Birth control is a personal choice for each user. It’s important that proper planning and research is done before making decisions on birth control, especially if you’re looking at a long term option.

I did not feel that I was properly warned about the side effects of most of my birth control options when making this decision for the first time. The reality is that any hormonal birth control option is likely to have major side effects.

I’ve put together a guide of some of the most popular forms of birth control, both hormonal and nonhormonal, as well as my personal recommendations. 

Hormonal birth control is known to cause serious health problems in many cases. Taking hormonal birth control can cause everything from serious mood swings and emotional changes to a variety of different cancers and other life-threatening conditions.

Not all non-hormonal birth control options are perfect though. Many non-hormonal birth controls have health draw-backs, although most of them are minor compared to hormonal options.

When talking about the effectiveness of birth control, the numbers report how many people get pregnant each year on that particular form of birth control. For example, if you’re birth control is 90% effective, one in 10 people using that form of birth control will get pregnant each year.

Non Hormonal Birth Control

Copper IUD 

The copper IUD is the only non-hormonal low maintenance, long term birth control method that I am aware of. It is better for your health than a hormonal birth control option, but it’s not great. The copper IUD is a T-shaped device placed into the uterus by a doctor. The copper IUD makes the uterine environment inhabitable to sperm.

The copper IUD can cause heavy bleeding and cramps. The extra stress of having a foreign object inside the uterus causes heavy periods as the body tries to dispel the foreign object. It has other risks as well. The copper IUD can cause:

• Menstrual problems (irregular periods, heavier periods, longer periods, etc.)
• Cramps and dizziness after insertion
• Ovarian cysts
• Expulsion (the body rejecting the IUD)
• Infection
• Puncturing the uterine wall
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Miscarriages
• Intrauterine pregnancy

The copper IUD can have serious health side effects, but it is a very convenient, hassle-free form of birth control after implantation, in many ways (side effects aside). The copper IUD requires a prescription from a doctor and implantation by a doctor. It can be free if covered by your health insurance, but otherwise, it can cost upwards of $900. 

Spermicide 

Spermicide is a chemical that prevents pregnancy by killing sperm. The active ingredient is nonoxynol-9, and it is available in multiple forms.

Spermicide can cause mild skin irritation. Some people may be allergic to the ingredients. An unhealthy gut generally causes allergies, so if your gut is healthy, this shouldn’t be a problem. Spermicide needs to be inserted at least 10-15 minutes before you have sex, which can be inconvenient for some. Spermicide is also only effective for about an hour, which can also be inconvenient. Some spermicides have a funny taste.

Spermicide alone is anywhere from 70-80% effective. Combined with condoms and used properly, this method is 97% effective.

Spermicide does not protect against STDs. Long term spermicide use can make some more susceptible to HIV and other STDs, but again, I wouldn’t worry about this if you are healthy.

Spermicide is available without a prescription at any pharmacy or store where you would buy contraceptives. It usually ranges in cost from about $8-$15 per kit. Read and follow the directions carefully.

Fertility Awareness

Fertility awareness involves tracking your cycle and avoiding sex on the days you’re most fertile. When done correctly, it can be an effective form of birth control, but it can be difficult (or impossible) to track your fertility effectively if you aren’t extremely healthy.

This method can also be inconvenient, as it means not having sex on your most fertile days, or at least not having sex on those days without relying on other forms of protection. Irregular periods make it difficult to track your most fertile days. And it is important to note that sperm can live in the female reproductive tract for as long as five days. If avoiding pregnancy is your number one priority, I would not recommend this method of birth control.

Breastfeeding

Obviously, breastfeeding is only a valid form of birth control after you’ve already had a baby, and it only works for so long. The longer you are able to breastfeed, the better for the baby and the longer you have a natural form of birth control. Most of the mainstream sources consider this method of birth control to be effective for 6 months postpartum, but the healthier you are the longer you’ll be able to use breastfeeding as a form of birth control. This is an extremely effective method of birth control when done right, and it’s free. This method of birth control can work for 2-3 years if you’re healthy, but when your period returns, you’ll want to find another form of birth control. 

