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.

Most of us know the feeling…..when our emotions are too much to handle and we want to deny or bury them with food.  Or if we just don’t know what we are feeling and food is the comfort we have always turned to.  I am an emotional eater.  After turning to a mostly living food lifestyle, I still tend to indulge in the sugar treat, but it only makes me feel crappy.  Alas, even the emotional eating part of my life has changed.

When you feel your strongest cravings for food, chances are you are at your weakest point emotionally.  You may find yourself turning to food and not even know why.  Maybe you understand you are doing it for comfort, or to help you face a problem, handle stress, fight boredom, express anger or deal with anxiety.  Most of us do it unconsciously.  Whether consciously or unconsciously, it will affect your physical and emotional well being.

Emotional eating will sabotage your weight-loss efforts and will lead to eating too much, especially during this holiday time.  You may overeat for many reasons; unemployment, health problems, bad weather, fatigue, work stress or relationship problems.  Eating for these reasons can often lead to eating too much of the high fat, high calorie and the sugar rich foods!  Some people actually eat less during high emotional times.  I tend to eat less during depressing times.  Like with the recent passing of my father, even though I think about food constantly, my stomach won’t allow overeating.  I’ve had many moments where I don’t even remember eating.  And I look at my plate and it’s gone and I didn’t even enjoy it.  You could be reaching for some food right now as you read this and not even thinking about what’s happening.  You may also reach for food instead of dealing with a painful situation.  I’m trying to cry when I need to and take advantage of alone time, but also find comfort in family and friends.

Do the emotions you’ve tried to deny by eating actually go away? No, they often return and will drive you to overeat again, unless you deal with them.  It is an unhealthy cycle.  However,  you must first realize you are doing it.  Try not to beat yourself up for eating without thinking.  Let’s go over some techniques to help you the next time you reach for food instead of that kleenex.

• Think before you eat.  Do you want to eat because you are emotional or because you are hungry?  Is your stomach grumbling?  Did you just recently eat?  Give this craving a little time to pass.  Take a walk or drink a glass of water first.
• Try to deal with stress in other ways.  If you eat to calm stress, try yoga, meditation or listening to relaxing music.
• Get support from friends or family or a group.  These people will help and can sometimes talk you through what you are really feeling.
• Writing down how you are feeling when you think you want to eat or keeping a food diary can help.  This may help you see the patterns and help you connect your mood with food.
• Here’s something I do:  Don’t keep those snacks you tend to over indulge with around the house.  If I don’t have them, I can’t eat them.  Or I will just buy one cookie, instead of a whole box.
• It’s ok to enjoy an occasional treat.  Don’t deprive yourself.  That will just increase your food cravings. 
• Healthy snacks.  You can never have enough around the house.  Choose raw, such as fresh fruit and veggies.  I don’t use salad dressing usually.  A big salad with every veggie that’s available.  Add some fruit or lemon juice for a dressing.  Mix well.
• It’s hard to fight boredom.  We have so many coping mechanisms. I find laughing to help with boredom.  Always have on hand a funny movie or a classic sitcom.  How about playing your favorite artist really loud and dancing around the house?
• Are you getting enough sleep?  It’s hard to feel stable with your emotions if you are also tired.  Naps are good and you should not feel guilty.
• If you still can’t get a grip on your emotions, seek professional help.  A therapist will help you understand your emotional eating and help you learn new coping skills.

And here’s the most important one: If you have an emotional eating episode, forgive yourself. Write about it and plan what you can do to prevent it in the future.  Focus on the positive and what you are learning.

As always, I wish you a healthy and happy holiday.  Keep in touch with your feelings.  Make the choice to feel joy.  PEACE

 

Laughter is good for the soul. And now it seems, is good for the heart too!  Laughter, outward chuckles, inward joy.  Laughing at a joke or a funny movie…anything that gives you pleasure.  There’s even laugh yoga and laughter workshops. Laughter helps relieve stress, enhances your mood, dissolves fear, lessons anxiety, contributes to team work, makes us attractive to others and more pleasant to be around.  And laughter can have physical side effects too.  Laughter will strengthen your immune system, reduce food cravings, increase your threshold for pain, release endorphins, lessen pain, decrease stress hormones, and lead to the general relaxation of your mind and your muscles.  Studies are being done as to the effects of laughter on stimulating healing even in cancer cases.

Wikipedia says…”Laughter is found among various animals, as well as in humans.  Among the human species, it is a part of human behaviour regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations.  Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group-it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seemingly contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback.”

