Hummin' along with Hummus

We have been learning to enjoy hummus over this past year.  Knowing it is a great source of protein, is cheap and is great for cleaning your liver (as all legumes are), I've had to learn to make it myself lately.  When I first started buying it, the kids stuck up their noses at it, but over time have gotten used to it after repeated exposures.  Their favorite (and mine) store brand/flavor Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and they now can devour a family size container in mere minutes.  That led me to learning how to make it from scratch from purely a practical standpoint.

Since my food processor is rather underpowered and had very dull blades (that's what you get for $5 at a yard sale), my best attempts at hummus proved chunky and bumpy.  I did acquire a high quality blender for my birthday last year and now I'm in business.  Smooth, creamy and flavorful!  I can now make hummus to my heart's content.  We often use it for an easy snack or lunch with either tortilla chips or raw veggies.  I did bribe my kids by using their favorite chips as the medium to get the hummus down for quite a while as they got used to the flavor.  "You can have a chip if you dip it in hummus" (in a sweet sing-songy voice).  It slowly worked.  The little kids have always had it in their life, so they were a much easier sell.  If we're fighting sickness, I add a few extra garlic cloves as this is a great way to get a bunch of fresh garlic into everyone.

This is the basic recipe I use, add variations as desired.  I now have ventured into soaking dry garbanzo beans, as they are even cheaper than the canned.  The only drawback with them is they don't have any liquid in them, so you have to add a bit more oil to make it smooth.  A bit of water works too.  The Tahini is a bit expensive to buy, but a bottle will last through many, many batches.

Hummus

2 T. olive or avocado oil

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 T. Tahini (sesame seed paste)

1 clove garlic, quartered

1/2 t. sea salt

15 oz. chickpeas, drained and 1/4 c. liquid reserved

touch of honey or sweetener

Add all ingredients to blender, including reserved liquid.  Blend on low until smooth and creamy.  You may have to scrape down sides if it gets stuck.  Add more liquid if necessary.  Enjoy!

I've also added an avocado (turns it bright green) and yesterday added a roasted beet as recommended in the latest Sunset magazine (it turns it hot pink and makes the kids think you're making frosting) and they were both very good.  In my recipe book it also suggests adding kalamata olives (reduce salt), roasted garlic, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, lime/cilantro, roasted red pepper with cumin and cayenne pepper, and using black beans rather than garbanzos (add cumin, smoked paprika and cayenne).  I'm excited to try them too!

Easy Hamburger Soup

Although the idea of a slow cooker is a good idea, it requires too much forethought for my life most days.  Instead, the Dutch oven has come to my rescue over and over because I can crank the heat and cook supper in the nick of time.  Here's my latest favorite soup that uses up all those extra veggies you don't know what to do with that are sitting in the fridge (or freezer).

It's very forgiving, so use whatever you have in whatever quantities you have.

Easy Hamburger Soup

In your Dutch oven, brown and break up into small pieces:

2-3 lbs. ground beef/meat (mine is usually still in the frozen state when I start)

1 onion, finely chopped

When that is browned, add 6-8 cups of beef broth/bone broth, keeping heat on med/high.

Then add vegetables of choice.  Our kids love it with just a bag of frozen peas added (which I do for a quick lunch, as it's so easy using leftover ground beef).  For supper I usually add many more vegetables to make it into a full meal.  Add the ones that take longest to cook first and the green leafy ones right at the end.

-cut green beans or peas

-fresh chopped tomatoes

-finely chopped cabbage

-bell peppers

-frozen vegetables of any sort

-celery

-carrots

-cauliflower (fresh or frozen)

-beets or potatoes are even good

-chard or spinach sliced finely (I even pulse it up in my blender sometimes so the kids eat it easier and add it right at the very end to retain the most nutrients.

If you're fighting infection, add a few cloves of chopped up garlic right at the end to keep the most infection fighting components intact.  You can also add herbs/spices such as basil, oregano, parsley, thyme for more seasoning.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Depression (in one big, huge nutshell)

When I thought about writing about all I've learned about depression, I thought it would be easy.  Tell my story and leave a few resources.  But as I started to write, it got longer and longer as there are so many other aspects to the causes, so many types of treatments and so many other variables, that then the subject became very daunting.  Greg and I have both suffered with it, but our paths of healing were different because our causes were different, and leave lots of links so you can look into each thing more yourself, since your story is going to be very different from mine (or my husbands).  If you just don't want the story and just the resources, skip down to the end.  Any links for more information are in turquoise so you can just click on them.

All through my 20s, I felt great.  I always had lots of energy, exercised frequently, was easily motivated and almost always in a good mood.   The only thing that was a negative was that I needed a lot of sleep each night, more than everyone else.  Even after we got married and throughout my first pregnancy, I still worked full-time 12 hour days as an ER tech and did fine.  I did start having chronic neck pain during this time which was unresolved through chiropractors (plural), massage, and all kinds of other treatments.  By this time we had moved to WA where I tried another couple of chiropractors, to no avail.  I remember just going in to the one of them crying and telling him that I couldn't even hold my baby because my neck hurt so bad.  He had me taking some herbal muscle relaxants (which took the edge off) and said, "well, at least you're taking these and not wrecking your liver with Tylenol.  Look on the bright side."  Ugh!

Soon I became pregnant with James and we went through 5 different mattresses during that pregnancy trying different things to get me comfortable enough to be able to sleep at night (even just a little).  I also found out about our now-chiropractors Dr. Darin and Dr. Anik when I was 7 months pregnant who were able to give me the best relief I'd found so far.   But still, my neck always hurt and I spent most of my time with new baby James in the LaZBoy because I hurt so bad to hold him without support.  He was a very fussy baby with a body full of eczema, so needed a lot of holding.