Barrier Method Birth Control

Barrier method birth control coupled with spermicide is my recommended form of birth control. Many barrier methods are only 80-85% effective with typical use. This accounts for user error and malfunctions. For this reason, barrier methods coupled with spermicide make for an extremely effective method of birth control with little to no side effects. 

The Birth Control Sponge

The birth control sponge is a round piece of foam-filled with spermicide that you insert into your vagina close to the base of the cervix before having sex. It prevents sperm from fertilizing the egg by covering the cervix and continually releasing spermicide. The sponge also absorbs sperm.

The sponge must be kept in at least 6 hours after having sex. According to doctors, the sponge can be inserted up to 24 hours before sex, although you should not keep the sponge inside for more than 30 hours. I personally wouldn’t leave it in for more than 6 hours.

Sponges are available at most drugstores and available without a prescription. With perfect use, the sponge is about 91% effective if you’ve never given birth. If you have given birth, with perfect use, the sponge is about 80% effective. Using the sponge perfectly every time can be difficult, so in reality, the sponge is about 88% effective for those who have never given birth, and 76% effective for those who have.

The sponge coupled with a condom is a highly effective form of birth control. The planning required to use the sponge is not ideal for everyone. The sponge has all the side effects of spermicide, as it has spermicide in it. The sponge can also increase the risk of toxic shock syndrome (TSS). For this reason, the sponge is not considered a safe birth control option when you’re on your period. Overall, this method of birth control isn’t the most effective option, and I recommend just spermicide over the sponge. 

Cervical Caps

A cervical cap is a small cup made from soft silicone that you put inside your vagina to cover your cervix. In order to be as effective as possible, the cervical cap should be paired with spermicide.

The cervical cap is 86% effective if you’ve never given birth and 71% effective if you have given birth. Doctors say the cervical cap is safe to leave inside for 48 hours, although I wouldn’t recommend leaving any foreign object inside your body for that long.

The cervical cap needs to be left in at least 6 hours after having sex in order to be as effective as possible. Like the sponge, the cervical cap has all the same side effects including increased risk for TSS, HIV, and other STDs and is not considered a safe birth control option when you are on your period.

Compared to the diaphragm, a cervical cap fits more snuggly against the opening of the cervix. The cap is shaped like a small sailor’s hat. The diaphragm is shaped like a shallow latex cup. (Read more about diaphragms below.)

The cervical cap comes in different sizes. In order to get one, you’ll need to be fitted for one by your doctor and given a prescription. The cost range is $0-$75, depending on your health insurance.

Diaphragms

The diaphragm is similar to the cervical cap and the sponge in that it blocks sperm from the cervix. It is a shallow cup that covers the cervix and surrounding areas. It is best coupled with spermicide to be as effective as possible.

The diaphragm is more effective at preventing pregnancy than the cervical cap. With perfect use, the diaphragm is about 94% effective, but with typical average use, the diaphragm is about 88% effective.

The diaphragm cannot be left in as long as the cervical cap, (24 hours compared to 48 hours). Like the cervical cap, you have to leave the diaphragm in for 6 hours after having sex.

The diaphragm has all the similar side effects and problems as the sponge and the cervical caps. Any solid foreign object that you insert into the body for long periods of time, isn’t great for you.

Diaphragms come in different sizes so you’ll need to be fitted for one and given a prescription from a doctor.

Condoms

Condoms are the only birth control method on the market that protects against STDs. It wasn’t until recently that I realized, just like any other disease or infection, contracting an STD is a sign of a poor immune system and overall poor health. If you have a healthy gut and a strong immune system, it’s very likely that STDs won’t ever be a problem for you.

With typical use, condoms are about 85% effective. With perfect use, condoms are 98% effective. Condoms are relatively cheap and easily accessible at any pharmacy or store where you would otherwise buy contraceptives. 

Hormonal Birth Control

My only personal experience with hormonal birth control is the pill. I took the pill for about 6 weeks when I was 18. I found that it made me extremely nauseous on a daily basis, though this was prior to my conversion to an organic lifestyle.

I have friends who use hormonal IUDs and friends who have used the NuvaRing. My friend who uses the NuvaRing just had a lump removed from her breast, at age 19. My friend who uses the hormonal IUD is plagued with horrible cramping and menstrual cycle problems whenever she does have a period, although they are irregular and infrequent.

