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Tylenol Tied to Childhood Asthma and Allergies

A recent article on MSNBC.com caught my attention.

“A pair of studies suggests that the common painkiller acetaminophen — better known as Tylenol in the U.S. — may be fueling a worldwide increase in asthma. 

…. His team followed more than 1,000 Ethiopian babies over three years. When the toddlers turned one, the researchers asked the mothers if their babies had breathing problems, and how much Tylenol they had used.

About eight percent of the kids began to wheeze between ages one and three. Those who had been given Tylenol during their first year — before they had breathing trouble — had up to seven times the odds of developing wheezing.”




“The researchers estimate that Tylenol could potentially be responsible for up to four in 10 of all asthma symptoms, including severe ones such as waking up gasping for air once a week or more.”

What really bugged me was this (emphasis mine):

“But large-scale clinical tests are necessary before anyone cleans out their medicine cabinet, stressed Amberbir, whose findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.”

According to Kanabar, dropping painkillers entirely is probably a bad idea, and might cause a child to feel worse and drink less liquid, which could slow recovery.”

Here’s the thing, folks. Are you ready?

Painkillers (of any kind) do NOTHING to help your body heal.

If your body is fighting an infection by raising your temperature (giving you a fever) and you take a chemical that lowers that temperature, you are actually WORKING AGAINST YOUR BODY’S ABILITY TO FIGHT THE INFECTION. You are not helping!

Dr. Mendelsohn has a great chapter in his book, How To Raise A Healthy Child…In Spite of Your Doctor, on the function of fever and when to be concerned. If you don’t have this book, I highly recommend it as a resource.

Headaches and other pains serve a purpose. They are warning signals that something is not right and needs attention. If you remove the warning signal without discovering the cause, further damage is sure to ensue. More on this in How To Avoid Headaches-Naturally.

Besides taking away any good that the ache or fever may cause, the toxins put in when you take these medications actually make it harder for your body to heal; there’s more work to do now, as it has to deal with what you put in immediately, and cannot use the same amount of energy now to get better.

So, in my opinion, dropping painkillers entirely is probably a very GOOD idea.

That being said, remember that every little thing you do makes a difference in either direction. In other words, if you cut down but still take something once in a while, you are still better off than you are popping a pill with every ache. So remember to take babysteps and not be too hard on yourself when making these changes. Progress does not mean doing somethings ALWAYS or NEVER, just that you are headed in a direction you know to be good.

Even I don’t ALWAYS do the “good” things and NEVER do the “bad” things.  Just do what you can do.

Avoiding OTC and other medications definitely falls under number 9 of my 10 Simple Steps to Transform Your Family’s Health. I’m excited to be working (slowly but surely) on my eBook on this same topic. It will be available FREE to those on my newsletter list, so if you’re not signed up for it, go ahead and do it (on the left sidebar) so that you won’t miss a thing!

So, do I think that taking Tylenol causes asthma? I have no idea. But, I do know that the more junk that goes into your body (including Tylenol), the more likely your body is to scream at you in protest (think: symptom). Asthma is a symptom, a warning signal. So whether or not it has a direct cause is not my focus.

Just ask yourself: Does it promote health or hinder it?

There’s your answer.

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Baby Carrots Not So Good?

I recently had the following email forwarded to me.  I read it, and then followed by reading the Snopes commentary. Snopes is an organization that checks (and reports on) the validity of rumors such as these. It’s always a good idea to check these claims, though I admit I don’t always do it.

The original email is in italics, with the commentary under it mine.

Baby Carrots:

The following is  information from a farmer who grows and packages carrots for  IGA, METRO, LOBLAWS, etc.

The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are  made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are  put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into  cocktail carrots – most people probably know this  already.

What you may not know and should know is the following:
Once the carrots are  cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a  solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them  (this is the same chlorine used in your  pool).

Since they do not have their skin or natural protective covering, they give them a higher  dose of chlorine.

You will notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a white  covering will form on the carrots. This is the chlorine which resurfaces.  At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables?

