It is incredible how many toxins can be found at the grocery store. This also applies to the health food stores as they try to expand their market reach to include MSG loaded soy foods and market them as low fat and healthy.

I used to buy Late July Organic crackers for my kids thinking that they where a healthier choice for them. What I did not realize was that they use soy lecithin and it was not “organic” soy lecithin. Soy is a GMO and highly dangerous.

My food shopping policy now is to buy 98% of my food in its original state and not in a box, bag or bottle with the exception of ecologically harvested canned salmon, organic tomato paste, vinigars and oils.

This video brings to light exactly how I feel when I go shopping. It brings to light what has happened to our food and what is added to our food..

• The amount of (GMO) soy
• The amount of (GMO) corn
• aspartame and splenda sweeteners
• food dies
• irridation
• aluminum pans
• food additives
• hydrogenated oils
• canned food
• hormones/nitrates in meat

Warning: this video contains some profanities.

Video by the Truthergirls Karen and Sonia.

I have my own thoughts on how this kind of food has ended up in out grocery stores and in our homes. One of them being that there is a lot of profit to be made from sick people. But that is my opinion.

Tweet This Post

I am so inspired with this testimonial by Ramiel Nagel and how he has healed dental cavities in his family. It is very similar to the one our family went through when we healed the teeth of my eldest daughter. Like us, the Ramiel also used the nutritional philosophies of Weston A. Price to promote healing.

The only way to heal is through strengthening the body with nutrition. Quick fixes to the dentist are just that – quick fixes. My philosophy is that if you mask a problem without healing the body it will show up in some other symptom. So overall you will just be medicating without true healing.

High Vitamin Diet To Cure Cavities

• A diet rich in fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) from organ meats, eggs, and raw milk or cheese (raw or lightly cooked)

• Eating bone marrow and cartilage

• Adding a mineral rich bone broth made from fish, chicken, beef, lamb or pig

• Reduce phytic Acid in grains and nuts by soaking, fermenting and sprouting them

• And heal the gut and improve vitamin availability by eating fermented foods.

Getting enough vitamin D is crucial and will help prevent many illnesses, strengthening the immune system as well as strengthening bones and teeth. A good 30-45 minutes of outdoor activities daily is recommended to get enough of this essential vitamin. The 400iu that is the RDA is not enough for optimal health. Dr. Mercola, Dr. Russel Blaylock and the Weston A. Price Foundation recommend 4000-10,000 IU.

I am forever grateful to the great dentist Weston Price for doing his meticulous work in documenting the food and the health of the people throughout the world. More people are learning about his great work and seeing results in healing cavities.

I share these videos with you as well as the book written by Ramiel Nagel called Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities With Nutrition. Just click through the link to the Amazon.com page or click through the image. You can visit his website at http://www.curetoothdecay.com/

As always I welcome your thoughts and comments!

Tweet This Post

So the cold and flu season is well underway and with all the hoopla about swine flu in the news I have been experimenting with eating raw garlic daily. Garlic works almost immediately when you notice the first signs of a cold coming on. I can feel my nose clearing up within minutes – even if I am not feeling sick!

Garlic can be found in the produce section of your grocery store. It is safe with no nasty side effects and according to Science Daily it is one of the world’s most powerful antioxidant. Not only is it antiviral and antibacterial, garlic is also great as a daily supplement for healing the gut from candida yeast because of its antifungal and antiparasitic properties. Garlic also has been shown to reduce blood glucose levels which are very beneficial for insulin resistant and diabetic health issues. (Source: Indian Journal Of Medical Sciences)

This beautiful medicinal tasty food renowned for its immune boosting and virus killing health benefits is most effective when eaten raw and freshly crushed or chopped. But it is in this state that it is also the most pungent and spicy.  It is also really hard to get little children to eat raw garlic. I have tried and succeeded!

I have combined a list with the most child friendly meals on top.

