My Long, Short History of Food.

If you would have asked me 5 years ago about food the entirety of what I would have told you was I eat what I want when I want and it doesn't seem to bother me. I know that's true for the average American.

My ideas about food changed radically due to a little thing called a fast. I tried doing some small, one day fast. The only thing I could consume during this time was water or unsweetened tea. The Purpose was spiritual but I discovered a little about my physical too. I found out first hand that my body talks to me. I discovered that I craved the strangest things(I thought). I distinctly wanted dry oats during a fast. And my first meal off the fast included strawberries and, just that, dry oats. How boring right? A couple days before that I would have said no thanks to both. But after working some impurities out I now really loved what I was eating. This was my first lesson in eating what my body REALLY wanted.

After that I did longer fasts where I allowed myself to eat, but nothing with meat, dairy, or sugar(I already didn't drink caffeine, but that's another blog)! Yikes! All the good stuff right? Well at first I thought yes. Then something happened. After 3 weeks of literally dreaming of McDonald's cheese burgers something clicked. What was happening was a detox. My body was getting all the bad stuff out. The amazing thing was I started to feel awesome. Really awesome. Mentally and physically. IT was if I was a completely different person. The most outstanding things I noticed was my mood. Constantly in a positive mood, even through some drama. Physically I had a ton ,I mean a ton of energy, never(even with low sleep) groggy. And of course I was loosing weight(which for me wasn't desired especially). But the most profound part of my detox was that my tastes changed. Since it was a fast(not a diet) I was a bit more committed. I rarely cheated, and it made a difference. Week four came and I didn't really want the stuff I had craved a week earlier. I found this most encouraging. I could eat this way and feel this good and not be miserable about it.

I don't know everybody's story of how they try to eat healthier and it just becomes too difficult(it is hard at first). I just know that I don't hear people talk about this phenomenon enough when talking about a desired diet improvement. Your palette will change. If you give what your body wants(or take away the stuff it really doesn't) it'll speak up and change your mind in the end. The misery of giving up junk food will end if you just give yourself a chance. Maybe it would take a week of two longer for someone else but it should happen.

I did find out a sneaky rule of junk food too. Sugar(refined) is a sneaky bitch. It was the hardest to get rid of in my diet. Unlike the other things I rid myself of during the fast your body needs this one in some form. If I let myself get really hungry my blood sugar would drop and I would get frantic and want a quick fix. Whats the sweetest quickest fix? Refined sugar. But it's really quite terrible for you(yet another blog!)! The only way I'd stay comfortable and abide by rules is instead of reaching for the candy bar Id first try an apple or even make a quick meal then see how I felt and if I was a little patient it almost always did the trick. Not that I never wanted a candy bar again but it happened less and less.

Shampoo, a Sham

I was watching an infomercial, for fun, and there was an infomercial for a shampoo. It's sounded legit so I bought some for 25 bucks.

No not really. It just got me thinking about shampoo and whats good for your hair naturally. It also made me a little angry at myself. All this time knowing that additives, preservatives, and pesticides were bad for you and still they were constantly put into food that people really want you to buy(if they're on the other side of the buck), and I never thought twice about picking up shampoo off the shelf? Makers of shampoo put yucky stuff in their products too. How do I know? I can't read any of it. That's it! I can't read it. Anyway, like food I think it's best to go with whole foods or ingredients. I was curious what I would find if I looked up how to make shampoo and I was a little surprised and then I was more surprised when I kept looking around.

I didn't do research about the Chemicals in Shampoo because I just thought that would be boring. I Just looked for home made stuff. There were plenty of websites that had recipes for shampoo that were quiet too intricate for me and my purposes of being low maintenance. Then I found a decent one. The recipe was an eye balled 1:2:8 parts olive oil: castille soap: water. Pretty simple but I found that those proportions left my hair a bit heavy from the oil. yuck. I tried it again with a lot less oil and still it left some residue. So back to the drawing board I went(in the 21 century the drawing board is not used with chalk, it's the computer). I looked around a bit still not wanting anything too complicated. Then I found something else and it really wasn't complicated at all. In fact there was no "shampoo" . no soap. And turns out it works the best! What is this you ask? two things; baking soda and apple cider vinegar!

Here is where I got the directions Click

The wierd part is that ACV really does detangle your hair, and so does lemon juice( I tried that too). Something about the acidity makes the water soft. Go figure...

Well I think I may change over to washing my hair this way. I don't expect everyone would do that but at least know that if you're ever out of shampoo and conditioner you may be able to wash you hair anyhow...

Overwhelmed with Info

Really I am. I've been doing a lot of research(looking stuff up online and reading from one book) and really it's amazing what you can find about natural remedies.

