Category: Health

At the advice of a co-worker, we checked out Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It was an interesting movie. We enjoyed watching the stories of these people. Nathan wondered why I liked the 90 minute infomercial, however the only thing they asked me to buy was vegetables, so I don’t agree with his viewpoint. Matter of fact seven of us at work all agreed it would be worth trying out. So starting tomorrow morning we are going to be drinking just juiced meals. My boss is bringing in his juicer and he’s committed to 60 days! I’ll probably just go with 10 days. Anyway if you have streaming Netflix check it out, or watch this extended trailer and fill in the blanks with your imagination.

I like to know what is in the food my family is eating. Our modern foods kind of scare me. I’m not super informed about our foods, and I’m not a hardcore nutritionist by any means, but I am aware that so much of what we eat is full of pesticides, preservatives, and all sorts of nasty stuff. I do prefer to buy some organic foods. And I like to avoid partially hydrogenated oils because they fatten us up in a jiffy, but they also harm our bodies by not letting essential fatty acids through. Side note: You might be surprised to know that partially hydrogenated oils are found in a lot of snacks and foods that we eat and feed our kids all the time, like ALL PEANUT BUTTER that is not organic, baking mixes, margarine, some candy, hot cocoa mix, candy bars, crackers, graham crackers, rolls and breads, and LOTS of different snacks. And we’re generally consuming way too much sugar and sodium. But now, I am shocked to find that there’s something else that we need to avoid: LEAD!

http://www.inhabitots.com/2010/06/11/85-of-kids-drinks-snacks-could-contain-high-levels-of-lead/

Does anyone else feel a little bit stressed about what’s going on with our food? I think that all we can do is try to be selective about what we eat. I debate all the time about buying organic, or buying cheap. Because organic is NOT cheap. Lately we’ve spent more on groceries, but knowing that at least SOME of our food is free of hormones, preservatives, and pesticides makes me feel better.

This other subject comes to mind: There’s an unfortunate fact that incidents of autism have increased by over 600% in recent years (Pace and I watched an investigation of this specific issue). Some blame immunizations (and avoid them at all costs, which causes a resurfacing of diseases that we haven’t had to worry about in decades… But that’s another issue for another day…). However, study after study has shown that there’s absolutely no correlation between autism and immunizations/thimerosal (preservative in immunizations). Could it be something in our food, or something to do with modern technology, that is causing this shocking increase? I wonder about this. Any thoughts?

Who’s in for a Cleansing Diet?

Let’s start Monday, March 1!!

Day 1-3 – raw fruits and vegetables and cooked brown rice only
March 4 – Thursday – add in cooked vegetables, chicken breast and fish
March 6 – Oatmeal and whole grains
March 8 – Dairy products

Or however you want to gradually add things back in

Our production team just came out with this video, it’s also available on our company blog. What do you think? What kind of things could you influence around your house?

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UPDATE: ok I’m back! Here’s what went down. You go in, the DR talks, looks at you. Turns out I have a polyp in my left nostril. It was so cool he had the medical student shadowing him take a look. Then the nurse comes in. You take off your shirt and lay down. She sticks you with 53 little needles. (not bad like a cat scratch) My nurse did it fast which helped a lot I think, b/c if she had paused between each one my body would have said, why are you letting her!? Attack! Then the test of will power starts. At each of the different spots on your back you start itching, that is if you are allergic. For me my entire back started itching and I had to go to a happy place. While it wasn’t like I wanted to rip my skin off my body, it was pretty annoying b/c you don’t want to itch and have to start the test over again. The willpower test lasts 15 minutes. Then the nurse comes back in. She writes down two numbers for each of the 53 things. 10/40, 5/20, 5/20. The first number is how big the bump swelled to in mm. And the second number is a redness scale.. I guess her discretion. SO now that I’ve told you that, who wants to guess out of 53 how many things I’m allergic to in any amount? wait for it, wait for it, ok guess. Nope 45. Yeah I reacted to 45/53 things (one was a control). Feel free to ignore the results table below, as they are so I can have them eternally on the blog. I’ve highlighted the few that I wasn’t allergic to, and the two that grew to larger than 10mm.