Any hormonal birth control requires a prescription and can be difficult to get without health insurance. Generally, hormonal birth control methods are much more effective than other methods, and people like them because they are usually a hassle-free way to prevent pregnancy. 

Many doctors will say that hormonal birth control is safe to use and that it’s completely safe to skip periods. I don’t agree with this. Messing with your body’s natural cycle is not good for you and can have consequences. Some of the side effects of hormonal birth control include:

• Mood swings
• Menstrual changes (heavier periods, irregular periods, etc)
• Reduced sex drive (or overall changes in sex drive)
• Headaches and migraines
• Nausea
• Thyroid imbalances
• Adrenal problems
• Anxiety and depression
• Fertility problems
• Gut imbalances (increased risk for IBS, Crohn’s disease, leaky gut, etc)
• Increased risk for blood clots, stroke, and heart attack
• Increased risk for certain cancers, such as cervical cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer

These are general side effects of any form of hormonal birth control. Below I’ve gotten into the specifics of the different hormonal birth controls and how they work. Keep in mind, the side effects and problems with hormonal birth control are fairly similar across the board, and they all work in similar ways. Because all hormonal birth control works using progestin and estrogen to stop ovulation and thicken the mucus lining in the cervix, all hormonal birth control methods have similar problems and side effects.

The Pill 

The birth control pill is a hormonal pill that blocks ovulation and thickens the mucus in your cervix to prevent pregnancy. With perfect use, the pill is 99% effective, but many people forget to take it every day, and for that reason, it’s realistically around 91% effective. Like all hormonal birth control methods, the pill has a plethora of side effects. The pill requires a prescription by a doctor and can be upwards of $50 without health insurance. 

Nuva Ring

The NuvaRing is 99% effective with perfect use, but only 91% effective with average use. It’s is a small flexible ring that you wear inside your vagina. You can wear the ring for up to 5 weeks at a time. If you want to skip periods, you put a new ring in immediately. If you don’t want to skip periods, you wait a week before putting a new one in. The NuvaRing needs to be taken out at the same time each time you change it. The NuvaRing is another convenient minimal effort form of birth control. It can be left in during sex and requires very little forethought. Of course, like all hormonal birth control methods, the Nuvaring is not good for you and can have some serious side effects. People often experience headaches, nausea, sore breasts, changes to their periods, and spotting or brown discharge.

The Patch

The patch works like the pill and other methods of hormonal birth control. It releases progestin and estrogen to stop ovulation and thicken the mucus on the cervix wall. With perfect use, the patch is about 99% effective, but in reality, the patch is 91% effective with typical use. The patch needs to be changed once a week and goes on the belly, upper outer arm, buttocks, or back. People commonly experience headaches, nausea, sore breasts, change in periods, and sore skin where the patch goes. The patch requires a prescription and can cost upwards of $150 without health insurance.

Implants

The implant is a tiny rod the size of a match that your doctor implants into the skin on the upper arm. The implant can last up to five years but can be removed at any time. Common side effects are light bleeding, brown discharge, and heavier and longer periods. People also report their periods go away with the implant. Anything that deviates from your body’s natural cycle is not the best thing for you. People also experience headaches, breast pain, weight gain, and ovarian cysts. The implant is more than 99% effective and extremely convenient, but we don’t recommend sacrificing your health for convenience especially in a way that messes with your body’s natural cycle. 

Shots

The shot uses progestin to block ovulation and thicken the cervical mucus. You have to get a new show every 12-13 weeks. With perfect use, the shot is 99% effective, but many people forget to get their shots on time, making them 94% effective. The shot can have serious side effects, like all hormonal birth control. The shot requires a prescription, and administration by a doctor and typically ranges from $0-$150 per shot, depending on your insurance. The last time I saw a conventional doctor, nearly three years ago, she did not recommend the shot for health reasons.

