Throughout this year we’ve talked about everything from an aching back to wheatgrass.  I’ve asked you to have a good cry, think twice about your non-dairy creamer, and made you wonder about your energy drinks.  There have been recipes for smoothies, raw ice cream, living foods and lots of other things you can make and juice with your juicer or blender.  We’ve talked about feelings (a lot) and I gave you alternatives to help you heal heartburn, warts, constipation, insomnia, cancer, stress, PMS, lyme disease and diabetes, to name a few.  Looking back at your year in health, how have you fared?  Has this information been helpful to you?  I certainly hope so. 

In just a few days, a new year will begin.  I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions.  I take life a day at a time.  So instead of beating yourself up for not keeping last year’s “things to do in the new year” list, how about starting today with just a small change.  A small step.  It doesn’t have to be on the first of the month.  It doesn’t have to be in the morning.  It doesn’t have to be on a Monday.  Today.  Today is the day you will make one small change in your life.  It could be your diet.  Is it time for a fast or a cleanse?  Maybe your exercise routine.  Maybe you will call that friend you haven’t seen in a long time.  Today is the day to do it.  Today is the day to make a change.

I write about health, but there are many other resolutions you could make.  How about volunteering?  Check out your local hospital, animal shelter, nonprofit organization, food shelf or local YMCA.  Volunteering is a great way to be of service.  Did you know there are many volunteer programs abroad?  It’s also a great way to meet new friends.  Mentoring is also another way to volunteer.  Look into mentoring at your local grammar or high school or if you are in a larger city, the local Youth Service organizations.

Thinking of going back to school to get that degree or maybe you just want to take a class?  There are many opportunities for online course taking.  Of course, you won’t meet any new people online, so how about at the local community college?   Maybe you just want to learn a new language.  Start by putting an ad in the paper or craigslist and see if there are others wanting the same thing.  Then you might be able to find a local person to take a class with. 

The library is a great place to start for clubs.  Join the book club or the camera club.  It’s all just a click away!  What a wonderful way to connect with people.  Making new friends and trying out different things is a great way to stay healthy.  It can make you smile more, laugh more and breathe more! 

So get out there.  It’s not just about exercise and healthy eating anymore.  It’s the whole package.  Life for all it’s worth.  Getting the most out of you. 

Keep me posted on your endeavors.  Every day is a new day!  Peace.

I’ve been an emotional person for as long as I can remember.  But in pictures of me as a child, I always had a smile on my face.  No matter what was going on internally, I managed a smile for those around me.  That smile also hid the pain inside, the confusion, the internal dialogue, and the sadness.  As I grew up I learned how to hide it even more with eating, perfectionism and typical type A behavior.  Anything sound familiar yet?  Here I am in my late forties and perimenopause sneaks in over the last year and because of therapy and yoga I’m better able to deal with the anxiety, depression and general imbalance of my physical and emotional body.   I said “deal with it”, not conquer it or totally rid myself of anxiety.

Most women deal with a state of low anxiety at all times.  This generalized anxiety can erupt into full-blown panic attacks, anxiety or phobias during times of physical or emotional stress or change, like perimenopause and menopause.  Early on, psychologists viewed anxiety as purely emotional, stating it is an outward sign of repressed negative feelings and inner conflict.  With research and time, anxiety disorders and panic attacks have been determined to have a real, physiological cause. 

Anxiety can also be related to hormonal imbalance.  I heard a song on the radio yesterday.   One of the lines was, “I’d rather feel something then nothing.”  How do I support these emotional swings especially with all the change in my own life?  It’s not easy, but I rely on my support systems; my friends, my beliefs (I don’t just believe, I know) and my strength.  Heck, if I’ve made it this far……..

Yes, there’s more to do than just medicate yourself.  Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time.  It could present itself with a thumping heart, shortness of breath, monkey mind, shaky knees and upset stomach….just to name a few symptoms.  We have our “flight or fight” response.  It’s our built in alarm system.  It is not natural to live in fear and be upset most of the time without a reasonable cause.  There are many of us who constantly live in this state of fight or flight.  This response is meant to get us through in the face of danger or high stress, but after the episode we are supposed to relax, find the down time.  However, most of us are on this constant alert.  We suffer not only constant stress, but also the physical response that accompanies it.  It is not a weakness to feel anxious or vulnerable.  We, as women, were taught from childhood, to grin and bear it!  I’m not going to tell you to suffer through it or that drugs are your only solution. 

If you feel you have severe panic attacks on a regular basis with no sign of relief, if you suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or post-traumatic stress, please consult your physician.  I have a little OCD.  I notice when I’m under high stress I start to go over the same thing in my head.  It usually has to do with time and it mostly will happen before bed, during the night or early in the morning before I get up.  This used to happen a lot to me until I started yoga and meditation and then I didn’t even realize those moments of OCD had disappeared until they started to reappear with perimenopause.  I made a conscious effort to change my life.  Anxiety disorders do run in families.  I also asked one of my brothers if he ever does this. He said, “Sure”, like it was nothing.  That proved to me, I was allowing this condition more attention than it deserved.  Anxiousness runs in my family.  It’s a learned condition. If you saw it growing up, just like other behaviors, you can unlearn it.

Generalized anxiety, as I stated above, is common.  The symptoms may not affect your ability to get through the day.  My type A behaviors, for a long time, helped me to avoid my panic and fear.  If I ran (literally) fast and long enough, I could outrun it.  The day came, eventually, when I couldn’t run away from it.  As we get older and the everyday life of children and work start to calm down, we start to “feel” more of our own thoughts.  I realized that my job wasn’t the cause of my stress.  I was just stressed! I didn’t have a job or a child to blame for my stress, there was only me and how I was relating to me.  You begin to take the time to feel, think, and speak.  I needed to start slowing down even though it was uncomfortable to do so.  I’m still working on beating myself up for past mistakes and the fact that I do not know what I am going to do next.

Begin to evaluate your stress symptoms.  Irrational fear, muscle tension or headache, chest pain, nausea, sleeplessness, tearing up, depression or a general feeling of dread, are all symptoms of anxiety or stress.  When do these symptoms become severe?  If these symptoms don’t go away or if they come at seemingly “normal” times, it’s time to seek help.  Anxiety symptoms can lead to, or be caused by, adrenal fatigue and unhealthy food.  Caffeine-laden drinks can raise your dopamine levels, and can bring on panic attacks.  It can also be caused by past childhood trauma.  As children, we simply cannot process everything that happens to us.  As adults, we learn to cope, but sometimes not deal with, what happened in our past.  If you feel you cannot cope, please seek help.  You must be willing to approach stress, anxiety and depression from many angles.  Your healing has the possibility of healing others.

I read these words from “Anonymous” recently:

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Let it go…..let it be.

I’ve mentioned many times in this venue how raw, living food is what will allow the body to heal.  Not cooking your food keeps enzymes, oxygen and water content in your food, and therefore making it better able for your body to absorb.  Heating destroys nutrients and your food’s enzymes.  Heating also destroys water soluble vitamins like vitamin C and all the B vitamins.  I still eat a small amount of cooked food, but it just doesn’t taste the same anymore.  I’m eating more vegan food as well as high raw foods.  The past couple of weeks, since I’ve been moving around a lot, I’ve had a cucumber for breakfast almost every day. I know vegetables for breakfast?  Yes, and you can too.  It’s all about changing your patterns.  Fresh organic produce has been easy to find these days.  I am in the Adirondacks in New York State taking advantage of the local farmers markets every week. 

If you want to get good at anything, you have to focus, learn and invest some time in learning how it works, right?  Everyone needs to learn about taking care of their body because everyone has a body.  In addtion to your “day job”, you need to make the time to learn the basics of taking care of your body.  The reason we believe what the drug companies, media, agricultural and food and beverage companies have to say is because we are nutritionally ignorant.  So let’s learn a little bit more about the food we cook on a daily basis.

