My Health, My Journey

Nearly everyone I know has disconnected the cause and effect of their food intake and their health, especially as they age

Memory is a funny thing. We think we remember the past, maybe even think we remember it well, and then we run across a letter, a journal entry, a list—and discover that our memories are woefully incomplete.

Worse yet is the tendency to downplay or ignore cause and effect when we are faced with making major changes in diet or lifestyle.  We don’t want to remember that there are patterns of pain or disease when we are faced with giving up foods we love.

I was reminded of these tendencies when I ran across a list of symptoms I put together for medical doctors back in the day when I wasted a few thousand dollars chasing a definitive diagnosis for my auto-immune “disease.”

Oh, I remember that it was bad—horrific, actually. I remember the day I stood at the bottom of a flight of stairs at work and cried because I just couldn’t make myself climb them. And I remember the day I sat with my accountant struggling with a mental fog so profound that my lack of short term memory made coherent speech nearly impossible. I remember how my joints, my bones, my muscles, and my organs hurt. But I didn’t remember half of the actual acute and painful symptoms on that list, like the blisters inside my mouth or the lumps in my salivary glands.

This started me thinking about my journey towards health. Once the worst of the  acute symptoms were under control and I felt significantly better, the denial of cause and effect took over. Sometimes when I ate bread or other wheat, my heel hurt so badly I could barely walk. Sometimes I broke out in weeping rashes. My joints ached. My muscles hurt. Sometimes the symptoms appeared within a few hours, sometimes the next day, sometimes in three days.

These discrepancies were enough to allow me to dig a deep, deep trench of denial—to crawl inside and eat my pizza, French bread, and cookies for years. It wasn’t until I mentioned these symptoms to a friend who sent me a link on Celiac disease that I stopped pretending the cause and effect wasn’t clear and convincing. It wasn’t until I understood that every time I ate gluten more of the cilia in my gut was destroyed, and it became harder and harder for my body to pull nutrients from the good food I was eating. That’s when I gave up gluten.

But I still hadn’t conquered sugar.

Now mind you, I always ate better than the Standard American Diet. For years I had eaten more fresh food than anyone I knew. I’d given up sodas and nearly every food with preservatives, food coloring, or flavorings except for the occasional bag of Cheetos.. I avoided MSG, except when I ate out (See how it works?).  I limited my chocolate intake, but I kept ignoring the fact that sugar feeds Candida, even though my ear and my gums hurt every time I ate it and other nasty symptoms popped up, too.

You see, I felt so much better than I had at the height of my illness, I ignored the pain and discomfort I still lived with every single day.

I am happy to say I finally adopted the motto, “If it makes you hurt, don’t do it dummy!” and I eliminated hidden gluten from my diet and really cut out sugar (almost completely). It was then that I discovered the third piece of the puzzle: I was vitamin D deficient. Wow! What a difference a little vitamin D made!

When you live with chronic pain, you learn to ignore it (as much as is humanly possible). You stop remembering what it feels like to actually feel good. When the day comes that you wake up pain free, cause and effect takes on a whole new meaning. Once I reached this level of health, I knew every single time a tiny bit of gluten slipped through my defenses. I could feel it in the stiff muscles of my back and neck as well as other muscles that tightened up or became inflamed. I discovered that every single time I ate refined sugar my glands, my ear, my sinuses or something else ached.

Nearly everyone I know (other than the majority of my Facebook friends who are health nuts) has disconnected the cause and effect of their food intake and their health, especially as they age. Most of my friends drink alcohol. They eat out of cans and boxes and nuke their food with a microwave. They hurt. They are sick. And they all accept their symptoms or illnesses as an inevitable side effect of aging.

I even have a dear friend recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s who told me there is no way she can eat a clean healthy diet of all fresh, organic food. The thought of giving up canned food and possibly shopping more than once a week was just too much to ask. So I didn’t even bother to talk to her about giving up alcohol. Cause and effect. Pure and simple.

If you are sitting on the fence in contemplating a healthy lifestyle, whether it is a radical change or just a further shift towards health, I strongly suggest you start a journal. Write down all of your symptoms—everything that hurts or isn’t optimal. Then do a cleanse and follow it up with a truly healthy diet until you are symptom free and pain free. Once again, write down how you feel and compare it to your first journal entry.

