Healthy and Hopeful

A Year in Review & Looking Forward

Published on December 31, 2014January 19, 2015 by Christine2 Comments

2015 is upon us… does anyone else find that as insane as I do? I really feel like 2014 just flew by. It was a a pretty crazy year for me, with an amazing trip to Europe and fun moments with friends & family, but also lots of work (aka stress) the rest of the year that took over my life and effected my health. As I look back, I am so thankful for all that I’ve learned and I’m ready to tackle 2015 with some big resolutions. They aren’t much different than what I was inspired by in Europe, I am only more determined by not accomplishing them in 2014:

Nourish my body – I’ve really taken a step back in what I eat due to convenience and it’s certainly not making me feel great. My goals for this year are to meal-plan weekly to ensure I am getting adequate protein and veggies, to shop local & organic at the Farmer’s Market at least twice per month, and to cook from scratch at a minimum of 5 times per week. This used to be routine for me, so I know it’s realistic to achieve. I am not really a calorie counter or weight watcher, but I am committed to consistently tracking what I eat on an app and making goals to lose weight & inches where needed in order to keep myself accountable.
Get moving – I need to exercise more, plain and simple. I got a Jawbone UP 24 for Christmas (loving it so far, by the way!) and it is astounding how little I move throughout the day. I’ll never reach my step goal if I don’t do some intentional fitness daily. I want to explore more resistance training to build muscle and get back on my spin bike that’s just sitting upstairs. And, again, I want to take more walks with my sweet puppy who so loves them.
Learn to relax – I am still trying to figure out what this means and how to accomplish it. I am hoping the two above goals aid in reducing stress, but I truly want to learn how to leave work at the office. I want to come home and be able to focus on my family and my health. Reading & writing are both so relaxing for me, and I want to read more health books, do a bit more research and share about it here on this blog. One main area I want to explore more this year is essential oils. I have been using them for a couple of years now and seeing great results, so I recently became a distributor with Young Living in hopes to share my experience with more people. There is so much to learn about these natural oils from plants that God provided to heal us. Plus, I have recently discovered how effective they are at helping me relax – I have the “Joy” and “Stress Away” blends in my diffuser right now bringing loveliness to my home.

I’ve said it before, but I am always astounded by how many people this blog has reached. I started it on New Year’s Day only 2 years ago thinking it would just be a way to keep myself accountable and share with friends and family. This year, I reached over 10,000 views! To close out 2014, I wanted to do a recap of the most popular posts of this year:

2nd Year Running Most Read Overall – Kombucha Home-Brew

Most Pinned on Pinterest – Health Foodie Series

Most Reader-Shared – Healthy Hygiene Routine & Part 2: Deodorant

(Char)coal in your stocking?

Published on December 19, 2014October 18, 2015 by Christine6 Comments

I still can’t believe that Christmas is less than a week away! In remembering last Christmas, some very lovely memories of time spent with family are a bit overshadowed by a bad bout with food poisoning. Miles away from the comforts of home, all I could think of was getting back to my charcoal. And, yes, I am speaking about the charred wood type of charcoal. I know it sounds a bit strange, but let me tell you about this surprising little cure-all…

As charcoal is created, “the gases, resins, proteins & fats in the wood are burned out, the heat-generated and change in chemistry cause the development of a charge on the charcoal granule which attracts most poisonous substances.” Activated charcoal is created in a controlled setting and steam is introduced to enhance the adsorbtive power by creating finer pores.

Activated charcoal is a powder form that is easy to ingest and very fast-acting. I have it in both capsule form and straight up powder. The capsules are easy to take just like any pill; they’re good for kids (or husbands) who may not be willing to drink a glass full of black water. Personally, I just mix a tablespoon or two in a glass of water and drink it – it’s completely tasteless, odorless and mixes well so the texture is barely granule. Plus, drinking lots of water enhances its effectiveness. “Charcoal reaches its maximum rate of adsorption within one minute.”

Charcoal has some surprising health benefits you’d probably never imagine. It is actually classified in the safest Category 1 by the FDA for all ages. It is an absolute staple in my “medicine” cabinet that’s filled only with harmless remedies and I highly recommend you get some too. Here’s the short list of its uses:

Charcoal is an extremely effective antidote to poisoning from chemicals or drug overdose. There is a long list of substances which charcoal easily absorbs and the fact that it can be administered quickly & act quickly is a major advantage. Ideally, it should be taken on an empty stomach and should be double the dosage of the poison (double further if person has eaten recently).
It is widely used as a remedy for stomach and intestinal issues like gas, bloating (especially from food allergies), diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. As I mentioned, this is my go-to whenever I have food poisoning (which I have somehow contracted 3 times this year!). As soon as I am able to keep down the charcoal for a few minutes, the vomiting stops, my stomach cramps lessen and I feel dramatically better within a matter of 10 minutes. It decreases recovery time by preventing dehydration and, best of all, it truly absorbs the toxins causing your body to react instead of you just having to get it out of your system.
Swishing charcoal around your mouth for 30 seconds helps whiten and clean your teeth (seriously – it works wonders!) and stops bad breath. Rinse with regular water afterwards to avoid a smile full of very black teeth.
Here’s a fun fact many of you may need over the holidays: although charcoal does not prevent alcohol intoxication, it does reduce the effects of a hangover.
It can be used externally on venomous bites or stings. Wet a band-aid and put charcoal on there before applying to a bee/wasp/ant sting, a mosquito bite or even poison ivy (just use a larger compress). There are several case studies of how helpful charcoal has been when a snake or spider bite has occurred. It was ingested and applied externally before the patient could reach the hospital to start removing the poisons from the body; it’s even cured brown recluse spider bites.
Topically, it can help clean & remove bacteria from skin lesions and ulcers. It can also be used as a treatment for acne. I mix a little bit with coconut oil and put on as a mask… its ability to draw substances out is great for removing blackheads.
It can be used safely with pets! Like humans, it can help with bites or skin infections as well as intestinal problems. When my dog has had diarrhea in the past, I’ve simply filled a syringe with a water/charcoal mixture and put it down her throat.
A few other uses for illness include foot and mouth disease, chronic pancreatitis and newborn jaundice.

I’ll give a couple of cautions: 1. The only side effect -real talk here- is that you will have black poop afterwards. 2. It doesn’t absorb nutrients that your body needs, but it will absorb any medications that you’ve taken. If you can, wait a couple of hours after taking meds before you drink it.

Interested in adding this to your medicine cabinet in case of emergency? The best news of all is that charcoal is cheap! You can buy activated charcoal at your local health foods store or online. Here’s a couple of options that I have used personally: capsule and powder version. I’d also recommend you buy this short book for $7 and keep it handy to reference for dosage information. It was the main source for this blog post & has a ton of really fascinating stories of healing to read: RX: Charcoal by Agatha Thrash, M.D. & Calvin Thrash, M.D.

Do you think charcoal is something that you’d try? I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions!

Healthy Hygiene Part 2: Deodorant

Published on October 20, 2014October 19, 2014 by Christine5 Comments

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’d like to share a little something about a simple way that you can help decrease your risk of developing breast cancer: change your deodorant.

There are two very common ingredients in deodorant that continue to be implicated as one of the possible causes of breast cancer – Aluminum & Parabens. Aluminum is used as an antiperspirant; it blocks pores and therefore prevents sweat. Parabens (look for: methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben or benzylparaben) are found in most beauty products and are used to prevent bacteria growth, which helps both the shelf life of a product and preventing odors from developing as you use the product. The issue with both of these compounds is that they are proven to mimic estrogen in the body and cause hormone disruption. Estrogen promotes the growth of breast tissue, but when disrupted, it can lead to an abnormal & excessive growth of cancerous breast tissue.

Your underarms are a very sensitive area, with thin skin covering many blood vessels and a large cluster of lymph nodes. The materials that you spray or roll on that location are absorbed easily by the skin. If you shave under your arms and then roll on deodorant, you have even increased your exposure and allowed these chemicals to go straight into your blood stream. Aluminum is a toxic metal to our bodies and if you take a look at the back of your product, you’ll find many other questionable, hard-to-pronounce ingredients on there as well. Any toxicity can limit the function of your lymphatic system, which contributes to your overall immune function. I don’t know about you, but this is simply not a health risk I am willing to take for beauty’s sake. Fortunately, there are safe, alternative options. Here’s a few I recommend checking out:

Silver Botanicals – Silver Shield Deodorant

I found this awesome company at my local farmer’s market one Saturday and I am thrilled to be sharing them with y’all. They use a blend of essential oils and colloidal silver. Essential oils have a long list of medicinal benefits and are naturally deodorizing, anti-bacterial and have a long-lasting aroma. Colloidal silver also has many healing properties as an anti-microbial preventing the growth of bacteria. I take it every day as an immune supplement and double up when I’m sick, so it only makes sense to put it under my arms also. I have found this to be the best natural deodorant out there; it keeps me smelling good all day and the more I use it, the less I sweat – it’s getting my body back in balance. One caution: it will sting a lot if you try to apply right after shaving… wait an hour or so.

Coming in at only $7.50 for a 2 oz spray bottle (it’s lasted me two months) with the option to buy discounted refills in the future, it’s a great deal. Silver Botanicals also has a great line of other hygiene & household products, my favorite being the Oral Disinfectant mouthwash. If you don’t live in Austin, you can buy online.

