Updated August 9, 2008. New section regarding ConcenTrace trace mineral drops for skin stuff
Updated June 24, 2008. New section added in regarding breathing work….
As partly evidenced in my “Sickness…It’s All in the Head” write up, I’ve had terrible luck with mainstream health care and doctors over the years. To the point where I’ve given up on them, and don’t ever go to one if I can help it. From ages 19 to my late twenties I visited docs for various ailments and never were they able to help. I wound up throwing money away (and my time) and sometimes taking their across-the-board generic prescription of antibiotics, which didn’t do anything and probably only served to make my body immune to their effects. I understand that docs do this over prescribing of antibiotics because it works as a psychological pacifier on many patients – the patient can leave the office feeling like something was done – even if that something doesn’t actually do anything. Which then leads to the next point – the gross incompetence of many general practitioners. These are people who have supposedly gone to how many years of medical school? And yet when I’ve gone to various docs they were almost always A) Disinterested in helping, doing sloppy half ass “exams”, B) Unable to determine what the problem was, and even worse…..C) overlooking things that were blatantly right under their noses, so I’d have to point stuff out that was right there. POINT POINT POINT. SEE?? RIGHT THERE?? NO?? POINT POINT POINT. Then they’d be like, Oh, okay, I see now. That last bit happened with both an Ear Nose and Throat “specialist” and an Opthamologist. So yeah….how many years of medical school are we talking about again here?? ugh.
But all of which has led to me pretty much stop going to doctors if I can absolutely help it, because experience has ingrained it in my mind that they’re not going to be able to figure out what’s wrong, let alone come up with a viable cure or solution. And hence, this section is the result of that. It’s a companion piece to the aforementioned Sickness…It’s All in the Head These are various health remedies or supplements that have really worked for me, to the point of amazingness, eliminating a wasted trip to the doctor. As I think of more or encounter new things that really work and stand out above others, I’ll add on…..
Oil swish to cure teeth/gum ailments. I first came across this mentioned on a message board back in 2005. When the thread first started I didn’t even read it because the title was called “Complete Health” and it seemed to me that it would just be another hokey health recommendation. But something gave me a “tug” to go in and finally look. So I see what it’s about and think, Hmm, okay. Swishing a tablespoon or two of organic, cold pressed sunflower oil around your mouth for about 15 minutes or so, twice a day. In the morning, and in the evening. It’s supposed to help not only your teeth and gums, but also improve your health in general. So I saw the thread and thought Huh, that’s interesting. We had sunflower oil on hand and so I tried it a few times. But since I didn’t have any outward health issues at the time I couldn’t tell if it really was doing anything, so I soon stopped and the idea went on the back burner.
Fast forward to late 2006, when I developed a tooth problem. A little back story: I happen to still have a baby tooth in my mouth, a molar on my bottom right side. It also “coincidentally” was the only tooth to get a cavity (when I was five)…..and a mercury filling that I would now be stuck with for as long as I had that tooth. Figures. I’ve always known I’d eventually have to get it pulled, it’s just a matter of time. And by late 2006 the tooth started acting up, having pains in the side by the gum which was deteriorating. It didn’t just automatically go away on its own after a few days, which gave me concern…I don’t have insurance and dental visits are VERY costly. But then I remembered the oil swishing thread. I had nothing to lose, so I did that for two days, and poof! The problem disappeared. !! I was like, WOW! Holy moly! It really works! Months later pain reemerged and I just did the swish again, and poof, it was gone once more. Now within this past week I REALLY developed a problem with it….I couldn’t even bite down on it, and had to get soup on my lunch break and do all my chewing on the left side of my mouth. So out came the bottle of sunflower oil, and I did it the first day for three times, and twice each on the next two days, about a tablespoon and a half of the oil, and the pain drastically decreased. To the point where I could now chew again on that side now without issue. !!!! Something is still a little off, there’s still a minor detectable issue, but I’m just going to keep swishing the oil three times a day every day, because it seriously works. The fact that I went from not being able to even touch that tooth at all, to being able to eat again with it is a pretty big deal……and accomplished WITHOUT having to go to a dentist! So imagine if I do the oil swish three times a day for a week, or even several weeks straight. I can only imagine the benefits it’ll have on all my teeth and gums, not just that one baby tooth. Tooth and gum health is very important, and so for that this reason I have to make this my number one biggest recommendation on my list. It’s a useful tip that everybody could use.
Click here for a write up for more information on it all
Enzymes. Enzymes are helpful when eating cooked food, but a must when eating processed foods. I first became acquainted with the idea when reading an article over at www.thedoctorwithin.com I read Tim O’Shea’s bit about it all but then put it out of my mind, until receiving an email several years later from a guy I know from a message board, thanking me for recommending The Doctor Within, specifically because he’d gotten into the enzymes thing as a result of reading about it at that site. His high recommendation of enzymes and his personal good results with it all brought it all back to my attention, and so with piqued curiosity off I went to buy a bottle for myself. After reading all the labels of every bottle of enzymes that Whole Foods carried, I settled on Udo’s Choice, which contains amylase, lipase, protease, cellulase, glucomylase, invertase, malt diastase, lactase, pectinase and bromelain. A nice sampling to cover the gambit from protein, dairy, plant matter, starches, sugars, fats and oils, and so on. Another brand that I’m currently trying is Rainbow Light’s Plant Source Advanced Enzyme System, “Potent & Full Spectrum” which also includes green papaya, ginger, peppermint, fennel seed, tumeric, sea vegetable complex and apple pectin. And ReNew Life is also a brand that looks solid, another high dose full spectrum enzyme complex with added herbal supplements.
You can do a test on your enzymes by opening a capsule and sprinkling it over a bowl of room temperature cooked oatmeal, then watch it do its thing. When I did it nothing too dramatic happened, it just turned the thick chunk of oatmeal into a water mixture that could be easily poured. But I had my proof that they did do something. ;) The real test came when we went to IHOP about a day later and I ordered pancakes with eggs and bacon. A meal that’s very tasty but which always sits like a lead weight in my stomach and drags me down afterwards. Well I popped an enzyme capsule at the start of my meal, then another half way through, then later as we were walking through the parking lot to our car I realized……………..hey……………I don’t feel sick! In fact I felt fine, like I hadn’t just eaten a big buttermilk pancake meal with butter and syrup and fatty greasy bacon and eggs. So that was my big proof right there, and I’ve been hooked on enzymes ever since. I highly encourage people to read the above article from The Doctor Within and hear what he has to say about what our modern diets are doing to our digestive systems. We eat and drink many foods nowadays, (some which could be called “food” in quotes….) that our bodies are unable to break down. It winds up just sitting in our intestines, going nowhere, which is the reason for why so many people nowadays have big guts. It isn’t all fat, let’s just put it that way. But that’s a whole other side topic I guess. But if that interests you, then read his other article, Journey to the Center of Your Colon.
Spirulina. Spirulina is awesome. For me, it has the equivalent energy boosting affects of a cup of coffee….but without the caffeine jitters and stomach issues. If I take six capsules of spirulina, I’m immediately energized, and the pep lasts for hours, to the point where I don’t take it at night if I have to get up for work the next day. So for me, it’s a must in the mornings before heading off to work. Because of my positive experiences with it my boyfriend now takes it as well, and feels the effects within ten minutes. I feel it pretty immediately. There was this one time I was completely lethargic and “blah!” and so popped five or six spirulina capsules, and for me it felt like being revived, like a wilting plant being watered and springing back to life within minutes. Very noticeable and very immediate. I’ve been a huge proponent of it ever since. Maybe different brands have different effects, but the one I’ve been using which has such an amazing effect on me is Now brand Hawaiian spirulina available over at www.i-herb.com, my new favorite health supplement website. Now brand Hawaiian had a more intense peppy healthful effect on me than other brands of spirulina I’ve used. I buy the one pound canister and make my own capsules with it. Far cheaper to do it that way then to buy the ready-made capsules from other brands in the store, you get many more times the amount for way cheaper.
Jarrow brand liquid silica. Liquid usually comes in tablet or capsule form, horsetail or whatever….skip those, and go directly for Jarrow brand biologically active silicon. When my hair began falling out last year quicker than it was regenerating, I tried all the vitamin supplements recommended for hair loss as listed in my “Prescription for Nutritional Healing” book…except for silica. Hadn’t gotten around to that one yet. The other supplements weren’t having an effect though, so finally I tried the last one on the list, silica. (and to clarify – I didn’t have bald spots or anything, luckily, since normally I had probably twice the amount of hair on my head as a normal person. So when my hair began thinning, if anything, it finally went to a normal person’s amount. But it’s not normal for me.) Went to Whole Foods, looked over the various brands they carried, and settled on this one after reading the package description. Let me tell you….it works!!!! It took about five days from when I first started taking it to really kick in, but when it did my hair loss drastically tapered off. Silica is very helpful for skin, nails and hair, and helps make your skin more supple and strengthens your hair, keeping it attached to your head when it might otherwise fall out. When I’d go off the silica, out the hair would fall…..back on it, and it stayed on my head. So yeah, I can definitely attest that this stuff WORKS. Also after a few months there was a noticeable difference in my skin tone. It was now naturally soft and hydrated. I noticed this one night after washing some dishes with piping hot water without my usual rubber gloves. Normally I’d always have to put lotion on my hands after exposure to the drying effects of hot water and dish detergent…………this time, there was no issue. My skin was moist and hydrated, no need for lotion. I just stared at my hands, amazed, then remembered that Hey, I’ve been on silica for months now, that’s got to be the reason. Also my nails became much stronger. So if you do buy it, I recommend a trustworthy internet vitamin discount store that sells it because it’s usually half the cost. At Whole Foods I paid $29. But a reader just emailed me today, 3/10/08 to let me know that until April 30, 2008, Swanson Health Products is selling Jarrow liquid silica for only $14.86 a bottle. Direct link to Jarrow silicon at Swanson Health Products And there are probably other good discount vitamin shops online who sell it as well, this is just one that was brought to my attention. A small warning though about Biosil…..I have to mention that this stuff does NOT taste good, AT all. :D It’s a total must to take this stuff with fruit juice, which will disguise the flavor. I use either a pineapple orange banana, or peach orange mango juice combo and it’s just fine that way, but use whatever juice works for you.
Ginger for nausea. This one is important because many pregnant women suffer from morning sickness but are unable to take over the counter medication for it. Well, they don’t have to, thanks to….tada!…..ginger root. It’s available in various forms, from fresh whole ginger root at the market, to capsules, liquid extract or tea. I prefer it in tea form and we always have a box of pure ginger tea on hand as my boyfriend experiences bouts of nausea. And while I’m not a pregnant woman, I have on occasion experienced nausea and motion sickness (like the time I thought it would be fun to spin around and around in our swivel desk chair and totally made myself sick ;) ) But within five minutes of sipping ginger tea the nausea or motion sickness will be completely gone. For my boyfriend he says within ten minutes. But this stuff works. A guy I know from England on a message board took my ginger recommendation for his pregnant wife when she was suffering with morning sickness, and it worked wonders for her too. So there you go! I like to make a tea with a bag of ginger, a bag of peppermint, and a little bit of cinnamon sprinkled in, with either sugar or honey. (some may prefer stevia, whatever works for you.) It’s a great digestive tonic in general since peppermint also aids in digestion, (combined together they’re both good for nausea, gas, bloating, or general digestive discomfort) that just so happens to taste really yummy and is fun to drink on cold winter nights. :)
Milk thistle and dandelion extract for liver cleanse. You always hear about milk thistle and dandelion for liver cleanse, but indeed, it works, so I definitely have to recommend it. Doing a liver cleanse wouldn’t be a bad idea for anybody, even those who don’t drink, because in our modern society we beat on our bodies pretty bad with all the wrong foods. But the reason I know this works is because several years ago I was taking the milk thistle dandelion extract combo every day for a week, just for kicks, why not, it’s supposed to be good for you, then that Saturday I was drinking wine. Normally wine would have a strong effect on me; I knew how long it takes my body to process different alcohols and wine takes awhile for me. But for some reason I was barely feeling the buzz that night. My body was whipping through it like it was nothing. Then I remembered the liver cleanse I’d done all week. So with the filter clean, it was processing the alcohol in a speedy way. But that was my personal proof that milk thistle really works and does what all the health books say it does.
The liver is an organ that can supposedly regenerate; you can remove up to 25% of it I’ve read and it will grow back. Milk thistle aids in liver cell regrowth, and dandelion and milk thistle together in general help in cleaning things out. Recovering alcoholics or people with Hepatitis could probably benefit from this particular combo. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. I don’t have any particular brands in mind that I know for a fact are better than others, so my only recommendation is to use a liquid extract form, versus capsules. Liquid extract seems to be more potent and higher quality.
Eye strain. For whatever reason I’m prone to eye muscle strain in a bad way – probably doesn’t help that I have bad eyes to begin with and sit in front of a computer all day at work. Then go home and read and knit. Talk about eye abuse! :D Eye strain for me though can be serious, enough that it’s put me out of commission many times. I would have to lie down to nap in order to rest my eyes, then wind up losing several hours of my day. But I discovered a trick that seems to stop this issue right in its tracks. Enough so that I’m recommending it here.
Are you ready? It’s a biggie…….
Very complicated……
Okay……
…..you take your palms and rest them over your eyes for five minutes.
!
It’s so strange that something so incredibly simple can completely stop painful eye strain, but it does. It works like a dream for me. I’ll just stop what I’m doing, take each palm and place them over the eyes with the fleshy base part of the palms resting on the eye sockets, creating blackness, then rest like that for a bit. You’re not pushing against the eyeballs – that would just create more irritation – you’re just resting the palms on top of them. And just several minutes of this is enough to stop it, ten minutes and my eyes feel great, pain gone, absolutely no need to lay down anymore for a nap. I discovered this trick accidentally one night months back when I went to go to sleep and my eyes were so strained and hot that the muscles couldn’t relax and I kept seeing tiny flashes of light behind my lids, distracting me from being able to fully rest. Thinking of Reiki, I put the palms over my eyes for a bit as I lay in bed, intending for them to relax, and….they just did. To the point where I lay there going “wow……!” Tried it again, wondering if it was a fluke occurrence, but it worked again. And again after that. Now I do it all the time, day or night when needed. My theory is that it possibly has to due with natural body energy coming off the palms, in the vein of Reiki or hands-on healing. I don’t think it’s merely creating blackness that does it. But, I could be wrong. Anyway, there you have it, instant solution for a modern workplace-related body issue that plagues many.
Controlled Breathing Work. I never thought about breathing until a friend forwarded a book to me last year called “Rebirthing: Freedom from Your Past” by Deike Begg, which involves controlled, rhythmic breathing in order to achieve a rebirthing experience. However this isn’t about rebirthing – which I haven’t experienced anyway – it’s just about the amazing positive effects of breathing itself on your physical, emotional and mental well being. It’s generating life force, aka prana, or Qi.
Using an excerpt from the book, here’s how it’s done:
“With eyes shut, breathe in and out through your mouth with the emphasis on the inhale. Do not alternate mouth and nose breathing. Imagine that you are drawing the breath up through your feet into the top of your chest. Draw in a little more breath than during normal breathing. Let your lungs stretch a bit.
“Relax the exhale. Do not push it, force it or form it. Imagine that your throat is wide and open like a tunnel.
“Keep the breath connected without pauses btween inhale and exhale. As soon as you have exhaled, pull the breath up again from your feet. You do not need to exhale all the way if it seems to you that your exhale is rather long.”
It’s very simple, but has great results. [Note: You’re not trying to hyperventilate either and over-oxygenate yourself. It’s just calm and steady breathing through your mouth, filling up your lungs each time as you do so.] I recently realized that for a bit of time now I haven’t been breathing correctly, AT all. It’s exactly as Ms. Begg describes in the book, the classic case of shallow, sporatic breathing. I sit in front of computer for a good chunk of the day and that plays a HUGE part in it. We tend to hold our breath and breathe in a shallow way when working on the computer and surfing the ‘net. So I’ve been feeling out of sorts mentally and emotionally for several weeks now, corresponding with a noticeable change in my breathing pattern, too shallow and sporatic, and I knew – get back into the rebirthing breathing!! You need oxygen!!! (and life force/prana!) Twenty minutes of that tonight and there was already a noticeable difference. In the book Ms. Begg talks about rebirthing breathing sessions that last for an hour, and I have gone on for that long, but typically I like a half hour or so. But everybody should do what works for them.
What’s interesting is that when I laid down to do the breathing tonight, I experienced the same initial “block” that I always get when first getting back into it again after a long stretch of not doing it. It’s a mix of the lungs/body being “rusty” as well as this weird lazy resistance to the time and effort and mental focus I’m going to have to expend on this. So the first five minutes or so are sometimes a bit uneven, as I have to get used to the idea of breathing in a controlled, rhythmic way, filling my lungs to capacity like stretching out a balloon, getting them used to expanding like that, and forcing my mind to focus dammit, and not get bored and give up and wander off on me. ;D But then the breakthrough will happen, and once it does it’s smooth sailing, and it feels GREAT! It’s always worth it….if I can just make it through the first five minutes of rustiness and forcing myself to be still and focus. I have this bad tendency towards laziness though which is why I didn’t stick with doing breathing work after initially trying it out last year with success, because it does involve having to commit yourself to 20 minutes, a half an hour, or up to an hour at a time, and being still and just breathing…..in, and out, in, and out, in, and out……and not falling asleep. ;D And sometimes I’m just too restless to do that and the whole thing just bores me. BUT….I can’t emphasis enough that the results really are fantastic, VERY noticeable. Results will probably vary for everybody, but in general there should be a calmer mind, and an overall sense of well being and a relaxed, positive emotional state. It’s getting oxygen to all your cells, with all the benefits that go with it (including helping to expel waste – as the book points out, 70% of our bodily waste is supposedly expelled through our breathing, not through elimination as one might assume…) and getting the mind relaxed and focused in a rhythmic activity. You just have to try it for yourself to see though…….
Skin – ConcenTrace minerals. Last month, an internet friend of my boyfriend recommended a product he was using calling “ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops.” He’d had rough cracking skin problems and said that this stuff took care of the problem. It’s water from the Great Salt Lake, with the sodium removed, and according to what the company says, “ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops is a natural mineral concentrate that is so concentrated that 40 drops (1/2 teaspoon) equals the mineral content of 1/2 cup sea water with 99% sodium removed. You may expect a wide spectrum of nutritional benefits.” Basically the minerals aren’t as prevalent in our produce anymore since they’ve been washed out of our damaged topsoil, so if you’re going to get minerals in a natural, non-laboratory manufactured form, then this is one good way to do it. So my boyfriend Tom ordered two bottles of the stuff (they’re $16 each, not expensive at all considering what it does) taking his friend’s word for it that it produces amazing results, and after it arrived, we began adding drops to our bottled water. It took only one week to notice that the skin all over our bodies suddenly became freakishly soft and smooth. ! In a good way. It was like it was at optimal hydration………in a way that I can say I’ve probably never experienced, at least not since I was a baby or a little kid. It’s really funny, but you’ll probably spend a lot of time rubbing your arms and legs and stomach and stuff going “WOW!” I mean, it’s just WILD. The skin on my elbows in particular are always a little bit dry, but really bad in the winter, despite lotion. Now………completely soft and smooth. What elbow skin problem?
The reason I think this is a big deal is because skin products are a multi-billion dollar industry. Face creams. Body lotions. Foot lotions. Lotions catering specifically to dry cracked rough skin. After being on ConcenTrace for a couple of weeks I began to realize that I no longer had a need for the face cream I put on every morning. My face skin was soft and supple, even straight after washing it with my face scrub. So to put cream on it would actually be ruining it. !!!!!!! After shaving my legs in the shower I always put on my almond oil………….didn’t need to anymore. They were good to go, as is. Again, putting on the oil would just ruin how they felt. And much like what happened after I’d been on liquid silica drops for months, I no longer have issues with my hands after washing dishes in hot water. But this was like 20 times better than whatever the silica had done for my skin. So, yeah, basically if everybody started taking drops of this every day in water (it doesn’t taste bad at all, so you can put it in your drinking water, and if anything it kind of improves the taste…..) then the multi-billion lotion and cream industry would go out of business. I’m not even kidding, this stuff is that good.
I’m not sure whatever other physical benefits ConcenTrace has that I’m not yet aware of, but the skin difference was definitely the most immediate and noticeable. I can’t imagine not having skin like this now. It’s the only way to be. It even looks different. Haven’t been able to figure out what it is, but I’ve stared at my skin trying to figure out why it looks better, what it is exactly that’s changed. I don’t know. But for anybody who’s interested, their website is:
Baking soda/bicarbonate and the body’s acid/alkaline balance. This is a tale of what happens when you let your body become waaaay too acidic. ! Back in February of this year I had a night of some all out health drama. I wouldn’t expect something like this to happen to somebody else, but maybe it’s worth mentioning because the entire thing was cured with only pennies worth of household baking soda.
The afternoon that the mayhem started, I was at work and had eaten a Snicker’s bar from a vending machine….which I apparently wasn’t supposed to eat. When I put my money in and made my selection, the machine kept telling me the selection wasn’t available, even though I was looking right at it. But “lucky” me, the vending machine repairman just so happened to arrive right at that moment to collect the money and restock the machine and so while he had it open I gave him the money and he gave me the bar. Should have listened to the message the machine was trying to tell me. ;) oh well. Then I drank a cup of free coffee provided by the break room coffee maker for all employees. I hadn’t been eating right all week as it was, due to starting this new temp job where they kept offering up all this free – very bad – “food” to the employees, such as pizza, donuts, soda, you name it. And now the Snickers and cheap free bitter coffee with powdered creamer and white sugar on top of it. But that was on my own volition….can’t blame them for that. ;)
Immediately after eating my afternoon snack I didn’t feel right, felt very bloated. When I got home I had to lie down for a nap, and was out for several hours. Woke up and my left arm wasn’t feeling right, felt slightly paralyzed, painful, hard to describe. Then I stumbled into the bathroom, realizing I couldn’t breathe right. Next thing I know I’m about to puke, and there’s pressure in my ears distorting sound, and I’m hugging the toilet bowl trying to regulate my breathing, feeling my stomach wavering back and forth. I haven’t puked since 1989 and wasn’t looking forward to this, AT all. Nothing happened though other than digestive problems from the other end and feeling like I had a knife in my gut and this weird burping. (I know, isn’t this gross. It was complete all out digestive mayhem. the burping I would later discover indicates that the food was stuck in my small intestine, going nowhere.) Out in living room I soon realized that I felt winded and couldn’t stand for longer than a few minutes at a time. I soon found myself back in the bathroom crouched down (versus standing) on the floor taking big deep breaths of air, trying to get enough oxygen. Crunching my body up like that on the floor was an instinctual way to relieve the stress on the heart of fighting gravity and trying to get the blood to all corners of my body. My skin was white by that point, no color as if I was dead. I’d never seen myself that color before. Heart racing – about 105 beats a minute I would soon realize, versus my normal rate which is just over 60. My body was very cold and I felt winded/exhausted as I continued taking big gulps of air. So my heart was trying desperately to circulate blood/oxygen and having a very bad time of it, as evidenced by my white skin, cold body and exhausted winded feeling. I also had a low fever of 99.4.
Tom was theorizing by this point that based on all my symptoms I seemed to have a case of being overly acidic. I thought maybe I was having some sort of heart problem, based on the pain in my left arm and the other heart/circulation issues, although I’m only 33, so, that’s a bit weird. But heart issues are in the family, so, there you go. I don’t have insurance so driving to the hospital isn’t going to work. Besides, I could already envision them drawing blood and doing tests and coming up empty handed. “Uhhh, we don’t know what’s wrong. Here, have some antibiotics.”
Then I noticed the pains in my kidneys. Not good. The dull ache from deep within the lower back, on both sides. You should never have pains in that area. Tom suggested I start drinking glasses of baking soda dissolved in water, since it’s very alkalizing. Something like a big heaping tablespoon of it dissolved in 8 ounce glasses of water. Doesn’t taste good, but trying it out wouldn’t hurt. It’s not like I had other options available to me. Eventually I was just too winded to do anything, couldn’t stay awake or move around the apartment at all due to lack of oxygen flow in my body, and so had to lay down on the mattress wrapped in a hot blanket with my legs elevated on a chair at the end of the mattress. The elevated legs concentrated my blood flow to my mid section and helped make me much warmer. Tom’s idea. All the while as my body had a craving for……….vegetables. Celery in particular of all things. But why? Well, I did a search on the ‘net and found this interesting bit about the benefits of celery as an acid/alkaline balancer, as well as its positive affects on the kidneys! That’s just amazing to me. The body knows what it needs when you’ve been eating incorrectly for an extended period of time, that’s all I can say. (It’s a whole side topic in itself, the implications of which are pretty huge. But in a nutshell, your body has its own mind/sentience/consciousness/whatever you want to call it, and it’s made a “mental note” of what’s in every bit of food you’ve ever eaten – talking about chemistry, a molecular level here – and the effects of which on every part of your body. It has its own memory storage. So that when you’re deficient in something, or something is haywire, it immediately calls up what food is needed in order to fix things. Then it somehow will issue a craving….getting you to eat what it knows you need to eat, even if you consciously don’t understand why. Again, that’s astounding when you think about it, because our own consciousness is completely cut off from our bodies most times. I had no “conscious” knowledge about the celery-kidneys link….but my body did. Because it has its own “mind.” ) So I had this weird desire to make one of my big super salads, which I thought was strange considering how I almost puked before. But I couldn’t stand or do anything for longer than a few minutes, so, that was out of the question. Before falling asleep I mused to Tom, What if I die? Not upset by it, just calm and musing while sick. He said I wasn’t going to die, but I said, Well, maybe I will. So hey, remember, my ATM pin code number is ____ so if I die, you can have my money! ;D Then I fell asleep.
Throughout the night I’d sleep then get up and kick around for a short bit, have some more baking soda water. Tom even made me a small salad at around 1 a.m., since I had that craving, which I managed to eat. With celery. ;D
Eventually I noticed that my heart rate had decreased to about 90 beats a minute and I was in fact feeling better, a little warmer, which was good. I still had to call out of work the next day, Friday, and spent much of the day in bed, sleeping, in between getting up and kicking around for short bits. I was able to stay awake and walk around for longer periods though than the night before, so, there was definitely a lot of improvement. Heart rate continued to fluctuate between about 80 bpm when I’d sip on baking soda water, then go back up to 100. Tom went out and bought pH test strips and my pH was now at 8.0 with all that bicarbonate in my system, which is good, considering how acidic I must have been previously.
Then miracle of miracles by Saturday I was fine again. !! After drinking all that baking soda water the pains in my kidneys stopped, my heart rate was back down to the 60+ bpm a range – WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! – I had energy and was back to normal again, enough to go the Asian buffet for sushi like I hadn’t JUST been on death’s doorstep 24-36 hours before. Totally fine by that point. The problem never returned, and my kidneys have had no issues since. So yes…..just a pennies’ worth of baking soda. A major body alkalizer, composed of bicarbonate…..which our kidneys produce. So in conclusion I think I ate too much bad food in too short a time, my body became severely acidic, causing digestion to shut down, my kidneys (the bicarbonate producers…) to become overtaxed, and my heart to have to work twice as hard. Nothing could do what it was supposed to do anymore.
I’m VERY grateful that Tom was smart enough to recognize the acid/alkaline issue and to suggest the baking soda. In emergencies he’s the calm levelheaded Taurus sun/Aquarius moon with the hefty dose of Virgo planets – the serious contemplative look on his face and brain wheels spinning, analyzing things, calulating solutions. :D It’s great! What’s weird is that I’m the one who started researching the whole acid/alkaline thing several years ago, and because I bought a pH test strip kit and a book on it all he researched it as well. But then I put it out of my head and never thought about it at all anymore….but he remembered. But if I hadn’t bought the kit and the book and researched it back in Florida then he wouldn’t have been knowledgable of it either, and then who knows what would have happened that night. eek. So ever since this crazy health drama I put a little bit of baking soda in my bottled water that I sip at work to help keep my body alkalized in case I’m eating foods that might make things too acidic. Fiji brand bottled water actually advertises on the back of its bottles how much bicarbonate is in their water, among other minerals and added bonuses. So, it’s a known thing I guess that it’s very good for your body. And in these times with our screwball undisciplined diets, (okay, speak for myself here, right? haha) it definitely helps. Although there’s no way I’ll ever eat a Snickers bar again, or those donuts they were giving out at work, or go near that crappy coffee in the break room again. !
When you’ve gone through a health drama like this, where your entire body seems to be shutting down then it REALLY gives you an appreciation for when things are all functioning correctly again. It’s so easy to take a healthy body for granted, but it really is a miracle when all organs are healthy and working well. The heart, blood, circulatory system, stomach, kidneys, lungs, liver, intestines, pancreas, gall bladder, regular bladder, the brain and nervous system, your skin, all your glands and their hormones….if yours are all doing their thing, unimpeded, stop and take a moment to revel in it and say thanks to your body. “WOW! I’M HEALTHY! THINGS ARE WORKING!” ;D
Books and website recommendations
Following are some health-related books or websites that I recommend, as noted in the main “Books and Websites” section elsewhere on this site. It’s not the end-all be-all, as there are bezillions of books and websites out there in the world. It’s just the ones that I recommend out of the relatively small group that I’ve read….
Related article on this site: Sickness…it’s all in the head
The Doctor Within Dr. Tim O’Shea’s great website that gets into all aspects of how we’re doing everything wrong nowadays with health, food and nutrition, and what we can do to get ourselves back on track.
Prescription for Nutritional Healing- Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, James F. Balch, MD. One woman I used to work with considered this book her “bible” and I can understand why. :D It’s a comprehensive encyclopedia of sorts that gets into how to treat all the major health problems and ailments via food, nutrition and natural supplements, with sections devoted to all the major supplements and herbal remedies – what they are, what they’re useful for, what they interact with, etc. – as well as explaining about enzymes, amino acids, and all the components of health and nutrition. An all around informative must-read and must-own. Whole Foods Market’s nutritional supplement sections always have a copy of this book on hand for shoppers to use, as well as the one mentioned below by Dr. Murray.
Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements – Michael T. Murray, MD. I found this book quite useful. There is a chapter for every vitamin and mineral as well as many supplements, with a list of which foods contain the most of each, the signs and symptoms of deficiencies, how they interact with other vitamins and minerals and what to watch out for, and most important of all….the best forms of each supplement to take. There are bezillions of supplements on the market, but how do you know which one is the most absorable or efficient? Well, this book will tell you! An intelligently written book that also delves into the chemistry of certain supplements, I’ve learned a lot by reading it and definitely have to recommend it.
World’s Healthiest Foods Great resource to look up all the healthful benefits and properties of various vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, meats, seafood, legumes, spices, etc.
The Biology of Belief – Bruce Lipton, PhD. Dr. Lipton was a cellular biologist for 20 years before he had to face the facts of what his research was showing him – that the mind and beliefs play a heavy role in the body’s health and wellbeing…not necessarily genetics. I first discovered Dr. Lipton by watching one of his videos on the same subject as the book. He was such an energetic, personable speaker making such great points that I bought the book. Both are worth checking out, as his message is positive and inspiring. You’ll learn a lot, and hopefully come away with a new outlook on things if you weren’t already aware of the ideas he discusses.
Inventing the AIDS Virus Peter Duesberg, PhD. AIDS apparently isn’t a virus, and HIV isn’t what causes it. Until this book I never gave the subject of AIDS much thought. But afterwards there was no denying the many excellent and thought provoking points that Dr. Duesberg makes – If HIV truly caused AIDS, then it needs to be present in every single person who has “AIDS”….which it isn’t; What constitutes “AIDS” is actually an ever-growing umbrella list of diseases and ailments indicative of immune failure…often times brought on by heavy drug usage…but not one single “virus” that can be viewed under a microscope; AIDS is not communicable…if it was, it would have spread like wildfire, instead of being contained within target key groups. A true virus does not discriminate. It affects all humans equally, to ensure its survival. So if this is all news to you, then this book is a must-read. It also gets into the rich, Mercedes Benz driving doctors in Africa who run the clinics that diagnose everybody, no matter what the problem, as having “AIDS,” thus funding the pharmaceutical corporations and personally benefiting from it all. On a side note, I think the subject of AIDS has been a victim of the stereotypical polarized, false two choice option deal – either AIDS is exactly as “The Powers That Be” tell us it is, or, it was manufactured in a lab and let loose on gay men and other “undesirables” that the government wants to get rid of. To that I say……….X! How about the third choice option – I’m always talking about this ;) – which is that AIDS is what was outlined above. Not a real “virus.” But a modern by-product of other problems, that funds the pharmaceutical corporations and keeps thousands of people perpetually employed. :/ Always look for the third option. Reject polarized “either/or” thinking that limits you to only two extreme choices.
© 2007-2008
Carissa Conti