How To Eat Raw Garlic

1. Salad Dressings – Homemade Creaser Dressing (this one is a favourite for the kids!) Anchovies, 2-3 cloves of raw Garlic, Lemon juice, 2-3 egg yolks, ground mustard and almond oil. Put everything in a blender and blend.
2. Salsa – Tomatoes, Avocado, lemon juice, Salt and Pepper and raw garlic
3. Guacamole -  Avocado, Lemon juice, Salt and Pepper and raw garlic
4. Pesto – Fresh Basil, Raw Garlic, extra virgin olive oil, Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese
5. Chicken Soup – Warm homemade stock with veggies and just before serving add raw garlic.
6. Hummus –  Chick Peas and Tahini, Lemon Juice and raw garlic
7. Veggie dips – Yogurt, mayonnaise, raw garlic, lemon juice and your favourite herbs like oregano and thyme
8. Eggs (sunny side up) sprinkled with turmeric and Salt and Pepper served with fall squashes and raw garlic and butter. This is my favourite breakfast!
9. Garlic and Cheese – I make mini “cheesewiches”! A cheese slice is used as a bread substitute and I just lay thin slices of raw garlic on it and top with basil, tomato, mayonnaise and salt and pepper.
10. Garlic Bread – toast, butter and garlic.  Although not a low carb way of eating garlic but it is the way my husband eats it.
11. Garlic in bacon fat! I spoon some bacon drippings on a spoon, take a fresh crushed clove of garlic, mix together and swallow. The fat neutralizes the heat and odour a bit so the garlic is much less offensive.  Eat garlic like this on a full tummy.

Now its Your Turn!

What is your favourite Raw Garlic Recipe?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Cheeseslave.

Tweet This Post

I have been struggling to try to comprehend if probiotic Sugar Water Kefir is beneficial on a Low Carb and Anti-Candida Diet. Considering the high sugar content you would think that it goes against common sense to consume it when you are trying to avoid sugars.

At the beginning of the fermentation the sugar is composed of glucose-fructose. The probiotic sugar kefir grains break down the glucose-fructose disaccharide into fructose which is a mono-saccharide.  The sugar kefir grains themselves are composed of glucose and therefore need the glucose in the sugar to grow. The result of the fermentation is a probiotic rich fructose water. Depending on the type of sugar you use, there may also be minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron.

Water kefir is extremely high in probiotics that work in symbiosis. This is so important as life itself IS symbiosis. When there is an unbalance problems occur. A good example of this is a sauerkraut fermentation project gone bad! The balance of bacteria has changed resulting in a foul smelling, horrible tasting food.

Probiotic supplements are expensive compared to cheaply made probiotic food. We do not know if the strains in the supplements will actually be beneficial and work to repopulate our gut flora. Good brands like Bio-Kult are very expensive.

Normally it is fructose that is associated with Insulin Resistance, Diabetes, Obesity, Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and heart disease but…

This Study shows that good gut health is associated with better blood glucose control as well as being  beneficial for weight loss.

This report talks about how gut dysbiosis and pathogenic gut bacteria lead to Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity and Heart Disease.

This study done by John Hopkins Medical Institution shows how optimizing gut flora can reduce insulin resistance and non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), obesity and related health problems…

So is the fructose in water kefir really bad? Do the probiotic microbes neutralize the side effects of the fructose?

Share your thoughts..

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly The Kitchen Kop

Tweet This Post

I love cooking from scratch and yesterday I made lard.  Watch this quick video on how easy it is to make it.

Lard is a very healthy oil to cook with and makes food taste fantastic. It is my secret ingredient in a lot of my meals! I had a dinner party last week and the guests were just raving about my roasted potatoes and wanted my recipe (unfortunately I only had a very small piece). The recipe was absolutely delicious – thanks to the LARD! Sure you can substitute butter, but lard gives a very light and crisp texture to food that makes it so wonderful. This is why pastries are made with lard.

Lard is very healthy! It is a traditional fat that many grandmothers used to make and cook with. It is very heat stable, does not burn and does not oxidize easily. This is the reason lard will NOT give you heart disease.  Lard also contains vitamins D and E (Alpha Tocopherol).  Eating foods with healthy fats like lard will also help the body absorb fat soluble vitamins. And since Lard is fat, eating it will suppress hunger and appetite.

Making it at home is far superior to buying it in the store.  You can choose your source of fat and make sure that it is organic and raised in the fresh air and pasture.  Store bought lard is most likely hydrogenated so make sure to read the list of ingredients. It will probably not contain Vitamin D if the pigs have been deprived of sunshine.