Hormonal IUD

The hormonal IUD goes in just like the copper IUD, but releases hormones into the uterus. The hormonal IUD releases progestin to stop ovulation and thicken the mucus of the cervix wall. The hormonal IUD has all the side effects and problems that other forms of hormonal birth control have. It is, however, one of, if not the most effective form of birth control. After the IUD is inserted, it’s good for several years. It’s 99% effective and hassle-free after implantation (minus the side effects, of course). The IUD has to be prescribed and inserted by a doctor. While this is probably the most effective form of birth control, it’s likely the most dangerous as well. Not only does this birth control release hormones, but your body also has to constantly compensate for the foreign object in your uterus, and it can take quite the toll. If you continue to have periods while using an IUD, it’s likely that they will be much more uncomfortable and hard on the body. Unlike the other forms of birth control (with the exception of the implant) your body gets no break from the contraceptive.

Conclusion

Choosing the best method of birth control for your needs can be time-consuming and difficult. There’s a lot of options to consider, and everyone has different needs and priorities when it comes to what kind of birth control works best for them. If health is your top priority when considering birth control, the condom spermicide route may be the best option for preventing pregnancy with fewer side effects than other methods.

Sources:

• Spermicides: How Effective Are Spermicidal Foams and Jellies?
• Copper IUD (ParaGard)
• About the Birth Control Sponge
• Birth Control Methods & Options | Types of Birth Control
• Paraguard Drug Precautions

Refined sugar feeds pathogens, especially candida. An abundance of candida and other pathogens leads to allergies, diabetes, obesity, and a whole lot more. Unfortunately, we love sugar. We love sugar so much that Americans are planning to spend nearly $3 billion on Halloween candy this year. The science is in: if you want to be as healthy as possible refined sugar must be eliminated from your diet.

This includes Halloween. 

This will be my second Halloween without Halloween candy. Truthfully, I can’t say I miss it all that much. I know that’s not the case for everyone, so I’ve put together a guide for some alternatives and ranked them from least healthy to most healthy. Although we have some alternative candies, this isn’t an exact trade-in for your favorite candy bars. This is more a guide to satisfy your sweet tooth. 

This is not an advertisement. None of the brands below paid us.

Least Healthy

Organic Cane Sugar 

Truthfully, I can’t believe I still have to include this. Using organic refined sugar and calling it “healthy” is what my dad did 20 years ago. It’s dated, and it’s not a healthy alternative to regular refined sugar. There was a time when my dad was a radical health nut for eating organic sugar instead of regular sugar, but today, even the least health-conscious people I know who were born within the last 50 years are of the opinion that sugar is sugar. As far as the effects of sugar on your body, organic cane sugar has the same effect. Organic cane sugar will still feed candida growth in your body! 

Coconut Sugar, Brown Rice Syrup, Raw Sugar, and Agave syrup 

There are a lot of sugar alternatives out there that are still very high on the glycemic index chart. The only sugar substitutes we use that I recommend are stevia, monk fruit, and dates. I use blackstrap molasses, too, but I don’t recommend it for everyone. I mix a teaspoon of molasses with whatever quantity of monk fruit that I’m using to make “brown sugar”. Molasses does have some benefits, but it is still a refined sugar. If you use molasses, use it in moderation and pay attention to how it makes you feel. 

Read this article to see some alternative sugars and where they rank on the glycemic index chart. I personally have not used any other alternative sweeteners besides the ones I recommend above. In my opinion and experience, these are the healthiest sugar alternatives you can use.

Anything Too Processed 

Lately, I’ve seen a push for Smart Sweets. Smart Sweets is a brand of candy that makes your favorite regular candy like gummy bears and sour patch kids. They are free from sugars and sugar alcohols, they’re naturally colored, and gluten-free, as well as free from other common allergens like nuts. They even have vegan options. If I took my kids trick-or-treating and they gave these out, I probably wouldn’t tell the kids they couldn’t eat them, but it’s not an everyday healthy alternative. They’re sweetened with monk fruit, and that is a good sugar alternative, however, the candies themselves are just too processed to be considered a great alternative. That being said, these are better for you than regular refined sugar. So they’re not the worst thing you could do. But any naturally sweetened candy like this that is processed into a gummy bear, or sour worm, or anything resembling normal candy, is just too processed to be considered healthy. 

Getting There!

Chocolate

They make a multitude of alternatively sweetened chocolate bars out there. We’ve tried a couple of them, and while they make good alternatives, we wouldn’t recommend them for everyday eating. 

Lily’s Chocolate Bars, and Other Lily’s Products

Lily’s chocolate bars are sweetened with stevia. It is a good alternative to conventional chocolate bars, but they are cooked and more processed than some other raw or otherwise healthier options. They also contain Soy Lecithin, which is essentially a food emulsifier; it helps the chocolate achieve the right texture. My family and I do eat Lily’s chocolate bars occasionally. They also make chocolate chips which are great for baking. 

Lily’s also makes peanut butter cups. Finding Lily’s peanut butter cups was a godsend when I was still craving Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. I don’t crave peanut butter cups much anymore, and when I do I prefer to make my own! (More on that later) Lily’s chocolate has a plethora of sweet alternatives and a multitude of different kinds of chocolate bars. We try to avoid processed foods as much as possible, but Lily’s isn’t the worst thing you could grab as a treat every once in a while. 

Lakanto Monk Fruit Chocolate Bars

Lakanto is the brand of granulated Monk fruit that we use for baking. It’s radically better than sugar, but it does have erythritol, which is a sugar alcohol. Sugar alcohol isn’t great for you, though a little every once in a while with the help of a healthy gut won’t be the worst thing for you. Lakanto also makes chocolate bars, and while I’ve never personally had them, based on the ingredients, they are also a suitable chocolate bar alternative. Again, they’re still a processed food, so not too much!

Honey Mama’s Chocolate Bars

Honey Mama’s makes raw food chocolate bars out of portland. A raw food chocolate bar is going to be much better for you than a processed chocolate bar. For that reason, these are our favorite. They’re made from sprouted almonds, cacao powder, raw honey, and a couple of other ingredients depending on the flavor you get. They melt in your mouth and have the best texture of any candy bar you’ll ever have, hands down. There is, of course, one problem. Raw honey is only good in small amounts and is not good if you haven’t fixed your gut. If you haven’t created a gut microbiome healthy enough to process the sugar from raw honey, then these aren’t for you (of course, if your gut isn’t healthy enough to process sugar, this is the wrong article for you! What are you doing here? Go make a salad!). Don’t cook with these chocolate bars! Heating up honey kills the enzymes and causes it to lose its health benefits- you might as well just eat sugar if you’re going to heat up your honey. 

Peanut Butter/Nut Butter

We like peanut butter. A lot. If sugar is still a regular part of your diet, you likely won’t be able to appreciate a high-quality sugarless peanut butter to its fullest, but trust me, you’re missing out. Most peanut butter isn’t good for you. Large scale factory-farmed peanut butter often has peanut mold problems. Additionally, enzyme inhibitors are particularly bad with peanuts. Small scale peanut butter made from sprouted nuts is much better for you, but expensive and often hard to find.

If you’re buying nut butter or peanut butter, our favorite nut butter is the Nutt-zo Keto butter. It’s got a bunch of nuts and seeds in it and it fantastic. My dad recently found another good one called Fix and Fogg Everything Butter. But ideally, you should be making your peanut butter/nut butter at home from sprouted nuts. Check out the video below to learn more about making sprouted almond butter, and be on the lookout for a video from us to see how we do it, coming soon. 

Most Healthy (Homemade Alternatives)  

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups 

We use a nut butter and Lily’s chocolate chips to make peanut butter cups. I have not made peanut butter cups without Lily’s chocolate chips, but since they have soy lecithin, there are better options.

To make peanut butter cups, I like to take a bowl full of peanut butter or nut butter and put it in the freezer to firm up. In the meantime, I melt a bag of Lily’s chocolate chips on a double boiler until they’re melted. Then I take silicone cup molds, and pour melted chocolate in the bottom, spreading the chocolate up the sides. I roll spoonfuls of the chilled peanut butter into balls and put them in the silicone cups. Then I cover the peanut butter with more chocolate and chill it until it is solid. These peanut butter cups are much better than store-bought because you can add as much or as little peanut butter and chocolate as you want! Truthfully, I don’t know how well these keep because I’ve never had them survive for more than 30 minutes They’re definitely a fan favorite. 

