The Second Brain

The Second Brain

My first thought was that you might think I was about to address men!  LOL! But no!!  EVERYONE!!  Listen up!!  There is an old saying…..according to the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, the oldest written version of the saying “what you don’t know can’t hurt you” comes from 1576, in Petit Palace by G. Pettie. “So long as I know it not, it hurteth me not.”  I say…..”what you don’t know can/will KILL you”!!!!

What you don’t know about your gut, your second brain, can kill you or at least make you very sick.  Let’s understand together…….

Let’s define some terms.  Second brain – your gut. 

“ ‘Technically known as the enteric nervous system, the second brain consists of sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, which measures about nine meters end to end from the esophagus to the anus. The second brain contains some 100 million neurons, more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system’,  says  Michael Gershon, chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at New York–Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, an expert in the nascent field of neurogastroenterology and author of the 1998 book The Second Brain.   ‘Scientists were shocked to learn that about 90 percent of the fibers in the primary visceral nerve, the vagus, carry information from the gut to the brain and not the other way around,’ Gershon says.” (emphasis mine) By Adam Hadhazy  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-brain&page=2

The area from the top of your stomach all the way down to where waste comes out is your gut.  It has about the total ‘surface’ size of a tennis court, 2808 square feet. 

Digestion happens in the gut

Nutrients are absorbed from the gut

Immunity starts in the gut - Cutting-edge research is currently investigating how the second brain mediates the body's immune response; after all, at least 70 percent of our immune system is aimed at the gut to expel and kill foreign invaders.

If your gut is healthy, it will extend health and well being to the rest of the body.  If it is unhealthy, it can and will leak toxins, poisons and waste into the blood stream and toxins that can cross the blood brain barrier.  You can literally become sick all over!

Here is only a partial list of what comes from an unhealthy gut:

Dandruff

Psoriasis

Eczema

Candida – bad yeast over growth

Acid Reflux

Auto-immune diseases such as Type I diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Sjogren's Syndrome and Celiac disease.

Bowel ailments like Crohn’s disease, Leaky Gut syndrome, Irritable bowel syndrome, constipation.

Autism

Type 2 diabetes

Cancer

Is there a way to get and keep the second brain healthy?

YES!!  And not only yes, it is simple! 

First off, if the foods you eat are not nutrient dense, then you can literally starve yourself to death nutritionally by poor food choices.   Vegetables in the form that they were created are best.  Organically grown, fresh vegetables should comprise a major part of your diet.   Fermenting some of these vegetables is the very best you can do.  You need a good mix of fresh and fermented daily.  Leaving off white potatoes and rice until healed is also best and then only have them occasionally in the future.  Of course the best way to have fresh vegetables is raw or very lightly steamed or sautéed.  Precious, crucial-for-us enzymes are killed if the temperature of the vegetable rises above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.   That’s one more reason to have fermented veggies; that method preserves not only the enzymes but increases the vitamin content of the vegetable and makes the minerals completely bioavailable to your body.  The vegetables were created on the 5^th day to feed every living creature that was created on the 5^th & 6^th days.  I firmly believe what we need to have ultimate health was created and we need to get back to that way of eating.

I think milk kefir from raw goat or cow milk is essential.  The dairy is changed by the kefir-ing process which makes formally lactose intolerant people able to enjoy and benefit.  Most of people’s difficulties with milk are actually difficulties that pasteurization causes not what is in milk.  Milk kefir is a probiotic rich drink.  Other essential dairy products include raw butter and cheese.  The benefits of kefir daily are astounding!

Fish, free range chicken and grass fed beef should be eaten in moderation, about 4 ozs per meal (more if it’s fish, kosher of course).  It should be the highest quality you can get without antibiotics or hormones.

It’s best to stick with berries rather than high sugar fruit until your gut is well healed.

Including good fats from unrefined organic coconut oil, coconut milk, raw cultured butter and other nut oils is important.  Remember, use coconut oil for sautéing and olive oil for non-cooking, like for salad dressings etc.  Heating can dramatically change oils into something that is not good for you, so be sure of what you are using if using higher heat.  Coconut oil is best for higher heat.  It’s all I use when making my famous over-easy eggs. 

If we cut out grains, especially wheat, all sugar, all processed foods and go back to the way foods were eaten for thousands of years, we will achieve optimum health.  I have proven it in my own life and I get emails from people who are proving it in theirs.   I read in books story after story from others who have found the same path in food, the ancient path, to be best.

It is crucial to our health and longevity to increase the health of our inner eco-system, our second brain.  All we have to do is increase our probiotic food and drink intake, our fresh vegetable intake and cut out grains, sugar and man-made pseudo foods. If we do all we can take care of our second brain it will cause our entire body optimum health and we can enjoy long, healthier lives!!  Just think of the money you will save in health care and other products you don’t need!!!!! 

Very good article in this magazine! Snippets from Scientific American June 2012 issue “The Ultimate Social Network” by Jennifer Ackerman

Bacterial cells in the human body outnumber human cells 10 to one.  (you really want that bacteria to be ‘friendly’!)

When people think of microbes in the body, they usually think of pathogens.  Saris Mazmanian says that’s because of our skewed view of the world.

Friends with benefits – Scientists have known for years that gut bacteria break down certain components of food that would otherwise be indigestible and would pass out of the body unused. Only in the past few years have they learned that there are two species in particular that play major roles in both digestion and the regulation of appetite.

… the loss of humanity’s indigenous [gut] bugs have forced rates of autoimmune diseases and obesity to shoot up…

Water Kefir and the Beet Goes On!

I am racing to get this posted!  The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!  That’s an old, old saying but for me so true.

I wanted to experiment with young coconut water and making kefir out of it!  Even good, healthy websites can have the same slick advertising and hype that processed advertisers do and you have to be careful not to be taken in by claims and products you don’t really need. 

There is no substitute for foods the way the Creator created them!!

Young coconut water kefir has only one downside for me and that’s expense.  You can get the young Thai coconuts in the store in larger urban places and you can order the fresh coconut water from here.

Young Coconut Water (fresh)

This is where I got mine and it comes highly recommended by Donna Gates of Body Ecology.  You can get coconut water in the store that is “from concentrate” and “pasteurized.” Please understand that this is not going to give you the full benefits as fresh will.  Anytime something is pasteurized it is heated to a high degree and enzymes and other beneficial components are destroyed.

I bought water kefir grains and you can get some from this very reputable seller:  KefirGrains4U.blogspot.com

You do not add extra sugar because the young coconut water has plenty of its own and the kefir grains love it!!  It does not taste like coconut or at least not the coconut taste that we are accustomed to here.  It is very nice and light and refreshing.  You can add other fruits or unsweetened juice to flavor it up a bit.

Given the benefits of the young coconut water without being kefir-ed it’s no wonder why it’s impressive.  Making it kefir with it makes it soar!! Here are listed benefits: 

We love the coconut water for its NATURALLY occurring electrolytes.   It has five essential electrolytes: calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium. It has 15X more potassium than most sport drinks in the market.  http://www.exoticsuperfoods.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=1

“Coconut water is a superfood filled with minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, enzymes, and growth factors. It is low in fat and has only a fifth of the sugar found in most fresh fruit juices. One of the most remarkable characteristics of coconut water is its chemical profile and mineral content. The primary minerals or electrolytes in coconut water are essentially the same as those found in human blood.”  http://www.celticseasalt.com/Coconut_Water_for_Health_and_H-W210C377.aspx

It appears to have a beneficial, cleansing effect on the endocrine system (adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, ovaries). Women find that their periods are cleaner and healthier; some who had experienced early menopause have found this important monthly cleansing returning again. It increases energy and gives you an overall feeling of good health.  http://bodyecology.com/articles/coconutkefir.php

Please DON’T MISS these awesome videos!!!  Even if you don’t know someone who has autism or even know what autism is, DON’T MISS watching these information PACKED videos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLP0Ijo2CK4  There are 6 videos and when one is finished the next one comes up.

My report to you is that I loved young coconut water kefir and I did feel good drinking it.  It is expensive.  I paid $35.00 for a case of 12 11 oz bottles shipped frozen.  The shipping was $30.00 because it’s heavy!  So I basically paid $5.58 per 11 oz bottle.  That is too expensive for me!  No way could I do that for more than just this experiment. 

However, for someone with special health needs or certainly an autistic child, I would move heaven and earth to get this stuff and make kefir from it.  I believe the proofs offered substantiate the benefits.  For the rest of us, I believe milk kefir is extremely beneficial and crucial to our daily lives.

Coconut water kefir on the left and fresh young coconut water on the right

Water Kefir

I was left with an abundance of water kefir grains.  My biggest fear of water kefir is that you have to use sugar to make it.  Precious ones, sugar is poison.  Please watch this amazing and important video if you don’t believe me.  Sugar the Bitter Truth  

A person gets so much added sugar in their daily lives and never even knows it that fruit then does not even taste sweet to them anymore.  You can change your taste buds but it takes patience and change, long term.  Hopefully if you are reading this, it’s what you are after.

To make water kefir beneficial and low sugar, you can use more grains than the standard ratio and let it ferment a little longer.  That way you can be sure that the grains ate up most of the sugar.  Then you can flavor it with REAL fruit that is naturally low in sugar like berries.

Let’ sface it, water kefir alone has very little benefits except for the probiotics.  There are no huge amounts of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in water or sugar.  The way you get a good benefit is to add real fruit after it’s done and let it sit on the counter, bench as Channi says, about 12-18 hours longer.  The real fruit then lends the good vitamins and minerals to the kefir and its natural sugar content goes down a bit in the process and you get a delightful, refreshing fizzy drink!!

Fill to withing 4 inches of the top a clean one quart jar with filtered or spring water (water kefir grains LOVE minerals!  I use a little Crazy Water #3 in mine about ¾ cup.  Crazy Water may be a local thing)

¼ cup or a tiny bit less of raw organic sugar (mine is called Turbinado and has the molasses left in which is full of good minerals)

Completely dissolve the sugar in the water.

Place 5-7 Tablespoons water kefir grains in the water and I place a coffee filter on top with a rubber band and leave for 24 hours.

It will be very bubbly.  I strain the grains and place in new sugar water. 

I take my newly made water kefir an put in sliced strawberries or crushed blueberries or unsweetened organic fruit concentrate like cranberry. 

Water kefir grains can move up and down like a lava lamp!

I put a tight lid on and leave for 12-18 hours.  I try to wait until I see a little white foam on top which tells me it is really fizzy.  I love fizzy!

 Now my BIG problem is trying not to drink too much of it……it is heavenly!!  I also mix it with my milk kefir for an “ice cream soda” effect.  Super yummy!!!!

So, all this said, I will probably give up water kefir making after the hot summer is over.  I still believe firmly in the milk kefir!  Accept no substitutes!

The Beet Kvass Goes on!

Ooooo my awesome sister Shirah makes beet kvass and it is delicious and nutritious!!  We have added this to our daily routine.  We have 4 ozs when we first get up and then 4 ozs in the afternoon.

Beets are in the top 10 of vegetable SUPERFOODS.  Here is why:

Beets contain sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron and phosphorous! They are also considered a fiber food and contain vitamins A and C as well as niacin! You can't beat that!

Beets contain folic acid which is necessary for the production and maintenance of new cells. This is especially important for pregnant woman or anyone undergoing physical healing. Many people take folic acid in the form of herbal supplements, but if you eat beets, you won't need to! It is always better for the body to receive it's nutrients and vitamins through food over a supplement because it is like mainlining the natural source into your bloodstream. The benefits are far superior and faster with real food over powder mixes or pills.

 Studies have shown that beets guard against cancer, especially colon cancer.

 Medical studies have also shown that including beets in your diet helps protect a body against heart disease.

The root is rich source of phytochemical compound Glycine betaine. Betaine has the property of lowering homocysteine levels in the blood. Homocysteine, one of highly toxic metabolite, promotes platelet clot as well as atherosclerotic-plaque formation, which is otherwise can be harmful to blood vessels. High levels of homocystiene in the blood results in the development of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and peripheral vascular diseases.

Raw beets are an excellent source of folates; contains about 109 mcg/100 g (Provides 27% of RDA). However, extensive cooking may significantly depletes its level in food. Folates are necessary for DNA synthesis in the cells. When given during peri-conception period folates can prevent neural tube defects in the baby.

It contains significant amounts of vitamin-C, one of the powerful natural antioxidant, which helps body scavenge deleterious free radicals one of the reasons for cancers development.

The root is also rich source of niacin (vit.B-3), pantothenic acid (vit.B-5), pyridoxine (vit.B-6) and carotenoids, and minerals such as iron, manganese, and magnesium.

In addition, the root indeed has very good levels of potassium. 100 g fresh root has 325 mg of potassium or 7% of daily requirements. Potassium lowers heart rate and regulates metabolism inside the cells by countering detrimental effects of sodium.

The beauty of making beet kvass is many fold.  You have delicious beets to eat which the fermentation process increases all the above values.  You can use the beets to make up to 3 batches of kvass before you need to eat the beets!  You can then put them on salads or in soup or stew.

Beet kvass is a proven purifier of blood and the liver.

Special note before you start: I have only had a few times that I have fermented something and it grew mold on top.  This is a harmless situation in any ferment and all you do is lift off the mold and top vegetables and the rest of your jar is very safe to consume.  Every time my sister makes beet kvass it gets mold on top and so far the same is true for me too.  I found a little tip to help that.  Start with a jar that has been sterilized in boiling water.  I always start my ferments in a super clean jar but this extra step will be good insurance against anything that might want to grow and the problem seems to happen particularly with beets.

Take 3-4 beets and cut the tops off.  These greens are delicious and worthy of your salad!!

Wash them and if it makes you feel better, scrape them but there is really no need to peel.  Cut them in chunks.  DO NOT SHRED THEM! 

Place them in your jar and fill to within 2-3 inches of the top with filtered or spring water and 2-3 teaspoons of salt and 1-3 Tablespoons of whey.   You do not have to use whey!

