Hi! My name is Tim Forsythe and in my 63 years I've learned a great deal about health and longevity. I hope to share what I've found out with anyone who cares to follow this blog.

The first thing you should know about me is that I am not an exercise or fitness nut, a vegetarian, or a follower of any particular diet or health food regimen. I don't drink alcohol or take any drugs whatsoever, including anything pharmaceutical, and today I eat all and everything - in moderation. This was not always the case. For most of my adult life I have eaten no fresh fruit or vegetables. In fact it's fair to say that for the past 45 years I have considered the four basic food groups to be fried chicken, cheeseburgers, french fries and soda. The only green things I ate during these years was pickles and pistachio ice cream. Terrible but true.

I believe that what got me this far along in life, in relatively good health, aside from good genes, is my mental state and my sense of humour. I believe that a major part of being well is believing that you are well. Just like the hypocondriac who is ill all of the time because they think they are, I'm well all of the time because I think I'm invincable. I'm not, of course, but believing that I am is more than half the battle.

Laughter is another part of the health puzzle. Laughter makes you well! A team of British scientists recently studied laughter patterns across a wide range of age groups. Groups of pre-schoolers laugh every 30 seconds at nothing in particular. 6 and 7 year olds laugh every couple of minutes, again, at nothing in particular. Teens laugh every few minutes about funny things that happened to them or their friends, often mocking the antics and behaviours of their school mates. 20 to 30 year olds laugh less often and then usually at parties or gatherings where stories or jokes are told. The older the age group the less laughter occurs until you get to the 60 and 70 year olds who rarely laugh at all. These groups take an average 15 pills or pharmaceutical medicines a day and are preoccupied with the self-imposed serious business of surviving the august years of their lives. Try to lighten up! Watch Sponge Bob Square Pants with your kids or grand children. Read Milton Berle's book "B.S I Love You". Watch "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. Go to UTube and catch performances by Richard Pryor or George Carlin. Look for the funny and absurd things that are all around you. Balance the wars and crimes and economic troubles that flood the newspapers, internet news sites, and 6 o'clock news, with something light and humourous. The British scientists who conducted the laughter study put forth the following joke as arguably the world's funniest joke. What do you think?

Two friends are out in the woods hunting when one of them starts to choke and gag. He turns red, falls down on the ground, eyes roll back in his head, and he stops breathing. His buddy freaks out and calls 911.
"I'm out in the woods and my buddy is dead" he screams into his cell phone.
"Relax! Take a deep breath! This is emergency services. This is what I do." says the 911 operator.
"OK! What do I do?" says the hunter.
"The first thing I want you to do is make sure that your friend is really dead" continues the operator.
"All right" says the hunter. Puts phone down. Loud gun shot goes off. Hunter comes back on the phone.
"OK! Now what?"

The British scientists said that this joke met all of the requirements of a killer joke because you couldn't see the ending coming and that the whole premise was absurd. If you find this joke morose or in bad taste or just plain 'not funny' I suggest you re-evaluate your sense of humour.

Talking about un-funny. A few years back I found myself living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This has to be the coldest, inhospitable place in the world. 50 degrees below zero for weeks at a time. Warnings of "Frostbite in 30 seconds" on the local media. Residents describe the four seasons as Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Roadwork. I applaud their sense of humour in the face of such adversity.

I also applaud the University of Manitoba and their department of Environmental Sciences. It's world class. I had the opportunity to read many of their White Papers on the environment and credit them with giving me a new perspective on healthy living. After reading their reports on organic farming I took a trip to the agricultural community of Onanol, Manitoba, where I saw first-hand, the real state of large-scale farming. The farms I visited and worked on were huge thousand acre enterprizes with millions of dollars invested in farm machinery, transport and storage equipment. None of the farms grew organic produce. As the University of Manitoba reported, it is virtually impossible to grow organic crops in an environment where all around you are using chemical fertilizers, chemical insecticides, and chemical herbacides. The chemical "drift" from neighbouring fields makes it virtually impossible to grow anything organic. Knowing this you have to appreciate just how difficult it is to operate an organic farm. Many are small and away from large industrial-scale agricultural operations. Despite the difficulties there are ever increasing volumes and varieties of organic products available at supermarkets and specialty markets across North America. I now have a small garden in my back yard on the West Island of Montreal. Just eating fresh fruit and vegetables in not good enough. Try and get and eat as much organic produce as possible. It's not just a fad.

Large-scale farming businesses are in a virtual stranglehold by the large chemical companies. One day in Onanol I was asked to help seed a Flax crop. Imagine my surprize when the farmer handed me a protective "suit" that included coveralls, rubber boots, rubber gloves, and a face mask. The bags had Skull and Crossbone warnings all over them. When the Flax seed bags were opened and dumped into the seeding hopper I was astonished to find large day-glow blue balls instead of the expected natural brown flax seeds. The seeds were RoundUp Ready the farmer explained. The U of M had already educated me on the horrors of RoundUp. RoundUp is a product of Monsanto Chemicals that is used extensively across Canada and the US. Large-scale farmers use it as do millions of home owners who want their lawns to look like perfect weedless astroturf. RoundUp kills everything except the targeted crop. It doesn't kill your lawn grass but it does kill dandylions, crabgrass weeds, and important pollenators like butterflies and bees. God knows what the long term effects are to us and our families.

Enough bad news!
The good news in my life came recently in the form of a distributorship for a wide range of all natural organic products. I have cleaning products, make-up products, and health care products that are totally organic and bio-degradeable. I have products that will remove the dark circles from under your eyes and the wrinkles from your face and brow. Products that will balance your blood sugar, boost and reinforce your immune system, ease your joint pain, and counter your bodys aging processes at the cellular level. That's all I have to say on the matter at this time.

I'm not making a sales pitch. If you are seriously interested in organic products call me at 514-624-5544 or check out my products at http://www.shaklee.net/freedomshack

I plan on updating this blog at least once a week. There are plenty of other things that I've learned about living a long and healthy life that I wish to share with all of you who are interested.

Be well!