Every time you feel sick or you hurt, or you have no energy, take an honest inventory of everything you ate for the previous 3-4 days and write it down. Be honest with yourself. I am willing to bet you will soon discover your own cause and effect. And with the proof right there staring you in the face, maybe you won’t waste years like I did fooling yourself. You’ll find the strength to heal yourself and live a happier, healthier life.



Healthy Food Choices

Does Eating Vegan, Organic, or Gluten-Free Make You Healthier?

There are many different trends now in the food industry. Many Americans are becoming more aware of the current state of public health in this country, as well as of the numerous issues surrounding conventional and factory farming. As a result, they have begun to buy more foods that are labeled all-natural, organic, vegan, non-GMO, vegetarian, and so on. Others are required to buy foods with these healthier-sounding phrases on their labels because of medical concerns such as Celiac disease.

Gluten-Free Foods

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease triggered by the consumption of gluten, which causes permanent damage to the intestinal villi. This negatively affects the body’s ability to absorb vital nutrients.This condition is diagnosed now more than ever before. Its prevalence has spread awareness about gluten in general since many people never even knew what gluten was before Celiac became such a buzzword. Non-diagnosed people have also begun to experiment with reducing or eliminating gluten from their diets to see if certain symptoms improve.

Health Food InfographicAt first, gluten-free food choices were hard to come by in stores and restaurants. One could only find them in a tiny spot in the frozen-foods section or the pasta aisle in health food stores and healthier grocery stores like Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe’s. The prices were exorbitant. However, people paid them and began to demand more gluten-free foods. Consequently, the supply increased, and now many regular chain grocery stores feature gluten-free aisles. In addition, certain restaurants, like PF Chang’s, offer gluten-free menus. Even fast food chains and stadiums have caught on—Domino’s Pizza now advertises gluten-free pizza and many stadiums sell gluten-free snacks. While prices for gluten-free foods have come down due to increased supply, they are still quite expensive.

Vegetarian and Vegan Foods

The majority of people interested in healthier eating, as well as animal rights, have seen the horrific videos about the treatment of animals in conventional factory farms. If you haven’t seen them, simply do a search for factory farming and you will get pages upon pages of graphic images and videos from organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and others who have exposed the truth of what actually goes on in these facilities. These images and videos have successfully turned many former meat lovers into hardcore vegans.

Cruelty aside, these videos and images have also exposed the truth about many issues including:

  • The lack of sanitation in these facilities
  • The rampant spread of disease among the animals
  • How meat from diseased animals is still processed and allowed into the American food supply

The media also now focuses more on the many benefits of plant-based diets. Multitudes of books, doctors, celebrity nutritionists and endorsers, documentaries, and other forms of media illustrate how consuming less (or no) meat can reduce obesity and improve many health conditions.

So whether it’s for the love of animals, for fear of eating chemically-altered food from diseased animals processed in filthy conditions, or for the love of clean arteries, more and more people are choosing to ditch meat or animal products altogether and eat only plants.

Organic, All-Natural, Non-GMO

Awareness continues to spread about how toxic pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, steroids, and genetically-modified foods are to nearly every system of the human body. Accordingly, more people now choose to alter their families’ budgets in order to accommodate the lofty cost of organic, all natural, and non-GMO food  and other products.

Soy is Not a Healthy Alternative

Many vegan and vegetarian foods contain high contents of soy. Soy appears on food labels as many different names (soy protein, hydrolyzed soy, soy lecithin, etc.), and many mistakenly believe it is a healthy alternative to dairy and animal products.

The soy industry has convinced the general public that soy is healthy. They point to Asian cultures, which have regularly eaten soy for thousands of years and look how healthy they are! This is only part of the story. These cultures have indeed consumed soy for thousands of years in their traditional diets. Those who have maintained these traditional diets do have higher levels of health and longevity. However, those cultures do not drink soy milk, eat soy burgers, soy cheese, tofurky, or other processed foods using soy products as binders, fillers, and protein substitutes. They eat small quantities of traditionally fermented whole soy foods like tofu, miso, tamari, natto, and seitan—the key words being: small quantities, fermented, and whole.