When he was 18 months old, we were up in Canada and my Mom suggested that I take James to the Master Herbalist that she and my Dad go to and see if we could find some answers for his health (he was still very fussy, very itchy and struggling).  We went to see her and then I decided at the last minute to see her myself to see if there was something missing in my diet/nutrition that was causing his health issues (so that if we had more children, we could prevent all this chaos).  She uses a technique called Live Blood Analysis which basically is just taking a drop of blood and looking at it under the microscope and is able to tell an insane amount of things about your health. She found out that James was not digesting his proteins and carbs, and that I had parasites very badly.  She said they were definitely from living on the farm and that I'd had them for at least 20 years .  She then said, "you must eat pretty healthy, because with these as bad as they are, you shouldn't even be able to get out of bed each day".  She also was able to pinpoint my neck pain and said that after a parasite cleanse, my neck pain would clear up in 6 weeks (the length of time it takes the body to get rid of them after a cleanse).  She said that the parasites settle in your weakest area and when flushed out, the pain will go away.  And it did.  In 6 weeks, just like she said.  I was frazzled and tired at this point (mostly due to James' sleeplessness) but still in good spirits.  No depression yet.

I was then optimistic that we were on the healing journey.  The Herbalist had gotten James feeling better (her treatment plan for him worked as well (digestive enzymes and probiotics 3x day) to give his liver a chance to heal and get back on track.  I was expecting Elise by now and felt pretty good throughout her pregnancy.  My neck pain was gone and I could sleep again.  But then when she was born, she cried and cried and cried.  She didn't sleep worth a hoot (I often would spend 8 hours of my day getting her to sleep- she'd sleep for 5-10 minutes, wake up and cry until I got her to sleep again and again). Nights weren't any better.  I tended to hers (and the other kids) needs, but my mental state was pretty poor.  As time went by, the lack of sleep from 2 fussy kids drug me down.  I had no idea where to turn, didn't have the energy to try anything new and plunged downward mentally.  The vast amount of crying she did frazzled my nerves even further.  By the time she was 18 months old, she was still not sleeping much in the day nor at night and I was pretty low.  Greg was in no better shape due to his stressful job and having to get to bed so early for it that we both were just kind of in a stupor most of the time.  I'd been depressed for at least a year by now.

We had been praying about what to do with her, with us, and with our health when I remembered about Sonja (the vitamin lady) out in Clatskanie.  I made an appointment to see her and Greg came along.  She does muscle testing (applied kinesiology) and I tested low in my thyroid, my adrenals and essential fatty acids.  She gave (sold!) me some vitamins and in 4 days I was back to my old self again.  I had had lab work done on my thyroid and it had tested out fine, but obviously it was not.  I've since learned that lab tests are only sort of reliable (more about that later).  Since then, I've either been on supplements to boost my thyroid or my adrenals or both and have felt back to what I should.  I've also had 2 healthy babies now that my own health is back to where it should be.  I've since also since discovered that both James and Elise's health issues/allergies were due to the stress in my body from all the lack of nutrients (that the parasites stole) and also hormone levels out of control. (A mom will even rob from the adrenals of her unborn baby once theirs are developed, which is probably what I did to Elise, and why her coping skills then were shot when she was born).

Greg took a different route and went to our local Naturopathic Doctor Dr. Briggs (in Clatskanie) and followed his adrenal fatigue protocol.  It took about 2 years of healing with random saliva cortisol levels.  When he started, his cortisol was flat lined on the bottom of the graph and when he was finished it had peaks where it should have.  He also had to change jobs due to the stress at his old one became too much.  It's good to see him laughing again...I missed my good-natured husband, although his now-boss likes to pile on the stress heavily too.  Still working on that one.

So, after that lengthy saga, here's a few ideas of what to do for yourself if you (or your loved ones) are struggling with depression.  There are many root causes, so I'll try to list the ones that come to mind so that you can delve into them more yourself.  This list is certainly not even the tip of the iceberg!  And you'll have to take your health into your own hands.  A medical Dr. will be no help to you in these areas, except to order some lab tests (which you'll likely test fine for).

1) Parasites/Yeast overgrowth-  Do you have bugs in your belly?  Parasites steal your nutrients and excrete ammonia and clog up your liver.   Who wants that?  A cleanse is easy, non-invasive and no trouble at all.  Most people de-worm their pets, but don't consider doing one themselves, although through the ages, people have always fasted seasonally which does the same thing.  If you've ever have/had animals/pets, garden, have been to a third world country, have ever eaten slightly raw meat, eaten sushi or live on a farm you likely have parasites.  If you can find someone who muscle tests or does live blood analysis to find out for sure, do so.  If not, just do a cleanse.  Here's a few reputable companies as well as more info. Renew Life, Mountain Meadow Herbs, Humaworm (symptom list also), Standard Process.  If pregnant or nursing, you can use olive leaf extract (Mountain Meadow Herbs).   Candida yeast overgrowth goes hand in hand with parasites, and often if you have one, you have both.   The symptoms can be similar too.  Tackling candida can be more challenging, but feeling better is worth it!  **Make sure your spouse does a cleanse too, or you'll just keep getting reinfected.

2) Low Magnesium- because of our high stress, poor soil (nutrients), and bombardment with things that deplete magnesium, low magnesium is almost endemic.  It's such an easy fix too.   All of these things will help ease depression.  Because...Magnesium regulates cortisol.  Magnesium lowers blood sugar.  Magnesium supports thyroid.  Magnesium aids sleep. Magnesium fuels cellular energy. Magnesium makes hormones.  Magnesium activates vitamin D.  Magnesium is anti-aging. (source)   A product like Natural Calm is easy to start with.  Start out on a low dose and gradually work up to more.  Epsom salts baths will help too.

3) Poor Nutrition (even with excellent diet)- There are many reasons our bodies aren't getting the nutrients we need for a healthy mind and body.  Sometimes it's diet (not enough vegetables, too many grains/carbs and sugar, poor soil quality or long shipping times so the nutrients aren't even in the food by the time we get them, etc.), but often it's that our digestion is poor and we aren't digesting or absorbing the food we're eating.  This may be due to stress, allergies/food sensitivities (diagnosed or not), eating too fast (we moms don't do that do we?), low stomach acid (from low mineral levels), poor gut flora (bad bacteria outnumber the good), or poor liver function (below).  If you didn't read my recent post on improving your digestion, here it is.  Poor nutrition also equals low serotonin, which is your feel good neurotransmitter. Serotonin is produced in the gut, so poor gut health results in low serotonin.  Beets are great for increasing serotonin in the gut, cleansing the liver, as well as probiotics.  Focusing on B vitamins, probiotics and essential fatty acids will help your nutrition dramatically, as well as taking digestive enzymes to help digest what you do eat.   The gut-brain connection goes both ways.  Poor gut function=poor brain function and vice versa.  

4) Poor Liver Function- Your liver is your big huge filter and if it gets clogged, everything downstream will suffer.  And that would be your heart, your brain and your hormones.  Think of a car's oil filter.  If it gets clogged up, how well does it work?  Your body is the same way.  Environmental toxins, prescription meds, smoking or alcohol intake, ammonia (from parasites), hormones (especially birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy), and poor nutrition can all clog up your liver.  Read my post here about liver health and start taking steps to clean your clogged filter!  Here's a list of symptoms to see how healthy your liver is or isn't.  Here's foods to help clean it.   There are also several kinds of gall bladder flushes to help get rid of any gall stones that may be impeding liver function. Here's one kind and here's another.  This is a long geeky article on the long reaching effects of a good vs. bad liver if you want to read more.  Look for liver supplements with milk thistle and dandelion in them as they will do wonders for a sluggish, over-worked liver.  If you have any hormone imbalances, you likely have liver congestion.  Although your liver doesn't produce most of these hormones; it is what regulates the sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, etc.), aldosterone (fluid balance hormone), insulin/glucagon/glucose (blood sugar), testosterone, and cortisol (stress/fight & flight) and the liver are closely entwined as well.

5) Adrenal Fatigue- your adrenals are what help you deal with stress.  They get taxed and don't work effectively if stress isn't eliminated or dealt with.  Many of us have high levels of stress in our lives and aren't able to eliminate them (jobs, caregiving, family problems/worries, etc.), so our adrenals take the toll.  My blog posts about it tells a lot more, but Dr. Wilson is one of the most well-respected experts on the subject.  The medical doctors dismiss such a thing as adrenal fatigue and it is not even a medically diagnosible disease, even though it afflicts so many thousands of people.  The saliva cortisol test is the best test possible for seeing if your adrenals are doing what they're supposed to be, but you'll likely have to find a Naturopath to get it ordered.  

6) Over or Underactive Thyroid- The thyroid and adrenals go hand in hand.  They help each other.  If one is stressed, the other will be also.  If your thyroid is low, you'll feel sluggish and dreary.  The problem is that ordinary lab results rarely diagnose thyroid problems, because the range of what is "normal" is so huge.  The doctor sees the numbers and dismisses it right away if they are within range.  If you feel your thyroid isn't doing what it's supposed to be, find a new doctor.  A Naturopath or Integrative/Functional Doctor will look deeper into the root of your problem more than a medical one will.  They just will.  Dr. Sara Gottfried has lots of good information too.

7) Low mineral levels- pregnancy depletes 4 lbs of minerals PER BABY, so many of us moms are really low.  The books The Calcium Lie II and The Post-Natal Depletion Cure are both good resources to see how much of each mineral we need, and how to get more.  Minerals have taken the back seat to all the other supplements these days, but are now being seen as vital to all health imbalances.  In the post-natal book, he explains the symptoms that come with too high or too low levels of each major mineral in our bodies.  If our minerals are balanced, our symptoms will go away.  I like nettle/alfalfa/oatstraw infusions for my mineral dosages each day (cheapest option), or Concentrace drops, Real Salt or Bioplasma homeopathic cell salts.  Can get the herbs for the infusion at Natural Grocers (for those with one of those nearby on the West Coast/AZ). 

8) Emotional/Spiritual/Physical stressors (finances, health, etc.)/Grief not dealt with. I won't go into these one as I don't have a lot of resources for it.  But they're very real.  And they need to be addressed and dealt with just like physical symptoms, even if it happened decades ago.  And there's always hope and healing through Jesus Christ, as well as forgiveness and redemption.  There are many forms of counselling and avenues to help you if this has been your root cause of depression.

Medications should only be used on a short term basis WHILE the root cause is being investigated.  They are not helpful in the long run, as they do not solve the root problem, but just mask it.  If you end up with a heart attack or stroke in the future because your liver congestion was never addressed, that's a huge problem.  But nobody will tell you there is a correlation, when there really is.  When your heart can't get good, clean, healthy blood because your liver (filter) is clogged up, no amount of antidepressants will solve that problem.  Here's some herbs and supplements we've used with good results for mood as an alternative to medication.  Do not stop medications quickly though!  And find out what is compatible and what are not.  Some medications cannot be mixed with these herbs/supplements.

~NutriCalm  Lots of B vitamins and calming herbs for your nerves.  Makes you feel better right away.  Safe for pregnancy/nursing.
~Suma This is what I started with from Sonja and felt better right away.  Not safe for pregnancy or nursing though so I've had to find other things.
~Green Vibrance This was my next go-to and is still what I take each day.  It has digestive enzymes, liver support, adaptogens (adrenal support), thyroid support, probiotics and more in it.  Tastes best mixed in a bit of orange juice, but still is very "green".  You can even buy single dose packs just to try a few if you don't want a big jug.  
~5-HTP  This is going to be your cheapest supplement.  I've taken it to help with sleep, but it also helps calm your nerves throughout the day.  If your serotonin is low, this is the one you want.
~St. John's Wort- This is what Greg took for the longest time, although he took Nevaton (listed below) which has it in it.  Get a good quality one, as the cheaper ones don't work as well.
~SAM-e This is what my midwife recommends for post-partum depression.  Greg took this as well and had good results with it, but it is more expensive.  You want at least 400mg. for depression (it's also great for joint pain, so lower doses are available for that).
~Nevaton This is what our Naturopath had Greg on for a long time as well.  It works very well at keeping moods balanced.
~GABA This is great for calming and anxiety.  We haven't used it a lot, but occasionally and it works well.  It's an amino acid.
~True Hope vitamins.  This company was started back in the 90s when a father lost 2 of his children to suicide from Bipolar Disease.  They are a vitamin company based in Alberta, Canada but are also available in the U.S.  I've had several family members have profound results from using these vitamins.  They have counselors to help work with your doctor to reduce your meds so that you can only take the vitamins and get rid of the meds.  If you aren't on meds, they can help tailor your dose to fit your needs.   Awesome resource and amazing results.  We take these still as a multivitamin.  The vitamins are mostly Bs and amino acids and trace minerals but there are other products available too, depending on your symptoms.

Kelly Brogan M.D., Holistic Psychiatrist is my go-to for anything to do with depression.  She has a great website  full of information and lots of articles that are helpful.  Here's one of her articles:
3 Dietary Changes to Make Before Starting an Antidepressant

Most of all, I would encourage you to seek your own answers.  Don't be satisfied with a prescription for meds for the rest of your life or a diagnosis that your illness is "genetic".  That's just an excuse for not caring enough to find the true cause and a true solution.  Try all sorts of treatments until you find one that works.  Yes, it will likely cost you money out of pocket (you can claim any Naturopathic visits, treatments or supplements on your taxes though).  Yes, you'll find some things don't work at all.  But yes, you can be healed also.  Not just a Band-Aid fix, but healed!  Not too many medical doctors can offer you that.  

Recommended Books to Read:
A Mind of Your Own - Dr. Kelly Brogan (healing depression and getting off meds)
The Mood Cure -talks about amino acids, self tests and lots of good information
The Hormone Cure -all about female hormones
Stop the Thyroid Madness -all about the thyroid
Potatoes Not Prozac -alternatives to medications
Adrenal Fatigue-21st Century Stress Syndrome -all about adrenal fatigue
The Liver and Gall Bladder Miracle Cleanse -explains how the liver/gall bladder and heart are closely intertwined and how to improve their health
Physical Nutrition and Degeneration -how nutrition impacts a society for better or worse
Nourishing Traditions -getting back to eating like generations past for improved nutrition, health and happiness
Magnificent Magnesium- the benefits of getting enough magnesium.  All the things magnesium does in the body (there's over 300!)
The Magnesium Miracle- even more about magnesium- the miracle mineral
The Calcium Lie II- more on minerals
The Post-Natal Depletion Cure- how being pregnant with our precious babies drains our bodies of nutrients, causes health issues and how to replace them.  For some women 1 baby will totally deplete, with others it may be more babies.

How your experiences can change a life forever

There are people who come into our lives who can make a huge difference in shaping us forever.  There's been many people who have made me stop and think and tuck the gem of the experience in my head and heart for the rest of my life.  These two women I'm writing about today shaped my life in a way that I'll never be the same again and because of situations in our life right now, they have surfaced again recently. 

The first lady was my very first patient when I became a new LPN.  She was a beautiful, stately woman who was aptly named Blanche.  She was a spinster who ran the local Loaves and Fishes food bank/shelter in Red Deer where we lived.  Since I only had one patient to start with, I lots of time to visit with her as we went about her care.  She had bowel cancer and had just had a major surgery to remove it, so was my patient for many days.  When she would be sleeping, a friend of hers would come and sit with her and just hold her hand.  The friend then would tell me about this amazing lady.  Blanche had worked tirelessly at the shelter for 30+ years, knitting 300 pairs of mittens for children in need EACH WINTER!  But the most amazing to me was her belief that, "No one should have to die alone."  She had sat by the bedside of countless homeless people around the clock while they were on their deathbed.  She sat with them and comforted them and also made sure that they were ready to meet their Maker.  She held their hand and let them know that someone cared.  When it came time for her to die, this one friend was the only person who was there for her (and she returned the favor by sitting with her around the clock until she passed away peacefully months later).

This experience has made me wish to do the same for others, and reach out in compassion for those in their end days and look for ways to comfort, bring peace (only through Jesus Christ) to those whose days are nearing the end.  Someday after the kids are grown I hope I can be there for dying people once again.

