Stress...a Journey step

The Nervous System is made up of the brain, spinal column, and nerve tissues. It is the control room and communication channel for our bodies. It can be thought of in 2

complementary and overlapping spheres: the Central nervous system (CNS), and the Peripheral nervous system (PNS).

The PNS has been called the “feed and breed” system—generally pertaining to metabolic and hormonal processes such as digestion and reproduction among others.

The CNS is often known as the “fight or flight” system—mainly concerned with the hormones and processes needed for physical survival.

Stress is severely detrimental to the nervous system because of this close link with hormones and how widespread hormonal imbalances can quickly cause havoc.

Maslow’s hierarchy is a social/psychological theory which states that human needs build on each other starting with the most basic survival needs and progressing toward self-actualization and fulfillment. In a very real way, I believe our bodies operate on a similar hierarchy of needs. If a person is ‘locked in Fight or Flight’, their body will be constantly attempting to optimize hormonal and metabolic processes toward survival. Higher order processes, like reproduction and healing, are simply distracting when the body thinks it’s constantly under the gun.

Why is this? Cortisol is finding more and more support as the culprit. Cortisol has the following normal roles:

• Glucose and Insulin metabolism
• Blood pressure regulation
• Immune function
• Inflammatory response

In a normal person, Cortisol and Adrenaline are released by the Adrenal glands into the

blood stream to amp the body up for ‘Fight or Flight’. Once the threat is over, the Pituitary gland releases hormones that ‘shut off’ the ‘go time’ hormones. For many people however, there is no off switch. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in military and civilian first responder communities has raised public awareness sharply about the real physical dangers associated with stress. But it’s important to know that PTSD can occur in anyone. We are all different, and we all cope with stress in different ways. If a group is involved in a traumatic event, it is likely some will have a higher stress reaction than others, while some may not have any long term effects.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with PTSD) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

• Destroying muscle and bone
• Slow down healing and normal cell regeneration
• Co-opt biochemicals needed to make other vital hormones
• Impair 
• digestion
• metabolism
• mental function
• interfere with healthy endocrine function
• weaken your immune system. (2)

The recent uptrend in anxiety and depression/ psychiatric prescriptions shows that Americans, in general, are not able to deal with their stress. Over the period of 2001 to 2010, as many as 1 in 4 Americans took drugs for these conditions.(1)

What are some healthy alternatives?

According to the US National Library of Medicine, essential oils can be a safe and effective way to improve stress and anxiety because of their direct impact on the Limbic system of the brain. (3)

Other factors we talk about frequently:

• Hydration—1/2 your body weight in ounces per day of the best quality water you can get.

• Balance Ph—optimal chemical message transmission happens in the optimal Ph range.

• Cleanse—support the elimination of wastes, not the retention of them. You’ll get the added bonus of better absorption of the food and supplements you take in.

• Build—Offer the highest quality nutrients to the body you possibly can. 

• Support—the immune and nervous systems with herbal, mineral, glandular, and sleep supporting supplements.

• Exercise—use the body you were given in whatever way is fun and sustainable for you.

• Find your ‘therapy’—what gives you creative and productive outlet: music, cooking, woodworking, hunting, fishing, arts and crafts, pets, farming/gardening, rock climbing, hiking, etc. Whatever it is, try to ensure it is a ‘lifetime’ activity, meaning you can enjoy doing it for decades to come.

1. https://www.anxiety.org/antianxiety-medication-use-soars-in-past-decade

2. https://www.womentowomen.com/hormonal-health/the-destructive-effect-of-high-cortisol-levels/

3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0032518/

Prescription Nation?

Everyone knows that heart disease is a serious problem in the United States. It is the #1

killer in our country, as well as the 3rd leading cause of disability. (1,2) The American Heart Association’s recent campaign for improving cardiovascular health by 2020 began by defining ‘ideal cardiovascular health’, or CVH. While these metrics (including smoking status, physical activity, diet, weight, cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose) do appear useful in predicting and improving statistics of disease events, it does little to consider long term health. (3) 

Two examples are it’s focus on a nutrient poor diet (the USDA food pyramid) and lowering cholesterol levels. Several studies show the benefits of nutrient dense diet and higher cholesterol levels. (4,5,6) Women in particular, seem to benefit from higher cholesterol levels. (4) Perhaps this is due to Cholesterol’s role in the body as the building block of hormones.

Recall from our discussion of the endocrine system that cholesterol is essential for creating good testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. As an aside, it is interesting to note that popular cholesterol drugs have now hit 214 MILLION prescriptions per month! (8) What’s even crazier is that as of July 2015 according to the US Census bureau, the population of the US is roughly 322 MILLION!

Those are scary statistics.  They support the above chart. (9)  Notice the US rank for "healthy lives".

Numerous studies point out that Oxidized Cholesterol may be the more accurate culprit in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lupus, and many other auto-immune diseases. (7)

So, what can we do to boost our ANTI-oxidants?  At the risk of sounding like a broken record...How about:

• Exercise that reduces stress and betters your surroundings.
• Better diet.  Whole food, unprocessed diet—closer to the producer
• Hydration.  Water, that is.  Soda and sweet tea don't count!
• Increase your anti-oxidant intake.  Try a low cost anti-oxidant supplement, like Ningxia Red—do your own ‘study’ and see how you feel after you use it as directed on the label.
  

NingXia Red’s essential oil blend is made up of orange, yuzu, lemon, and tangerine. Strategically chosen for their health-supporting benefits and flavor profiles, these oils are 93 percent d-limonene—a powerful antioxidant and marker for bioactivity and contain the flavone tangeritin. Together this blend adds premium, natural flavoring and helps maintain the body’s normal cellular function*.  Highlighting the supporting fruits found in NingXia Red is a patented grape seed extract that contains polyphenolic compounds that may help support a healthy cardiovascular system*. Additionally, blueberry, aronia, cherry, pomegranate, and plum juices introduce additional carotenoids and phytonutrients. These core building blocks supply your body with the resources it needs to maintain good health and overall wellness, allowing you to perform your best every day. NingXia Red is lightly sweetened by natural, calorie-free stevia extract.  NingXia Red replenishes key nutrients; delivers natural, low glycemic energy; and provides essential antioxidants
to combat free radicals. Enjoy 2–4 ounces daily for long lasting health and wellness.

Want to try something that does 3-out-of-4 of these?  (4-out-of-4 if you hydrate while you work!)  Plant some edible perennials.  Read a good book on permaculture to help get a concept of what, where, when, how, and why.  No space is without potential to plant something.  Even apartment dwellers can often make use of patio space in pots or tubs. Often these plantings will bless generations.  Consider:

• Asparagus
• Artichokes
• Blueberries
• Elderberries
• Raspberries
• Fruit or nut trees

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.





1. Defining and setting national goals for cardiovascular health promotion and disease reduction: the American Heart Association's strategic Impact Goal through 2020 and beyond.

Lloyd-Jones DM, Hong Y, Labarthe D, Mozaffarian D, Appel LJ, Van Horn L, Greenlund K, Daniels S, Nichol G, Tomaselli GF, Arnett DK, Fonarow GC, Ho PM, Lauer MS, Masoudi FA, Robertson RM, Roger V, Schwamm LH, Sorlie P, Yancy CW, Rosamond WD, American Heart Association Strategic Planning Task Force and Statistics Committee
Circulation. 2010 Feb 2; 121(4):586-613.

2. Brault M. Americans with disabilities: 2005, current population reports Washington, DC: US Census Bureau; 2008.

3. Ideal cardiovascular health: associations with biomarkers and subclinical disease and impact on incidence of cardiovascular disease in the Framingham Offspring Study.
Xanthakis V, Enserro DM, Murabito JM, Polak JF, Wollert KC, Januzzi JL, Wang TJ, Tofler G, Vasan RS
Circulation. 2014 Nov 4; 130(19):1676-83.

4. Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study
Halfdan Petursson, Johann A Sigurdsson, Calle Bengtsson, Tom I L Nilsen, Linn Getz
J Eval Clin Pract. 2012 February; 18(1): 159–168. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01767.x
PMCID:
PMC3303886

5. Age and gender differences in the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in the older population
José María Abad-Díez, Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga, Antonio Poncel-Falcó, Beatriz Poblador-Plou, José Manuel Calderón-Meza, Antoni Sicras-Mainar, Mercedes Clerencia-Sierra, Alexandra Prados-Torres
BMC Geriatr. 2014; 14: 75. Published online 2014 June 17. doi: 10.1186/1471-2318-14-75
PMCID:
PMC4070347

6. High LDL cholesterol and statin use were independently associated with lower eight-year mortality in a cohort free from terminal illness, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes at baseline
Hans Thulesius
Scand J Prim Health Care. 2014 March; 32(1): 1–2. Published online 2014 March. doi: 10.3109/02813432.2014.869410
PMCID:
PMC4137895

7. Oxidized LDL: Diversity, Patterns of Recognition, and Pathophysiology
Irena Levitan, Suncica Volkov, Papasani V. Subbaiah
Antioxid Redox Signal. 2010 July 1; 13(1): 39–75. doi: 10.1089/ars.2009.2733
PMCID:
PMC2877120

8. http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/05/29/as-statins-soar-use-of-other-cholesterol-medicines-declines/#40a4c7a61186

9. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror

Healthy Blood, Healthy Body

The Cirulatory system is hugely important for overall health. It’s job is to carry needed nutrients to the tissues, and carry metabolic wastes out. The three main parts are:

• Heart—the pump
• Arteries and Veins—the pipes
• Blood—the liquid medium

The focus for this article will be the blood. Human blood is made up of plasma and other parts:

• Anti-body proteins—fight pathogens

•  Red blood cells(Erythrocytes)—carry oxygen and carbon dioxide
• White blood cells(Leukocytes)—fight micro-organisms and cancer cells

• Platelets—bone marrow cell products that clot blood

Blood makes up about 8% of an adult’s body weight. All of the metabolic processes we have discussed in previous articles hinge on effective transport by the bood:

• Nutrient dissemination from digestive tract 
• Hormone distribution from glands
• Tissue Ph
• Waste removal for detoxification
• and more

Obviously, without healthy blood it’s hard to be healthy. Some common disorders of the blood include:

            * Anemia
            * Lupus
            * Lymphoma
            * Leukemia

Instead of focusing on relieving the SYMPTOMS of these, lets look at some potential underlying CAUSES:

• Vitamin/Mineral Deficiencies from SAD diet (standard American diet) specifically B Vitamins because they enable iron use—which is critical for oxygen carrying capability in red blood cells. Again, you get what you pay for…if you currently take a vitamin synthesized in a lab (these are cheap) I challenge you to see how you feel after taking a whole food or naturally sourced vitamin (these aren’t cheap).

• PH imbalance

• Low HCL (stomach acid)/Enzymes (SAD diet and overuse of OTC antacids)

• Food Allergies or Sensitivities

• Any Toxin (Meds, Chemicals, Heavy Metals, Vaccinations, Viral, Bacterial, Fungal)

• Lymphatic, Spleen or Liver stress or weakness

• Oxidative Stress

• Lack Of Hydration (remember we’re mostly water—water quality matters!)

• Genetic predispositions

Want to take some steps to help your blood help you?

• Hydrate with the best water you can find. Drink ½ your body weight in ounces each day.

• Improve your diet. Get closer to your food supply. Take advantage of your farmer’s market, get in on a food co-op, or try www.localharvest.org. A healthier diet is not always more expensive—especially if you consider the current costs your health is incurring. Our family considers the Compensation Plan to be Young Living’s best product—because it allows us to afford a higher quality diet, supplements, and products to use in, on, and around our bodies. 

• Detox. Help your body flush that waste. Consider herbal supplements that aid in that process like Young Living’s ICP, Comfortone, Juvatone, or Digest+Cleanse.

• Supplement yourself. Going from a SAD diet to a glad diet is a process that takes time as well as effort. As you go, give yourself what you lack. Young Living’s Master Formula, Ningxia Red, and many others (such as Super B) are great supports for some of the above items.

• Get active. As we saw in the last article with the lymphatics, your body needs exercise and movement to maintain itself.

Speaking of active…It’s a lot easier to do when the weather is nice! A favorite hobby of mine

(Clint), that also happens to be productive exercise, is beekeeping. Like backyard chicken keeping, many municipal codes are becoming more accepting of bees in the city because of their value in food supply security. The agricultural and economic importance of honey bees in the wake of recent colony collapse research has led many cities to promote backyard beekeeping. Check this out if you're interested in starting to keep bees.

I spent an enjoyable and fulfilling afternoon yesterday installing our over-wintered nucleus hives into their new full size hives. Many beekeepers feed their bees in the fall to plus up the bees stores and increase the odds of making it through the winter. Corn syrup should be avoided in my opinion. We have had luck with raw organic sugar (although most sources will say only refined sugar should be used). Our bees have great taste—they like Young Living Essential Oils in their diet too!

Commercial honey bee supplements are not cheap—this DIY supplement is...and it’s a lot better for them!