The highly processed soy food-like substances that would-be health-conscious Americans now massively consume are not healthier choices for the human body than the foods they are attempting to replace. According to Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, “hundreds of epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory studies link soy to:

  • Malnutrition
  • Digestive distress
  • Thyroid dysfunction
  • Cognitive decline
  • Reproductive disorders
  • Infertility
  • Birth defects
  • Immune system breakdown
  • Heart disease
  • Cancer”

So What’s a Health-Conscious Person to Do?

Healthy eating is not necessarily about reading labels on packages. It’s more about avoiding the packages in the first place by choosing whole, real foods that you prepare yourself. Michael Pollan’s words “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” really sum it up. The “eat food” part refers to actual whole foods that are part of nature: foods that grow, run, swim, or fly. Chemically-altered food-like substances that sit in boxes on shelves for five years are not included in this description of food.

If you choose a gluten-free diet, eat whole grains that don’t contain gluten like quinoa, amaranth, millet, and buckwheat. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, don’t eat “veggie” burgers from box in the frozen section. Instead you can easily make your own from wonderful nutrient-rich plant foods like whole grains, mushrooms, beans, and chopped veggies, and bind them together with cooked grains like millet or quinoa. Don’t use soy milk as a substitute for dairy. It is healthier to get your calcium and vitamin D from plant sources and small amounts of sunlight. Instead of “healthy” sodas and sport drinks, just drink water or freshly brewed teas or fresh juices.

If you eat meat, research where your meat comes from and how it is processed. Look for the words “organic, pastured, grass-fed” for beef and lamb and look for “organic” and “pastured” for poultry. If this type of meat is too expensive or is not available, then you should either get the very best you can afford and consider reducing your meat intake.

If you have a busy schedule (and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t), learn to plan ahead. Make big batches and freeze meals in healthy portions so that the frozen foods you take to work are ones you made yourself with ingredients you can pronounce.

It’s a wonderful thing that more people want to live healthier lives. Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and other diets can be healthy. Reading food labels and knowing what the long words mean is a daunting task. Why not just avoid foods that need labels in the first place? That is the best way to start living a healthier life.

Health Food Infographic



Ingredients to Avoid

How to Read and Understand Food Labels

My roommate, who makes a concerted effort to eat well, brought home a pecan pie the other day. I looked at the label and wondered why in the world she bought it. The first ingredient was sugar, the second brown sugar—not cane juice, or even organic sugar—just sugar.

So I asked her how something so unhealthy ended up in our fridge. “It’s organic!” she said.
Processed foods are not required to identify GMO ingredients.

I didn’t bother to argue. I just looked closely at the label the next time I opened the fridge. It was made with organic eggs and organic wheat flour, but out of ten or twelve ingredients, those two were the only organic ones.  And this supposedly organic pie was made with partially hydrogenated oils!

The first thing to remember when it comes to reading labels is to read the whole thing. Ignore labels on the front of the packaging that say natural or organic. Read the actual ingredients. When it comes to processed foods, if it says it’s natural, ignore the claim. It means nothing. If it says it’s organic, it doesn’t have to be 100% organic unless it says it is. Remember processed foods can be labeled organic if only 80% of the ingredients are organic. And organic junk food is still junk food.

There are plenty of people who will argue about how you should limit calories, fats, sodium, and more. Our stance is a little different. We think you should eliminate processed foods altogether.  Why? Because they are dead foods, void of natural nutrition. Oh, they may be enriched with artificial vitamins and minerals, but what are you really eating?

Most of our processed foods include high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils (trans fats) and MSG. Avoid them all—always. And learn the multiple names they use for MSG to try and sneak it past you.

Big business has been able to shove their agenda through the FDA—genetically modified foods are not labeled. If you want to avoid GMOs, and we hope you do, don’t eat any processed food unless it is labeled 100% organic.  And remember—make processed foods the exception, not the rule. Fresh food is better for you and better for the environment. You’ll make your body happy if your diet consists of 80% or more fresh, raw, organic fruits and vegetables and you’ll find you aren’t throwing a ton of packaging into the landfill each year.