Date Balls 

You can experiment with different flavor combinations with date balls forever. The simplest way to make them is to put pitted dates in a food processor with nut butter and/or nuts, and a little bit of salt. Blend until you get the right consistency to roll them into balls. You can experiment with adding different nuts, nut butter, seeds, and even berries. Roll them into balls and then roll in chocolate powder, or shredded coconut, or even sliced almonds. The possibilities are endless! I don’t make date balls all that often, so I don’t have a go-to recipe. 

Homemade Honey Mama’s Chocolate Bars

If you like Honey Mama’s chocolate bars, you should try making your own! They’ll be better for you because they’re homemade and you can control the ingredients, and you can make them less sweet. (As much as we love Honey Mama’s, they’re way too sweet). So check out this recipe for homemade Honey Mama’s chocolate. Use homemade nut butter from sprouted nuts and as little raw honey as possible for the healthiest version of these bars. I’ve yet to try it, but I suspect you could use homemade Honey Mama’s chocolate bars, with homemade nut butter from sprouted nuts, and make the healthiest peanut butter cups possible. 

Homemade Ice Cream

Another one of my favorite desserts is homemade ice cream. Store-bought “healthy” ice cream is expensive, and also, not healthy! At home, we like to make tart berry-banana ice cream, cranberry-banana, raspberry-banana, blackberry-banana, etc. We like to use tart fruits, especially cranberries because bananas are very sweet. We take 12 bananas, cut them up, and freeze them and our fruit ahead of time. We then pull the bananas out to thaw just a little bit, add 1.5 cups of frozen tart berries, and add salt and cinnamon to taste. Put everything in the food processor and blend to combine for 5 generous servings. This, like most of our recipes, is a loose recipe. Don’t be afraid to set guidelines for what is healthy enough and experiment within those guidelines to find a version that you like best. 

Pies

Pies are a favorite of ours. We make pie crust using butter, sourdough starter, organic flour, and a pinch of salt. If you find that you still have a problem digesting gluten even after healing the gut, you’ll want to use chickpea flour (ideally homemade chickpea flour from sprouted chickpeas) and water instead of sourdough starter. 

Add 2.5 cups of your flour and a pinch of salt to a bowl. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill organic all-purpose flour if you’re using storebought, but personally, I prefer to buy organic local from a farmers market. Then add 1 cup of ice-cold butter. Begin to break up the butter and combine the flour and butter with your fingers into smaller and smaller pieces, until you have a mixture resembling Kraft parmesan cheese (a tip from my Sister Pie cookbook, and after lots of experimentation, I can confirm this is the way to achieve the best pie crust). Add half a cup of active sourdough starter and mix until combined. Use your hands to bring the mixture together into a dough. You’ll want to refrigerate this dough for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. If you’re not planning on making the pie anytime soon, you can freeze the pie dough.

Pie filling is generally experimental at our house. I usually take a large bowl of fruit, add lemon juice, ¼ cup of tapioca starch, anywhere from ¼ cup to ¾ cup of granulated monk fruit (sometimes I add a teaspoon or less of molasses to the monk fruit for a brown sugar substitute), and salt. I’ve used this with apples, apple-rhubarb, plums, cranberries, peaches, and cherries. Again, I recommend playing around with fruit combinations and ratios. Cranberry pie needs more monk fruit than peach pie, and apple and plum pie go great with cinnamon and other similar flavors. It’s super easy to google your favorite fruit pie recipe and convert it into a healthier version. 

Generally, I top my pies with some sort of crumble. I use about a cup of cold butter, and about ¾ cup of chickpea flour, ¼ cup of tapioca starch, a couple of spoonfuls of monk fruit depending on how tart your pie is, and a pinch of salt. Combine until you achieve the texture of sand. 

Roll out your pie crust into a glass pan (don’t put metal in the oven!) fill with your pie filling and top with your crumble. Bake for about an hour at 325 degrees Fahrenheit, until the topping is golden brown and your pie filling is bubbling. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment! I try new pies all the time. Some are better than others. I rarely measure ingredients when I’m cooking, which obviously makes it difficult to write out the perfect pie recipe!

Fruit 

Whole fruit is the absolute best thing, health-wise, to satisfy a sugar craving. Personally, if watermelon season took place during Halloween, I think we’d have no need for candy! One of our favorite sweet snacks is a bowl full of berries with a spoonful of homemade nut butter on top. You can add Lily’s chocolate chips or some unsweetened shredded coconut on top (although I’d skip the chocolate chips if you’re trying to be as healthy as possible). 

