Archive for October 30, 2014

Immune Tonic Recipes Everyone Should Have In Their Home

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve been on an Immune System kick for my last several posts.  With Halloween around the corner and Sugar Season  the Holiday Season about to start, I want to load you up with ideas that will allow you to make it though the holidays, and then winter, strong and well.

Immune Tonics are AMAZING.  Two years ago, my oldest daughter, Megan, gave me Fire Cider for Christmas.  It’s a blend of herbs and spices that are both immune boosting and germ killing.  I made my own last year, and have just bought the ingredients to make another batch this weekend.  It has to sit and brew for a few weeks, and I want it to be ready for when all my kids are home from mid-December to mid-January.

Why not use an OTC cold/fever/flu medication?  Have you seen their ingredients? The artificial dyes, the artificial flavors, the petroleum products and artificial sugars.. disease in a bottle masquerading as medicine.

Here’s the ingredient list for Vicks Dayquil:

Inactive Ingredients: Citric acid, FD&C yellow 6, flavor, glycerin, polyethylene glycol (aka PEG, I wrote about this in the Miralax post), propylene glycol, purified water, saccharin sodium, sodium citrate, sucrose.

Active Ingredients: Acetaminophen ( #1 cause of Liver Failure in the U.S.),Dextromethorphan HBr, and Pseudoephedrine HCl ( banned from store shelves since 2006).

It’s time to get rid of the false notion that fevers, coughs, runny nose, and watery eyes are either Virus or Bacteria getting the best of us.

Fevers, Coughs, Runny Noses, and Watery Eyes are OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM COOKING, KILLING, AND EXPELLING BUGS.  We actually WANT those “symptoms”, they’re signs of a strong immune response.  Even fatigue is good for us when we’re sick; the less energy we exert on activities, and the more we lie around or sleep, the harder our immune system can work to Kill the Bugs.  

Instead of Vicks, next time you or one of your kids gets sick,  (or even better, BEFORE you get sick as part of your supplement routine) reach for one of these tonics:

Elderberry Syrup.  Why?  In addition to Elderberry’s long history of medicinal use, numerous studies have verified it’s efficacy against cold and flu.  Elderberry has very high levels of Vitamins A, B, and C, which are great for our immune system.  You can buy Elderberry Syrup in any health food store, or you can make it, which is honestly super easy, and potent!  My local health food store sells Elderberries ( cheap ), but you can also buy them on line.

Parents:  This is delicious, your kids will actually WANT to take this.

Here’s the Recipe for Elderberry Syrup from the Wellness Mama site:

⅔ cup black elderberries
3.5 cups of water
2 T fresh or dried ginger root
1 tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp cloves or clove powder
1 cup raw honey (we get from our farmer’s market)

Instructions
Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves (do not add honey!)
Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until the liquid has reduced by almost half. At that point, remove from heat and let cool enough to be handled. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar or bowl.
Discard the elderberries (or compost them!) and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. When it is no longer hot, add 1 cup of honey and stir well. ( you don’t want to kill honey’s live nutrients )
When honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a pint sized mason jar or 16 ounce glass bottle of some kind.
Ta Da! You just made homemade elderberry syrup! Store in the fridge and take daily for its immune boosting properties. Some sources recommend taking only during the week and not on the weekends to boost immunity.
Standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ Tbsp to 1 Tbsp for adults. If the flu does strike, take the normal dose every 2-3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms disappear. 

Here’s the recipe for Fire Cider, which is DELICIOUS served over vegetables or salads.  Or you could just be tough and drink a tablespoon mixed in water.  Again, this is Immune Boosting and Germ Killing, which is far, far smarter than just suppressing symptoms.  (Recipe from Mountain Rose Herbs.) 