High fructose corn syrup and soy are very likely to be GMO foods.

So yeah—our best advice is to avoid the label issue altogether by avoiding that processed food. But if you are going to eat it, read the label carefully and choose wisely. Don’t pay too much attention to anything but the ingredients list. It’s not so important how many grams of saturated fat it has, it matters where the fat comes from (for instance, some saturated fats are very good for you, others are very bad). If you don’t understand any of the ingredients—pass. Buy something better. Go organic!

Here is a short list of Ingredients and Phrases to Avoid:

Feel free to add to the list in the comment section below!



Dangers in Cosmetics

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the new, seemingly natural products on the market—just walk down the beauty aisle of your grocery store or step into a Sephora. What’s not so clear is what’s genuinely better for our overall health. Organic products cost more—sometimes a lot more. Are they really worth the extra money?

PARABENS—As Bad as They Sound?

Parabens are used to extend the shelf-life of most of our beauty products, but having products that stick around for long periods of time may not be as desirable as you may think. According to the American Cancer Society, “Studies have shown that parabens, which are used as preservatives in many skin care products (like lotion, make-up, and sunscreen), can be absorbed through the skin. In 2004, a small study found traces of parabens in some samples of breast cancer tumors.” What’s more, parabens have estrogen-like properties, which cause your cells (cancerous or not) to grow and divide. However, it’s important to note that the study did not look at paraben levels in normal tissue.

More cause for concern lies in the fact that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act doesn’t authorize the FDA to approve cosmetic ingredients. Within the FDA, there is virtually no regulation of the ingredients in our makeup, hair care, or lotions. Instead, companiesvoluntarily test their products with the Cosmetic Industry Review (CIR) process. This is in stark contrast to the European Union that has some of the strictest cosmetic laws in the world. To put things in perspective, the EU Cosmetic Directive bans 1100 ingredients, whereas the FDA has banned only nine. In a 2008 statement given by Jane Houlihan, the Vice President of Research at the Environmental Working Group, she said, “Companies are free to use almost any ingredient they choose in personal care products, with no proof of safety required.”

PHTHALATES—The Truth About Plastics

Phthalates are found in plastics—plastic storage containers, water bottles, and some food packaging. They have become a part of our modern lifestyle. The Environmental Working Group has found, “Phthalate plasticizers [are] linked to birth defects of the male reproductive system.” The statement went on to say, “Over the past four years, scientists have published at least 10 epidemiology studies linking phthalates to birth defects in baby boys, reproductive problems in men, abdominal obesity, increased diabetes risk, thyroid problems, as well as asthma and dermal diseases in children.”

It should come as no surprise to learn that the EU has banned several types of phthalates, whereas none are banned in the U.S., though the evidence of the harmful effects phthalates have on the human body is very clear. Not only do these plasticizers interfere with human development, evidence also suggests these chemicals weaken bones, and current research is being done to determine whether or not phthalates are endocrine disrupters.

FRAGRANCES—Should We Avoid What Smells Good?

Who doesn’t want to use fabric softeners or dishwashing liquid that smells like lemons or lavender? The fragrance-free versions often seem bland in comparison. But a lot of people are highly sensitive to fragrances which should lead us to wonder, what’s in those fragrances? And more importantly, what are the effects of using fragrances on our skin, on our clothes, and in our cleaning products?

According to the Cancer Prevention Coalition, “Fragrances and perfumes in cosmetics, personal and household products are leading causes of allergy, sensitization, and irritation. Animal toxicity studies have found many to be hazardous. Fragrances are called ‘indoor air-pollutants’ by chemically sensitive individuals.”

Thousands of synthetic ingredients are used by the fragrance industry to create the perfumes and lotions we love to spritz and slather on. What’s more, fragranced products contain phthalates, which pose countless health concerns. In America, individual perfume ingredients don’t have to be listed on the product. Typically we only see “fragrance” on the label when in fact it may have taken twenty-five or more ingredients to make that one unique fragrance.