Chlorine is a very well-known carcinogen, which causes Cancer.  I thought this was worth passing on. Pass it on to as many people as possible in hopes of informing them where these carrots come  from and how they are processed.

I used to buy those baby carrots for vegetable dips. I know that I will never buy them again!!!!

_________________________________________________________________________

My Commentary:

The commentary by Snopes is good; I am unable to cut and paste a quote here, but what I found important is that all fresh-cut, ready to eat vegetables are cleaned with chlorine as an accepted practice. Yes, they are rinsed.

But, I don’t want to eat chlorine washed veggies.

And Snopes says that the white “film” on the outer layer is NOT chlorine coming to the surface. It’s just drying out, as any carrot will do in the fridge.

Here’s the link: https://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/carrots.asp

Anyway, you must pay a great deal more for the convenience of pre-cut vegetables. I’m sure you have something you’d rather spend your money on, don’t you? It only takes a minute to cut some carrot sticks. I do it all the time!



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Think Before You Pink

It’s October. Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Are you aware of Breast Cancer? Did you realize that one in EIGHT women are diagnosed with it?

Whether or not you are genetically at risk, the biggest factors are the CHEMICALS YOU ARE EXPOSED TO. You can do something about this.  And spending money on a pink bucket of fried chicken is NOT the way to do it.

That’s right, even KFC is getting in on searching for a “cure” for breast cancer. Here’s an ABC article about the pink buckets from KFC.

I’ve recently seen some videos about breast cancer and preventing it.  I share them with you.

The first, supports an organization. I’m neither in favor or against the organization per say, but I do like the message in the video and thought it was well done.

Apparently this Christina Pirello has a TV show called Christina Cooks. I’ve been out of the country and away from TV for so long that I was not aware of it, but it seems like a good show; she takes traditional meals and teaches you how to make the healthier version. Here’s the link to her show site; there’s a great video there demonstrating clips from her show. Seems like a good watch.  Anyway, here she is discussing Breast Cancer Awareness.

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Taking a Bloggy-Break

I’ve been away…well, not really. Just from posting.

We had lots of holidays here and are just now getting back into the swing of things.  Along with that, I’m getting SERIOUS about decluttering my home. Finally.

And, when the mood to write strikes me, I want to make some real progress on my book. Did I mention that I’m writing an E-book? And that if you want to get to read my book, all you have to do is register for my newsletter?

So, I’ll pop in to say hi every now and then, maybe post a link or something that I just couldn’t let pass by, but other than that…I’m taking a break.

And watching a little bit of  I Love Lucy on YouTube. It’s my favorite all-time show, you know.

Make sure you sign up for FamilyNatural News on the left hand sidebar!


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Saying Bye Bye to Moo Moo: How To Get Milk Out Of Your Diet

I was recently at a friend’s house and she commented to me on her son’s diet. Apparently it had more dairy in it than she wanted it to have, but he really likes his milk and yogurt, and she wanted to know the best way to ease him off of it.

Knowing we want to change something and actually doing it are two very different things. I know that it’s not so easy to stop doing something you like, and it’s even harder to get someone else (your children) to stop doing something that they don’t even have the desire/logical reasons to stop. So, how do you do it?

I’ll let you know what worked for me.

Limiting dairy is included in my 10 Simple Steps to Transform Your Family’s Health, so getting a plan for doing it is a good thing.

If you don’t know why you’d want to remove cow’s milk from your diet, read MILK…It Does A Body Good. Or Does It? to start. You can find plenty more if you do a search on cow’s milk and its cons.

First, immediately switch to only ORGANIC dairy products. Non-organic dairy cows are pumped with hormones to make them produce more milk than is natural. These hormones come out in their milk, and get drunk by you. Animals kept in close unnatural quarters (not free range, eating grass) also get sick often and spread disease among each other. In order to keep them “healthy”, farmers give their animals antibiotics all the time, as a matter of course. These chemicals come out in their milk, and get drunk by you. By switching to organic, any amount of dairy products that you do end up consuming will not be as detrimental to your health. And, the added cost will make it easier for you to limit your consumption. Remember, you don’t NEED to have so  much….it’s better for you to have less, of a better quality (if at all).