1/2 cup fresh grated organic ginger root

1/2 cup fresh grated organic horseradish root

1 medium organic onion, chopped

10 cloves of organic garlic, crushed or chopped

2 organic jalapeno peppers, chopped

Zest and juice from 1 organic lemon

Several sprigs of fresh organic rosemary or 2 tbsp of dried rosemary leaves

1 tbsp organic turmeric powder

1/4 tsp organic cayenne powder

organic apple cider vinegar

raw local honey to taste

Directions

Prepare all of your roots, fruits, and herbs and place them in a quart sized jar. If you’ve never grated fresh horseradish, be prepared for a powerful sinus opening experience! Use a piece of natural parchment paper under the lid to keep the vinegar from touching the metal, or a plastic lid if you have one. Shake well! Store in a dark, cool place for one month and remember to shake daily.

After one month, use cheesecloth to strain out the pulp, pouring the vinegar into a clean jar. Be sure to squeeze as much of the liquid goodness as you can from the pulp while straining. Next, comes the honey! Add 1/4 cup of honey and stir until incorporated. Taste your cider and add another 1/4 cup until you reach the desired sweetness.

Make this year’s cold and flu season the least annoying/invasive/troublesome ever.  Focus on giving your immune system what it wants and needs to fight the millions of germs we come into contact with every single day.  Real Whole Foods.

Coconut Oil – It’s a Super Food You Should Be Eating Every Day.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI want to wax poetic about Coconut Oil. If you’re thinking, “oh, I already use coconut oil, I know it’s good for me”, I bet I’ve got some facts you DON’T know, but should.

Coconut is a SuperFood. In our house, we consume several giant containers of coconut oil a year. We use it in cooking, personal care products, and medicinally.

Here’s the why’s and how’s.

Coconut oil is about 50% saturated fat, 35% monounsaturated, and 15% polyunsaturated.  Most of the saturated fat is a fatty acid called Lauric Acid.  The only other natural source of Lauric Acid?  Human breast milk. ( coconuts……breasts……….coconuts………breasts…….hmmm)   Our body converts lauric acid to Monolaurin; monolaurin is a powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal agent. Monolaurin can actually destroy lipid-coated viruses such as HIV and herpes, influenza, measles, gram-negative bacteria ( such as LYME ), and protozoa (such as giardia lamblia).

Other components of coconut oil include capric acid, caprylic acid, tocopherols and tocotrienols. (Vitamin E lipids that act as potent anti-oxidants). (Trick: a combination of coconut oil and oregano oi has been shown to be better than antibiotics against certain staph bacteria; use the same recipe to defeat the herpes virus.)

Coconut oil has excellent healing properties, both internally and externally.

For wound healing, coconut oil actually increases collagen production, and skin regeneration.  Do you battle candida, or yeast infections? Supplement with coconut oil:  “In 2004, 52 isolates of Candida species were exposed to coconut oil. The most notorious form, Candida albicans, was found to have the highest susceptibility.”

There are antioxidants in coconut oil that are so anti-inflammatory, they have positive effects on arthritis, swollen prostates, and ulcers ( yes, ulcers are inflammation ).  What about Heart Health?  The studies consistently show that the fatty acids and nutrients in coconut oil lower LDL and raise HDL; which should eliminate any arguing about this fat clogging our arteries. As a matter of fact, the high lauric acid content helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Coconut and Brain/Neurological Health:  Grain Brain neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter says that coconut oil is such a powerful brain superfood, that it’s part of his “triumvirate approach” to restoring and improving brain function.

For those of us with kids in school where occasionally Lice rears it’s ugly head:  According to research published in the European Journal of Pediatrics, a combination of coconut oil and anise was found to be nearly twice as effective as the commonly prescribed permethrin lotion for the treatment of head lice.

Nursing a baby? According to the research, when a lactating mom adds coconut oil to her diet, the amount of lauric acid available in her breast milk increases to three times the original level and nearly double the amount of capric acid. A single serving of coconut oil affects the breast milk fatty acid composition for 1 to 3 days.  Wow!

Want more testosterone?  Did you know that ALL our sex hormones are comprised of saturated fat and cholesterol? ( Statin users, this is a problem…)  It matters that we eat HEALTHY fats because ANY fat we put in our mouth goes on to be incorporated – in a million ways – into our body.  Bad fats = an Unhealthy Body.  No fats/low fats = an Unhealthy Body.

What about the fat?  What if it ends up on our stomach or our butt?  Not going to happen. The saturated fat in coconut oil actually accelerates the loss of belly fat (the most dangerous kind). And coconut oil helps boost metabolism; some of it’s fatty acids are called Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs), which travel directly to the liver where they’re used for energy and not stored as fat. There are now two solid, human studies showing just two tablespoons a day (30 ml), in both men and women, is capable of reducing belly fat within 1-3 months.

Personal Experience:  Mark and I have been eating about 3 tablespoons of coconut oil most days of the week for a couple of years now – zero weight gain.

How do we use it? Obviously in cooking, that’s easy.  You can either saute your meats and vegetables in the oil or use it as your fat in baking.  We add coconut oil to smoothies, tea, and coffee, it’s delicious, but it’s not just for eating. I all use it in our homemade lotions and creams.  From acne to wrinkles to age spots, coconut oil works. Not a homemade type person?  No problem, it’s easy to find great products containing coconut oil, try Tropical Traditions ( Mark loves their face creams – he’s 50 with NO wrinkles ).  As a make-up remover and hair conditioner, it’s excellent.

Coconut water’s a great staple to have around; it’s very high in electrolytes, and minerals.  Use this as a sports drink, the liquid in your smoothie, or for your sick kid on the couch who needs the nutrients.

Then there’s my all time favorite:  Coconut Butter.  Coconut butter is different from oil; oil is 100% fat, but butter is 60% fat and the rest is fiber.  Coconut butter is made from blending all the coconut meat together including it’s natural oil; it has a texture, flavor, and consistency that makes it perfect for adding to desserts.  

My favorite treat that I have several days a week?

COCONUT CANDY

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp coconut butter ( it’s expensive, so I use less )

4-5 drops stevia

pinch of salt

EITHER:  lemon oil, or cocoa powder, or pumpkin pie spice, or or mashed bananas and pumpkin seeds ( weird? ) Freeze

That’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to incorporating coconut into food.  Want great recipes?  Try the Spunky Coconut,  All Day I Dream About Food, or Elana’s Pantry.

Eat for Health, and your Happy Weight happens, I promise.

Raw Honey, a Superfood and a Medicine. Make Sure It’s Real!

Want a SuperFood with a long list of scientifically proven benefits that tastes delicious?  Real Raw Honey.  If you don’t keep a jar in your kitchen at all times, I hope you will after reading this.

Raw Honey isn’t just a natural sweetener, it’s a medicine. Since I’m working hard to eliminate toxins in our lives, honey’s become a pretty common go-to for all of us, and not just to sweeten tea.

Here’s what we use honey for in our home:

– Cuts, burns, and topical infections.  You can either coat the wound/cut/burn with raw honey and bandage it, or use this product here, which is a combination of raw honey and a natural gel substance that keeps the honey in place.  Scientific proof of honey’s healing abilities to both heal wounds and kill bacteria: Here and Here.

– Coughs.  Study after study shows Honey is JUST as effective as dextromethorphan (DM), with none of the side effects. By the way, DM is used by teens as a means of “getting high”. What the heck does it do to our brains?   Honey alone is incredibly useful against coughs, but combine it with a few other anti-inflammatory and soothing herbs, and you’ve got powerful medicine.  Ginger, lemon, marshmallow root, chamomile, and cinnamon pack a whopper punch when used together.  Check out this HomeMade Cough Syrup from Wellness Mama; it keeps in the fridge for 2 months.  Make this soon so it’s on hand when you need it.

Herpes – Seriously.  Look at this from Green Med Info: A 2004 study published in the Medical Science Monitor, showed that topical honey was far superior to the drug acyclovir (trade name Zovirax) in treating both labial (lip) and genital herpes lesion.  “For labial herpes, the mean duration of attacks and pain, occurrence of crusting, and mean healing time with honey treatment were 35%, 39%, 28% and 43% better, respectively, than with acyclovir treatment. For genital herpes, the mean duration of attacks and pain, occurrence of crusting, and mean healing time with honey treatment were 53%, 50%, 49% and 59% better, respectively, than with acyclovir.”

Healing gastric damage from aspirin, alcohol, and other toxins we put in our gut.  Even WebMD – which is about as conventional as you can get, touts the benefits of Honey for killing bacteria and healing cell damage.  

Something I think is amazing?  Honey induces much less of a Glycemic Index rise than plain sugar in Type 1 Diabetics; which means that for all of us, honey raises blood sugar less than regular sugar does.  That’s always a good thing.

And of course, the pollens in Raw Honey, especially if they’re local, pack a powerful punch against allergies. Small amounts of pollen act as an inoculant against large amounts in the air that trigger reactions like the runny nose and itchy eyes of hay fever.  Sounds better than allergy shots!

Convinced?  Go buy some Real Raw Honey, which is absolutely NOTHING like regular honey in your grocery store.  A large study published just this year out of Texas A&M University showed that of the 60 different store brands tested, 76% contained NO pollen, no live enzymes, no live beneficial bacteria, or any of the other dozens of nutrients in Real Raw Honey. As a matter of fact, these 76% contained added sugar, corn syrup, and FLAVORS.  You’re going to have to buy Real Raw Honey from a Natural Food Store, a Farmers Market, a Co-op, or something along those lines.  (By the way, 100% of honey tested at drug stores had NO pollen or other nutrients, 100%.)

For major anti-bacterial/anti-viral action, buy Manuka Honey.  It’s a honey out of Australia made from Manuka Bushes, and this honey’s anti-pathogen action is even stronger than local raw honey.  Check out my Super Duper Germ Killer, garlic and honey, here.

Just as with other Real Foods, you can use the resource www.localharvest.com to find Raw Honey in your area.

Making ourselves, and our family, healthy should be one of our biggest priorities.  Real Whole Foods are at the top of the pyramid when it comes to health, along with sleep, stress management, and good exercise.  The best part about using Real Whole Food as medicine?  No nasty side effects, it’s cheaper than drugs, and it tastes delicious.

Did You Know That Much Of Our Chocolate Is Produced From Child / Slave Labor? It’s True.

Food is Cheap and Food is Easy, which is one of the biggest reasons we have such a weight and health problem in our country.  Such painless availability takes away the restraints from yesteryear:  dessert after dinner a few nights a week;  no eating between meals,  and special treats were “special treats”.  Not anymore.  Food is Big Business.  Desserts/snacks/treats are Big Business.  Chocolate is Big Business.  There’s a reason Chocolate is so cheap and available; reading this will help you become more disciplined about your chocolate consumption, I promise.

This isn’t a post about candy causing cancer and chronic disease. This is a post about being choosy about the chocolate we buy, because MUCH of the chocolate produced in the world is a product of Child Slave Labor. Cocoa is a very hands-on crop, so we’re talking intense, manual, dangerous labor.  ( resources to follow )

Take a moment to learn what’s going on, because we can make a difference with our wallets. ( and effect our weight and health also.)

The worldwide demand for chocolate is enormous; the chocolate industry grossed over $80 BILLION in 2010; more than $20 billion of that was sold in the U.S.  The majority of the worlds chocolate is grown in West Africa;  72% of cocoa beans come from the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Other producers of cocoa beans are Indonesia, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Brazil.

Popular and familiar brands, like Hershey’s, Mars, Cadburys, Nestle, Lindt, and Ferraro, the world’s top 6 chocolate companies, have all been accused of contributing to child/slave labor. They’ve acknowledged the fact, and except for Cadbury’s, have pledged to source their chocolate ethically by 2020.   This means in 2014, cheap chocolate is very possibly “blood chocolate” (you saw that Leonardo DiCaprio movie, Blood Diamond, right?)

The scoop:  children from all over West Africa are either being sold by their own families (for as little as $30) or stolen by slave traffickers, and sent to work on cocoa farms. The Ivory Coast alone has more than 600,000 cocoa farms.

The average farmer in the Ivory Coast – not laborer – makes between $2 and $4 a day.  With revenue like that, and with such enormous competition, he’s compelled to find the cheapest labor possible, which is child labor. Best current estimates are that at least 200 thousand, but possibly a MILLION children are currently forced to work on cocoa farms.  These children do get paid, a few pennies a day.  They’re fed the cheapest food possible, mostly corn gruel and bananas, and most are offered little to no education.

The production and harvest of cocoa is difficult and dangerous. Because of the wet, muggy climate, bugs are a real problem.  Cocoa is a HEAVILY sprayed crop; toxic pesticides are sprayed on the plants by the children in NO protective clothing.  The pods are both cut off the trees and split open – by the children – with Machetes.  There are no cocoa pod harvesting machines, none.  It’s all manual.  Most of the children have scarring from the machetes on their arms, legs, and faces.  Most children are between the ages of 12 and 16.

Beatings for not meeting quotas are the norm.  A bag full of cocoa pods generally weighs about 100 pounds, and must be dragged – by the children – from forest to the pick up point.

This isn’t New News, this is Old News. World Vision leader on trafficking Ruth Dearnley said the international chocolate industry acknowledged in 2001 the use of trafficking and child labour in cocoa harvesting, and made a commitment to eradicate it.  So far, little has been done by the big 6. (The Sugar Industry isn’t much better. Cheap food is cheap for a reason you know.)

What can we do?  First of all, spread awareness to our kids, our friends, our circle.  The origins of our food matters. The quality of our food matters.  There’s a documentary called The Dark Side Of Chocolate, and while it’s pretty disturbing, I think it’s important that we all know that food doesn’t magically appear in the grocery store.  There’s a story behind everything we eat, and we should know that story.

I’m not saying to give up chocolate, I love chocolate!  I’m saying we need to be incredibly picky about the chocolate we buy, and make sure our kids know why.  We’ll be paying more, but the farmers and the laborers producing our chocolate will be paid living wages.

Who to buy from? Not the main stream brands, at least not for a while.  They’ve already failed to meet the higher standards they’d promised by 2005; so their new 2020 date is a “believe it when I see it” situation for me.  Luckily, good chocolate companies are easy to find.  Here’s a some suggestions:

Divine Chocolate

divine

 

Equal Exchange

equal ex

Endangered Species

endangered species

There’s several more, check out this list here.

Everything we put in our mouth makes us either healthier or less healthy.  Chocolate can actually be part of a healthy diet thanks to loads of antioxidants.  Know where your chocolate comes from, we don’t want to support slave labor or starving farmers!  Know what’s added to your chocolate, in it’s natural state it’s incredibly bitter and most of us have been acclimated to chocolate that’s heavily sweetened with sugar and fluffed up with soy, emulsifiers, added flavors, and even chocolate scent. Woops, this isn’t supposed to be about cancer or chronic disease.

Watch the documentary if you get a chance, what an eye opener!

Resources:  here, here, and here.

Natural Cures, They’re Real! Learn What You Can Do For Yourself and Your Family.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWho doesn’t want a stronger immune system? Between us and our kids, a weak immune system leads to: trips to the doctor, days off of work or school, trips to the pharmacy, that run down/scratchy throat/headachy/ miserable feeling, and possibly worst of all, if you take any common drug for your symptoms, side effects.

My last Post was on the Immune System. In this Post, I’m going to give you more proven steps to boost your own bacteria and virus fighting abilities.  Our immune system was designed to be a Fantastic, Super Strong, Fighting Machine.  In a perfect world. (Really, who gets 8 hours of sleep every night and always “manages” their stress???)

We don’t live in a perfect world, so we ABSOLUTELY need to take every step possible to make ourselves stronger.

Here’s 14 ideas (barely scratching the surface) for the next time you either “feel something coming on”, or you’re already sick.  Honestly, judging from the success I’ve had with my own family of 6 naturally boosting our immune systems or ditching a bug, these Traditional Therapies honestly work.  If you want proof, click on the links.  Click even if you don’t need proof – it’s important to LEARN about the compounds in Real Whole Food so you can use food as Medicine.

I’m going to guess many of these you’ve never heard of.

#1 Go To: Garlic.  I could never be a vampire, I do a LOT of this. Chop or crush a clove ( or 2), let it rest for 15 minutes ( oxygen activates it’s medicinal properties) and then swallow it down. It goes down surprisingly well – HONEST.  Oh, DON’T CHEW IT, unless you’re really really sick, and very tough.

#2 Go To: Garlic in a spoonful of Honey.  Manuka Honey has actual anti-bacterial properties, butmanuka garlic even regular RAW honey is loaded with healing properties.

#3: Ginger:  Buy a knob at the store, peel and grate the whole thing, and then baggy and freeze it flat.  It’s a time saver.  Crack off a piece and drop it into your tea or hot water, or your food.  Ground ginger is good too, just not as powerful.

#4: Oregano Oil:  This is a powerful antibiotic.  I’m big into essential oils, we’ve been using them for a few years now, and yes, it does matter that you buy yours from a company with a good reputation.  I use DoTerra.  There’s others, Young Life comes to mind, but I don’t know much about them.  Oregano Oil can be applied topically, on the bottoms of the feet, or over glands/lymph nodes.  My oldest daughter and I actually rub a drop or two in our mouths – it tastes beyond horrible, but sometimes it’s worth it.

I also use Oregano Oil in a pill form (it’s called ADP) from a great supplement company called Biotics.  All my girls have a bottle of this whereever they are ( school, traveling, etc), it’s very strong, and while there is a slight oregano odor, there’s no taste.  If they’re home, I have them swallow the pills and I also rub the oil on the bottoms of their feet.

#5: Fermented Foods: We should all be eating something fermented, whether it’s kombucha, keifer, GOOD yogurt, saurkraut, kimchi, Bubbies Pickles, EVERY SINGLE DAY. Talk about loads of beneficial bacteria!  I’ve been getting amazing krauts from my co-op, with all sorts of interesting vegetables in them.  Check out www.localharvest.com to see what you have available in your area.

#6: Rose Hips:  I buy them in bulk from the health food store, grind them, and put a big spoonful in my morning smoothies.  Not only are they an ENORMOUS source of Vitamin C, and the co-factors necessary for absorption, they’re loaded with anti-inflammatory properties.  Buying herbs in bulk from a trusted health food store is CHEAP.

#7: Coconut Oil: It’s not just for preventing Alzheimer’s and Dementia, coconut oil is loaded with anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties.  This is something that should be incorporated every day, in cooking, baking, foods, and it’s also excellent in your tea or coffee.

#8: Vitamin C and Zinc: Whether you feel it coming, or you’ve already got it, zap a cold/flu with small doses every 3 or 4 hours.

#9: Turmeric: BIG TIME anti-inflammatory. You can use a supplement ( that would be Curcumin), or buy a jar of Organic Turmeric the next time you’re at the store, and start adding it to what you’re cooking.  If the taste is too strong start with a curry instead.  There’s  turmeric in it’s ingredient mix; it’s an easy way to get used to the flavor. Pretty soon you’ll love it, I promise!

#10: Echinacea: I use it in both a Tincture or tea.  Either way, this is a BIG immune booster.  People with auto-immune conditions should NOT use echinacea.  It’s TOO stimulating.

#11: Clove Oil:  Huge go-to for me.  Again, I use DoTerra Clove Oil.  Clove’s medicinal properties are endless.  This oil, just like the oregano oil, is POWERFUL.  When you use essential oils, you only need a drop, 2 at the most.  I use clove oil throughout the year in my smoothies ( a couple times a week ), but if I feel something coming on or need to fight a bug, I use it every day.

#12:  DON’T HAMPER YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM WITH SUGAR, GRAINS, OR CHEMICALS.  Ever.  It doesn’t matter if you have the best Natural/Traditional program in the world if you put crap in your mouth.  Food is Medicine.  Food either builds us up and makes us stronger, or it makes us weaker.  There are NO NEUTRAL FOODS.

#13: Don’t use the hand blowers in public restrooms! Studies have shown a four-fold increase in the number of bacteria on people’s hands after using a blow dryer. GROSS! One study from 2009, found that people who used a blow dryer to dry their hands had two to three times as many bacteria on their hands as they did before washing them. Not only that, many of the bacteria were pathogenic— the kind of bacteria that cause disease.   Apparently, the vents and bottoms of the dryers get contaminated with all sorts of germs, and the warm, moist environment is a perfect place for them to thrive.

WHO KNEW??

#14: Don’t use the soap in public bathrooms, or touch the door handles.  Any soap in a public bathroom is going to be cheap, full of chemicals, and probably Anti-Bacterial.  Read what the science ways about anti-bacterial soaps.   There’s some great NATURAL anti-bacterial hand sprays and wipes you can find almost anywhere now, check the healthy aisle of your grocery store, or make your own.

Remember, drugs for symptoms DON’T MAKE US HEALTHY.  They just suppress the symptoms while our immune system struggles to overcome the Bad Guys.  Drugs also cause damage to the gut, the liver, etc. Help your Immune System by turning to these proven methods.  Read!  Learn!  Your body responds to these Natural Compounds beautifully.

Use a diet of Real Whole Foods, smart Natural supplements, good sleep, stress management, and appropriate exercise, and I promise your trips to the doctor will literally plummet.  It’s NOT normal to be sick all the time.  Take control of your life and your habits ( and teach this to your children), and get the healthy body you’re meant to have.

 

 

 

Ebola, Enterovirus, and Our Immune Systems – Better Get Strong Now!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve done Post’s before on the Immune System, and what we need to do to beef it up; but I get so many questions about it and hear so many incorrect comments about how we get sick ( or how our kids get sick), that I’m doing another one.  Plenty of resources are included at the end of this.

Here’s the Fact:  When you, or your child, or loved one, gets sick, it’s not because we’re a Victim of the Mean Sick Person who came to school/work/the pool/ etc with their germs.   Germs are all around us, germs are normal and we’re LOADED with germs BY DESIGN.  Science is leaving us with NO doubt that super clean environments actually debilitate our immune system instead of strengthen them.

WE GET SICK BECAUSE OUR IMMUNE SYSTEMS ARE WEAK.  In laboratory studies to test drugs, people are purposely infected with bacteria and virus;  some people get sick, AND SOME PEOPLE DON’T. They’re not magical people;  their immune systems were strong enough to kill the pathogens.  That’s all.  That’s what our immune systems are supposed to do.

That’s why when a stomach bug goes around an office or a classroom, some people get it and some people don’t.  Everyone was exposed, just not everyone was weak enough to be susceptible.

Our body houses hundreds of TRILLIONS of bacteria, on our skin, and though out the entire digestive tract, from the stomach to the rear.  We’re all very, very different from each other in our bacterial composition, and that composition evolves throughout our life from our parents, our environment, the drugs we take ( not just antibiotics, but any and all OTC and prescription drugs affect the gut), and *******THE FOOD WE EAT******.

Our entire body is literally made, every day, from the food we put in our mouths.  Crap In doesn’t just equal Crap Out.

Crap In equals a Crappy Immune System.  Not sleeping 7 to 8 hours equals a crappy immune system.  Excessive exercise equals a crappy immune system ( research shows that more than 90 minutes suppress the immune system for about 72 hours ).  Bad moods, anxiety, and depression suppress the immune system.  Excessive alcohol suppresses our immune system.  High Blood Sugar Suppress Our Immune System. 

