extended break--- winter cave

I have to admit that I just haven't felt like talking. Haven't felt like making sweeping observations or synthesizing new information. So I haven't here. But I am being urged to connect some of you with this wonderful glut of new information I have. This article here really just changed my thinking---well, not changed- this article ARTICULATED so many issues for me. I believe parents with children should read this. It will give you hope and inspiration about your kid's physical/ psychological make up. It is about balance and regeneration. If you have brains, guts and heart, read this! 
Also, I've been asked about DMAE as a supplement for ADHD. Here is a good run down on it- why it works and it safe for many. I'm not in favor of websites trying to sell me stuff, while telling me they are informational. So please ignore that this source is a supplement seller. The scientific info is sound. I have had a very specific reason to use Phosphytidyl Serine and it worked very well. So if you are intrigued, have had fatigue and exhaustion issues, let me know and I'll write up about it. 
Also, the grey times are getting at many of us. It is time to amp up our nutrition. One of the ways is with minerals. We are all lacking on the local greens front, no? Please make yourself some nettle infusion. It's cut nettle leaf, bought from your natural food store, steep in hot water for many hours. I use 1 oz of nettles for a quart of water. This is a great source of magnesium, calcium and other minerals. It is a great helper in all things PMS and menopausal (pre, peri, whatnot). 

Are you fighting the winter sicknesses? Who isn't? Oh those folks with no kids who work alone and never venture out and are really mellow. If this isn't you, take heed. Here are some FLU -fighting remedies.... this doesn't mean they will work if you have the flu. I have had a flu shot this year and I'm not ashamed of it! These herbal, natural and supplemental goodies work with your good nutrition, your herbal support, your good hygiene practices to minimize your chances of contracting the flu. Here they are:

Oscillococcininum:If you suspect that the headache (swollen glands and sore throats are my trademark) and achiness in your muscles is the beginning of the flu, please take Oscillococcininum. It is now available at drugstores as well as the Merc, Vitacost (online discount), Natural Grocers and more. Instead of the whole dosage amount under your tongue at once, I take a 1/4 of it at a time, once per hour or so. If the symptoms are better at the end of it, I know it's working and I will continue for 24 hours. I will rest more, drink more liquids, bone broths, greens and feel better. This has worked for me all season- it also works on kids!!
Probiotics: We are steadily taking pro-biotic tabs. It helps gut flora, immunity, and balance (see above article!). 
Elderberry: We are taking elderberry lozenges. Because elderberry is especially good with kiddos. She's gentle and boosting and reminds the body to stay strong. 
Vitamin D3. The NIH recommends for kids a daily 200IU dose. I give mine 500 IU as there is ample evidence that it is not harmful, fights infections and boosts immunity. I do not give them much if any in the summer. 
Extras that help but aren't necessary..... cod liver oil, fish oil (I use gummies. What of it??)
Here is our flu story this year: my friend since my teenage years contracted H1N1 this winter. She's spent 3 weeks in a coma, fighting for her life from it and the following pneumonia. While she has neither of these at the moment, she is still unconscious, in intensive care and has and ECMO machine functioning for her lungs. She is having dialysis because her liver has begun to fail. I understand and empathize with many of your feelings about vaccines, shots, big pharma... but not right now. It's not a conspiracy- this flu vaccine is actually quadravalent. It deals with the main four types of flu out there this year. It helps with others. It doesn't make a normally healthy and strong person sick. Please consider it. 
That being said, my youngest got the flu the day she and her sis were to get their vaccines. It was heart-wrenching. She was immediately just flattened. We got her tested that day and they determined it was Type 1- the subtype of this is H1N1. She started Tamiflu and it was amazing. Her fever dropped and it didn't go over 99 degrees. Period. We caught it super early and saved her so much suffering.
I say a blessing to the Western medicine that has helped save so many lives, while I burn sage and chant and grow my herbs to support myself so I need very little of the Western medicine. 

On a separate note, I have had a success story that will illuminate my own frayed defenses this cold new year! Picture this: January, extreme stress, life-changing events and studying for the (dammmmmnnnnnn it) GRE. I realized I had a cold-sore rearing its head. I had to cop to my emotions, my stress, my needs and attempt to mediate it all. I chose an adaptogen to help my immunity, that I could safely take in quantity since this was a crisis. Then I chose to take crisis doses of lysine. I put a little bit of essential oil (clove bud oil) on it to encourage the swelling down- it actually worked! Let me tell you it worked well. I've never had actual success heading cold sores off at the pass. My secret agent in all of this is the big Bear medicine, Osha root tincture. It really worked and it's spiciness allowed so much healing in. I took massive doses of lysine (and got a much better lysine supplement that I am taking at maintenance levels weekly, not daily) and rested, did restorative yoga and meditation. Success! Sorry, it's a pitiful story. But hopefully illuminates. Also, prepare for the GRE for months, not a week. M'Kay? Here is the article that brought up adaptogens. 

Be well, keep in touch! 

So I gave up, and gave in....

I gave in to being busy and working outside. And being a mom and moving and redoing my childhood home. It's now New Year-ish and this sh*t is REAL. I mean, it's still going on heavy duty. The construction of my mom's side was so slow and is still just dragging through the mud. Those guys....

But Andiy, owner at floraandfauna salon, suggested I invest as much energy writing on my own blog to writing on the professional, not-my-company blog. Sooooo. Yep, I want to do it. 

In keeping with the original intention of the blog, much of what I'm thinking of and processing is herbal/ health related. I DO have two small ones that are constantly falling prey to something. Here is a rundown of the fall and winter herbal remedies I've been utilizing.

  Comfrey Oil: I use this on any owie. Diaper rash (Pookie), knuckles raw from washing in anti-bac soap at school (Myrna), sores, skin abrasions, even the old C-section scar that gets yucky feeling. I also found a gal making a traditional Boo Boo salve at Lola Giant this year. This salve will always have St. John's Wort oil (nerve healer, natural sunblock, magic), comfrey oil, plantain oil (not always but often), maybe some scented essential oil like lavender, etc. This is a life saver for knuckles and booties. To make, use good quality olive oil. Harvest comfrey at height of bloom time (Father's Day and a re-bloom in fall often) and soak, infuse in oil for many weeks (6) in a dark cabinet. Do not allow space at the top- it will mold. Do not be put off by the smell- it is a healer. Use a solid jar and canning lid.

Hal had a real affinity for Comfrey. It grows everywhere in our yard. If you're interested and in the 'hood, come let me give you a start. It is a bit invasive! It's in the Borage family (boraginaciae). Please only take Comfrey externally. If you must take it internally, know that it has been shown in (questionable) lab tests to be harmful to liver/ kidneys. Here is what I told both Duckie and another herbalist I follow on Facebook: Comfrey heals what ails, and, also, put comfrey on anything that needs comforting. Anytime you have a freaky large wound and are worried about shock, fear (yourself or the person with the wound) and bleeding, stuff it with crushed comfrey. It will staunch wounds until you can gather yourself to take the next step. I was hit by a car as an 8 year-old, got a huge wound on my thigh, refused to go to the hospital and was treated with comfrey. It worked in my case. 

(DO NOT SKIP MEDICAL CARE, PEEPS.)

Rosemary Oil: another infused oil. This one is dicey but I have a fantasy it works. I made a great one, many Christmases ago for my dad. He said it relieved arthritis and stiffness from his joints. It's a heater. And it is pro-circulation. (Side note: I'm kinda vain. And I have spider veins. It runs in the family- both parts) So I mix this oil with lotion as my daily leg moisturizer. I like it. I have no other proof that it does anything beyond help move blood around.

Vitamin D in capsule form. Take this, all of you who take vitamins. The RDA, again kind of a crock from a regulatory agency that does not really recognize supplements as helpful, recommends that people get 400 mg. However, most everyone says at least 2,000 mg a day is more like it. I give my kids a small capsule, infrequently. It is a remarkable help in fighting infections and ailments.

Probiotics. CHOIRS OF ANGELS! I do not mean just acidophilus/ bifidus. Those are fine but are often turned to sugar in our intestines. I do feed the girls acidophilus milk because they both seem healthier with it. The reaction to dairy can be messy if it is just normal dairy. Get my drift?

               Firstly, consider taking probiotics to aid in the health of your guts. Mending broken gut flora aids in allergic reactions, sensitivities to food (wheat, milk, diary, etc), fights cancerous cells, aids stomach acid production and thus digestion, fights influenza and other nasty viruses, fights stomach bugs and diarrhea. 

               Secondly, eat fermented food. Sauerkraut, soy sauce, natural unsweetened yogurt (Unprocessed! No powdered milk. No sugar.), Kefir. OMG< we drink a lot of berry flavored Kefir. I really do add sweetening to my yogurt- honey or jam. But I don't buy yogurt with it mixed in.

               What kind to get? My sis says to get Walgreens mixture which is L. Reuterti and another very useful, hard to get type (Rephresh). But I, having small ones, got the powdered Reuteri. I put spoonfuls into milk, yogurt, applesauce, mac and cheese.... It is for kids because of the nature of the L. Reuteri strain. However, it's transmitted through breastmilk and it is necessary for adults. So, I'm still taking it. Thanks Dad- he got this for me when Myrna was first born. I didn't realize how necessary and useful it was at the time. When you undergo any sort of hard work and/ or trauma, your gut flora is weakened. When a baby is born C-section, s/he is provided with only a fraction of the amount of helpful gut flora that a baby that goes down the birth canal gets. Really. And this might be the CAUSE OF COLIC??? I'm serious. It's being tested. It's enough to hand it out at all births, if that is the case.

This is a brief herbal rundown of what I've used this Fall for treating crappy stuff that goes around. I also used a whole bottle of kid's glycerine Echinacea tincture. Because, land sakes, the kids were sick for like 6 weeks alternating. It helped though. We also had a bout of hand, foot and mouth virus move through the 'hood (one of the kids at babysitter care, then to us with a mild version and then to Mandy with a HUGE version). Very strange one. So when I say that probiotics help fight viruses, I mean it. Take it all the time!

Topics to come: Anti-inflammatory supplementss, herbs, etc. I really eat this diet (as much as possible) and take supplements to assist.