•  5 cups water
• 2 ½ pounds of sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon Lecithin granules (Used as an emulsifier-works without)
• 15 drops Young Living Spearmint oil
• 15 drops Young Living Lemongrass oil

Bring the water to a boil and integrate the sugar until dissolved. Add lecithin and remove from heat. Once syrup is cool add essential oils and blend for a few minutes. This solution should have a strong scent and not be left open around bees. Cool before using.


To use: Add 1 TBS of essential oil mixture to 1 quart of 1:1 sugar water. Proper 1:1 sugar water is made by mixing 4 lbs. of sugar to 1/2 gallon of water.

This quart concentrate lasts a whole fall season for us.

Young Living Purification oil is a blend that soothes skin discomfort from the expected occasional sting.


Bee keeping is a great combination of carpentry, farming/gardening, and bug study. It’s a good feeling to lay in your own enzyme-rich raw honey and see your garden flourish.


As you can see from the picture, with the pear trees blossoming the bees prefer the real thing to our man made nectar.

One of my favorite reading places is in the shade next to the hive's entrance.  It gives good perspective for my own life to watch the colony diligently foraging, bringing in pollen, defending their hive, and going about life. 

What outdoor activities does Spring awaken for you?  What health goals for you or your family does this season stir in you?

Lymph Health...a Detox Key

Our bodies have two major fluid transport systems; the blood or cardiovascular system and the lymphatic system. Let’s talk now about the less well known of these two systems.

Your Lymphatic system plays a major role in detoxification of your body.  Remember the painful knots in your neck, armpit, or groin when you feel under the weather?  Those are your lymph nodes swelling as your immune system works overtime.  This system is made up of approximately 600-700 lymph nodes interconnected with lymph vessels that carry clear fluid called lymph. Unlike the blood, which flows in a constant loop, the lymph is supposed to flow in one direction: always up and towards the neck/heart. Lymphatic vessels connect to the subclavian veins, which are located on either side of the neck near the collarbones, and the fluid re-enters the circulatory system at this point.

The lymphatic system plays key roles in helping the body to maintain fluid balance. Key components of this system include the lymph nodes, spleen, thymus, and tonsils and adenoids.

The spleen is located on the left side of the body just above the left kidney. It is the largest lymphatic organ. 

• It controls the amount of red blood cells and blood storage in the body
• Helps to fight infection. 
• Removes old red blood cells and processes them for excretion.

The thymus is made up of a collection of lymph node type nodules located at the top of the breast bone.  The Thymus: 

• Produces hormones which support T cell development--playing a major role in the body’s white blood cell immune defense system.
• Collects and returns tissue fluid to the blood – maintains fluid balance.
• Filters and destroys bacteria, viruses and removes toxins 

The tonsils and adenoids are located in the back of the throat. Tonsils are large clusters of lymphatic cells found in the pharynx. They are one of the body's first line of defense aginst bacteria and viruses that enter the body through the mouth or nose.

The lymph nodes act as filters along the lymphatic route towards the heart. They filter the lymph and also produce lymphocytes that attack and destroy invaders such as cancer cells, bacteria, and viruses. 

The lymph is a clear, watery fluid composed of interstitial fluid, proteins, and micro-organisms. Lymph is formed when plasma leaves the body's cells after it has delivered its nutrients and removed debris from inside the cell. Most of this fluid returns to the venous circulation. The remainder becomes lymph.

Some of the most common diseases of the lymphatic system are: 

• Lymphadenopathy-enlargement of the lymph nodes
• Lymphedema-swelling due to lymph node blockage 
• Anemia if the spleen is overactive
• Cancers involving the lymphatic system. 

So how do we keep this intricate system healthy?

The most important thing you can do is exercise and drink plenty of good clean water! Simple and cheap, yet so many of us don’t do this. A good brisk walk will help the lymph in your lower extremities be pushed up and towards your heart and filtered out.

The lymph system does not have a pump like the cardiovascular system, so it is dependent on your muscles moving to push the lymph around.

For individuals that exercise is not appropriate, lymphatic massage may help tremendously to help their body stay healthy. Adequate lymph flow is imperative to health.

Other ways to support this system would be to add in essential oils to massage along the lymphatic vessel path. Most lymph vessels follow the line of the bones. Using an oil that is known for supporting the immune system, gently massage towards the heart, to support lymph flow and boost the fighting power of the lymphocytes.

One of my favorite powerful lymphatic massages to do for my family when their systems are struggling is the Raindrop Technique. The spinal cord is the key messenger pathway for electrical communication through the body, and there are loads of lymph nodes located along the spinal column. Use this light touch feathering technique, layering 9 power house oils that are traditionally revered for their immune supporting abilities, and you will help a body’s immune defenses in unparalleled ways.

For a simple quick Raindrop follow this recipe to make “Raindrop in a bottle”.  Check out this site if you'd like to know why I only recommend Young Living Essential Oils.

25 drops of Valor

10 drops of Oregano
5 drops of Peppermint
5 drops of Basil
5 drops of Thyme
5 drops of Cypress
5 drops of Wintergreen
5 drops of Marjoram
5 drops of Aroma Siez

Apply along the instep of the feet and along the spine as needed to support wellness.

A favorite way to get the lymphatic fluid pumping is getting the garden ready to wake up from it's winter nap.  There are numerous "chores" that benefit mind and body with productive movement.

• Building cold frames
• Spreading and turning in compost
• Building new compost piles
• Expanding beds
• Applying organic amendments like
• bio-char or wood ashes from the stove
• bone meal
• rock powders
• manures that aren't 'hot'--rabbit, goat, cow or composted horse, chicken.
• Starting your plants in sunny windows

The kids and I planted the tomatoes we saved last summer just a few days ago.  Here is how to save seeds if you'd like to start making your own family heirloom.

What's your favorite lymph circulating outdoor activity?

Health is more than skin deep

You know the old saying, “Beauty is only skin deep”?   Well, did you know that the beauty of the skin comes from deep inside you? 

Your skin is actually an organ.  In fact, your skin is the single largest organ of your body. 

Your skin has many functions.  Obviously it protects your muscles and bones.  It is also an elimination organ, meaning it will help eliminate toxins when needed.  It helps to cool your body with its ability to sweat.  It also helps you stay warm by shunting blood from the vast capillary beds.

Healthy skin in our environment takes work.  Just look at the average American teenager.  Most teens don’t stand a chance without some serious diet, toxin elimination, and concentrated gut health work.

You see, the health of our skin, often reflects the health of other body systems.  When the liver is backed up with toxins, when the lining of the small intestine is damaged, when the kidneys aren’t functioning properly, or when the endocrine(hormone) system is off kilter, often these will be manifested in poor skin health.

The health of our skin is also a reflection of our diet.  Many times when people complain of dry skin, I’ll ask if they drink water or if they eat healthy fat.  Both of those things are imperative to soft, well hydrated skin.

So what do you do if you have skin that isn’t where you would like it to be?  

• First……examine your diet.  Do you drink half your body weight in ounces of pure water each day?  Do you consume adequate amounts of healthy fats, especially those high in omega’s?   

• Second, examine your gut health.  If you need to work on that, go read the last few blog posts, they will walk you through a quick tutorial on how to regain gut health and hook you up with where to get more information on gut health.

• Third, take inventory of the toxin load on your body from your environment.  Look at all the products you are using in, on, and around your body.  What improvements can you make?  Can you eliminate any of the toxin load?  Making small changes can all add up to a huge difference for your health.

Want a few ideas on toxin sources to get rid of?

• In your body:
• cooking with tools made of aluminum or teflon coatings
• bpa plastic containers
• oral care products
• highly processed foods and preservatives
• synthetically manufactured vitamins and OTC drugs
• poor water
• On your body:
• deodorants with aluminum hydroxides
• synthetic cosmetics
• perfumes (remember the skin absorbs things readily...if you don't intend to ingest something don't put it on your skin!)
• synthetic personal care products
• Around your body:
• synthetic air fresheners (inhalation is a very efficient way to get chemicals outside of you, into you.)
• synthetic cleaners and the fumes that accompany them (marketers have caught on that putting "natural" on the label sells products)
• environmental pollution

Young Living has solutions for all these challenges.

Cleaning products are a huge source of these toxins.  If you need scary reasons to de-tox your cleaning regimen, ‘check out this cleaning agent hall of shame’.

So, I thought I would share a toxin-free and cost saving DIY:

Thieves Foaming Hand Soap: Cost is about $2.00

Supplies:

• Empty Foaming Soap Container in working condition 

• Dr Bronner’s Unscented Liquid Castile Soap 

• Coconut or Vit E oil 

• Young Living Essential Oils of choice 

Depending on your container size, start with 10% soap, fill remainder with water(remember to leave room at the top for the foam making apparatus.

Then I add 2tbs of liquid soap, 8-10 drop of Thieves oil for my 8oz container. I usually don’t add the coconut or vit E, but that is just me. Shake well.

Oh and did I mention your scent combinations here are endless. Two of my favorite aside from Thieves are 

• Lemongrass/Lavender 
• Lemon/Spearmint. 

After your initial cost of the bottle, you can refill for less than $1 with ingredients you can pronounce!

Would you like to burn some calories and produce something for your community?  How about up-cycling to build a cold frame or hoop house?  Nothing beats cabin fever like planting.  It's probably good for your skin too...

It's amazing what can come together in one afternoon with cheap plastic sheeting, hoops from conduit or PVC pipe, and left-over lumber.  I put old wire around mine so the chickens can prepare the beds when it's time to re-plant.  Carrots and salad greens are only a few weeks away!

What are your favorite up-cycling and toxin busting activities?

Give your gut a break from the daily grind

We have talked about teeth, livers, kidneys and elimination.  I will continue to talk about that topic today.

I want to talk about giving your intestines(guts) a break from their daily grind of digesting and eliminating food waste. We are going to talk about cleansing your intestines. One quick word of caution: Absolutely NO cleansing if you are pregnant or breastfeeding! Your body will follow the path of least resistance when eliminating waste and toxins will be pushed to the baby. I’m in that season right now. I’m looking forward to my next gut vacation, but I have a little one dependent on me and she is my priority.

I have two favorite books that talk about the importance of intestinal health and how to begin to regain control of your gut’s health. The first book is “Renew Your Life” by Brenda Watson ND. The second is Inner Transformations Using Essential Oils by Deardeuff & Deardeuff. Both are excellent!

Opinions are a dime a dozen on when, where, how, how long…..to cleanse. Do some research and decide what you think works best for you. I’m going to share what worked for me…but it may not be where you need/want to start. Remember….baby steps are still forward motion. Don’t feel like you have to jump into an intense food fast to be successful. Baby steps.

Young Living has a GREAT first step called the Nutritive Cleanse. It is a five day cleanse that would be a great first cleanse for someone new to cleansing. Using this cleanse is gentle, it is short in duration, and you won’t be hungry!  Another option is the Cleansing Trio kit.  Because so many people love these, they are often out of stock, but most of the time you can get substitutes.

Ok, before I go any further…..I want to remind you that before you embark on any cleansing journey that you check out your plans with your medical provider. You may be on a medication or have a health condition that warrants medical oversight prior to attempting something like this. Did you know there are inpatient health spa’s all over the country with Medical Doctors that can help you? YES again, you have choices, you have options! You DO NOT have to continue to live in a state of dis-ease. However, I know for a FACT if you change nothing, nothing will change for the better. In fact, chances are things will get worse.

Ok, moving off that soap box…..

The cleanse I (Joy) use most often is the Master Cleanse. It consists of a diet of Lemonade made with water, organic lemon juice, grade B maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Yep, that’s it. I drank a gallon+ of that every day for 10 days. At the risk of TMI, it took 4 days for me to not have formed stool. Thinking I was a bit backed up! But then just think, my liver and intestines had 6 days to celebrate and have a vacation.

Because the Grade B maple syrup has loads of calories(all low glycemic index), I was never hungry. The first 4 days were pretty challenging! I used LOTS of oils to help with the headaches, nausea, and DRA(dirty rotten attitude) I struggled with. After that however I felt great. In fact, I felt amazing!

I lost about 10 lbs the first time I did this cleanse. My tummy was relatively flat when I got done. The bloated feeling was gone. The heavy, weighted down, can’t get up off the couch, stuck in slow motion feeling was gone as well.

I don’t recommend this cleanse to just anyone. Again, check with your medical provider to make sure they are aware of your plans, especially if you are under care for a chronic illness. The book “Master Cleanse” will give you all the ins and outs of this cleanse. Or you can get a good picture of the plan from Google.  The purpose of fasting and cleansing is to flush and rest the gut.  The diagram of a cross-section of the small intestine is instructive.  These little fingers, Villi, are designed to absorb nutrients and secrete digestive enzymes through surface contact with the output of the stomach.  When our modern diet builds up plaque these Villi literally get covered up with gunk.

