Lymph System

There are dozens of reasons to love exercise. My mother was constantly in motion when I was a little girl- she still is- and I grew to love exercise as a result. I don't feel right at the end of the day if I can't move a little during the day.

But here is a new reason I am loving it- it keeps my lymph system healthy. According to (yes) Suzanne Somers, author of Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness- Life-Altering Secrets from Today's Cutting-Edge Doctors, here is a synopsis of the Lymph System:

"The lymphatic system is a complicated network of vessels, ducts, and nodes that moves fluid between the cells and tissues and produces and distributes the infection-fighting and -scavenging cells of the body. It feeds literally every tissue and organ. It feeds the blood and is the transportation highway for the immune and repair functions of the body."

But the lymph system, unlike the circulatory or digestive system, does not regulate itself. We have to do our part to clean our lymph system. The only way to do that is to move one's body. Isn't that amazing?

Fried Mush

Walk with me as I put theory into practice. Of course, most of you are light years ahead of me, so please teach me as I go! I would love your input, suggestions, and wisdom. I think that will help me stick to my plan.

Here was breakfast this morning.

I had leftover brown rice from lunch yesterday. At the suggestion of the "Fried Mush" recipe from Nourishing Traditions, I made some breakfast pancakes. (Sally uses oatmeal, but I thought this would suffice).

1. Break an egg over a cup and a half of brown rice (or oatmeal). Stir well.

2. Start melting your coconut oil or butter in a hot pan.
3. Add the rice by the heaping spoonful and mash down to form cakes.
4. Fry until the edges are brown and crispy. We poured a bit of raw local honey over the pancake to make it "breakfast-y". I can't believe the children ate these, but they did. I thought they were delicious, but they do not look anything like regular pancakes so I was worried. Fried mush, eggs, homemade ketchup, and raw milk. Wow. That makes, like, three whole meals that I feel good about.

We did have pizza last night at my nephew's birthday party. And ice cream cake. It was delicious. :)

Baby steps.

Back on the Wagon

Sick stinks.

You will be happy to hear we are all better, but Rebecca ended up having a double ear infection. Whoops. That's why she was so whiny.

Anyway, I am sick of sick and so I had to re-evaluate how I have been taking care of my family.

It has been a bit messy.

Since Roman has been born, we have been enjoying Me N Ed's $10.00 pizza every Sunday after church. We have been baking more packaged brownies for Bible Studies and Not Bible Studies (pretty much any other random night). We have been eating processed cereal for snacks. Even if it has a Trader Joe's label on it, it is still processed with sugar. It pains me to admit this to you. But I am climbing back on the wagon.

And so, I have been restudying my Nourishing Traditions cookbook with the intent of reclaiming my family's health.

So myself and the clan ventured out to Lassen's today. Next time I will try to go by myself. (Clean-up on aisle 12, please...)

We will start small and cost-effective. Here are my goals:

1. Make my own ketchup. This is a major food group for Rebecca and I would like to give her real food instead of corn syrup and canned tomatoes.

2. Brew my own kombucha. This is much more cost-effective than buying Hansen's Natural Soda (okay...Diet Sprite) and is a veritable health tonic.

3. Make my own sourdough starter for sourdough bread. I would like to do my bread baking for the time being. Predigested sourdough is better for my family.

4. Make our dairy raw.. I bought raw butter and raw milk. We will be using more butter on all of our food to assimilate vitamins and minerals better. I just can't give my kids pasteurized, homogenized milk anymore. It feels cruel. But we will see what the husband and the budget says, long term.

5. Add more coconut products to our diet. We will be using coconut oil as our primary cooking fat once again. We got away from it but I am ready to go back! I have unsweetened raw coconut flakes to add to oatmeal and other baked goods.

6. Take our cod liver oil. Eeew. But necessary for bulking up our immune systems.

7. Ban (reasonably) sugar and processed food. My husband questions my love for him when there are no tortillas or cereals in the house. The kids won't know what they're missing, but my hardworkin' husband sure will. I pledge to indulge him here without question.

I feel better already.



P.S. I'm looking for organic local eggs. Anyone know of a place to get them?

Brown Rice Bento Balls

I have been re-reading Sugar Blues by William Dufty. Sugar has an interesting and disturbing history. Dufty says science shows that sugar affects humans much like a drug. Sugar is a cause of many physical and mental illnesses. It is a fascinating read, if you are into such things. He gives examples of how to "kick the habit". I found it refreshing to have a few practical ways to eat sugar-free, instead of having half the book devoted to recipes that I can get out of any cookbook. Many new mainstream pseudoscience nutrition/diet books have gone this half information/half recipe route, and I feel like most of those are a waste of money or time at the library. This book is not! I tried out the brown rice ball idea. Dufty says he makes them for picnics or road trips, as they keep well. I am making mine for lunches and snacks for myself, as well as Beau and the children.
I bought these "umeboshi plums" (salted preserved plums) from the Asian market on White Lane. I got about 30 for $7.99 and the clerk was very helpful. I still can't pronounce "umeboshi" correctly, though.

I made a huge pot of brown jasmine rice from Trader Joes and cooked the rice until it was relatively dry and sticky. I used an ice cream scoop to scoop out the hot rice.


I put a big square piece of Saran Wrap inside a small teacup and scooped the rice inside. I pushed two umeboshi plums into the center and then I twisted up the plastic wrap and made a ball with the rice. The salted plums are supposed to preserve and flavor the rice. Beau is going to get to take these to work with him for a snack instead of the healthy but sugar-filled breakfast bars he has been eating. I hope my family likes them!

How Then Should We Eat?

I really enjoy reading about health and nutrition. If I do not put the Lord first each day, even before I get out of bed, then I am in danger of not reading the Word at all. There is always a book, article, or web page with something interesting to learn about the human body.

There is so much information available, and so much of it is conflicting. I know one reason I read so much is that I want answers. I want to know for sure what is best for my body. I have realized that I live in a fallen world and so nothing will ever be perfect. I will never have perfect health. My body will eventually weaken and return to dust. I know that, but I still desire to take good care of the vessel the Lord has given me. I desire to provide the best nourishment I can for my children. Plus, the human body absolutely fascinates me. I love learning about how my body is affected by what I eat, how I exercise, and the environment around me.

My health interests have shifted toward biblical nutrition in the past two years. I read many secular publications on health, but I really study books having a God-centered focus. What else really matters? I wanted to compare The Maker's Diet by Dr. Jordan Rubin and Your Body, God's Temple by Dr. Ronald Kleyn. The latter is something I picked up from a clinic I used to call on in Fresno; the former is written by a well-known naturopath.

While there are many differences between the two books (which I am using to represent two nutritional schools of thought), the main discrepancy between the two is as follows: Rubin advocates a diet rich in protein/animal foods, while Kleyn believes we should all eat mainly plant foods.

Conventional medical research is on the side of traditional vegetarianism. In 1968, Danish researchers replicated the "Daniel Diet" (Daniel 1- He and his friends refused to eat the king's delicacies, subsisting on only vegetables and water for 10 days. They appeared healthier and stronger than those who ate meat the whole time and thus everyone in the kingdom was put on a vegetarian diet). The Danish researchers placed a group on men on three eating plans: first, they ate a mixed diet of meat and vegetables; then, they ate a high animal-protein diet; finally, they were fed a strict vegetarian diet. After diet period, they were tested for endurance on a stationary bicycle. Their endurance was more than double after the vegetarian diet.

Another medical fact I find intriguing is this: "Carnivores have short, smooth intestinal tracts which allow them to rapidly digest and eliminate the decomposing flesh. Our intestinal tact is long and rippled" (Kleyn 97). It appears that the Lord designed our bodies for a vegetarian-centered diet.

Kleyn also draws upon numerous clinical studies that show how hypertension, heart disease, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, obesity, and other diseases are lessened or eliminated by switching to a strict vegetarian diet.

His dietary conclusions are to reduce our intake of animal fats and replace most of our calories with those found in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain starches, beans and tofu, raw nuts and seeds, and extra-virgin olive and coconut oils. Kleyn believes it is biblical to exercise moderation and prudence with animal products in our diet.

Dr. Jordan Rubin believes that our diet should include a substantial percentage of animal products. His own amazing journey to health was achieved through this way of eating. He believes that the "Levitical Diet" (Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14) take precedence over "The Genesis Diet" or "The Daniel Diet".

In Leviticus 11, God gives the Israelites a new diet, which includes meat from clean animals, fish with fins and scales, and clean birds. The Israelites were not to eat unclean animals, birds, or fish, including pork and shellfish.

Dr. Rubin also advocates consumption of raw milk and low-carbohydrate, high fiber foods like cruciferous vegetables, nuts, and seeds. He believes we should add fermented foods to our diet to help with digestion. Healthy saturated fats likes high-vitamin butter and coconut oil stimulate our immune systems.

Dr. Rubin's work is also rich with scientific evidence supporting his case. Instead of using conventional medical research, Dr. Rubin presents his readers with interesting facts about the body and food. For example, on p.153, he states "Eggs contain all known nutrients except for vitamin C...they can actually help reduce the risk of both heart disease and cancer". Also, "Raw liver figures prominently n many world-renowned alternatice cancer protocols, including the Kelley and Gerson programs" (Rubin 153).

Dr. Rubin's book is a fascinating read. I just studied it again recently, after my girlfriend turned me onto the wonderful world of holistic nutrition. Dr. Rubin's ideas correlate with Dr. Weston A. Price's research from the 1930's. Whole foods, with an emphasis on organic animal products, promote health and longevity. Dr. Rubin's work is intriguing because of all of the information about how nutrition affects the human body. I would love to lend out my copy to anyone who is interested.

While this comparison is anemic compared to what I wish I had time for, the conclusions I

have drawn are these:

1. Organic food is best for my family
2. Whole, unprocessed animal foods will contribute to my health
3. Organic fruits and vegetables should make up the bulk of my diet
in order to get the essential vitamins, minerals, water, and fiber they contain.
4. Starches should be unprocessed and whole and should be eaten in moderation.
5. Everything should be eaten in moderation, and for the purpose of sustanance.

My Creator desires that I serve Him to the best of my ability, which includes being a godly wife and mother. I am to be constantly growing in my walk as a result of progressive sanctification. I am to raise my children for Him and have strength to positively impact others for the Kingdom. In order to do this, I must treat my body and the bodies of my family as temples (and prayerfully, eventual temples) of the Holy Spirit.

God has put everything on this earth for our benefit and because of Jesus Christ, nothing is unclean as long as it is used properly and with wisdom. However, there are "better" choices I can make to protect my health. I encourage you to seek out God's wisdom in your health and the health of your family. He has much to say on the subject.

Candida Albicans

This is the fancy (read: Latin) name for yeast overgrowth in the body. As part of my eternal quest for health (ok, and thinness), I ordered this book from The Co-op.

I had been suspicious for a while that I have candida. I am not in the minority. "Three our of four females will experience at least one episode of Candida and most of these will suffer from recurrent infection" ( Tenney 7). I used to eat excessive amounts of sugar, even when I thought I was in good health. There are proportionately massive amounts of sugar in processed foods, which I also used to consume regularly. In high school, I would eat a Carmel Apple lollypop for lunch and pretzels for dinner. I thought I was being "healthy" by not eating a lot of food, but I was destroying the delicate balance of my body. God did not intend for us to eat the way many of us eat. From Tenney's book, Candida Albicans, p.7, here are some frightening statistics:

In one year, the Average American consumes:
100 lbs. refined sugar
200 sticks of gum
63 dozen doughnuts
20 gallons ice cream
300 cans soda pop
18 lbs. sweets and candy
50 lbs cakes and biscuits

Holy cow. Tenney gets her stats from Michael Murray's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, which was published in 1991. Those numbers have to be even bigger now. Anyway, there is a direct correlation between how much sugar you eat and your being affected by candida. It is a single-celled fungus (eeew!) which releases poisons into your body as it multiplies. It gets into the bloodstream. A by-product of candida is ethanol (an alcohol) which also grows quickly. Ethanol, along with acetaldehyde- related to formaldehyde- wreaks havoc with nerve function and fatty acid oxidation, among other things (6).

How does the yeast grow and thrive in our bodies? Sugar. White, brown, refined, unprocessed, milk sugar, honey, molasses, whatever. If it makes your food sweet, it feeds the yeast (fake sugar is the topic of another important lecture). Internally, candida can be causing nutrient deficiencies, upsetting normal intestinal flora, and supressing our immune systems. Externally, symptoms include eczema, psoriasis, acne, nail infections, and rashes. Physiologically, it can cause food allergies, intestinal upset, horrid PMS symptoms, and thyroid and adrenal glad problems.

Sometimes, candida manifests itself as nail infections or the dreaded female "yeast infection". An antifungal is often prescribed. Occasionally, physicians will misdiagnose and prescribe antibiotics for a candida infections, which makes problems worse. A broad-spectrum antibiotic further messes with your intestinal tract by killing of friendly flora as well as the bad stuff. Some conditions necessitate pharmaceuticals to rectify the situation. This is not one of them. It is hard to do, but one must cut all sugar from the diet. The fungus, having nothing to feed on, will eventually starve and die off.

"All sugar" means any processed foods, lunchmeats, dairy products (lactose is a sugar), fruit for a while, bread, alcohol, whie flour products, and the obvious sweet offenders. This is not easy to do. I have a huge sweet tooth. I have not been able to cut sugar out completely, but when I do, I feel so much better. Sugar is a drug, anyway (we'll discuss Sugar Blues soon), so my body feels better without the unnatural, addictive substances in it.