremely irritating. Things go haywire.

In order to remain operational and send proper signals that arrive at their destination, the nervous system is very dependent on certain nutrients, two of which are calcium and magnesium.
Deficiencies of these two minerals result in the messages getting disrupted or even totally corrupted.  If the message being sent is supposed to be to relax and go to sleep but all that gets through is some kind of intermittent message, the muscles don't get it and so fail to relax, hence RLS.

Handling the deficiencies of calcium and magnesium is vital and many RLS sufferers get almost instant relief when taking a properly balanced supplement of these two minerals.

The most optimum way to get your calcium and magnesium is in a 2:1 ratio of calcium and magnesium with some kind of acid base, like vitamin C, to create the correct pH so your body can actually absorb and use it.

That's why we made Instant CalMag-C using this formula. Get yours today by going to www.calmagstore.com

The answer is a deficiency of tissue calcium. Here's how it works.

 

There is some relatively unknown data about sunburn that I'd like to share with you in the hope that it will help if you or anyone you know who gets a tad too much of it – the sun, I mean.

 

The ultraviolet rays from the sun convert skin oil to vitamin D. Too much of it is referred to as hypervitaminosis D. What happens is that vitamin D's opposing partner, vitamin F (another name for polyunsaturated fatty acids), is low in comparison to the amount of vitamin D.

 

Vitamin D's job is to get calcium from your stomach and pull it into your blood stream and vitamin F's job is to take it from your blood stream into your tissues. If you're low on vitamin F, not only will the vitamin D pull calcium from your stomach, but it will also pull the calcium from your tissues back into your blood stream. It's the F that gets it into and keeps it in the tissues!

 

So, should you get too much vitamin D and be deficient in F, your blood calcium level will increase while the tissue calcium levels will decrease.

 

That is the reason that people who are in the sun a lot get thick skin. They don't get enough vitamin F, which creates calcium deficiencies in their tissues.

 

Hives – those big welts you get around the tender parts of your body from being in the sun too much – are a sign of tissue calcium deficiency. Sunstroke is also a sign of low tissue calcium levels. Sunstroke is due to high blood calcium levels with low tissue calcium levels.

 

Excess vitamin D from extreme exposure to the sun is known to cause cancer. You may have read articles that recommend you stay out of the sun and that sunshine is hazardous to your health. Well, it's only dangerous to people who are vitamin F deficient. Vitamin D is essential to good health and the sun is a great way to get it as long as you ensure you have enough vitamin F to balance it up.

 

Symptoms of low vitamin F levels include itching of the skin, the canker sores some people get inside their mouths or herpes breakouts in the genital area.

 

So, any time you have an itchy skin, get canker sores in your mouth or breakouts below the belt, hives or sunburn, you need vitamin F and calcium. Make sure your children have enough so they don't suffer from their time in the sun.

 

Besides this, please ensure you get enough minerals, including salt and potassium to prevent dehydration and I'm not talking about the junk stuff like what is purported to be electrolytes as well as adequate water.

 

Get the real thing. If you're not sure what that is, you're welcome to write me and ask.

The Endocrine System

Every living being has an endocrine system that consists of a number of glands: the hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, thymus, adrenals, pancreas and gonads. Endocrine means to secrete within.

These endocrine glands are ductless and they produce and secrete hundreds of hormones directly into your blood stream. These hormones each have their own purpose in a specific target organ like the liver, kidneys, brain etc. Hormones are special chemical substances. The word "hormone" means "to spur on".

You may have heard about chemical imbalances, usually referred to in context of the brain. What this means is that the hormones are not balanced. The only way you can know this is by the proper testing of your hormones. There is nothing mysterious about it, despite the fact that it may leave a person feeling like they have some mysterious disease or genetic default.

Hormones are biochemical substances that get secreted by your glands into your bloodstream and travel to target organs so those organs can carry out their own specialized function. Many people associate hormones only with sex hormones but there are hundreds of other hormones, each with their own special function.

Functions regulated by hormones include metabolism (the breaking down or building of chemical elements); water and mineral balance; growth and sexual development; and the body's reaction to stress; digestion of food, sleep, and many more.

Definition of biochemical: bio- comes from the Greek word meaning "life" and a chemical is any substance that can undergo a chemical process or change.

Hormones

Each hormone has a different shape as it has to be able to "dock" into the "receptor site" of the target organ. Not only does this hormone have to "dock" into the receptor site but it also has to "turn" like a key. You've probably experienced this. You have a key that goes into the lock perfectly but won't turn? In the same way, these hormones have to "dock" and "turn" to fully complete their task or to "open the door".

That's why synthetic hormones can cause problems. The hormones can "dock" but can't "turn" the "key". It is vital for a healthy body that these "keys" can turn so that your body's functions can be carried out, such as sleep, digestion, energy, metabolism, falling pregnant, delivering the baby, controlling weight etc.

Some hormones come in "opposing" pairs or what is known as antagonistic pairs. In other words, they oppose each other. For example, if your blood sugar goes too high, insulin (a hormone) will tell your liver to lower your blood sugar but if it drops too low, glucagon (another hormone) will tell your liver to raise your blood sugar.

This is so your body can maintain an optimum balance known as homeostasis.

To read more about this, visit http://calmag-c.com/index.php/2010/04/13/what-are-hormones-and-what-do-they-do/

Canker sores are those sores that develop on the inside of your mouth and are caused by tissue calcium starvation!

These canker sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus. Even though you may have the virus for the rest of your life, you can do something about the canker sores and breakouts.

If your tissue calcium stays sufficiently high, the virus never forms the canker sores. So, if you get them, take that as a sign that you have tissue calcium starvation. It's a way of monitoring your tissue calcium levels.

As soon as they pop out, you know your tissues need calcium. How do you ensure that calcium gets into your tissues?

Most of us know that we need vitamin D (sunshine being the best form!) to be able to absorb calcium, but many don't know that we also need essential fatty acids to pull the calcium from our bloodstream into our tissues.

So, a breakout means tissue calcium starvation.

Solution: ensure that you have sufficient essential fatty acids AND calcium. Don't forget that calcium needs magnesium in a 2:1 ratio to balance it and vitamin C to make the correct pH (acid/alkaline balance) so it can be absorbed by our bodies.

Ask us about our essential fatty acid product, Springreen Wheat Germ Oil with flaxseed oil and, of course, Instant CalMag-C for the best way to get your essential fatty acids, calcium and magnesium.

What is a logo? Why are they important? Why do I want one? What kind should I get? These are all good questions deserving straight answers. Logo History For thousands of years, groups of all types have used symbols, patterns and colors to identify themselves. In Western Europe, during the Middle Ages and up to present time, the coat of arms served as a way to identify royal families. The aristocracy in Japan identified their families with a "mon," a circular design incorporating flowers or animals. For centuries in China, artists have been using a "chop" to symbolize their name on their drawings, paintings and art of all types. In Scotland, a particular plaid in the family's clothing identified each clan. These symbols brought an air of respect and meant to the illiterate "watch out," "keep your hands off," "this belongs to us" and much more. Emblazoned on carriages, castles, stationery and sealing wax, these symbols soon became the first public identity devices. Modern Corporate Identification Companies and corporations need public identities too. For centuries now, businesses across the planet have been contracting with artists to create distinctive symbols that would command as much respect as those of earlier times. In their earliest forms, the ornate wordy character of some of these symbols was no particular problem because their use was fairly limited. Today, however, the problems associated with corporate identification and logos have greatly intensified, largely due to the nature of the media used to reproduce them. Firms must instantly identify themselves in full color as well as black and white. The logo must be clearly readable whether they appear in magazines, newspapers, on the sides of trucks, on television, on signage or on uniforms, as well as on stationery, business forms, labels, boxes, displays or even the smokestacks of sleek pleasure ships. The diverse exposure of a logo demands clear and exact designs that can be easily reproduced to any size needed - in some cases from the head of a pin to that of a football field - while remaining recognizable and identifying the company or group quickly and easily. Is a Logo Important Today? In this over-communicated world, the average person is bombarded with thousands of messages per day from every imaginable direction. Words become a blur, but logos get remembered. Image, in the form of a logo, sets the stage for all else to follow. Your logo is the first utterance of your firm's market positioning. Image of the firm or the product must be included in all discussions concerning communication with a target market. The logo must be memorable at a glance, convey trust and stability and represent the goals, achievements and positioning of the company or product. Image Continuity Image continuity is the key to launching and maintaining a new visual communications program or updating an old one. This continuity should extend through all the various communication materials. A logo program includes a set of recommended company colors, as well as stringent guidelines for the use of the logo in all form of communication media from print through television. Image as an overview, permeates all areas of corporate communications. It can achieve the intangible and stated goals of any organization with the desired impact on the target market. The market will feel good about the company or product and will buy! All logos can be reduced to three basic kinds: the typeface, the monogram and the symbol or pictograph. Logos can also be hybrids of any of these. Typeface Logo The typeface solution seems easiest, but it can be quite time-consuming and tricky. Most include a clever use of type to identify a product, service or company in such a way as to make it unique. Many designers have gone to extremes by designing whole alphabets for the exclusive use of their client as an unusual form of identification. Designers have used the various letters forms and the sequences of these forms in spelling the name to create a feeling or style that sets their client apart. Monogram Logo The monogram comes to us from the garment industry. Used as an identification device, it features two or three letters hooked together and embroidered on a garment to identify its owner and otherwise make a statement of quality or style. This solution is simple but can have quite an impact. Symbol or Pictograph Logo The symbol or pictograph is the only type of logo that tells the story in picture form at a glance. The real art here is to capture the essence or uniqueness, to clearly evoke a feeling or concept and/or to establish a position for the company or product. The symbol or pictograph can stand for or take the place of the firm or product it represents, and thus it can be an aid to memory. With the decline in literacy apparent today, symbols are needed to bridge the educational gap as well as to aid in communicating between countries in this global community. Starting the Design The best time to start the logo creation phase is after the completion of your basic marketing and positioning research. Before that, you are flying blind with no target. When the research is done, your design firm will have enough data to launch the design search. Aesthetics is not the only criterion. Pretty colors and beautiful shapes may not matter. And your personal taste has no bearing on its appeal. The things that really matter are: Does the logo say and do what the research has discovered will effectively push the emotion "hot buttons" of your public? Will it help to trigger a sale? Does it capture the real essence, philosophy or position of your firm? Potter owns J. Brooks Potter Marketing, a full service marketing firm

When you talk about marketing basics you have to address the subject of sequences. Which comes first, the product or the marketing research? Good question you say, but how many of you said, the product of course! Well, that answer is the problem with many small businesses' marketing endeavors.. Stores like Pic'N'Save are the bone yards of great little ideas that nobody really wanted. Someone had a problem and solved it with a "bright idea" product. They were truly convinced that everybody would want their new product and buy it. They convinced others, got basic funding and started a "business." Next they "perfected" the product and finally wondered who would buy it, where they might be located and how the product might distributed. Alas, customers couldn't find them and /or they wouldn't buy. Big problem! Bankruptcy! Ten cents on the dollar. Not fun! The basic sequences were backwards. That's really the problem. It's not that the product was bad as such. It just wasn't needed or wanted in enough quantity to make it a viable enterprise. Why? The marketing research had been omitted. Someone didn't know that they should do it, how to do it, or they didn't even bother. The correct sequences are very important to success. Do you drive off before you open the car door and start the motor? Of course not. If your product or service business is already off the launching pad, listen closely! Before you run out of fuel and momentum you need to review and rethink your basic sequences. If you're on your final countdown, take heed. You could be way ahead and reach escape velocity -- if you get these correct. Marketing's purpose is to create want for your product or service and to sell it or to help the sales staff get it sold, period. That presupposes that your product is something that can be delivered viably. To begin, you have to find what there is to sell and what will sell and pick one item, not five or ten. Next you have to find out all about the item and any past history of it or anything similar. Once this is thoroughly done, you must survey it on many different publics to find which one needs and wants it and will buy it when offered. With that identified you'll need to do full research on what will make that public want and buy and approximately 80% of that decision is controlled by their "emotional hot buttons." Most research, when it is done at all, is done on the analytical side. This includes features, features, features and logic, logic, logic and that accounts for only about 20% of the decision to buy. The emotion of the sale, the "I gotta have it no matter what" is almost totally omitted from most marketing materials. Therefore, if your research doesn't include emotional hot buttons, it is not complete and will not give you the kind of return on your investment that you hoped. Once you have your hot buttons properly identified, you must "position" your product or service in the mind of that public which is most likely to buy it. When this is accomplished, you'll need to position your company in such a way as to gain support from your allies (vendors, employees, distributors, investors and your potential customers). Now you have the basics to formulate your strategic marketing plan, based upon your company's sales goals and what the marketplace and your potential customers want and demand. Many companies jump directly from some vague sales goal to a tactical step -- "I wanna ad or a brochure now," without careful homework being done. Shotgun marketing (" if it moves, shoot at it") is the result and research shows that it is one of the biggest reasons that many companies waste 50% of their marketing budgets every year. If you want a better return on investment and/or you have a modest budget, then laser targeting your marketing actions, not shotgunning, is the answer. Keep it simple, keep it specific. Now you're ready to formulate what tactical step by step actions are needed. Then decide on and create the marketing materials (a direct mail campaign, sales literature, a public relations campaign, an advertising campaign, a world wide web site) and the media mix that it will take to implement the strategic intention. Then you'll need to write a program for the campaign's release. The launch date is critical. All items and schedules must coincide and be in-the-ready for the launch. One missing item, one omitted step could cost you greatly in the campaign's overall effectiveness. Guided missiles are guided. Once you launch your campaign you need reconnaissance measures implemented to track the effectiveness of your campaign and to find and correct any bugs. It's deadly not to know what effect was caused by your marketing actions. Was it what you intended? Was it enough, too little, too much, too loud, too soft or what? Have we overcome their sales resistance? With white flags waving, did they surrender and is it time to send in the ground troops and close the sale? Track and keep statistical records of the results weekly and be prepared to "wade in" and handle any situations. Also, be ready to discover and codify unexpected positives that made the campaign go better than expected so that they can be capitalized upon later. With the campaign working well, ensure that it continues. No one-shot campaigns, if you please! If it worked once and you've codified and quantified what was done, it's certain that it will continue to work and work and work. If it slows down, be prepared to investigate why, find out what changed, who changed it, debug it and get the show back on the road. Marketing has basics. Now you know them. But you say, "I'm too busy to do them" or "I gotta get the sales in" or "My budget is too small" or... One excuse is as good as another. I could write a book. Say, that's a good idea! If you want more sales, you'll do all the steps. And in the proper sequence. Period! That's the truth, so help me! (Inspiration: David Ogilvy, Sun Tzu, Al Reis & Jack Trout and L. Ron Hubbard.)