Homeopathy & Me

The arrival of my diploma last week coincided with the discovery that I had been giving myself the wrong homeopathic remedy for this weirdo cold I haven’t been able to shake.  I had been taking Natrum Mur when it was Silicea that I should have been taking these last two weeks. Silly me.  Some Certified Health Specialist I am.

Qu’est-ceci?  Que es Homeopathy?  Homeopathy, like herbal medicine, acupuncture, energy work, other forms of holistic healing;  is an effective means to a healing end.  I have used homeopathic remedies to treat everything from bad teething episodes, to nasty hangovers, to sinus infections, to swine flu, to food poisoning, to bronchitis, to treating all the bumps and bruises and bleeding I see here on a daily basis being a mom of two little boys.

Here’s the homeopathic up-side:  Homeopathic remedies aren’t expensive – $5-$11dollars a remedy.  It’s non-addictive – you don’t have to sweat getting hooked on Natrum Mur.  There aren’t any toxic ingredients in homeopathic remedies.  They’re effective and safe to use on babies and even your pets.  You don’t feel drugged up and can drive your car while taking homeopathic remedies.  Intrigued?  I was.  I looooove using homeopathy for me and my family.  It can be a bit nerve-racking at times when you’re looking at your baby who is rubbing his ears and screaming and has a fever and writhing on the ground and you’re trying to think objectively and give the right remedy under such circumstances.  But I’ve seen this same child (more than once) recover within a small period of time with the administration of Chamomilla…one of the more popular remedies for babies.

The downside of homeopathy is that ‘modern medicine’ can’t prove that homeopathy works.  You can’t do double blind studies on homeopathic remedies.  Homeopathy is an incredibly individual way of approaching the body and its ability to heal itself.  It takes some time to come up with a remedy after you’ve taken some time to assess the situation.  What are the physical manifestations?  A cough?  What color is the mucous?  What is the attitude of the patient?  Are they angry?  Irritable? Withdrawn?  What does the cough sound like?  What is the temperature of the skin?  Does it feel hot?  Wet?  Dry?  …These are but a few of the observations that one needs to make before determining a remedy before administering.   And there are hundreds and hundreds of different homeopathic remedies for just about every condition out there.  And most you wouldn’t consider going to a doctor for unless it got really bad or became more irritating.  I can just see me at Loyola…

“Doctor, I’ve been very stubborn lately and I’m not open to anyone else’s ideas but my own.  I feel I am right all the time and am offended when my husband doesn’t do what I say.  I have these hard green boogers and when I sneeze, it hurts and is difficult..oh, and my eyes hurt in the sunlight and bring on these mild headaches.  The skin is cracking on my hands and no amount of lotion helps.  The corners of my mouth are cracked and dry and respond to no amount of lube.  My lower back hurts and it hurts especially at night when I lay on my side.”

This is one of the facets of the homeopathic remedy Silica…and boy have I been in a Silica state as of late!  The doctor would have undoubtedly blamed it on the psychosis of the holidays and the dry cold weather; and maybe made a note about my emotions.  However…my hands have healed (no lotion), headaches are gone and I have a much milder disposition and have been more flexible lately.  For me, it’s exciting to see my body adjust and heal itself.  And even better to hear about the healing of others. 

Weight loss, sugar, and you…and me too.

my muffin top – circa a month ago

Where oh where has my juicer been these last weeks?  If you’re like me and never been – or needed to be – on a diet, you might appreciate the wisdom I’ve gained in recent weeks.  Let’s just say that my juicer has been on a bit of a sabatical.  The South Beach diet became the new bible in this house and I have the soy sauce stains on the pages to prove it.  For two weeks we ate a lot of meat or fish at dinner, gave up caffeine, alcohol, and sugar (no fruits either!), and only snacked on turkey roll-ups and cheese sticks.  That’s phase I of the South Beach diet in a nutshell, and I’m glad it’s over.  I lost 12 lbs and my husband Bob lost 15 during those 2 weeks.  What I’ve learned after those grueling two weeks of denying myself that which I like, ok love, has been life-changing to say the least.

I was addicted to sugar and had the muffin top to prove it.   My biggest weight loss problem has been my gut.  I’m not a beer drinker, so I can’t blame Anheiser Busch, but I certainly could blame 1) pinot noir and all Malbecs, 2) my last pregnancy during which I had constant sugar cravings, and 3) eating the remnants of my son’s left over PB&J sandwiches and mac and cheeses (I hate throwing away food).  I’ve always known that stored sugar likes to set up shop in your gut and stay there, but I was shocked with the SB diet and witness my waistline’s diameter reduce as rapidly as the icecaps in Greenland…AND my ability to slip on – not squeeze into – my pre-pregnancy jeans.  And they say miracles are dead…

Which brings me to the nutritional discovery that’s greatly influenced my ability to keep off (for the most part) the weight.  Two words:  GLYCEMIC INDEX.   I *try* to only eat foods in the low spectrum of the glycemic index.  The low spectrum is any value below 55.  Medium is 56-69, and high is above 70.   Here’s a tip if you want to stay away from the high glycemic foods…eat nothing white.  No potatoes, no Wonder Bread, no white pasta (wheat’s good), ice cream, rice (parboiled’s ok)…you get the point.  Check out http://www.glycemicindex.com to find out more.  But as far as juicing goes, he’s my list of acceptable fruits and veggies to keep the weight off, get the high nutrition & enzymes, while satisfying that sweet tooth. These are all low glycemic foods and are listed lowest to highest:

Fruits:  Cherries (22), grapefruit, apples, pears, plums, peaches, grapes, oranges, kiwi (53), and bananas (54).

Veggies (these all have values of 15):  Broccoli, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, grean beans, snow peas, spinach & tomatoes.  Carrots are 39 and Beets are 64!

The good news is, I can keep slurping my celery/carrot juices.  I loooove cucumbers and am stoked to integrate these into more of my daily juices.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but all these fruits and veggies are at our grocers year-round.  No exotic or pricey fruits or veggies on this list.  Thanks Mother Nature! I am really bummed about the beets though.

I’m strong to the finich ’cause I drinks me spinach…

…I’m Jenny the super mom!  Woo Whoo!  Popeye wasn’t kidding fellow junior sailors!  All moms are super moms, but spinach is nothing short of a miracle food well-suited for us miracle workers.  Eaten raw (not canned like Popeye), it provides almost half our daily fiber requirement, but when it is juiced you really reap the full nutritive properties that spinach has to offer.  Rich in provitamins A and C as well as iron,  it also has that awesome cancer fighting enzyme, Betaine, that I mentioned in my Beet blog.  Spinach also has more protein than most vegetables; which explains why it is my favorite post-workout juice ingredient (pineapple is the other – no limping up the stairs anymore!).   I had been wondering by I haven’t been totally wiped out by sundown like I usually am; especially after working out; and I have to give some cred to spinach!  Along with the carrot, celery, pineapple, and occasional kiwi in my daily juices, spinach has certainly has given me an unexpected boost.  Just like Popeye!

Now, let’s talk about pesitcides here a sec.  I know my company name is Organnica, Inc. that focuses on all things good and organic, but let’s get real – we can’t buy fresh locally grown produce all the time.  Not only is it impractical (especially here in Chicago this time of year!), it’s very expensive.  If you are concerned about pesticides like I am, you may want to consider introducing Bentonite into your daily health regimen.  I take Bentonite on an empty stomach twice a day to help my body rid the toxins, herbicides, or any other unwanteds present on or in my produce.  Bentonite is clay – a clay natural to the Great Lakes region and is very safe.  Taken on an empty stomach, you can rid your body of toxins extremely effectively and safely with Bentonite.  According to manufacturer Yerba Prima, one tablespoon has the absorptive capacity to cover 900 square yards.  That’s quite a surface area considering the average colon – from stem to stern – is about 23-25 feet in length.  It’s a safe, natural way to ensure that any potentially harmful substances don’t make a home in your body and finds its way to the door…your back door.  ; o

Crabby baby? Try Crab Apple and Apple!

Five days without turning on the juicer and my son Maximilian is sick for the first time in 5 months.  Not surprising, but I’m kicking myself for our busy schedule and not taking time to make my babies some juice!  It occured to me earlier responding to an email about flower essences that a little of the flower essence Crab Apple combined with a few apples and a kiwi (for some extra vitamin C!) might assist my 2 year old in beating his bad cold and fever.   It’s been 5 hours and his runny nose has stopped and he doesn’t have a gravely voice anymore.   

I’m a long-time user of flower essences and sell them on a somewhat-regular basis when emotional upsets take over one’s life.  I’ll expand more on this in future posts, but will tell those of you not familiar with flower essences that they help us connect with our true nature.  Every philosopher known to man has asked this very question – what is our true nature? – and the answer, I believe, is not a static one, but one that flower essences assist us in answering during our journey fraught with flux and malady.  The answer depends on the individual.  And if you’ve ever used flower essences, you know what I mean.  Nature gives you a little ‘push’ towards wellness and connecting you to your vital force for optimal healing.  The results vary from person to person.

There are all kinds of flower essences with a myriad of purposes and I chose Crab Apple for my 2 year old today for a few reasons. His emotions have been high lately and he’s felt passionately; been almost obstinate; about a few things (being dictatorial, having things his way, meeting his precise needs, etc) and steadily I’ve watched him come into this high Crab Apple state.  ‘My way or the  Dan Ryan Xpressway’ I call it.  It’s also extremely effective in cleansing an individual.  Take a dropperful 3 x a day during a 10 day regimen of psyllium hulls and cascara sagrada, and feel 10 lbs lighter.  I’ve also used it diluted with water and sprayed it around a room if I felt that there were negative energies left behind by visitors or resulting from a conversation I’ve had with my husband.  It helps ‘correct’ people whose beliefs center around their version of perfection and become irritated when those presumptions aren’t met.  A popular mental state among 2 year olds if you’re familiar with little ones at all. 

So focusing on my ever-evolving 2 year old and seeing the effectiveness of my disciplinary system dwindle these last days, I knew something dark was the horizon and an alternate mode of correction was in our future.  So I fired up the juicer this morning, threw in my fruits, two droppers of Crab Apple and …well, when my husband gets home he’ll be impressed with the marked change in just a few hours.  After years of working with flower essences, I continue to be amazed by the blessings (I can’t think of another word to aptly describe it!) they bestow on the human being.  Did I mention they work wonders on pets too?! If you have any questions and want to keep them private, feel free to contact me at organnica@sbcglobal.net. Happy to help.

Trip to FLA or Tryptophan?

And you only thought it was only in turkey!  Thanksgiving is behind us (thank heaven) and spring is just ahead.  If you live here in the not-so-sunny-city of Chicago, you may be feeling a little blue…a little gray…very cold…Ok, enough already.  And if you live in Cook County and had a nice big tax hike this year (not including the extra 5% the county ‘needs’), you might call the sensation that you’re feeling *mild depression*.  

In her ebook, The Seratonin Secret, Dr. Longmore suggests that we can boost our moods by getting more tryptophan in our diets.   And a study published on http://www.pubmed.gov by Schaechter and Wurtman shows that the ‘data suggest(s) that the rate at which serotonin is released…is coupled to brain tryptophan levels’.  And stable brain serotonin levels are associated with possessing a positive mental attitude.  You’ve read those articles about how bright light raises serotonin levels and those poor Canadiens are so depressed because they don’t see the sun that much in winter.  According to Longmore, foods that boost serotonin levels because they contain higher levels of tryptophan are:  papaya, pineapple, spinach, bananas, tuna, nuts, turkey, tofu and many other surprising foods.  I wouldn’t recommend putting tuna or turkey in your juicer for a quick attitude adjustment, but play around with the fruits in your juicer and reap the results of these ‘good mood foods’.  Let me know what you think…