What I (Clint) enjoy doing is intermittent fasting.  A pubmed.gov search for 'intermittent fasting and human metabolic health' yields 25 interesting articles. I will skip dinner Saturday evening, then break the fast Monday morning.  This gives the gut a regular break of 24 to 36 hours.  It's hugely important to increase water intake while fasting.  Our bodies can do quite well without food for many days--not so without water.  Fasting is as much mental as it is physical.  You may need to work up to longer fasts.  Start with skipping a dinner meal and have breakfast as normal the following day.  Then skip dinner and stretch it to break the fast with lunch.  Keep working towards your time goal.  Many things can help such as:

• avoid being around really smelly foods
• drink water when you feel hungry
• stay active-go for a walk, get out of the house
• tinker with a hobby i.e. crafts, fly tying, art, etc.
• keep spiritually connected to fasting's other higher purposes
• increase fresh fruits and vegetables intake before and after fast
• add Young Living essential oils supporting normal digestion to your water bottle
• Peppermint Vitality™
• DiGize™ Vitality™ 
• Citrus Fresh™ Vitality™

Some folks start with a 10 day raw diet or a 10 day juicing fast. Both are great!

The book Inner Transformations talks about setting up a cleansing routine. It makes parallels with the seasons and how nature has a cleansing routine. I love how it gives easy to follow guide lines.

Renew Your Life has a similar set up, in that it helps you figure out where to start and how to cleanse the whole digestive system in a systematic way. What it doesn’t seem to have is an ongoing plan that provides a structured plan for maintenance.

The bottom line is start somewhere. Just like you need a vacation from time to time, your digestive system will improve its performance if you will rest it from time to time as well.

A common term lately is "Leaky Gut".  This is simply a gut that no longer can tell what it should expel and what it should absorb.  It absorbs toxins right along with needed nutrients, and likewise expels at random.  I think many of the intestinal issues we face today come from poor diet that causes elimination problems, which causes absorption problems.  

Bone broth is a great way to boost the easily absorbable nutrients your body needs.  This is a no-fuss way to make it.  As always, think about the raw materials you're starting with.  It would be counter-productive to make bone broth from bones produced with (and still present) pharmacueticals, hormones, GMOs, etc.  So find a food source you can meet and ask questions of.  Gelatin is highest in the feet and neck bones of chicken, lamb, or beef.  Gelatin is important because it is very hydrophilic, meaning it attracts liquids (including digestive juices and enzymes) that tend to be repelled by cooked foods.  The method described is based on the recipes from Nourishing Traditions.

Depending on your family size, you'll need:

• chicken carcass leftover after baked chicken meal
• fish bones (not bottom feeders)
• soup bones, long bones, etc. (we like to roast in oven or wood grill for flavor)
• crock pot
• purest water possible
• vegetables and herbs of choice
• vinegar (to increase nutrient leaching from the bones)
• Sea salt

For a large crock pot we usually do about 4 pounds of bones, 2 cups veggies, 1/2 cup vinegar, 2 Tbs salt, gallon filtered water (enough to bring up to 1" from top of crock pot).  We let this cook on low for 24-72 hours.  When you can't stand the smell anymore(or do what Joy does and banish the crockpot to the garage while it cooks), skim the top, strain out the bones, and refrigerate.  Once cool, pull off fat from top and freeze or can the broth. 

If you are struggling with a 'leaky gut' or digestive issues, you can just have a continual broth by rotating out bones every few days and adding water as you drink it straight.  Impurities float, so skim before serving.  A cup of broth with each meal is good soul food.

Productive exercise for this time?  How about providing your own chickens for the pot?  Many cities are coming on board with allowing backyard chicken flocks.  Building a coop and husbanding your birds daily is not going to be found on a personal trainer's fitness plan.  But, the stress-reducing and therapeutic benefit of providing for your own table is not to be despised.  I just got a catalog in the mail from the hatchery the other day...Spring is right around the corner!

How has fasting and cleansing impacted your health?  If you haven't tried these practices, what has held you back?  We'd love to hear your comments.

Go on, Love on your liver

In our last post we talked about how important a healthy mouth and stomach are to proper digestion.  Now I want to talk about two organs that play an important role in digestion as well. Your liver and your kidneys.

There are entire sub-specialties in Western Medicine that focus on each of these two organs individually, so I’m not going to pretend to even scratch the surface of what each of these organs do.  Just the liver produces and controls literally 10s of thousands of enzymatic pathways associated with thousands of processes in the body.

One of the liver’s main roles is to produce and deliver food enzymes to the small intestine.

The liver filters our entire blood volume multiple times an hour.  It removes toxins and by products of metabolism, and dumps those into the small intestine to be excreted with the food waste.

The kidneys play a similar role with filtering the blood.   It excretes waste through the bladder. The kidneys play a key role in electrolyte balance.  Electrolytes play a key role in heart, brain, and muscle function.  Did you know your entire digestive system is lined with muscle?  Smooth muscle needs the same things striated (or skeletal) muscle does.

Both systems can become overloaded and bogged down with the toxin load, if we are careless about how we feed and nourish our body, and if we are careless with what we expose our bodies to environmentally(i.e. what we use in, on, or around our body).

For the purposes of simplicity I will focus on the liver.  An overloaded liver can cause a massive back up in your whole digestive system.   It can lead to obesity, constipation, and some would say will ultimately cause chronic illnesses like Fibromyalgia, Lupus, or chronic fatigue.

So how can an overloaded liver lead to these?

When the liver filters out a toxin, it has to put it somewhere.   Ideally, it will push the toxin out the intestines to be excreted with the rest of the waste.  However, if it is overloaded the toxin may not be removed and is then stored elsewhere in the body to be removed later.   This is when damage can happen to the body that may lead to disease.

One of the ways the liver attempts to protect the body is by storing toxins in fat cells.  Fat cells are relatively low in blood supply, and so they become a safe place for the liver to store a toxin that it can’t process, and that may lead to obesity.   The liver may push toxins into fat cells, it may push toxins into joints, or even into other organs until it is caught up and can deal with the backed up toxins.

Obviously toxins are TOXIC and they need to be removed from the body, not stored elsewhere.

Decreasing your toxin load is one of the best things you can do for your health.

So how do we help support our liver and decrease the toxin load?

First, you MUST move your Bowels! Yep I did just say that! You must eliminate the waste the liver delivers to the intestines as soon as possible. A healthy elimination cycle is eliminating at least twice a day or about 12-18 hrs from meal to movement.  Second, look for ways to decrease the toxins your liver has to process each day. It is EASY in this day and age to decrease your toxin load! You have so many choices!

• Decrease/Eliminate processed foods.  A simple change here is to only shop the outer perimeter of your grocery store.  Don’t walk down the aisles. Stop and think about that. What do you put in your cart that comes from walking down the aisles? Yep…..all the processed, chemical laden, toxic, dead food.  The stores put things with a short shelf life that aren’t overly processed in coolers on the perimeter. This is where you want to shop!  Try a whole grocery shopping trip with no trips down the aisles! I dare you!Change to toxin free personal care, Young Living offers fabulous options here, or if you are a go getter, you can easily make products at home and add in essential oils to boost the aroma and healthy cellular regeneration factors.   I’ve included my favorite moisturizing blend that I DIY.

• Throw out your personal care products that contain synthetic chemicals and perfume-grade essential oils.  Check out Young Living's personal care line.

• Move your bowels! IF you don’t go, your gut will re-absorb what the liver has processed and it will have to re-process those toxins all over again!  I’ve been hearing rave reviews on the squatty potty….may be a great $25 to invest in your gut health.

• Try some liver supporting Young Living products.  Use JuvaFlex oil, take
  
  JuvaTone, and Detoxzyme daily as recommended.   “ JuvaTone® is a powerful herbal complex designed to promote healthy liver function.*  It is an excellent source of choline, a nutrient that is vital for proper liver function and necessary for those with high protein diets.  JuvaTone also contains inositol and dl-methionine, which help with the body's normal excretion functions.*  Methionine also helps recycle glutathione, a natural antioxidant crucial for normal liver function.*  Other ingredients include Oregon grape root, a source of the liver-supporting compound berberine, and therapeutic-grade essential oils to enhance overall effectiveness.*”

• You always want to make sure you are eliminating efficiently before starting a cleanse.  You can confirm this by eating the healthy beet salad shared below and monitoring your intestine’s transit time.  Comfortone, ICP, and Digize Vitality taken as suggested internally support healthy digestion 

It's hard to Beat this Beet Salad for taste and an efficiency check of your gut:)

-Cooked beets, cubed—1-2 beets per person

-¼ cup fresh mayo per beet (google how to make if you don’t already!)

-Horseradish to taste

-Young Living Lemon Vitality oil—diffuse 1 drop oil in 4 Tbsp organic coconut oil and add to taste.


Boil peeled beets for 30-45 minutes (wear rubber gloves if you don’t want Smurf hands!) Mix all ingredients after beets have cooled and toss with Lemon Vitality oil infusion before serving. Can be served with fresh greens and goat cheese or any number of combos.

Enjoy!