Ok, I was going to write this huge article on the medicine world, the natural meds and herbology and natural foods. But my friend Kellene must have been reading my mind as she posted just before I got online! And her article is on almost all I was going to talk about. So here is Kellene's article. I am going to add to it it below, but please read her article first! Or mine might not make much sense.. Also, check out these awesome articles on Evaluating what your family eats and Raise Healthy Eaters blog. VERY good info!!
Ok, so now that you have read Kellene's article, I will go forward on my thoughts on this subject. First off, THANK YOU Kellene for writing what you have, and helping me with this. ok, ok, I'll get to it.. if I remember what I am writing about.. Ha HA.. ya it's been one of those days.
I am currently on a ton of herbs, vitamins and meds.. Why?...
I went in for my yearly exam in July 2009. I hate these exams. Four days later my doctor calls and wants me in immediately for more blood work.. I find out later it's because I have super low Red Blood Count and VERY iron poor blood, ok, not just iron poor, they couldn't find any.. AT ALL! In fact they wanted me to have a blood transfusion!! But my doctor knows me so well, she knew I wouldn't do that, so I am on some major iron supplements. Red blood cells are supposed to be a beautiful rich red, very plump circulars and shiny!.. Mine were, um, light pink, tiny and shriveled. They couldn't believe I could even get out of bed!
Next, my white blood count was TOO LOW! My doctor wanted me in the hospital for a blood transfusion for the red blood cells, and wanted me in quarantine so I didn't catch any illnesses. She truly thought if my kids so much as sneezed I would get super sick and die.
Well, I didn't go to hospital, I didn't get a transfusion, and I didn't get super sick when my kids came down with influenza. Infact, I just got more tired is all. ok, exhausted! I was in bed more than I was out, but I had 4 kids in bed with me, and I was the only one not sick with flu.
They still haven't figured out where I am bleeding to cause such a low blood count, but I finally after 6 months have my ferritin (iron stores) up to 2..WOO HOO A whoppin 2 !! That's more than 0. But still you'd think it'd be higher.
Herbs I take??? lots!! Iron complex (from my doctor!!), RRL (red raspberry leaf tea), cranberry (kidney infection that I have been dealing with since December '09), Adrenal support herbs, GSE (grapefruit seed extract) which is AMAZING!!!, Redmond Clay (to clean out buggies and toxins), Melatonin (to help me get to sleep as I don't very well), OXYGEN (for migraines, yes I include this in my HERBS as it is ALL NATURAL).
Meds: Synthroid for low thyroid
Vitamins: Multivitamin; magnesium ; calcium; Ester-C
The hard part is trying to eat between all this stuff! My goodness. So what to eat? Well, as the WONDERFUL AWESOME IN YOUR FACE HONEST ABOUT FOOD JAMIE OLIVER says, You are what you eat!! So what do I eat? Well, most of it is made at home from scratch. Whole Wheat bread (NO AP flour in it!!); avocados (we eat them like candy over here!); fruits and veggies; pastas, spuds, rice, homemade tortillas, meat, beans, beans, beans, quinoa, millet, beans, and um BEANS!!
Yes I love LOVE LOVE beans!!!! pinto, black, navy, lima, baby lima, cranberry, adzuki, anasazi, black-eyed, split green peas, lentils, etc.. Legumes are much loved here. Mostly by Dev and I. BUT everyone eats them! If I make taco soup or chili I make Peach's bread (millet bread! tastes better than nasty corn bread!) . If I roast a whole chicken, I serve it with rice or spuds, salad. If I make baked lentils, I serve it with rice and whole wheat tortillas and toppings. Split pea soup gets honored with fresh french bread (ya, AP flour there owell...) and salad. BBQ limas get served with roasted chicken and salad. We do have desserts, but we limit them and what they are. Sometimes dessert is apples or oranges.
Brigham Young told us to eat wise. He warned us that certain foods would be detrimental to our health. We have been advised many times to eat veggies, fruits whole grains, and sparingly - meat. We do that here. I heard in California that a certain town has made it so you have to have a meatless day. I just laughed, how are they going to enforce that one? good luck. We do not eat meat daily, well unless you count eggs, but I am sorry we don't.. eggs are eggs. not a muscle (meat). I completely believe the food pyramid to be leading our country to obesity. I'm sorry but white rice and white bread are NOT healthy! They are pure starch and when they hit your saliva, become sugar! And I'm sorry but 11 servings of grains a day DOES NOT MEAN processed grains!! It means WHOLE GRAINS! Processed means turned into flour.
Ok, so what does food have to do with health? EVERYTHING! We did an experiment here. We served cold cereal that was corn free to our kids for a week. Guess what happened? Do you know? They got sick! Between the diarhea and other things it just isn't worth it! What do we do for breakfast? oatmeal, cream of wheat, eggs and toast, egg burritos, toast and tea, fruits, yogurt, granola, muffins, pancakes, waffles, egg mommuffins, etc.. all cooked at home. Burritos are made from just ground whole wheat flour or oat flour. Granola, again made at home. No we don't do juice often, it's just sugar and the fiber from a whole orange is better for them than a large glass of OJ. Plus it's better on their blood sugars.
Lunch: chicken salad sandwiches, or on lettuce; lettuce wraps; leftover soups; fruits, yogurt, veggie sticks, leftover dinner stuff; PBJ, stir fries, quesadillas...
It does matter what you eat. Eating better will improve your health. Sure it's not a fix all, but taking some or all of the processed foods out of your diet will help you a ton!
What about fats???? Margarine is not permitted in my home. for any reason. Why? Well, I have a problem with eating something that is ONLY ONE molecule different from plastic!! Plus it is made with soy and corn, both of which we don't eat here. Unless you are a woman going through menopause, you shouldn't eat soy very often. Why? VERY EXTREMLY high in estrogen. Infact they have found some children developing early due to soy! Like what? how about a 3 year old with breasts (both girls AND boys!!) and 5 to 8 year old girls with their monthly?! Due to intake of soy!
Ok, so good oils:
Grapeseed oil, great to cook with, can withstand high heat
Olive oil, more for salads, high heat can actually make it toxic!
Canola oil, um ok, if you have to (we do as it's cheap), but rapeseed where they get canola poisons the ground
Avocado oil, if you can afford it, use wisely! This amazing oil is $$$$ but so yummy for you
Hazelnut or Almond oil, if no nut allergies is again $$$$ but very yummy
Coconut oil, Wow, yummy! good for you, they make different grades for cooking and baking
Palm Oil, I use palm oil shortening. It is solid at room temp, NOT hydrogenated, can be used instead of crisco.
I know there are more oils out there, but honestly I have only used the ones above. And the $$$$ I only bought once. What's in my pantry? Honestly? Grapeseed oil, olive oil, Coconut oil, Palm Oil Shortening, and Canola. I hate using canola, but right now my budget says I have to.
Well this has gotten long!!! So do this for me. Change the way you eat, eat better. Also, make sure you are taking your meds, herbs, vitamins correctly and at the right times!! You know so they aren't cancelling eachother out like taking calcium and iron together, might as well throw both in the trash as your body will absorb nothing! Take Vitamin C, or drink a high vitamin C drink with your calcium and iron to absorb them better! So now that your butt is numb from sitting here reading this long post, get up, stretch, take a walk while chewing on some celery or carrots, and think about all this info.. Hopefully you didn't get information constipation, I hate that!
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