Category Archives: Natural Health

Natural health information that you can use to make your health better today. Why wait?

Urban Moonshine Citrus Bitters. A great natural remedy for gallbladder sludge and stones.

Natural Remedy for Gallbladder Sludge and Stones

A loyal reader Letty asked me if I had any solutions for gallbladder sludge and stones – which is a great question.  This is an issue that troubles so many people, especially women and many make the tough decision about having surgery, partly because they don’t know about other options. First let’s talk a little bit about gallbladders in general and then we’ll get to why they get sludgy and what you can do about it.

What Is A Gallbladder Anyway?

Your gallbladder sits tucked underneath your liver under the bottom of your rib cage on the right side of your body.  Your liver manufactures bile, which helps you to digest fats and also helps you to eliminate fat-soluble toxins. This bile passes through a duct, which is a narrow tube, into your gallbladder.  Your gallbladder helps to reabsorb water from the bile to make it stronger and more concentrated. Your gallbladder also holds this bile and stores it until you eat something fatty.  When fatty foods enter your stomach your stomach releases signaling molecules that tell you gallbladder to contract, and as it contracts it squeezes that concentrated bile through another duct into your small intestines to help with digestion. For this system to work properly three factors need to be in place.

  1. Your liver has to be in good working order
  2. Your gallbladder has to be free to contract (not filled with sludge and stones)
  3. The ducts between liver and gallbladder and gallbladder and intestines must be clear from obstructions, which are usually sludge or stones.
Gallbladder location and connection to liver- natural remedies for gallbladder sludge and stones.

Gallbladder location and connection to liver- natural remedies for gallbladder sludge and stones.

What Happens in a Gallbladder Attack?

When people have a gallbladder attack it is usually an event they won’t forget for a while.  What is happening is that your gallbladder gets the signal to contract to squeeze out bile, but something is in the way – usually either sludge or stones.  The sludge or stones can be in the gallbladder itself or they can be blocking one of the ducts.  Either way, when the gallbladder squeezes down on something like this, it hurts.  It hurts in a really vivid way. Usually people report severe pain after eating that can cause sweating, nausea or even vomiting.  A lot of time people will take themselves to the ER because it’s really easy to confuse this type of pain with heart attack pain. Your body keeps squeezing to try to dislodge the sludge or stones, which just keeps hurting, and a lot of times the only thing that really makes it feel better is morphine (or surgery).

Why are the Sludge and Stones There In The First Place?

If you are actively losing weight, if your body has a lot of fat soluble toxins to deal with, if your diet is higher in fat than it should be or if you’re going through hormone fluctuations then sometimes there is just more fat than there is bile.  What can happen in this situation is that the fat and bile bind together to form a sludgy, gluey substance that gets thicker and stickier and eventually clogs up the gallbladder and ducts.  Within that sludgy mixture stones can begin to form and grow and the stones can also block ducts – sometimes requiring emergency surgery if they’re blocking a duct completely. Essentially the sludge is just thick, heavy fats that your body couldn’t deal with properly.

How Can I Get Rid of Gallbladder Sludge and Stones Naturally?

The key to getting rid of sludge and stones is doing four things at the same time.

  1. Increase bile production – Stimulate your liver production of bile or actually take bile salts to make sure that lots of bile is flowing through the gallbladder and intestines.
  2. Liquify and Move the Bile – Keeping the bile liquid and moving quickly so it can start to wash out the preexisting sludge and stones.
  3. Shrink the Stones – If there are stones there, then we have to make them smaller so that they wash out easily. If you suspect stones I would suggest making an appointment with your doctor to see how many there are and how big they are.
  4. Dump the Bile – Once bile gets dumped into your intestines it’s out of the gallbladder, but a lot of times we reabsorb that same bile from our intestines to use again, because we’re just hoarders by nature. In this scenario you have to make sure as much bile as possible is actually leaving your body.

Increasing Bile Production – Choleretic

Increasing the amount of bile produced to help your body flush out gallbladder sludge and stones. Substances that do this are called “choleretics” and fortunately there are some great options out there, and lots of them are foods.  My favorite foods that increase bile production are artichokes – you can actually feel your saliva production increase when you eat them, and that same response is happening with bile. Young beet greens and possibly the beets themselves help too. Herbal bile flow stimulants include chamomile, chicory, blessed thistle, and many of the bitter herbs.  In terms of finding products, I love digestive bitters before each meal (right now I’m addicted to some from Urban Moonshine – their citrus bitters are the bomb!) Another great way to go is Standard Process A-F Betafood, which makes everything nice and simple, or Panplex 2-Phase from ITI which is a strong digestive complex with ox bile in it.




Urban Moonshine Citrus Bitters. A great natural remedy for gallbladder sludge and stones.

Urban Moonshine Citrus Bitters. A great natural remedy for gallbladder sludge and stones.

Liquify and Move the Bile – Cholagogue

Choagogues promote discharge of bile from the system – keeping it moving downward out of your liver and gallbladder and into your small intestines. In terms of naturally eliminating gallbladder sludge and stones this is key! Again, all of your bitter foods will stimulate bile flow so adding raw bitter greens like arugula and some of the bitter lettuces or dandelion greens will help. In terms of supplements the digestive bitters are a great idea here too, or liver support products.  Some of my favorites include Milk Thistle from Gaia herbs, Lipotrophic complex from ITI or Livaplex from Standard Process.

Shrink The Gallstones

Shrinking gallstones can be tricky naturally, just because we can’t actually break things up, we have to just slowly dissolve them from the surface. This is a long prospect. Essentially we need things that are acidic enough to leech calcium out of stones – but be careful because they’re usually also acidic enough to leech calcium out of your teeth so rinse your mouth out with water after you take them so the acid doesn’t stay on your teeth. My favorites are Standard Process Phosfood liquid – it’s super sour but works great to start shrinking stones.  Apple cider vinegar before meals is a great strategy too.




Dump The Bile

We want to prevent the bile that your body is dumping into your small intestines from being reabsorbed. This means binding it to something like fiber so that you can’t reabsorb it at all.  Fiber a couple of times per day between meals (with lots of water to also help you flush things through). I really like Fiber Plus powder from Orthomolecular because it’s a good blend of soluble and insoluble fiber and tastes great (apple cinnamon) plus it’s a high dose in every scoop. There are also gallbladder cleanses but they aren’t safe for everyone.  You can read more about gallbladder cleanses here.

Now hopefully you have a better understanding of what you’re trying to do when you’re cleaning out liver and gallbladder sludge and stones, but if you have any questions or comments just leave them here and I’ll get back to you.  The natural methods do work, but if a stone gets lodged in a duct then that is actually a medical emergency and requires emergency surgery so go to the ER if you need to.. Don’t worry – if that happens you won’t miss it.  It’s excruciating pain and often jaundice.  Otherwise, naturally eliminating your gallbladder sludge and stones is a great way to go. In general incorporating more of the gallbladder and liver friendly foods into your diet would help almost everyone.



Eat From The Earth – Forage for Cleavers

In keeping with the foraging theme, it’s cleavers season in Texas and my yard has a bountiful harvest. Cleavers always pop up in early spring – in Texas that’s mid February to mid March, but if you’re elsewhere in the country it’s at the end of the frost and snow season and along with the early greening-up of the world.

Forage for cleavers - great kidney tonic and cleanser. Abundant this time of year in Texas.

Forage for cleavers – great kidney tonic and cleanser. Abundant this time of year in Texas.

Cleavers are a very seasonal plant – really only appearing for about a month every spring and appearing in unlikely places – yards, edges of roads, edges of wooded areas and generally places that might be called “transition zones.” That means the edges of things or the spaces where one type of landscape changes into another. They’re easy to spot because there’s a bare green stem with a whirl of 6 leaves, then bare green stem, then another whirl.  It’s not an easy plant to confuse with anything else and so it’s a great plant if you’re new to foraging and don’t want to risk anything toxic – probably a good idea, right? If it’s distinctive looks weren’t enough, cleavers has one other unique characteristic that makes it spectacularly hard to confuse with anything else, and that is the reason it got it’s name.  Cleavers is actually covered with tiny barbs – they’re soft and not prickly, but it will happily stick to your shirt. It’s a great test to make sure you’ve got the right plant.

Cleavers - great yard food to eat from the earth. This shows the way cleavers will stick to your shirt - providing a convenient positive identification.

Cleavers – great yard food to eat from the earth. This shows the way cleavers will stick to your shirt – providing a convenient positive identification.

In terms of flavor, Cleavers is some of my favorite yard food. To me cleavers tastes very much like spring – it’s a fresh, green sort of flavor that I look forward to after winter.  I’m guessing my neighbors think I’m a little odd as I’ll often grab a sprig to munch on my way out for work. Cleavers is best mixed in with a salad, if you’re eating it raw, or with other greens to cook as a pot green.  I think it would be too much on it’s own and probably too much for your body as well – in part because cleavers, or Galium aparine  is strongly medicinal.




Medicinal Uses of Cleavers, or Galium aparine

Cleavers as a blood and lymph cleanser:

Cleavers has been used historically for a wide variety of ailments, my favorite of which is as a cleanser for the blood and lymphatic system.  Just like spring is a great time to get into your house and do a deep clean, purging all of the unwanted junk that arises over the winter, it’s also a great time to clean out your own system.  Galium, which appears naturally at just this time, can be a fantastic addition to that protocol. This can be as simple as eating 1-2 stems raw and fresh (the little barbs on the plant have an interesting feel inside the mouth) or you can dry some of the herb and continue to use it year round in teas.  As part of the cleansing process you will notice it also has a mild diuretic effect, and will increase the amount you urinate slightly.

This blood and lymph cleansing effect can help with swollen glands, skin rashes and eruptions, liver, kidney and urinary disorders and to boost overall energy and vitality when combined with a general detoxification protocol. Again – spring cleaning can be a great thing for your whole body. Cleavers may be such an effective blood cleanser simply because it is a potent antioxidant, and strong free radical scavenging powers have been demonstrated in research of the aqueous extract.  Good thing because the aqueous, or water extract, is the easiest one to make at home in the form of a tea.

Cleavers as an anti-tumor and anti-cancer agent:

Galium species are a new target for research as anti-cancer agents. This includes cleavers (Galium aparine) and it’s cousin lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum).  Galium aqueous extract (this is herbal tea) shows strong cytotoxic effects on various tumor lines including Hep2 and HLaC79 cell lines – these are two aggressive head and neck cancers. It has also been studied with success in cervical, breast, prostate and bladder cancer.  Historically, cleavers is one ingredient in the famously controversial herbal anti-cancer formula called Hoxsey formula. There are various ways of preparing this formula, but one of the safer and less controversial versions is below.

Hoxsey-like formula:

1 oz Red clover
1 oz Burdock
1 oz Dandelion root
1 oz Sarsaparilla
1 oz Oregon grape
1 oz Cleavers
1 oz Buckthorn
1 oz Poke
1 oz Echinacea
1 oz Licorice
1 oz Ginger
1 oz Wild yam

This formula can be mixed in large batches and brewed as a concentrate (like the similar anti-cancer formula which is available retail called Flor-Essence) or mixed dry and brewed in small batches.  To make a cup of tea use 1 tablespoon of the mixed dry herb and simmer in a cup of boiling water for about 10 minutes.  As a starter anti-cancer cleanse Hoxsey suggested having a half cup of tea every 1-2 hours for a week.

Although the cancer research we have now is insufficient to say whether or not this would be an effective protocol for any particular cancer by itself, it would certainly be a good addition to an already existing cancer protocol and could potentially be used in conjunction with other cancer therapies such as radiation.  If you are using chemotherapy talk with your MD or oncologist about any herbs before adding them, simply because we genuinely don’t know how those therapies will interact.

In every situation please talk with your doctor and health care team before starting a new therapy, especially for something as serious as cancer.

Cleavers as a topical:

Cleavers tea has also been used as a topical wash for burns, skin rashes, skin eruptions, and generally irritated skin.  Historically it was mashed into a pulp and applied to bites and stings. Research has shown that water extract of cleavers have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory effects so no wonder it’s good for your skin.

Cleavers are a wonderful addition to your spring diet and can be eaten raw, added to salads, cooked up with a variety of other pot greens like spinach, kale, chard or collards or dried for use in herbal teas. And all of this for free out of your yard. Will wonders never cease?



Missing The Best Part? Avocado Seed Benefits

Kind of a random topic, but I have been learning about avocado seed benefits in these past couple of weeks, mostly because I’m hungry. I chose this time to do a 21 day cleanse with a complete elimination diet, which sounded awesome in my head but is working out to be one heck of a challenge. If you’re not sure why anyone would be insane enough to do this, read more about elimination diets here (although I’d suggest doing it in summer when nobody in Texas feels like eating anyway).  So – my diet right now is incredibly limited and I’m looking for ways to get extra nutrition out of the things I’m allowed to eat, hence the avocado seed benefits, and as it turns out they are AWESOME for you. I’m noticing a big difference in  my level of satisfaction with the morning smoothie as well as energy and feeling of fullness.

How do You Eat An Avocado Seed?

Avocado seed benefits may be greater than the rest of the avocado!

Avocado seed benefits may be greater than the rest of the avocado!

Avocado seeds are pretty significantly hard, and not the most pleasant tasting things to chew on directly – they have a little bit astringent, little bit bitter flavor (but if you read the nutritarian post, you know that the astringent/bitter flavor usually means it’s literally full of amazing nutrients, which happens to be one of the avocado seed benefits as well). My compromise was to chop it into smaller pieces (carefully, I found out the hard way that kitchen knives like to slide off rounded edges rather than cut through them. Oops!) and add it to my morning smoothie.  The flavor is easily covered by a banana and frozen berries and my vitamix makes short work of the grinding.




Avocado Seed Benefits:

  1. Fiber. More soluble fiber ounce per ounce than almost any other food out there.
  2. Antibacterial and antifungal. There is evidence that avocado seeds inhibit the growth of bacteria in the gram positive rod group and also of a variety of fungii including candida.
  3. Antioxidant.  70% of the total antioxidants from the whole avocado are found within the seed, which means we often throw away the best part. Just as an aside, the skins are also extremely high in antioxidants so that might be the next food experiment.
  4. Anti-cancer!! A flavenol from avocado seed was given to rats with cancer, which  induced programmed cell death (apoptosis) in the cancer cells. Serious avocado seed benefits!
  5. Anti-inflammatory for the GI tract. Historically avocado seeds were used in South America to help treat dysentery, gastric ulcers and other digestive disorders.
  6. Boosts skin collagen. Avodaco seed oil actually boosts collagen production in your skin and makes hair shinier and skin softer. Talk about a super food!
  7. Boosts heart health. The oils from avocado seeds and flesh include 71% monounsaturated fats (MUFA), 13% polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) and 16% saturated fatty acids (SFA). This helps promote healthy blood lipid profiles and support cardiovascular health.

Avocado Seed Smoothie:

Awesome Avocado seed benefits from this berry smoothie. Thanks Praisaeng at freedigitalphotos.net

Awesome Avocado seed benefits from this berry smoothie. Thanks Praisaeng at freedigitalphotos.net

Here’s what I’ve been doing mornings this week to enjoy the avocado seed benefits and supercharge my nutrition:

  1. 1/2 avocado (including flesh and 1/2 of the seed, cut in pieces)
  2. 1 banana
  3. 3/4-1 cup organic frozen berry blend
  4. 1 scoop fiber powder
  5. 2-3 scoops protein powder (right now I’m using SP complete dairy-free, which is unflavored and unsweetened)
  6. Water to bring to the right texture.

Blended this tastes like a rich, creamy, berry smoothie and it’s really filling. You know you’re getting great fiber, great fats, protein and a ton of antioxidants.  The berries and banana cover up the flavor of the avocado seed, but you still get all the avocado seed benefits. You will feel a health boost from the antioxidants and phenolic compounds and power-pack your day. This smoothie also starts you out on the right track with so much fiber to keep your blood sugars regulate, and give you sustained energy to last the morning. Just be sure you let it blend for a while because chunks of avocado seed aren’t the most appetizing thing.



Just in case you don't want to look at the whole infographic - you can see the toilet germs ON YOUR TOOTHBRUSH bit and move on. :)

OMG Toilet Germs on Your Toothbrush.

SERIOUSLY – – toilet germs on your toothbrush. Gak! For that alone (well, maybe that plus the creepy celebrity pictures – is it me or do they all look a little shady???) this infographic is totally worth it. And thanks so much to reader Mike for the suggestion – seriously, that’s kind of awesome.  Now – close the toilet lid already. Forget Fung Shui, this is a far more compelling reason. It’s toilet germs ON YOUR TOOTHBRUSH. God I’m scarred for life.




AIRBORNE TOILET GERMS!!!

Just in case you don't want to look at the whole infographic - you can see the toilet germs ON YOUR TOOTHBRUSH bit and move on. :)

Just in case you don’t want to look at the whole infographic – you can see the toilet germs ON YOUR TOOTHBRUSH bit and move on. 🙂

Germ Warfare
Source: OnlineMastersinPublicHealth.com



Your Microbiome: Eating for ten trillion

You have a fantastic and wonderful microbiome, or personal ecosystem of beneficial bugs, which means that you are in fact eating for ten trillion. While ten trillion helpful friends seems like a rather large dinner party, these good bacteria and other critters are busy constantly strengthening your immune system, helping you to digest your food and manufacturing vitamins in your gut as well as strengthening your skin and mucosal barriers by defending their turf from invaders.  If you’re a little fuzzy on the whole microbiome concept then here is more information about your own personal microbiome. Given everything that your good bacteria are doing for you, it makes sense to add some microbiome-friendly foods into your diet.




Simple Foods that Protect Your Good Bacteria – The  Microbiome Maximizing Diet:

  1. Breast Milk! Yeah –  probably not. But it’s a good option to give your babies because human breast milk is chock full of not only beneficial microbes that help baby to build a good microbiome, but also complex carbs (oligosaccharides) and glycosolated proteins that your baby can’t break down or digest.  But guess who can? Beneficial bacteria in the Bifidobacterium species. These Bifidobacterium buddies actually help coat and defend the babies growing intestinal tract. While it’s a little odd, breast milk is being used as an experimental treatment for some forms of intestinal disease in adults as well.
  2. Prebiotics. You may have heard this term before, probably from a supplement or on your probiotic bottle.  Prebiotics are actually specific carbohydrates, especially fibers, that are the preferred food for different strains of beneficial organisms in your digestive tract.  Just to review, the largest group of gut bacteria lives in your ascending colon, which connects to your small intestine and runs up the right side of your abdomen.  It is here that a fermentation process takes place.  In this fermentation process prebiotics are gradually changed and release different end-products that feed flora in a beneficial way. Prebiotics include inulin, galactooligosaccharide, and many other long-named substances which can be conveniently lumped into the much more pronounceable category of fiber.  Eating a diet high in fiber, fruits and veggies feeds your microbiome and helps your gut to have healthy bacteria and good digestion.

    Awesome wikimedia commons file of your digestive tract. Your ascending colon is where fermentation happens for your microbiome.

    Awesome wikimedia commons file of your digestive tract. Your ascending colon is where fermentation happens for your microbiome.

  3. Cultured Foods.  Foods that have been cultured actually have their own little microbiome – the process of fermenting or culturing food is simply allowing good bacteria to grow and partially digest those foods and give them a fabulous taste in the process. Think yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and cheese. Also there are cultured fruit juice (belly), cultured coconut water (inner eco), and cultured butter (Vermont creamery, organic valley) available.

So the short list is fruits, veggies, fiber and cultured foods.  Easy enough! These simple steps help you to maintain a great immune system, have healthy digestive function, and even maintain normal weight.  Yes – your microbiome can contribute to your body shape too. These are ten trillion friends worth keeping!



Your Microbiome: Are You Too Clean?

Your microbiome is getting a lot more attention lately, which makes sense because as of 10 years ago nobody even knew the word “microbiome” let alone had any idea why they should pay attention to it. Your microbiome, according to Joshua Lederberg who coined the term, is:

“The ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space.”

What that means in reality is that this is your population of bugs.  It’s the bacteria and microbes that populate your skin, your digestive tract, your mouth, ears, eyes, fingers, toes and genitals. It’s the community that makes up you. In fact, if you look at your entire body there are about 100 trillion organisms – that’s 100,000,000,000,000.  Essentially that means there are at least three times as many bacterial cells as human ones. Makes you think, doesn’t it?  Even without all the research, it follows naturally that just like your bacteria need you to survive, you need your bacteria to survive too.  Your microbiome helps you to protect yourself from harmful bacteria that might actually produce disease, help you digest your food, manufacture vitamins for you to absorb and generally maintain the health of your tissues. In fact there is a link between poor mixtures of bacteria in the gut and conditions like obesity, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and even some cancers.

Your microbiome, as imagined by Rosemary Mosco, artist at birdandmoon.com

Your microbiome, as imagined by Rosemary Mosco, artist at birdandmoon.com

So let’s talk about taking care of your microbiome – all those trillions of things are helping to protect you, so it makes sense that you should also protect them.  In this post we’ll talk about lifestyle factors and the next post will focus on the best diet for your community of trillions.




Keys  to a healthy microbiome:

  1. Get dirty already. There is a growing body of evidence that shows that modern standards of hygiene are linked to the increasing incidence of allergies and autoimmune disorders.  We don’t just keep clean, we actually make an attempt to ‘sterilize’ which is a horrible idea because if we actually managed it we’d probably die shortly thereafter. One of our major sources of new microbial material is simple soil – the earth from the place where you live.  This to me is a great reason to get out there and garden, to eat veggies from your garden straight out of the soil, and generally wallow around in the rich microbial environment that the earth has provided for us.
  2. Boycot the sanitizer. Of course it’s important to wash your hands if you’re exposed to people who have the flu or if you’re around a sick population, but wash with warm water and regular (not antibacterial) soap. Avoid the hand sanitizer, which typically contains toxic ingredients (like triclosan) and doesn’t actually help other than to encourage bacteria to develop triclosan resistance. So yes to normal hand washing as a way to prevent acute illness, but no to the overly-clean “sanitized” hands.
  3. Forget the antibacterial soaps. Not just do you not want to kill your bacteria, which sharply reduces the interest in anything antibacterial, there is also no actual benefit to most things labeled as antibacterial. Research studies have compared the effects of soaps and consumer products which claim to be antibacterial versus those which don’t and found literally no difference.  In fact, the FDA is currently taking a closer look at whether or not it is ethical for this labeling to continue.
  4. Skip the antibiotics unless they are absolutely necessary. Obviously antibiotics have a broad range of killing potential and that includes your healthy microbiome. Antibiotics don’t discriminate.  Obviously there is a time and a place where antibiotics could save your life and I am all for that use, but there is also a time and a place where your doctor hands you a prescription because they don’t feel right letting you leave the office without something in your hand, but it’s also probably not really useful for whatever you’re coming to see them for (like the ear infection). We also know that the effect of broad-spectrum antibiotics on your microbiome is long-lasting.
  5. Consider probiotics when you need them. Probiotics are basically packaged bacteria that are similar to the ones that make their home in your gut. If you’re in a situation where you had to take antibiotics or you had a stomach bug that might have knocked out the bacteria in your gut then it can be really helpful to replace those with a supplement.  Of course there are lots of different options for probiotics, and different ones are better for different situations so we’ll save the which-probiotic-is-best conversation for another day.
  6. Wear your probiotics with pride. It isn’t just your gut that benefits from beneficial bacteria, your skin is a colony too.  Fermented foods which contain bacteria similar to the bacteria in your gut can make a great topical treatment for a variety of skin imbalances.  There is a reason that yoghurt skin masks are so awesome.  Or kombucha toner. In fact, here are a couple of my favorite skin care recipes from my book, DIY Health: For Women.

Yummy Yogurt mask for dry skin:

1/2 Avocado
1 teaspoon yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
1 tbsp oatmeal

Protein Microbiome Tingler:
Leave this one on until it dries and it will refresh and renew your skin. The enzymes in the papaya and the probiotics in the kombucha eat away dead skin cells and replenish your skin microbiome and the raw egg firms up your collagen and connective tissue. You can always add a few drops of essential oil for additional pampering. Blend it up in the blender and apply to your face, decollete, or really any area that needs a little lift.

1 raw egg
1 tbsp kombucha
1/4 cup papaya

The bottom line is that if you’re fighting against your microbiome, or being generally  unfriendly with the sanitizers and wipes then it’s time to consider changing your tune and softening up your attitude towards your friendly helpers.  Without your microbiome, your life would be a whole lot harder so learn to love your own trillions of personal assistants.

For more information about your microbiome in general check out this great document from the American Academy of Microbiology.



Calcium Rich Foods

Calcium rich foods may just be the perfect answer to the raging calcium debate, simply because it’s entirely questionable whether calcium supplements are helpful or harmful. Calcium supplementation has been widely studied and obviously in areas where calcium intake is extremely low and undernourishment is an issue, calcium supplements make sense.  For those of us living in first world countries, undernourishment is far less likely than over-nourishment (or at least excessive calorie intake) so the question of calcium supplements becomes more difficult.

The Danger of Calcium Supplements

Research is increasingly showing a link between calcium supplements and heart disease, which is more than a little distressing. A 2010 meta-analysis which combined the data from over 8,000 shows that people taking a calcium supplement of more than 500 mg daily are 30% more likely to have a heart attack than those not taking calcium supplements. A separate study published in the British Medical Journal in 2008 showed a slightly increase risk of death, heart attack, stroke, angina, other chest pain and transient ischemic attack in women taking calcium supplements vs. those not taking calcium supplements. In addition, there are risks of kidney stones with calcium supplementation and also risks of laying down calcium in soft tissues where there shouldn’t be any calcium deposits.




The Benefits of Calcium

A 2009 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that people with high dietary intake of minerals, especially calcium and magnesium have lower odds of developing type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Add to this the obvious necessity for calcium to maintain healthy bones and teeth and prevent osteoporosis and osteopenia.  So what to do?  I feel the answer lies in a diet high in calcium rich foods, rather than calcium supplementation.

Calcium Rich Foods

Calcium is most available to your body in an acidic environment – which means calcium from milk is a little more challenging simply because milk is alkaline (the opposite of acidic).  Milk and other dairy is high in calcium though, so the larger amount may overcome the lower rate of absorption due to the basic nature of dairy.  Other calcium rich foods include dark green leafy veggies (where do you think the cows get it from???), bone broth and sardines. Also think about okra, broccoli, green snap beans, almonds, dry herbs, sesame seeds and flax seeds as calcium rich additions to your diet.  Eating those foods with something acidic – like vinegar – makes the calcium even more available to your body.

Eggshell Calcium in Vinegar Drink

calcium rich foods

Backyard eggs for a great eggshell in vinegar health tonic. Talk about calcium rich foods!

I was first told about this drink by a friend who claims it gave him an instant energy boost, and of course looked into it right away.  Apparently, it’s originally from Dr. Christopher – although I imagine many variations have existed.  Here’s how to make it:

  • 12 Farm-fresh eggshells with the inner membrane removed – dried and crushed
  • 1 pint of raw apple cider vinegar.

Combine the eggshells and vinegar in a container with room for air at the top because the mixture will bubble a bit. Let sit for a couple of days until the eggshells are completely dissolved and take 1 tablespoon daily with water and honey to taste (or straight if you’re feeling especially robust). To this basic mixture you can add other goodies that are health enhancing like garlic or various spices or herbs to make an amazing health tonic.



Paleo Diet For Your Body Type

Nobody talks about customizing paleo diet for your body type but it’s kind of a big deal.  Paleo can be a great option for everyone, but it’s a little bit intuitive that people who are having a hard time keeping weight on might have to do things differently than people who can’t seem to take weight off. We are all individuals and we all have different body types, different health tendencies and different genetic makeups. This is precisely why there is no one-size-fits-all diet even if there are diets that are generally good for most people – you still have to remember who you are and what your particular body likes.

Paleo for thin, wiry, “vata” types:

If you fall into this category you’re probably really thin, lean, or wiry and tend to be quick or high energy. You may be prone to anxiety or rapid thoughts when things get stressful. People with this body type do incredibly well with fats and oils and may need a higher dietary intake of good fats and good oils than other types. For this type plenty of veggies – cooked more than raw and lots of good fat sources.  This could be avocados, coconuts, grass fed butter, grass fed beef, fatty fish or nuts and seeds.  This type can cope with a larger amount of meats too, but you should listen to your particular body on that front.  Lots of oils topically too – your skin is probably more prone to dryness than others.




Paleo for medium build “pitta” types:

PItta types tend to be average to muscular build with lots of strength and energy. You  may be a little more prone to anger or irritability when stressed or if it’s been too long since you’ve eaten. This type is very dependent on regular meals and each meal should have a good protein source like grass fed grass finished beef, naturally raised poultry, nuts and seeds, eggs, or beans and rice.  Good fats are always important, but should be less of a part of your diet in this type than for vatas. For this type lots of veggies and reliable, regular protein intake is most important.

Paleo for heavier build “kapha” types:

If you’re a kapha type you might be more prone to holding weight than others seem to be. You’re probably also pretty laid back, easy going and have better energy than a lot of the people around you. This doesn’t mean you’re carrying extra weight, just that your body would if you’d let it. Kaphas do best with most of their intake being vegetable source with animal sources as the smallest part.  This type doesn’t need as much fat or protein as the other types, but does incredibly well with lots of veggie intake – especially when it’s spiced well.

Paleo diet for your body type

Paleo diet for your body type could lean more towards veggie heavy, or could be a higher fat diet – that just depends on you.

The examples above are basic constitutional types from ayurvedic medicine – but the types are universal and the names don’t really matter. It’s just about honoring your body and it’s differences from other people’s bodies.  Most people don’t fit into just one catagory – we’re generally a good mix of two predominant types but we all have aspects of each. The most important thing to remember with paleo diet (or really any diet) is that you are still in your own body and your own body has it’s own unique needs.

Just because the classic paleo diet says you need lots and lots of meat doesn’t actually mean that you particularly will feel best when you eat that way.  Low grain diets like paleo are overwhelmingly a great idea because culturally we’ve become too shifted in a grain direction – we’ve had too much grain intake for too long.  Still, that doesn’t mean that hard-core NO grains is the best thing for you in particular – it’s really important to listen to your body. When you’re eating the diet that is right for you your body will feel great after meals, you’ll have stable energy and not a lot of energy fluctuations and it will be easier to maintain a normal weight (not always easy, but easier). Your body is always your best teacher – you just have to listen.



Finding The Best Diet For You

The Best Diet For You!! It sounds like something you might win on a game show – in my mind I hear it said like “A New Car!” Like it’s the mythical prize that people might win with the spin of a wheel. It’s like unicorns or other mythical animals – we all want to find it, and yet it remains elusive.  Actually the problem in finding the best diet for you is not that you can’t find it, it’s that you’re looking for it to be validated by an outside source, instead of by the only source: you.

I think the thing that we forget in our frantic search for the newest, best, shiniest, most promising diet is that the people who created the diet in every case created it to be best for a whole bunch of people, but not necessarily for you as an individual.  I think in general we fail to recognize how wonderfully, beautifully unique we all are – and that includes right down to our meat and bones. To our physiology and what makes us tick. It also means that there is some fluidity in “best diet” that has to happen even for each of us through our lifespan. The best diet for me when I was 18 wasn’t the same as the best diet for me now in my 30s, nor will it be the same when I’m in my 60s. Just as I as a human am (god willing) changing and evolving, my body is also changing and evolving.  What does all of this mean? It means that the only person who can discover the best diet for you, is YOU, and you will have to revise and edit that best diet over time to stick to what your body wants most of all.

Your best diet has fruit in it.

Yummm for apples. © Ed Isaacs | Dreamstime Stock Photos

There is a best diet for you and it’s unique to you – to how your body processes nutrients and to the demands you place on it. The greatest part is that you can discover it at home.

Discovering Your Best Diet:

The great news is that there are some things that are truly good for everyone, so lets start with that.




The Basic Best Diet:

  1. Lots and lots of veggies. Everyone and their brother agrees that every healthy diet should have a bunch of vegetables in it.  This is where the bulk of our vitamins, minerals and nutrients come from along with our fiber and antioxidants.  Vegetables are the powerhouses of the food world – don’t ever skimp on these.  If you can only make one small change to your diet, make that change be an extra veggie with each meal.
  2. Eat Variety. Eating kale is awesome.  Eating lots of kale is also awesome. The only bad thing about eating lots of kale is that kale only has the nutrients that kale has, you know? You’re not getting tomato nutrients from kale, or salmon nutrients, or beef nutrients.  So even if you’re eating awesome foods, if you only eat one or two different ones then you’re automatically limited.  Throw off those limits and learn a little about squash or star fruit or mung beans. There is a limitless array of choice out there – why be dull?  Your body and health will thank you for the variety even as your taste buds do a little dance with the excitement of all the new flavors.  It can be scary at first if you’re expanding from a highly limited diet, but keep trying.  Try new foods at least three different times before you make a decision about them and keep an open mind to new flavors.  Don’t automatically dismiss the new and different.
  3. Eat Clean: I’m guessing it comes as no shock to anyone that preservatives, artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, and other food additives aren’t actually food.  They don’t add any nutritional value and there isn’t any great reason for you why they should be added to your diet. They make it easier for companies that manufacture food to keep it shelf-stable, stop it from molding, make it slightly addictive or make you crave it – but none of those things make it any better for you and let’s be clear – your food should be all about you. Likewise genetically modified food is usually modified so that it can grow more easily or spoil more slowly or do something differently so that it’s easier to use as a commercial product but that has nothing to do with how your body uses it. All of these pseudo-foods are no part of the best diet for anyone.
  4. Get a Little Nutty: Nuts and seeds are packed with good oils, fiber, and protein and are a fantastic food for just about everyone.  They are high in minerals and represent a tremendous source of balanced nutrition for just about every type of person or constitution out there.
  5. Not Too Sweet: It’s pretty obvious to everyone that sugar packs on unnecessary calories and leads to inflammation, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and lowered immunity.  This can’t be a dietary staple no matter what – it isn’t that good for anyone at all, although real sugar and other real sweeteners are better than the artificial variety.
  6. Moderation: Food is our basic source of nutrients, vitamins and minerals.  We need it to survive and we enjoy it for pleasure. Food also is a tremendous amount of work for your body and creates a number of breakdown products that have to be dealt with in your daily processes of metabolism.  Research has shown consistently that the key to a longer, healthier life is actually a little bit of moderation in the food department.  Eating less actually helps you live longer and healthier because you’re not wasting so many of your body’s precious resources on food processing. Consistently people who eat fewer calories live longer lives with less chronic disease.

Adding Variables to Your Best Diet:

Now for the parts that everyone seems to fight about.  Some diets say you should eat a ton of meat, some say little to no meat, some say fruit is too much sugar, others say fruit is the best thing in the world.  And what about fats? My god there are so many ways to get your feathers ruffled over this. So let’s talk:

  1. Meat: Just the word sounds like a controversy waiting to happen.  I am actually a huge fan of meat, but it’s one of the things that you really need to adjust to your body type.  My constitution is lean and muscular so for me meat is essential to keep my body running – the best plan seems to be small servings of meat regularly and generally higher protein – but even that means small amounts of meat, not slabs of it.  For people with heavier constitutions a diet that is lighter on the meats may work out better to minimize  the impact of the high calorie and fat density that comes with animal products. The paleo diet advocates insist that meat should be a main component of every diet, and that’s true if you’re actually living a paleo lifestyle involving lots of physical activity and days filled with heavy athletics, but if you’re a desk jockey that may not be the best plan for your arteries or your saddlebags. The other extreme of vegetarianism or veganism is also incredibly  hard to do right and requires tight unwavering attention to your nutritional status, which many “vegetarians” (read: carbetarians) neglect to uphold.
  2. Dairy:  For centuries and across many cultures dairy products have been a valuable source of proteins and fats in the human diet.  For most of those centuries the animals were grass fed (not grain fed) and were obviously not treated with chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics.  Likewise the actual milk wasn’t bleached, preserved and processed to the extreme.  Also people centuries ago were not likely as sensitive to foods as we seem to be today.  Now the benefits from dairy depend largely on the quality of the dairy you’re able to get and your body’s own reaction to it.  I personally am a proponent of clean, organic, grass-fed dairy just as long as you’re not sensitive to it. If you’re not sure if you’re sensitive to it then read about uncovering your hidden food sensitivities here. Just to thow another wrench into the dairy debate there is the question of raw milk or not (I say yes, but there’s lots of controversy). For more information on raw milk you can do some reading here.
  3. Fish: Fish are obviously fantastic food, or at least they used to be. They’re high in omega 3 fats and a great source of protein and many of the minerals that are found in good concentrations in a sea environment.  They’re also, however, repositories for heavy metals and toxins because the ocean is a soup of heavy metals and toxins. I certainly advocate fish, but sticking mostly to younger, smaller, non-predator fish like anchovies and sardines could be a good idea, save the predator fish for rare treats.  This is simply because predator fish eat smaller fish and end up concentrating all of the heavy metals and toxins that those fish had in their bodies, so the levels of toxins are much higher than in smaller fish that are lower down on the food chain.  If you’re pregnant, be especially careful with ocean fish – in the UK the guidelines are fish no more than once a month (!!) Farmed fish also aren’t a great alternative because they’re usually grain fed (which means the fats from these fish aren’t omega 3 fatty acids, they’re omega 6 fatty acids just like grain fed cattle). Also they’re no less toxic, and sometimes more so, than their wild-caught brethren.
  4. Fruits: It seems like fruit shouldn’t be controversial, but it is.  Many diets advocate limiting sugary fruits because they contribute to a high sugar diet.  Fruits, however, are a valuable source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants – right up there with vegetables.  My general guideline is one fruit per two veggies and I’ll limit the carbs and sugars by limiting grains and sweets. If you are already diabetic you may need to limit fruits for a while until you shift to a no- or low-grain diet and cut out the sugars and artificial sweeteners.  Once your blood sugars have dropped back down to normal levels and stabilized there then you can start to re-introduce the fruits.
  5. Grains: Right now grains are the big bad.  Grains are basically just complicated sugar for your body and excessive consumption has been linked to diabetes, obesity, fertility issues in PCOS, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome as well as Alsheimer’s disease, which is now being called “diabetes type III.” Grains include wheat, corn, rye, oats, rice and all of the less-used alternative grains like quinoa, amaranth, spelt, buckwheat, teff etc… There isn’t really anyone that I feel should be eating a high grain diet and in general I trend toward the fewer-the-better.  Grains provide a lot of calories without too much nutrition – especially our favorite super-starchy grains like wheat, corn and rice.  There is some fiber and nutrients if you’re eating whole grains, but all in all the starch is the main component.  Starch is what you make your body fat out of. In general, minimize the grains and your waist line and blood sugars will thank you.  Gluten is a whole different topic, but certainly if you haven’t taken the time yet to figure out if you’re gluten sensitive, now is the time to do it.
  6. Fats: Your body needs fats and thrives on them, but there’s still the question of which fats and how much. General guidelines – good fats come from nuts, seeds and vegetables; grass fed animals, and wild-caught fish.  Bad fats come from the deep-frier, processing plants (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils) and grain-fed animals. Every body needs good fats and should avoid the bad fats, but how much of the good fats is a question for you.  Again, listen to your body. Fats help you feel full and satisfied, build healthy skin and connective tissue and help to nourish your neurological system, but also add a fair amount of calories to your diet.

Phew. Did we cover everything?  If I left out any major categories let me know and I’ll add them in. The bottom line is eat real food that grows from the earth, not a chemical company and always listen to your body. If eating a certain way is supposed to be healthy but doesn’t feel good for you then it’s most important to listen to you.  If you know certain foods make you gain weight or make you eat more then those aren’t the best for you.  Eat for YOU.



Positive Remembering: Amazing Lifehack for Trauma

You have the capacity to change the past through positive remembering, no matter how horrific it was or how much you’re still troubled by it. This amazing lifehack for trauma is so simple and yet so effective. Your brain is amazing.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

You have no idea how much your brain is capable of and what it can actually accomplish – it genuinely is the greatest, most wonderful tool you will ever possess. Your brain can actually change and adapt to do whatever you ask it to do – including re-write your history.  The darkest, scariest, most nauseating parts of your history as well as the annoying, the humiliating and the humbling.  Your brain is the tool you need to heal those old wounds and to get happier because of it. Let’s call it Positive Remembering, and it’s such a powerful lifehack to cure a bad past.

All of us have bad memories from our own lives – some of those are little snapshot memories of one particular incident (like almost stepping on a snake in the woods) and some are entire chapters (like that whole relationship with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, or that little thing called “childhood”). For many people these memories are there, but not called upon. Stuff happened and they’ve moved on and it doesn’t really matter. For others these memories are part of waking life – popping up at random times and interfering with emotions, happiness and even health. Positive remembering is the key to reducing the impact of those past traumas on your life now.

Positve remembering changes your mental stories. Once Upon A Time...

It’s all just a story – why not make it a better one? Practice positive remembering

Positive remembering is a way to free yourself slowly from these negative memories and re-frame the whole experience into something less harmful, less emotionally charged and to allow some healing to happen.

Positive Remembering in the First 24 Hours

The first 24 hours after a trauma is a powerful time to impact the way your brain holds and stores that information.  In those 24 hours if you can focus on the good things that are happening, the people who love you, the help you received, the blue of the sky while you were flat on your back, the wonderful things in your life. By doing this the overall impact of the trauma will be greatly diminished because your brain lays down that memory differently and with less emotional charge. Of course this is also the hardest time to focus on the good things, and for many of us the traumas that concern us were years, if not decades, ago. Never fear, positive remembering works for long-past memories too.




Changing Your Past To Change Your Present

If you know that some negative part of your past is still there, haunting you then it’s time to take some proactive steps to changing that situation.  Nothing you do can change the past, but the great news is you don’t have to. You just have to change the way you think and feel about the past. We’re going to call that Positive Remembering. Here are some of the tools you can use to change those memories.  Try to use one of these, quickly, every time you are confronted with a negative memory and soon that memory will lose it’s power over you:

  • Feel Your Body – Notice what reaction your body has to the memory. Often you’ll clench your jaw, tense your shoulders, your heart rate will accelerate or your stomach will start grinding because your body is re-living the stress, anxiety, sadness or fear from that moment.  Consciously bring your attention to that part of your body and instead of focusing on the memory, focus on relaxing that body part. You can pretend there is a warm, soft light shining there, or the feeling of a warm blanket, or just imagine that part turning to water or melting.  If it’s your heart rate think of something that would calm your heart rate down like lying on a beach or getting a massage.  I know, there is a little bit of a “go to your happy place” feel to this, but if your body lets go of the tension from the memory then you’ll start to re-wire your brain to let go of some of the tension too.
  • Banish The Boggart – For anyone who isn’t a Harry Potter fan, a boggart is a type of creature that takes the shape of whatever you fear most (your memory). To banish it, you must laugh at it in a genuine and meaningful way.  This produced all kinds of hilarity in books and movies as the boggart of a hated teacher was forced into a hideous and embarrassing drag-grandmother ensemble, thereby giving Harry and friends a great laugh.  Much like boggarts, memories can be changed too. If you had a horrible car wreck that still wakes you up in cold sweats, you can positive remember it: picture the same scene but in bumper cars and give the whole thing a cartoon “boing” noise.  Make the whole thing as ludicrous as possible.  This works even with the really scary memories too. Just be creative – what would make that scene silly or ridiculous. Every time you have that negative emotionally charged memory, banish it with your newer, sillier version. It’s really hard at first, espcially if those memories are still raw but the more you practice the easier it becomes and the less that memory bothers you.
  • Give Yourself a Gift – Memories are yours to play with. Nobody says they have to actually look like what happened. They can look like whatever you want them to.  So why not give that story a happy ending?  Chances are in your bad memory you  needed something that you didn’t have at that moment. Positive remember it! If you’re remembering childhood trauma you may have needed a big hug from a kind adult and a teddy bear – so just add that part in. Any time that memory pops up, just add in the part where you get what you need at the end.  Sure bad stuff happened, but start telling your brain that at the end you got what you needed and your brain will start believing you.

Positive Remembering: Your Memories are Just Stories

I know this sounds kind of silly and ridiculous, but the point is that the things in your memory are over – they aren’t happening right this second.  Right this second you’re just fine. You are breathing, your heart is beating, you’ve had enough food and water to stay alive until this moment.  Whatever that bad memory was, it didn’t actually kill you and at the end of the day that means it’s all kind of okay (I believe at the end of the day it’s *always* okay even after the whole death thing, but for the sake of brevity we don’t have to discuss that part today).

Essentially those memories are just stories you tell yourself over and over again so lets just change the story into something you can live with, something that doesn’t make you feel hollow, something that will let you heal and move forward. Positive remember it and start to get out of the clutches of negative memory. It’s your story – so make it whatever you want it to be: RE-member it differently.  You’re not trying to sell yourself on this new version being the truth, you’re just softening up the whole picture every time it comes up and by doing that, you also soften up the effect it has on your overall level of joy. Positive remembering helps you rediscover the joyfulness buried under the rubble.