If you’ve been reading these blogs lately, you know my Dad just had a double bypass.  He suffered a heart attack over seven years ago and was considered a high risk for surgery.  He was in great physical shape and had been a vegetarian/healthy eater for many years.  I knew it was an emotional issue and now I believe this; my Dad never laughed.  Sure he chuckled lightly, but I don’t remember him ever having a full belly laugh.  I’ve learned a lot about my Dad this last month.  Could someone who doesn’t consider himself worthy, who feels guilt over some things he’s done in his life, actually make himself sick?  Absolutely.  We know emotions have just as much to do with health as the physical aspects.

So what about laughter?  Did you know that laughter can help prevent heart disease?  Can laugher, along with a healthy sense of humor, may help protect you against a heart attack?  Is this possible?  Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, dopamine and growth hormone.  Laughter will increase the level of health-enhancing hormones, such as endorphins and neurotransmitters.  It will increase the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells.  This is how laughter can strengthen your immune system and allow you to have fewer of the physical effects of stress.  Internally, a good belly laugh will exercise your diaphragm and contract the abs, leaving you feeling more relaxed after.  Laughter can be a distraction for anger, guilt, stress and other negative emotions.  Humor can give us a lighthearted perspective on the way we view the challenges and threats in our life.  It can make these problems less threatening and allow you to feel more positive.

A new study by cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, found that…”people with heart disease were 40% less likely to laugh in a variety of situations compared to people of the same age without heart disease…..We don’t know yet why laughing protects the heart, but we know that mental stress is associated with impairment of the endothelium, the protective barrier lining our blood vessels.”  The most significant finding of this study was that “people with heart disease responded less humorously to everyday life situations.”  These people displayed more anger and hostility and laughed less.

Watch a comedy…movie or TV, head to a comedy club with friends or have friends over for game night. And there’s always YouTube.  Have you ever watched Stuart from Mad TV?  Do a search for “Hamster on a piano” on YouTube.  Now that’s funny.  Find the humor in your life.  Sometimes that can only happen after the fact…ha ha.  Look back on what’s happened to you and laugh.  Yeah, that’s been my life for the last few months!  I like this one….Fake it until you make it!  Fake laughter has the same benefits and can lead to real chuckles. 

 So maybe this blog is funny?  Glad I made you laugh! 

Why did the chicken cross the playground?  To get to the other slide!

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 am at a point in my life where I wonder…is there something else I could be doing to feel better?  It seems when I hit 40, it was harder to stay fit and healthy and another weird symptom appeared every month or so.  At 47, I am wondering about perimenopause, fatigue, my thyroid, weight gain, stiff and achy joints and even heart palpitations.  It is my intention here to share a little of what I am going through and maybe help you find some answers too. 

My menstrual cycle started changing about a year ago.  Longer, shorter, heavier, lighter….all of the above.  I knew it was perimenopause and I wasn’t concerned until I started experiencing symptoms that would affect my daily life.  Most of the symptoms were manageable.  Some symptoms, like burning tongue, were diagnosed by my dental hygenist.  Night sweats, though intense enough to have to get up and change my clothes in the middle of the night, didn’t interfere with my life.  My fatigue was enough to cause me to start taking an afternoon nap.  I work nights, so that didn’t interfere with my day either.  You’d be surprised how much a cat nap could help.  And though we’re told if you move more you won’t feel as tired, that wasn’t so for me.  I walk or practice yoga every day and I was still tired around 3 in the afternoon.  So I worked a snooze into most of my days. 

However, fatigue could also be adrenal fatigue or low level DHEA. DHEA is a natural steroid produced by the adrenals. The adrenals are small organs right above the kidneys.  We make about 25 mg of DHEA per day (men more than women), but our production dwindles as we get older.  This is what nature intended for us.  Your adrenals make cortisol and adrenaline and also balance over 50 hormones in the body.  The hormone cortisol affects other regulatory processes such as: blood pressure, blood sugar levels, your immune and inflammatory response and influencing mood, memory and thought clarity.  If your adrenals are exhausted from stress (emotional and physical), poor nutrition, and crazy dieting, they are pumping out more cortisol and can’t manufacture enough DHEA to support a healthy hormonal balance.  This will result in your exhaustion, depression and that feeling of being overwhelmed.  So, if you are under more than average stress, your body will not have enough working material for proper endocrine function.  There is some evidence that healthy DHEA levels may help with Alzheimer’s, cancer, osteoporosis, depression, heart disease and obesity. 