When you cook food on a grill, stove top, oven, camp fire or a microwave, you are changing the molecular structure of the food and change the nutritional content and digestibility.  This structure becomes denatured, deranged and degraded, and the molecules are changed into new chemical configurations and carcinogenic byproducts are formed, thereby promoting a broad spectrum of allergies, infections and degenerative diseases..  Certainly the degree to which this happens depends on the cooking time, temperature and method of cooking.  Heating food above 105-120 degrees F, destroys all enzymes and lowers the concentration of vitamins and minerals.  You body can produce the enzymes necessary for digestion and absorption of food, however this process requires a great deal of energy that would otherwise be used for  the process of elimination, fighting disease, and allowing you to function at an optimal physical and mental level. 

In cooked foods, fats are carcinogenized, carbs are caramelized, and proteins are coagulated and become virtually unusable by the body and fiber becomes barely usable in the colon.  Heating food also creates toxic byproducts.  Here’s a few of these dangerous byproducts:

Acrylamides:  Cancer causing byproducts of cooking carbohydrate food such as breads, potatoes, pastries and any other kinds of starch.  The FDA acknowledges on their website the perils of acrylamides, but the processed and fast food industry would rather you don’t know about these.

Epoxides, Hydroperoxides, unsaturated aldehydes:  These three are generated when you cook the fat from meat, milk, eggs and fish.  From Wikipedia, “An epoxide is a cyclic ether.”  The rest of the definition on Wikipedia was not even understandable to me.

Furfural/furans: generated when sugars are heated.  Wikipedia states, “Except for occasional use in perfume, furfural remained a relatively obscure chemical until 1922, when the Quaker Oats Company began mass-producing it from oat hulls….When heated above 250 degrees, furfural decomposes into furan and carbon monoxide, sometimes explosively… Furfural is also used as a solvent in petrochemical refining….” 

Nitrosamines:  When nitrogen oxides in the gas flame from gas ovens or barbecues interact with fats, these toxins are created.  Nitrosamines are chemical compounds of a chemical structure, some of which are carcinogenic.

Polycyclic Hydrocarbons:  These carcinogens are generated from the charring of meat. From Wikipedia,  ”PAHs occur in oil, coal and tar deposits, and are produced as byproducts of fuel burning….as a pollutant, they are of concern because some compounds have been identified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic….PAHs are also found in foods.  Studies have shown that most food intake of PAHs comes from cereals, oils and fats.  Smaller intakes come from vegetables and cooked meats.”

Hydrogenated oils and Trans fats:  These are man-made.  They are also called hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and were specifically developed to allow processed foods to sit on the shelf longer without going rancid.  Many of today’s common foods are now cooked in these trans fats.  Consuming these fats can lead to obesity, heart disease, an increase in bad cholesterol and lowering of the good.  Also keep in mind when you heat common cooking oils, the heat denatures the oil molecule and causes the oil to turn rancid.

Are you still asking yourself what happens to you if you eat cooked foods?  Digestive leukocytes is a term that refering to when your body produces an increase of white blood cells, indicating the body is on the attack.  This response also happens when you eat cooked food.  However it does not happen when you eat raw foods.   A build up of toxic, acidic waste materials, often referred to as “free radicals”, accumulates in the skin, liver, nervous system and brain when you consume large amounts of cooked food.  When you don’t get the proper nutrients in your diet, your white blood cells are always on the attack mode.  Toxic waste are circulating in your weak and overworked body, allowing it to breed common ailments such as allergies, headaches, sinusitis, diabetes, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, depression, arthritis, osteoporosis, and various cancers will thrive.  Unfriendly flora build-up is also a byproduct of cooked foods.  Unfriendly bacteria take over the colon, feeding on thick, undigested and uneliminated cooked food putrefying in the intestines.  This flora will give off a waste product that is a food for cancer cells.  Eating a plant based uncooked diet will decrease the toxic load on the colon and will also decrease unfriendly bacteria and its dangerous byproducts.

