OneHealthyGirl.com - Carla Golden's Get Healthier! Blog

OK, SO YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, HUH?

Some of you out there are like "Yeah, right, Carla, you're whacked. Get a real obsession. Institutions like the FDA and Big Pharma are there to protect us, to keep things like sawdust out of our food* and make drugs that will save us." 

And then I say "Read this:

According to the Journal of Medical Ethics, it has been proposed that happiness be classified as a psychiatric disorder and be included in future editions of the major diagnostic manuals under the new name: major affective disorder, pleasant type. 

In a review of the relevant literature it is shown that happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discrete cluster of symptoms, is associated with a range of cognitive abnormalities, and probably reflects the abnormal functioning of the central nervous system. 

One possible objection to this proposal remains--that happiness is not negatively valued. However, this objection is dismissed as scientifically irrelevant."

Happiness is soon to be a classified disease! And YOU KNOW that a bevy of pills will soon follow. Good gravy, we just can't have a bunch of folks out there HAPPY. How dangerous and unfair to the unhappy. Let's numb them all down so that no one attempts to break through the doom and gloom that keeps them all under control.

Maybe the people behind these proposals are just jealous that we don't have to sit around and try to invent imaginary diseases to convince people, by preying on their fears, that they need to buy really expensive medications from self-serving mega companies. That has got to be the most unhappy job!

Live Light, xo-C.

*Yes, sawdust does make it into the food. Ever heard of "dietary fiber" or "cellulose?"

ECONOMIC CRISIS DIET - PLEDGE #2

The second pledge of my Economic Crisis Diet in detail:

2. I pledge to purchase more raw and bulk foods and fewer processed foods + drinks. 

WHY?

YOU: Foods in their most natural states or slightly cooked offer the greatest nutrition. Avoiding trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, excessive sugar and salt and artificial sweeteners, colors and flavorings is crucial to long term health.

Pardon the French, but there is SO MUCH CRAP in food these days. If you don't read the labels and know what to look for, you're playing roulette with your health. Your best bet is to reduce the amount of packaged and processed foods and then, with those you choose to keep, look first at organic varieties. They tend to weed out a bunch of the garbage, but you still need to read the labels because the junk still sneaks in.

Avoid the following ingredients at all costs. Remember the FDA has allowed all of these harmful ingredients into our food. Why? Because they are good for industry profit, not your health.

Artificial trans fats, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Processed (white) Sugar

Process (white) Salt

Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial Coloring/Dye

Artificial Flavorings
  

  
Does it concern you that restaurants are not required to disclose which ingredients they've used or put into their food for you to eat? Imagine if grocery store items had no labels and you just chose what to eat based on what sounded good or what happened to be the daily special?  Do you think most chefs and cooks are more concerned with taste of their food or your nutritional benefit?

WALLET: Packaged and prepared foods as well as boutique drinks are costly. The less packaging, the less the company is passing that expense on to you.

Plastic cups, plastic lids, plastic bottles, glass bottles, straws, styrofoam boxes, clam shell plastic boxes, plastic bags, plastic utensils, paper napkins, plastic cups, plastic wrappers, cardboard boxes...all items you purchase and then dispose. Buy in bulk and buy raw...less packaging or no packaging. Recycle and reuse what you can, but first reduce the amount of packaging all together that you purchase. 

Do you really need to put those bananas in a plastic produce bag? Have those peels stopped working? For that matter, why bag lettuce, apples and peppers? Do you think your produce is going to "stay clean" from grocery to home when it's already been handled by who-knows-how-many-people already in picking, cleaning, packing, transporting and shelving? 

It's less than clean at the store. A little naked ride in the buggy and then car isn't going to make things worse. Leave the produce bags at the store. Or use re-useable cloth produce bags. 

And if you're not using re-useable grocery store bags, let me know. I have a few extra 100 in my trunk. Isn't EVERYONE selling these now? Are they the new plastic water bottle? Ten years from now, we'll be drowning in re-useable grocery bags and they'll be filling the landfills because people have bought them and forgotten to use them so they buy more! Choose biodegradable cloth bags for this very reason.

PLANET: The fewer the ingredients, the less transportation and production pollution. 

Keep it simple - for your health and for the planet. The more complex the food, the more resources have been tapped. Apples: tree, crate, truck, store (ideally). Apple Sauce: peel, core and mash the apples trucked from the farm, input additives purchased from alternate locations (sugar, preservative, etc.), fill glass jars purchased and trucked from another source, seal and label jar, box, and ship out. And apple sauce isn't even that complicated of a product.

Invest in a food processor and do the processing at home. Not only will you reduce the overall resource demand in buying prepared and packaged food, you will be able to control exactly what goes into your creation.

Live Light, xo-C.

WHAT ARE WE AFRAID OF?

Live Light, xo-C.

ONE SLEEPY REQUEST

I am so, so, so tired tonight and don't have the energy in me to properly address Pledge #2 of my Economic Crisis Diet, but I have just enough juice to ask a favor of you. 

I love reader feedback: additional information on topics, questions, comments, constructive criticism, and, of course, raving accolades. Please consider leaving comments on posts that conjure a reaction from you.

What does that mean? Well, if you're reading via subscription email, then click on the blue heading of the post (which is a link) and you'll be transported painlessly to the same post on my blog site. Scroll down to the bottom and find where you can leave a comment. The first time may require an extra step or two so that you're identified, but that should not be necessary a second time.

Make your comment. Read what others have posted. Get to know each other! Add to the conversation and help embellish what I've started. I'm just one person combing the planet for practical wellness news and advice. I know you have lots to add!

If you read the posts by checking in on the blog, just scroll to the bottom of the post and follow the guidelines that I've already provided above. If you'd like to switch over to subscription, find the email subscribe box on the top right of the screen under the stack 'o cash.

If you read these posts because they've been cross-posted on Facebook or Linkedin, there will be space there to comment or find the link that will send you to my blog site. By the way, if you're on Facebook, find me (Carla Cappiello Golden) and Wellness Destinations Central (become a fan!). On Linked in, find me by my name.

Add your voice, your knowledge and personality. This isn't just about me and my opinion. It's gonna take a lot of us collaborating together to shift the way we, as a whole, view and approach authentic health. Together we can change the wellness world!

Live Light, xo-C.

ECONOMIC CRISIS DIET - PLEDGE #1

I'm going to take each pledge (1 a day or so) of my Economic Crisis Diet and break them down with supporting articles and resources.

1. I pledge to buy local and regional foods. If not local, then organic. If not local or organic, then the option with the least packaging.

Why?

YOU: Studies have shown that ingesting pesticides, herbicides and fungicides is detrimental to overall long-term health.

WALLET: You should be able to attain local foods a bit cheaper because extensive transportation costs are not folded in. The price of organics will come down as the demand increases.

PLANET: Less transportation, chemical and waste pollution ending up in the air, water, landfills and living creatures.

If you need convincing at this point that organic food is superior in nutrition and safety to conventionally grown or produced food, please spend the next week reading the Organic Consumers Association's website. Seriously, organic food is (usually) void of toxic chemicals and is not genetically modified. 

However, remember that eating conventional produce is better than eating no produce at all. Don't skip on the apples and lettuce if conventional is all you can find. Just be sure to wash and/or soak to try to remove as much surface chemical as possible. If you need to make a hard-fast choice rule, buy organic for produce with peels you will eat (apples, berries, peppers, etc.) and conventional produce for skins you normally toss (avocado, oranges, bananas, etc.). Here's a great list of guidelines.

Here's how to find what's seasonally local where you live: NRDC's Eat Local database. 

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. 

I find it so frustrating that some of the yummiest organic produce is often sold in plastic containers: baby greens, tomatoes, etc. One would think that a company that "values" the healthful benefits of their product would also value the health of the planet. Apparently not. They truly just value your dollar in their pocket. I skip over them, mournfully.

If you can't purchase your heart-set choice of organic produce without a plastic cage, choose one that looks sturdy and can be reused for organizing your nuts and bolts or spools and ribbons or crayons and stickers. When finally it has lived a long useful life, recycle it assuming your local center accepts that type of plastic.

Living near a fabulous farmers' market - which I don't - has got to be the life. So many issues dodged for you: local, often organic, minimal packaging. Going to the grocery store used to be such an easy, mindless event being lead by the taste buds and stomach. Now we must come armed with a flow chart of best practices! Arrrrgh!

Be informed. Be aware. Please care. All these choices affect the future of everything. 

Live Light, xo-C.

A BIT OF HOUSEKEEPING

Trumpets, please!

OneHealthyGirl.com tipped over the 10,000 hits mark today! Woo Hoo! Many sites around the world get more than that in a day, surely even an hour, but I'm thrilled to bits about my little wellness site getting so much global attention these past two years.