So that could be why my blood pressure has been so low these last couple of weeks!  OK, so I guess I’m going through all of the above stressors.  I do know that when I eat 100% raw food I feel better.  I have been traveling a lot lately, and if I am not happy where I am, for example, with people that do not support my lifestyle, I simply do not feel well.  Is taking a DHEA supplement the answer?  It could be an important factor, but include it with lifestyle changes also.  There’s a lot out there about DHEA levels and supplements.  If you are concerned about your levels, have a medical test done.  Taking a supplement alone won’t help you if your adrenals are exhausted.  Your body will produce more or less depending on nutrient support, metabolism, hormone balance, activity level and your emotional state.  Also maintain a healthy body mass index, get adequate rest, expose yourself to some sunlight, exercise, and create more “downtime” in your life. 

What else can you do to support this “aging” thing?  Ayurvedic medicine says the adrenal gland is connected to the root chakra.  The root chakra is about groundedness, our nourishment, and our physical health.  When stress enters full force, we can become less grounded.  That sure explains even more about my aches and pains.  As most of you know I recently closed my business and moved.  However, I am not living anywhere yet.  I have been traveling around visiting family and friends and still haven’t decided on where I want to live.  Yep, that would be ungrounded!  Guess I’ll start doing some yoga grounding poses today! 

Eating a gluten-free diet can relieve the strain of your adrenal glands.  Low blood sugar will put stress on your body and strain your adrenal glands too.  Time your meals so that you aren’t going long periods of time without food.  Adrenals will work harder on an empty stomach, requiring them to release more cortisol to keep you functioning normally.  Living foods will allow the body to absorb more nutrients.  You will find yourself craving sugar and caffeine if your cortisol levels are low or you are tired.  Drinks that will restore your adrenal glands are: chamomile, passionflower and valerian teas, and vegetable juices.  Alcohol, caffeine and gatorade can drain the adrenals.  Honor your body.  Try to take the time to feel if you are actually hungry or if you are eating to fill another need.  I know when I am eating and not actually tasting anything.  With my burning tongue symptom, my taste buds are a little off.  So I think my mind tells me to eat more because my mouth can’t taste anything!  It’s all about balance.  I have good days and not so good days.  I honor them both. 

I’ll talk next time about more symptoms of our changing bodies.

As always, please see your health care practitioner for symptoms that concern you.  The suggestion here are informational only.

A food allergy is an immune system response and a food intolerance is a digestive system response.  Does a certain food give you a rash, nausea, airway restriction, itchy skin, diarrhea or shortness of breath?  That would mean you have a food allergy.  Food intolerance symptoms are stomach pain, nausea, cramping or bloating, heartburn, headache or vomiting. 

According to Webmd,  ”A food allergy is an immune system response. It occurs when the body mistakes an ingredient in food — usually a protein — as harmful and creates a defense system (antibodies) to fight it. Food allergy symptoms develop when the antibodies are battling the “invading” food.  Food intolerance is a digestive system response…… It occurs when something in a food irritates a person’s digestive system or when a person is unable to properly digest or breakdown, the food.”  The most common food intolerance is lactose, found in dairy products.  Common food allergies are peanuts, shellfish, eggs, soy products and wheat or gluten.  I believe as we age, our bodies will tolerate less and less of some of these common foods.  I have a reaction to wheat, but only sometimes.  If I’m under stress, my stomach will react very quickly to certain foods.  There are other times when I’m perfectly fine.  Those with food intolerance lack certain enzymes needed for digestion.  When the undigested food enters the bloodstream, it causes a reaction.  An allergic reaction can happen immediately, starting with a tickle in the throat or itchy lips or tongue.  A friend of mine, on Thanksgiving, had peeled many many potatoes and went into anaphylactic shock. He had no idea he was even allergic, but he had peeled so many potatoes, his system was overloaded. 

Digestive enzymes are used by many people to help with the digestion of food.  Some to certain foods and some to cooked foods.  My opinion…if you have a problem eating certain foods, you should just stop eating that food.  But alas, and I am just as guilty as anyone else, we continue to eat what our bodies just don’t want to assimilate or digest. 

In the book, Prescription For Nutritional Healing, there is a food questionnaire and a food diary you can fill out.  It’s important, when you think you have a food allergy, to start to take inventory of the foods that you react to.  Eating one food at a time so that you will definitely know what the reaction in your body is, then eliminating that food for a period of time.  Certain fruits and veggies, when I touch my eyes after touching them, will make my eyes very puffy and red.  However, my body doesn’t react at all to them from the inside.  These are organic and eaten in the raw state so I don’t have an answer for that one.

If you are allergic to a food, your body will release a chemical known as histamine, to protect itself.  This chemical triggers allergic symptoms that affect the respiratory system or your gastrointestinal tract, your skin or heart.  Food allergies are more common in children than adults and people often confuse a food allergy with a food intolerance.  As uncomfortable as a food intolerance is, it is not dangerous.  Peanut allergies are rarely outgrown and, as an adult, an allergy to fish, is also rarely outgrown.

There are so many other opportunities these days for those of us with gluten or dairy allergies or intolerances.  Gluten free products abound at health food and grocery stores.  Dairy free products like soy or rice cheese, are great alternatives to dairy.  I drink store bought rice milk and make my own nut milk, usually almond milk.  Start today and eliminate one food that just doesn’t “sit well” with your body.  It could even be an emotional reaction. 

Be well.

Should you have swelling in your throat, difficulty breathing or a loss of consciousness, this is the sign of a serious food allergy and you should contact the nearest health facility.  Please advise your doctor or health care physician regarding any questions about food allergies in you or your child.

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

I just realized that I haven’t had a canker sore since I started my raw food lifestyle almost three years ago!  One of the big benefits of eating more living food is that your body chemistry becomes balanced in minerals, acidity, and alkalinity.  (You can do a self-test to determine whether your body fluids are either too acidic or too alkaline by following the test in the book, Prescription For Nutritional Healing on pg. 65).

What else causes canker sores?  Canker sores can be brought on by fatigue, stress, fever, menstrual cycles, nutritional deficiencies and sensitivity to certain foods.  They can be small, or large as a quarter with a red border and white center.  A well balanced, nutritious diet is vital.  As I said previously, I was a vegetarian and eating healthy, I thought, but still getting canker sores.  Once I turned to a living food lifestyle, not only did canker sores disappear, but allergies, stomach aches and headaches also diminished.  Some foods that contribute to canker sores are cherries, chocolate, citrus fruits, nuts, tomato products and animal protein, which produces excess body acid.  When you have an outbreak, eating a bland diet with no acidic fruit, salty or spicy foods, or sugary foods should lessen the discomfort.  Plain yogurt is helpful or taking acidophilus tablets.

Studies showed that some canker sore sufferers were deficient in iron and B vitamins.  These two seem to be deficient in many people.  Vitamin E applied directly to the sore can lessen its duration.  Using baking soda or table salt on the canker sore will temporarily relieve pain.  I tried this many times and it didn’t work for me.  Reducing acidic beverages like orange juice always helped me, and reducing stress in your life….that’s another common cause of many of the dis-ease in the body.  Try yoga, meditation, any form of exercise where you can shut off the mind and go into the body to feel, is great for stress reduction.

Some folk remedies for you.  Aloe vera gel, moist tea bag (red raspberry, sage, chamomile, goldenseal, or strawberry), antacid tablet or a swish of milk of magnesia in the mouth may reduce the inflammation and garlic capsules act as a natural antibiotic.

Here’s what Louise Hay says about canker sores in her book Heal Your Body….Festering words held back by the lips. Blame.  A mantra to help you?  I create only joyful experiences in my loving world.

Take what resonates with you.  Assimilate it into your life and eliminate the rest.

Experiment with what works for you.  Be proactive about your health and well being.

Sores that last more than 3 weeks should be evaluated by your physician.  This information should not take the place of your primary doctor.

Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep?  These problems could be short term, lasting for less than 3 weeks, or a chronic condition.  Insomnia could be due to anxiety, mental stress, nutritional deficiencies, poor sleep habits, physical disorders like sleep apnea (a breathing problem), or a reaction to medications.  A good night’s sleep consists of four or five 60-90 minute cycles, REM (rapid eye movement) and four stages of light-to-deep non-REM sleep, in order to achieve physical and mental well-being.

Here’s something I didn’t know, minimum daily requirements for sleep are genetically determined.  Your sleep pattern will stabilize in early adulthood and vary from 4 to more than 10 hours in a 24 hour period.  I am a 8-10 hour sleeper.  My daughter is a 10-12 hour sleeper.  She started that when she was a baby and continued through her teens, although college life has drastically changed that pattern!  Before I started yoga, I was experiencing levels of insomnia, waking up at night and obsessing over what was coming up the next day or analyzing what happened yesterday.  It seemed I had fallen out of my habit of being a good sleeper.  And that was exactly what happened.  I was under high emotional stress and getting up at night and going downstairs to eat something had become my new pattern.  I had to retrain my brain and body.  Yoga helped with that.  It calmed down my “monkey mind” and reminded me that I could get back in control of my sleep pattern.  I started rituals before sleep.  Going through the day and being grateful for all that happened and setting an intention to have a good night’s sleep before I closed my eyes.  Turning my clock to face away from me was another way I stopped obsessing.  I no longer looked at the clock when I woke up in the middle of the night.  So many people tell me they wake up at a certain time every night.  I ask them, “How do you know what time it is?”