Is The Tide Turning?

Over the last few years there has been increased pressure on cosmetic companies to produce cleaner, safer products—and it looks like the companies are starting to listen. According to the Environmental Working Group, Whole Foods, the largest natural food retailer in the U.S., has disallowed the use of phthalates in products bearing its Whole Body Premium Standard Seal. It’s also worth noting that The Body Shop has already phased out many phthalates in its line of products.

But there is still more work to do. If you are interested in getting involved in the fight for better regulation of our cosmetic products, make a point of contacting your local government officials or state officials. Let them know cosmetic industry regulation is important to you and your families. Another way to get involved is to simply buy from companies that have taken measures to eliminate toxic chemicals. Look for products that are paraben-free and fragrance-free or better yet, 100% organic. And pay attention to the packaging of your foods and beauty products, which all too often contain phthalates. Look for glass containers. Remember, you can send a message with every dollar you spend.

For more information on product safety check out:

Healthystuff.org—A comprehensive website that allows you to search by brand to see what may be lurking in your apparel, children’s toys, and pet products. Healthystuff.org has tested thousands of products and keeps consumers informed of the latest news in consumer protection

Cosmeticdatabase.org—This site contains the Skin Deep database created by the Environmental Working Group. This database is very comprehensive—you search for a brand and you can immediately learn whether your product is considered to be a low hazard product or a high hazard product. You can also learn safer shopping tips and explore the frequently asked questions page, which offers an abundance of good information.



4 Types of Food to Avoid to Decrease Your Risk of Depression

Good food is essential to good health. A healthy diet is dense in nutrients, providing the building blocks for every metabolic process in the body, including the chemical processes involving neurotransmitters in the brain.

There are 4 types of foods that increase your risk of depression or worsen depression:

Fast Foods and Trans Fats

It comes as no surprise that multiple studies have concluded there is a definite link between fast food and depression. We have known for some time that physical health suffers from the typical junk food or fast food diet. Is it any wonder that brain function would suffer as well?

Fast foods are full of trans fats that pollute the body and are known to alter the normal electrical activity in the brain.

Commercial Baked Goods

Donuts, cakes, cookies, and breads often contain trans fats. But trans fats aren’t the only culprit with a strong correlation to depression in the typical junk food/processed food diet. High fructose corn syrup should be avoided as well.

High fructose corn syrup is a common ingredient in processed foods found on nearly every label. Studies are finding that there is a significant percentage of the population that suffers from carbohydrate malabsorption. For women, a combination of fructose malabsorption and lactose malabsorption results in a high correlation of depression due to decreased levels of tryptophan.

Sodas

Sodas and other sweetened drinks (check out the label on that cranberry or ruby red grapefruit bottle, and Gatorade) contain fructose corn syrup. (see above).

Alcohol

Alcohol is a depressant. Obviously, if you are depressed, ingesting a depressant is not a great idea. Enough said.

To decrease your risk of depression, avoid all trans fats and high fructose corn syrup and limit your alcohol intake.  Remember, what you eat directly affects how you feel, both physically and emotionally. Eat a healthy diet of 80% raw, organic vegetables and fruits.Your body and your brain will thank you.

Sources for this Article:



Homemade Calcium and Magnesium

Bonus – How to Eat Raw Eggs Safely

For decades, the need for Calcium and Magnesium for growing and maintaining a healthy body has been well established. Absorbing these nutrients isn’t so easy. Most mineral supplements come from inorganic matter that is not bioavailable. In fact, taking a calcium or a calcium magnesium supplement will often do you more harm than good.

raw egg shelledThe fact is that most supplements on the market are toxic. It doesn’t matter how many milligrams of calcium a supplement has if it causes kidney stones. And while supplementing your diet with calcium can rid the body of many common health ailments, taking the wrong kind of calcium overtaxes the body and can actually cause arthritis and many other degenerative diseases. The only inorganic Cal-Mag formula to date that I know of that benefits the human body comes from this lemon-egg recipe. All the rest are junk.

