Pinterest is bad for your health

It's not Pinterest's fault that your friends are pinning junk foods constantly.

Yeah, I know its fun and all, but some people constantly pin some horribly unhealthy food and then you are just sitting there, not moving, looking at it, re pinning it and wanting to eat it.  I would suggest removing all of your friends that will not stop posting things like "rolo cake bars" and "homemade twix".  What kinds of friends are these anyway?  There is a reason I pick on Pinterest Compulsive Dessert Pinners.  I have one simple diet secret for you.  If you want to lose weight, decrease cravings, depression, low blood sugar, bloating, PMS, increase energy, decrease inflammation and all of those things diet plans and pills claim they will do, you must do this one thing.  I know, I sound like one of those really bad internet adds.  "Decrease Belly FAT: do this one weird, old tip."  I've never clicked on one of those but I am pretty sure they want you to buy some book or PDF that probably tells you this one thing I am about to tell you.

STOP  EATING  SUGAR  AND  FLOUR.

It's actually two things, but we can call it one because your body turns all flour into sugar anyway and that sugar turns in to fat.      

It's the Carbohydrates people!  You need carbs, but you do not need 200-300 grams of them a day!  Especially those that are simple and refined carbohydrates.  If you eat under 100 grams of Carbs a day you will lose weight.  

Junky, Junky food, all over pinterest.

Now, here is where it gets complicated, because this is real life and real life is never as easy as finding just one miracle cure that works.   

You cannot eat a lb of bacon a day instead of carbs.  You cannot eat miracle carb free, calorie free noodles all the time and expect to be satisfied and healthy.   You must eat healthy foods which are:

Lots of unlimited vegetables

Fruits

Protein sources, (i'm not going to tell you to not eat meat or to eat meat, just eat some good protein)

Seeds and nuts 

Healthy modest amounts of fats, NOT including Trans-fats and other fabricated oils like canola or vegetable.  Eat Coconut, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Flax, Oils from seeds.   

Low amounts of grains and Starchy foods like white potatoes

No white flours or sugars.   

This is not the Atkins diet, you are not counting carbs.  This is not a DIET AT ALL.  This is a lifestyle change you can make to feel great and lose some extra weight.  You will feel great, and you will lose weight and you may even be able to get off of some medications.  There is one last little trick.  You have to actually do it, and do it longer than 6 hours.

It may be low fat, but it's high in naughty sugar.

Most people will have a hard time eating their usual 2500 + calories a day that got them into their extra large pants in the first place.  So naturally you will lose weight off of the lower caloric intake as well.  You will also increase the amount of micro nutrients you eat like vitamins and minerals.  

So next time you see a friend pin a meal with lots of sugar or flour in it, and they put LOW CALORIE or LOW FAT, think twice.  It's the sugar that is killing us all softly, not the fat and not always the calories.  

Fat and Sugar are an even more dangerous combination.  The sugar amps up your blood sugar, increasing your insulin, which tells your body to start storing all of those extra calories.  It also tells your fat cells not to release any of their stores.  Hence the lack of energy and the accumulation of fat around your body regions.

A lot of people ask me how to lose weight and then say SCREW YOU when I tell them what they will have to give up.  It is possible to keep the weight down and keep your other body systems in check while still enjoying your breads and sweets.  It goes like this.  Eat 1200 Calories a day.  Be starving all of the time.  Enjoy the shakes, anger and depression when your blood sugar bottoms out after a sweet/ starchy meal.  Exercise for hours a day so you can eat more sweets and starches.  Still end up with high cholesterol.  Stop eating fat.  Now you are limited to non fat desserts like fat free pudding, made from chemicals instead of milk.  Cholesterol is still high, go on medication.  Cholesterol medication causes side effects, take a medication for those as well. Repeat.  

You don't need to be some western medical experiment for the rest of your life.  Just eat wholesome balanced foods that are grown from the earth, not a lab.  Your taste buds will change, you will crave sweets and junk less, you will lose weight and you will be satisfied for once.  

Many people try to get off of sugar by replacing it with chemicals.  WRONG.  Eat food, not science experiments.  If you want to sweeten your tea, try an herbal sweetener, like stevia.   If you are craving sweets, try a banana, or a lara bar.  Eat like a human, not a lab rat.               

HIIT training, work out less, burn more fat

This High Intensity Interval Training workout should burn as many calories as a 60 minute cardio session. The initial workout burns less calories, but your body continues burning calories throughout the day, for up to 48 hours at an increased rate, to replenish your cells oxygen levels.  WIN!
As a warning, you need to be somewhat in shape for this type of exercise. You will be sweating and your heart rate will be at its max most of the time, so make sure you are in good health, or consult a doctor if necessary.

The main advantage of this kind of exercise routine is that instead of burning muscle tissue, like is possible for a slow long cardio workout, your body burns fat stores.  This happens after the workout, so even though you are done working out, you are still burning fat.  To further increase the fat burn of this exercise, do it in the morning first thing before breakfast.  Once you eat breakfast your cells will consume the carbohydrates you ate instead of continuing to use the fat stores it was using throughout the night.

If you are not fit enough for this kind of routine, I suggest walking hills or jumping rope alternating legs, or some sort of cardio workout to increase the strength of your cardiovascular system endurance.  Most importantly do lots of weight lifting and calisthenics like lunges and squats. (women, push yourself, you will not bulk up. I lift 15 lbs when doing bicep curls and I look no where near bulky).  Make sure you have good form!
  

Chap Split?

  
    I have been meaning to post on this through the whole winter but kept forgetting.  Here is a super awesome tip for those of you (if you are like me) that get those awful splits on your fingers and hands in the winter.  (No that is not my finger thank goodness.)  You know, the really deep ones that hurt like crazy and always seem to find their way on the places of your hands you bend, move or use the most?  This tip is awesome.  I discovered it this year and have been amazed by how well it truly works.  When I used to get one of these splits, sometimes multiple at at time, they would hurt for days, sometimes a week or more!  They seem to kind of start healing and then get worse again a few times over the whole healing process.  I have even had them "heal" for the most part only to re-open in the exact same spot again a few weeks later.  The remedy of the past was to glue them shut with crazy glue.  Don't do that.  First of all it seals in any germs you might have and can cause infection.  Second, it doesn't allow any air into the cut.   And third, why would you want to put that stuff into your body...gross!  Lotions and creams don't cut it for me, even the most expensive kinds that are meant for super dry skin.  When it comes to winter, my hands are dry, dry, dry no matter what I do.
So here is what you do next time one of these rears its ugly head.  Take some Natural Ice Original chap stick, another brand would probably work but I swear by this one and it is great for lips too.  Rub it on and into the crack.  That is it!  Usually, after only one application it quits hurting and heels in a day or two, no joke.  I most always never have to apply it more than once, maybe twice.  It works IMMEDIATELY with the pain and heels it right up.  Even if the split is still open and still there, it won't hurt anymore and it will heal super fast.  I figured if it worked on cracked lips, why not cracked fingers or hands and boy did it.  So give it a try if you have a split or two.  Cheers!


-Liz-          

A Practical Lesson of Evolutionary Nutrition:

Imagine a small, early history, hunting gathering village of people; our earliest known ancestors.  They gathered nuts, seeds, roots, berries, grasses, greens and herbs on a daily basis.  Often they had a small amount of game meat to eat.  They didn't salt their food, they didn't sweeten their food, they didn't add oil to their food.  They ate the food as it came out of the earth.  Raw, fresh and the truest sense of organic.  They worked hard gathering, walking and hunting their game, then cooking and making camp.  Now imagine centuries later, a small faming village.  They still gather what they can but they also cultivate their own vegetables and raise animals, like goats for milk and meat.  The goats eat their natural diet of grass and herbs.  They walk everywhere they go.  They are all strong and healthy, even the old.  When a villager is deficient or has a disease they increase a certain food, or add certain herbs to increase health and wellness.  No one craves sugar, or salty snacks.  They eat to live.  They eat moderately and mindfully of what will be available in the future.  This is how our bodies evolved and were meant to survive.
  Imagine many, many centuries later, people spend much of the day sitting.  They need food so they go to a grocery store where they can buy endless possibilities. The food is processed to the point where it's origins are uncertain.  They purchase nothing that is in the same form it grew in. Meat is from farms where the animals don't ever see the light of day, are sickly and given high doses of medication and they eat grain and feces of other animals.  Then they purchase milk from equally sick, medicated and undernourished animals.  They are fat but lack the proper nutrition to produce quality milk.   The isle of sweets is filled with the high calorie, nutrient deficient cakes, cookies and candies.  Each single serving containing an entire day or weeks worth of sugars to our early ancestors.  People trying to avoid the high calories go for the artificially sweetened products. These are products produced to allow people to eat endless amounts of sweet satiating, nutrient deficient delicacies.  With out even knowing where the food came from or what it contains the carts are filled to the brim with food that is high in calories, fats and chemicals and is practically void of any real nutrients that your body needs for energy on a cellular level.  An occasional few make it to the produce section where they buy genetically modified vegetables and fruits, that are twice the size they are meant to be and half as ripe.  They are laden with unnatural chemicals to increase shelf life and destroy diseases proliferated by under nourishing the soil and thereby causing disease in the plants.  They have absorbed the chemical pesticides or have a layer coating the outside that is not water soluble and cannot simply be washed away.  They go home and eat the sweets first and let the vegetables sit in the refrigerator until what little nutrition was contained in them  is destroyed.  They can't figure out why they don't have energy to make it through the day and they can't figure out why they are so overweight or suffer from headaches or chronic diseases.  It may not be obvious to all, but people were not meant to eat the modern day diet.  If you go to the source of our food it is clear that our animals and crops are just as vitamin and mineral deficient as  we are.  Our ancestors did not count calories.  They did not watch their carbohydrates or worry about how much protein they were getting.  They may not have been as lucky to have the sanitary and comfortable conditions we have now but they certainly had more energy to work harder and did not get the cancers and chronic conditions we face today.  If we are not feeding our cells with energy to repair and replicate we will feel very run down and unenergized.  Our cells are not looking for calories in and calories out.  They are looking for vitamins and minerals that are from plant sources, making it easy for our bodies to digest and use them.  Feed your body what it has cleverly evolved and been created to eat.  Not Wonder Bread...  Not Chips Ahoy...  Not Dunkin Donuts...  Not baked potato covered in sour cream, bacon bits and cheddar cheese...
-V

Micro Recipe: Brownie Pudding

There are a few reasons I came up with micro recipes.  For one, it's  great way to have portion control.  For another it can be cooked in the microwave, but the namesake really comes from how small the recipe is in terms of volume.  This recipe is an adapted version of my mom's 9x13 pan size.  This one can be done in the microwave in literally 1 minute!  It can also be cooked in the oven the good ole' fashioned way.  If you have ramekins you can make lots of little individual servings. I just cook mine in the microwave in a really big mug.  If you only have small mugs, I would recommend using 2 mugs or you run the risk of it boiling over the sides.  Put a plate under it, if you are unsure. 

4 TBL all purpose flour

3 TBL white sugar or splenda

1 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Mix above dry ingredients

add to above

2 TBL milk, almond milk, soy milk or water

stir into a nice batter, and divide into 3 ramekins 2 regular mugs or 1 large mug

Then mix

 3 TBL brown sugar

1 TBL cocoa powder 

7 TBL hot water 

pour over the batter mix equally.  

For the microwave, microwave each mug 1 minute or until it bubbles to the top of the mug about to spill over.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until the batter rises to the top and has fully cooked.  Eat it warm and gooey.  It is easy and yummy, yummy delicious.  I have made this recipe a million times in the oven and you cannot tell the difference from the oven to the microwave in terms of taste and texture.  No, it's not healthy but sometimes it's mentally healthy to have a treat!   

-Val

     

Kicking Against the Pricks

I honestly don't even know what a prick is, but it sounds uncomfortable to kick.  This discomfort is something I have been experiencing most of my life.  I am very impatient, especially when it comes to life moving along.  I don't like transition periods and I don't like that stagnant period between transitions. I suppose the only period I tolerate is when things are on the up and up.  Enjoying the journey, as they say, is something I've only recently adopted.  It certainly doesn't come naturally to me to enjoy waiting for the next exciting and new thing in life to come along.  But alas, at least I have learned it, as infrequently as I follow it.  There are 3 things in my adult life that have been consistent and ever present that I enjoy.  In no particular order they are cooking, silversmithing and natural health studies.  I am almost 30 and I stay at home with my kids.  I know that my kids wont be home forever and therefore I do not intend to be a house wife forever either.  I feel it is very important to stay home with my kids and raise them.  I certainly don't want to miss any important moments.  Yet sometimes it is hard.  I find myself getting down in the dumps, depressed, BORED.  I try to keep myself busy and my mind active with activities here and there.  Crafting, learning, watching hours of BBC classical period dramas...  
The outside world on the tv is continually telling me to get a career and be successful.  Oh do I ever want to be successful.  Here's the thing about being successful.  It is like being skinny, it is all relative.  Relative to whom you ask, whom you live by and where you live.  To a 500 lb woman struggling to loose weight, I bet 350 lbs sounds sweet.  To that 350 lb woman I imagine 180 lbs would be fantastic.  To that 180 lb woman 145 would be great!  To me 145 lbs is fat and I'm sick of it!  So it goes success.

When I look at my mother though, I see success.  She never had a fabulous career or made a lot of money or was super skinny and fashionable.  She raised 7 kids!  She is still married to the same man after 4 decades!  She reads every book before I even know it exists.  She helps everyone around her and is always charitable.  She is smart and sturdy little lady who just keeps on going and learning and doing.  I know that according to "the world" she is not much of a fantastic success, but if I could just be half the woman she is by the time I am her age I would feel successful.  There is no denying she is a successful human being.  Yet here I am "kicking against the pricks" trying to accomplish things I know will largely make me successful in others eyes and not my own.
My sister and I had a conversation this morning about how I am frustrated that I cannot find a decent school and degree combo that I want.  One school has the program I want but is not accredited, the other school may have the accreditation but does not have the kind of program that I can believe in.  I have been searching for the right school and the right program for years.  I didn't even know what I wanted to do exactly until very recently.  Still I am not completely certain how it will all pan out.  My sister implored me to stop kicking against the pricks.  Just enjoy what I am doing right now and when it's time to go to school the stars will align.   Sometimes I want to kick the pricks to spite my foot. I suppose I will always have the personality that will kick the pricks occasionally to make sure they are really there.   Then I will look at my sore foot and remember that life was much better before I started kicking said pricks.  Thank you sister for reminding me that I have to enjoy the journey and work toward my goals at a more patient pace.  That I cannot want something and receive it at the same time; there is little to learn if there is not some adversity along the way.  Thank you mother for your shining example of a well adjusted, successful mother who tells "society" what for instead of letting society determine your worth.
-Val

Taco Soup

This taco soup is healthy and delicious.  It was a recipe i just threw together one day with what I had in the house, and now we eat it regularly.

First sautee a small or medium onion in 1 tbl of vegetable oil, and 2 large cloves of minced or pressed garlic.
Add 1 box of Pacific, free range Chicken Broth
1 can of black beans, rinsed
2 cans of water from the bean can
1 can of diced tomatoes, or 2 cups fresh chopped
1/2 cup of frozen corn
Optional 1-2 grilled and chopped chicken
Your favorite taco spices, I like
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp lime basil
bring all ingredients to a nice boil then reduce the heat and add
2 mashed avocados, I use a fork and rake it then scoop it out
lime juice, about 4-5 limes worth

Once all ingredients are added stir it up and serve. Do not cook the avocados or they will get mushy and brown. They simply need to be heated.  I like to serve it with fresh cilantro, crushed corn chips and plain yogurt or sour cream.  Enjoy!

Why this recipe is great

Beans: Beans are high in fiber and protein
Chicken Broth: Pacific chicken broth has no MSG, I highly recommend this brand for that reason
Avocados: High in healthy fats
Limes: Limes are alkalizing to the body and key to the great taste of this soup.

BEWARE: Hidden Sugar Everywhere

There are sugars hidden in plain sight in a majority of prepackaged foods.  Even those you wouldn't suspect, like whole wheat bread, or chips or pasta sauces.  You may be getting a lot more refined sugar in your diet than you would have ever imagined.  You don't have to eat a candy bar to get a large helping of sugar. Our bodies were not made to use the massive amounts of refined carbohydrate that this generation consumes.  This is largely the reason for the unusual type 2 diabetes (adult onset) in children and young adults.  
I watch in horror as other parents give their kids a "homemade" and "nutritious" lunch that is mostly sugar.  They think they are being such responsible parents when in reality they are just ignorant to what is really in that food.  It's not their fault entirely, they have been mislead by food companies. 
Big fast food restaurants claim to have better choices, but I see hidden sugar and fat, like in the huge packages of salad dressing, or the caramel dip for apple slices.  Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to your health and preventing disease.  Be aware of what you eat and what you are feeding your children and family.  Read labels and know what you are looking for.  Here are some of the basics in sugar-ology.


There are about 4.2 grams per teaspoon of sugar
There is one gram of carbohydrate in one gram of sugar
To maintain healthy blood glucose levels for the average person, you should not eat more than 30-45 grams of carbohydrates in a meal.


A popular fast food restaurant serves apples and milk on the side of a hamburger as a more healthy alternative to fries and soda.  The apples come with a caramel dip and the milk is chocolate.  The entire meal consists of 43 grams of sugar...  that is over 10 teaspoons of sugar and over 80 grams of carbohydrates.


Lets compare this to the diligent mom who sent a lunch to school-

Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich, juice box, chips and fruit roll up.  55 Grams of sugar.  That is over 12.6 teaspoons of sugar. That is over 2.6 times the amount of carbohydrate an adult should eat in one meal, 118 grams!


When we are children all of our organs work very well.  Our bodies have no problems tackling the high amounts of sugar we feed our kids. But as we age, we wear out our organs and our cells don't repair quite as fast.  The super high amounts of sugar we eat can break down our pancreas, which handles blood sugar levels. The body needs sugar but not huge surges of refined sugars.  We are creating a diabetic atmosphere in a person that does not have diabetes.  People with diabetes cannot create enough insulin for their body to handle all of the sugar they eat, their blood sugar can get very high and stay very high.  Having constantly high blood sugar causes heart disease, vision loss, nerve damage, kidney damage and more.

The best way to avoid a lot of sugar is to make your own meals, and stay away from prepackaged foods.  They are always loaded up with excess sugar.  Stay away from refined flours as well.  Refined flours may not taste like sugar but they might as well be since they are quickly converted to sugar in our bodies.  Also stay away from white rice, and other high carbohydrate foods, that are not also full of protein or fiber.   When carbohydrates and sugars are bound in natural form to the fiber in fruits and vegetables they take our body much longer to convert them to sugars.  This slow process keeps our bodies from receiving a huge surge of sugar in the blood.  Read labels and be aware of what you are feeding your children and putting in your own mouth!



Oh, and please DONT replace sugar with chemical sweeteners!  Replace them with fruit!

 Just for fun: Frightening ad by sugar companies, when artificial sugars first came on the market.  


-V    
      

Colostrum? WARNING! IF YOU READ THIS YOU WILL BE INTRIGUED

WARNING! IF YOU READ THIS YOU WILL BE INTRIGUED AND IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE IF YOU TRY THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR YOURSELF!

Colostrum: Milk secreted for a few days after parturition and characterized by high protein and antibody content.

Transfer Factor: A substance that is produced and secreted by a lymphocyte functioning in cell-mediated immunity and that upon incorporation into a lymphocyte which has not been sensitized confers on it the same immunological specificity as the sensitized cell.

In this case the "substance" being transferred is the "antibody content".

