Healthy Tips for Real Families
I haven’t posted in a couple of days. Unusual for me since I began really spending more effort on the blog. But sometimes, you just need to slow down. Know what I mean?
This is one of my favorite photos. My oldest (now 7), when he was just a little one.
Today, take a deep breath. Take a relaxing walk, a nice bath, or sit with a book and a cat in your lap. Relax.
I’ll be back soon.
I got this great idea for a Tuesday Theme from my friend Diane.
I don’t have time for a longer post, and this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen. If you have children (especially of the little variety), you will understand.
Enjoy!
There are many ways to get calcium from foods other than dairy products. In fact, you might already be aware that we are UNABLE to absorb the calcium in cow’s milk; in contrast, our bodies actually PULL CALCIUM OUT OF OUR BONES in order to buffer the acidity of our blood when we drink the stuff. See my post on milk for more info.
Daily Recommendations:
The daily recommended intake of calcium varies according to age, but will average between 500mg and 1000mg.(Dietary Reference Intakes, National Academy of Science, 1997)
Other than eating a yummy bowl of chicken soup (especially with matzah-balls) once in a while, I used to think that there was no real reason I would spend my time making it. I mean, soup is for eating, right? Wrong.
I found out that chicken broth is for cooking with. From soups and stews to seasoned rice and sauces, chicken broth (or any good vegetable broth) is an absolute must-have for cooking. And although you can buy canned or boxed broth, it costs MUCH LESS to make it yourself. And it really is easy.
Oh, and you don’t need to use any MSG to make it delicious! I actually used to use chicken boullion in my chicken soup and didn’t know I could get it to be flavorful without it. I mean, our grandmothers must have been absolutely primitive to not have such a convenience item, right?
Freeze your broth in a muffin tin, then pop out the frozen servings for easy use.
Take:
If you are using the 2 whole chickens, take the meat off of one chicken after 1 hr, returning the bones to the pot. Simmer away. Save that chicken meat for another yummy meal.
After a couple of hours, strain and remove remaining meat. That meat will be tough but works fine for chicken salad, etc. Remove all solids, strain soup, cool, and freeze.
Enjoy!
The folks at Pampers evidently feel the need to clear up some “confusion” regarding diapers. Specifically, regarding the debate between those backwards non progressing tree hugging natural crunchy cloth diaper users and normal modern people. They actually have this myths and facts page on their site.
Here’s one of the (humorous? Unbelievable?) highlights for me.
“Myth: Disposable diapers are harmful to the environment.
Fact: All of the component materials in Pampers diapers are gentle to consumers and safe for the environment. Pampers diapers are made of materials that are also frequently used in a wide range of other consumer products.“
The italics is mine. I did it to expose an incredibly flawed logic that I believe is extremely dangerous. (Not that my mommy brain is the queen of logic, mind you)
They are saying that you should accept the toxic stuff in their diapers as being safe for the environment (and also for you) because it’s “frequently used in a wide range of other…products.”
Um…hello? Many, MANY products are FILLED with toxic stuff. That’s the problem. It’s all around us. It’s…ubiquitous! (How’s that for an SAT word from this mommy’s brain!? If you want to rid your body of the toxins it’s accumulated, you must do a purposeful detox. More on that here and here.
SODIUM POLYACRYLATE is the chemical, added in powder form to the inner pad of a disposable, that makes it super-absorbent. When the powdered form becomes wet, it turns into a gel.
It can:
Can absorb up to 100X its weight in water.
Can stick to baby’s genitals, causing allergic reactions.
Reported to cause severe skin irritations, oozing blood from perineum and scrotal tissues, fever, vomiting and staph infections in babies.
When injected into rats it has caused hemorrhage, cardiovascular failure and death.
Banned from tampons in 1985 because of its link to Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Has killed children after ingesting as little as 5 grams of it.
Causes female organ problems, slows healing wounds, fatigue and weight loss to the employees in factories that manufacture it.
above info taken from an article on The Diaper Hyena; entire article here
According to the Clean Air Council, parents throw away 570 diapers PER SECOND! And one diaper takes 300 YEARS to break down.