Let stand for 2-3 days.  They will have bubbles and pressure on the lid when you open the jar.  As always your ferment depends on the room temperature and should make easily in 2-3 days at 72 degrees room temp.

When done, strain the beet kvass through a fine mesh plastic strainer with a layer or two of cheesecloth in it.  If you have some mold, lift it off first, everything below is safe.  You can rinse your beets in filtered water and I cut them a second time to expose more surfaces and start over with the same beets!!  I think that is so amazing!!

You will be so happy you added beet kvass to your daily fermented drink!!

Toxic to Non-Toxic

I am looking forward to so many major changes coming up in the next 6 months!! It is going to be an amazing time for my husband and me!!!
One of the major changes that will take place has already started to progress well!  Also, my husband and I determined that we will try to go as chemical FREE in our home as possible.  I have gone through the house with reckless abandon and thrown things out!!
I was happy to lighten our home of 'stuff'.  We have been very BIG the last few years on getting rid of 'stuff' and it has improved our quality of life so much!  So being able to get rid of chemical laden products adds to the joy.


Chemical toxins in our daily lives have grown exponentially and so have their dangers.  I think that because we don't just keel over dead from something, we get it in our minds that it's not really harming us.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  It's called "cumulative danger"!


Please see:  http://www.toxicbodies.org/
Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the Legacy of DES explores why our environment has become saturated with synthetic chemicals that disrupt hormones, and asks what we can do to protect human and environmental health. Since World War II, these chemicals have penetrated into every aspect of our bodies and ecosystems, yet our government has largely failed to regulate them. 
"It jars the reader when Nancy Langston declares the bodies of American women to be toxic waste sites, but that is precisely what she does.  Since World War II, the United States has saturated foods, ecosystems, and bodies with endocrine-disrupting chemicals, with little regulation. These chemicals haunt American landscapes like ghosts. Langston knows these ghosts all too well, and a frightening personal story also haunts these pages. Toxic Bodies masterfully weaves the historical with the personal, forcing the reader to wonder what is mutating in his or her own body." Brett L. Walker, Regent's Professor of History and Department Chair, Montana State University, Bozeman


I understand there are things that are out of our control. The ground water is saturated with chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Our tap water is full of chemicals. The air is polluted. There are things we can control however to try to minimize our exposure.

Please see: http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/toxicbody.html
"Besides my breath, researchers at Harvard's School of Public Health examined my blood, hair, urine, toenails and bones. It's all in the name of the emerging science of body burden, a concept referring to the amount of chemicals that accumulate in the human body. 
As it turns out, I am polluted. Everyone is to some degree. But as the list of toxic chemicals identified in people continues to grow, scientists are trying to figure out what the implications are for human health. 
"It is alarming," Professor John Spengler says. "This is not meant to be settling information. I think if more people wake up to this fact, the better we are going to be . . . and the more demanding we're going to be of our governments and our industries." 
An estimated 35,000 chemicals are in commercial use in Canada and more than twice as many in the United States. The national American government registers an average of 2,000 newly synthesized chemicals each year. 
Cosmetics have at least 5,000 chemicals; more than 3,200 are added to food. As many as 1,010 chemicals are used in the production of 11,700 consumer products, and about 500 chemicals are used as active ingredients in pesticides, according to Environmental Protection Agency data cited by the Environmental Working Group, based in Washington, D. C." 


From:http://www.womenlivingnaturally.com/articlepage.php?id=159
Recommendations to consider in creating a change towards better health include:

• Reduce the total toxic load by removing toxins from your environment and offending foods, cosmetics, cleaning supplies and additives from your home and diet.   Here is a list of ingredients:   http://www.hallgold.com/toxic-chemical-ingredients-directory.htm

• Restore your body's pH to its normal balance so that cellular systems begin to function normally.   Adding cultured dairy and fermented foods with their intense healing  probiotics is a major way to support and improve these functions. 

• Begin a supervised detoxification program aimed at removing toxins stored in body tissues.

• Take a sauna whenever possible so that you sweat out toxins that are stored in the body's fat.

• Support the endocrine, immune, and liver system.  Adding cultured dairy and fermented foods with their intense healing  probiotics is a major way to support and improve these functions. 

• Begin a program of stress management.

• Restore gastrointestinal function.   Adding cultured dairy and fermented foods with their intense probiotics is a major way to support and improve these functions. 

• Detoxification programs that attempt to lower the body's level of toxic substances are an important means of improving health and eliminating fatigue.

Here are some things we are doing:


By the nature of the blog you see we are using major probiotic, organic foods!!  
We are not eating processed foods, wheat or grains or sugar.  Our health has improved in a major way!