I encourage everyone that reads this to think of a common ailment of theirs ( i.e. canker sore, fatigue, indigestion) no matter how obscure, and instead of popping some prilosec do a quick search like "natural remedies for indigestion". Try one that involves food that you have eaten before then try it when you have an issue. Something I suggest often to people who complain about indigestion is trying Papaya fruit or chewable pill. Everyone that's tried it agrees it works and I can't think of anything wrong with eating Papaya(unless you're allergic). There are other remedies for that like apples cider vinegar I've heard helps too.

Most of the morning I've spent my time on reading up. Currently I'm reading "Honey, Garlic, and Vinegar" by Dr. Patrick Quillian. It was an impulse buy on amazon and after about an hour I'm halfway though it. I'm also in the midst of looking up diet changes that are naturally important for schizophrenia, which my brother has had for years. Obviously this is more severe but I am finding out soooo much. There is a lot people that have already have done research and have experienced better health. It's super cool and overwhelming to see that there is already such a data base out there. Thumbs up for the Internet!

Here is a excerpt from the book I'm reading. More info will come on the actual foods talked about in this book;

" Personal Profile.

A.F. was a young woman in her thirties who had just learned that she had advanced breast cancer. She had 2 young children at home and was not prepared for the doctor's warnings: " Unless you undergo radical surgery, with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, you will probably die with in a year." What could she do? She fallowed her doctor's advice. The therapy did not slow the cancer, which now showed throughout her body, including her spine. "We are going to try a last ditch effort to save you with a radical procedure called bone marrow transplant" her doctor's told her. That aslo was ineffective at slowing the cancer. After 2 years of valiant fighting cancer with every trick in the medical book, AF was told to "get her affairs in order".

She was not a quitter and certainly couldn't see someone else raising her
kids, so she gathered all the information she could find on therapies for cancer that would strengthen her body's natural defense mechanisms. She changed her diet, dropping all animal food like beef and cheese. She went on a serious detoxification program to rid her body of accumulated toxins which drag down the immune system. She changed her way of thinking, eliminating negative thoughts and stressful events. She started taking supplements, including garlic extract. Within 6 weeks, the cancer was gone from her soft and hard tissue-even the bones showed no signs of cancer. What modern medicine couldn't do, nature's simple healing agents could do. AF learned a very important lesson in healing: In order to reverse disease, you must first change the underlying causes of the disease. Drugs and surgery can be temporarily helpful, but do not cure any disease. Only you can do that. "

I've heard other stories like that a bunch of which were in the movie Beautiful Truth, which I recommend also to everyone who is concerned about cancer, healing, and treatments. It shows an alternative appoarch that could be useful. It goes into a few food and drug issues that we encounter in The States and it's simply told and is around 1.5 hours, so not too long either. It also showcase's the Dr. Max Gerson and a book written by him and then later revised by his daughter called the Gerson Therapy. Which would definately be my route for treatment of cancer if I ever found it in me.

What is it Syphilis, Herpes, or a Deficiency?

Canker sores that is... Turns out it's just a deficiency.

I've got them every once in a while ever since I was little. I've always known they were painful but it wasn't till my ex-boyfriends mom accused me of having herpes that I got a little freaked out by them. Turns out what I have is not herpes. Which is good because it also means it's not contagious. What I probably have(since I been tested for HIVand thats a negative) is a folic acid deficiency. So I'll try eating more folic acid in the future to prevent this. They are a pain and last too long. I take L-Lysine(an amio acid) and Alum(directly on the spot) and am not sure it helps.

Herpes caused sore happen on the outside of the mouth. And lots of people get this too without having herpes that appears else where. I guess there is more than one strand of the virus. So don't go assuming anything if you see one on someone, other than it maybe not a time to split a milkshake with them.

Syphilis causes chancres and really is only confused with canker sores or cold sore because of the name. They're not really related or appear on the face.

*most of this info was found here at about.com

Soy and Men

Soy, soy, everywhere, and not a bite to eat...for men that is.

Well, one or two bites wont hurt. It's in everything and it's supposed to be a cure-all right? That's what some people want you to think(especially if they're selling it). To me it's a cash crop. Over grown and over used in our diets.

Well it's a mortal food like the rest of them so it can't do it all, and more interestingly, from what I've read is that men should stay away for the most part. Why? because it has an estrogen mimicker in it, isoflavones. There some studies that say soy will cause enlarged(not greatly) chesticles and maybe some nipple discharge(in very high dosage), and studies that also show men who incorporate soy into their diets have a dramatically lowered sperm count. Now maybe not all men are trying to get some body preggers but it's still a clue to overall health. I would assume, to be safe, that plant based estrogen will do a lot of what your bodies estrogen will do. I don't know too many men who would like more estrogen then they are supposed to have.

This led me to the conclusion that guys should be shying away from things like soy based protein shakes, soy replacement meats, and edemmame. I've read that fermented soy seems to be a bit better, less isoflavones. Fermented soy is stuff like soy sauce, tempeh.

For women I'd think this is probably a problem too because is messes with our homones a lot too, so be conservative about consumption.
Another Dr. talkin about Soy. He talks about other problems. Click.