Sam’s Natural Deodorant

This was recommended to me by my friends Emily & Ben – they both said that it keeps them smelling fresh the longest of any option they’ve tried. Their list of ingredients contains several essential oils, coconut oil (which I love!), and does not contain harsh chemicals. I am excited to try it soon and see if it works for my hubby!

Buy the handmade 3 oz stick online for only $8.95 and read more about the cool company living out their American Dream.

Lafes Organic Mineral Salt Deodorant

I wrote about this product in my first installment of Health Hygiene Routines and continue to have great success with it. I love that the list of ingredients is simple: mineral salts, essential oils and aloe vera. I still use this regularly because it’s the most effective at preventing sweat. How? Because of it’s use of natural mineral salts. These mineral salts are potassium alum, which I recently learned are technically aluminum, but with molecules too large to fit through your skin’s pores. Essentially, it creates an outer layer that helps block perspiration instead of actually going in your pores like aluminum. While there are not studies yet on if on if our bodies absorb any of the toxic metal from these crystal salts, if perspiration is a problem for you (or you are looking for an option for Summer or exercise), I think it’s worth giving it a go; it still doesn’t contain parabens or other harmful chemicals.

I use both the unscented spray and the roll on lavender version. You can find a 4 oz bottle for only $4.50 at Natural Grocers or online.

Tom’s of Maine Natural Sensitive Care Deodorant

One last option, especially for those of you with easily irritated skin or bad razor burn. I find that the more often I switch on and off of different deodorants, they seem to stay more effective (shampoo is the same way for me… anyone else?). This deodorant has such a cooling effect that it is my go-to after I shave. It doesn’t last very long for me, so I have to reapply once more a day, but I love the smell and it feels so smooth. Again, this option is paraben & aluminum free and the list of ingredients is simple. It uses chamomile to soothe and hops to prevent odor-causing bacteria.

You should be able to find the 2.25 oz gel stick at your regular grocery store for $5.00 – I’ve seen it at Whole Foods and H-E-B.

The great thing about these natural options are that they have plenty of other benefits as well…

For those of you with sensitive skin (like my friend Emily who gets blisters when she uses regular deodorant), you should see the irritation you experience drastically decrease with options that don’t contain lots of chemicals.
Wives who do their husband’s laundry, rejoice: You’ll no longer have to deal with trying to bleach those gross yellow stains on all of their white shirts!
You’ll be supporting small businesses & companies who truly care about the health of their customers.

Is this a change you would make? Which one are you interested to try?

Sources: Dr. Mercola, Livestrong, Silver Botanicals

Emphasis on Hopeful

Published on September 22, 2014October 16, 2015 by Christine5 Comments

Apologies for the lack of new posts recently – life’s been a bit crazy lately, with little time left for blogging! Although I have a couple of posts I really want to write & share soon, I thought it was about time for an update on my health…

A few months ago, in reaction to an extremely stressful time at work, I got an ear infection. Let me tell you, friends, ear infections are the worst. The only pain was terrible and nothing seemed to help. I tried home remedies – living clay, essential oils and loading up on all kinds of vitamins – without any luck. I visited the doctor twice to no avail and, in my desperation, I opted to take antibiotics. Unfortunately, as expected, they made me super sick, gave me a rash & didn’t help at all. Finally, a visit to the ENT to insert a sponge helped get steroids directly into my ear and multiple visits to the chiropractor drained the fluid eventually.

Our trip to Europe provided some reprieve from the stress this summer; the break gave me a renewed mind and optimistic perspective. But as the hours at work picked back up, all of my post-vacation resolutions – talking the dog for nightly walks, spending more time with friends and family, cooking meals, even shopping for groceries – got neglected quickly as there just weren’t enough hours in the day. As my work-life balance suffered, the stress creeped back in and, therefore, back into having it’s effect on my immune system.

One day in early August, I woke up with hives all over the back of my legs. I thought it was odd and attempted to find what the cause could be; but, nothing in my routine, diet or hygiene/beauty products had changed. Figuring the hives would go away soon and it had to be a fluke, I just dealt with the itching. But they lasted, spreading and progressively getting worse and worse. After a week, I made an appointment with my naturopath doctor. Asking questions about every aspect of my life, sleeping habits and diet, she got the full picture of my health. She suggested that while I could be experiencing an allergic reaction, she was pretty positive that stress was the cause. Hoping to learn more about what was going on with my body, she prescribed a blood test and hormone panel. In the meantime, I would stay away from gluten and really focus on my nutrition to lessen the inflammatory response my body was having. After four long weeks, my hives finally subsided; the stress was still there, but I think that a better focus on my diet and a supplement I got from my chiropractor finally helped my body stop overreacting.