I believe the best sleep is achieved between the hours of 10 and 2 am.  Avoiding caffeine, heavy meals, and strenuous exercise for 3-5 hours before bedtime can help you fall asleep.  Limit mildly stimulating factors like alcohol and nicotine.  James Balch, from his book, Prescription For Nutritional Healing, says…”Foods like cheese, chocolate, sauerkraut, bacon, ham, sausage, eggplant, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes contain tyramine, which increases the release of norepinephrine, a brain chemical stimulant, causing insomnia”. Try relaxing with a warm bath or shower, soothing music or reading.  Get up at the same time every morning, if you have to nap, limit them to one hour and go to bed one hour later.  Increasing foods that contain iron and copper may improve your sleep.  Dried beans and fruits, red meat, nuts, tofu, also may help you maintain sleep. For nervous tension that creates sleep problems, try carrot juice combined with apple, grape pear or pineapple.

Want to try a supplement?  Thinking there’s something else missing?  Try B complex, Vitamin C, or some natural alternatives like herbal teas containing chamomile, hops, passion flower, peppermint, rosemary and valerian root.  I lived on the homeopathic remedy of Nux Vomica for a long time.  And there is that one ingredient, which by now should be in your cupboard and is called the Vermont remedy, 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar with honey and water.  Massage?  Pinch just above the bridge of the nose, and inch behind each earlobe, the center of the nape of the neck or massage the sole, heel, sides, ankle and the tops of your feet.  Here’s the best remedy…deep breathing!  Slow, deep breathing….full belly breathing.  Set your intentions for the night and do some slow counting backwards from 100.

And here’s Louise Hay’s take on insomnia..Fear, not trusting the process of life.  Guilt.  Your mantras for the evening?  I lovingly release the day and slip into peaceful sleep, knowing tomorrow will take care of itself.

Wishing you sweet dreams.

If your symptoms persist, please visit your doctor. The information written here should not take the place of your primary care doctor.

My 96 year old grandmother just passed away.  It’s very interesting to watch how we all want to avoid the “break-down” and prove to ourselves that we can get through an emotional time without the tears.  Or it could just not be the right time to cry.  Even at 96, her death was unexpected, so most of us were just trying to get through the service and everything that had to be done.  Once the adrenaline rush had dissipated, and we returned home, my daughter and I suffered through a 24 hour stomach bug.  That’s when the tears came and I was able to start to experience the grief and sadness of loss.

I rarely get sick and with the exhaustion of the week, I’m sure my defenses were quite depleted.  Eating a high raw diet and not being home is difficult to say the least.  Plus we are Italian, do I need to say more?  I ate fruit and just one meal, but that was too much combined with the emotion of the week.   After my daughter got better, it was my turn.  I don’t like being sick.  Who does?  Every muscle in my body ached.  I couldn’t walk, it hurt to move.  When I decided to finally let go and let the “bug” win, I cried.  I cried for all the times in my life when I hurt.  I cried for my grandmother.  I cried because I was in pain.  I cried because it felt good to cry and I felt better after I did.  I relaxed.

Why cry?  Simple reasons…. a response to pain or for more complex reasons.  Crying helps you become aware of emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, or grief.  Holding in tears only allows those feelings to bury themselves inside your physical body.  Eventually those feelings cause an overload of stress hormones and when levels get high, crying can release this and help you feel better.  People cry after receiving happy news too.   The feeling of powerlessness or the inability to influence what is happening can also lead to crying. 

How you cry is a factor too in relieving stress and actually feeling better.  There are the simple tears, the sobbing cry or the flat out wailing, beat on your pillow, cry.  The emotional insight to your tears could be the deciding factor on whether your tears are being beneficial to your growth, personal and spiritual.  For me, I’ve had times when the crying was just crying, and I got nothing out of it.  But when the tears came like they did when I was sick, I know they were helping me heal.  I could feel the stress I’ve held onto for so many years being let go of.  When you cry and don’t project that crying onto someone or something else, you can feel the sadness and grief on a deeper level.  We all have sorrow.  We need to release it.  Sometimes, as during my grandmother’s service, it’s just not appropriate to wail.  Tears? Absolutely. 

Take the time today or tomorrow, or this weekend, to cry.  I know when I’m in need of a good cry.  I watch a sad movie, or a love story.  That works!  Then I take the time to “feel” my tears.  To allow those tears to come from the depths of my pain.  Then I go even deeper into the sadness, the grief.  It’s all the same.  Sometimes the length of my crying is very short.  It doesn’t matter how long, as long as you are getting “in touch” with the emotions.

 

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle