Saturday, February 21, 2009

how to take thyroid meds

who knew??

6. Be careful about taking calcium and calcium-fortified orange juice at the same time as thyroid hormone. Allow at least 2-3 hours apart, so absorption is not affected.

I started taking a cal/mag pill in the morning about an hour after my thyroid pill. I take a whole passel of pills in the morning when I eat breakfast. I usually take my cal/mag at night, but decided to up the dosage to the recommended amount of 3 with one taken in the morning. I saw my energy dip, which could have been due to a number of other things too, but the last two days I have felt better throughout the day while taking my cal/mag pill at lunch. And, my alfalfa, I can't take that either with the iron levels of it being high. I should check the new hair growth supplement my doctor ok'ed as well. Maybe I'll just opt to take most of my passel at lunch. Lesson learned~!

Here's more insight from a fave newsletter on thyroid health: http://thyroid.about.com/cs/thyroiddrugs/ht/takemeds.htm

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Flu the coop~!

Lots of people around here a sucumbing to the flu, strep or other nasty viruses. My son in fact had a virus about a month ago and I managed to skid past it. I had a headache for 2 days this week, but it did not turn into anything else by taking my arsenal of health supplements.

While healing my gut, I have been taking 1000mg of vitamin c every day. I have found a brand that is easy on my stomach. http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=1782 Emergen-c is another brand of vitamin c I love, but it has other vitamins and minerals in it. Personally, I do not take more than 4 a day when i am sick, 2 when I am well. http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=3407&at=0 I prefer the raspberry or lemon lime flavors. Emergen-C also makes an "Immune Defense" variety. http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=302134&id=prod2303786 And, one specifically for kids http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=3406&at=0.

When someone around me is sick, or I hear a virus is going around in our area....I take a couple capsules of elderberry a day. I prefer this brand: http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=1483 I heard about elderberry from Dr. David Williams at DrDavidWilliams.com years ago how it builds your immunity to bypass sickness being passed around. You can also use the elderberry syrup liquid, which I give to my pill-hating kiddos. Elderberry can also help curb sickness once you are already ill as well.

The other two things I line up for me or my kids are Oil of oregano and ASAP Silver. We have used oil of oregano for about 10 years. Our middle son had allergies and the Claritin the doctor prescribed was putting him to sleep at school. We started giving him the oil of oregano, and it cleared up the allergies without side effects. Oil of oregano is anti- viral, fungal, bacterial and parasitic. It's pretty effective against many illnesses. I like to take 5 drops twice a day in a bit of juice, with a juice chaser. Just don't sip it~! It will affect your lips. I give the kids 2-3 drops twice a day, depending on their age. We have tried a few different brands, but find the one by North American Spice Company tastes and works the best. http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=7704 Many health food stores sell it but it will cost more, about $30 instead of iherb's best price.

I decided to try the ASAP Solution around 2003. I remember I had a really bad case of food poisoning that year and continued to throw up until it dawned on me that I had this new thing in the cupboard I could try. Twenty minutes later, my gut was completely settled. It kills e. coli among many other bacteria, and it kills only the bad bacteria. It only takes 1/2 teaspoon at most as well. It is also the one thing I can put into my eye to take care of a stye or other eye infection. It works very quickly for me as well. I always make sure I take it when I travel. I took my travel bottle to a friend and put two droppers in each person's mouth who was throwing up from the flu. They didn't hurl again~! It's fabulous I tell ya~! I use this brand only because I'm assured that it's a safe level of silver. http://natrhealth.com/immune.html

This company above also sells a wonderful salve called PAV®. PAV® helps any skin condition including burns, acne, warts, skin tags, infections, athlete's foot, nail fungus, insect bites, stings, cuts, and rashes to name a few. PAV® is made only from the purest ingredients…pure natural Tree Resin, Olive Oil, and Petrolatum. (Petrolatum is a FOOD GRADE thickening agent.) It immediately takes the sting out of any cut or wound for me. I put it on a bee sting one summer, and it never swelled. I just kept reapplying the PAV® and the sting was healed within 24 hours. I love their new Super PAV® oil because it heals skin conditions even faster, being the strongest PAV® available. http://www.natrhealth.com/miraclesalve.html

My kids don't take vitamins but they do take Yummi Bears. http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=5809 They are made up of fruit and vegetable phytonutrients. I can't say how much they help against illness.....All I know is my kids are rarely sick, and they enjoy taking these gummies. I also like their fiber bears. My son got on a bout of constipation during the 12-day power outage of Hurricaine Ike last fall from not eating as well as we usually do. They worked great in no time, and it was easier on my mind to give him something "natural" vs. a medication like the doctor recommended. He has continued to take them a few times a week for maintenance. Even with serving vegetables and fruits, I doubt he gets enough fiber daily. http://www.iherb.com/productdetails.aspx?c=1&pid=5816&utm_source=gb&utm_medium=f2

In addition to my supplements I use for myself and my family....I know moving my body is very important to elimination of toxins as well. I exercise as often as I can manage in my schedule. My favorite exercise program is T-Tapp because it combines strength and cardio in one program. It also doesn't affect my knee because you never do more than 8 reps. It gets harder as you use your own body's isometric contraction to work smarter. http://www.ttapp.com/ I also like stretching classes when I need to get out of the house with other people. I do stretching type classes. I tried a ballet class, which was great for my core, but there were too many pliƩs for my knee. I just started a weight class using very lightweight weights so I don't bulk up. I want to focus on strengthening my upper body and this class seems to be working.

I also already posted an entry on my Far-Infrared saunas, which I whole heartedly believe helps boost your body's immune system by putting it into a fake sense of reality of a low grade fever. My body spits out white blood cells in response to the body's high temperature.

Of course my mightiest weapon is the power of prayer. I believe my Mighty Creator answers my prayers of healing and good health because His son took on the sins of the world to heal us all once we put our faith in Him. 1 Peter 2:24 (New International Version)
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Real Sweet?

How appropriate to be talking about sweetners on a day when LOTS of sweets are exchanged here in the United States for Valentine's Day. I felt compulsed to talk about sweetners as I was recently reading the February 16, 2009 issue of First Magazine. They gave their lowdown on several sweetners.

I've always been one to exclude artificial sweetners from my diet. First of all, I never liked the aftertaste, and secondly, I never trusted something chemically produced. It seems I've been right to trust my instincts. According to the First article, "Aspertame (brand names: NutraSweet, Equal and Spoonful) is an excitatory neurotoxin that some researchers claim can overstimulate nerve cells and damage their protective barriers". The article also claimed "that a university study linked daily consumption to a 41 percent increased risk to being overweight". Yikes~! That is enough proof for me to continue to avoid it. I have noticed in the last few months that you are hard pressed to find any gum at all that does not have aspartame in it. It's even in Juicy Fruit now. I guess gum companies could not pass up the cheap way to sweeten their gum. Or, I wonder if it has addictive tendencies to get people hooked on gum. I thought the "Ice Cubes" gum was good because Xylitol is the first sweetner listed, and it was a few weeks before I noticed that aspartame is indeed listed. My kids are bummed too because they know I won't allow them to injest this chemical sweetner until they choose to as adults on their own.

Splenda has been on the market for at least a decade now. I always feel bad when I see someone choosing to buy a huge bag of it at the market, much like seeing someone choose to smoke. Splenda (or listed as sucralose more often) is a man-made sweetner that is produced by adding cholorine to sugar. It takes one sugar molocule and replaces it with cholorine, which means it now contains something carginogentic. The First article states "that it can trigger fatigue, high blood pressure and chronic maigraines, according to some studies". I wonder if it doesn't affect arthritis as well, since arthritis is an inflammation of joints, or toxins stuck in your joints. The First article also stated that "despite the manufacturer' claims that sucralose spurs weight loss, research in the journal NeuroImage revealed that, unlike sugar, sucralose doesn't activate the braine regions that signal satiety. As a result poeple who favor the artificial sweetner can end up craving - and overeating - sugary foods." Sucralose has an intense sweetness to me. I can taste it immediately if I happen to take a bite of it with something made with sucralose, which makes it easier to avoid in a way.

I mentioned Xylitol earlier. It is a sweetner made from birch sugar and is used mostly in alternative chewing gum like Spry and some toothpastes. It's in my toothpaste: http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=6895 I found a great website for more information on Xylitol: http://www.xylitol.org/faqs.asp#4

Another sweetner affecting Americans at an alarming rates is high frutose corn syrup. HFCS has replaced sugar in the manufacturing of most processed foods. I have noticed there are more cereals you can buy that are HFCS-free, so manufacturers are starting to notice a market for some of us who will avoid buying HFCS products if possible. You wouldn't expect to find HFCS in most breads, but it's in there as well. We buy a "sugar-free" brand that doesn't have HFCS. We also have replaced our ketchup, relish and other condiments that don't have HFCS. HFCS is natural from corn, but the way your body processes it into fat very quickly is not. It may be linked to our country's surge in diabetes risk and systemic yeast.

Stevia is the only sweetner that's been legal on my anti-yeast diet. It's an extract of a tropical Stevia rebaudiana plant. So, it's a natural product, but the First article says "it is also great because it is a zero-calorie sweetner that keeps weight in check by regulating blood sugar so food is burned for energy rather than getting stored by the body as fat". The thing I have found with stevia is trying different brands. I have found I love the Trader Joe's brand (of course, one that I can't buy nearby). Also, you have to watch how much you use. I use very little stevia to sweeten something. But, I have found that usually I prefer nothing at all. Once you are off sugar, you don't really need it. You get use to things tasting au natural.