Making organic lard is cheaper than butter. I can’t tell you how much I paid for this fat because it came with the half a pig that I purchased but I know that organic butter costs 9.50 per pound.  Using this lard is a great way to make my butter stretch a bit further as I substitute it in my recipes.

Comment and share your thoughts!

Tweet This Post

Cows grazing on the rolling hill pasture is one of the most picturesque and relaxing sceneries. But for more traditionally raised cows they do not spend all their life on pasture.  The last year of their life they spend in a feedlot getting fat on grain and corn.

Farmers know that grain makes animals fat and makes them grow fast. It is not rocket science (if the farmers can figure this out I have no idea why the health canada and the creators of the food pyramid can’t figure it out??). In today’s traditional farming culture it is about finishing the animals faster, better and cheaper. Raising grass-fed beef is a much slower and natural process. A cows natural food is grass and not grain.

There is great health benefits in seeking out grass-fed beef. Grain raised beef is high in omega 6:3 ratio (20:1). Our ideal ratio is 1:1. Grass fed beef has 0.16:1. The benefits of eating grass fed beef are the same as eating salmon that is high in omega 3 EFA. It is good for the brain and it is excellent for heart health. For good health,  we want to reduce our omega 6 EFA and increase our omega 3 EFA. (Source)

Grass fed beef is also high in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). The benefits of CLA are that it can aid in fat loss, gives protection against cancer, insulin resistance and diabetes.

Grass fed beef has also shown to contain vitamin E and beta carotene which are powerful antioxidants that prevents illness and protects us from degenerative disease. (Source)

Raising Cattle

Were I live grass fed beef is certified as such. The cattle have to be treated humanely. The calves are able to nurse from their mother which protects them from illness.

Grass-fed cows are raised organically without antibiotics and growth hormones. The diet is 100% grass from the pastures and in the winter they eat stored hay. They are fed no grain or no animal by products which conventional beef are fed.  The farms are inspected and certified and the animals are supposed to be in good health condition at finishing time.

They also go to an organic certified kill plant.

Buying Grass-fed beef has many benefits.

• Supports sustainable local family farms and not big agri-biz.
• Quality meats for exceptional health with more vitamins and more good fats.  Grass fed beef is a super food just like salmon without possible contamination with mercury.
• There is an environmental benefit: There is no need to over use antibiotics and veterinary medicines because of poor farming conditions.
• The animals are much happier and healthier.

I get my grass-fed beef locally ( My father in law raises grass-fed cattle!). We are lucky indeed. But there are three other farmers in the area that also grow grass-fed beef. This past week I also discovered and tasted grass-fed local bison! It was so delicious.

To find local beef growers you can use google! A lot of farmers have simple websites with their contact information. Google your local area and just add “grass-fed beef” into the search box. In this post I also discuss how to find local farmers and get good quality food.

Tweet This Post

Sleep is as important to your health as nutrition, exercise and good quality supplements. The thing is that  I struggle a lot to get a good nights rest. Sleep deprivation causes you to feel worn out, tired, stressed and on the edge. Sleep is very important for normal body, mental and hormone function and by not sleeping well really you can rob yourself of a quality life.

We have become a 24hr society. We have work, televisions, telephones, computers, lights and novels to keep us up until the wee hours of the morning. Humans have become the only animals to fight the urge to sleep, but historically we would sleep and wake with the falling/rising of the sun. In 1910 the average person slept for nine hours! Today very few people sleep that long.

Insomnia is:
-    a state when you lie down at bed time and you toss and turn.
-    Your inner thoughts are running wild and keeping you from sleep.
-    You wake in the middle of the night after falling asleep.
-    You wake to early and can’t fall back to sleep.

Can insomnia be caused by hormones?

Stress can keep us awake by raising cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone and when we are under stress cortisol rises. Cortisol levels are supposed to fall in the evenings but if we are stressed this will not happen.  Stress makes sleep extremely difficult.

Melatonin is the sleep hormone. Melatonin is increased during the evening and is decreased during the day. Melatonin can be naturally increased by darkness and the largest organ to synthesize melatonin is the skin. It is a powerful antioxidant and protects nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. (Source)

So Insomnia can be a hormonal problem and it can also affect the way we metabolize glucose.

Quotes are taken from this Science Daily article published Oct. 25, 1999.

Chronic sleep loss can reduce the capacity of even young adults to perform basic metabolic functions such as processing and storing carbohydrates or regulating hormone secretion, report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center in the October 23 issue of The Lancet. Cutting back from the standard eight down to four hours of sleep each night produced striking changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function — changes that resembled the effects of advanced age or the early stages of diabetes — after less than one week.

“We suspect that chronic sleep loss may not only hasten the onset but could also increase the severity of age-related ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and memory loss.”

said Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and director of the study.

When tested during the height of their sleep debt, subjects took 40 percent longer than normal to regulate their blood sugar levels following a high-carbohydrate meal. Their ability to secrete insulin and to respond to insulin both decreased by about 30 percent. A similar decrease in acute insulin response is an early marker of diabetes.

I have been trying to lose my last ten pounds since winter and have not succeeded. I have also not been able to get better sleep either.

Doctors normally recommended exercise throughout the day to aid in sleep but this really has not work for me. I have even had to temporarily give up exercise because of the extra stress of the exercise. I would do my exercise and the exercise would keep me tossing and turning in bed. And then exhaustion would set in. So don’t feel horrible about being to tired to do your daily exercise. Long term stress and exhaustion is horrible for the adrenal glands. Learning to rest and relax is the best thing for a worn out body.

I am focused on healing! Sleep will help with that tremendously. I feel great when I get a good nights sleep. Just doing so consistently is the key.

Melatonin supplementation has many benefits and I contemplate doing this. I have been reading up on it and will explore that topic in future blog updates.

A question for you:

Have you tried melatonin supplementation to aid in sleep?

To your health and wellness,

Tweet This Post

I was shocked to find out that on an anti-inflammatory diet egg yolk and organ meats are warned against. This is due to the high amounts of arachidonic acid that these foods contain. Now traditionally in many cultures organ meats and egg yolks were eaten frequently and prized for their high nutritional content.

My family eats eggs nearly every day. Myself I eat liver several times a week and try to get it into the rest of my family as much as possible. So to find out Arachidonic Acid in these foods was bad and highly inflammatory was a bit shocking.

“You also want to avoid foods that contain arachidonic acid like egg yolks, poultry skin, and organ meats. In response to excess levels of arachidonic acid, certain enzymes that promote inflammation and fuel cancer cell propagation increase in your body, predisposing you to serious age related disorders.” Source: Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness Suzanne Somers Pg76

Inflammation is known to most doctors and scientist as the root cause of chronic disease and aging. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and allergies have been linked to inflammation. Even our laugh lines and crow’s feet are caused by the inflammation process of our skin. When you reduce your inflammation then you also reduce the chances of getting these diseases and aging symptoms. (Source: The Inflammation Free Diet Plan)

The good news is that there are health benefits to eating Arahidonic Acid.

Health Benefits (quoted from Wikipedia):
1.    Helps repair muscle tissue.

arachidonic acid is a regulator of localized muscle inflammation, and may be a central nutrient controlling the intensity of the anabolic/tissue-rebuilding response to weight training.

2.    It is good for the brain.

Among other things, arachidonic acid helps to maintain hippocampal cell membrane fluidity[9]. It also helps protect the brain from oxidative stress by activating perioxisomal proliferator-activated receptor-y[10]. ARA also activates syntaxin-3 (STX-3), a protein involved in the growth and repair of neurons[11]. Among other things, arachidonic acid helps to maintain hippocampal cell membrane fluidity[9]. It also helps protect the brain from oxidative stress by activating perioxisomal proliferator-activated receptor-y[10]. ARA also activates syntaxin-3 (STX-3), a protein involved in the growth and repair of neurons[11].

Chris Masterjohn, from Cholesterol-and-Health.com and PhD candidate in Nutritional Studies states that healthy adults need very little of arachidonic acid. The need increases during pregnancy, lactation, in infants, when injured or having a disease that causes oxidative stress. Since arachidonic acid helps repair muscle bodybuilders and those that perform strenuous exercise may want to get it in their diet.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids should not be consumed in large amounts as they can interfere with how arachidonic acid is metabolized.Source: Cholesterol-and-Health

My Conclusion: I will continue eating my egg yolks and organ meats and minimize the polyunsaturated fatty acids.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays hosted by Food Renegade.

Tweet This Post

Do you ever wonder if your body has an immediate effect after eating a fast food meal? This news clip shows a visual effect of increased triglycerides and shows how much harder your heart has to work to pump blood. Go watch this 2 min news clip and come back to share your thoughts.

In this news video about fast food and its affect on triglycerides they demonize saturated fat. But we know that from this study and many low carb dieters that triglyceride levels go down when restricting carbohydrates.

Here Dr. Briffa writes about a group of McMaster University researchers in Ontario who reviewed all the scientific nutritional evidence linking to heart disease. They found saturated fats to not be on that list.

Some dietary factors were associated with an increased risk of heart disease. These were:

A higher intake of trans-fatty acids
A higher intake of foods of high glycaemic index or high glycaemic load

Please note the absence of saturated fat in this list. In other words, this review shows the totality of the evidence does not support a link between saturated fat and heart disease. By the way, higher intakes of meat and eggs were not associated with an increased risk of heart disease either. And neither was total fat consumption.

Most fast food is detrimental to your health because of rancid vegetable fats like canola, corn and soy. These oils are the omega 6 oils that are highly unstable.

One reason the polyunsaturates cause so many health problems is that they tend to become oxidized or rancid when subjected to heat, oxygen and moisture as in cooking and processing. Rancid oils are characterized by free radicals-that is, single atoms or clusters with an unpaired electron in an outer orbit. These compounds are extremely reactive chemically. They have been characterized as “marauders” in the body for they attack cell membranes and red blood cells and cause damage in DNA/RNA strands, thus triggering mutations in tissue, blood vessels and skin. Free radical damage to the skin causes wrinkles and premature aging; free radical damage to the tissues and organs sets the stage for tumors; free radical damage in the blood vessels initiates the buildup of plaque. Source: The Skinny on Fats By Mary Enig PhD and Sally Fallon

Trans fats have also been used in the fast food industries because they are cheap and make food taste good as well as increasing the shelf life of vegetable oils. Although some cities have banned the use of trans fats for frying deep fried food, restaurants may still serve margarine instead of real butter. Trans fats can also be hidden in pastries, peanut butter, pizza dough and cookies. So unless you are reading labels on your fast food, you can’t be certain that you are eating a trans fat free meal. Trans fats can have a negative effect on heart disease, cancer, diabetes, immunity, reproduction and lactation, and obesity. Source: Mary Enig PhD  Dangers of Trans Fats.

Some healthy choices for restaurant food:

• is baked fish with lemon and herbs
• bunless burgers (check for fillers)
• grilled steaks
• baked chicken
• vegetable stir fry’s minus rice cooked in butter

There must be more healthy options but I can’t think of anything else.

My question for you:

What are your healthy restaurant food options?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly The Kitchen Kop

Tweet This Post

Constipation is a big problem for a lot of people. Especially those that are transitioning to a low carb, low fiber diet. Did you know that this transition to low fiber is actually very beneficial to your colon health?

Of course constipation is not good, but using fiber to relieve this constipation can be very damaging. Fiber may actually be the cause of your constipation.

Konstantin Monastyrsky, the author of the Fiber Menace  describes how all our belief systems about the virtues of fiber have been all lies.

1. Fiber does not prevent colon cancer
2. Fiber does not prevent breast cancer
3. Fiber does not lower cholesterol
4. Fiber does not reduce the risk of heart disease
5. Fiber does not regulate blood sugar
6. Fiber does not reduce the risk of diabetes
7. Fiber does not decrease appetite
8. Fiber does not help with weight loss
9. Fiber does not keep the colon clean
10. Fiber does not help stop diarrhea
11. Fiber does not ease constipation

Watch these videos as Konstantin Monastyrsky explains the fiber misconceptions with scientific studies.

I have found 2 effective ways of regulating bowels without the use of fiber.

Lacto-fermented foods and coconut oil.

The lacto-fermented foods provide my gut with beneficial probiotics and enzymes required for food digestion as well as nutrient assimilation. The coconut oil stimulates bile production.

Dietary fat stimulates the release of bile from the gallbladder, which, in turn, stimulates the gastrocolic reflex. This in turn stimulates peristaltic mass movement, which, in turn, stimulates defecation. Source.

For healthy bowel function I try to eat lacto-fermented foods with every meal and take 2 tablespoons of coconut oil daily.

Share your thoughts!

Tweet This Post