Check out the trailer for it:

Have you tried changing your diet? Do you have [...]]]> If you’re curious about the health benefits of switching to a whole foods, vegetable-based diet, but don’t want to wade through all the science and clinical evidence in The China Study,  you’ll probably really enjoy this movie coming out this summer.

Check out the trailer for it:

Have you tried changing your diet? Do you have questions about how to do it? Let me know. I’m happy to answer questions!

Enjoy!

Misty

Reading The China Study was probably the big turning point in our family’s diet and health a little over 3 years ago. 

We had big reasons to be looking for ways to be more healthy.

Here are 3 of them:

1.  Tom was looking at open heart surgery to replace a congenitally defective heart valve along with replacing [...]]]>

Reading The China Study was probably the big turning point in our family’s diet and health a little over 3 years ago. 

We had big reasons to be looking for ways to be more healthy.

Here are 3 of them:

1.  Tom was looking at open heart surgery to replace a congenitally defective heart valve along with replacing a section of his aorta that went past the arteries up supplying the brain = they would freeze him down and stop blood flow to the brain for a time while they fixed both problems = very scary to both of us and our 4 young children.  He would then have an artificial valve that was only supposed to last 10 years or so before needing to be replaced.  He also has genetically high cholesterol.

2.  I had severe heartburn that had increased with each pregnancy.  The GI scope showed damage and the specialist said I should increase my once a day prescription to twice a day. 

“For how long?”  I asked.  (What do you think he said?)

“For the rest of your life,” he said. (I was in my mid-30s)

“Is there anything else I can do?  Any diet or lifestyle changes?” (What do you think he said this time?)

“Nope.  With a severe case like yours, you need to take 2 pills a day, for the rest of your life.”

3.  Tim, our 4th, had been rushed to the hospital only able to breath by screaming non-stop.  He had viral-induced asthma.  So, any time he got a cold, it would move to a cough, then his airways would swell, he would have trouble breathing, we would give him Albuterol, which wouldn’t work well enough, so he would be put on steroids.  After the hospital and 2 repeat episodes of the above sequence, they put him on a once a day asthma drug . . . indefinitely.  The doctor said he might outgrow the condition when he was 5 or so.  He was still a baby.

We switched to eating predominantly a vegan diet with an emphasis on whole foods - brown rice, whole wheat flour, fruits, and vegetables, etc.

The results:

1. Tom’s cholesterol dropped significantly the first few months.  His new heart valve is doing very well and we hope that on this diet it will last longer than the average of 10 years.
2. I’m off ALL my heartburn prescriptions.  I occasionally need an antacid after eating tomato or chocolate (or the now and then pizza)
3. After being vegan for a while and a few colds without breathing trouble, I stopped giving Tim his medication and he’s never had trouble since.  When I mentioned to the doctor that diet might be why he was doing so well, she said our success was probably because we hadn’t been through the cold and flu season yet.  He was 1 then.  He’s 4 now, and still not a single whiff of lung trouble since.  That’s 3 cold and flu seasons.

A few of the things that stood out to me the first time I read The China Study:

• A study where they gave a peanut mold toxin that would cause liver cancer to 2 sets of rats.  One they fed on veggie protein and one of dairy protein.  The dairy group developed liver cancer while the veggie group hardly did.  And even more amazing, they switched the diets and the cancer shrunk in the previously dairy group and began to develop in the previously veggie group.
• The comparison of poor versus rich diets = veggie/grain versus meat/dairy and the poor versus rich illnesses = diarrheal/infections/etc. versus heart/cancer/diabetes.
• An image in the book of a before-and-after image of a man’s artery - very clogged and then incredibly open.  He was a man who didn’t accept that his heart disease diagnosis was forever and all he could do was take handfuls of pills for the rest of his life.  He discovered the whole foods/vegetable based diet, stuck to it despite considerable ridicule from those around him, and reversed his heart disease.  A drug doing this kind of thing would be hailed as a miracle saving millions of lives from the #1 killer in America.  It’s DIET guys, NOT drugs!
• The studies.  The studies.  The studies.
• The results.
• The simplicity.
• The logic.
• The hope.

I know some may have objections or disagree with portions of The China Study, but really, where’s the possible harm?  If it even has a tiny chance of helping with the big killers in our society, why wouldn’t you give it a try?  Are we really so attached to eating meat, dairy, and eggs? 