We also keep baking chocolate powder on hand to go with fruit. You can dip bananas, strawberries, oranges, or any other fruit in it that you think would go well with chocolate! You can add a bit of chocolate powder to your homemade nut butter berry concoction as well, if you want to forgo the chocolate chips. 

On farmer’s market days we come home with generally, half a bushel of apples, a case of berries, and 2 boxes of grapes (that is until orange season starts, then we add a case of oranges). With 5 people, this much fruit usually doesn’t even last all week!

Conclusion 

The first time I hung out with my friends after I had converted to a more organic lifestyle got a few funny looks. A lot of people recognize that sugar is bad for you, but would rather just enjoy sugar while they accept the inevitable health problems to come. Warning: some of these food combos might seem a little weird! I wanted to make sure I covered all my bases so I tried to include everything that I myself might eat when I’m craving something sweet. For this Halloween, I’ll be spending some time in the mountains with a couple of friends. I’ll probably make a small batch of peanut butter cups to snack on while they eat Halloween candy, but probably not much else. 

Please note that if your gut is unwell even some of the healthiest alternatives above may not be that healthy for you. Fruit that is blended or cooked down at all is not as good for you as fresh, raw fruit. But if you’re cooking at home, anything you make will be radically better than something you would get at a restaurant or grocery store. Even now, if I eat too much sugar, I may need to take SF722 to combat the yeast. If I skip a salad and eat a bunch of fruit or sugar, I feel the effects even more! So remember to plan accordingly and take care of yourself before, during, and after a day of eating too much junk food. 

Happy Halloween! 

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has amended the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act), and now children can receive their childhood vaccines at pharmacies in all 50 states. This action is a direct response to the drop in vaccination rates due to COVID-19. A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report from May of 2020 found that less than half of children aged 5-16 months were up to date on their vaccinations. The HHS plans to increase those rates by making vaccines more readily accessible, especially for those who are unable to go to the doctor’s office.

Today’s action means easier access to lifesaving vaccines for our children, as we seek to ensure immunization rates remain high during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump Administration has worked to allow pharmacists—alongside all of America’s heroic healthcare workers—to practice at the top of their license, empowering the public with more options to protect their health and well-being.”

Alex Azar, HHS secretary

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

Any FDA approved vaccines will be available at pharmacies, where they will be administered to children aged 3-18 by a licensed pharmacist or a supervised, licensed pharmacy intern. Prior to this amendment, pharmacists were able to administer vaccines in 28 different states. Another factor in lower vaccination rates is the lack of access to health care for many individuals who have lost their jobs. Perhaps a government showing concern about the potential for a public health crisis due to low vaccination rates should also be concerned about giving the public free access to the services it deems necessary.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

A study done in 2017 showed that within a 2015 measles outbreak in California, a large number of cases occurred within recent vaccinees (73 out of 194 cases). Researchers within the study developed a test to identify measles vaccine strains within patients. While this study is one of the first of its kind, this is not the first time that the effectiveness of the measles vaccine has been brought into question. As early as 1994, researchers published a paper questioning how effective the measles vaccine was, as the measles has yet to be eliminated. Shortly after the paper was published, a second dose of the measles vaccine was introduced.

There have been many cases of measles outbreaks in well-vaccinated areas. This has been well documented in China in 2013, in Israel in 2017, as well as many places in the U.S. That being said, measles outbreaks often occur in unvaccinated areas as well.

How often are measles outbreaks that cause quite a stir as a result of mainstream media coverage actually a result of the MMR vaccine itself? How often are people in these measles outbreaks analyzed and tested to determine whether they have contracted a wild type measles, or a vaccine strain measles?

37% of Measles Cases Analyzed In The US In 2015 Were Caused By The MMR Vaccine

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

While children have died from measles, many children have died from the measles vaccine as well. Data from the FDA Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) shows that the MMR vaccine has 93,929 accounts of adverse events, 1,810 disabilities, 6,902 hospitalizations, and 463 deaths. VAERS is a voluntary reporting system and it’s estimated to only capture 1% of adverse.

If you are worried about the measles, (vaccinated or unvaccinated), or any other disease, the best thing you can do is prioritize gut health through a healthy diet. Check out this article for more on how to heal the gut.

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine issued a report stating that children should return to school wherever possible. The committee stated that for younger children as well as children with special needs, online learning is virtually ineffective.

Emphasis was put on “common sense” precautions like handwashing, social distancing, and minimizing group activities including recess and lunch. Additionally, the committee called for all teachers and staff members to wear surgical masks and for all children to wear cloth face coverings.

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Schools are in need of upgraded ventilation and air-filtration systems, which should be funded by the state and federal governments, according to the report. These upgrades are estimated to cost $1.8 million per school district with eight school buildings and an average of 3,200 students.

Parents and teachers alike have spoken out in favor of both reopening schools and keeping schools closed, for a multitude of reasons and they both bring up very valid points. Unfortunately, this is a very complicated situation and there isn’t necessarily a correct answer.

Most studies suggest the virus poses minimal health risks to children under 18. And the report said that evidence for how easily children become infected or spread the virus to others, including teachers and parents, is “insufficient” to draw firm conclusions.

Citing Educational Risks, Scientific Panel Urges That Schools Reopen

On one side, schools offer valuable tools for many kids like social and emotional support, child care, nutrition, and many more things that adults often overlook. Many families don’t have access to wifi at home or only have access through smartphones. However, in poorer areas where families don’t have wifi, it is likely that those communities have been disproportionately by COVID-19 and may not have the ability to safely educate students.

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Experts in favor of returning to school keep pointing out that children aren’t getting adequate socialization. Experts also keep talking about the importance of social distancing, wearing masks, and limiting unnecessary social activities. Even in school, children would likely not get the proper socialization they needed even if they were in school again. Nearly 30% of the 3.8 million full-time teachers in America are over the age of 50, putting them in a high-risk category.

It’s difficult to look at the ways other countries have handled the pandemic and say what we should’ve done differently. With the poor health of the population of our nation and our lack of trust in the government, it is likely that we would’ve had high cases no matter how we handled it.

A new study done by UNICEF and Pure Earth shows that 1 in 3 children have dangerous levels of lead in their bloodstream. In the study, 800 million children had lead levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter, or more, in their bloodstream.

Lead pollution can cause mental and physical damage and can impair development of the nervous system, the brain, and many vital organs. The longer lead is undetected in the bloodstream, the more dangerous it becomes.

The unequivocal conclusion of this research is that children around the world are being poisoned by lead on a massive and previously unrecognized scale.

Nearly one in three children have dangerous amounts of lead in bloodstream: study

The CDC, as well as the WHO, have cited inadequate battery recycling as well as open-air smelters as large contributors to lead pollution. The study, in addition to the disposal of lead batteries, pointed to peeling paint with lead in it, electronic waste dumps laced with lead, and food contamination from lead glazed pottery.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Lead batteries are likely one of the biggest contributors, nearly 85% of all lead used going into battery production. Europe and the U.S recycle more than 95% of their batteries. Unfortunately, developing countries don’t always have the funds or facilities to properly recycle batteries.

If you’re looking for a way to detox from toxins such as lead, check out this article on how to detox cheap and easy without fasting.

A study published by Genome Medicine has shown that antibiotic usage in young animals increases their likelihood of developing inflammatory bowel disease when they are older.

This evidence furthers supports the idea that using antibiotics in children under the age of one disrupts the gut microbiome. A healthy gut microbiome is essential for a healthy immune system and the prevention of disease.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

This study provides experimental evidence strengthening the idea that the associations of antibiotic exposures to the later development of disease in human children are more than correlations, but that they are actually playing roles in the disease causation.

 -Study co-author Martin Blaser, director of the Rutgers Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine.

Related: How to Eliminate IBS, IBD, Leaky Gut

Researches examined the effects of dextran sulfate, a chemical that injures the colon, in mice that received antibiotics, mice that had disrupted microbial contents transplanted into their intestine, and a control group. The results showed that the mice who received antibiotics or disrupted microbial contents had noticeably worse colitis than those in the control group.

This study is a continuation of Martin Blaser’s hypothesis that disrupting the microbiome early in life is one of the large factors in modern epidemics.