Archive for May, 2010

Raising Consciousness

Posted in Uncategorized on 05/08/2010 10:52 am by Laurel

A friend passes on piles of women’s magazines to me after she is finished (she’s a grandmother who supports her grandchildren’s fund-raising efforts conscientiously), and I love the luxury of skimming through them, spending as much time or as little as I want, since I did not pay for the subscription. The recipes and the features on fashion and home-decorating are great, but mostly I like the glimpse of trends and ideas in society– those magazines provide a graph line of modern opinion on everything from health, to world-perspectives, to child-raising.

In the latest pile of February-April, an interesting thread emerged. Every single one of those magazines contained an article about or recipes for gluten-sensitivities. I have to say, “It’s about time!” considering that statistics say 1 in 100 people are now being affected by celiac disease to some extent.

Most obviously the rise in gluten sensitivities is caused by the saturation of wheat-based products in our diet, but there also seems to be a genetic trigger– though it isn’t confined to any race or age or gender– and any number of other unidentified environmental factors. An article in the Saturday Evening Post (March/April) suggested the “hygiene hypothesis” that is linked to the rise of other allergies and asthma. Basically it says that our obsession with cleanliness has hindered our immune systems in the long run. That, coupled with the over use of antibiotics, has left us vulnerable to environmental and dietary sensitivities.

It makes a lot of sense to me. And it joins in the rousing cry for a simpler lifestyle: plenty of physical activity and fresh air, eating natural whole foods, living at a slower pace, building relationships with other human beings, and sleeping the night through with peaceful dreams.

 

Candida Cleanse

Posted in Uncategorized on 05/01/2010 02:39 pm by Laurel

We are doing the cleanse thing again– or should I say, Esther is. It is actually much easier for her to do that at school, because she can make her own food choices. The cleanse is so radical that I can’t adapt a whole family menu to it. Anyway, the symptoms started coming on in February, just little things here and there, and she wanted to put it off, so we did. By April, she was feeling pretty miserable with both physical and emotional symptoms, and could no longer ignore it.

Each time different symptoms predominate, and this time the emotional ones were overwhelming. She would literally sit there and cry for no reason, for hours at a time– that was very weird. On top of the pain in her ears and face, the tiredness, nausea, and so on, she was almost to the point of non-functioning. I’m not sure it is wise to let it get that bad before doing something about it, but it has to be her decision. She is nearly finished with the Candigone and Candex treatment now, and will follow with a month of preventative measure using Candex and Pau D’Arco.

Pau D’Arco is the bark of a Brazilian tree that has been used for decades medicinally. It is a natural anti-fungal and anti-viral– how cool is that?! The best way to get it is by steeping the bark for tea, several times a day, but a more convenient method is taking it in capsule form. The funny thing is that no one knows exactly WHY it kills the candida albacans, although everyone agrees that it does so quite effectively. And it does so with minimal side effects, too.

It appears that a twice yearly cleanse is the norm for Esther at this point, but if she feels well in between, that is bearable. We were up to visit last week and she honestly looked the best she has in a couple years. Her color and her weight were good, and she has the energy to stay up till midnight hanging out with cute boys, just like any college sophomore.

While we were visiting she cooked lunch for the two of us in the dining hall, some delicious concoction she made up herself. I’m calling it Chick Peas and Broccoli Stir Fry.