Welcome to the monthly Freedom From Illness
wholistic newsletter from Russell Louie and Margaret Auld-Louie at Optimum
Choices. To receive this newsletter by e-mail or to unsubscribe, see the footer
at the very bottom.
In spite of all the political and pandemic uncertainty,
we can always find something to be grateful for. Discover in our previous
newsletter,
Three Good Things from COVID-19, how
practicing a simple nightly gratitude exercise may help to alleviate despair and
depression in these challenging times. From now until
next month's e-newsletter is published, get a
5%
discount off your entire order. Enter "5GRATEFUL"
(the number "5" and the word "GRATEFUL" with no spaces) in the
Discount Coupon box in our shopping cart.
You must press the green [Recalculate]
button in the lower left to see this discount calculated
in your order total. This discount may not be combined with our
autoship, volume, referral bonus, professional or other discount.
HINT: for maximum savings, order any Starter Pack
(three bottles) of
BioPreparation or
BioSuperfoodfor a 5% discount
AND in addition, get the 5% monthly discount above,
for a
total of 10% off the full retail price of a single
bottle. No other discounts can be applied.
If you miss our monthly
e-newsletters containing the current month's discount
code, go to our home page and select the green
[Newsletters]
button in the center table. Then click the appropriate
year and subsequent month buttons to view our current
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The pet food recalls continue.
FDA Alert: Certain Lots of Pet Food from Multiple
Brands Recalled for Aflatoxin. From the FDA website:
specific pet food products manufactured by Sunshine Mills under several
brand names, may contain unsafe levels of aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is produced
by the Aspergillus flavus mold, which can grow on corn and other grains. At
high levels, aflatoxin can cause illness and death in pets. Symptoms may
include sluggishness, loss of appetite, vomiting, jaundice (yellowish tint
to the eyes or gums due to liver damage), and/or diarrhea. In severe cases,
this toxicity can be fatal. In some cases, pets may suffer liver damage but
not show any symptoms. Brands include, Family Pet Meaty Cuts®, Heartland
Farms®, Champ®, Field Trial®, Good Dog, Hunter’s Special®, Old Glory®, Paws
Happy Life®, Pet Expert, Principle, Retriever®, River Bend, Sportsman’s
Pride®, Sprout®, Thrifty®, Top Runner® or Whiskers & Tails. For a complete
list, with Lot Numbers, go to the FDA web page:
Sunshine Mills, Inc. Expands Previously Announced
Voluntary Recall of Certain Pet Food Products Due to Potentially Elevated
Levels of Aflatoxin.
Want to avoid all these recalls? The best "wholistic"
suggestion to prevent
danger to your pet is -- STOP feeding dry kibble pet food. In our
"wholistic" opinion, dry kibble pet food containing grains is the least nutritious form of
food to feed a carnivore. It is nutritionally equivalent to feeding
meat-flavored cookies to your child. Furthermore, a majority of all pet food recalls is
with dry food. Canned food, freeze-dried food and raw food have a much lower
percentage of recalls. For the latest recalls, go to:
While I am not a Buddhist, the more I live
under COVID-19 rules, the more I practice Buddhism to stay sane, healthy
and happy. In the beginning of the first Matrix movie
(circa
2199),
the protagonist, Mr. Thomas Anderson, is a computer programmer by day
and a hacker, named Neo, at night. Mr. Anderson's material day world as
a computer programmer is all an illusion created by the Matrix (AI or
artificial intelligence). In reality, most humans exist in pods,
intravenously fed by the machines who harvest their energy to survive.
Morpheus infiltrates the Matrix and meets with Mr. Anderson/Neo. He
offers Neo a blue pill if Neo wants to go back home to continue his life
as a computer programmer or a red pill if Neo wants to experience the
underground world in Zion, with other unplugged humans (from the
Matrix), to find out what reality is all about. Neo chooses the red pill
to get out of the programmed Matrix (day world) and go to Zion. Living
during the COVID-19 pandemic is much like making this choice. We can
choose to believe in the ever-evolving COVID-19 medical science, look
out for the common good of all by giving up some personal freedom and
take COVID precautionary measures seriously to avoid the spread of
COVID-19 that would overload our healthcare facilities and shut down our
economy again. Or we can choose to get our "science" from social media,
believe in conspiracy theories, exercise our political freedom to do
what we personally feel like and disregard all COVID-19 rules and
precautions.
