Russian cold remedy December 5, 2007

How did it get to be almost 10 pm already? I was going to go to bed early! ARGH.

Oh well, I’ll go now.

But before I do, I’m going to try Alla’s Russian remedy:

Sitting with a towel over my head to soak in the steam from a pot of boiling potatoes and herbs.

I’m supposed to sit there over the steaming pot for as long as I can stand it, with a cup of very hot herbal tea (with lemon and the juice from fresh organic raspberries) at the ready. And she says I’m supposed to already be in my pajamas (socks ON, Alla is very big on the importance of socks) when I do this.

Then, when I can’t stand it anymore, I’m to go directly to bed with my cup of tea. I’m supposed to lie there with the towel on my head until the towel is dry. I think I am allowed to sip my tea while I’m lying there.

Alla says that she did this once when she had the flu and it was gone the next day.

What the heck? I’ll give it a try.

The potatoes are boiling. Better go make the tea and get into my jams. I just so happen to have organic raspberries — they had some at Rawesome today. I bought them because Alla told me that in Russia, people eat raspberries when they are sick. It makes sense, because raspberries are extremely high in antioxidants.

Speaking of Rawesome, they also had whole chickens (real pastured chickens) from the chicken lady — the same farm the eggs came from. Woo hoo! I bought four.

The Story of Stuff December 5, 2007

This is truly eye-opening and inspiring:

The Story of Stuff

So much so, in fact, that — I’ll admit it — I cried a little bit at the end.

It’s just so OBVIOUS! And so sad. That treadmill we are all on. Work, watch TV, consume.
But at the same time, it offers hope. A way out.

Actually I think this is better than An Inconvenient Truth. I’m not knocking An Inconvenient Truth. That movie did impact me.

I’m now using cloth diapers, buying my produce from a local organic farm CSA program, and thinking about getting my car converted to a plug-in electric (actually that one I owe to Who Killed the Electric Car?).

And the further down the rabbit hole I go, the more inspired I get to make even bigger changes. A place in the country with a cow and some chickens. And alternative energy sources. Maybe homeschooling. Definitely organic vegetable gardens.

Who needs TV when there’s chickens to feed and butter and cheese to be made?

Speaking of TV, this reminds me of that PBS show I loved. It was a reality show on PBS that came out in 2002 called Frontier House. It was such a good show. The story of a few real American families who were chosen to live in 1883 on the frontier.

What struck me most about that show was, as hard as life was, many of the people missed their frontier days after it was over. They wanted to go back.

As I get older, I find that less really is more and there is such beauty in simplicity. For relaxation, I enjoy reading and cooking and going for walks and breathing clean air and taking a nice bath. I can’t remember the last time I was in a shopping mall. And there is less and less on TV that appeals to me.

Anyway, watch The Story of Stuff. It takes 20 minutes. And it could change your life.

What to do when you’re sick December 5, 2007

I woke up with a sore throat this morning. A friend with a cold came over yesterday. She figured she was past being contagious but I guess not.

It could have been her, it could have been someone else I caught it from. Doesn’t matter. This is a sign though that I need to get healthier.

The thing is, I’m very susceptible to getting sick right now. My immune system is compromised — obviously more than I realized. Ever since my OB-GYN put me on the birth control pill. Which I promptly stopped taking a couple of months later when I read that the birth control pill causes candida.

You see, I had really bad candida when I was in my mid-twenties. It was from all the antibiotics I got as a child. I had recurring strep throat, and every time I got it, they gave me more antibiotics.

Candida is an overgrowth of yeast in the digestive tract and it is caused by a lack of good bacteria. The good bacteria normally fight of the yeast and other “bad” bacteria. If you don’t have enough good bacteria in your gut, the yeast grows out of control. Antibiotics kill all the bacteria in your gut — which causes candida.

I guess the birth control pill does the same thing. I stopped taking it back in September. I think I only took it for about three months. That’s long enough to cause an overgrowth of yeast. I have sores in my nose that won’t heal — same thing I had when I had candida in my twenties.

Obviously with a shortage of good bacteria, you are more susceptible to getting sick. You don’t have the good guys to help you fight off the bugs.

The ironic thing is, when people get sick, they go to the doctor and the first thing they do is give you an antibiotic!

We live in a backwards upside-down society.

And most of us are living these days with a chronic shortage of good bacteria. Jenny McCarthy (as well as Donna Gates of the Body Ecology Diet, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, and many others) believe that this is what causes autism. I think there are tons of diseases and disorders that can be traced to a lack of probiotics in the digestive tract.

What to do? How do you fight a cold or a flu?

Do what your grandma would have done. Chicken soup.

And I’m not talking about Campbell’s from a can. That stuff is useless. Plus it’s full of MSG.

You need real homemade bone broth. Bones from animals (poultry, beef, bison or fish) that are simmered in water for 8-24 hours. With a little sea salt and parsley for minerals.

I could try to list all the benefits of broth here but it would take too long. Just read this: http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/brothisbeautiful.html

In addition to bone broth, animal organs are one of the best things you can eat. When I had candida in my twenties, I was working with a chiropractor-nutritionist. She had me on a supplement called Congaplex, which is made from bovine (cow) thymus gland, as well as crushed up bone. The thymus gland is one of the main parts of the immune system in the body.

Anyway, even though my immune system was compromised, I still recovered from the flu in a matter of a few days. Everyone else in my office who caught it was out for WEEKS.

However, I looked up the ingredients in Congaplex and it has yucky stuff like soy lecithin (sludge waste product from industrial soybeans). Here is a better product: http://www.drrons.com/organ-delight.htm I think I will order some to help me improve my immune function. I need to get Seth on this, too.

I don’t happen to have any bovine thymus gland on hand, but I do have frozen liver. Liver is chock-full of B vitamins, which help to build and repair immune cells in the body.

The best way to eat liver is raw. You can freeze it for 14 days (this destroys any pathogens) then simply grate it into some milk or broth or put it into fresh vegetable juice.

More information on liver: http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/liver.html

Cod liver oil is another excellent way to take liver. I could go on and on about cod liver oil. It is the one supplement everyone should take. Even Dr. Oz on Oprah said so!

Remember, our grandmothers were always telling us to eat our liver and take cod liver oil.

Another thing that helps is coconut oil. It is antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal and helps to support the immune system. You can put it in a smoothie and also use it as a lotion. The pores in your skin absorb the nutrients. (http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/nutrition/coconut.htm)

I am going to start taking a high dose of a quality probiotics supplement to battle my candida. I ordered some ThreeLac which is what Jenny McCarthy used to help her son. Regular probiotics supplements you get in the store are not effective on candida because they are only a “maintenance” dose. With candida, you have to bring in the big guns.

However, I think I’m also going to order some Bio-Kult. This is the probiotic developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. She reversed her son’s autism as well. Here is their story: http://www.bio-kult.com/nicholas.html

Unfortunately I don’t have any of these yet! My ThreeLac has not come in the mail.

So today I will drink a quart of colostrum kefir (from Organic Pastures — chock full of probiotics). Colostrum is the cow’s first milk which is loaded with antibodies. Kefir is fermented milk.

I am drinking a big glass right now. I added a heaping tablespoon of some over-the-counter probiotics I got at the health food store, as well as some coconut oil. I also just took my cod liver oil.

I am also going to drink at least a quart of chicken stock and take my liver supplements. I have some frozen liver I can also grate into a glass of freshly juiced fruits and vegetables. I have some kale here, as well as tomatoes, broccoli, beets, carrots and strawberries. All high in antioxidants. I know, sounds like a nasty drink but I bet it will taste better than a V-8.

The highest ranking fruits and vegetables are prunes, raisins, berries, oranges, pink grapefruit, grapes, kiwi, spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, beets, red peppers, carrots and tomatoes.

(http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art29448.asp)

If I feel well enough, I may have to make a trip over to Rawesome today to get some more high-antioxidant fruits, veggies and more colostrum and kefir. I need to stock up on eggs anyway. (They are only open today and Saturday.)

Oooh! I also have my beet kvass. I should try to drink a quart of that as well. Beet kvass is a lacto-fermented beverage that is super high in antioxidants as well as probiotics. All you do is cut up 6 medium sized beets, put them in a gallon of pure filtered water with a little sea salt and some homemade whey. Then you let it sit on the counter for a few days before you move it into the fridge.

Apparently foods that are lacto-fermented have a LOT more vitamins. The fermentation helps increase the vitamins. Here is an article on kvass: http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/kvass.html

I will also drink lots of hot tea with lemon, and do a steam bath. As recommended by Alla, our nanny, who just arrived. The steam bath helps you detoxify.

And rest of course.

I’m actually glad this happened. When you get a cold, it’s just a sign that your body is fighting. And this tells me my immune system is compromised. Now I will take the steps I need to take to strengthen it.

I will let you know how I recover.