Lemon Egg Recipe – the best organic calcium supplementation

  1. Carefully place whole, clean, uncooked, uncracked, organic eggs in a clean wide-mouth jar or glass container. How many eggs is up to you, but the lemon juice needs to cover the eggs.
  2. Cover the eggs with freshly squeezed organic lemon juice (concentrated lemon juice is pasteurized and should never be used as a substitute).
  3. Cover the jar loosely and place it in the refrigerator. A few times during the day, gently – very gently – agitate the liquid in the jar. As the Calcium from the shells is leached by the lemon juice, bubbles will appear around the eggs.
  4. Approximately 44 to 48 hours later, when the bubbling has stopped, carefully remove the eggs from the jar, being sure not to break the egg membranes. Replace the lid tightly on the jar containing the liquid and shake the mixture. You now have “Lemon Egg”. I love to drink it straight or mix 2oz in my smoothies. It can also be used for recipes calling for lemon juice as well. If there is no more than twice as much lemon juice per egg volume I take a tablespoon to two of the lemon mixture and up to six if I don’t eat enough vegetables.

One whole medium sized eggshell yields about 750 – 800 mgs of elemental calcium plus other microelements, including but not limited to magnesium, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, sulphur, silicon, zinc,  (27 elements in total). The composition of an eggshell is very similar to that of our bones and teeth.

Calcium-magnesium is not the only homemade supplement you can make. Check out our Homemade Vitamin C article.

How to Eat Raw Eggs Safely

If you’re looking for a way to eat raw eggs safely, without the risk of salmonella, this recipe can double as egg safety protocol! The lemon juice kills the salmonella leaving you with just the egg itself (like in the picture). Great for smoothies and any other recipe that calls for raw eggs.

It should be noted, we do not recommend the consumption of factory farmed eggs under any circumstances, raw or cooked. Salmonella is not an issue in healthy eggs produced by healthy, trulycage-freee, organic chickens.

Alternatively, instead of discarding shells after cooking eggs, as long as the shells weren’t cooked (no boiled egg shells for this), you can put those in lemon juice as well (thank you AeRhee Lee at Healing Foods to Go).

egg calcium infograhic

 

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:


Homemade Vitamin C

Make your own vitamin C at home, and make it better than any store-bought vitamin C

Vitamin C Recipe

So you may not know that almost all of the vitamin C supplement manufacturers are making their vitamin C from genetically engineered corn. What! You exclaim. How am I supposed to get enough vitamin C into my family if I don’t buy store bought supplements? Answer: You make your own! What you are about to read is something that the giant pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to see.

Even the health food stores don’t want you to know about this secret. You can make your very own vitamin C supplement that is ten times better than anything you could buy in a store at NO EXTRA COST TO YOU!

Does it have a 1,000 mg of vitamin C per dosage? Nope. Does it have the USRDA amount per dosage? Not at all. Has it been approved by the FDA?  Absolutely not!

What homemade vitamin C does have is live enzymes that allow the vitamin C to be 100% assimilated into your body.  It has its own natural source of rutin, hesperidin, and bioflavonoids. It’s easily acquired, easy to make, and even tastes good, too. It’s just orange & lemon peels.

It’s that easy. Any organic orange or lemon peels left over from the fruit you  buy will do the trick.  Save all of your peels after you eat the inside of the fruit and cut them into thin strips. Place them on a plate on your dining room table and let them dry at room temperature for a couple of days until dry and crisp. You can also dehydrate the peels with a food dehydrator and then store them for about a year in a dry container. For consumption, one idea is to break up peels into smaller pieces and mix them with your favorite tea. This makes the tea taste great, but the downside to this approach is that heat destroys the enzymes. A better option is to place the peel strips into your coffee grinder and grind them into a powder (which won’t hurt the enzymes) and use to mix with your early morning smoothie. One rounded teaspoon will supply you with more organic vitamin C complex, rutin, hesperidin, and bioflavonoids than your body needs for the day, regardless of your size. And this homemade citrus peel powder mixed in your blender with some fresh organic apple juice tastes good too.

Check out these articles if you are looking for tips to boost your immune system, or heal from chemotherapy. Also, be sure to read up on Leaky Guts and Autoimmune Diseases.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading: