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”.

10 Ways to Boost Immunity & 10 Ways to Damage It January 31, 2008

I have been reading “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride. She has had quite a lot of success treating children in her clinic in England, reversing autism, allergies, ADHD, and many other conditions. Her own son was diagnosed with autism. He is now in a regular school and is completely functional.

Dr. Campbell McBride recommends a special diet, what she calls the “GAPS diet”, as well as supplementation with cod liver oil and therapeutic-grade probitoics. I was very interested to learn this, as I have heard of many people having success with diet and probiotics with autistic children.

Including Jenny McCarthy, who, in her book, “Louder Than Words”, wrote about her son’s marked recovery after she changed his diet (to gluten-free, casein-free) and started giving him probiotics. Her son regained his language and social skills, and is now fully recovered.

If diet and probiotics can have this kind of affect on autistic children, what kind of affect can they have on other children? What kind of affect can they have on us? Those of us with food allergies and chronic fatigue and asthma and digestive problems and chronic colds and sinus infections? And auto-immune disorders such as arthritis, lupus, and MS.

How do we improve our immunity, and how do we avoid damaging our immunity?

In her book, Dr. Campbell-McBride made lists of how we can strengthen and weaken immunity. Here they are:

TOP 10 THINGS THAT BOOST IMMUNITY:

1. Cold-pressed oils - olive oil, fish oils (including cod liver oil), nut and seed oils (flax seed, sunflower seed).

2. Fresh eggs, particularly raw egg yolk. (Note: Raw eggs are safe as long as they come from healthy pastured chickens, not sick battery chickens from a factory farms. It is not advisable to eat raw egg whites, however. I usually boil my eggs for 3 minutes or fry them, and eat the yolk runny.)

3. Onions and garlic.

4. Freshly pressed vegetables and fruit juices (this means freshly juiced, not store bought).

5. Regular consumption of greens: parsley, dill, coriander (cilantro), spring onion and garlic, etc.

6. Probiotic supplementation and fermented foods (kombucha, kefir, cultured butter, yogurt, homemade sauerkraut, beet kvass, etc.).

7. Contact with animals: horses, dogs, etc. Having a pet in the family can do a lot for children’s immune status.

8. Physical activity in the fresh air.

9. Swimming in unpolluted natural waters: lakes, rivers, and sea.

10. Exposure to sunlight and sensible sunbathing.

TOP 10 THINGS THAT DAMAGE IMMUNITY:

1. Sugar and everything containing it: sweets, soft drinks, confectionery, ice cream, etc.

2. Processed carbohydrates: cakes, biscuits, crisps (chips), snacks, breakfast cereals, white bread and pasta.

3. Chemically altered and artificial fats: margarines, butter replacements, cooking and vegetable oils (including soy oil and canola oil), processed foods prepared with these fats.

4. Lack of high-quality protein in the diet from meats and fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts and seeds.

5. Exposure to man-made chemicals: cleaning and washing chemicals, personal care products, paints, fire retardants, petrochemicals, pesticides, etc.

6. Exposure to man-made radiation: electronic screens (TV, computers, play station, etc.), mobile phones, high-power electricity lines, nuclear station and nuclear wastes.

7. Drugs: antibiotics, steroids, antidepressants, painkillers, anti-cancer medication, anti-viral drugs, etc.

8. Lack of fresh air and physical activity.

9. Lack of exposure to sunlight.

10. Lack of exposure to common microbes in the environment. Living in a too sterilized environment is strongly associated with compromised immunity. The immune system needs constant stimulation from the microbes in the environment.

Surprising lists, huh? According to Dr. Campbell-McBride, pets, cod liver oil, fresh air, eggs, fermented foods, and sunshine all strengthen immunity. White flour, sugar, vegetable and soy oil, antibiotics, chemical cleaners, personal care products, and vegetarianism all weaken it.

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.

The Miracle of Kefir January 3, 2008

Someone on the LiveJournal natural living community posted this fascinating and miraculous story about kefir, the fermented dairy drink:

After my first batch of kefir, I got a period for the first time in a couple of years. I was stunned. I thought it had to be the kefir because that was the only thing that had changed.

Then about a month later, my body started feeling like it was trying very hard to have a period but couldn’t. I had headaches and fever-like symptoms coupled with what I can only describe as a very anxious, tense body for a week and a half. One night I woke up in the middle of the night after having night sweats. The feeling that woke me was that feeling you get when a fever breaks. I had started my period.

The next month, when I felt the fever-like symptoms coming on, I started drinking kefir right away. Sure enough, my period came on without a struggle soon afterward. I starting drinking the kefir every day. It kept getting easier for my body to have a period with each cycle, and now I’m cycling normally.

I later reread the section in the The Body Ecology Diet book about kefir and thought, “I’ll be damned.” It states right there in the book that some women find their periods come back when they start drinking the kefir! Strangely enough, that had gone by me the first time I read the book. (Well, there’s a lot of information in there.)

…it’s one of the reasons I’m so devoted to the principles of this diet (that and seeing my autoimmune problems back off, which was my main goal, and my hormones start to balance). Prior to getting my period back, I’d been doing the basic diet for a few months, without the probiotic foods. Prior to that was the processed foods nightmare, which went through college, when I didn’t know any better.

I was on a lot of antibiotics when I was a kid (for ear infections) and some when I was in college. I also took birth control pills for several years to regulate my periods, not knowing that would make things worse.

I’m 29 now. I had an awful bout of hives in high school that “experts” couldn’t diagnose. The hives went away on their own after a hellish year. When I was 24-25, they came back in force with my thyroid crash, when my autoimmune thyroid problem came on me strong — so bad my hair was thinning and eyes were sensitive to light. I had chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, you name it.

Long story short, I connected the hives to poor digestion and cured them with digestive enzymes. Since the hives and autoimmune thyroid had come at the same time, I began to think digestion was the root of all of it. I went to see a colon hydrotherapist who teaches Body Ecology at her clinic. I never looked back. This knowledgeable woman confirmed my suspicions, and I just knew Body Ecology would help me heal.

Amazing, eh?

It’s sad that medical doctors are constantly putting women on the birth control pill to regulate their cycles. The birth control pill is one of the things that messes up your intestinal flora!

It never made sense to me. Why should you have to take a pill to regulate something that should be a natural human function?!

Here’s an article on why you should avoid the birth control pill:

Just Say No to Birth Control Pills

Oh and by the way, the kefir available at the health food store is NOT the same as the stuff you make yourself.

If you want to make your own kefir, here is a site with good information:

How to Make Kefir

I bought my kefir grains here:

GEM Cultures

Candida Detox December 10, 2007

Seth was diagnosed with leaky gut a few months ago. He has had a number of symptoms including constant intestinal and digestive problems, an inability to lose weight, inability to concentrate, etc. etc.

Leaky gut is a condition in which your digestive tract is damaged and weakened by a lack of good bacteria.

Good bacteria in the gut kill off toxins. When you don’t have enough, you get an overgrowth of yeast, also known as candida albicans.

I had this condition 15 years ago, when I was in my mind-twenties. I figured it out by putting all the pieces of the puzzle together — since doctors had no idea what was going on with me.

My symptoms were:

Arthritis in my knees, spreading to my hands and elbows
Bad respiratory allergies (constant sneezing, itching, runny nose, watery eyes)
Brain fog, dizziness
Constant fatigue
Thrush (a white coating on the tongue)
Bloating and slight weight gain
Constant cravings for refined carbs, sugar, and alcohol
Sores that would not heal — including open sores inside my nose
Continual sinus infections and other illnesses due to a weakened immune system

I believe what caused the yeast overgrowth was a combination of things:

Repeated rounds of broad-spectrum antibiotics as a child
Repeated rounds of broad-spectrum antibiotics as an adult for my constant sinus infections (caused by the candida!)
Vaccines (I had a recent round when I went back to college)
Eating dead foods lacking in probiotics and enzymes (pasteurized milk and dairy products, no lacto-fermented foods, a lack of raw fruits and vegetables)
Eating meats and dairy full of antibiotics
The birth control pill (I was only on it for a short time in my early 20s but I think it added to the mix)

It took me a while and a lot of research to figure out that it was the candida causing all my symptoms. Western doctors advised me to take pain medication for my arthritis and allergy medication for my sinus problems. They were only interested in treating my symptoms.

I ended up going on a wheat-free sugar-free diet. I was taking anti-fungals like garlic supplements and I was taking high doses of pharmaceutical grade probiotics (prescribed by my chiropractor-nutritionist), as well as a variety of nutritional supplements like bovine adrenal gland and thymus gland to strengthen my immune system.

Within a matter of a few months, I was 90% better and symptom-free. I stayed on the diet and the supplements for a few years until I was completely better — and could eat whatever I wanted with no symptoms. Cake, candy, bread, ice cream — no problem.

It wasn’t until I got on the birth control pill again this summer (prescribed by my doctor after the baby was born) that I started experiencing symptoms again. The biggest clue were the open sores on the inside of my nose. One day I read that the birth control pill contributes to candida — I stopped taking it immediately. I guess I was on it for a few months. Weeks after I stopped taking it, I still had the sores. And my allergies were back!

I tried taking some probiotics I got at the health food store. I’ve also been drinking tons of raw milk and eating lots of lacto-fermented foods. But nothing was helping. Months went by and I still had the sores.

Three days ago I started taking ThreeLac, which I ordered on the internet. I had read about it in Jenny McCarthy’s book, Louder Than Words. It’s what she used to help reverse her son’s autism.

Three days and guess what? Allergies and sores — GONE.

Unbelievable, eh?

Meanwhile, Seth is going through a massive detox. For the past three days since we started the ThreeLac, he is suffering from major yeast die-off. Flu-like symptoms: sneezing, achey muscles, severe fatigue, chills, vomiting.

This happened to me the first time I got over candida — it lasted a couple of weeks.

We reduced his dosage — from 1 packet daily to 1/4 packet. Hopefully it will be a little easier for him.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

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.

Why you should feed your baby butter, raw milk, and sauerkraut … December 3, 2007

… and why you need to eat them too.

This whole series (videos 1-6) is worth watching. They are talking about nutrition for autistic kids… but it is important information for all of us.

Did you know that fermenting foods increases the nutrition hundreds of times? Isn't that exciting?

Did you know that serotonin is manufactured in the gut? Isn't that amazing?

PS: The woman on the right, Natasha Campbell-McBride, reversed her son's autism through diet.

The Town Without a Toothache December 1, 2007

Dr. George Heard was a dentist in the early part of the 20th century who first practiced in Alabama, where he had a majority of patients with tooth decay that required fillings and extractions — ultimately resulting in false teeth. He later moved to a small town in Texas where he was stunned to find very few cavities (average of 1.2 decayed spots per child between the ages of 6-18).

No, it wasn't fluoride. There were other Texas towns that had just as much or more fluoride in the water — and their incidence of tooth decay was greater.

Dr. Heard attributed the town's excellent dental health to diet. Particularly homegrown vegetables from beds rich in minerals, whole grain bread, and plenty of raw milk. And avoidance of white flour and refined sugar.

I asked every patient who came to me: “How much milk do you drink every day. Do you drink raw milk? Do you drink buttermilk and clabber?”

For years I made inquiry of my patients as to their milk habits. Almost invariably I found that the possessor of a mouth full of sound teeth had been a consistent milk drinker from early childhood. A surprisingly large number liked either buttermilk, clabber or both.

The significant fact is that the milk those patients drank came from cows that had grazed on native grass in Deaf Smith County pastures. In winter, as a rule, the cows had grazed on green wheat.

from “Man Versus Toothache” by Dr. George W. Heard, copyright 1952

Why in the world are we drinking skim milk from GRAIN-fed cows? Not to mention cows that are fed corn, soy, dead animals, day-old pastries, etc. Skim, pasteurized milk is completely devoid of nutrition. You may as well drink water.

And cows that are forced to eat grain and other things are not healthy. Grain makes them sick. Which requires more antibiotics, etc. Which is why you don't want to drink pasteurized milk. Not only is it devoid of nutrition, it is from sick cows that are pumped to the gills with antibiotics (and hormones in many cases).

And just what are all those antibiotics doing to the delicate balance of flora in your intestinal tract, the very seat of your immunity?

Do you think the antibiotics are killed or inactivated by the pasteurization process? Does anyone know? I don't know — I'm not a microbiologist, for godsakes.

But I do know that it can't be good to drink milk from sick cows who are pumped with antibiotics. I don't know how you can dispute that logic.

Cows are meant to eat grass in spring and summer, and hay in fall and winter. They are not meant to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in cramped factories eating grain and other abnormal things out of troughs.

Where are you getting your milk? Do you know the dairy? Do you know what they feed the cows?

If you like to drink milk (I hope you do, it's very good for you and delicious), not to mention eat cheese, ice cream, and butter, here are some good posts to read on my friend Beatrix's blog. These two posts illustrate the difference between real, healthy grass-fed-cow-produced raw milk and factory farm swill.

Please educate yourself:

The Sweet Sound of Cowbells Ringing Out in the Fields:
http://constantstateofflux.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/the-sweet-tone-of-cowbells-ringing-out-in-the-fields/

STOP DOING IT NOW:
http://constantstateofflux.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/stop-doing-it-now/

Think you can't get raw milk, pastured eggs, and grass-fed meat? Well you're probably right that you won't find it at Safeway. You might not even find it at Whole Foods (unless you live in California which does sell raw milk — for now…).

Here are some resources to help you find good real milk and grass-fed animal food:

http://www.realmilk.com/ (click on WHERE to find sources for real raw milk)

http://www.eatwild.com/

Louder Than Words November 26, 2007

I read Jenny McCarthy's book, “Louder Than Words” last night.

It totally blew me away.

So moving and absolutely gripping. What I love about Jenny McCarthy is how forthright and honest she is. She calls it like she sees it. And she's not afraid to be herself. I really love and admire that in a person.

What she went through with her son's autism was so horrendous — and it makes you so sad to realize that one out every 150 people in America are going through the same thing. I can't even imagine how hard it would be.

And yet it is becoming commonplace in America. How can this be? How can something so horrendous become commonplace?

We think we've got it so good here in America. We're nothing like the poor slobs living in Beirut, sleeping to the sound of bombs going off. We're so lucky to live in America.

Meanwhile one out of every 150 parents is going through a living hell. Seizures, (SIDS? — there is speculation), tantrums and screaming all night long, loss of language and socialization, total inability to function.

I, like Jenny McCarthy, am absolutely convinced that this hell is avoidable and reversible. Not for everybody — some kids can't recover. But I think most or at least many can. They may not be able to cure it completely but they can reverse it. And I think most or many people absolutely can avoid this nightmare.

The thing I loved the best about her book was her sentence (I'm paraphrasing), “This is not a book about autism. This is a book about faith.”

Faith is believing when you have no evidence. Seeing in the dark. Faith is something I have worked on building in myself over the years. I am now an extremely faith-full person. Full of faith. I have total knowing (not just belief — but knowing) that the Universe is conspiring in my favor. Pulling out all the stops for my good. I always know things will work out. And guess what, they always do. It's not always instant (in fact it rarely is), but it is always consistent.

And how cool is it that Jenny McCarthy (a very faith-full person herself) ended up with a guy like Jim Carrey? He strikes me as a pretty spiritual guy. Yes, they are celebrities and what do we really know, but I do know that he wrote a song called “Heaven Down Here” which was recorded by Tuck & Patti. It goes like this:

“Let's bring Heaven down here
I don't want to wait for the angels
Let's bring Heaven down here”

Yes, he really wrote that. I heard Patti say so herself on a local San Francisco talk show. (http://www.tuckandpatti.com/song_lear.html)

The other really cool thing about the book is how much diet and nutrition impacted Jenny's boy. The story she tells is nothing short of staggering.

Within TWO WEEKS of starting her son on a gluten-free, casein-free (wheat/dairy) diet, he said his first sentence. He had been able to say single words before the seizures happened at around the age of two. Words like “juice” and “milk” and “mama”. And after doing some testing, they realized that he didn't even know what those words meant; he was just repeating his mother. Like she would say, “You want some juice?” and he would say, “Juice.”

Then he had the MMR shot and had constant seizures. After the vaccine and subsequent seizures, he lost all language (this is a common pattern).

After just two weeks of being on the diet, he came up to his mom, tugged on her leg and said, “Want to go swimming”.

Aside: Another diet story was in the introduction — a doctor with an autistic son said that two weeks after giving him a daily supplement of cod liver oil, he regained eye contact and language.

After she got her son on the GFCF diet, Jenny learned about candida (an overgrowth of yeast in the gut, the same thing BTW that caused my arthritis and allergies when I was in my mid-twenties) which is common among autistic kids. She started him on Diflucan, which is a drug that kills the yeast. After that he went on massive doses of probiotics (they also kill off the yeast).

Jenny believes that her son was born with a weakened immune system, and the vaccines weakened it even more. Because his immune system was so weak (they found a doctor who had it tested and it was weaker than that of an AIDS patient), he continually got sick and had to take antibiotics, which killed off the good bacteria in his gut. The good bacteria is what kills off the yeast. When you don't have enough good bacteria, you get a yeast overgrowth. Which she believes is what causes the autism in many kids. (I agree with her.)

Anyhow, TWO WEEKS after he started on the Diflucan and was excreting massive amounts of yeast, they were watching a show on TV and he laughed at a joke. He had never done this before. Autistic kids don't “get” jokes.

Then he laughed again. This was the moment she knew she had saved her child. This was the first time, she said, that she had ever seen the real him.

Heartbreaking but joyous. I cried. Because she saved him. She loved him more than anything — and most of all she believed. She had faith. She saw, even in the darkness.

What an amazing woman she is. I think she is going to help many, many people with this book. I think every parent and every aspiring parent should read this book. Everyone who is close to someone with an autistic child should read this book.

Anyone going through a tough time and needs a shot of faith should read this book.

Hurrah, Jenny McCarthy! I'm glad you are alive on this planet with us and I'm glad you are brave enough to be you. You are a wonderful spirit.

Termites don't eat healthy trees November 21, 2007

This is one of the most fascinating blog posts I have ever read:

Termites Don’t Eat Healthy Trees

“The inner ecosystem of the body is the prime determinant in disease risk.”

This makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

I love the part about his trip to the Himalayas — how the more sickly people were bitten by leeches and the healthier, sturdier people were not.

I also really like his explanation of cancer. The toxins and waste matter in the body have nowhere else to go. So they try to localize — into tumors. Gosh, doesn't that make sense to you? It does to me.

Allopathic (Western medicine) has never made sense to me. OK, sure, having a C-section was helpful when my baby was breech. I do appreciate Western medicine during those times when surgery is required.

It's just that the standard protocol of suppressing and covering up symptoms instead of treating the cause DOES NOT WORK.

Which leads one to ask the question — logically, how would injecting vaccines into nutritionally depleted, sickly kids with weak immune systems and very few helpful bacteria in their guts help make their immune systems stronger? It doesn't make any sense.

Many parents with autistic kids have been speaking out about the lack of good bacteria in their kids' digestive tracts. These kids tend to be allergic to dairy and wheat (casein and gluten). Uh, for the most part that's pasteurized dairy and refined flour, by the way. I have read the testimony of some parents who say their autistic children tolerate raw milk just fine.

I wonder it all of this relates to the phenomenon of all these kids being allergic to peanuts. I wonder if they had more good bacteria in their gut, they might not be allergic to everything.