I believe the science supports eating this way.  Common sense supports eating this way.  Our family’s results support eating this way. 

I just wanted to share and hope this would help encourage others to take the leap and see how it helps their health.

Enjoy!

Even better, a study was designed where diabetic, pre-diabetic, and non-diabetic volunteers are split into groups and half are given the drug [...]]]> What would you say to a new drug, taken twice a day before two of your meals, that gave you a consistent average weightloss of half a pound a week, and had no side effects?

Even better, a study was designed where diabetic, pre-diabetic, and non-diabetic volunteers are split into groups and half are given the drug and half a placebo.  All volunteers were then given a high-carbohydrate breakfast of orange juice, a bagel, and butter, after which their blood glucose levels were measured.  This was repeated a week later with the placebo and drug group switched.  The results showed over a 25% lower blood glucose in the diabetic group, and an amazing 50% drop in the pre-diabetic group, which was better even than the drop in the non-diabetic group.

Now the sour news.  No, really sour!  This isn’t really a drug, it’s a condiment, namely apple cider vinegar.  Yep, two tablespoons mixed in some water with a sweetener was taken a few minutes before a meal and resulted in significant drops in blood glucose on par with a diabetics drug like Metformin ($800 – $1800 per year), except the vinegar is much cheaper and much safer. 

For the weightloss group, the drink was taken twice a day before two meals to see if it decreased blood cholesterol levels.  It didn’t, but the study participants lost weight, an average 4 pounds over 2 weeks - an excellent side effect!  Other studies found that vinegar increased satiety (how full you feel), and that maybe the decreased cravings were responsible for the weight loss.  (I could sure use fewer cravings around 9 p.m. when the kids are in bed and I’m browsing through the snack cupboard)

So, add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to a glass of water, a glass of juice, a homemade vinegrette, or just eat a couple of pickles with two meals a day.  To sweeten it up, add some honey or blackstrap molasses for thier health benefits.  You’ll pay pennies instead of dollars per dose, you’ll help nip glucose levels in the bud, and enjoy a steady weight loss along the way.

Enjoy!

DocMisty

Here are a [...]]]> Like a sunburn that appears hours after forgetting your sunscreen, a poison ivy or oak rash is insanely itchy and shows up way after your error in judgement of trudging through three-leaved greenery.  Or worse, you figure out later that the dog you were playing or the ball you were throwing were coated in the nasty stuff.

Here are a few tips to avoid the painful condition:

1.  Learn to identify it.  It’s really hard to avoid it if you don’t recognize it.  Remember the saying: “Leaves of three, let it be; berries white, danger in sight.”  Here are a few characteristic to help:  pointed leafs in groups of three, woody-looking stem (not spiky and green like raspberry’s), can have rootlets in the air - little stings hanging down from the stems, leaves are reddish in spring, green in summer, and yellow, orange, or red in the fall, the stem that the holds the leaves alternates instead of being directly opposite it’s neighbor, the leaf surface is smooth with few or no teeth along its edge.

A great resource is this collection of pictures sent in by readers asking if their plant is poison ivy.  See if you can figure it out, and then read what the expert has to say.

2.  When exposed, wash and wash fast!  In about 10 minutes, the oils in the poison ivy plant will make a permanent bond with your skin, and your rash will show up in the next 12 to 48 hours.  It is a oil, and can be washed away with lots of soapy water.  But, the FDA recommends using rubbing alcohol first since it is a solvent that will remove the oil.  Soap runs the risk of simply moving the oils to other parts of the body.  There is nothing worse than hopping in the shower, soaping up, only to have the oil spread to your nether regions or body creases unitentionally.  So, the recommendation is rubbing alcohol first, rinse that off with water, and finally lots of soap and water.  There is also a commercial product called Technu designed specifically to remove the oil.

Finally, remember, oil will hang out indefinitely, even years.  Think of the work boots, hunting jackets, gardening gloves, pet collars, outside balls, and all the other items you may not clean on a regular basis.  The oil will still be there waiting for you when you get back.  Wipe them down with alcohol and water, too. 

And remember, the weepy rash does NOT spread.  Only the oil spreads the rash.  Once you’ve cleaned the oil well, it is NOT contagious.  There are two reasons the rash is commonly believed to spread.  

