Ok.  Truth time.  I have family members (you will remain anonymous – you know who you are!) that take antidepressants.

This blog post is NOT going to address the myriad of reasons why some people feel the need to take these pills.

I am only going to share some rather interesting research results.  It might make you consider whether or not you REALLY need those pills like your doctor says you do.  (I can hear the ads now…”Ask your doctor if such and such pill is right for YOU!”)

Here’s an interesting article on PaleoDietNews.com relating an interview by Leslie Stahl (CBS’s 60 Minutes correspondent) of Harvard Scientist Irving Kirsch that really challenges the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs.

Some of the research indicates that a placebo performed as well as or better than the drugs themselves.

Another study was done wherein some patients were going to be treated for knee pain by having surgery.  Some of the patients actually had the surgery, some of the patients’ knees were merely cut open and then sewn up with no treatment at all.  The patients that had no treatment at all experienced greater improvement than those that actually had the surgery!

Please, please educate yourself about whole foods, herbs, and other natural remedies.  There are alternatives!

Ten years ago our oldest daughter had her first and LAST taste of jello.

It began innocently enough.  It was just a simple box of strawberry jello.  It looked harmless.  Yet there was a tantrum hiding in that box!

This was before we came to our senses and transitioned to a whole food lifestyle.  We were just plain ignorant, that’s all.  We both ate jello (among other pseudo-foods) as kids, why couldn’t she experience the joy of watching it jiggle and seeing it wiggle?

Within minutes, and I mean MINUTES of eating that innocent little bowl of jello, she completely WIGGED OUT and started screaming, running, bouncing off furniture.  We were completely shocked.  The change in her behavior was obvious.

Somehow I was able to connect the dots.  I gave her another bowl of jello a couple days later.  Same crazy result.

A Facebook friend posted this article regarding the co-relation of food additives and behavior issues in children on healthychild.org.  Really great article with a list of chemical JUNK in common “foods” that children eat.  Please read it and inform yourself!

And please don’t buy jello anymore!  What’s in it anyway?  yuck.

Wow.  Just read an article on MedPageToday that supposedly gives “proof” that fructose doesn’t cause weight gain!  Wow, isn’t that great news??  But, wait.  Look at the list of companies that have “relationships” with the researchers!!  Soda companies and drug companies, among others!!

See it here.

Let me know what you think after you’ve read the names on that list!

So HAPPY right now!  Scientific evidence supporting what us gardeners have known all along:  there’s just “something” about good, ol’ fresh DIRT that makes you feel better!

I found this article by Lylah M. Alphonse just now and just had to share it with you all.  There’s been evidence for years that bacteria in soil boosts your immunity, but now scientists have found that the same bacteria that boosts your immunity also enhances your mood and brings clarity.

Oftentimes I go out into the garden needing to de-stress.  The physical exertion of deeply spading the soil, hoeing weeds, turning the compost pile, always makes me feel more relaxed and brightens my mood.  However, apparently it’s not just the physical exercise, it’s the bacteria I’m stirring up and breathing in that’s affecting my mood.  Fascinating!

Spring is early this year here in Maine…maybe it’s time I started digging? 

I love it when someone just tells it like it is.  Here’s a link to an article by Dr. Gene Martin, D.C. that is so refreshing!

Dr. Martin says that we need to ask ourselves WHY cancer rates are increasing, not decreasing.  WHY is Alzheimer’s so prevalent today when it wasn’t even heard of 50 years ago?  WHY is such a large part of the population obese?  WHY is depression so common?

And one question I hadn’t heard of yet – WHY are cholesterol lowering drugs recommended for children as young as 12 years old (you’ve got to be kidding! 12?) ??

So many questions.  I believe there’s just one answer though.  OUR FOOD.

And that is one topic that most “health” care professionals don’t want to discuss.  (I put quotes around health for a reason.  It seems that most healthcare really should be “sick” care – illness management, not prevention.  But then, that’s another post!)

Do docs get training in nutrition in Med School?  I’m really asking that question.  Do they?  Because it seems to me they get MORE training in doling out meds, what medication to give for what issue.  Am I wrong here?

When I was sick with Chronic Fatigue, NOT ONE M.D. mentioned one word about nutrition.  All they wanted was more tests run.  There was no mention as to WHY I felt the way I did.  I had to find that out for myself.  The answer was in the nutrition I was not getting.

Check the article out for yourself.  Let me know what you think!

Here’s a link to an informative article written by Adrienne Dellwo on About.com regarding the benefits of antioxidants for CFS and Fibromyalgia.

The list given in the article is a good starting point for adding whole foods to your diet:

• cucumbers
• apples
• blueberries
• fish
• quinoa
• tea

Also given is a list of a handful of supplements containing antioxidants.  However, keep in mind that our bodies were not created to eat pills!  I know some locals in our area that eat the typical Standard American Diet and then try to “fix” that by loading up on pills.  Doesn’t work folks!  Whole foods contain a myriad of vitamins, minerals, etc.  that all work together, not in isolation like in vitamin tablets.

So don’t just go popping Vitamin C or E just because its on the list in the article.  Eat foods containing those vitamins first, then add the extra supplements.  Supplements are just that.  They are designed to SUPPLEMENT a good diet, not “fix” a bad one!

Here’s a great post from Nourishing Kitchen, a site dedicated to providing recipes and how to’s on preparing REAL FOOD! (you know, the kind your grandparents used to eat? Not the pseudo food in stores).

I highly recommend you sign up for their newsletter.  There’s always tasty, wholesome recipes and tips on preparing them.

One of the recipes contained in this list is Frozen Bananas Rolled in Walnuts and Shredded Coconut:

• Thread frozen banana chunks onto skewers.
• Roll  in a little melted coconut oil.
• Dip them in ground walnuts and the shredded coconut
• place them on a cookie sheet (lined with wax paper).
• place the cookie sheet in the freezer til set.
• ENJOY!

I’m going to try this one today!  What healthy snacks do you prepare for your crowd?

Every time I get that feeling like I’ve been run over by a truck (you know, you ache all over, feel “heavy”, just plain yucky), I start running the hottest bath I can stand and start some Ginger Tea (Fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced small – maybe 1/2 tsp to a cup of boiling water – put a cover of some kind on the cup to let it steep really strong – just leave the ginger right in the cup).  

Here’s the point - you want to create heat in your body.  Get in that tub with your piping hot cup of ginger tea.  Soak in the tub and drink your tea until you really start sweating.  Stay in a little longer and finish up that tea!

When you get out of the tub, wrap up in the warmest robe, quilt, whatever.  Get some more of that tea.  Keep sweating.  A couple hours later, repeat!

For one thing, the heat reduces the aching and is relaxing and it apparently is cleansing for the body.  Native American used sweat lodges before various types of ceremonies to prepare their bodies, and I believe that this works in the same way.  The heat seems to clear toxins out of the body.  I’ve had the rottenest (is that a word?) flu/cold symptoms disappear in 24 hours after three bath/tea sessions.

Another remedy I take without fail is Colloidal Silver and an herbal remedy called Taheebo.  Both are available from Life Force International.  Of course, I also drink several glasses of Body Balance to give that virus another kick!

What remedies do you use when you or a family members gets that “run over by a truck” feeling? 

I love learning new things and that’s just what happened when I saw this post from Joybilee Farms.  I never knew Flax would help a sore throat!  I usually use a lemon juice/raw honey/raw ginger paste that is easily mixed up and given on a spoon sort of like a lollipop.  Works great but I must say I’m going to try the Flax Jelly idea the next time!

I LOVE The Bulk Herb Store!  They provide high quality, sustainably harvested herbs in bulk.  They also have all the equipment, tools, books, etc. that you’ll ever need to get going on your own personal herbal pharmacy.

This past fall, Whooping Cough came to call at our house.  Rather than go in panic mode, I brewed Cough Tea, available as a tea mix from Bulk Herb Store.  I prepared this every day for several weeks.  I also used other herbal concoctions that I will go into on another post.  We got through it with flying colors!  The kids were actually more ill with Chicken Pox the previous winter than Whooping Cough.  I think back to all the fear tactics that were tried on me from various “health professionals” to try and get me to vaccinate, and it makes me so MAD!  grrr.

Another great product I purchase regularly is the Beautiful Hair mix.  What powerful stuff!  Kind of goopy and messy (the kids call it Cow Slobber!) but its oh so worth the effort and mess!

Go ahead and check them out by clicking on the little box on the bottom left of this page below entitled “Go Herbal”.  You’ll be amazed at what you find!