How are the Parathyroid, cream cheese, and squats related?

The parathyroid is named for its snuggled up position around the thyroid. These 4 little rice grain-looking structures regulate the calcium level in your bones and blood. The muscular and nervous systems must have Calcium in order to properly:

• Clot blood
• Conduct electrical messages 
• Contract muscles 

The bones and teeth are the body’s storeroom for Calcium—99% of it! When blood Calcium levels drop, the Parathyroid glands release Parathyroid Hormone (PTH).

Fun fact: our bodies can’t make Calcium—not a lick of it. So…it must come from our diet. When we fail to take in what is needed our bodies pull it from elsewhere.
PTH signals these changes:

• Increase absorption of Calcium in the intestine by activating Vitamin D.
• Kidneys pump up Calcium conservation from blood stream.
• Osteoclasts ramp up free Calcium by breaking down bone.

What does abnormal look like? Low PTH (weakened or stressed Parathyroids) causes fatigue and anxiety. A hyperactive Parathyroid (hormonal imbalance) causes increased Calcium in the blood stream and less in the bones, resulting in low bone density and calcium build up in the vessels.

The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends men and women take between 1000 to 1200 mg daily.

Where do we get Calcium in our diets? We suggest finding the closest source of whole, unprocessed, grass-fed milk you can get your hands on.

As mentioned above, our bodies can’t absorb Calcium without Vitamin D. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends men and women over age 50 take 800-1000 IU daily, while those under 50 take 400-800 IU daily.

Luckily, our skin can make Vitamin D with ample sunlight. Wild-caught salmon and other fish also contains Vitamin D. For those with conditions preventing exposure to the sun, and for many people during the winter months, it may help to invest in a high quality vitamin D supplement. Supplemental Vitamin D comes in D3 or D4 form—both are effective in Calcium absorption processes.

Young Living’s Master Formula is one of the best whole food multi-vitamins for daily health available.

• Naturally supports general health and well-being for the body.
• Has gut flora-supporting prebiotics. 
• Ingredients help neutralize free radicals in the body. 
• Includes antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other food-based nutrients. 
• Contains 400 IU of Vit D3 and 200 mg of Calcium. 

Another option from Young Living is OmegaGize³™.

This natural supplement combines the power of three core daily supplements-omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D-3, and CoQ10 (ubiquinone). These supplements combine with our proprietary enhancement essential oil blend to create an omega-3, DHA-rich fish oil supplement that may support general wellness. Used daily these ingredients work synergistically to support normal brain, heart, eye, and joint health.  It contains 950 IU of Vitamin D3.


As we’ve seen over the past few months, the endocrine system is intricately…and inextricably linked to diet. Without the enzymes, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins our body was designed to run on, break-downs happen. Just like an internal combustion engine was not designed to run with water as the fuel source, so our bodies cannot function with vigor and vitality on the typical modern diet of processed and stabilized foods.

We’ve looked before at the Two Types of Nutritional deficiencies:

Primary deficiency is found when the nutrient is not physically present. A secondary deficiency is found when you fail to absorb or utilize the nutrient because of some other lack. Examples… fat is needed to transport vitamin A,E,D, or K to where it is needed in the body. B9 and B12 are needed for the body to utilize iron. Protein or the break-down of proteins are necessary for the transportation of iodine to the thyroid.

These secondary deficiencies are much harder to pinpoint the cause of. Unfortunately, many people are just too busy to put in the time and effort to correct such maladies caused by a lacking diet with what is needed: Good Food. This is what happens as nutritional deficiencies persist:

1.  Reserves in the body are depleted.
2. Nutrients are depleted from body tissues. 
3. Depletion is detectable in body fluids such as blood and serum. 
4. Body creates symptoms like gas, indigestion, heartburn, headaches, cramps, pain etc. 
5. Depletion causes changes in the body such as degeneration of bones, discs, muscles etc.

The majority of Americans fall into level 4 or 5 because of poor dietary choices, not getting proper rest and stress.

Good Food is found as close to the source as possible, as fresh as possible. The result of a diet of highly processed, high temperature, and high pressure treated foods are a distinct lack of enzymes among others. Next time we’ll begin a discussion of the digestive system. It’s been called the foundation of health, and it begins before you even take a bite: with the enzymes in your mouth!

If you’d like more info on Young Living’s nutritional support, go here.

Grass-fed dairy is such a great resource to have access to! It may take some work, but more than likely there is a farmer near you doing the right thing who would like another good customer.   Try here. 



One of our favorite things about having our grass fed raw milk is making whey to have on hand for lacto-fermentation of all sorts (from pickling veggies, to making tasty healthy drinks, to soaking whole grain flours before baking, and so much more)!  Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon is a great go-to on the how-as well as why-of lacto-fermentation.  The other by-product of making whey is the best cream cheese you've ever had.  Don't be intimidated!  You don't even need a stove to make this cheese!!!

To start, we get a fresh 2 quart mason jar of creamy milk.  You'll love step #2....you put the sealed jar on the counter out of the sun....and do nothing.  Seriously.  Wait 2 to 4 days depending on temperature, etc.  You'll know the milk has clabbered when you see voids on the glass walls as you gently move the jar.  Next get a good cheese cloth, a colander, and a large bowl.  Line the colander with the cheese cloth, put the colander in the bowl, and dump the clabbered milk in the cloth lined colander.  Next, fold the cloth over the milk and let it sit for a day or two in the fridge or cellar.  In the bowl you now have the whey, (about 1 quart) and the cream cheese in the cloth.  You can mix in honey, maple syrup, berries, fruit, or whatever you like to taste.  We've also enjoyed adding some of this cream cheese to homemade yogurt to thicken it up some.  Yum.  The whey lasts for several months.



 A large part of maintaining bone density is exercise.  If we don't use it, we lose it.  Exercise is commonly prescribed now for it's health and stress reduction benefits.  Hormone health has also been linked to exercise--especially for men and testosterone production.  Any activity is better than no activity.  However, I would like to make a case for HIIT (high intensity interval training) if you are able, as opposed to a slower paced activity like walking, biking, or jogging.

I occasionally enjoy a good trail run or bike ride in the country, but I try to make the bulk of my activity loosely around a HIIT approach.  This does not have to mean buying expensive weights or spending a ton of time in the gym.  In fact, that is why I enjoy it--it's cheap, fast, and effective.  One of my favorites is the Tabata--20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 sets...each taking 4 minutes to complete.  I often do body weight calisthenics with the kids--push-ups, pull-ups, crunches, squats, etc.  The goal is to do as many as possible, and push yourself to achieve the same number of repetitions each time.

Functional exercise is important.  In my mind, if I'm going to grab a barbell it's because I'm training my body how to move correctly so I don't get hurt during a normal activity of daily living.  Picking up the box of Christmas decorations from the floor and lifting it to a shelf overhead for storage is an example of daily activity that could injure you if you don't train on good body mechanics beforehand.
The clean and jerk is an exercise that pays dividends for bone density, coordination, strength, and flexibility.   I suggest learning and warming up with a broom stick or PVC pipe.  You can also clean and jerk things besides a barbell for workouts--boxes of decorations, a medicine ball, fire wood log sections, stones, hay bales, a container filled with sand...it's a recycling project:)  Check out the video, below, go slow and light to learn, and have someone watch you if you're not sure.  Remember to keep your back straight, butt down, and drive through your heals.


Don't hesitate to comment on your simple changes to diet, exercise, toxin reduction, or natural health!

What will your small intentional change in lifestyle be for 2016? 

We wish you all the best in the new year.
Clint and Joy





 

Ph…a good example of a bad trend in America.

pH is a measurement of hydronium ions in a substance.  Low pH equals less Hydronium ions, equals an ‘Acid’ state (<6.2 on the pH scale).

High pH equals high Hydronium ions, equals a ‘Base’ state (>6.8).  Normal blood pH is 7.4, slightly alkaline.  It’s the Kidney’s job to maintain that blood pH by taking what it needs during the filtration process.  Body chemistry is such a hard thing because there are so many components.  Our body pH is one of those components.  Mineral absorption, enzyme catalysts, vitamin availability, and cellular metabolism are all affected by changes in pH (Mercola) and vice versa.  

Remember how important Iodine is to Thyroid function?  This chart shows the pH range of elements' most effective assimilation in the body.  Notice Iodine has the narrowest margin.  Recall that the Thyroid hormones T3 and T4 both are made up of Iodine molecules.  So wouldn’t it be wise to at least see what balancing pH does before hormone replacement therapies?  Many in the 'Natural Health community' have used this chart to monitor and adjust their urine and saliva pH through dietary changes for decades and they say the health benefits are clear.  Many in the ‘scientific’ world argue that a link between disease and pH has not been PROVEN.  Ironically, both sides can use the same research studies to argue their opposite conclusions!

On more than one level pH balance and the debate surrounding it indicates the state of our culture’s health and it’s understanding of health.  Diseases common now (diabetes, obesity, endocrine disorders, depression, auto-immune disease etc.) were not so 50 to 100 years ago.  Have our genetics changed so much in 3 generations?  Can we blame everything on that?  Disease does not just happen for no reason.  There are causes in health, just like there are cause/effect relationships in the rest of reality.  Our lifestyle is changing our health.

Now more than ever, people are searching for the very best…at the very lowest cost.  With the amount of information at our fingertips this should be a snap, right?  Wrong.  This ‘information age’ has created a “battle of the mind” according to Dennis Waitley, a former Blue Angels pilot, author, and speaker.  He warns that in this battle it is not the quality of the information, but the quality of interpreting that information that will turn the tide of the battle.  

It seems as though no matter what you say, someone will be ready and more than willing to argue with you.  The more personal (and powerful) the issue, the harder the fight.  Christmas Nativities, politics, healthcare…better get on guard!

Those of us advocating personal responsibility for health by considering lifestyle changes in a locally produced, non-GMO, organic diet, productive exercise, toxin reduction, and natural health alternatives are a likely target.  

We are not professional researchers or academicians.  We just love seeing people’s lives improve.  Our hope is that people will make their own choices instead of relying on what someone else read, thought, printed.  We like to live by a ‘risk management’ approach—if the ‘risk’ of trying something (with no chance of harming us) is outweighed by the POTENTIAL benefits…that’s a risk worth taking.  Why let someone else tell you what is or isn’t possible?  Try it yourself!

Because body pH and it’s effect on health has been written about so much, with the attendant diets and products designed to address it, many sharply criticize it’s validity.  They say “more research is needed”, and the research that has been done is “largely observational”.  

What is generally accepted is that the typical American lifestyle (diets poor in nutrition and enzymes, and lack of exercise) tends toward an Acid state.  It’s also known that many diseases, including cancer, thrive in acid environments (PubMed.gov).  So why not try to balance pH?

How?

•  Hydrate--drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces per day of the highest quality water you can get. i.e. 200 lbs = 100 oz of water (around 3 quarts) per day.       

•  Exercise--your lymphatic system is your drainage system to get rid of acidic toxins.  Muscle movement ensures lymph movement.

• Get your Colon healthy--the gut is not only where nutrition is absorbed into the blood stream, it's how most of the toxins drained by the lymphatics get eliminated.

• Try a tonic of Apple Cider Vinegar--try it for a month…what do you have to lose? See below
  
  for how to make it yourself.

• Try Young Living’s AlkaLime for a month…again why wait for somebody to do a study…do your own study.  "AlkaLime® is a precisely-balanced alkaline mineral complex formulated to neutralize acidity and maintain desirable pH levels in the body. Infused with lemon and lime essential oils and organic whole lemon powder, AlkaLime also features enhanced effervescence and biochemical cell salts for increased effectiveness. A balanced pH is thought to play an important role in maintaining overall health and vigor."

• Improve your diet--increase your fresh leafy greens and bright veggies.  Decrease your processed and low-quality foods. 
  

Apple Cider Vinegar is cheap and easy to make.  A google search will give you a dozen different

methods, from buying juice and a Bragg’s Vinegar with ‘mother’, to starting from scratch. What we do is soak apple leftovers (cores, peels, over the hill ones lost in the bottom fridge drawer, etc) in 2 quart mason jars.  Fill the jar up ½ way with apples, add 1 cup raw sugar or honey, and fill to ¾ full with pure water.  Plastic yogurt or similar containers can be cut out to fit the jar diameter.  These push down the floating apples below the water level.  Weight them down with small jars filled with water and cover with a coffee filter on the top.  These are left for 10 days, then strained—don’t worry about getting all the tiny apple pieces, you can skim the top if needed.  ACV will give ‘mothers’ similarly to Kombucha.  If there is one available, we add it now, cover and let stand for 2 to 4 months depending on fermentation speed.  For a daily tonic we take a Tbs of ACV and a Tbs of our own raw honey in 8oz of pure water.

One of my favorite productive exercises on sunny winter afternoons is double digging my raised garden beds.  It won’t make you an Olympic athlete, but it sure does burn calories and you get the added mineral bonus of playing in the dirt!  Double digging is best done when the soil is warm for the microbes to get full benefit, but I invariably don’t get to all my beds during the busy fall period.  Basically, you turn over the topsoil,  adding humus and compost as you go.  I like to take care of weed roots and let the chickens have the beetle larvae along the way.  If you don’t have a garden, double digging in the winter is a good way to start a small victory garden space.  Mulch deeply when you’re done to prevent runoff leeching away your good stuff.  A great way to learn about gardening if you’re not willing or able to in your own space is to find a local Community Supported Agriculture garden to volunteer some muscle.  It’s a great way to build up the soil and your soul at the same time.

Next time we'll look at the tiny Parathyroid glands.  Like the other endocrine glands they have a hugely important role in the body.  Calcium regulation is the Parathyroid's wheelhouse.