Water
I'll start simply but MAJORLY important, water.  We have a large concern with fluoride.   
Please check this out: http://poisonfluoride.com/pfpc/index.html  
We have just purchased a Big Berkey water filtration system.    http://www.berkeyfilters.com/
It was a major expense for us but we believe the most important step/sacrifice we needed make.
 "The Berkey water filter is so powerful it is classified as a water purifier, this classification shows that the Berkey far outperforms the standard water filter. The portable Berkey can be used to filter non-potable or unhealthy water in situations where electricity and pressure are not available. For normal everyday water filtering applications from your faucet or for challenging filtration environments like wells, rivers and lakes, Berkey is the most flexible and adaptable filtering system available."


Natural face cream, soaps and other wonderful things
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CountryFolkSoap    These are my very FAVORITES!  I LOVE the "Face Gook" face moisturizing cream and I love the lotions and colognes and her soap is great too!!


Goat Milk Soap
Goat Milk soap from home grown Nubian goats.  Lot's good things and lot's of love go into these soaps!!
http://www.ganedensoaps.com/zencart/


Until you have your own goats and can make your own.
http://goatmilkstuff.com/
This site also has laundry soap if you are too busy or not inclined to make your own.  No more store bought for me.  Their's have rave reviews from mommies of grass stained kids!  


My laundry soap recipe is here 
http://kulturedkaraite.blogspot.com/p/healthful-things.html

White and Apple Cider Vinegar
Check this out!!!!  http://kulturedkaraite.blogspot.com/p/healthful-things.html


Hydrogen Peroxide
http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/
I will be using hydrogen peroxide to clean with in my kitchen and bathroom.  For cents on the dollar it will be cheaper and is completely safe when used properly.


Baking Soda
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/care2/4/40-fantastic-uses-for-baking-soda.html
WOW!!  Fantastic ideas here and so safe!!  I will be trying many of these!  Be careful in brushing your teeth with baking soda and try not to swallow any.....you really can become to overly alkaline and that's not good either!!


Most importantly, do your homework.  Don't be duped by slick ads, wording and other ploys to simply get your money.  Even some of the "best" (organic, whole, natural) are still in business to make money......yours!!  Never forget that.  You can live much more simply, cheaply and effectively with more simple and less costly products that serve many purposes.


I hope you have as much fun as I have getting rid of harmful products and methods and finding the joys in simplicity!!

Kefir and other Baby Steps

Returning, rediscovering, journey back to simplicity, whatever you call it there is something going on in a lot of people’s lives taking them on a journey.  There are spiritual journeys, and health journeys and journeys of rediscovery.   One can see it on blogs, hear it in conversations, and almost feel it in the air!  People are taking back control of their lives and their outcomes with whole foods, health practices, spirituality, among others, by implementing and embracing older, tried and true methods.

I think people have begun to see that faster, slicker, more chemical use, less care for the planet or our bodies is not working out well and will not continue to do so for the long haul going forward.  We need more simplicity, less chemicals, a real paradigm shift back in time to a more holistic approach.

Some folks ask “I want to do so much differently than I do now but I don’t know where to start?”  Any paradigm shift is major and not easy.  So my advice is; Start Slowly!   

Add one thing and lose one thing.  Make this per month, a week, whatever you think you handle in your busy life.

For example; when we first started, we got some store bought kefir.  It was plain and organic and we wanted to get a ‘feel’ for the taste.   We did not know at the time that it is not made with kefir grains but a powder starter that has less lactic acid bacteria in it than what is made with kefir grains. We are still gaining education daily!

We also purchased “Bubbies®” sauerkraut which is in the refrigerated case and is full of live cultures!! 

Bubbies $5.89        Mimi's (Deb) $3.49

The first things we got rid of were juices, canned and packaged soups.

As we ran out of ketchup, I made lacto-fermented ketchup. 

As we ran out of mayonnaise, I made lacto-fermented mayonnaise.

 

We did one thing at a time.  When we ran out of Bubbies®….we promptly bought another jar!!  LOL!!  I then set about to make my own.

As we went to the store each week we made it a rule not to bring home anything that Yehovah did not create in the form He created it.  I am sorry to disappoint some of you but there were no Doritos® bushes in the garden!!   I started looking for things we liked in ‘how to’ websites for “knock-off” recipes and found I could get the recipe and then make it ‘whole’, make it my way!!  

We added nuts as snacks (no more than a handful a day!) and cut up carrots, cucumbers and celery to use for the dips I was beginning to make with kefir cheese after we started making our own kefir.   Also we LOVE hummus and I make that lacto-fermented as well.   You can make salsa and guacamole the same way.  Not only will it add probiotic goodness to you but will last much longer in the fridge.

I began to use my crock-pot a lot more!!  Roasts, chicken, soups stews, anything that would incorporate whole foods and nothing “processed”.  Then when I got home from work, most of dinner was done and I could also have a fresh salad and open a jar of our favorite fermented vegetable.  Easy peasy!

For us, it was important that we didn’t try so hard  to replace the things in our life that we had been eating but to actually realize how bad they are and set them out of our lives for good.  An example might be; not to find a way to make orange cake in a healthier manner but to eat more real oranges!  Eat foods as they were created!  I have to say, pet peeve time, there is a practice some folks have of replacing the pork products they used to eat with things like “turkey bacon”.  That has always floored me and doesn’t make any sense to me?  Now that one abides by kosher dietary practice and no longer eats pork, one somehow skirts or gets around the command by having “turkey” bacon?  That seems very wrong to me, like saying, I’m going to have my bacon and I’ll show you!  It’s just my opinion but why try to find a substitute?  Why not just put it out of your life instead of seemingly protesting God?  Just me, my opinion.  Also, I looked up the chemical and other content of turkey bacon and there is so much more bad stuff in it used to process it that it would be so scary to eat!!!!  It is now an established fact that nitrites in processed meats cause cancer!

Taste Buds

Can we retrain our taste buds?  YES!

“For those accustomed to snacking on Doritos and heading to the local McDonald’s for dinner, the natural sweetness in bananas can be hard to detect or even be unsatisfying. Jeannie Houchins, MA, RD says people are instead training themselves to eat certain foods that may not be what the body needs. “Employing an elimination diet where one removes highly processed foods and reintroduces foods in their most natural state can reverse this habit. Eating whole, ripe fruits and vegetables are good examples,” she suggests.

Blatner finds that her clients who are hooked on processed foods often lose their appreciation for the natural flavors in whole foods. “For example, fruit is naturally sweet, but these patients often lose their appreciation for this more natural, subtle fruit sweetness because they are looking for that ‘hyper sweet’ taste they find in processed, refined, artificial foods,” she says.   To successfully retrain clients’ palates, Blatner uses the following three techniques:

• increase availability and accessibility by purchasing more wholesome foods and keeping them easy to grab;

• practice patience and persistence by repeating exposure to healthy foods daily; and

• try flavor-flavor training by pairing un-liked foods with liked flavors to authentically start liking un-liked foods.

“For the fruit example, I would have patients buy more fruit and keep it easy to grab, aim to eat 2 cups of fruit every day, and experiment with fruit-based desserts such as broiled bananas with a drizzle of honey, grilled peaches with a dollop of low-fat yogurt, and baked apples with cinnamon,” Blatner says.

“There is a saying I use when working with patients: ‘The more you eat something, the more you want it.’ So if you eat lots of fast-food hamburgers and fries, you want more of them,” she adds. “But on the other hand, if you begin to eat lots of salads, you will soon crave salads.”      http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/092208p54.shtml

Our taste buds have changed dramatically in the last 6 months and it didn’t take that long for it to happen either! 

THE Goal

The goal of vibrant health and longevity CAN be yours!!  It is never too late!!   You are in control of what you put in your mouth and it will be for your good or your detriment! 

Even if in the beginning when you make small changes and you don’t like the tastes of different things, hang in there, add fruit or Nu Natural Stevia, do some things to help until your tastes change.  Be Persistant!  It takes time and the value at the end is so worth the uphill climb!!

Do the very best you can!

If you can’t buy organic fruits and vegetables, do the best you can.  Wash them well and in some cases dip in hot water to remove pesticides.

People say they can’t afford to buy organic foods.  What you can’t afford is Prescription medicines!!  You can’t afford to miss work!!  You can’t afford to not be in the best shape possible for possible harder times ahead!!!!

Your health/longevity is in YOUR hands!!  Take it back from the slick companies whose advertising and processed foods are detrimental to your health.  Don’t become a slave to Big Pharma if you can possibly help it.  Of course there are situations where prescription meds are a must but for health issues that can be reversed, which most can with time and positive changes, that’s what we should striving toward. 

Pennies a day   versus  DOLLARS a day!!!

Make sure your water is a good as possible.  Avoid plastic bottles and all other plastic materials.

Try to reduce chemical uses in your home cleaning routines by switching to natural alternatives.  (See the page tab “Healthful Things” on this blog for more ideas coming soon).

The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you find yourself.
Mark Caine

Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.
William James

Whatever you plant now you will harvest later! 

Unknown

You Are Going to Get Sick

What???
    

Deb!  You are trying to get me healthy and NOW you tell me I will get sick?!?!?!?! 

While I can’t guarantee you will get sick, I almost can. 

When a person starts drinking kefir, eating fermented veggies and cutting out wheat and sugar, there can be a die-off of bad gut fungus/yeast/bacteria.  This is a good thing but you can get sick from it!   This is called “Herxheimer’s Reaction”, named for the man that discovered it.

“The Herxheimer reaction was first described by an Austrian dermatologist Jarisch Adolf Herxheimer working in Vienna and Innsbruck in 1895 and shortly after this, confirmed by his brother Karl Herxheimer also a dermatologist working in Frankfort.

It is a phenomenon that results when there is an intensification of the disease symptoms and often an expansion of similar symptoms to other places all of a temporary nature, after which the patient is improved or well. Often it appears to some as if they have the flu. The symptoms of the Herxheimer Reaction can be most severe. Usually die off lasts only a few hours, though it can last several days, and may, in severe cases, be maintained for weeks. These symptoms can discourage not only the ill person, but also the doctor, therapist, or anyone who is in close relationship to the patient.  The Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction (referred to as "Herx" often) is believed to be a reaction caused by organisms (bacteria) dying off and releasing toxins into the body faster than the body may comfortably handle it.”  http://www.earthtym.net/ref-herxheimer.htm (underline emphasis mine)

The good bacteria in probiotic drink and foods, replace and kill off the bad bacteria in your gut and, depending on how badly you have them, determine how sick you will get.   Good news, eh?  It actually is good news for you!  A few days of discomfort or even worse will be worth it in the long run.   This die-off can cause everything from a bad day to severe flu-like symptoms for up to 3 days, in some cases longer.  

You may have no symptoms of bad gut fungus/yeast/bacteria but it does not mean they are not there.  If you have skin problems, dandruff, occasional nail fungus or even much worse, leaky gut syndrome or irritable bowel syndrome, or even simply cravings for sugar or bread, you can be sure you have an overgrowth of the baddies that needs to be conquered.   Within a week or two of introducing cultured drink and foods and eliminating wheat, grains and sugar will net you the Herxheimer reaction.  This way, you know its working!  If you are not changing what you eat, you probably will get no reaction.

“Mutated Candida produces 79 toxins according to Vitamin Research Products Inc journal (3/99Vol.13, #3). Sugar activates candida metabolism and some of its by-products are neurotoxins such as formaldehyde, alcohol and acetlyaldehyde. One's nervous system can become confused during candida infestation due to specific neurotoxins. Your symptoms may get worse before they improve.”     http://www.earthtym.net/ref-herxheimer.htm (underline emphasis mine)

Nothing to fear just drink plenty of water; avoid grains, sugar, and high sugar fruit like the plague!  Drink lots of kefir! 
Healing Crisis
But there is more!  If you really change your lifestyle/eating habits to a more whole food approach, leaving out grains and sugar, you can go through what is known as a “Healing Crisis.”  This is very interesting because it’s very good but can be very scary all at the same time! 
When one changes their lifestyle, they expect life to get better!  And it does but we also pay for our past.  That old saying, there is a pay day, has so much truth to it!  Let me give you an example. 
Let’s say you have found the perfect old table.  It is made of hardwood, well made and old.  Through the years the various owners have stained it with different stains and painted it all sorts of different colors to match times and styles.  When you get this table, you want to restore it to its natural beauty.  You want to take it down to the wood and stain it and make it beautiful again to live in your home and maybe even pass down to children and grandchildren.
When you begin to restore the table, it is easy to see to the layers and layers that are on it and they are from last to first.   This called “Herings Law”.  This is exactly how your Healing Crisis will happen. 

“Herings Law states that healing will occur “in reverse order as the symptoms have appeared in the body.”   What this means is that during the cleansing process, symptoms of illnesses that you have had in the past will return.  They will resurface in the reverse order in which they occur, all the way back to childhood.  If you had an infection a year ago, you will re-experience the symptoms, especially if they were suppressed with antibiotics or other drugs.”

                                                            “Herings Law”‘ – page 66 – “Healing Crisis” by Bruce Fife

The layers of toxins, fat and yuck that are left in your body from previous years of illness/disease, bad eating and toxin exposure will begin to be stripped away by your healthy new lifestyle of whole foods.   The human body has an AMAZING ability to heal itself, if we will allow it!

Unfortunately when this healing crisis takes place, what is our first reaction?  Run to the doctor.  What happens then is that the symptoms are treated with expensive drugs.  It is time we learn the difference in healing crisis and disease crisis!!
First of all I cannot say it any better than Bruce Fife does in his book “Healing Crisis”.  I urge you to read this book and understand that when we go back to the Ancient path in eating and living, we do the very best for ourselves that we can. 
So let me share my personal experience with you.  I was feeling good!  Back in September 2011 we changed our lifestyle to what I call the Ancient path.  We are trying to eat foods the way our ancestors would have eaten them and if we can’t, then we avoid it.  Let me give you an example.  In the case of eating an orange, the orange is full of fiber and nutrients that were designed by the Creator to do your body GREAT!  The whole orange has a Glycemic Index value of 40 and when you eat it, it has a Glycemic Load on your blood sugar level of 4.  Both of these numbers are excellent!  However, when we innovate and juice that orange, then the Glycemic Index jumps up to 50 and the Glycemic Load jumps to 14.  This is enough to trigger a bad insulin response and that orange juice can potentially be stored immediately as fat!!  YIKES!  Not to mention you do not get the benefit of all the fiber and other nutrients that orange has.  That’s what insulin does in your body; it responds to sudden blood sugar spikes to tame them and then make that easily storable as fat.  It’s interesting because the body’s preferred fuel is fat but if there is enough sugar it will burn that first and store the rest of that sugar as fat.  We have upped our intake of fat in using coconut oil, canned coconut milk, avocados, and roasted nuts (never raw! because of the presence of phytic acid).  I am losing weight by doing this and my husband is staying healthy and slim.  If you shoot your blood sugar up enough times, it will eventually cause what is known as insulin resistance (it takes more and more to do the job) which will cause you weight gain for sure and diabetes if not careful!!
This in turn causes build up in the body that your body’s cells ‘remember’ and they want to strip it away like the layers on the table. 
I will sadly admit to my bad food ways, my ill health through the years and generally not taking as good a care of myself as I should have.  I did start about 12-13 years ago trying for better ways but I never stuck with any one thing long.  After putting together all that I learned/experienced over the years and finally seeing the Ancient path more clearly, more fully, I have finally found something so simple and so good that it’s easy to stick with!!  Whole food as the Creator created!!  The Ancient path in food/health.
Let me start backwards as this is how the Healing Crisis starts.  In 2010 I became very ill almost continuously.  It was awful.  I didn’t realize it at the time but I think now it had a lot to do with my husband working in Afghanistan for a while.  It was stressful for both of us but I didn’t know the extent.  I was just then finding out about fermented foods and wanted to try them but I just became too sick and it seemed like I stayed sick.  Since I didn’t have to cook for us, I took a short route most of the time and it was unhealthy.  We mended our ways in September 2011 and have been enjoying this simple lifestyle ever since.
Just recently I became VERY sick.  Sicker than I remember even in 2010!  Since we have changed our lifestyle so much in the last six months I was a bit puzzled but got out my Healing Crisis book.

“The healing crisis is a product of natural laws.  It comes only when you do the things that promote good health.  The body was programmed to function in harmony with the laws of nature to maintain optimal health.”

“Let’s say someone has been on a natural health program for six months and becomes “sick,” (this is ME!) how can you tell if it is a disease crisis or a healing crisis?  If the person has been removing toxins and diseased tissues for six months and replacing them with strong healthy cells, the body is stronger and healthier than it has been.  The channels of elimination have improved.  (kefir will do that for you!) The immune system has improved (not been sick since last year!) The person has more energy.  …the crisis he encounters is a healing crisis.”                                                Healing Crisis vs. Disease Crisis – pg 72-73 – Healing Crisis by Bruce Fife.    

                                                                                    (emphasis and parenthesis mine)                      

Also, a big clue is that the elimination comes on suddenly unlike catching a cold or sore throat which you may feel for a day or so before it actually is full blown misery.  So six months into eating and living better I woke up with a bad sore throat, runny nose, a little diarrhea and lots of vomiting…suddenly!  LOT’S!   Did I say I threw up a lot?   All of my body eliminators were working OVERTIME!   I even ran some fever (a way to eliminate through the skin).  It is interesting to note that I tried to drink a little kefir, yes a milk product with fever and vomiting and it was the only thing I could keep down!!  I didn’t push it though.  Just enough to keep my strength and good gut flora going. Did I mention I threw up a lot?

                                                                          This is my story and I am sticking to it  

“…for a healing crisis to develop, the organs have to reach a state of integrity where they can accomplish the functions for which they were designed.  Every organ has become healthier, and elimination has reached and improved level of efficiency.  (did I mention I threw up a lot?)  They may not be completely healthy yet but they are working better than they had before.  When all organs are strong enough to do the job of elimination, toxins will be purged.  You may experience several healing crisis and feel better and better after each one.”                 

                 Healing Crisis vs. Disease Crisis – pg 74-75 – Healing Crisis by Bruce Fife.

                                                                                                      (emphasis and parenthesis mine)

This crisis of mine has netted me weight loss, toxin and other yucky stuff loss and though it was tough for 8 days, I am very thankful that each time nets me greater health!! 

We were created in a glorious way to self-heal and with all we need food-wise to maintain good health.  How far have we gotten away from that path?  So today, start shopping only the perimeter of your grocery store!  Don’t go down the aisles!   Choose whole natural food as the Creator created it and eat it in the form in which it was created.

Happy detoxing!!

                                   “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine your food”  - Hippocrates




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