Some people view The Matrix as a
Buddhist allegory, where the material world is an illusion, with human
beings defining their reality through their own suffering and
misery. Just like in Buddhism, I see the different realities as
illusions according to what I want to believe. As is Buddhist practice,
I have learned to avoid suffering by letting go of my attachments, such
as having things done a certain way, on time, as they used to be, as I
want them to be and material desires, to maintain my sanity
and be happier, in spite of all the COVID bad news.
So, what is the holistic answer to thriving in
the pandemic? Here are several analogies. Looking at Nature, animals
instinctually know not to poop in their own den. Our dog would not poop
in our yard but it was fine to poop in someone else's. Yet humans feel
it is OK to pollute the water they swim in and must drink, the land upon
which they grow food and the air which they must breathe. The antagonist
in The Matrix, Agent Smith said: "Every mammal on this
planet instinctively develops an equilibrium with the surrounding
environment. But you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply
and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way
you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism
on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A
virus. Human beings are a disease. A cancer of this planet. You are a
plague." Agent Smith is telling us we need to change our behavior in
order to survive.
I saw life before COVID-19 revolving around
the following priorities and values:
Wanting instant gratification. Got to have
it "fixed" within 30 days or it is no good.
Satisfying only our tastes buds,
regardless of health consequences.
Making life's goal to accumulate more
money and possessions. Worry about health later.
If a little is good, more is better. Kill
the disease with the "bomb" approach.
If it is not broken, why fix it? Wait for
symptoms to show up or blow up, before taking holistic action.
COVID-19 is offering us a chance to change
this downward-spiraling scenario. Based on Agent Smith's quote above and
my "wholistic" perspective, human life could not continue using these
same priorities/values and survive. Morpheus explains to Neo, "If your
mind can see past the programmed rules of the simulation (illusion), you
will not be limited in speed or strength of the program." Neo trained
himself to have powers and create solutions beyond what the Matrix
program offered. We must do the same by holistically educating ourselves
to survive. Neo (anagram for The One)
was right, he showed us our happiness is all a state of mind (our
choice) and depends
on whatever we believe, not the illusions in the material world. If we
cling to our attachments in the material world, we will only create more
suffering and misery. We must train ourselves to stop looking to the
"experts" (doctors, veterinarians, politicians, leaders, bosses, etc.)
for all the answers and look within ourselves instead. If we educate
ourselves beyond the current "Matrix" of thinking, we can create new
solutions to not only survive but thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That is Optimum Choices' mission: To educate others on their holistic
options for people and pets so they can achieve Freedom From
Illness. Try this new "wholistic" paradigm of thinking:
Instead of asking how many more can I
accumulate, ask what else do I need to maintain my holistic balance?
Instead of asking how fast will this
"cure" me or my pet ask how much longer to balance my or my pet’s
WHOLE body and not just get rid my symptoms?
If you eat something that is irresistibly
delicious (probably containing a lot of sugar and carbohydrates)
today, balance it out by eating healthy tomorrow.
Do not always buy the cheapest
supplements or eat the most delicious foods but ask which choice is
more immune-enhancing and life-sustaining?
We might as well adjust and get used to living
in this new "matrix," otherwise our time left (as an individual and a
race) will be shorter.
Our NEW redesigned website
will launch soon. More user-friendly, easier navigation menus, holistic
blog, more efficient shopping cart and many more state-of-the-art web
site features:
When you order for the first
time, you will be asked to [Register/Login] to create an account.
Once your personal information is entered, our shopping cart will
remember your data for future sales and all you have to do is Login.
If you already know what
product(s) you want, there will be a [Shop-Product] button on the
home page for all our major products.
The people and pet product
lines will be segregated out for faster product information and easier
buying.
All our nutritional articles
will be published in our holistic blog section for easy reference and
keyword searches.
Our home page will have a
powerful [Search for Health Conditions or Products] box for
locating holistic solutions quickly.
Telephone:
303-271-1649 office 866-305-2306 (toll-free)
Office hours are 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM Mountain Time (U.S.),
Monday-Friday. If you would
like a return call outside those hours, please specify what days and times are
best.
Location (available by appointment
ONLY)
416 Plateau Pkwy Golden, CO 80403-1533 U.S.A. We are an Internet-only, mail order company and do not stock products
for local pick up (except for emergencies). For purchases in the Denver, CO,
area, please visit one of the other independent retailers
at:
Nothing on this website has been evaluated by the FDA. This information
is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Please
see a qualified healthcare practitioner for any disease or illness.