Sweating It Out April 11, 2008

I seriously feel like I am dying. HOLY MOLEY do I feel bad!

I started taking iodine drops yesterday. Not a lot. Yesterday I took about 5 grams and this morning I took about 10 grams.

The Japanese traditionally consume about 13 grams of iodine per day. They eat a lot of fish, seaweed, and fish broth.

They also have the lowest incidence of breast cancer in the world. Japan has one of the lowest worldwide rates of every type of cancer with the exception of stomach cancer. Source

Can iodine deficiency cause cancer? Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? If iodine is responsible for chleating the body of toxins and heavy metals, and you don’t have enough iodine to do the job, then where do those carcinogens go? The do not get excreted and they get stored in your body.

Our RDA recommends only 150 micrograms — about 10 times less. As a result, most Americans are iodine deficient. The iodine docs — Brownstein, Abraham, Flechas, et al — say that it’s somewhere between 80-95% of the population.

I believe it. What with all the soy in the food supply (soybean oil in most of the cooking oils, soy lecithin in most packaged foods, soy in all the baby formula, and soy in most of our dairy and meats — due to the fact that soy is being fed to all the cows and chickens and pigs). Soy is a goitrogen and it blocks iodine absorption.

In addition to soy, there is something called bromide. Bromide is also a goitrogen.

They used to add iodine to the bread but now they are adding bromide. Many breads, bread and cereal products, and packaged foods contain bromide. Even soda pop has bromide. Mountain Dew contains brominated vegetable oil. Yuck!

Oh, and pesticides. Pesticides also have bromide.

Anyhow, one of the consequences of an iodine deficiency is the inability to chelate toxins and heavy metals from your body. I guess your body needs iodine to detoxify.

Iodine… detoxifies the body by removing mercury, fluorides, chlorides, and bromides. Source

When you start taking iodine, it’s normal to go through a detox. The iodine goes to work getting all that bad stuff out of your body. Fluoride, mercury, bromide, etc.

I have many of the symptoms of bromide poisoning:

eye lid twitching
tingling in hands or feet
leg and hip ache (feels like arthritis)
metallic taste
sinus ache
runny nose (I have post nasal drip)
headache
lethargy, fatigue
body odor or bad breath (bromos is Greek for stench)
irritability
increased salivation
kidney pain
anxiety and/or depression

Some of these symptoms I have had for a while — about a month or two now. The kidney pain, anxiety attacks, eye twitching, irritability, leg and hip ache, fatigue, and tingling in my hands and fingers.

Oh! And you know another thing that is caused by iodine deficiency? Hyper-pigmentation — or melasma. This explains why I started getting these brown spots on my face a few years ago.

It also explains why I have impaired immunity — why I get sick so easily and can’t recover very fast. Heavy metal toxicity does that to you.

The symptoms come on fast and furious when you start detoxing. Dr. Flechas says that it is common to have the symptoms for about 2 weeks when you first start on the iodine.

There are a few ways to help your body detox faster:

Sweating - Very hot salt baths or clay baths — as hot as you can stand it so you sweat
Salt Loading - Take 1/2 tsp of sea salt in a small amount of water, followed immediately by 12-16 oz of pure water
Juicing - Drinking lots of freshly juiced vegetables including cilantro, parsley, carrots, etc.
Coffee Enema - Yes, you read that right. I guess this helps the liver produce more bile. If it works, why not?

I just took a very hot bath with 1 cup of raw apple cider vinegar and 3 cups of kosher salt. I am now wrapped in towels and lying under four blankets — sweating like crazy. The taste in my mouth is horrible — metallic and really foul. That’s the heavy metals, I guess.

In a minute I’m going to get up and juice up some carrots, celery and parsley. And take vitamin C (acerola powder — it’s a food-based form of vitamin C). I’m going to do the salt loading again, too.

And I think I will pick up an enema bag on the way to the airport to pick up Seth. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

This is not easy but I am just so grateful to be getting rid of all these toxins in my body. How ridiculous is it that we live in a world where we are poisoned by our own food supply?

Oysters and Leftover Risotto April 9, 2008

I was lazy tonight and didn’t feel like cooking. Seth is still in France — so I made a super easy supper just for me: oysters on the half shell with leftover asparagus and pancetta risotto.

I went to Whole Foods today to pick up some things. My dentist told me he thinks I have heavy metal toxicity. He wants me to drink beet kvass and freshly juiced vegetables every day. Freshly squeezed veggies and beet kvass help to chelate (detox) heavy metals and toxins.

So I bought beets and celery and carrots. I also got some iodine to tide me over until I get my Iodoral in the mail (going to order it tomorrow).

I’ve been reading more about iodine and thyroid function and it’s really interesting. Apparently one of the functions of iodine is to chelate heavy metals. So if you have a deficiency of iodine, the heavy metals will accumulate in your body. Which explains why I have chronic fatigue and tingling/numbness in my fingers and hands.

I know, scary! I actually think it’s a good thing that I stopped breast feeding. When you have an iodine deficiency, heavy metals accumulate in the breast — which makes for very toxic breast milk!

It all makes sense. Pregnancy and breast feeding massively deplete the body of iodine. So I have two issues now — heavy metal toxicity and hypothyroidism. Both caused by iodine deficiency.

So anyway, I bought some fish to make fish stock. Seeing how I need more iodine. And Kate probably does too. Not to mention Seth. So I think I’m going to try to make fish stock from now on (instead of chicken or beef stock). You need the fish heads, since they have the thyroid, which is full of iodine. (In many traditional cultures, they feed pregnant and nursing women fish stock made with fish heads.)

They had some nice wild-caught Thai snapper at Whole Fooods. They were kind enough to fillet them for me — and they wrapped up the fish heads and the bones separately so I can make my stock.

I also bought some oysters (more iodine). They will shuck them for you at Whole Foods — which makes it the easiest thing to serve. You literally just put it out on the table. I was too lazy to make Mignonette sauce, so I just poured a tiny bit of red wine vinegar onto the oysters.

The leftover asparagus and pancetta risotto (which we made when my family was in town) took 5 minutes to heat up in a saucepan. Mmmm — why is it that risotto always tastes better the next day?

Paired with a nice (organic) sauvignon blanc.

I think I’m going to have a little raw milk cheddar on rice crackers to cap the meal off.

Daily Photo February 17, 2008

Here’s Kate having her morning bottle. I love the way she has her feet crossed, like a little lady.

She still has a runny nose and a cough. I really think it’s the Biokult causing a healing crisis. We upped her dose (per Dr. Campbell McBride’s instructions) last week from 2 capsules per day to 4 capsules per day. Mucus is a sign of detoxification; so is fever (she does not have a fever but she is warm).

We’ve decreased the dose back down to 2 capsules per day; Dr. Campbell McBride says to decrease the dose if the die-off symptoms are severe.

I just read an email on my DNT list from a lady who said that when she was in her twenties she stayed at a retreat and ate a raw food diet. Within a few days, she had lots of mucus and was miserable with a bad headache. They told her to up her vegetable juice (no fruit juice — just wheat grass and other veggies). She did and the mucus and other symptoms cleared up.

I think that’s very interesting because Dr. Campbell McBride is very big on juicing. When I did my candida cleanse in my twenties, I was taking immune strengthening supplements, including mega doses of vitamin C and bovine thymus gland. I guess maybe all the antioxidants and other nutrients in the vegetables help the body detoxify.

I actually have some bison thymus gland in the freezer. I’m going to dig it out and put it into Kate’s chicken broth today. I think I’ll make a stew of it, with some garlic and onion. Those are immune-enhancing as well.

And I’m going to juice up some carrots and beets for her. Can you give a 10-month-old wheat grass juice? I’m not sure.

Interesting — Alla was using an eyedropper on Friday, putting drops of freshly squeezed carrot juice into Kate’s nose. She said it is a traditional thing they did in Russia to help the mucus thicken.

