Whether I am grocery shopping, eating at a restaurant, attending an event, or stopping at the gas station for a quick snack, I am bombarded with unhealthy toxic food choices. Finding a healthy gluten/casein/toxic free (GF/CF/TF) food choice is like playing a game of Where’s Waldo with an illustrator who uses my senses, brain, and innate desires against me. What to choose? What not to choose? Cravings, smells, subliminal and sublime messages on prepackaged junk food all work against my intellect and rationale until I either leave or breath deeply and search for the things I can eat. Continue reading
5 Things to avoid while living gluten-free
How Do I Help My Child? A Mother's Mission
Gluten-free living is changing the lives of countless people for the better. It helps to alleviate multiple maladies and heals years of misery for most dieters. I went completely gluten-free (GF) and casein-free (CF) six years ago to support my son’s GFCF lifestyle. I quickly discovered the benefits of being GFCF – my digestive illness, pains, and allergy concerns were resolved. Two years into my diet change I became chronically ill with symptoms of autoimmune disease, arthritis, fatigue, brain-fog, emotional changes, allergies, and exercise intolerance. I went from being an active person to being a sick person. How did this occur when I was on such a healthy diet plan?
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Motherhood: How God trained me to embrace the proverbial elephant
When I was asked to speak at church about my experiences of motherhood, I heartily agreed. I was asked to speak this Mother’s Day which is just around the corner. Although I was given plenty of advanced notice, I continue to find myself at a loss for words. How do I condense eighteen years of being a mother into a ten minute homily? What does God want me to share with other moms? How do I explain motherhood?
“How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time. This saying is used in the business world to help explain short term versus long term goal setting. If you see the proverbial elephant as a larger than life barrier to achieving your goal, you need to eat it slowly – one bite at a time. If you see the elephant as an older wiser ally, you’d better not eat it. You’d better feed and nurture it – allowing it to grow daily. Let’s face it, eating an elephant one bite at a time would be exhausting anyway. Why does the elephant exists? Does it mean you harm? Is it in your way? Continue reading
Let’s find the source
“What do you think about ________?” My response to this question usually involves some form of circular reasoning or begging the question. Why do you seek my answer? Is your question loaded with bias? Is your goal contention or knowledge? Who am I to provide the answer? When one seeks wisdom, one must know the source from which it flows.
Water may flow abundantly or drip slowly one drop at a time. It dissipates and awaits. Water may be natural, filtered, or contaminated. Salty, chlorinated, or runoff. Nevertheless, it is water. It is life! The quest for water never ends nor do questions about life.
If I collect water, I must use a vessel. Much like collecting knowledge, I must know the source from which my water flows. I must ensure my vessel is made of high quality material because I want pure water for eternity. Continue reading
How to make an unhealthy American
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” -Robert F. Kennedy
America is a great country filled with hard-workers, brilliant thinkers, leaders, and billionaires. Ideas and advances which perpetuate progress have the ability to create unimaginable ripples – with both positive and negative consequences. America’s healthcare rating is the worst in the developed world and the U.S. ranks sixteenth in the world for overall health according to Time Health and the 2014 Commonwealth Fund survey. What ripple(s) may be creating ailing Americans? Continue reading
5 Things to avoid while living gluten-free
Gluten-free living is changing the lives of countless people for the better. It helps to alleviate multiple maladies and heals years of misery for most dieters. I went completely gluten-free (GF) and casein-free (CF) six years ago to support my son’s GFCF lifestyle. I quickly discovered the benefits of being GFCF – my digestive illness, pains, and allergy concerns were resolved. Two years into my diet change I became chronically ill with symptoms of autoimmune disease, arthritis, fatigue, brain-fog, emotional changes, allergies, and exercise intolerance. I went from being an active person to being a sick person. How did this occur when I was on such a healthy diet plan?
Continue reading
Expert bias: one diet plan doesn’t fit all
I attended an in-service today presented by a National expert in nutritional therapy. My quest for new health-related knowledge dragged me out of bed an hour early, allowed me to sit through eight hours of listening to the speaker read an 800 slideshow narrative, and allowed me to ignore the dread of driving two and a half hours. Needless to say, I really wanted to learn about this topic, and my mind was completely open. It became apparent within the first ten minutes that I was going to be deeply disappointed. While the expert was brilliant and knowledgeable about nutritional interventions, her bias was apparent. Continue reading
The Band-Aid Kid
While at Wal-Mart purchasing yet another package of Band-Aids for my son, Austin, I wondered, Why am I always buying these? I was raising two boys actively involved with being outdoors, swimming, fishing, hunting, riding bikes, and sports. Both of my boys bled and used Band-Aids for their multiple scrapes and injuries. Their injuries were a “normal” part of living active lives which allowed them to learn natural limits – pain is a good teacher.
Austin went through a box of Band-Aids like a box of chocolates. He picked out his favorite size, texture, and print (usually his favorite superhero or cartoon character). Continue reading
Generational Food Trends: How we went from farm fresh to fast food and back again
Food choices – they define our generations – what can Traditionalists teach the Centennials/NeXters? Living in the present is the new “catch phrase.” It means to be mindful of your current surroundings, choices, emotions, and behaviors. It does not mean to close yourself off from the past. “Those who do not learn from history (the past) are doomed to repeat it.” – George Santayana
Normally this quote would be used to chastise a generation for going astray from past traditions or conventional wisdom. On the topic of food choices, we need to repeat the past! Continue reading
How food affects the body, brain, and behavior – microbiome
Does food really affect our health, and behavior? I hear this question often and I have to remind myself that personal knowledge related to the toxic effects and healing effects of food choices is unique to each of us. Most people are willing to believe that food directly affects overall health. There are tons of research articles, diet plans, books, and specialists explaining how bad food habits can be dangerous to our bodies and life expectancy. Emerging research explains how certain types of foods affect our mood and behaviors. While we may disagree with which health food plan is best for an individual’s needs, we cannot continue to ignore psychological and physiological diseases plaguing us, our kids, and our nation. Continue reading