I might have had a head start by never having the habit of drinking milk as a beverage. I really only drank it with chocolate syrup in it when I was little; I just didn’t like the taste, and my parents didn’t push it. The only exception was (and still is) alongside some chocolate cake or cookies, which is a rarity and only to serve my taste buds once in awhile.

Since I never really drank it, the only real time I used it was poured over cereal. So I decided to start there.  First, I stopped eating cereal so much. Once I learned to make fruit smoothies for breakfast, it limited the number of times I was tempted to pour milk on cereal.  Then I bought some milk alternatives and started experimenting with them, mixing them in with the cow’s milk at first. I liked the texture of the soy milk, but it bothered my stomach. Rice Dream brand became my favorite after trying several, and I started with about half rice milk and half cow’s milk and worked my way up (slowly) to 100% rice milk. (Here’s how to make your own almond milk at home)

Once I got used to it, I got used to it. And so can you (and your children). You just have to work up to it.

Next was cheese. That’s a real tough one for me. I LOVE cheese, especially melted.  I have tried cheese substitutes, but I am not satisfied by any of them. So, I’d rather have it much less frequently than use a substitute. If I have sliced cheese in the house for sandwiches, I will make a sandwich with melted cheese in it. Every day. Until it’s gone. So for me, I need to not have it in the house. I buy it only for a specific purpose (a specific meal), and either don’t buy extra or freeze the rest. (Freezing works well with shredded cheese; not too sure about the sliced).

Sheep and goat’s milk (and cheeses) are easier to digest and also have a stronger taste. That can work to your advantage in cutting down the dairy: crumbling a little bit of feta cheese into a salad isn’t as hard on your body but makes the whole thing more exciting.  It also works well on pizza….make it more like a focaccia with only cubes of feta instead of covering the whole thing with cheese. Not the same, but still tasty. (And it’s better food combining too).

How about yogurt, you ask? Well, first of all, ask yourself why you are eating yogurt. While it’s true that yogurt has some good bacteria in it (probiotics), you can get many more of them just by taking them in capsules. So, if you want to add probiotics to your diet, I suggest doing it that way. However, if you simply must have your yogurt  for taste, here’s my suggestion: first switch to sheep yogurt. Since it’s easier to digest than the cow’s yogurt, that’s the first step. Here in Israel I can buy sheep’s yogurt at the supermarket, sold right alongside the cow’s milk yogurt. Of course, this is still non-organic, pasteurized, etc…so it’s still not good. But, at least if you get the PLAIN kind and mix your own flavorings in (a little bit of raw honey/stevia/vanilla extract/cut up fruit…YUM) you’ll be avoiding all the chemicals and corn syrup.

Ideally, you can make your own yogurt from raw organic milk. I’ve never tried this but would like to.

As far as butter….do NOT use margarine in place of butter, thinking that it’s better for you. It is NOT.  Really, I use butter as a spread for bread, and not for much else any more. Use oil for cooking, and you can use extra virgin olive oil for dipping bread in. It’s quite tasty, and makes it easy to limit the butter to a once in a while thing.  And cutting the bread consumption down is a good thing too, so that helps.

Ice cream: Enjoy it. But only once in a while. In between, you can make good-for-you fruit “ice cream” without any added sugar in your Champion Juicer with the blank screen. Or at least I can. If you do some searching, you can probably find a way to make a yummy frozen sorbet.

So, to recap:

  1. Drink water instead of milk (or anything else) as a beverage
  2. Switch to organic. Whatever you do have will be better for you, and the added cost will help you in cutting down (which is the goal!)
  3. On cereal, buy (or make) a milk alternative and mix it in (start with 50%), gradually increasing it.
  4. Make fruit smoothies for breakfast, making it easier to eat less cereal.
  5. Get sheep or goat’s milk feta or other sharp cheese to use sparingly, instead of other cheese. Make a meal plan including fewer meals with cheese.
  6. Switch to plain sheep’s yogurt, mixing in healthier flavors. Begin to have it less frequently. If you really want to have yogurt regularly, consider making it yourself (best from raw milk)
  7. Don’t buy ice cream in large containers to keep in your freezer at home. If you eat ice cream, have it as a treat when you are out, and get creative to make healthier frozen desserts at home.
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Franken-Fish is Coming To Town

You may have read the recent headlines referring to the genetically engineered Salmon, dubbed the “Franken-Fish.” Of course, its official name is a slightly more majestic: the AquAdvantage.