The other woman was a lady who swam at the YMCA back when I was a lifeguard when I was 19.  She came in every week with her client (a paralyzed man) and because the pool was rather empty at that time, I had lots of time to visit with our patrons.  One day the subject of abortion somehow came up, and she told me that she had had one over 20 years before.  She and her husband had 4 children and when she became pregnant again; her husband and her mother-in-law convinced her that they couldn't afford another baby and that abortion was the best (only) option.  She was weak, tired and vulnerable and unable to withstand their persisting and eventually had an abortion against her better judgement.  She had regretted it ever since.  She told me that she thought about that baby every.single.day. for over 20 years, feeling guilty and full of regret.  She encouraged me that if I ever was in that situation, to listen to my own body, my heart and not the "advice" of anyone else.  She said to go and find people that will support you, no matter what it takes to find them.

It's been 20 years since I met both of these ladies, but I know there was a reason that their lessons have stuck with me this long.  They're important.  They're valuable.  They're worth sharing. 

2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

How can your own experiences help other heal, avoid the same mistakes you did or promote awareness in your own unique way?

Top Supplements for health and happiness

For a while I've been trying to compile a list of my top supplements.  After much deliberation, this is what I've narrowed it down to.  This is, of course, only what I've found works for our family, and may not be the best choices for your specific health issues.  I'll try to list links so that you can get more information, should you desire.

1) Things that aid digestion.  If you aren't digesting your food well, then you aren't absorbing your food well either, which means you aren't getting your nutrients to nourish and heal your body, and then a myriad of problems can arise.  Poor immunity, poor coping skills, allergies, leaky gut, cancer...you name it.  There are several ways to approach this.

   a) digestive bitters- these help stimulate digestive juices to help your body digest better on its own.  Some brand names are Urban Moonshine and Mountain Meadow Herbs Liver Glow (II for kids/nursing/pregnancy).  Our James has used the LiverGlowII for a couple years now (off and on, as we take breaks), and his liver is doing better than it ever has and his eczema is gone.  Ingredients like milk thistle and dandelion are in them, and they strengthen and cleanse the liver at the same time, while providing minerals.

   b) digestive enzymes- there are complete books written on enzymes, but basically they help your body break down food when it is unable to on its own (most commonly due to stress which lowers our body's natural ways of working).  There are many good brands, here's the one our Naturopath recommends( Pure)   Look for both plant, animal and Betaine HCl for optimal digestion.  

   c) diluted HCl- this is just diluted stomach acid itself, and by using it, your body will produce more of its own as well as help your food digest better also.  Low stomach acid is usually caused by stress also. Have you ever not felt like eating when you're under heavy stress?  That's why.  Constant low grade stress does the same thing on a long-term basis.  If you suffer from heartburn, this would be what you want.  Typically heartburn is your body pumping out continually (instead of just at mealtime) HCl because the levels are too low, not too high (as most would believe).  The only reasons not to take HCl is if you are on corticosteroids (eg. Prednisone) and/or anti-inflammatory NSAIDS (eg. Motrin) as both of these type of drugs irritate the stomach lining already, and the added acid can cause ulcers.  We give this to a couple kids and they are less ditzy and can think/learn more clearly when they take it.  Our Naturopath says that kids can heal themselves by just adding this to their diet.  I haven't seen healing yet, but I have seen happier kids who are able to focus (and less digestive issues) and that is nice for everyone around!

2) Things that replace the bad bacteria with good.  Most of us have either been on antibiotics at least once in our life (or like me- many, many times ever since my bouts with tonsillitis as a small child, or my husband who was born via C-section and then had strep many times as a child).   Anyhow, our gut flora is pretty much nil.  Other ways we destroy our gut flora. 

   a)  Probiotics-  things like kefir, kombucha, kimchi, raw sauerkraut and probiotic pills will all help.  This is a lifestyle change, not just a one-time-eat-some-yogurt-because-you-were-on-antibiotics type deal.  Add these things in when you can, and slowly incorporate them more and more.  Kefir can now be bought at Walmart and WinCo.  Kimchi is at WinCo, raw sauerkraut or pickles (Bubbie's) are at most grocery stores too (in the refrigerated section).  If your store doesn't carry these items, email/call them and ask them too.  Or learn to make your own.  Wellness Mama (my favorite health blog) has instructions for most.

   b)  Prebiotics- these I have not taken myself, but have family members benefit from them.  These help the probiotics work better, and help replace bad bacteria with good.  These are not as common as probiotics, but just as important.  Mountain Meadow Herbs  also carries them.

3) Greens, greens, greens.  I don't know anyone who lives in this day and age who eats enough greens.   So, supplementing is crucial.  These help nourish our bodies, provide fiber to move things through our system, detoxify chemicals/medications, provide oxygen to our cells all of which help prevent disease.  They are the most nutrient dense vegetables, in yet they taste the worst so we rarely eat them, right?  Here's a few more reasons to eat greens.  My favorite is of course Green Vibrance.

   a) green vegetables-Whether you buy them and make juice or smoothies, steam or roast, or simply buy a green powder or capsule to take, try to do what it takes to get more green vegetables into your diet.

   b) green seaweeds- this consists of spirulina, kelp, dulse, chlorella, etc.  These are full of minerals and also full of green which can really benefit the body.  Most of them also benefit the thyroid, which is low in many people these days.  Even if the Dr. says yours is fine, that often means that it is in "normal range", not in optimal range.  Check the numbers and see if yours is in the top 25% of the range, rather than just within normal.  According to my Naturopathic Dr., people don't feel good unless their numbers are in that top range.  Chlorophyll is not a seaweed, but another great green for deodorizing the body and flushing out toxins and oxygenating your cells.

4) Essential fatty acids (EFAs)- this is all those good oils we hear about which do all kinds of things.

These EFAs are necessary for the following processes:

• Formation of healthy cell membranes 
• Proper development and functioning of the brain and nervous system
• Proper thyroid and adrenal activity
• Hormone production
• Regulation of blood pressure, liver function, immune and inflammatory responses
• Regulation of blood clotting: Omega-6 FAs encourage blood clot formation, whereas Omega-3 oil reduces clotting. The ideal is to achieve a balance between omega-6 and omega-3 FAs
• Crucial for the transport and breakdown of cholesterol
• Support healthy skin and hair
  (source)

Fish oils, flax oils, nut oils, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, real butter, chia/hemp seeds, cod liver oil, fat from grassfed beef/pasture raised chicken, etc.  Avoid anything hydrogenated, or chemically altered or heat treated (for shelf life), and you should be fine.  After decades of low-fat mantra, it's time to replenish all those good oils and fats again.

Interestingly, it seems that many gluten sensitivities can be traced to a lack of good essential fatty acids.  Sometimes the person isn't getting enough EFAs, but often it is because their body isn't breaking down the ones they are getting (refer to my #1 above).  Adding digestive enzymes can help the body heal the fatty acid deficiency and the gluten sensitivity in the process.  Yay!  

5) Calcium/magnesium/phosphorus/boron/vitamin D- although magnesium is the one often lacking the most, all of these minerals and vitamins work together for healthy teeth and bones.  You need all of them together for your body to be able to utilize them effectively.  Soda sucks the first three out of bones and teeth as it is so acidic that your body needs 32x more of them to replace what you drank.  Yikes!  Growing babies is hard on teeth and bones too.  Celeste has been teething lately, and it's made my own teeth ache (she's nursing way more), and they ache even if I only eat a bit of sugar.  I've been upping my intake of these vitamins, because I really don't need (or want) teeth problems if I can avoid it.  The brand that works best for me is Nature's Sunshine Skeletal Strength and it has calming and digestive helps in it too.  Here's a good article on how these all work together and the importance of them.  The book The Magnesium Miracle is good too.

6) Bone broth and gelatin- bone broth has gelatin in it, both which help heal and nourish the body.  Because our society eats mostly muscle meats, we are severely lacking in collagen and minerals and amino acids for healing most ailments.   Bone broth can heal a leaky gut, overcome food intolerances and allergies, improve joint health, reduce cellulite and boost the immune system.  Slow simmering bone-in meat is one way to do this easily, and then making gravy from the drippings or using broth for soup.  Here's a good article about the benefits of bone broth.  You can learn to make your own, or now you can even buy it premade.

Although often health solutions can start at home; nutritionists and Naturopathic Dr.'s are needed also to pinpoint problems if they are more deep rooted and not easily solvable.  This website below is my favorite for at-home things you can do to improve your health.  She has easy tests to do to help determine different things, how to make healing foods and such.  Below is a screen shot of her healing food list which we strive to do when we can.  Sometimes food isn't enough to heal, and supplements are needed to boost health (in specific areas) before the food can heal (we've found this true in our house).  

http://heal-thyself.ning.com/

Here's Wellness Mama's list of supplements she recommends also.  I wrote my own list without looking at hers, but they ended up pretty similar.

Any that I forgot??

Mommy Nerves

The other day it occurred to me, that I just ain't what I used to be.  I mean, I already knew this, considering I am turning 40 this year.  And though I'm okay with getting older (and hopefully wiser) and more gray hair (it's somehow multiplying at an exponential rate), what I don't like is how my nerves just don't handle things like they used to.

My 5 babies have not been easy on my body, and I supplement accordingly to try to accommodate the lacks, one of which is B vitamins in large doses.  This lack has created in me occasional anxiety which I have never experienced before.  There has been two times when my anxiety actually got the better of me and I felt very out of control (although this was nothing compared to what some people deal with due to anxiety).  This was when venturing into new territory where I had never tread before.  One was playing the piano for a wedding (I will not say yes to that again!) and the other was when I had to call our wonderful midwife when we were first considering a home birth.  I had anxiety before calling her and then it was even worse on the day of our first appointment.  And then she called and cancelled because of a birth and had to reschedule.  Akk.  Even more waiting.  Thankfully both situations ended positively, but I don't care to relive the anxious moments.

This past year I have been put in 3 new situations which also caused me stress in a way that I never thought I would feel stress.  One was butchering chickens last summer.  I felt like I could only observe and learn, and then next time maybe I'll venture forth and actually help out.  Between watching 9 kids and making meals for company, my brain was maxed out already.  Learning something new was not in my capabilities that day.  But, now that I've seen the process, I feel like if we ever do meat chickens again, I will be an asset to the production line.

The next was flying with 5 kids and tackling Disneyland.  Talk about mom anxiety there.  Losing a kid.  Forgetting a kid.  Kids acting up on the plane.  Needing a bathroom and not being able to find one.  Hunger/new food struggles eating in different places (thankfully that wasn't high on the list as our kids are pretty good eaters). 

Elise and Isaac pouting at California Adventure because their tamales were too spicy.  Thankfully they ate the beans and rice and the rest of us got to enjoy their delicious tamales!

Thankfully that trip all went well, although meandering through a crowd of probably 20,000 in the dark with a group of 13 was rather stressful at the end of the busy day.  It tipped me over into "freak out" mindset and the "I have to get out of here right now or I'll lose it" flight or fight kicked in.  As soon as we were out of the crowds of people and back under the streetlights I was fine, but it as tense for a bit there!

Then just this past weekend my cousin Janine and her family invited us to go fishing in the ocean in their new boat.  I did enjoy the whole adventure, but felt again that I'd better just observe everything before getting too involved.  It would have been great fun to catch a fish, but with our 3 little ones who were not feeling well (they fell asleep thankfully), I felt it was all I could handle to just stay calm and stay seated and at the end of the day get home in one piece!

The older boys did great, but I pictured many "worst case scenarios" in my mind, most of which were possible but highly unlikely.  I tried to think back to when I just had myself to worry about, and I generally knew what my limitations were (in the same type of scenarios).  With kids you never know what they're thinking and what they'll try, which is a big part of what makes being a parent so stressful.  Some kids are risk takers, some play it safe.  Some have poor judgement (often due to inexperience), some have excellent judgement but are fearful and/or klutzy.  It's so hard to know when to let them spread their wings and when the parental authority must take over and we must be wise for them.

I try really hard not to turn into my mother (whom I love dearly, but who worries far too much), in yet I know it's probably quite unavoidable also.  With my nerves getting worse over time, and our boys getting more daring, I'm sure the worst is yet to come!  I'm not really sure how to avoid it and how to embrace it gracefully.

Another aspect is letting my own fears rub off on my kids.  I have unreasonable fears of horses, beetles, and ocean beaches (random sneaker waves + 5 kids = not much fun, ever), and a few more that I can't think of right now.  When we were in Santa Monica, CA this spring, I did want to try to go to the beach there.  I took 3 of the kids down (Greg despises beaches even more than me and offered to stay at the car with the other 2 kids since they didn't want to come) to the beach and after about 5 minutes, my nerves had had enough.  Done.  Time to go.  I keep trying to get braver, but the image of little Luke when he was 3 getting washed away from me, and his little body rolling in the waves just resurfaces and I can't get past it.  I wonder then if I really do need to get past it or if it's there for my future benefit.  Like horses. I have no desire to ever get past my fear of horses.   I can't see how I'll ever need to ride a horse again in my life.  Or hitch one to a cart or buggy (unless I convert to Amish, haha).  And Greg is thankful for how much money we'll save by never having to own a horse (he actually prayed for a wife who wouldn't love horses, because so many women get so obsessed with them).  Well, he got one!

The 3 brave ones

I do remember meeting a lady whose brother had drowned when she was a child. Because of that experience, she was so fearful of water that she never had her own children learn to swim and they felt she had done them a great disservice.  I do think it would have been wiser for her to ensure her kids learned to swim, rather than avoid the water due to fear.  So, I do wonder again, where does balance lie?

Well, off to bed so that my nerves are as healthy as they can be for this stage of life tomorrow.  A certain baby in our house has about 4 teeth coming through today, and possibly 4 more on the way, so her nerves can use all the help they can get too.  Nutritional yeast, B vitamins, calcium/magnesium for teeth health and calming...coming up! This seems elementary but our Naturopath says that babies only have as much vitamins as their moms give them (if nursing), so if they aren't coping well, it's because they don't have enough vitamins to cope with.  Makes sense but amid the crying and whining, I often forget to ensure it.

What do you do to keep your sanity, patience, nerves calm and keep an overall sense of well-being?

Interesting Conversation

One of the things I also became better at in all my jobs was communication, because I always dealt with the public.  I still am horrible at expressing feelings and sharing intimate thoughts, but thankfully I have a husband who is much better at it than I am, so we do all right.  When I was single I used to pray, "Please don't let me marry someone who I'll have to babysit in a crowd."  Kind of a minor detail, but knowing how I struggle myself in social situations, having a husband as quiet and awkward as I was would be not very fun.  Greg is about the most well-rounded crowd person I know, so my prayer was answered much better than I ever could have imagined.  God does things like that, doesn't He?

Today the kids started swimming lessons again, so it is always interesting to see who will be there, and if anyone I know will have their kids in the same session as us (it's a Kalama deal, so only Kalama people).  Last year I knew no other parents in our session, so made it my personal challenge to visit with a different parent each day and get to know them.  It was hard.  Very hard.  But, I did it, and this year it paid off because one of the same moms is back and we visited freely again today.  She also had her boys in wrestling so we had chatted a bit then too.  A small town is great for this kind of stuff.  Although I doubt we'll become dearest friends, having connections with people is always a blessing.  You never know when you'll need them, or they'll need you.

It also got me to thinking about what to talk to strangers about.  I don't have any pat answers, but usually asking people about their family or their jobs will get them talking.  When I used to work at the hospital, I would ask the older people about their families and they loved to talk about them.  A few things I learned when I asked those questions, was something for us all to heed.  Older people often talk of regrets from the past also.  Older women most often regretted not having more children.  "We know now that it would have worked out" they would say.  They talked of how their kids never came to visit, or the only child they had lived so far away.  Older men most often regretted not spending enough time with their families.  "I wish I knew my kids when they were growing up.  I was too busy working all the time to buy them stuff, that I didn't have time left to spend with them."  Of course this wasn't always a choice, when work was scarce and there were bills to pay.  But many of these men told of furnishing pools and tennis courts and yet never getting to play with their kids in them.  It really reinforced to me to teach my own children to plan on caring for the elderly.  Whether family or friends, there will always be a lonely person that needs our love and care.

With the younger working crew, I would ask what people did for a living.  I found it fascinating why different people chose different professions, and whether or not they liked them or not.  I learned about many jobs that I never even knew existed.  One time I asked a man what he did for a living and the conversation went something like this,

Me: So what do you do for a living?

Him: I work in a XXX book store.

Me: (it came out of my mouth before I had time to censor it) Doesn't your conscience bother you?

Him: I don't read the books, I just sell them. 

Me: Well, you are aiding and abetting that business.

Him: Yes, I guess you're right.  I think I'm going to have to find a new job.

Oh, dear.  Never know what we get ourselves into, hey?  You win some, you lose some.

With young parents, they usually love to brag about their kids.  Often if you feel awkward talking to an adult, if you break the ice with their child, it'll result in a conversation.  A compliment is always appreciated, or even just thanks for a kind gesture.  And a smile always wins also.

At my very first job at A & W, my boss would make me go and ask the customers how their food was.  I was too shy to even do that.  I hated it.  Then at my second job, as a lifeguard, the girl who was supposed to teach the water aerobics class got into a car accident on her way to work and I was stuck teaching the class on my 2nd day of work.  Here I had only witnessed water aerobics once (on my first day) and I was supposed to teach it.  The original girl never came back to work, so I began teaching it every day.  Have you ever tried to teach something in a loud swimming pool with a bunch (+\-30) of older ladies splashing and chatting around who don't have their hearing aids in?  It required much yelling.  Ugh.  So, that's when I officially learned to talk.

Recently Greg was talking with my brother-in-law Alex, and it was mentioned that we owe it to each other to keep a conversation interesting.  What do you think?  True?  Do you ever look at the art of conversation that way?  Alex and Greg are always up for interesting conversation, so they agreed, of course.  Now how to do that?  Hmm...I still have much to learn.

Mundane Monday

This is just a random post day.  So many thoughts flutter around in my brain and sometimes writing it down helps me to sort them out.  

Keeping track of all my home cultures has me trying to remember what I'm supposed to be doing when, but also excites me because it makes me realize how far we've come on our health journey.  Right now we have 6 different "brews" going.  Greg is making some homemade ginger ale; and I make water kefir, milk kefir, kombucha, raw sauerkraut and sourdough.  As I type, I'm listening to a podcast from Wellness Mama  that is really good for learning more about kombucha.  I make it because I know it's good for us, but didn't really know about all the health benefits and variations to making it.  Exciting!

(the closest thing to a quote from her I could find)

Gardening is sure a love/hate relationship.  If I had $1000(or more) to spend on mulch, wood chips, compost and plants; I'd love gardening.  That's what I like to tell myself anyways.  I really do enjoy the snippets of gardening I when I do get out there, but I get so used to my daily routines that I totally forget to weed, check on plants, water and all those sorts of important things.  My house also goes to pot (in a worse way than the normal disarray we might find it in) whenever I am outside for an extended period of time.  Like 1 hour or so.  I did just write a big note on my white board to remind myself to get out every morning to check on all my plants.   We'll see if that really happens.  I'm also reading a book right now called The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer by Joel Salatin and it's so inspiring.  My brother Jordan got us into reading his stuff, and it makes SO much sense.  Our "farm" may be small, but I know we can make some things happen.  We just have to figure out how.  His books are humorous and eye-opening at the same time.  This TED talk of him excellent also.  I love all the big words he uses, many of which I don't even know what they mean.  Here's a few quotes of his:

Part of our farming included getting more chickens.  The 3 oldest kids used their birthday money to buy them, and will hopefully have enough eggs to sell them and make some profits.  Greg wants them to really start saving money, so they needed a way to actually make some cash.  They'd love to spend any and all dollars on Legos; but we (G & I) don't feel that feeding that obsession would be healthy in any way.  Obsessions should be curbed and contained rather than encouraged, right?  So, we got 20 baby chicks (6 Leghorns, 6 Amerucanas, 6 Gold Sex Links, and 2 Cuckoo Marans).  Isaac got a Standard Bronze turkey so that he wouldn't feel left out, and he named his turkey Mickey (of course).  He has told us he will call him Mickey when he's small and Turkey when he gets big (he's still not too sure about eating him someday although he is trying to get used to the idea).  After the kids came in one day and Elise announced that one of her chicks had pooped on her hand, Isaac said, "Mickey never would poop on anyone's hand!"  Apparently his turkey is phenomenally trained and superiorly intelligent compared to those foolish chickens, that's for sure!   So cute.

James has finally found some books he enjoys.  He went to a Ramona Quimby play with some friends (thanks, Janine) and that inspired him to pick up some Beverly Cleary books.  We then got some from the library and he's been reading up a storm.  Normally this boy can only be found reading cartoons (Calvin & Hobbes, Garfield, TinTin, Smurfs, etc.) and I've tried to get him interested in many different books to no avail.  He's read 3 books in the last week, which is way more than I can usually get him to read in a month, maybe even a year.  I recall being the same way, so I understand it.  There's no point in reading a mediocre book.  I realize now as an adult that much of the reason I didn't read too much when I was young was that I enjoy non-fiction way more than fiction (but I didn't know that then).  And all books geared for teenage girls are fiction.  I have never been one to read to escape reality (I never felt I had anything to escape) so most books were just too uninteresting.  Now that I'm an adult, I realize that my area of interest in the book department is real life.  It's not that I didn't like reading, but more that I just hadn't found the kinds of books I liked.  I'm not much into biographies these days either, but more learning-for-life style books.  What a relief! 

That's all for today.  Lots more thoughts, but it's time to get back outside...and maybe grill some burgers.  I'm sure loving this summery weather these days!