• People are re-exposed by touching items they haven’t cleaned
• The areas with the largest dose of oil develop a rash first, while those with a smaller exposure may show up days later, giving an appearance of ’spreading’.

3.  Once you have the rash, you’re looking at 14 to 20 days before it runs it’s course.  Not fun at all.  And all modern medicine can do for you is offer a Benedryl pill or cortisone cream.  Here are some additional options:

Kitchen remedies:

• Oatmeal – try Aveeno products, or make your own by running some oatmeal through the blender.  Add a little water to make a soothing paste, add it to a cool to warm bath and soak for a while, or simply cook up some oatmeal, plaster it on the rash and let it dry and flake off on it’s own.  Warning – you will look funny, and others may laugh.
• Baking Soda – Add 1/2 c. to a bath, or mix it into a paste and apply.
• Vinegar – Dabbing vinegar onto the rash has been known to help the itch, and dry out the rash.
• Calamine or Caladryl lotion – a staple of itchy skin condition, these lotions are great remedies to try and relieve the itching.

Herbal remedies:

•   Jewelweed – also known as ‘touch-me-not’ is one of the most well known herbal remedy to poison ivy.  The two plants usually grow together which makes jewelweed easy to find.  There are a few ways to use it.  Crush the juicy stem and rub on the skin.  Chop the herb, boil in water, and strain.  The pretty orange liquid can be used immediately or frozen for later.  Finally, chopped herb can be soaked in alchohol or witch hazel to make an extract.  It is also available in a natural soap combined with other soothing ingredients.  Years of anectdotal evidence supports using jewelweed, but sadly, a small scientific study of 10 people showed no improvement.  As with many herbal choices, at least it is a safe option to try, without the typical side effects of prescription medications.
• Tea tree oil – known for its antiseptic and healing ability, a small amount mixed in a carrier oil, or a cream containing tea tree oil can help speed the healing process and minimize the chance of secondary infections that are common when the rash is scratched repeatedly.
• Comfrey – well known for its ability to help heal injuries and reduce the inflammation.  Steep the chopped leaves in boiling water and apply the leaves as a hot poultice or soak a rag in the ‘tea’ and apply as an extract.  Another option is an ointment containing comfrey and other healing herbs.
• Aloe Vera – commonly used for inflammatory skin conditions like sunburns.  Aloe, especially fresh, can help soothe and heal the itchy, painful rash.
• Plantain - a common yard weed with an effective drawing and healing action that works well on bites, stings, infections, and inflammed rashes.  Harvest the fresh leaves, crush or chew them, and apply them with a bandage to hold them in place.  Caution: repeated use can cause some browning of the skin, harmless but it may bother some people.

I hope this information helps some poison ivy/oak sufferers, or at least directs you to what you need. 

DocMisty

It’s that time of year, bugs, bugs, and more bugs.  There are few things more annoying than bites and stings that keep coming to bother you for days.  Anti-itch creams only work so well, and for those who have a more severe reaction there isn’t much you can do besides take a Benadryl, which may or may not [...]]]>  

It’s that time of year, bugs, bugs, and more bugs.  There are few things more annoying than bites and stings that keep coming to bother you for days.  Anti-itch creams only work so well, and for those who have a more severe reaction there isn’t much you can do besides take a Benadryl, which may or may not help.

I have two alternative tips: a household remedy and an herbal remedy.

Household remedy:  I read a hilarious article about a man who received so much conflicting advice after being stung, that he conducted his own experiment.  He went to a beekeeper to be stung on a regular basis so that he could try each remedy and tracked its effects every half hour that he was awake.  We can be the beneficiaries of his bravery.  The winners?  Toothpaste and ice!  Both are simple, cheap, and effective.  As a novice beekeeper myself, I agree.  Rub in the regular minty toothpaste, ice it for 20 minutes anytime it starts hurting or itching, and you’re good to go.

Herbal remedy:

Common Plantain

Look no further than the annoying weeds you’ve been trying to get out of your grass.  Plantain is a great herb for bites, stings, and wounds, and grows everywhere weeds do.  Once you learn to identify it, you can grab a few leaves, chew or crush them to release the juices, and apply.  Tape a bandage over the green pulp and you’ll be surprised how well it heals a sting, usually relieving the pain within 15 minutes.  It works just as well on cuts and absesses, so keep the green pulp in mind next time you get an injury in the yard.  You’ll never look at weeds quite the same again.

Tips to recognize plantain:  The Common Plantain has more rounded leaves while the Ribwort has long straight ones.  They both work equally well.  They have skinny flower stalks that shoot high from the center with distinctive cone or spike-shaped flower clusters.  (They make great substitute swords or targets for swords, according to my boys.)

English/Ribwort Plantain

So, next time you’ve got an annoying insect injury, chew a weed while you ice it, spit the green mush onto it, and mix in a little toothpaste while you brush that grassy taste out of your mouth.  Now aren’t you glad you know all this?

DocMisty

Have you ever tried to hold an ice cube to the lip of a screaming toddler after he has fallen for the umpteenth time and smashed his lip?  Yes, the “It’ll hurt now, but make it get better faster,” argument falls on deaf ears.  Yours and his.

Next time, get a popsicle!  Yes, in the [...]]]> Quick tip:

Have you ever tried to hold an ice cube to the lip of a screaming toddler after he has fallen for the umpteenth time and smashed his lip?  Yes, the “It’ll hurt now, but make it get better faster,” argument falls on deaf ears.  Yours and his.

Next time, get a popsicle!  Yes, in the long tradition of “Why, did I not think of that?”, it’s a simple solution and you’re both happy.  Teach him to paint his lips with the lovely neon blue color of the popsicle to make sure the whole injury gets iced down, and if he wants another?  Why, today is a special day, and he can have as many as he wants.

Instead of a traumatic DocMom moment, you might find him banging his lip again just for the popsicles.

DocMisty

P.S. It doesn’t work so well with bruises elsewhere, but you’re welcome to try.

While it may be difficult to use with young children who don’t know what’s good for them, I found a great aid a few years [...]]]> Ok, so it’s not a cure, but as I chase down another kid with the dreaded Kleenex in hand, you have to wonder if there is a better way.

While it may be difficult to use with young children who don’t know what’s good for them, I found a great aid a few years back for those nasty head colds, especially if they turn into the even nastier sinus infection.

Sorry, it’s not an easy to swallow pill paid for by your insurance, though the science behind it is just as conclusive. It’s a bottle of saline solution you squirt up your nose. No, don’t stop reading yet. It’s not as bad as it sounds. And you shouldn’t be thinking ‘snot washer’, instead think (and google) ‘nasal rinse’.

Warning: graphic description following Basically, your body produces snot to ‘wash’ out the infecting viruses or foreign objects (for those of you whose children shove peanuts and small items up their noses). The faster and better it does this, the sooner you get better. Since you can’t increase your mucous output, you have to use something else – the nasal rinse. Fill a bottle with warm water, add a little salt and baking soda (1/2 t. of a 2 to 1 salt/baking soda mix to 8 oz. water), lean over the sink and rinse away. Ta dah! You’re doing five days of snot work in one.

You can use your own bottle, but squirting up while leaning over is easier said than done. And leaning over makes sure the water goes in one nostril and out the other (nostril, not ear) without getting to the back of the throat , which is less than pleasant. Save yourself some pain and buy one ready made from NeilMed for $3.99 or at many of the local stores that now carry them.

And the science says it helps decrease healing time with a cold, sinusitis, and even divers who have ear pressure troubles can benefit.

Study after study show how effective it is, but a $5 bottle doesn’t get pushed with the doctors as well as a $500 drug and all it’s reps.

For example, in 150 adults with chronic sinusitis, over 70% had an improvement in symptoms while a third decreased their medication usage. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001 Jul;125(1):44-8) Fewer symptoms and less medication are hallmarks of great alternatives to typical care. Why take an antibiotic with all its risks when simple salt water will work as well or better?

Personally, I had a sinus infection while pregnant with my fourth. I had the full-blown infection: fever, tender face, aching teeth, head feeling like it would explode whenever I leaned over to pick up one more Lego on the floor. Being in my first trimester, I didn’t really want to take medication I didn’t need to. While searching for an alternative, I stumbled across the sinus rinse. It was an answer to a prayer. I rinsed four times a day, and by day two had gotten over the hump and started improving. By day five or six, I was back to my normal nauseated self – not ‘nauseating’, I was pregnant, remember.

Enjoy and may you and your family be snot-free!

DocMisty