Lets Chat about Health

Hi – I wanted to give a link to the place I buy tooth chips – soap for your teeth.

http://www.roseofsharonacres.com/

I have been using them for about a year and I haven’t had any adverse reaction, although the rest of the family won’t even try it. I know that my four year old won’t brush with baking soda! LOL I’d like to see his face if he would try it!

This soapmaker is actually fairly close to me, and sells her products in stores around here, but I usually order from her etsy store because there is a bigger selection.

I use the lip balm, the bar shampoo, the lotion, the bar soap and the tooth chips. Oh, and the cocoa butter bar lotion.

Check it out.

Gem

Hey guys, I love talking about healthy eating. I know a lot of the stuff I am suppose to be doing but I don’t always follow it.

Heather, I have a raw foods cookbook– Rejuvenate Your Life by Serene Allison I bought it on http://www.aboverubies.org or .com (not sure which)

I have been reading info. and making changes for 4-5 years now but I haven’t stayed the course (my life story) throughout. The following things are things we do or have done but not on a consistent basis…

1) On Sundays for lunch we have a fruit tray and veggie tray. Gives our bodies a day of rest from heavier foods that we have eaten throughout the week.

2) We make fruit smoothies about 3 times a week with Frozen/Fresh Strawberries, Fresh Spinach leaves, bananas, and unsweetened apple juice.

3) We make our own granola for cereal instead of buying boxed cereals.

Those are just a few things that we have done. I still have a long way to go to get rid of white sugars and flours totally. I have a mill and bread machine and use it often but not exclusively. We also try to use natural means to keep healthy and be proactive with probiotics and vitamins and herbs.

I have enjoyed reading everyone’s posts..keep it up!!

Shelly

I just found this on a search for homemade toothpaste, in case anyone is interested.

A common recipe for homemade toothpaste is four parts baking soda to one part salt to one part flavored extract. Adding drops of glycerin to this concoction will give your mixture more of the look and feel of a commercial toothpaste.

Mix the ingredients and store in an airtight container.

The key is to experiment with the balance of the elements until you create a paste that works best for you. Try different flavors including peppermint, cinnamon or vanilla extracts. You could even try ground sage, oil of rose and lemon or orange rinds–whatever suits you.

Personally, I wouldn’t add the glycerin. I’m thinking peppermint or wintergreen oil for flavor and fressssshness.

Off to bed… 😆

For our family it’s all about balance. We try to eat a variety of good quality, healthy foods most of the time. Variety can cover the nutritional needs pretty well.

We try to fall somewhere between the fads and the guy we knew who turned orange from his all-carrot diet and those who think the four food groups are sugar, salt, fat, and caffeine. 🙂

We have a big garden that we enjoy and we use lots of beans, fresh veggies, and whole grains whenever we can. But we also have treats now and then and feel no guilt for that occasional bowl of ice cream. 🙂

Someone mentioned pizza. It can be very healthy. We make our own whole wheat crust and homemade tomato sauce. A favorite for some of our family is to do that as deep dish filled with spinach and garlic. You can go light on the cheese to up the health quotient.

Now for a little fun. I like making people think so I’ll leave you with some food for thought:

* On the phrase “all natural”: Have you ever thought about how meaningless those words can be? It’s used in marketing to imply all sorts of healthiness in lousy foods. But think about it: Dirt is all natural. Aluminum is a basic naturally occurring element. Cyanide and arsenic are all natural. Oh, and let’s not forget about uranium. Shall we eat those things? Nah.

* On raw vs cooked: Sure, some vitamins can be destroyed by cooking. But did you know that some foods don’t release their nutrients unless they are cooked? For example, cooked carrots can have more antioxidants than fresh, cooked tomatoes can have more lycopene than fresh, heating beans shuts down an enzyme inhibitor that would otherwise stop your body from digesting the protein, and steaming broccoli increases cancer-fighting glucosinolates. The effect varies with the particular food and the method of cooking.

* On carbs and grain: Carbs are the body’s energy source. There’s a difference between simple and complex carbs. Complex carbs, found in whole grains and other foods, are digested slowly and healthily without all the bad effects of simple carbs. Whole grains are a primary source of fiber and vitamin B1, a lack of which can cause nasty diseases. If you don’t have enough carbs (not a problem for most of us) then exercising will be extremely difficult.

Well, did it make you think? Enjoy a day filled with balance and variety!

Thank you so much for your post, Diane. You read my thoughts – this is exactly what I was hoping to post this weekend. To anyone following this thread, I highly recommend reading Diane’s blog post. Realizing the information she explains has helped our health TREMENDOUSLY in the last few years. Carbs are necessary and I am not opposed to grain, but it’s important to know what you’re eating and how it’s being processed. Yeast overgrowth is definately a problem for many (men and women alike).

I’ve been longing to sprout my own grains, but it’s a time-consuming process. We’ve recently ordered from a family who sells sprouted grains (wheat & spelt) for those who wish to grind their own, or flour by 2-lb and 5-lb bags. Grinding already sprouted grain is definately do-able for me. Here’s their website if anyone is interested: http://www.josheweasgarden.com/

Diane, would you be willing to share your sourdough bread recipes and/or tricks? Or do you just use those recipes found in Nourishing Traditions?

Kefir…..YUMMY! (homemade, that is) We use this to make shakes for the children and hide greens and cod liver oil in. 🙂

Live2inspire,

I can post some more recipes besides the ones I have on my blog. Although, there are a few already on there. I haven’t followed too many of NT grain recipes but came across some on the internet as well as Sue Gregg’s cookbooks. I love her waffle recipes using soaked grains. Sprouted grains work best with cookies and such, and I just loooove sourdough bread. My daughter has a post on my blog for a apple loaf using sourdough that is really good. I’m still experimenting with more and more recipes.

Diane

wow! Does anyone else get overwhelmed with all the information available? Like Doug’s family, we too hold to a balanced approach to nutrition and health, and I love your comments about ‘all natural’ (it was my laughter medicine this morning!) We’ve gradually reduced the amount of processed food we consume and added more whole foods in our diet. But just when we think we’re “eating healthfully” we read or hear reports that contradict what we THOUGHT was a more healthful choice.

For example: sugar; white is a big no-no, demura is a much better choice. But just a couple of weeks ago I read that ALL sugar and even honey causes the same response in the body, and that agave nectar is the choice sweetener to prevent spikes in blood sugar.

Meat is another example. One report says we need the protein and some fat from meat while others say meat damages the body and we should get protein and fat from other sources.

One final example…bread. We went from store bought white to store bought wheat. Then discovered that the store bought wheat was just as nutritionally deficient as white because it was made with ‘enriched’ wheat flour. So we began making our own wheat bread using store bought wheat flour. Shortly after, we read that the wheat flour in the stores is devoid of nutrients because once the grain is milled it should be used within 72 hours or the nutritional value is stripped other than the fiber aspect. So we started milling our own wheat for bread. Now we read that sprouted grains are really what we should be consuming…

Calgon…take me away!!! (I know..I know…Calgon is bad for me because the skin absorbs the chemicals in the soap….LOL)