Not cooking your food will have the following benefits: Weight stabilization, increased energy, more restful sleep, radiant skin, enhanced mental clarity, increased immune function and prevention of illness.  You don’t need to eliminate all cooked food from your diet to have these benefits.  How about just substituting one meal a day with raw food for starters?  Or if you are already doing that, how about increasing to one day a week eating nothing but uncooked food?  Most people believe lunch or dinner is their best bet for raw.  Large salads with every veggie in the fridge, juicing a meal or sandwiches with sprouted grain bread (these breads are usually available in the frozen section.  They are baked at low temperatures to retain the nutritional content of their ingredients). Top your sandwich with all raw ingredients, like veggies and sprouts.  It doesn’t have to be fancy, just make it colorful.

Be proactive about your own health.  Stay informed.  It’s your job.

As always, consult your primary physician if you have questions regarding your specific circumstances.

Wikipedia defines Lyme disease as…..”the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere.  Borrelia (a species of bacteria) is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks…….Early symptoms may include fever, headache, depression, fatigue, and a characteristic circular skin rash…..Left untreated, later symptoms may involve the joints, heart, and central nervous system.  In most cases, the infection and its symptoms are eliminated by antibiotics, especially if the illness is treated early.  Late, delayed, or inadequate treatment can lead to the more serious symptoms, which can be disabling and difficult to treat.”

I met someone recently who was ill for quite some time and he kept insisting the doctors do a Lyme test. They said no, that there are no ticks in Vermont carrying Lyme disease.  He finally convinced someone to do the test and that was indeed what he had.  We all must be proactive about our health.  I say this all the time.  Do your research and seek out a second opinion.  Early detection is very important.

Symptoms of a tick bite can appear within one to two weeks or shorter or much longer, such as months to years.  This is the season for ticks, May through September.  You may see a red rash in the shape of a circle from the bite.  Unfortunately, tick bites are not painful, and you may not know you were even bit until you see the common bullseye rash pattern.  In some cases, you may not develop a rash; however, you may still have contracted Lyme disease.  Some other symptoms of Lyme disease are muscle pain, joint pain, heart palpitations and dizziness.  Some untreated patients will see some muscle tone loss in the face, severe headaches, neck stiffness and a sensitivity to light.

Young ticks will latch on and feed for a day without being noticed.  Lyme disease can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta if the mother is infected, causing the most harm during the first three months of pregnancy.  In this case, a pregnant woman would not be given the usual treatment of antibiotics for Lyme disease, but a less effective antibiotic that is harmless to the fetus.

Animals may also contract Lyme disease.  Cats may show lameness, fever, loss of appetite or unusual breathing.  Dogs may be lethargic, poor appetite, fever, lameness, joint pain or kidney damage.  Dogs can transmit Lyme disease to their unborn puppies.  However, some animals display no symptoms at all.  I was at my friend’s house and we safely removed a tick from her dog with the help of the local vet on the phone.  I placed some oil over the tick and gently pulled it out.  You may want to keep the tick and ask your vet if it needs to be tested.  Even though my cat is an indoor cat, he got fleas last summer. Fleas must’ve been carried in on someone’s shoes.  I now treat him for a couple months during the summer.  If you live in a wooded or grassy area, check your animals when they come in the house.  Ticks are easy to feel on animals.  Embedded ticks grow to be the size of a small pimple.  My daughter works at a veterinary office and she told me she is seeing more cases of Lyme disease than she has seen before.  Protect your animals with the vaccine and flea and tick repellant.

The prompt removal of a tick, within 36 hours, will reduce the risk of contracting Lyme disease.  July and August are especially heavy times for tick bites.  The coastal areas of Maine and New Hampshire tend to have higher populations of ticks.  And with high deer populations in some states, ticks have animal hosts to feed on and then pass the bacterial disease from animal to humans. 

Doctors can diagnose the disease early if the initial symptom of the rash near the bite site appears.  Only when these symptoms do not appear, does the disease go undetected and will then prey on nerves and joints.  Take common sense precautions when out in the woods.  Wear light colored clothing tucked into socks and tick repellent.  After exposure, check the body thoroughly for ticks.  Deer ticks are not much larger than the head of a pin.  With proper precautions, Lyme disease can be prevented in animals and humans. 

I just read a story from someone at Hippocrates Health Institute who contracted Lyme disease and her symptoms where muscle pains, fever and insomnia.  Misdiagnosed by her primary doctor and many others, she found a Lyme disease specialist who diagnosed her problem.  However, that did not help with five years of pain, exhaustion, anxiousness and metal confusion.  She was given oral antibiotics, intravenous antibiotics and vitamins for treatment.  She was weak and struggling just to hold a job.  A second deer tick bite gave her another dose of Lyme disease.  After many more months of multiple problems, she began a raw food lifestyle.  This meant eventually going off her medication, but it has not been an easy road for her.

Stay healthy and safe this summer.

These statements are meant for informational purposes only and should not take the place of your primary care doctor.  Should you notice any of these symptoms, please consult your doctor or vet.

Stress……some of us deal with it better than others, some have more stress than the rest of us, and some have stress thrust upon them!  Stress can show up in many different ways; upset stomach, tension headache, acid reflux, neck pain, eye strain, panic attacks, feeling frazzled, high blood pressure, forgetfulness, sadness, anger, overeating, undereating, increased smoking or drinking, worry, depression, skin disorders, sleep problems and ultimately heart disease and autoimmune disorders.

“Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body’s defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response”, says healthguide.org.  We all have some version of stress.  Some is ok, stress can help you in times of emergency or when life requires you to be on your toes.  Chronic stress and emotional stress are the triggers for health problems.  The body doesn’t know the difference between physical and psychological stress, so it will react the same way to everyday stress as it would to a life or death situation.  

How do you react to everyday stress?  Do you hold it in, you know, way down in your stomach, do you react or do you respond to the situation?  There is a difference between reacting and responding.  Reaction is just the way it sounds….you react.  That could be with anger, frustration, yelling, blame, or any of the symptoms listed above.  A response is a conscious solution to the problem.  When something frustrating happens, taking a deep breath, looking at the problem and thinking…”OK, this just happened.  What am I going to do now”? 

But it doesn’t always work that way, does it?  The body responds to stress quickly.  Negative thoughts creap in, the tension starts.  So how about some alternatives for the moments when the answer isn’t there right away?  Here are some things that I always work for me for those “life’s uncertain” moments. 

Change your mind:  Change your mind, change your life.  Positive thinking can go a long way.  Fake it till you make it.  Change the negative thoughts in your head to positive ones.  Yes, you can!

Laughter:  Watch a classic comedy movie.  Laughter can stimulate your organs, soothe tension and stomachaches and activate and relieve your stress response.

Have a good social support: Friends and family who are there to give you a sense of belonging, self worth and your friends can be there to alert you to potential stress situations.  Be grateful to your friends and family for “being there” for you.

Relaxation techniques: Yoga, meditation, and tai chi can slow your heart rate, lower blood pressure, increase blood flow, improve concentration and reduce anger and frustration.  If you can’t make the time for a class, just sitting still and closing your eyes and counting will help. That old saying, “count to ten” when you are ready to explode, is a great way to go.

Exercise:  A simple 20 minute walk can go a long way to relieve stress and its effects.  I just got back from my walk and my mind is fresh for writing. 

Healthy eating: Wheatgrass juice will clear the mind, clear the fog of the day.  Eating a living food diet gives the body the energy to heal. 

Understanding your sources of stress can lead you to the solution.  Will the above work for you or do you need something more?  Seek help from a physician or therapist when it seems life’s ups and downs are just too much for you to handle alone. 

Here are some natural alternatives to take for stress relief:

Nux Vomica: can help with irritability, sleeplessness and headaches.

Bach’s Rescue Remedy:  Natural stress relief.  I always have this on hand.

Find out what works for you.  Daily stress can be reduced in intensity.   Listening to a stress reducing cd in your car on the way to and from work can help to alleviate the stressors of the day.  When you arrive home, changing out of your work clothes and just spending 5 minutes or more sitting and breathing. 

Relax, breathe….I wish you peace