Saturday, December 31, 2011

School Field Trip Tour of Slaughterhouse Traumatizes Children

I found this article and decided to post it as the best example of how you do NOT teach a child about food!  Scare tactics aren't the best tool for everyone.  I'm not sure if that was the teacher's intent.  If it was, however, then he succeeded in scaring his fifth graders senseless.  There are more effective ways to teach our children that are far less gruesome. My heart goes out to the kids and the parents.

I still feel that it is interesting how the fifth grade class reacted to what happens in the beef slaughterhouse.  I honestly wonder if any of these kids will become vegetarian after what they've witnessed.  If it was the teacher's intent to make vegetarians, then that teacher was wrong!  Either way, I find this article upsetting. 

 
School Field Trip Tour of Slaughterhouse Traumatizes Children

Stop Frankenfish!

I really love BWMFs, but I must admit that the information that I learn about can sometimes be VERY discouraging and frustrating.

I am so tired of the bully politicians literally forcing things down our throat.  If these biotech people want to eat their frankenfish, for example, fine!  Keep it in your own tank, but leave the rest of us out of it!  The company should be fighting to convince us that their frankenfish is a good idea, we should NOT have to be fighting the system to get rid of them!  

Please, please click on the link below and fight for your health freedom!  Take action against the frankenfish!

Stop Frankenfish!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Eating Animals - The Atlantic

I apologize to all of the vegans and raw food vegans who are so fervently passionate about not eating animal products.  I promise, this article is not to offend you or anyone else.

I, myself, was a vegetarian once.  I admit that I wasn't a hard core vegan, however, there was a time when eliminating meat from my diet did my body so much good.  I felt lighter, I felt that I had more energy after two weeks of no meat in my diet.  Perhaps I ate too much meat before, perhaps my body went through a phase where it needed time away from meat or perhaps meat and my body simply went through an aversion period; I don't know.  Sometimes I even wonder if it had something to do with the poor quality of conventional meat.   I don't believe I'll ever know why eliminating meat from my diet was necessary, but back then it was none the less.  After a few years of this, my body started to need meat again.  I actually started having dreams about eating steak.  Luckily, I was very close to a time when organic grass fed beef was available to me.  In about three years after that period, I became a meat eater once again.

I still commend vegetarians and vegans.  For even as a meat eater, I support a movement that you all give generously to every time you eat.  Every time vegans eat, you vote against factory farming and raising sickly animals who are abused and drugged.  It's hard to believe that people actually eat that sickly meat.  It's disgusting to think of the fact that I ate that sickly meat!  I am just as against that part of meat eating as most of you.  I march next to you in that fight even though there are other areas where we may disagree.

I still have my occasional days when I eat nothing except vegetarian meals.  In fact, the dinner that I prepare for my house is mostly vegan.  But I do have carnivorous meals occasionally.  I just make sure I serve my family clean, healthy meat; which is partly the point of the article below.

Eating Animals - The Atlantic

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Reflection on "Some Lessons From Declining Childhood Obesity in New York "

Education has declined in this country.  My favorite example of that, is a story that I heard about a professor at a law school who has his students read a book that was written about 150 years ago.  Every year he would get complaints that the book is a very difficult read.  He would sarcastically let his students know that he understands that it is a difficult read for it wasn't written for their level (the level of law students); it was written for the common farmer about 150 years ago.  There are many reasons why education has declined so dramatically, but I believe quite passionately that one major reason is that our kids aren't healthy.

Obesity is just one outcome of America's diet which is high in sugar and refined foods.  It is effecting our children's bodies and it will impact their futures.  I know this isn't a blissful story, however, we can change it.  For one thing, we can make changes in the way we perceive food.  For example, if someone says "I'm hungry" and they reach for a danish , there is something wrong with how that individual perceives food.  In a nutshell, real food nourishes the body making it strong and healthy while refined foods may taste good, but it does little for the body if anything at all and it's likely to lead to illnesses.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Some Lessons From Declining Childhood Obesity in New York - The Atlantic

This article is provoking in many ways to me.  There are things that I love and things that I despise about the issue. 

As a school counselor, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't happy about the fact that childhood obesity is falling in New York.  I mean, this is a big part of what I fight for!  I want healthy kids!  I feel that a major reason why our kids aren't learning is because they simply aren't healthy.  I understand that there are kids who are working hard in school and they are brilliant and making great grades, however, I feel even they can do better if they were healthy.


Politically, I am very much against everything that is supported in this article.  I feel that the government getting involved in our health movements is a horrible idea.  I understand that because the government made itself such a huge part of our education system, it is almost unavoidable if you want to see change.  The problem is, the government tends to be inefficient at almost everything.  Once the government is a part of something, getting them out will be extremely difficult.  Some would say that it is impossible, but I choose to believe otherwise.  I believe that some government influence is necessary in education, however, not as much as there is currently.

Some Lessons From Declining Childhood Obesity in New York - The Atlantic

Water Filtration Continued

I was an opponent for years, however, because of all of the nasty stuff in drinking water today, I am now a passionate proponent.  The reverse osmosis and distillation process are two of the only ways to remove Splenda and just about everything else.  I can taste the difference.  When I first took a sip of my reverse osmosis water, I was shocked!  I couldn't believe the cool crisp taste; it was like drinking spring water.  I actually liked it better because it came from cold water tap and I don't usually drink cold water, but it was a nice change.

I love my new filter and I don't have to worry about how much water I have left because the tank refills itself constantly.  I highly recommend it!

Water Filtration

For the past three or four years I've subscribed to Eldorado spring water.  I must admit that it was a little expensive, however, I was determined not to drink the nasty tap water.  I'm very sensitive to the stuff in the tap water.  I can actually smell the chlorine in the water and I can taste some of the other junk in the water as well.  Now that sucralose (Splenda) has hit our drinking water supply, I'm even more determined not to drink it.  Although, there are an array of prescription drugs and other substances in the water too.  Had I known that, I may have been more scrupulous about the water filter that I used.

Recently, my hubby and I purchased a reverse osmosis system.  My husband read that reverse osmosis water was comparable to rain water.  I can believe this because rain water is actually distilled water and reverse osmosis is comparable to distilled water.  Both types of water contain very, very little if any contaminants.  There is much debate about distilled and reverse osmosis water between doctors (NDs and MDs alike).  Proponents of distilled and reverse osmosis water claim that this is the only kind of water that people should drink because the process takes all of the nasties out of the water.  Opponents feel that the distillation or reverse osmosis process takes too much out of the water; most importantly minerals.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Water Filters Reviewed - Consumer Guide to the Right Water Filter | NRDC

I stumbled upon this article about water filtration.  It can give you an idea about what different water filters do.  This can be a step toward making an informed choice about water filtration.  I've already made a choice, but which one is best for you?

Water Filters Reviewed - Consumer Guide to the Right Water Filter | NRDC

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Happy Holidays My Friends!

Tomorrow is a big holiday for many; including many in my family.  I fully intended to blog today, however, it became much busier than I anticipated.  I want to wish everyone a VERY merry Christmas and to those who don't celebrate Christmas I want to wish you a warm and happy holiday season.

Happy Holidays my friends!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Fluoride Infestation

December's book is on water fluoridation.  I may continue December's book through January since my absence has kept me from blogging much in December because I truly feel this issue is very important.  We are influenced by fluoride everyday.  Why are we being drugged?  How can we choose NOT to be drugged?

We don't really think about reading toothpaste labels, but we do what the commercials tell us to do.  I've been doing it for years too.  I've only been using a non fluoride, non SLS toothpaste for about a year and a half now.  When I go for cleanings, my hygienist says that my teeth are clean and I have very little tartar which surprised me each time.  Per my request she will never use fluoride in my mouth when she does the cleaning.  I can't believe that I was so deceived by media, that I actually believed that the fluoride toothpastes work despite all of the research I've done that said the opposite.

Dr. Mercola and Dr. Osmunsun talk about the confusing information that is given by health organizations (FDA, CDC, EPA, ADA and such).  They also talk about why they are opponents of fluoridation and what fluoride can do to the teeth, bones and IQ!



Thursday, December 22, 2011

More On The War on Vitamins

After I recovered from strep, I learned that we are losing the war for supplements. Right now, supplements are just as available to us because the draft guidance was very recently implemented, however, we don't know how much we can lose if we don't speak up. I urge EVERYONE to stand up and fight for their rights to choose. I am so tired of the government telling us what we must choose and their lame excuses about lack of scientific evidence (which is also a lie by the way).

Please check out the article below and fight for your health freedom.

The War on Vitamins

VITAMIN D KILLS H1N1 and NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF FLU VACCINES WORK

Gotta love Dr. Mercola!  The man is just so passionate about our health freedom.  I'm right there with him.  We should be able to choose how we eat and how we take care of ourselves.  Trying to scare people into getting vaccinated is just ridiculous.

The following article helps make sense of why all of my doctors tell me to bone up on vitamin D when I am sick.  (Apparently there is a video as well, but I didn't realize until after I published this article).  I was taking tons of vitamin D when I had what I believe was strep throat.  I didn't take as much as advised when sick, but I certainly took more than I do when I'm healthy.  I knew vitamin D was powerful, but I didn't realize that it was THIS powerful!


VITAMIN D KILLS H1N1 and NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF FLU VACCINES WORK>

Below are some D3 supplements.  Dr. Mercola and Maximized Living both sell vitamin D as well.  So if you need to obtain vitamin D orally, you have many choices (although keep in mind the best way to obtain vitamin D is by getting enough sun exposure).


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Past Week...

I promise, I'm not trying to make a habit of being away from this blog for a week or more at a time.  This has just been a very difficult month for me.

I gave a full explanation of my 3 week absence, however, the past week there was just one thing after another that kept me from blogging.  First a computer virus, then from the moment that was fixed I had a small migraine.  The migraine wasn't giving me very much trouble, thank God, but it was enough to stay away from TV and my computer for a few days.  There wasn't any nausea and the migraines are significantly less painful than they were a few months ago. 

I would like all readers to know how I've desperately missed blogging during that time.

DIRT

DIRT the movie is one that I've heard of and wanted to see for a while.  Here is the presentation... finally!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

My Long Absence Story (Part VI)

I went home knowing what that thing in my throat was which brought me peace.  I knew now what I was fighting, and I knew what I should do exactly.  Thanks to the advice of a dear friend, I don't know if I would've gotten through this as successfully as I did.  I am forever grateful.

When I looked at my throat the next day, I saw some more of those dark specks and swirls.  It was a very small amount, but I needed to know what they were exactly.  I used more light to see better and I realized that I wasn't seeing things after all.  There were darker marks on my throat, but it wasn't black.  It was dark red scar tissue.  My tonsils must have bled a little bit.  Once again, I was at peace.  I was still sick, but it felt like I was healing.  My throat wasn't in as much pain as it was at the beginning of the weekend.  The goldenseal was working!  I'm glad that I never filled the prescription for Amoxicillin, for that would've just messed me up.

The one disease that I didn't want because of the fear of taking antibiotics, I had and successfully healed from without the help of pharmaceuticals.  I'm amazed, and yet I question why I should be.  Of course no one will know that all that is needed is goldenseal powder!  Congratulations, Big Pharma!  It looks as though you have finally reached the level of COMPLETELY worthless (at least in my life)!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

My Long Absence Story (Part V)

I'll never forget the look on the doctor's face when she came back to the examine room.  She said that the strep test came back negative.  She instructed me to take the Amoxicillin anyway; one in the morning and one at night for 10 days.  I smiled and nodded knowing the whole time that I wasn't going to fill that prescription for beans.  She insisted that I had strep and that something went wrong with the test.  She decided to be absolutely certain and ordered another test that involves growing the culture, but this would take a few days to process.  Again, this all happened on a Saturday, but the test results wouldn't come back until Wednesday.  Knowing how often antibiotics are given for viral infections in this country, I decided to continue taking the goldenseal powder, at least until the test results came back.  I'm so happy that I chose to do this.

To be honest, I was pretty sure that I had strep despite the test.  Everything the doctor told me convinced me that I had strep.  My best guess is that the goldenseal was so powerful that it killed enough of the culture in my throat to throw off the test.  I fully expected for Wednesday's test to come back positive.

My Long Absence Story (Part IV)

I felt pretty certain that the doctor would find that I had strep, but because of that stuff on my throat I couldn't say what they were going to find for sure.

First, my throat was swabbed to do a strep test.  Then the doctor examined me.  The moment that I opened my mouth, she said it smelled like I had strep.  She explained that strep has a certain smell that she detected on my breath immediately.  She also told me that the white sheets and specks weren't fungus like I feared, they were pockets of puss.  This is a very common symptom of strep throat.  This doctor was so certain that I had strep that she prescribed Amoxicillin before the strep test results came back.  I told her that I wanted to see the test results first.  I informed her that my other doctor felt that I had a viral infection and that I didn't believe in taking antibiotics for anything other than a bacterial infection.  She then stressed that I needed the antibiotics, she said that if I don't, not only would I not get better but I could easily spread my disease to others.  She told me of her experience with medicine and insisted that she knows strep when she sees it and smells it and she had no doubt that I what I had was strep.  Because she was one of few MDs that I knew who made it blatantly obvious that she cares about her work and her patients, I shut my mouth and took the prescription from her to be polite.  I may not agree with the conventional medical philosophy, but I will never disrespect a doctor who is desirous to see her/his patients get well.  When she stepped out to get my strep test results, another doctor came it to get a look at my throat.  He eyes became slightly widened before she uttered the words "Oh you poor thing!"  It wasn't clear why she came in to look at me, but when she later told me that her specialty was once worker's comp, I was able to make a few guesses.  I was able to make a few more guesses when she told me she hadn't seen a throat that looked as bad as mine.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

My Long Absence Story (Part III)

Have you ever tried to see a doctor on a Saturday?  Sometimes doctors are available, but more often than not, trying to see one is an absolute BEAR!  The little specks of black in my throat scared me enough to see whatever doctor would see me that weekend whether MD or ND.

The easiest thing to do when you are sick on a weekend is to go to the ER, but I didn't dare go to the ER.  Because doctors aren't available on weekends, ERs tend to be full of people like me who are sick and contagious.  I was already sick, my immune system was obviously weak and my body was therefore vulnerable.  I was scared that if someone coughed on or near me, I would REALLY be in a fix because I was weak enough to catch ANYTHING.  I looked at every other option.  I even tried to see an ENT (ear, nose, throat specialist), but they told me that they would only see me if I was referred by a doctor or, since it was Saturday, the hospital.  Frustrated, desperate and very afraid, I begged my husband to keep hunting for another option.  Finally, he found an urgent care clinic that was open and that accepted our health insurance.  They weren't busy, so I didn't have to be too concerned about catching anything from anyone.

I was taking the goldenseal for two days by then.  When I gargled with it, it tended to dull the pain in my throat a bit, but I was scared that if the white on my throat was fungus/thrush that goldenseal was making it worse.  If it was strep, then I decided that I would take any prescription from the doctor but I would not fill it.  I was going to continue with the goldenseal powder.  My main purpose of going to the urgent care clinic was to find out what EXACTLY was wrong with me so I knew what I was up against.

Monday, December 12, 2011

My Long Absence Story (Part II)

The next day wasn't a good one for me.  I was desperate for rest and I kept on breaking things.  Among the many things that broke that day was the medicine my doctor had JUST given me.  Because she was closed that day, I had to wait another 48 hours to take my medicine and by then my throat had become more inflamed and swallowing became painful.  Once again, I found myself worrying that I may have strep throat.

I was reminded by a friend of mine about the power of goldenseal powder.  I've always known that goldenseal powder was powerful, but then I found out that an old healthcare provider of mine in NY would give it to his patients in heavy doses to heal pneumonia and strep throat.  Again, I used to believe that when one had either of those two diseases antibiotics were a requisite of healing.  Before I got my medicine replaced, I started taking the goldenseal powder.  My old healthcare provider said it was necessary to taste the bitterness of the goldenseal in order to heal.  Because I gargled with the goldenseal mixed with water, it was hard to avoid the taste of the stuff anyway.  Fair warning:  It does NOT taste good!

It didn't appear to work immediately.  What I mean is that the symptoms progressed.  By Friday evening, both my tonsils were huge and covered in white sheets and speckles, swallowing was very, very painful (to the point where I was having trouble sleeping because of the pain) and I was getting very worried about what the white stuff on my throat was.  My left tonsil was almost completely covered in white.  I started to panic when I saw that some of the white looked like it had swirls of black in it.  Was it fungus/ thrush?  It was so hideous and frightening, that I though it was necessary to see a doctor again.

Have you ever tried to see a doctor on a Saturday?

My Long Absence Story (Part I)

Three weeks ago, I had a fever.  It just hit me out of nowhere, I mean, I had no other symptoms; just the fever.  There was no coughing, no sneezing, no runny nose, no sore throat and no stomach flu symptoms.  Because I was detoxing, I suspected that my body sensed a microbial invasion and the fever was an attempt to fight it off.  For days I had this fever on and off until finally, I was back to my happy self and tried to get back to my life.  About a day or so later, my ear started to bother me.  It then filled with fluid and I had a sore throat.  The last time I had an ear infection, what saved me was a homemade gargle that my doctor told me to make.  I mixed the gargle, and after gargling with it a few times, I looked at my throat.  That's when I noticed it; something that scared me out of my senses.  There were little white spots all over my left tonsil and a small white sheet on my right tonsil.  I knew that was one of the symptoms of strep and became very concerned.  I made an appointment with my doctor IMMEDIATELY, hoping the whole time that it wasn't strep.  The disease itself didn't scare me, but the thought of taking antibiotics after everything that I've done to rebuild my gut flora frightened me.  I didn't want to start ALL OVER AGAIN from square one.  If I had strep, however, I wouldn't have a choice.  As far as I knew at that point, antibiotics are absolutely necessary if one has pneumonia or strep throat.  To my relief, my doctor said that the infection was viral.  To assure me that I didn't have strep, she stressed how my throat wasn't very inflamed and reminded me that I wasn't in much pain and that I didn't even secrete very much mucus.  The only concern that I had was the white stuff on my tonsils.  The doctor told me that the white specks were just deposits on my throat from my illness; I should have asked her to specify.  At that point, "deposits" was a good enough answer for me.  That night, I started my journey toward healing from my viral infection by doing exactly what she instructed me to do.  I took the tincture that she made, the homeopathy that she gave me and did the hot bath followed by the wet sock treatment that she told me to do.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Case Against Fluoride (December's Book)

I want to give a warm loving "Howdy" to all of my BeWell BookWorms.  I'm so sorry that December's book is so late.  If you read my post earlier, you would see that I'm in the process of giving a full explanation.  I promise more on that story tomorrow.  Right now, please allow me to present December's book.

December’s book is “The Case Against Fluoride” by Paul Connett, PhD, James Beck, MD, PhD and H. S. Micklem, DPhil.  I remember the words of a friend of mine in college that was studying medicine at the time.  She said “Fluoride is bad for your everything.”  This was the first time I heard anyone tell me that fluoride was bad.  How is this possible?  All my life my teachers and dentists have been telling me about how fluoride was necessary for the health of my teeth.  During the years when I started becoming more aware of the toxic nature of products that I used, I wondered about why my friend would tell me fluoride was bad.  I especially wanted to know because she was never wrong about such things.  As far as I knew, fluoride was natural.  I learned recently that sodium fluoride and calcium fluoride are natural.  Problem is, neither is used to  fluoridate our water!  90% of water fluoridation uses another fluoride compound that is hazardous waste.  This book gives all the information that we should know about what is in our drinking water.

My Long Absence

I apologize for my very long absence.  My Long Absence was due to multiple illnesses over the last three weeks.  One illness in particular kept me in bed for a majority of the time. 

My story is surely one to post on BWMFs for a number of reasons.  For one thing, it taught me how faith plays a huge part in healing.  While as a Christian woman, I place my faith in God, that's not necessarily what I'm talking about in this case (even though it could be depending on the individual).  What I mean exactly is, the confidence in the belief that you will get well plays a part in healing.  Stress is part of what breaks the immune system down.  This is why I've talked about how things like laughter, exercise and music are all things that are good for your health in prior posts.  They all decrease the chances of contracting an illness because they keep your immune system strong by keeping your stress levels down. 

I must say, looking back I was doing very well this year until I started this detox.  The colder seasons are by far the worst times to start a detox program.  I've mentioned this before and my doctor has even warned me about it.  I wouldn't have done it normally, but unfortunately other health issues didn't permit me any other choice.  So I took the risk (since the alternative was worse), but paid a pretty hefty price.  Thank goodness I am finally out of the darkest part of those woods.

What I went through over the last couple of weeks is a very long story, so I will have to break it up into a series.  Hopefully you find it enlightening, for I've learned so much on my three week journey to wellness and I'm eager to share.