( Parents, is it any wonder our kids get sick so often??  We have enormous influence over their actions: cut out the processed foods, don’t buy them!, pack them a healthy lunch, and get them to bed at an hour that allows the sleep they need.)

Our actions make us or break us;  are you the type who gets sick regularly?  Here’s what you can do:

Daily, incorporate as many of these as possible:  herbs and spices like garlic and ginger; onions, cruciferous vegetables, green vegetables, richly colored vegetables, seasonal fruits, quality proteins from animals allowed to eat their natural diets, and plenty of good fats ( EVOO, coconut oil, pastured butter, etc).   Stay away from Sugars, Grains, and Chemicals, always.

The scientific literature is PACKED with decades of studies detailing specific compounds in all those foods with specific beneficial effects on all the various aspects of our immune system.  Remember, the bulk ( 70-80%) of our immune system is housed in our gut:  bacteria, the lymph system.., but there’s more.  Our skin is a first line of defense,  it’s acidic ( normal is 5.5) to kill pathogens that land on it, we need to support the health of our skin ( nutrients), and we need to keep all the bacteria that LIVE ON OUR SKIN – there’s about a TRILLION – healthy and functioning ( quit using AntiBacterial Soaps – they mutate the bugs, and if those mutated bugs get in us via a cut or an opening, we’re in trouble. )

Our stomach is supposed to be HIGHLY HIGHLY acidic, MORE ACIDIC THAN BATTERY ACID – HONEST.  God made us that way:  that acid is supposed to kill any pathogen that gets in our gut via our mouth. ( That acid also triggers many of the necessary digestive actions from the stomach to the anus.)  Antacids, alcohol, birth control pills, sugar, grains, anti-inflammatories, all these either destroy the mucus lining of the stomach that makes the acid, or suppress the cells that make the acid.  Either way, it’s bad news for us.

Support your gut function by avoiding the above list, and feed your gut the nutrients it needs to be FULLY acidic:  apple cider vinegar, digestive bitters, fermented foods, assorted herbs and spices, and bone broth.  There’s supplements that are amazing too, email me if you need help here.

We need to make T cells and B cells and Natural Killer Cells, they’re made from Nutrients;  we need all our bacteria to be in CORRECT proportions, sugar and crap feed the WRONG bacteria.  Did you know that we’re SUPPOSED to house E coli and Strep bacteria??  We are! Let them get out of whack/proliferate with your diet or lifestyle, and trouble begins.

With all the scary news about Ebola, and the Enterovirus, and even rampant Lyme disease, along with all the many normal illnesses that come along and interfere with our life, it’s absolutely essential that we take steps every day – all day to make ourselves as strong as possible instead of weaklings.

More scary news:  Antibiotics aren’t working so well anymore.  Viruses are incredibly difficult to kill with drugs.   “Remedies” for cancer literally DESTROY the immune system.  Vaccines don’t insure you won’t get the targeted disease and come with an enormous amount of side effects.

And all the over-the-counter remedies?  They just suppress symptoms. THEY DON’T KILL BACTERIA OR VIRUSES EVER.  Did you know that SYMPTOMS are actually our immune system trying to kill virus and bacteria??  A fever cooks pathogens; coughing and sneezing expels pathogens, as does the production of excess mucus.  Taking OTC drugs that suppress symptoms can actually keep us SICKER LONGER, plus, they’re LOADED with side effects both short and long term.

Here’s some great resources on the immune system:

Me!  Contact me for tricks/tips/ and assessments on how to become stronger.  It’s a lifestyle.

Subscribe to the Natural Cures Summit this week, it’s totally free, and there’ll be over 30 presentations by doctors and scientists with the facts on how to naturally work with different medical conditions.

Herbs, Spices, and Remedies, from Organic Lifestyle

How to feed your Microbes, and why it’s important, Chris Kresser

Why Vaccines are NOT a sure-fire bet for immunity, by Dr. Kurt