Archive for the ‘Natural Remedies’ Category

Thyroid Sessions – Free Event

Thyroid Sessions event – presented by Sean Croxton

 

I am really looking forward to this event! Details and a link for free registration, and discounted purchase price, if you’d like to buy it,  below.

Love,

Mom

 

 

Your thyroid runs the show. 

Most importantly, it controls your metabolism. That’s a pretty big deal… 

When your thyroid isn’t functioning up to par it can leave you feeling exhausted, overweight, freezing, depressed, constipated, brain foggy, and more.

 

A few months ago I checked the statistics and found out that over 200 million people worldwide have a thyroid disorder. Only half have been properly diagnosed. And even less are receiving the right treatment.

 

Sadly, Western medicine has fallen behind when it comes to the latest research on the causes and treatments — both natural and synthetic — for thyroid problems.

 

And that’s why I’ve brought together a couple dozen of the world’s most knowledgeable experts to teach you EVERYTHING your doctor didn’t tell you about thyroid disorders.

 

And I mean everything

 

Chris Kresser reveals the shocking truth about “normal ranges”.

 

Dr. Dan Kalish walks you through a simple, inexpensive way to test your thyroid at home.

 

Dr. Kelly Austin shows you how to avoid fillers like gluten and lactose in thyroid meds.

 

Dr. Alan Christianson teaches you how to shrink thyroid nodules…naturally.

 

Christa Orecchio discusses real food and lifestyle strategies for hyperthyroid and Graves’ disease.

 

Dr. Sara Gottfried shows you how to lose weight when your thyroid is off.

 

Click here to view the entire lineup!

 

This time around, we’re ditching the slideshow video presentations. Instead, my team and I traveled up and down the West Coast to film high-definition, on-camera interviews with our featured experts.

 

We’re taking it to a whole other level. I cannot wait for you to see this!

 

Early enrollment is open now. Click the link below to save your seat.

 

www.freethryoidseries.com 

- Here’s a link to buy all the session, plus many extra bonuses for only $49

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be sending our early registrants a FREE one-hour interview with our friend Dr. Tom O’Bryan about the impact of gluten consumption on Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, plus more thyroid-related goodies. Be on the lookout!

 

Please share this event with your friends and family by forwarding this email or by clicking the social media buttons on the Thyroid Sessions website. You just might change someone’s life. 🙂

 

Thanks so much,

Sean

 

 

Real Foods that Healed Me

By Stanley A. Fishman, Author of Tender Grassfed Meat

Note from Mom: Stan has a great new website: http://www.tendergrassfedmeat.com/

I was once chronically ill, so sick that I received a “medical death sentence” in 1998. Today, I have no illnesses, no symptoms, and have not seen a doctor in five years. I was not healed by drugs, surgery or doctors. I was healed by real food.

Dr. Weston A. Price discovered the truth about nutrition in the 1930s, by travelling all over the world and studying traditional diets. He found that people who ate the diets of their ancestors, and no modern foods, were free of many illnesses that afflicted many people in Europe and America. People eating their traditional diet had no cancer, no heart disease, no diabetes, no tuberculosis, no birth defects, no tooth decay, no asthma, and no allergies. They were free of the chronic illnesses that were common in the so-called civilized world. They remained strong, vigorous, independent, and healthy well into old age, usually until just before they died.

When the same peoples added modern processed foods to their diet, they were afflicted with every one of the diseases mentioned above, and many others.

Dr. Price wrote a book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, which presented the results of his research. That book contains many photographs, showing the healthy teeth and faces of people on a traditional diet, and the horrible teeth and unhealthy faces of members of the very same group of people, when they ate modern foods.

I based the diet that healed me on the teachings of Dr. Price, and the information made available by the Weston A. Price Foundation. I decided that the key was to get food that was as close to its untampered form as I possibly could, given the limitations of our modern world, and to eat the same kinds of foods eaten by traditional peoples. 

How I Changed My Diet

Sugar and Sweeteners

I stopped eating most sweeteners. The only ones I use are organic, unfiltered, unheated honey, organic 100% pure maple syrup, and a little rapadura, an unprocessed sugar. I only use sweeteners in small amounts, and only when eaten at a meal that has plenty of fat. I have found that I do not miss sugar if I keep my fat intake high. I never use any kind of artificial sweetener.

Grains

I only eat organic grains that have been soaked overnight in soured water, as described in Sally Fallon’s excellent cookbook, Nourishing Traditions and made into a porridge type dish. I do this with organic oatmeal and organic kasha, and I always eat them with plenty of pastured butter. The only bread I eat is made from sprouted grain, or a sourdough-type bread.

Fruit and Vegetables

I only eat organic (or the equivalent) fruits and vegetables. I eat a wide variety, both cooked and raw. I do eat potatoes and other root vegetables, but make sure they are cooked in plenty of fat, or served with plenty of fat, or both.

Meat and Poultry

I only eat 100% grassfed and grass finished beef, bison, and lamb. I will often cook these meats rare, to get more of the nutrients. I eat a lot of meat. I eat the wonderful fat from these grassfed animals. I eat free range, organic poultry. I try to avoid poultry that has been fed soy, which is difficult. I do not eat much pork, since I have trouble finding pork that has not been fed soy. When I can find pork that has been fed naturally, I will happily eat it. I will also eat wild game when I have the opportunity, which is not often. I drink some homemade meat broth, made from the bones and meat of grassfed animals, every day.

Dairy

I only drink organic, full fat, non-homogenized milk, either raw, or from a dairy that uses minimum pasteurization. I eat plenty of full fat raw milk cheese, lots of full fat yoghurt, make my own kefir, and consume mountains of pastured butter. I also eat a lot of full fat cream, organic or the equivalent, both raw and minimally pasteurized. I usually eat these foods uncooked. I also use a lot of cream, cheese, and butter when cooking.

Fish and Seafood

I only eat wild seafood. I eat a fair amount of medium to smaller sized fish, as well as shrimp and prawns. I will also eat wild raw fish eggs, when I can get them. Every day, I have a cup of rich fish broth, made from the bones and trimmings of wild fish (including the heads when I can get them). I often use fish sauce, as a condiment and an ingredient. I never touch farmed fish of any kind.

Fats and Oils

The only vegetable oil of any kind that I will eat is organic (or the equivalent) extra virgin olive oil, unrefined coconut oil, and unrefined organic sesame oil. I eat plenty of fat from grassfed animals as well as unhydrogenated lard. I eat large amounts of pastured butter and organic ghee. I make sure to have plenty of animal fat with every meal. This kind of fat was prized by all the cultures studied by Dr. Price.

Drinks

I do not touch any kind of soft drink. I do drink homemade kombucha every day. (Thanks to you, Mom, for teaching me how to make it!) I also drink reverse osmosis water, often with some organic, raw, unfiltered, apple cider vinegar added. I also drink milk and kefir, as described under dairy above. I also drink green tea and peppermint tea. I will upon very rare occasions have a little wine, or traditional Irish whiskey.

Condiments

Most of the condiments I eat are lacto-fermented, such as sauerkraut. There are some good lacto-fermented condiments available. However, the best are the ones you make yourself. We make our own sauerkraut, ketchup, pickles, and other condiments. Nourishing Traditions is an excellent source of recipes for making your own condiments.

Packaged Processed Foods

I do not eat them. The only exception would be food that is packaged in glass jars, is organic (or the equivalent), and has very few ingredients, such as some organic hot sauces. I do not eat anything with soy in it, and I try to avoid meat from soy-fed animals. I do buy some grassfed sausages, especially organ sausages from a few excellent producers of grassfed meat.

Good Health Comes from Good Food

This diet has resulted in the extreme good health I enjoy today. What I have described is food, not medicine, and my own experience with it. I am not a doctor, and I am not giving you medical advice. Eating this way restored my health, and is absolutely delicious besides!

Read more great, Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-march-4th/

Read more great, Pennywise Platter Thursday Posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/03/pennywise-platter-thursday-34.html

Read more great, Real Food Wednesday Posts here:  http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/03/03/real-food-wednesday-march-3-2010/

We love Stan’s cookbook and use it ALL the time. You can find it at Amazon, link below.

Real Food Heals

Real Food Heals—How I Used Real Food to Restore My Health

By Stanley A. Fishman, Author of Tender Grassfed Meat

I was about to see “The Doctor” after surviving an asthma attack that almost killed me. The news was grim. The Doctor spoke with total confidence and authority as he pronounced my death sentence. I had severe COPD and emphysema. My lungs had suffered severe damage—damage so severe that they would never get better. In fact, they would get worse. I could slow the deterioration somewhat by taking heavy doses of steroids, which would have “side effects.” But this would only slow down the inevitable. Maybe I could get a lung transplant, but the waiting list was long. The anti-rejection drugs I would have to take would lower my immunity, and I was already having trouble fighting off frequent respiratory infections, even with antibiotics.

Eleven years later, I am healthier than I have ever been in my life. Asthma is no longer a problem. Actually, nothing is a problem. I have not taken any medication (prescription, or over-the-counter), for over five years. The lungs that would never heal—work fine.

After The Doctor pronounced sentence, I walked to my car. The short walk left me exhausted. I sat and thought. After much life experience, I had come to realize that we are often invited to participate in certain “dramas” that are common to our society. I had also learned that we often have the power to refuse to take part in the “drama,” and take another path. The Doctor had invited me to participate in an emphysema “drama.” The script was clear. I would get sicker and weaker, as the drugs that gave me temporary relief destroyed my body. I would suffer for a few years, turn into a complete invalid, and then die in some crummy hospital, struggling to breathe as the medication no longer worked. My family would suffer emotionally. It would be so sad, so tragic. I decided right there and then that I would have no part of that “drama.” I would reject it completely, and take another path.

But how? I had been brought up to believe in The Doctor. The Doctor was never wrong. The Doctor knew everything there was to know about health and sickness, life and death. The Doctor was to be obeyed completely, because he or she was The Doctor. But I had learned something about doctors in my years as an attorney. Many of them did great harm to their patients, through ignorance, harmful medical practices, carelessness, greed, exhaustion, or all of the above. Very often they did not know what to do.

I Had to Find Another Way

My great strength as an attorney was research. I decided I would use that ability to find another way. I had a client who had been trying for years to get me interested in alternative medicine. I would start there.

It was hard at first. For a while, I had to stop working. I had to sleep in a chair. (Luckily it was a very comfortable, huge, overstuffed armchair.) I could not climb stairs, or blow out a candle. It was a struggle to get out of bed. Every time I caught a cold or flu, it turned into bronchitis or pneumonia. I had various skin, digestive, and sinus problems. But things got better. I took as little medication as I could, despite the orders of The Doctor to take medication every day. I refused to take steroids. I tried a number of alternative remedies. Some helped, many were useless, and a few made things worse. I stuck with what worked and discarded the rest.

Several years later, my health had improved and stabilized. I could work, though not as much as I wanted. The asthma was not very active, unless I caught a cold. I could live a somewhat normal life. I had learned how to control asthma attacks without medication. But I still got bronchitis or pneumonia every time I got a cold or flu. Several times a year I had to resort to antibiotics, which dealt with the infection, but did great damage to my digestive system. I could not exercise. I could not climb stairs. I could not blow out a candle. I was exhausted most of the time. I still had various skin and digestive problems. I still had sinus problems. I would get depressed about my health. My hearing and eyesight had deteriorated, and I had almost no sense of smell. And I was not getting better.

My client got me to subscribe to an alternative doctor’s newsletter. One of his newsletters had a short summary of the research of Dr. Weston A. Price. And it had a reference to the Weston A. Price Foundation. I felt a thrill, as if I somehow knew that this was the answer. And it was.

Dr. Price Taught the Benefit of Real Food

I consider Dr. Price’s research to be the single most important scientific discovery ever made. Some of his most important findings were:

People who only eat traditional foods that have been valued and used for thousands of years do not have chronic disease. They do not have cancer, heart disease, asthma, tooth decay, diabetes, or any of the other diseases that plague modern life. They have no crime. They are calm and cheerful. They are fertile, and free of birth defects. People who eat modern processed, adulterated and chemicalized foods are vulnerable to every one of these chronic diseases, are often depressed or violent, and suffer from even more illnesses.

I spent many hours on the website of the Weston A. Price Foundation. I bought Nourishing Traditions and read it cover to cover. I learned the wisdom of Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig, and others. I learned what to eat and what not to eat. I learned how to avoid toxic foods, oils, and cooking utensils. I learned of the blessings of lacto-fermented foods, and how to make some of them.

How I Changed My Diet

I stopped eating processed foods, unless they were organic. I stopped eating fast food. I gave up all soft drinks, including the cokes I used to drink every day. I stopped using polyunsaturated vegetable oils, and switched to traditional saturated fats. I avoided all unfermented soy. I gave up desserts and reduced my consumption of sweeteners to almost nothing. I started to eat pastured butter, pure organic milk, yogurt, and cheese, organic vegetables, lacto-fermented vegetables such as real sauerkraut, homemade bone broths, and hormone-free meats, including hormone-free liver, and other organ meats. I got a reverse osmosis system to purify our water. I avoided chemical toxins as much as I could. And my body slowly started to heal.

Then I got a cold and developed bronchitis. But I felt a strength and confidence in my body that I just did not have before. I drank a lot of homemade bone broth and got well. No antibiotics! Since that day, I have never taken any kind of medication. To paraphrase Hippocrates of Cos, the greatest of ancient physicians—my medicine was my food and my food was my medicine.

The final step was when I switched to grassfed meat and fat. Unfortunately, I ruined the first grassfed meat I cooked. It was tough and terrible. I put my research skills to work once again. I learned how traditional peoples cooked grassfed meat, and through trial and error, adapted their methods to the modern kitchen. This research became the basis of my cookbook, Tender Grassfed Meat: Traditional Ways to Cook Healthy Meat. Once I got grassfed meat to taste great, we switched completely to grassfed and grass finished meat. Every part of my body began to regenerate. I could feel it.

After years of eating only real food, every chronic illness I had is gone. I have no symptoms of anything. I sleep well, and wake up full of energy every morning, eager for the joys of the day. I am cheerful and optimistic. My eyesight and hearing have improved greatly, and my sense of smell has returned. I can easily climb stairs, blow out candles, leap out of bed, and do everything I could before I got sick. I have a powerful immune system that fights off everything.

Real food restored my health. Real food maintains my health.

I am not a doctor, and the above is not intended to be medical advice. The above is a description of how I improved my health with real food.

Thank you Stan for another wonderful post.  You can buy Stan’s cookbook at Amazon, link below. It’s one of my most used cookbooks – Mom

Fight the Flu with Real Food

By Stanley A. Fishman, Author of Tender Grassfed Meat

The flu, especially H1N1, is big news today. The words “Swine Flu” invoke fear and even panic.

The general focus on dealing with the flu is with vaccines and drugs. However, your body’s first line of defense against the flu, real food, is all but ignored.

Hippocrates of Cos is perhaps the most famous physician of all time. He is known as the father of medicine. He wrote the Hippocratic Oath, which used to be taken by all doctors. He is famous for his dictum, “First, do no harm.” What is not so well known is that Hippocrates advocated using food and other natural methods first, before anything else was tried. Drugs would only be used if the more natural methods failed, and surgery was used only as the last resort.

I have followed Hippocrates’ advice, and it has worked very well for me, my family, and others.

The First Line of Defense—Broth

Traditional peoples knew which foods could heal and prevent many illnesses. This knowledge was gained by observation, sometimes over thousands of years.

After much research, I have combined a number of these traditional healing foods into one broth. I call this Quadruple Healing Broth. We have found this broth to be a cold-buster and a flu-stopper.

Chicken soup is one of the most famous home remedies for colds and the flu. Recent studies have found that chicken soup has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory qualities. The nutrients in a good chicken soup will strengthen your immune system, giving your body the nutrients it needs to heal itself.

Onions were prized by the ancient Egyptians, the ancient (and contemporary) Indians, and many other peoples for their healing qualities.

Green onions were valued by the Chinese, who often ate them daily and used them to treat colds and the flu.

Leeks were also used by the ancient Egyptians for healing all sorts of ailments, and were so loved by the Welsh that leeks became a symbol of Wales, signifying pride, strength, and health.

Garlic was used for healing by the ancient Egyptians, the Indians, the Chinese, and many other peoples. Garlic has many anti–inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and immune-boosting qualities.

However, it must be understood that all foods used for healing by traditional peoples were organic and were not GMO. Modern factory versions of these foods are very different and just will not work. The chicken soup was always made from scratch. You cannot pour health-giving nutrients out of a can, or extract them from a bouillon cube.

Quadruple Healing Broth is the cornerstone of our Hippocratic first line of defense. At the first sign of a cold or flu, we sip plenty of this broth, hot, not scalding. Usually, a few cups of this broth (sometimes only one or two), is enough to stop the cold or flu in its tracks.

However, sometimes you cannot sip broth because you are throwing up or coughing. This led me to develop two food-based remedies, one for vomiting and one for coughing. I came up with both of these after researching a large number of Ayurvedic remedies, and trying a few combinations.

Food-Based Vomiting Remedy

You will need the following ingredients:

1 organic onion, peeled

1 (2-inch) piece of organic fresh ginger, peeled, sliced, and crushed

Pure filtered water, (reverse osmosis water is best, but distilled water will also work)

1.Make ginger tea. Place the ginger in a small pan with two cups of filtered water, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for ten minutes. Remove from the heat.

2.Grate the onion into a bowl, using a hand grater. Place the grated onion in a clean, chemical-free cloth (cheese cloth works fine), and squeeze the cloth-covered onion over a bowl until no more juice drips through the cloth. You should have a tablespoon or so of juice in the bowl. Immediately place the juice in a small cup (like a shot glass), and have the sick person swallow it all at once. It goes down easier if the swallower holds their nose shut with the other hand.

This should stop the vomiting immediately.

The onion juice should be made just before using. It should be taken immediately after being made, and should not sit in a bowl.

3.10 minutes after the onion juice is taken, one tablespoon of strained ginger tea should be taken.

4.Every 15 minutes for the next hour, take one tablespoon of strained ginger tea. This will help rehydrate the body and prevent further vomiting.

5.After this hour, small sips of broth can be tried.

If vomiting reoccurs, the whole remedy should be repeated. Usually, this will not be necessary.

Recently, a teenage boy who had the swine flu was vomiting every few minutes. He stopped vomiting after he swallowed the onion juice. Several hours later he gulped down a cold drink and threw up once. He took the remedy once more and never vomited again. The next day he was almost completely well.

Food-Based Coughing Remedy

You will need the following ingredients:

Organic turmeric

Organic raw honey

This remedy could not be easier. You mix one-quarter teaspoon of organic turmeric with one teaspoon of the honey, then swallow it. It should provide immediate relief from any cough. You can repeat this every four hours, as needed.

Recently, a woman with severe immune problems caught the swine flu. She was treated with Tamiflu, but developed a constant, horrible wracking cough that was so bad she could not sleep. The cough medicine prescribed by her doctor did not help. She had tried the remedy using non-organic turmeric, and it did not help. I convinced her husband to get organic turmeric. She took the remedy again, and her cough was reduced to a very mild, occasional cough, and she was able to sleep. She never had a bad cough again. She went on to make a full recovery from the swine flu.

The Second Line of Defense—Supplements

What does a family do on the rare occasion that the broth does not kill the flu? We use a product created by Doctor Mayer Eisenstein of Homefirst Health Services. This product consists of vitamin D3 with probiotics. The web address for this product is as follows:http://homefirst.com/natural-pharm-store/vitamin-d/pro-d-5-with-probiotics-1.html

Doctor Eisenstein, a true Hippocratic physician, explains how to use the product at the bottom of the page.

This product, taken with the broth, has never failed us.

The Third Line of Defense—The Doctor

This would be to go to a doctor. Hopefully, a doctor who listens to his or her patients, is open to alternative remedies, and is much more than a pill pusher. I have not had to go to the third line of defense for over five years.

Real food has enabled me and my family to defeat colds and the flu for years. Unlike drugs, the only side effect is that real food improves your general health and immune system.

The following recipe for Quadruple Healing Broth is taken from my cookbook, Tender Grassfed Meat: Traditional Ways to Cook Healthy Meat.

Quadruple Healing Broth

Makes 6 to 8 quarts

4 to 6 pounds assorted free range chicken parts and bones, such as wing tips, backs, necks, carcasses from a roast chicken, legs, wings, etc.

Enough filtered water to cover the bones by 2 to 3 inches

½ cup organic, raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar

Assorted Root Vegetables

1 large organic leek, carefully washed, and chopped

1 large or 2 medium organic onions, peeled and chopped

1 bunch organic green onions, roots trimmed off, chopped

1 bulb of organic garlic, peeled and slightly crushed

For Simmering

Several chicken giblets

½ bunch organic Italian parsley, including stems, each stalk cut in half

2 tablespoons coarse unrefined sea salt

1.Peeling and crushing a whole bulb of garlic may seem like a lot of work. It is actually quite easy with the proper technique. You need a heavy cleaver or rolling pin. Separate the garlic cloves out of the bulb. Place the clove on a wooden cutting board, and press down hard on it with a rolling pin, or the flat of a cleaver. The clove will crack, and the skin will pop off easily. You may need to make one small cut at the root end of the clove to remove the remaining skin.

2.Put the bones and scraps of meat in the pot, except for the giblets. Add the water and the vinegar. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

3.Add all the vegetables. Heat the pot until the water begins a strong simmer. This will take a while due to the large volume of ingredients and water.

4.When the water is close to boiling, remove all the scum that rises to the top with a skimming spoon. This can also take a while, but is necessary.

5.Once the scum is gone, add the giblets, parsley, and the salt.

6.Cover and simmer gently for 12 to 14 hours.

7.Using a ladle, strain into jars, cover, and refrigerate once the bottles have cooled down. The fat will rise to the top, and will solidify in the refrigerator. This fat cap will help preserve the broth. The fat should be removed before the broth is reheated.

I am not a doctor, and the above is not intended to be medical advice. Quadruple Healing Broth is a food, not a medicine. By all means, see a doctor if you want medical advice. The above is just a description of how some families deal with colds and the flu.

Read more, great Pennywise Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/10/pennywise-platter.html

Read more, wonderful, Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-16th

Here’s a link for Stanley’s cookbook. It’s a wonderful book and I highly recommend it! – Mom

Homeopathic Remedies for Flu

Ten Homeopathic Remedies to Use during the Flu Season and Swine Flu Epidemic of 2009

We’ve used homeopathy, successfully with our kids and ourselves for many years. Here’s a great article on flu remedies.  You should be able to find them at any health food store. For more information about homeopathy, visit Melanie’s site, listed below,  http://homeopathyhome.com/ is a great resource also.  Mom

by Melanie Grimes, citizen journalist

Homeopathy has been very successful in treating the symptoms of flu and the Swine Flu pandemic of 2009 has been no exception. Homeopaths gather symptoms from a large population and discern what is called a “genus epidemicus”. The genus is the remedy, or group of remedies, with the symptoms of most people who have a particular flu. These remedies are therefore the most likely remedies to treat a particular flu strain.

The Swine Flu showed the typical symptoms of a regular flu with the exception of high fever and chills. As for the genus epidemicus of this flu, there are a few variations of this flu, so a few remedies have been required. This is much the same as in the Flu Epidemic of 1918 when two remedies were used to great advantage and a near 100% survival rate. The remedies mostly used in that flu were Bryonia and Gelsemium.

Remedies that homeopaths have found useful in treating this 2009 flu season include:

1. Ferrum Phos is always a good remedy to use in the first stages of flu. Ferrum phos can be taken in the 30c potency. Even the 6x potency, sold as a tissue salt, can stop a flu in its tracks. Ferrum phos can be alternated with Natrum Sulf during the first days of the flu.

2.Dulcamara is useful at the onset of a high fever. The Dulcamara cough hurts from muscular soreness. This flu is frequently brought on by cold, damp weather.

3. Nux vomica treats a flu with chills and pains in bones and joints. The irritability and chills are very marked.

4. Gelsemium treats a low fever, and is also a good remedy if you have not been well since the flu. Gelsemium patients experience weakness with shivering.

5. Arsenicum treats a burning fever that is accompanied with chills, restlessness and anxiety. The person needing Arsenicum is usually thirsty but only drinks small quantities at a time. They can have burning pains.

6. Bryonia is good for type of flu when the person does not want to move. The mouth is dry but they are thirsty.

7. Rhus tox flu can be accompanied with aching bones, restlessness, and a red tipped tongue. This is another remedy that is useful when the flu is brought on by damp weather.

8. Belladonna treats a high fever that comes on suddenly. Other accompanying symptoms of Belladonna include heat and redness.

9. Eupatorium perfoliatum experiences severe bone pains with great thirst.

10. Baptisia is a good remedy for flu, especially if it’s centered in the gastro-intestinal track. This remedy can be helpful in the early stages of the flu. The person needing Baptisia can be weak, listless, and feel sore.

The above remedies cover the general conditions and treat the flu symptoms that most have experienced so far. Try these homeopathic remedies to help speed your recovery during the flu season of 2009.

Originally published May 15 2009

About the author

Melanie Grimes is a writer, screenwriter, journal editor, and adjunct faculty member at Bastyr University.She has written an eBook on natural treatments for the flu, available at her blog.

A trained homeopath, she also raises alpacas and is an avid spinner. She is the editor of the homeopathic journal, Simillimum, has been a medical editor for 15 years, won awards as a screenwriter, taught creative writing, founded the first Birkenstock store in the USA (www.mjfeet.com) and authored medical textbooks.

Follow her blog, and get her ebook on Natural Remedies for the Flu is available at:

http://melanie-grimes.blogspot.com/

Read more, wonderful, Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-9th/

Dr. Christopher Plague Tonic

Dr. Christopher’s Plague Tonic

The kids are going back to school next week and that usually starts the cold and flu season around here.  We made this a few years ago and for those simple colds/flu’s that don’t need a trip to the Doctors office, it works wonders.  Our family doctor even gave it the thumbs up.  At the first sign of a cold we take this and lots of vitamin C too.

Here’s the recipe:

Take equal amounts –  everything organic if possible –

about one handful or a third of a cup of each:

Coarsely chopped onion 

Garlic

Ginger   

Hot Peppers – I like to take the seeds out first

Horseradish root – the real stuff, not the jarred kind.

Chop coarsely and put into a blender. Add enough Organic Apple

Cider Vinegar to cover and process. Blend fairly well. It doesn’t have to be

smooth. Pour in a glass jar. Put wax paper under the lid, so no metal can come

into contact with mixture, or use a plastic mason jar lid. After it settles down, there should be about 3/4 inch of vinegar covering the pulp. Sit in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks.

Take 1 – 3 tablespoons per day. If you cannot take that much, start with less and work up to it. The more you take, the more you will build up your hot tolerance.

You can use it daily, up to two tablespoons a day as an immune booster or take more if you’re not feeling well.

Disclaimer: Here at Moms for safe food, we’re moms, not health professionals. We believe in everyone making and being responsible for their own lifestyle choices by doing research and consulting with your family and other trusted advisors. And, if it is a medical opinion you seek, call your doctor.

Read more great, Real Food Wednesday posts here, http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/09/real-food-wednesday-9209.html

The Book that Changed our Lives

I have been studying nutrition and eating healthfully since high school. I remember 30 years ago telling my mother that we should be using butter and not margarine. She didn’t believe me. 🙂

I have been a vegetarian, a vegan, and macrobiotic at different times in my life, trying to find a diet that really worked for me. When my kids were born our diet changed to home cooked meats (mostly fish & chicken), vegetables and grain, mostly healthy with occasional processed food. We were doing okay until I started having some serious health challenges, stemming from the California fires of 2003. I started having serious lung problems that got even worse from a subsequent smoke inhalation. I tried everything from the steroids prescribed by my doctor to homeopathy – I’m trained as a homeopath and did experience some relief from remedies but not enough – and also tried acupuncture, herbs, etc. I was still not doing well. At the same time my husband was experiencing a recurrence of sinus problems that he hadn’t had in years.

We were searching for something that would help us regain our health. I was browsing cookbooks on Amazon.com and found Nourishing Traditions.  It looked really interesting and after reading the reviews, I bought it. We both read it through and it made good sense, we decided to tweak our eating habits. We started making broths from scratch, started making real kefir (from real, raw, whole milk) and kombucha, and we stopped using vegetable oils (esp Canola as it’s made from genetically modified seed) and switched to olive oil, butter and coconut oil.

Within a few months of making those changes both of us experienced a noticeable improvement in our health and day-to-day energy.  I was able to slowly wean off of my inhalers and my husband’s sinuses improved. Our energy greatly improved – and we are both in/near our 50’s.

It’s over 600 pages of research, food information and recipes. The book is laid out with the basic nutritional information – and it’s NOT what we’ve been told before – in the front. Then comes all the recipes with sidebars through out detailing information and research to go along with them. And the recipes are terrific too, for everything from home made stocks, to fish, meat, vegetables, grains, desserts and beverages. There’s a lot of wonderful information on fermented foods and tonics. We now make kefir and kombucha but there are more I’d like to try.  I can’t recommend this book enough, it’s truly a life changer.

 

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Wonderful Kid Remedies

Along with safe food, I’ve also tried to use natural medicine for my kids.  Sometimes we have to go to the doctor but there are many natural remedies that can help with common childhood complaints.

I started using homeopathic remedies when my kids were little. They are a great way to help them through the numerous colds and flu’s that they get when they’re young.

If a child is really ill you need to take them to your doctor of course, but I had a number of times when the remedies really turned things around so my kids didn’t end up needing to go.

Here are four remedies that I’d recommend to have around the house if you’ve got young kids or grandkids.  You can get them at any health food store and I’d suggest a 30c potency.

Pulsatilla

Pulsatilla is often used for colds.  If your child is clingy and won’t leave your side, has a left-sided earache.  Wants to be carried and rocked and will fuss terribly if you put them down, this is the remedy to consider.

Some keynotes for Pulsatilla:  Desires company, will not be left alone. Made better by comfort and fuss. Better for gentle rocking. Thirstless. Thick bland yellow-green discharge from the nose.  Desires cool open air. Left-sided ear pain. This can be a great remedy for any age when you have a cold with the same symptoms.

Belladonna

I’ve used Belladonna successfully with my son, when he had a flu with a high fever.

He was fine and the next thing I knew he woke up with a bad earache and his face was bright red. He had a high fever and he was really out of it.  These are the kind of symptoms where you get freaked out as a parent! I gave him the remedy and within an hour his fever had come down and he was doing much better. By the next day his earache was gone.

Keynotes for Belladonna:  Sudden onset with great intensity. Hot red skin. Hot head and cold feet. Intense pain throbbing in character. Dry skin. Twitching and jerking. Burning painful right ear.

Chamomilla

Chamomilla is the remedy that you can think of when your child is so irritable that you are at the end of your rope. LOL It usually affects the right ear, and the earlobes can be red. One cheek can be red, while the other is pale. They are usually in very bad temper and can be very thirsty for cold water.

Keynotes for Chamomilla: Very irritable and angry. Terrible temper.  Great sensitivity to ear pain.  Wants things and then rejects them.  Demands to be carried.  One cheek red, the other pale.  Better for being carried.

Aconite

This is great remedy for colds and earaches of sudden, intense onset. It can come on after exposure to cold, dry wind. There can be burning pains in either or both ears. They will be restless and can be feeling anxious and afraid. Their skin can be hot and dry and they are very thirsty for cold water. The face can be red and congested.

Keynotes for Aconite: Sudden violent onset. Exposure to cold, dry wind. Restlessness, Anxious.  Intense burning, stinging pain.  Worse for noise and covering. Very thirsty for cold water. Congested circulation. Dry hot skin.

If you’d like to read more about caring for yourself and your family using homeopathic remedies, I’d suggest:

HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE FOR CHILDREN AND INFANTS

D. Ullman 257pp

EVERYBODY’S GUIDE TO HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE

S. Cummings, D. Ullman

THE FAMILY GUIDE TO HOMEOPATHY

A. Lockie 402pp

HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE AT HOME

M. Panos, J. Heimlich

THE COMPLETE HOMEOPATHY HANDBOOK

M. Castro 253pp

And a great website for all things homeopathic can be found at:

http://www.homeopathyhome.com/index.shtml

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