I have suffered health problems since I was very young. About 13 years old. Some of them are personal. As of a few years back, if doctors had their way, I would be medicated now for anxiety, insomnia, infertility, panic attacks, fibromyalgia and poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. I decided I didn't want to be reliant on a bunch of medications that had serious side affects and that I wanted to heal my body from the inside out through natural means. Might sound "hippy-ish" but it has worked for me. I started this "journey" about 5 years ago and as of today do not take a single medication for any of the above problems (though I am not 100% symptom free) and have two children without any fertility intervention. With that said, I have become addicted to health research in the pursuit of a new idea or fact that may in someway bring me or a loved one greater health. When I find a subject that interests me I literally read up on it until I am blue in the face, usually over a course of days to weeks. NO breaks! Just kidding. Some breaks. This includes reading about it from EVERY angle. Those who are for and those who oppose, coming to my own conclusion based on my findings. If I find I am for, I TRY what I have researched so I can come to a true conclusion based on personal experience. With that said, sit back and enjoy this post. I have done all the leg work for you on this one. Then, in the end, if you find this interests you I suggest you research it for yourself and then for heaven's sake! TRY IT! LOL. No, I am not getting paid for this by any one company and I am not crazy. If you know me at all, trust me on this and if you don't know me at all...still trust me on this.

A few months back I stumbled across an article about the "transfer factor". In short it spoke about how new research has shed light on a long running mystery, how the immunity of a mammal mother was transferred to its young through colostrum. Colostrum is a yellowy, milk that a female mammal secretes the first few days after birth. It is full of antibodies and protein rich! It literally transfers the immunity of the mother that took a lifetime to build to the new offspring, who at present has no real immunity of its own. The newest findings are no less than very interesting. The actual "transfer" is done through very small protein particles that bypass the digestive system and are absorbed into the blood stream of the offspring. Even more interesting was found that supplementing adults with bovine colostrum not only transfers perfectly from cow to human but that it gives to us that same immunity transfer...per say. What it actually seems to do is almost provide you with a secondary immune system, making yours more than its own strength maybe by double if not more.

What I read also spoke about how many people have benefited from this supplement. I was more than intrigued. So began the hours of reading. For weeks on this one. LOL. I wanted to know how humans could take bovine colostrum and it be useful? What happens if you have milk allergies? What is the best brand? Is it free of hormones and steroids and antibiotics? How much should you take? What do most people find relief from? Do you take it forever? Once? Twice? How are the cattle kept and cared for?

I found answers to all of these questions and more. Sometimes they were contradictory and sometimes they were in agreement from site to site. I read through hundreds of forums to get the input from others who have actually tried the supplement.

Through all my research I learned the following facts:

Bovine colostrum is transferable to any species. You can give it to your dog, horse, self, child or whoever.

Most people have had very good to amazing results taking colostrum.

The number one reason colostrum is taken by people is to boost their immune system.

Colostrum has actually been taken by body builders for its great protein content for years. And yes, they did reap the other benefits such as better immunity while taking it for muscle power.

Colostrum that is collected from cattle in your home country will probably have better immunity to things you are most likely to be in contact with so look for USA colostrum if you live in the USA etc.

Calves are fed the first milking which has more than enough of what they need to be on the road to great health from mothers immunity so don't worry for the calves!

Most colostrum on the market is hormone, steroid and antibiotic free. In fact I don't remember looking into any brands that weren't.

There is such a huge margin of opinion on the topic of "organic" from farm to farm that I felt "organic" colostrum wasn't necessary for my needs. It is harder to find and more expensive.

Colostrum isn't cheap. I wouldn't say it is a terribly expensive supplement either.

There are many brands and types from capsules to powder to chewables.

You want to be sure to buy a brand that says it is made from the first one to two milkings. Anything after is transitional milk and won't have the same benefits.

If your colostrum is not yellow, it isn't good. If it is white that means it is more milk than colostrum.

Some brands have the fat removed, others do not. They both claim to have the "best" results...so I am personally trying multiple brands and types to see.

The lactose from the colostrum is removed so there are no allergy concerns.

You can not really overdose on colostrum.

You may experience a few days of feeling flu-ish when you begin taking colostrum. You may even develop a rash. This is just the bodies reaction to excreting toxins when your immunity is strengthened.

Here are a few things I learned AFTER taking colostrum:

Colostrum should be taken on an empty stomach with a glass of water for best absorption. Wait about a half hour before you eat.

Colostrum tastes like powdered milk. I do not find it gross in any way.

Colostrum works best when taken multiple times a day.