Watch a 2 min news report on why a mother of triplets has chosen to switch to cloth diapers.
I wrote a 2 part post on cloth diapers and why I use them. You can read them here and here.
Is this your idea of good food combining?
If it is…..you’d better keep reading! 😉
Did you know that it’s not just what you eat, but what you eat together? Even really healthy food, when combined improperly with other really healthy food, can cause indigestion, heartburn, gas, bloating, cramps, general malaise, fatigue, and more. Alternatively, proper food combining causes you to digest and assimilate the most nutrition out of what you eat.
Who Should Worry About Food Combining?
* Anyone who is sick or in recovery
* Anyone trying to detox their bodies
* Anyone with signs of indigestion
* Anyone in need of an immediate energy boost
Food combining is eating the proper combinations and quantities of foods at a meal as to contribute to easy and proper digestion of all the nutrients in the food you have eaten. Remember, digestion doesn’t just mean that you put it in your mouth and swallowed it. Digestion means also that it must be assimilated–converted into living tissue.
Proper food combining helps avoid all the symptoms of not doing so, which most would be classified under the heading: “INDIGESTION.”
There are 3 basic categories of macronutrients. They are
* Carbohydrate (fruits, potatoes/squash, and grains/breads/pasta/beans)
* Protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts/seeds)
* Fat (nuts/oils, butter, avocados, coconut)
Non-starchy vegetables (like green leafy type) don’t fall under any of these categories. They have few calories and are eaten for their mineral & vitamin content.
The easiest digestion comes when you eat foods that contain most of their calories from one macronutrient source (carbs, protein, or fat).
Combine any of these three with a nice green salad, and you are good to go. HOWEVER, if you combine 2 or more of these 3 together, you are asking for trouble!
Example: Baked Potato (carbohydrate) and salad, GOOD.
Baked Potato (carbohydrate) and Steak (protein), BAD.
That’s right. Meat plus potatoes is NOT a good food combination.
The same can be said for meat plus grains (that Big Mac)
The reason these things need to be divided into categories is:
The chemistry of your body, because you have one stomach, does not let you digest efficiently when you create a contrasting environment in that one stomach. Protein digests in an acid environment, and carbs digest in an alkaline environment. Remember chemistry? If you mix an acid and a base together, you get salt and water. You cannot digest food anything in salt and water! The food will pass through the body undigested, never broken down, not assimilated. It becomes food for bacteria which have a good ole’ time. Of course those produce gas, etc.
The quantity of the food matters, too. If you eat a baked potato and feel good, that does not mean that you can eat 3 baked potatoes and still feel fine. That is because your body only has a certain amount of digestive enzymes available at any given time. You eat too much of one thing, even if it’s a good thing (and properly combined), and you will get indigestion.
So it’s best to not mix multiple sources of the same macronutrient you are eating at a single meal. Example: Don’t eat bread AND potato AND dessert in one meal.
Practical Plan to Institute Good Food Combining In Your Diet
* Stop eating proteins and carbohydrates in the same meal.
* Do eat concentrated protein meals and concentrated carbohydrate meals with a big veggie salad.
* Stop eating 2 or more types of carbohydrates or protein in the same meal
* eat grains and foods derived from grains no more than 3 times per week (unless gluten intolerant)
* Eat animal proteins no more than 3 times per week (if at all).
* Eat fruits alone
* Stop drinking with meals. Do drink 8 oz of water 30 mins prior to meals.
WellWithU Radio had a show on this same topic last week. Click here to listen to it.
I love using my crock pot. I don’t do it very often, because it seems to work best for stewed type meat, and we only eat meat for dinner about once a week. ( I do also use it for soups and beans). But when Friday comes and I have SO much to do before our special family dinner that night, it really takes a load off my mind to make a one-dish-meal that I can start in the morning and forget about until dinner time.
It’s simple. And it simplifies. Something that I REALLY like.
I recently listened to this WellWithU radio show about proper food combining and why it’s important. I was reminded that meat & potatoes or grains is not a good combo. This I already knew; we don’t do it much and seem to tolerate it all right once in a while. But the important thing that I was reminded of was that couscous AND potatoes AND bread all in one meal would be TOO MUCH of the same type of thing in our bodies (even if it were properly combined). So, I made a change in the dinner I was preparing. I usually add potatoes to the stew, but realized that it would be much better to leave those out and fill up with more veggies instead.