This is why it’s not a good idea to give a child medications to reduce symptoms. Mucus and fever and diarrhea are all designed to carry toxins out of the body. If you inhibit the body’s natural functions, you are preventing the healing. The best thing you can do for them is increase fluids and antioxidants — juicing does both. And give them chicken broth — “Jewish penicillin”.

Fabulous Fermented Foods January 10, 2008

I’m really excited! Yesterday I got my delivery from GEM Cultures.

Here are the cultures I got and what they are used for:

1. Kombucha - This is a symbiotic mixture of yeasts and Bacterium xylinium (a relative of the vinegar bacterium). People all over the world (Germany, Poland, Russia, Bulgaria, Japan, Indonesia, China, and Brazil) have been using this culture for centuries to make kombucha tea, known by many other names including teeschwamm, wunderpilz, hongo, and cajnif.

Kombucha is essentially fermented black tea and white sugar. The yeast and bacteria eat the sugar and breaks down all the bad stuff and turns it into something wonderful. A light, sparkling (naturally carbonated) drink comparable to a light wine or apple cider — with virtually no alcohol and no caffeine. Not only is it delicious (and a great substitute for soda pop or iced tea), it is hailed as one of the healthiest drinks on the planet.

What makes it so healthy? It’s chock full of enzymes, probiotics, a full range of B-vitamins, and glucuronic acid which the body uses to detoxify the cells and the liver. People claim that kombucha has helped them with everything from cancer to carpal tunnel to hangovers. All this for around 50 cents a gallon!

Why spend money on tons of supplements? Just throw out that nasty chemical-laden Diet Coke in your fridge and start brewing kombucha.

2. Rye Sourdough Starter - This is a truly natural bread leaven that has been around for thousands of years (since the Egyptians). Like kombucha, it’s a symbiotic collection of yeasts and friendly bacteria that digest sugars and create acids.

The starter is used to make, you guessed it, real sourdough bread (not the “faux” kind made from commercial yeast). Not only does it taste a lot better, it’s so much healthier for you, particularly if it’s made from whole grains.

Why is naturally leavened whole grain bread better for you? It’s all about absorption of minerals.

In the process of making sourdough bread, during the rising time (called proofing), bran in the flour is broken down, releasing nutrients into the dough. In particular, the phytic acid (phytin) in grain needs to be 90% neutralized in order for the minerals, concentrated in the bran, to be absorbed by the human body. According to the experiments done in Belgium, phytin can be neutralized by natural bacterial action and to a lesser extent, by baking. In naturally leavened bread, the combination eliminates all phytin, while in yeasted bread about 90% remains.

But that’s not all! Real sourdough bread is also more digestible and has more amino acids and active enzymes.

Furthermore, with sourdough bread, complex carbohydrates are broken down into more digestible simple sugars and protein is broken down into amino acids. Enzymes develop during proofing which are not lost in baking since the center of the loaf remains at a lower temperature than the crust.

Source: Facts About Naturally Leavened Sourdough Bread

3. Kefir - Kefir is a tart and tangy cultured milk drink that originated in Eastern Europe. Again, it’s a mixture of bacteria and yeasts.

You can drink kefir straight or strain it and add herbs and garlic to make it into soft cheese. You can substitute plain kefir cheese for ricotta in recipes. It contains probiotics, B vitamins, amino acids.

Similar to yogurt, kefir has many health benefits as it greatly improves digestion. I’ve also used it on my baby’s diaper rash. It’s also one of the best baby foods!

Kefir vs. Yogurt:

While both Kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products, they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep your digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that already are present. Kefir actually helps to colonize your intestinal tract — a feat that yogurt cannot match.

Additionally, Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt: Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species. It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces Kefir and Torula Kefir, which help balance the intestinal flora, including promotion of beneficial yeast in the body by penetrating the mucosal lining. They form a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and helps strengthen the intestines.

Kefir’s active yeast and bacteria may provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. The curd size of Kefir is smaller than yogurt, so it’s also easier to digest, making it an ideal food for babies**, the elderly, and anyone with digestive health concerns.

Source: Mercola

4. Fil Mjolk - Fil Mjolk is a Swedish cultured milk drink. Unlike kefir, it is not tart but rather clean and mild, similar to buttermilk. In Sweden, they eat it like yogurt every morning. It has all the same health benefits of the above listed foods.

You can also make salad dressing with it, vegetable dips, and other things. If you add this culture to cream, you can make your own creme fraiche, or cultured sour cream. Again, it makes a great baby food.

It should also be noted that all of the above foods and drinks improve digestion and therefore improve immunity.

Fermented foods used to be a mainstay of our diet in every culture around the world. Now they have practically disappeared because everything is pasteurized and modernized.

Long ago, food preservation was accomplished through lacto-fermentation, a process that adds a host of beneficial micro-organisms to food. This makes them easier to digest , increasing the healthy flora in our intestinal tracts.

Because fermentation is an inconsistent process, commercial food processors developed techniques like pasteurization — a method that literally destroys dozens of precious enzymes — to help standardize more consistent yields.

Sadly, I believe that modern culture has sacrificed many of the advantages of traditionally fermented healthy foods for faster and cheaper methods of mass production. In my opinion, our immunity and digestive health have been overlooked. I believe that it’s time to return to the health-promoting foods of our past.

Source: Mercola

Oh, and you know what else is great about fermented foods? They are the gift that keeps giving. These cultures actually reproduce and create more cultures. You can keep using them over and over. Talk about economical! (Another reason the food industry wants no part of them! They can’t make money on something you buy once.)

PS: If you don’t currently have access to raw milk, fermenting pasteurized milk (from a good source, preferably from an organic and grass-fed dairy) is the next best thing.

No Poo: Day Three December 21, 2007

My hair still looks great. No greasies whatsoever. Soft, shiny, luscious.

I washed again yesterday with the Terressentials hair wash. This time I washed it twice, the second time leaving it on for an hour. Then I rinsed with diluted apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.

I thought no poo was no washing. It’s not no washing. It’s NO SHAMPOO. Using clay and aloe vera is fine. It doesn’t hurt your hair. Natural acids like ACV and lemon juice also don’t hurt your hair. Contrary to what a lot of stylists say. I read so many warnings of the dangers of lemon juice from stylists online.

Of course, they don’t want you putting lemon juice on your hair at home. Then you wouldn’t need to go to them.

It’s interesting because the people on the No Poo communities online are all about going longer between washings. On the Terressentials website, they say you should wash with the clay every day multiple times for a week.

The No Poo people believe that the longer you go between washings, the more your hair will detox and it will get back to its natural state in time. It seems to me that it is not about WAITING and slowly detoxing but rather it is about getting the gunk out.

So washing repeatedly with clay speeds the process and helps your hair return to normal. This way you don’t have to go through the greasy phase (which can last weeks or months!).

I’m going this morning to get my hair trimmed. Not a lot — just a tiny bit. I want to get some of those damaged ends off.

No Poo: Day One December 20, 2007

I’m really excited about my hair.

I used my new Terressentials clay hair wash today. It’s made of all natural, edible, organic ingredients including aloe vera, bentonite clay, and essential oils.

I followed their instructions and washed my hair three times. The third time, I left the clay on, wrapped up in a towel, for over an hour, then I rinsed it out. After I rinsed (very thoroughly — it’s clay after all), I did a final rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.

Terressentials and all the no poo people online say that when you stop using detergent- and polymer- (plastic-) based shampoos, you will go through a “detox” period that will last anywhere from a few days to a few months.

They say it’s because commercial shampoos (SHAM + POO = LIE + CACA) are full of detergents that strip your hair. When your hair is stripped of its natural oils, it produces excess oil. Which means you gotta wash it more often. Which makes you use more shampoo. Which strips your hair more and makes it produce more oil. You can see where this is going.

Commercial shampoos also deposit polymers on your hair. I don’t know what polymers are exactly but I know they are plastic.

I also know this can’t be a good thing. These polymers and other gunky stuff are there to make your damaged hair look better. In other words, this shambolic shampoo is designed to damage your hair and then disguise the damage.

Nice, eh?

When you detox off shampoo, you are sloughing all this plastic and other toxic chemicals out of your hair. Which makes it look greasy — all that gunk being excreted.

The good news is, once you get past that, you have your original hair again. The hair you had as a little kid. Shiny, soft, strong and healthy — not damaged and broken.

Anyway, everyone says the detox period typically lasts for weeks or months and you have to walk around with super-greasy hair. As committed as I was to going no poo, I was not looking forward to that part.

So I figured I’d wait to go no poo until after the holidays. I didn’t really want to spend Christmas with a greasy head. I could just imagine all the photos of me looking like a dirty hippie.

Anyway, about 3 weeks ago, I switched over to a shampoo I found at Whole Foods — Hugo Botanicals. I figured it wouldn’t be as bad as regular shampoo. I think I was correct in that assumption.

However, it does still have a lot of nasty chemicals in it. But not as many as the others, which is why I think my hair started detoxing. For the past few weeks since I started using this stuff, my hair has gotten oilier and oilier. And I’ve been washing it every single day!

So I think I’ve been detoxing for a few weeks now. Or at least I haven’t been putting as many bad chemicals on my hair and I haven’t been stripping it with as many detergents — so it has been getting oily.

So I decided today, since I’m experiencing the worst of both worlds — greasy hair detox plus still using bad chemicals — I would go ahead and start the no poo regime today.

So today is my first official day of no poo.

I have to tell you the Terressentials hair wash is AMAZING. My hair is so clean and shiny and gorgeous. I’ve never ever seen it this way. And it smells so good.

This is only the beginning. I have looked at the photos on the no poo communities online. Their hair is amazing. And they don’t wash it. At least not with shampoo (they use water, baking soda, sea salt, and clay, and rinse with vinegar or lemon).

I thought “no poo” meant going without washing but it doesn’t. It just means not using the shambolic stuff. However, I think if you don’t use shampoo and use clay or baking soda or what-have-you instead, in time you will not need to wash as often. Maybe once or twice a week instead of every day.

I know my hair is going to get more beautiful. I still have some nasty old highlights that will be cut off eventually. And the longer my hair goes without all these chemicals and plastics, the nicer it is going to get.

I’m really happy and excited! I can’t wait to wash my hair again tomorrow.

Terressentials December 17, 2007

Oh my goodness! I am so excited about the new personal care products that just came in the mail.

I know, that’s a dorky thing to say. Who gets excited about personal care products?

The thing is, I’ve been researching all this stuff for a while and almost all of the personal care products we use are FILLED with nasty chemicals. That wouldn’t be a huge problem except for the fact that we absorb these chemicals — not only through our nose but through the pores in our skin.

I found a company called Terressentials. Apparently the founder of the company used to be very sick. She got cancer (she thinks it was from the DDT her father was unknowingly spraying when she was a kid) and had multiple rounds of chemo — which made her highly sensitive to chemicals. She kept having reactions to store-bought personal care products which were supposed to be healthy and organic — but had lots of hidden chemicals and pesticides.

Which is why she started making her own products. They are 100% organic and totally edible. The idea is, anything you put on your body you should also be able to eat. Doesn’t that make sense?

Anyway I just tried the body lotion and lip balm and they both smell and feel amazing and delicious.

The shampoo is another story. A good story…

Apparently shampoo, conditioner, and other styling products are not good for your hair. They are filled with toxic chemicals. They strip your hair of its natural oils and leave a nasty residue on your hair and scalp. They damage your hair.

But here’s the rub: the residue they leave makes your damaged hair look healthy. Which is why you have to keep using them. Your hair will look like crap if you stop. But the more you use these products, the more you damage your hair.

A fun little vicious cycle, eh? Kind of like high fructose corn syrup.

Anyway, there is a way to be free of commerical hair products. It’s called no poo.