28. 5/20 : Sycamore
29. 5/20 : Walnut
30. 5/40 : Bermuda Grass
31. 5/30 : Burrweed, Marshelder
32. 5/30 : Mugwort Sagebrush
33. 5/20 : Lambsquarters
34. 5/20 : Kochia Weed
35. 8/40 : Pig Weed
36. 8/40 : Scales (Artiplex)
37. 3/7 : Feather Mix
38. 0 : Guinea Pig
39. 0 : Mouse
40. 5/20 : Cockroach Mix
41. 5/20 : Aspergillus
42. 0 : Epicoccum
43. 0 : Candida Albicans
44. 5/20 : Helminthosporium
45. 5/10 : Penicillium
46. 5/10 : Tricophyton
47. 0 : Smut, Corn
48. 5/20 : English Plantain
49. 5/20 : Tree of Heaven
50. 5/20 : Curvularia
51. 0 : Pine Mix
52. 5/10 : Alfafa
53. 8/40 : Cat Pelt

1. 5/20 : Histamine
2. 0 : Control
3. 8/40 : Mountain Cedar
4. 5/20 : Birch
5. 8/30 : Kentucky Bluegrass
6. 8/30 : Timothy Grass
7. 5/20 : Sagebrush, Common
8. 5/20 : Ragweed, Western
9. 8/30 : Russian Thistle
10. 12/40 : Cat Hair
11. 5/30 : Dog Hair
12. 20/40 : Horse
13. 5/20 : House Dust
14. 5/20 : Dust Mite (Farinae)
15. 5/20 : Dust Mite (pteronyssinus)
16. 5/30 : Alternaria
17. 5/20 : Cladosporium, Horm
18. 0 : Milk
19. 5/30 : Box Elder
20. 8/40 : Cottonwood
21. 5/20 : Western Juniper
22. 5/20 : Maple
23. 5/20 : Ash
24. 8/40 : Elm
25. 5/20 : Linden
26. 5/20 : Mulberry
27. 8/40 : Oak

So I’m headed to the allergist today. I’m pretty excited, even though I’m sure he’ll tell me I’m allergic to my favorite things, ice cream, cheese, butter, and fun. I’m headed in and I’m expecting to get poked a dozen or more times in the back/arm/personal area, or where ever he wants to find out what I’m allergice to. Has anyone sane done this? It’s crazy to me.. but I’ve had a runny/stuffy nose for the last 2 months and I hate it. I’m going to a DR who practices the SILT method, so instead of allergy shots every 2 weeks for 5 years to help you build your immune, you drop two drops under your tongue each day for 400 years. I’ve give you more details after my appointment. So what do you think? Waste of time and money? Did it work for you?

This week I am 17 weeks pregnant. There’s not much to comment on right now, which is great because the first trimester was NOT GOOD! I do have a lot of heartburn and headaches, and I still don’t feel 100% energetic all the time, but overall I am just SO happy not to be nauseous anymore like I was (all day, every day)! Aaah relief.

I don’t know how much I weigh at this point because we don’t have a scale at our house. But with this pregnancy my belly popped out right away, which made me fear for how big it was going to get, but then it hasn’t seemed much bigger since that initial growth. People really like to ask me if my baby is unusually small at this point (I’m used to that from when I was pregnant with Chase) or they say that their belly is bigger than mine despite being not pregnant (uh, awkward!). I have a routine appointment this week, and I will find out to appease all who inquire, if my belly is too small to have a normal baby (although I am not even remotely concerned because once again this was the exact scenario when I was pregnant with Chase). Whew, glad to have that off my chest. 🙂

Now I am just trying to be patient in this waiting period before finding out if it’s a boy or girl (next appt.)! I will be happy with either one, but a girl would probably be more exciting because I haven’t had one of those yet! 🙂

Also I am trying to force myself to drink water, and eat somewhat nutritious foods. When I’m pregnant I don’t have as much of a sweet tooth as when I’m not pregnant, HOWEVER, I’m battling my urges to eat entire bags of Cheetos Puffs! Yes, you read correctly. I don’t really have cravings during pregnancy, but hypothetically if I were to purchase a big bag of Cheetos Puffs, they would be gone in 2 days or less. I have always loved those things, but these days they call to me and I must swiftly turn away as I pass them on the chips aisle at Walmart to avoid succumbing to the great temptation. It all sounds so dramatic, but I know from one experience during this pregnancy that I can and will consume the whole entire bag in just 1-2 sittings. Weird-o! OK I need to stop talking about it because Cheetos Puffs sound so tantalizing right now…

LONDON (Reuters) – Pregnant women who eat nuts or nut products like peanut butter daily raise the risk their children will develop asthma by 50 percent, Dutch researchers said on Tuesday.

The study also showed that moderate amounts did not seem to have an effect, meaning it is too soon to say whether pregnant women should give up nuts because they contain many important nutrients and healthy fats a developing fetus needs, they said.

“We were the first to find these strong effects on asthma symptoms,” said Saskia Willers, an epidemiologist at Utrecht University, who led the study linking nuts with asthma.

“But until we are certain we don’t want to restrict them from the diet. So it is important that other studies replicate the findings,” she said.

-source