Crock Pot Stewed Chicken
About 2 lbs chicken parts*. I’ve done it with wings, legs, thighs, whole bird cut up. Whatever.
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
4 celery stalks, sliced
Any other veggie that you have laying around and want to use up. I usually add cabbage or zucchini. This time I added 1/2 a bag of frozen green beans.
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tin tomato paste
About 1/3 c white wine
A big pinch (approx 1 tsp) each of Basil, Oregano, Thyme
1 Bay leaf
Put everything in, turn it on, walk away, come back 8 hrs later to dinner. Serve over rice/couscous/quinoa (whole grain, of course)
*I recommend that you only consume animal meat that is certified organic and free to roam, with no antibiotics or hormones injected. And even then, do so sparingly. Accompanied by lots of veggies.
I’ve been thinking about feet lately. Strange, I know. Here’s why.
I’ve always had problems with my feet. I had orthotic inserts as a child for fallen arches. I seemed to grow out of that problem as I got older, but my feet still would get achy and tired much quicker than anyone I knew. I found that foot massages would help and made it through my twenties able to wear cutsey shoes. And then, I grew up. I mean, I got old(er). I mean, my body did this thing at age thirty which told me suddenly that I was not in my twenties any more. And my feet were a part of this mutiny.
I found my feet unable to tolerate anything but good quality sneakers. Now, at age 36, I wear them every day. They are my “lace up shoes” and I wear them to work at my job, in the home.
Learning from the Flylady how important it is to wear shoes in the house only confirmed to me that barefoot was not a good thing. But now, I am reconsidering.
The other day we went for a walk to the park. We took off our shoes to walk barefoot in the grass. My two year old cried and thought the grass was hurting his feet. And it didn’t feel too good to me, either. I realized I’d caused a problem.
By saying “no” to bare feet, I think our feet are getting to be too sensitive. I am now wondering if perhaps my sore foot problem is actually a lack of strength, caused by wearing shoes all the time.
Have you seen these funky shoes? They are like gloves, to be worn on your feet, so that you can still feel the ground.
Here’s an interesting article about running barefoot.
And another article.
And a whole site for “Healthy and Natural Barefoot Activities“
Welcome, Spring. I think it’s time to kick of my shoes for a little while.
Do you like being barefoot? Do you let your children go barefoot? Let’s talk.
“So it’s come to this. Kleenex Disposable Hand Towels: the ultimate in germ paranoia. Our dear friends at Kleenex want you to think that you NEED protection from nasty cloth towels that, heck!, everyone in your family uses. Shudder. Think about it: you’ve all dried your CLEAN HANDS on the SAME TOWEL. What are you, savages?”
I didn’t write this. But I really liked the post. You can read the rest here at Enviromom.com.
Did you know that it’s not just what you eat, but what you eat together? Even really healthy food, when combined improperly with other really healthy food can cause indigestion, heartburn, gas, bloating, cramps, general malaise, fatigue, and more. Alternatively, proper food combining causes you to digest and assimilate the most nutrition out of what you eat.
My friends over at WellWithU.com host a BlogTalkRadio show every Monday at 2pm EST.
Click here to listen to The Combo Platter show.
Join Dr. Jeff and Chaim to find out what a healthy “combo platter” looks like.
Topics to be covered: * Who should worry about food combining?
* What is food combining?
*Why is proper food combining essential for many people?
* Common symptoms of not combining well.
* Combining foods properly.
* A practical plan to institute good food combining in your diet.
*** Plus the last 15 mins of the program is reserved for listener questions. *** (Dr. Jeff broadcasts from Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chaim from Jerusalem, Israel.)
You can listen to the player here (after the show, of course), or click this link to the archive.
This is an important topic: I haven’t gotten to it yet as a post, but realized I can just send you over to the good information there. Enjoy! I know I will.
update: I created a newer post from the info in this same radio show. If you prefer to read than listen, you can go here for it.