If not, let me enlighten you a little bit.

“The AquAdvantage salmon has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish, and a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon.”

Why? So that it grows bigger faster. The ocean pout (a completely different species) can withstand very cold water. So they mixed some of this fish in with the regular salmon so that the cold water will not delay its growth like it normally does, and the salmon will continue to grow year-round.  The photos clearly show that the modern modified salmon is twice the size of a regular salmon at the same age. Of course, this will make the folks who sell these frankenfish more money….or, I’m sure they’ll lead the public to believe: “save YOU money”. Which should make you feel warm and fuzzy all over and want to rush out to buy some.

This week , the FDA is set to approve this fish for human consumption. And not only that, but to decide whether or not it will need to carry a label identifying it as being genetically engineered.

If no label is deemed necessary, you will have absolutely no idea what you are buying or being served when you buy salmon. And if this goes forward, there will be other animals soon to follow.

It’s just plain WRONG.

We have a right to know what we are being offered so that we can decide if we want it or not.

It’s the same reason I feel strongly about fluoride in the water (we can’t choose to not use it) and lies perpetrated by the medical community about vaccines (we can’t make educated decisions if we are not offered the truth).

If scientists want to mess with the way things were designed to come up with something better, they have that right. But I should also have the right to NOT use those perversions. I should be able to eat plain old fashioned fruits and vegetables (yes, even CORN) without it having been “messed with” and I should certainly be able to CHOOSE whether I want to eat these monsters or not.

By the way, according to The Washington Post, the FDA not only might NOT label those things that ARE genetically modified, it also opposes labels on things that point out that they are NOT genetically modified.

The biotechnology industry is opposed to mandatory labeling, saying it will only bewilder a public that is not well informed about genetic engineering.

“Extra labeling only confuses the consumer,” said David Edwards, director of animal biotechnology at the Biotechnology Industry Organization. “It differentiates products that are not different. As we stick more labels on products that don’t really tell us anything more, it makes it harder for consumers to make their choices.”

The FDA defends its approach, saying it is simply following the law, which prohibits misleading labels on food. And the fact that a food, in this case salmon, is produced through a different process, is not sufficient to require a label.

Did you catch that? They don’t want us to be confused. They don’t want us to think there’s anything different between those things that have been modified and those that have not, because they “are not different”.

But they ARE different to ME.

What do you think? Are they different to you? Even if scientists can “prove” that they are the “same”?

Sources:
This Week, FDA Considers Genetically Engineered Salmon for Human Consumption
Are You Freaking Kidding Me?? FDA Outlaws Labeling Non-GMO Foods!
FDA won’t allow food to be labeled free of genetic modification: report
FDA rules won’t require labeling of genetically modified salmon
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Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two

I have a confession to make.

I’m a pickpocket.

But it’s all for a good cause, you see….the cause of my time. And my laundry.

If you have children (or even just husbands), you have probably learned that it’s important to check pockets before putting things in the washing machine.  Not for you, of course; you never forget there’s an important paper in your pocket.

I once washed my husbands entire wallet. Complete with credit card (needed replacing), memory stick (amazingly, still worked), and a check that fell apart and was an embarrassment to ask for a re-issue. I learned my lesson.

And then I had children. Who like to stick the strangest things in their pockets! Rocks, pieces of play-dough, crayons….you do not want to wash those things with your other clothes.

I made a cutsey sign to hang over the hamper. It reminds everyone to check their pockets, sort by color, make sure it’s dirty, etc.

Nobody pays any attention to the sign.

I nagged, I implored them to check their pockets. It made little difference.

And then, I began to pick pockets. For profit, that is.

I empty the pockets, and the contents become mine. I then offer said contents for SALE to the owner first, and then to others if the owner doesn’t want to fork it over. If there are no buyers, I declutter it by putting it in the trash (it usually belongs there anyway).

I don’t charge much, only a shekel (about 25 cents) per item. But to the kids, it’s a lot (the 2 older ones get 1 or 2 shekels for allowance each week plus a little for extra jobs if they choose). And it works! It makes them more careful about leaving things in their pockets, and helps them learn the value of both things and money at the same time.

It works for me.

What’s your trick for getting your family members to participate in laundry rules?

What’s the worst thing you ever washed by mistake?

Have you ever been pickpocketed for real?

How do you teach your children to take care of their things/value of money?

When was the last time you watched Oliver! ?

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Natural Health On A Budget

Many people believe that it costs too much money to live a natural and healthy lifestyle.

Are you one of them?

My good friends, Drs. Jeff and Andrea Hazim are teaching a free online seminar this Monday night, 8:30-9:30 ET.

Jeff and Andrea are excellent teachers and I’ve learned a great deal from them. WellWithU.com is “Your trusted online resource for professional health education and products that are inspired by enduring Biblical principals”

Entitled:

“Natural Health on a Budget: Practical Wellness Advice for Tight Times”

In it, you’ll learn:

* How to lower your shopping bill by buying high nutritional value foods

* Easy cooking tips for making delicious healthy meals

* How to lower both your medical and life insurance bills

* Which oils are both healthy and a great deal

* Exercise programs you can do at home without expensive equipment

* Diets that lose your fat while they save your money

* The cheapest way to get organic vegetables

* And more…
The seminar is free, but space is limited, so reserve your seat now.

Reserve your FREE Webinar seat now at:
 https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/774915904

disclosure: I was not asked to promote this webinar, and only do so with good intentions. However, my husband is a founder of WellWithU.com, and I will therefore benefit financially from that company’s business.

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Gluttony: The Morning After

It’s early in the morning on a day that I expect my children to sleep late. The house is quiet. I could be sleeping, but I’m not. And it’s not by choice.

Why, you may ask, am I squandering such a golden opportunity?

It’s because I have a tummy ache.

After weeks of eating a mostly raw, healthful diet with good food combining along with our detox, we were excited to have some of our old favorite not-so-good-for-us foods again. Not that we’d eat them all the time (we never did before, anyway), but I’m sure you understand.

So, last night we had a celebratory meal. I advertised on our Facebook page what we were having for dinner: a Thanksgiving style meal: turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato, green beans, apricot/cranberry/pomegranate sauce, challah (freshly made with real flour), fresh grape juice. And apple crisp that we didn’t even eat since we were so full and it was too late.

It was really tasty. It was also a great example of gluttony, defined by Merriam-Webster as excess in eating and drinking; greedy or excessive indulgence.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not at all trying to tell you that you should never have such a celebratory meal. However, doing it frequently or finding a reason almost daily to have a “treat” is actually worse for you than having it once in a while. Your body can much more easily recover from a lot of bad stuff at once than a little each day. I discussed this in my post on Celebration Days vs. Regular Days.

Our dinner last night was not only made of completely cooked foods (with the exception of the grape juice, which was completely wasted nutritionally on top of all that other stuff in our stomachs), but it was combined poorly.  We had too much meat and bread and potato…a tiny bit of green beans. Not good. Putting those things in at the same time was just asking for trouble. (Wanna know why? Read The Combo Platter: Eating Harmoniously-Proper Food Combining)

And so while I’m a little frustrated that I lost some sleep this morning, I’m glad my body functions well enough to react in a way that reminds me that this should not be a way of life. Not my life, anyway.

Are you a meat and potatoes person? I used to be. You can change this habit, one meal at a time. Start with dinners; how ever many per week you eat meat, lessen it by one. And how ever many of those left include potato/pasta/rice/any carbohydrate, lessen it by one. Try the meat with only vegetables. And lessen the amount of meat, making it more like the side dish than the main dish.

I love to hear of your changes and struggles with meal planning and health….Let me know how it goes!