The CDC states that emotional stress causes 80-85% of all illness. It makes sense – stress suppresses our immune function, so, long-term it gets even worse. This month, I’ve been sick twice – a bad cold and then food poisoning for the third time this year… ugh! But I returned to my doctor last week and the results were in: stress is the culprit. Even after all my time at the pool this summer and daily Vitamin D supplements, I was still deficient and need to increase my intake. I’m anemic, so will be taking a liquid iron supplement to give me more energy. And although I drink lots of water and even add Himalyan pink sea salt, my electrolyte levels were still low – I foresee lots of coconut water (NOT sugary gatorade) in my future!

Most importantly, my DHEA levels were extremely low. Although known for overuse by athletes, the presence of DHEA in our body is essential. Most people in their twenties are producing more DHEA this decade of their lives than any other. DHEA is a steroid hormone secreted by your adrenal glands; during times of stress, your adrenals are pumping so much cortisol that they produce very little DHEA. But that has massive effects as DHEA is the precursor to estrogen, progesterone & testosterone. As a result, my hormones are totally out of whack. So, instead of “doping” up on unnatural DHEA, I’ll be taking a custom supplement designed by my doctor to provide the building blocks to hormone development, bringing the levels back up. I’ll also be on a high-protein diet of 60-80 grams per day to balance my blood sugar – prolonged high-cortisol response causes problems there too. So, if anyone has some good ideas for high-protein snacks (especially low-budget options), please share!

While the news was not good, I am thankfully at a point where I can step in to make these changes now and get my body back in balance before things get more serious. It will take many months to recover, but I am committed to focus on my health – this body is the only one I get. In the meantime, I would appreciate any & all stress-management recommendations! I am rejecting the identity of illness that I’ve had my whole life; I am so hopeful that healing is near and I will choose joy & faith.

Meditating on this verse lately: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:4-5

In the Summertime when the weather is hot…

Published on July 23, 2014July 22, 2014 by Christine4 Comments

I love Summer. The sunshine is life-giving to me! I can’t imagine anything better than spending time at the pool and lake with the warm sun on my skin. Plus, it’s mostly allergen-free, so unlike most of the year, I can spend lots of time outside without regretting it later. Anyone else share this passion with me??

Unfortunately for a lot of people, the summertime has a bad rap. The beautiful sunshine has been villainized; we are advised to minimize our sun exposure and when we must be outside, cover every inch of ourselves with sunscreen every hour so we don’t get the big, bad cancer. Funny how effective the “c” word is into scaring us into submission.

Coincidentally, our nation is currently experiencing epidemic levels of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is a valuable nutrient that comes from the sun and helps our immune system protect our bodies from a multitude of diseases, including cancer. Actually, some research studies have proven that sun exposure can decrease our chances of getting cancer. Add to that the fact that there is no proof that sunscreen protects against cancer and that sunscreen itself contains dangerous chemicals and carcinogens, the case against the sun is quickly diminishing.

Okay, now of course, the sun can be dangerous; it is a burning ball of fire, after all. You can’t simply sit outside for hours in direct sunlight and not expect to be hating yourself the next day. Sunburns do cause cell death and can damage your skin. It’s important to develop a healthy relationship with the sun…

After a winter indoors, your skin will need to be acclimated to the sun. The best way to do it is spend 15-30 minutes at a time out in the sun (without sunscreen), getting exposure little bits at a time. Your skin will respond as it is supposed to, the melanin will become tanned and protect you more and more from the sun naturally. People with fair skin get Vitamin D faster and reach the maximum level of exposure sooner, so then it’s time to find some shade. But most people can work up to being able to spend hours in the sun without harm.

If you are going to be out in the sun for longer than your skin is ready for, or your children need protection, consider using natural sunscreen options instead of those loaded with chemicals. Personally, I use straight up coconut oil whenever I am in the sun for longer than half an hour. It has minimum SPF so it still allows me to get Vitamin D and my skin tans easier when I use it so that I can build up my natural tolerance to the sun faster.

Lastly, a healthy diet is the best way to avoid a sunburn. A diet high in antioxidants will protect your body from sunshine’s free radicals that cause cell damage. So feel free to snack away at those sun-ripened berries and dark chocolate! Avoiding foods that cause inflammation are another way to protect yourself – grains and Omega-6 vegetable oils being the main offender. People often blame the sun for their wrinkles, collagen breakdown/premature aging and sun spots, but it’s actually an inflammatory diet that causes these issues. Eat a diet high in healthy Omega-3 fats (found in animal fats, fish, coconut oil and organic raw dairy), the building blocks of your skin.

Now, get out there and enjoy the summer sunshine without fear!

Spread the word:

Spread the word:

Spread the word:

Spread the word:

Spread the word: