I Surrender – For NOW

Those who have followed me and know me know that I am resistant to pharmaceuticals. It is my very last resort. The health issue that I have is the source of any other potential issues: high blood pressure. I didn’t know I had the condition until a blood vessel burst in my eye. I had to have surgery on my eye. The day of the surgery, my BP was so high that they rescheduled. That was the day this battle began.

Since then I have been regulating my BP with vegetables, specifically beets. It was going well, but I did get periodic spikes. The spikes in BP measurements are my Dr’s concern. She said they were just as damaging to my blood vessels. So for now I will take a very low dose of lisinipril. One of the side affects is allowing a build-up in potassium that damages your kidneys. To me that is trading one problem for another. My goal is to eventually get off this medication. In the meantime, I will eat clean and exercise and take this poison. Those who pray to the Heavenly Father, please pray for me.

was j

Sorghum – What Is It?

When i was a little girl, I loved to visit my great-grandparents in the country. That is what city folks called the very rural areas. I especially loved Sunday morning breakfast. My great-grandmother, Momma Lula, served “from scratch” biscuits, homemade butter, eggs from her hen house and some kind of meat. Now, the meat was either bacon or sausage that my great-grandfather’s friends had smoked and seasoned from their slaughter season or chicken from Momma Lula’s yard. Yeah, the raised them for meat and eggs. But the days that were the best was when Daddy Bush went to get the sorghum syrup from another farmer.  He had to walk a mile both ways to get the syrup. That was good eating with those hot biscuits. I never knew sorghum could also come in the form of flour.

I ran across a recipe for waffles using gluten free flour and I decided to substitute sorghum flour for the one listed. I also changed the milk to almond milk and the vegetable oil to coconut oil. The outcome was quite pleasing and they weren’t green.

Recipe

2 eggs    1 3/4 c almond milk     1/4 c coconut oil     2/3 c sorghum flour

2 Tbs Agave Nectar         4 tsps baking powder          1/3 c potato starch

1 3/4 tsp xanthum gum      1 tsp salt

Mix it all up and put in the waffle maker. In the picture you will see so
me waffles are darker than others. That’s because the darker ones were cooked at a higher setting. They were crisper. So set your waffle maker to the crispness you desire.

About Sorghum

It was probably used as flour before syrup. This ancient grain as it is being described was widely used in Africa and Australia. It has many health benefits. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant properties. It is high in fiber, B-vitamins and protein. According to the World Grain Council it is the 5th most important flour in the world and the 3rd in the USA. So for what was it used in the USA? Animal feed and fuel. Once again we treat our animals better than ourselves. It seems only those with wheat allergies or gluten sensitivities were aware of this flour and its nutritional benefits. I also like the fact that it is non-GMO. Being gluten-free is another plus. Diabetics, cancer patients and cardiac patients may benefit from the eating of sorghum flour. Caution, like any other grain, don’t over indulge. Even with all of its nutritional benefits some people cannot tolerate it.

It is suggested that it be used in combination with other gluten free flours, such as potato or in recipes where a small amount of flour is used because it does not have a good rising ability. Flatbreads here I come.

I am going to try some other recipes I have found that use sorghum flour. I am not quite ready to give up bread completely, so healthier alternatives are definitely on my radar. If you have any other suggestions, please share.

The Next Phase To Complete Healing

This post was written earlier but it an integral part of the journey, so rather than update it timewise, I decided to post it as is. I will follow with an update to some things mentioned.

It has been a very educationally journey that I and my family have been on since my husband’s heart attack in March. He finally came home from rehabilitation on Friday. He has improved so much but we still have a ways to go to reach complete restoration. Several things have come to my attention that will be included in this next phase. I discovered Dr. Steven Masley’ 30-day Heart Tune-Up. This is an eating plan which focuses on heart strengthening. I have also discovered or at least it has been confirmed that we should really pay attention to the drugs that are being prescribed for us and our loved ones.

The Tune Up

We began the 30 day journey on Saturday August 1. I had to make some adjustments because we do not eat chicken, beef or pork. Today the Chicken Stir Fry was made with tofu. The dish was quite tasty.  Just in these two days I feel better. I have also noticed the pain from my husband’s neuropathy has decreased. I will be watching that because I was told neuropathy cannot be cured and that nerve regeneration was not possible. This side effect to the eating plan is welcomed but the jury is still out on the lasting effectiveness.

Drug Fight

I will be making appointments to visit Carl’s doctors on Monday. Our discussions will center around the drug Amioderone and Warfarin initially. Amioderone has some very serious side affects that are counterproductive to his healing. Waffarin is rat poison. Need I say more?

Stay tuned

A Natural Sedative

“Food is thy medicine. medicine is thy food.” -Hippocrates

A few days ago I made a vegetable-juice smoothie for my lunch. I drank it while visiting my husband. I shared it with him. That was not a good idea. Yes, he needed the nutrients and it was healthy but there was a sedative in the drink.  I had no idea. My alert husband was suddenly a very sleepy man. I thought his medications were the culprits but alas, it was me and my juice. I don”t know why I didn’t get as sleepy. I looked back on my day and I did get pretty relaxed. I guess he was more vulnerable in his weaken state.

I discovered while researching something else that Walnuts contained an acid that is a powerful sedative. So if you can’t sleep eat a handful of walnuts and go to bed.  🙂 I am not guaranteeing deep sleep but you stand a good chance of relaxing.

Is There a Food Cartel?

I woke up yesterday morning thinking of cartels. I guess I was influenced by the CSI:New Orleans episode I watched the night before. We usually think of the drug trade south of our borders when we use the word cartel. I decided to look it up because I realized that I really didn’t know what it meant. This is a definition from one of several sites.

car·tel

1. an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition.

   “the Colombian drug cartels”

   • historical

     a coalition or cooperative arrangement between political parties intended to promote a mutual interest.

When I read it I thought this seemed awfully familiar. The definition below is what I remembered from a business class I attended.

 OLIGOPOLY
A situation in which a particular market is controlled by a small group of firms.An oligopoly is much like a monopoly, in which only one company exerts control over most of a market. In an oligopoly, there are at least two firms controlling the market.

When a market is controlled, doesn’t that include prices and restricting competition?

There is a campaign going on against foods containing genetically modifies organisms. The battle is mainly against the Monsanto corporation. But it doesn’t seem like they can have the kind of power they are having without help. Some believe members of our Congress have been bought by Monsanto. Others believe the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is in the mix. The things that have been happening certainly make you wonder. I just read an article about the meaning of “natural” on our food labels. This is an excerpt

“What is important to understand is how natural flavors are created. Scientists, or flavorists as they prefer to be called, blend natural or synthetic chemicals to create flavorings. The only difference between artificial and natural flavorings is the original (natural) source of the raw ingredients/chemicals. The formulas for both are the same although a small change can result in a different flavor.” The bold is mine.

These are FDA approved foods. Is this what you think of when you want natural? If you are like me, you thought natural meant devoid of artificial or chemical anything. I was in the 2/3rds mentioned below. Are you? We have been deceived for years.

“When we see a product labeled as such we perceive it as better for us, in fact a Consumer Reports survey found that two-thirds of Americans think the word natural on the label means it contains no artificial ingredients, pesticides or genetically engineered organisms and as a result has launched a campaign to ban the use of the word “natural” on both packages and in all marketing for foods and beverages.”

Read the rest of the article. The FDA has no clear definition of what “natural” means.

So now we have Monsanto and the FDA appearing to be working together to control what is in our food. What part is Congress possible playing in this. Antitrust and fair trade agreements? All I know is that it seems others profit at our expense.

The last parties to this perceived cartel is the medical profession and the pharmaceutical concerns. I don’t mean all doctors. I am referring to the system that they have to operate in. Treat the symptom, don’t search for the cause. Prescribe a pill because it cost too much to spend the time searching for the cause. Doctors are required to operate in that 15 minute window unless they are private practices that control their own offices. I had an interesting conversation with one of my husband’s doctors. Because of some heart problems, he has been prescribed Warfarin or Cumidin, rat poison. I asked the doctor if he could regulate the situation with foods that are natural blood thinners. She said no. I asked why. She said because they could not track it. This is how they track it. Take a certain number of tablets and check the blood. If the thinness is in a certain range you are okay. If it is too high, decrease the number of tablets. If it is too low, add more tablets. If the blood test is the telling factor, you could eat more or less of the vegetables depending on the thinness level. They rather he take poison, so they can regulate the dosage, rather allow him to eat fresh, certified organic vegetables and get healthy. Does that even seem reasonable to a rational, thinking mind?

I love my country but “the love of money” has removed standards and logical reasoning that can be trusted. What cartel should we fear first?

The end of the article mentioned above states the only way you can be sure your food is natural is to purchase USDA certified organic products. I am also buying from stores who have verified their products as non-GMO. I don’t know what those organisms will do to us.I am choosing to go that route. I hope I can trust the USDA.

Eating to Be Arthritis Free

Arthritis is my new friend. I thought it was due to the injuries I experienced as a child and young adult. I fell so much in college that some of my friends nicknamed me “ace bandage.” I wasn’t overweight then but now I know my weight exacerbates my clumsy problem.  I decided to research which vegetables or oils would be beneficiary to arthritic people. It would help me, my husband and my mother.

To my surprise many of my favorite vegetables should be avoided. They are called the “nightshade” vegetables.

“The nightshades include numerous vegetables: potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarillos, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, and cayenne peppers. Hot sauces made from the hot peppers are considered nightshades. Also, ground cherries, garden huckleberry, naranjillas, and even tobacco are considered nightshades.”

This article also questions if that is a fact for everyone or are some people more sensitive than others. I also read the a gluten-free diet would aid in relieving the pain caused by arthritis. That seems reasonable since gluten-free keeps popping up in all inflammatory ailments that I research. So here is my dilemma. I have decided to try a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan diet for the twenty-one days. Should I eliminate the nightshades also? I love most of the nightshades.

Ghost pepper

I find it interesting that the capsaicin in the peppers would be the reason they should be avoided. Capsaicin is in some popular arthritic pain ointments. I would also like to know how an american who grew up on potatoes and tomatoes will function without them? Can you hear that tiny violin?

In the 21 days I expect to change habits, detox and improve my spiritual well being. Still should nightshades be included in the experiment? Does anyone out there in healthy land have a suggestion? I will begin the fast on the 6th.

 

 

 

http://arthritis.about.com/od/diet/a/Are-Nightshades-Bad-For-Arthritis.htm