I know, it’s a dorky name. No poo. Sounds like toilet talk (that’s what my mom used to call our childhood potty humor). But the idea is, if you can break yourself from using shampoo, conditioner, and other hair products long enough (takes a few weeks to a few months) your hair will be free of all the synthetic gunk and return to its natural state.

What is your hair’s natural state? You probably have no idea.

I bet you my natural hair state is magnificent.

I can’t wait to start using this Terresentials hair wash. By the way, it’s made out of mud. Aloe vera and bentonite clay and other natural junk. No detergents or chemicals or other nonsense.

Considering there is a detox period of at least a few weeks, I am going to wait until the new year to start. Still, I can’t wait!

More about how to detox and get back to your original hair: http://www.terressentials.com/hairhelp.html

More about the founders and the company: http://www.terressentials.com/greenstandard1.html

The Terressentials website: http://www.terressentials.com/

PS: For this to work, you also have to stop dying and highlighting your hair with chemicals. I have not highlighted my hair since last summer and plan to use lemon and sun from now on.

How to heal a leaky gut December 16, 2007

I am reading about how to heal Seth’s leaky gut.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride writes:

Gut Dysbiosis compromises the roots of your health and well being.

For example, two major body systems, The Digestive System and The Immune System, cannot function effectively. The damaged gut wall becomes “Leaky” affecting food uptake and bowel action.

It is no coincidence that susceptibility to allergy, illnesses such as IBS and Autism, and intolerance to certain foods is related to this condition.

(http://www.bio-kult.com/gutdysbiosis.html)

The suggested diet is:

No processed foods
No gluten
No dairy
No soy
No sugar

What is left to eat?

Natasha Campbell-McBride recommends the following (her diet is specifically aimed toward autistic children with leaky guts but it should work the same for adults):

Meat, fish, poultry, organ meats, and eggs, raw if possible
Fresh vegetables and fruit, raw if possible
Nuts and seeds (properly soaked)
Lots of garlic and onion
Lots of cold pressed virgin olive oil and coconut oil
Some whole grains: buckwheat, millet, and quinoa (once or twice a week, properly soaked)

She also recommends 1-2 teaspoons of cod liver oil daily. Cod liver oil is supposed to help heal the gut lining. Many people are concerned about overdosing on vitamin A but Dr. Campbell-McBride says it would take 4 teaspoons per day for an adult to overdose.

In addition, probiotics are recommended. We are using Threelac now but will switch to Campbell-McBride’s Bio-Kult.

She also recommends certain things you can do to help detoxify the body of the heavy metals and toxins (this is often what causes leaky gut):

Stop using chemical soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and laundry detergent.
Wash hair with an egg yolk and rinse with apple cider vinegar.
Take detoxifying baths daily alternating with apple cider vinegar and Epsom salts.
Eat foods with nitrilosides: buckwheat, millet, apricot kernels, peach kernels, grape seeds, apple seeds, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, bean sprouts, Lima beans, macadamia nuts
Juicing - lots of freshly juiced fruits and vegetables help the body detoxify — minimum of 2 cups per day

Campbell-McBride on juicing:

A combination of pineapple, carrot and a little bit of beetroot in the morning will prepare your child’s digestive system for the coming meals, stimulate stomach acid production and pancreatic enzymes production. A mixture of carrot, apple, celery and beetroot has a wonderful liver cleansing ability. Green juices from leafy vegetables (spinach, lettuce, parsley, dill, carrot and beet tops) with some tomato and lemon are a great source of magnesium and iron and good chelators of heavy metals. Cabbage, apple and celery juice stimulates digestive enzymes production and is a great kidney cleanser.

They say it takes 1-2 years to really heal. I am going to order Dr. Campbell-McBride’s book, “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” (available only on the Amazon UK site: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gut-Psychology-Syndrome-Depression-Schizophrenia/dp/0954852001).

We are going to start in the new year.

Links:

http://www.dietarysupport.com/detox(art).html

http://www.dietarysupport.com/essentialdiet(art).html

http://www.bio-kult.com/GAPS.html

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.