Floridian Flora & Fauna

To Juice or Not to Juice…

That seems to be the question posed to me so frequently lately; on the street and via email – why bother juicing when I can just eat my veggies and save myself the cost of buying a juicer, using it, and then cleaning the dang thang.   Well, the answer lies in your diet – if you have a low daily fiber intake, then chow down on those raw or steamed broccoli spears! However, if you get a good portion of the 25+gram dietary fiber recommendation through other sources (high fiber cereals and breads, beans, whole grain rices, steamed veggies, etc) – yet you wonder if you’re getting enough vitamins and minerals and enzymes from your diet, then dust off that blender or old juicer and fire it up!   Drinking a freshly made juice ensures that all available vitamins and minerals make it into our bloodstream – uber quick. See, digestion takes hours and depending on what else is already in your gut; meat, booze, twinkies, etc; you most probably will not get the full boat of available nutrients.  If you cook those veggies, your rate of return is further diminished.  FYI – steaming is the best way to cook your veggies, then roasting – but boiling is the worst method of preparation.  From a dietary standpoint, all you end up with is the fiber bulk that gets passed into your colon..which isn’t a bad thing; especially for those of us who need all the fiber we can get! 

Juicing might be right for you if you want to try to follow the American Cancer Society’s recommendation to get three or four servings of fruit and veggies a day.  If you’re like me and can’t fathom how to make that one happen, then juicing is a viable and tasty option for sure.  For me, juicing is the ideal way to consume the vegetables and fruits RAW and in quantity so that the important nutrients get right to work.  It’s not complicated, I’m not wasting a lot of money on vitamin supplements that will only get pooped out, there’s no trick to it other than buying fresh produce at your local market and bringing them home. Poof!..Health!

Max wielding a celery stick

…another happy Juicing accident…Hangover cure!

 

Farewell hangover and Hello Happiness!

 

So my husband Bob and double date Saturday with sis Sarah and her hub, Harry, to see Avatar and then dinner and drinks post haste. Lets just say that the next morning I was wishing I had an Avatar to do the mommy-ing around here.  I was hurtin’ for certain!  After two French martinis, a glass of wine, an exquisite (yet smallish) dinner, – then the chef sent us glasses of Port to top us off…you can imagine how this lightweight lady felt like the next morning. It had been two days since my last Juice and I had some fruits and veggies that looked like they were on their last legs. The leaves on the pineapple were drying up and looked like the Frasier Fir tree that was in our house this last month and now leans against the recycling bin in our alley.  A bag of spinach was about to start building its own ‘terrarium in a bag’, and I had a big head that needed mending.  So in went the pineapple, spinach, 5 oranges, 2 apples, and a cutting or two of wheat grass.  I’d made this juice before, but had not experienced the results.  Headache = gone. Pep in my step…acquired.  The answer = Bromelain.  It’s an enzyme in Pineapple and Papaya that aids in the digestion of proteins (hence these fruits being a fave with dieters)…but it’s also an anti-inflammatory.  A big one.  Arthritis sufferers pay attention:  juice a pineapple or half of one and combine it with a citrus fruit and your aches and pains will hit the road just like my hangover.  I should be experimenting with my parents or in-laws who suffer from arthritis and see if the pineapple/citrus juice does the trick for them too.  Then again, they will no longer need my ‘Ache-Away’ essential oil blend.  But if you do suffer from arthritis/aches/pains, remember Juicers…FRESH pineapple.  No buying canned fruits at ANY time.  You reap NO rewards from canned fruits and vegetables.  The enzymes are removed prior to packaging so that it can sit longer on store shelves; canned fruits and vegetables are nutritionally void.  Plus, it’s fun to buy fresh pineapple and mangoes (2 for a buck right now!) and kiwis during these arctic months.  Enjoy in your blender or juicer and let your tired mind and achey body reap the rewards!  Avatar Shmavatar…who needs one anyway.

Mama’s other favorite Juice

 Just got paid…Its Friday ni-eet.  You know the song; ok, you know it if you were in high school or college in the 90’s.  Actually, I didn’t truly intend to go juice-less today, but took the kids to the library this morning (a fiasco) and have been handling one very fussy teething baby all afternoon so it’s grape juice with booze for me tonight.  I *will* say that I have not craved any of the old foods that I used to eat during the day; ham sandwiches, mac & cheese, pb&j sammies (lunch options heavily influenced by my 2 year old obviously).  I had a handful of walnuts and some raisins today for lunch and have been fine!  I am craving veggies for dinner (my husband likes his meats) so I have some chicken breasts in the oven and I’m going to start steaming kale here in a bit. My sister and I have a bet with each other to lose 20 lbs by March 21st – the day of Chicago’s Shamrock Shuffle, and if my cravings keep up like this on the to whole food and natural side of the spectrum, I’ll win this bet hands down!   Or face down if my knees don’t hold up on this 5K…

Now don’t let me give  you the impression that I’m Carrie Nation or anything; I like hitting the sauce when I can…nowadays much less than I used to before Mamahood hit.  I like having a glass when I’m fixing dinner and another when the Big Guy gets home from work.  I’m excited how in such a short time (couple of weeks since the juicer arrived), my cravings and my awareness has changed.  More on this in upcoming posts!

We got the Beet

Ok, we’re not exactly dancing, but our tastebuds are!  Yes folks – that is my son Maximilian, drinking his weekly beet juice. Truth is, I had to combine half a beet with 3 oranges and 3 apples to sweeten it up so he’d drink it, but one never should drink beet juice by itself.   Pourqoui?   Because beet juice is potent stuff.  We’re talking the Burj Khalifa of vegetable nutrition (that’s that new tallest bldg in Dubai for those of you non-Chicagoans). Beet root (the big red thing below the long stalk of leaves) is loaded with vitamins A, B2, B6 and C and is extremely high in Betaine, the amino acid that has significant anti-cancer properties. If you drink it by itself you can temporarily paralyze your vocal cords or break out in hives.  Then why bother with beet juice at all?  Because common knowledge in the health/nutrition area is that beets build the blood and also cleanse the blood of unwanted toxins; an attractive point that drew me to beets as a city dweller with two small children and a husband whose health I’d like to preserve.  In fact, the National Cancer Institute did a study (as have other prominent research facilities) on beets indicating that the ‘beet root ingested can be one of the must useful means to prevent cancer’. And here I was – all these years, drinking green and white teas ’till I just about floated away… popping siberian ginseng and cats claw whenever I felt like I wasn’t taking good care of myself and wanted to avert an illness…and here was the common beet right there under my nose the whole time!  Thankfully now, it’s also under my son’s nose.

Pilates class disaster averted

One of the things I really look forward to is the pilates class at our local gym.  Needless to say, I was really looking forward to the babysitter arriving and my eventual departure.  Well, I forgot to eat before leaving the house this morning. BUT I did manage to whip up a celery/carrot  juice prior to leaving and brought the juice with me – except I diluted it 50% with water so I could easily sip it during my workout.I forgot I had it with me during my 25 minutes on the eliptical, but then I’m doing leg circles during my beloved pilates class and both legs cramped up.  Big time.  This RARELY, if ever, has happened to me and maybe fate had it happen because I just started this blog…well…I remembered my BPA-free flask and poof!  Within a minute my leg cramps were gone and never returned.  I was hot-potato-ing it up before I knew it (you pilates fans know this move) and feeling confident I’d make it through the rest of class cramp-free.  

Why did this happen?  How did I have the foresight to bring this magic concoction with me to the gym?  Very simple.  I can’t see into the future, but I did know that celery is high in the mineral sodium and that carrots are very high in potassium.  I did anticipate losing some electrolytes and knew they’d need replenishing after the workout.  However, I didn’t anticipate the benefit of thwarting leg cramps and charlie horses.  People say ‘eat a banana’ to avert leg cramps because they think bananas are high in potassium.  They’re not.  Carrots are just about double the amount of potassium in bananas.  So hurray for my homemade electrolyte drink free of dyes and carbs and artificial sugars.  Mother nature to the rescue!