Colostrum WORKS!

Here is my personal experience:

I started with a brand that had all the things I was looking for. De-fatted, no steroids/chemicals/hormones/antibiotics, no fillers added, first milking, USA cattle. I began with four pills in the morning. The first few days I did feel a little under the weather. Mostly my throat ached. Then I would say about a week into taking it I suddenly noticed I had SO much more energy than I usually do. I have chronic fatigue quite often and so something like that would be very noticeable to me...and it was. I felt like I could go and go and go and that little ordinary things weren't so daunting mentally...like exercising and getting the house in order. I feel like it brought strength to my body as well as my mind. At this time I have been suffering from very bad allergies. I was really hoping the colostrum would help as so many others I had read about said it did. The first week or so I always felt some allergies there. Not enough to merit medications but still annoying. Especially at night. Then I ran out. I had a full day without colostrum. And that day I had the WORST allergies. I was SO miserable. So my thoughts were...coincidence? Or was it holding my allergies off more than I realized? Well, the next day when I got my new bottle and started taking them again...that very day...allergies were SO much better. Not coincidence. About this time I learned that you really should take it more than once a day. It does build up your system over time but it also has a lifespan so you will want to replenish it in your system through out the day for best results. So I decided to take two pills in the morning and two in the late afternoon to see what happened. WHA-LA! NO allergies...during the day. But some mild ones at night. I had read not to take colostrum past 5pm because the energy factor in it might give you insomnia...but I decided to try anyhow. So I took two pills in the morning, two in the mid afternoon and a 1/2 tsp of powder around 5pm and DOUBLE WHA-LA! No allergies during the day or night!...Okay...very mild ones...almost undetectable. So I had read to take colostrum in the amount it takes to rid your symptoms. So I decided to try THREE pills in the morning, two in the afternoon and a 1/2 tsp in the evening. AND YES, TRIPLE WHA-LA! NO...NO ALLERGIES DAY OR NIGHT. I am literally amazed. I am even around my horses everyday. Around their hay (my biggest allergy nemesis) and loads of dry dust and not a sneeze or sniff.

I have been taking colostrum about 5-6 weeks now. Between the energy boost, eradicated allergies AND I have not gotten two separate illnesses that my kids and husband have...I am sold. I have tried two brands myself and have a sister trying a third for results. I have tried two de-fatted brands that I felt had the same results and my sister is trying a brand with the fat left in (which many claim is the best). Maybe she will leave a response of her experience thus far.

I seriously recommend to EVERYONE to try this. Just try one months worth. Whether you have arthritis, chronic sinus issues, allergies, fatigue, poor immunity, chronic pain or ANYTHING...try it. As we age our immune systems do too and slow down as well. You may not even realize how much better you might feel unless you give it a go! I will attach links to sites with further information and the brands I felt were superior.

I will continue to use it myself to see what results I continue to see as it builds my system back up. That is all for now! Cheers!

Articles:

http://colostrumplus.com/

http://www.hamovhotov.com/health/?p=147

http://www.best-natural-health-supplements.com/benefits-of-colostrum.html

http://www.healingdaily.com/conditions/colostrum.htm

(For more, do a general web search on "colostrum".)


Brands:

http://symbiotics.com/

http://www.marysgarden.com/colostrum/mhg_30_capsules.htm

http://www.tbrlabs.com/

(For more, do a general web search on "colostrum supplements".)

-Liz-

Could Your Fatigue, Muddled Brain and Extra Weight be a Thyroid Problem?

Since before I even knew I was pregnant with my second baby, I started to put on weight.  It was around Thanksgiving so I thought nothing of it.  Then I found out I was pregnant and so I still thought nothing of it.  I went to see my Nurse/Midwife.  I was telling her all about how I thought my blood sugar must be too high or too low because I felt weird all the time.  She checked my thyroid.  I'ts part of the standard blood tests they do when you first get pregnant.  My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was very high.  When your brain think your thyroid isn't producing enough hormone, your pituitary makes TSH to tell the thyroid to work harder.  I started the medication and started to feel worse.  What I and my inexperienced midwife did not know at the time, was that  you have to be slowly introduced to the medication.  I couldn't get out of bed.  It made me feel like I was half dead!  I was not sleepy and I was not fatigued  I just had no life in me.  This is a common feeling for extreme hypo or hyper thyroid sufferers.  Eventually my body adjusted to the medication levels, but it took a long time, until my last trimester.  So,  I gained a lot of weight. I never went over the recommended weight gain but it was more then I had ever weighed before.  After the baby came I suffered from fatigue from previous months of inactivity.  My muscles were so weak I could barely do simple exercises like squats or push-ups.  Then I suffered months of postpartum depression.  My milk supply started to dry up around 5 months. My baby cried all the time with hunger and was not thriving.  So I put him on formula and within days I started to feel better. I was on an "appropriate" level of medication, according to the medical professionals.  The sugar detox diet I started probably didn't help.  (this was under the recommendation of my doctor)  Then I started to gain weight again!  It took me a few months to figure it out this time. I was counting calories, eating right and exercising and still slowly gaining.  Frustrated I went to my doctor and had my thyroid checked and sure enough my medication was too low.  Now I am the long road to loosing that weight again. But at least this time it is coming off and I'm not so tired anymore. Here are the symptoms of hypothyroid you may notice:

Difficulty in swallowing

Cool skin

Excessively dry skin

Low blood pressure

Significant fatigue not related exercise or lack of sleep

Chronic recurrent infections

Constipation

Brittle nails

Migraines

Mood swings of anxiety, panic or phobia

Weight gain

Acne and more

If you have some or all these symptoms (as many as 1 in 3 American adults have a thyroid condition) and your doctor has done a T4 or T3 test that is showing normal, you need to find a doctor that will run a full thyroid panel or at least a TSH test.  Sometimes it is more complicated then just having low T4 or T3.  There are many aspects to how your thyroid functions and effects your body.  It is important to have a full picture of what may be the problem. If you would like to read about thyroid conditions in more depth I would recommend the book, "Thyroid Power" by Richard L. Shames and Karilee Halo Shames.

-Val

BPA Free Containers and too Much Estrogen

BPA is an Estrogen like Chemical that comes from hard plastic.  Plastics with BPA are used to line cans, make bottles and other plastic food and beverage containers.  Have you noticed BPA Free labels on many products lately?  That is because the FDA is concerned that it may be causing or contributing to hear disease, Prostate Problems, Erectile dysfunction and breast cancer!  I don't put much faith in the FDA, but if they are scared... I'm scared.  Here are some tips to avoid BPA contact.

1. Use glass.  Use glass in the microwave.  Heating the plastic just makes it ooze BPA on your food ( and who knows what else.)
2. Never drink a water bottle that has been left in a hot car.
3. Look for specific BPA FREE labels when buying kids cups, bottles and dishes.
4. Don't buy canned food.  Eat fresh, healthy unadulterated food.  These are lower in sodium, have no MSG and are full of vitamins anyway.  Even frozen vegetables can be a great alternative.  They are picked super ripe and fresh and frozen immediately, therefore preserving the vitamins and benefits.

Extra estrogen in the body can cause a whole host of health problems including  weight gain, migraines, fluid retention, high blood pressure, fatigue, aging skin, thinning hair, fluid retention, PMS, low libido, muscle aches and pains, memory fogginess, fibroids, endometriosis, depression, fibrocystic breasts and miscarriage. The more serious, life-threatening conditions of estrogen excess are: reproductive cancers, strokes, blood clots, compromised immune system, toxic livers, gall bladder disease, auto-immune diseases (lupus, MS, rheumatoid arthritis), glucose intolerance, pancreatitis, and interfering with the uptake of thyroid hormones.♥ Both MEN and women can have to much estrogen and have these symptoms.  If you have many or some of these symptoms there are things you can do.  Avoid BPA, eat organic food (there are estrogen type chemicals in pesticides as well), loose weight (fat cells create even more estrogen) and avoid soy products (soy contains an estrogen like chemical). Those tips are a good start to controlling your estrogen related health problems.

-Val

Sources 
♥ http://nice2people.com/sellman/hormone-heresy3.htm 
♥AARP.com