THANK YOU readers!!!

Now, if you were inflamed by my statin drug study response I posted Monday night, you must read how Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, feels about the topic. Gosh, you thought I was opinionated and radical in by beliefs??!! Go Mike! Read his take on the situation here.

Stay tuned for his 2009 "international petition that calls for the restoration of health freedoms and the ending of medical violence against human beings." I will post it here as soon as I learn about it. Together we can protect our inherent rights to make our own wellness choices for ourselves and our families.

Live Light, xo-C.

OMG! I AM SPEECHLESS! (gross factor warning)

OK. Well, you know I did the BlessedHerbs.com Colon Cleansing kit for 5 days. Ahem. Well, if you've been to the website, you've seen photos of THE STUFF. Well, yup. Me. Just now. Egads, I don't know whether to jump for joy or barf.

I really wasn't expecting it. Kinda like when you're pregnant (sorry, guys) and you pass the mucous plug. You know it's going to happen, you know it's going to be gross, and well, it's all still a surprise. The timing, the appearance, and the experience of all that. 

Yes, I took photos. No, I'm not going to post them. If I did, you'd just think I stole them from the BlessedHerbs.com site. 

So, the kit works. I can't imagine what else would or could come out after THAT had I stayed on the cleanse for the recommended 9 days. 

Maybe since I already eat fairly well and based on the fact that I just did the Master Cleanse a couple of months ago, I didn't need that much time on this cleanse to produce.

Wow. I'm still in shock. That thang was alien!

Live Light, xo-C.

BETTER THAN THE FLU SHOT!

Want to know the best ways to avoid "catching" the flu without getting the flu shot? Why would anyone want to avoid the flu shot? 

The flu shot, like any vaccination, is dubious and likely to contain harmful mercury and other toxins. Unless you are elderly or have a chronically weakened immune system, I would take all natural precautions before introducing the influenza vaccine to myself or my child. 

Manufacturers of the flu shot have to guess which strains will be dominant this year (usually different from last) and sometimes they get it right and often they don't. Many times the shot is completely ineffective because it was designed to target the wrong virus!

Remember, flu vaccines are quite profitable for drug companies and prey on your fears. 

Here are sensible, natural tips to help avoid "catching" the flu or falling for the "get your flu now shot or die" campaign:

1. Wash your hands! Often! Warm water and soap are tried and true for reducing germ exposure and spreading.

2. Employ a mask or handkerchief when in a crowded space like airplanes or movie theaters. I know a mask would look a little dorky, but a handkerchief, especially doused with a little antibacterial, antiviral Thieves essential oil, held up to the nose and mouth periodically can make a difference. Cleanse your air!

3. Use Thieves or other natural hand-sanitizer. I'm not a big fan of mass-market sanitizers because of the toxic chemical ingredients absorbed by the skin, but there are some more natural options if you seek them. Kids like to use Thieves!

4. Keep your immune system strong by going easy on the holiday alcohol and sugar. The biggest reason people get sick more often in the winter is because our diets change drastically between Halloween and Easter. Candy, pies, hot toddies, fruit cakes, hot chocolate (spiked or not) and cookies pull down your defenses making you more susceptible to opportunity seeking bacteria and viruses.

5. Get some sunlight. Though it may be chilly where you are, try getting some direct sun on your face 10-15 minutes a day. This boost of light will help your body create Vitamin D to keep your immune system strong.

6. Eat citrus every single day. Oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, pumelos, tangerines, etc. - preferably organic. 

7. Sleep adequately.

8. Consider natural supplementation of Vitamin D, Vitamin C and Zinc. Preferable from food and natural sources, but quality supplementation can help close the gaps.

Live Light, xo-C.

More resources:

Study Finds Simple, Safe, Non-Shot Strategies Prevent Flu

How To Get Young Living's Thieves Essential Oil

Why flu vaccine is rarely effective

Avoid Flu Shots With the One Vitamin that Will Stop Flu in Its Tracks - a must see video!!

Tanning Beds Can Reverse Vitamin D Deficiency - I know. This recommendation goes against everything we've been warned against tanning beds, but research safe methods and choose for yourself.

THIS MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL!

I did a fair amount of driving today so had the rare privilege of listening to much NPR. One report I heard was about a new study which put low-heart-disease-risk individuals on statin drugs to see if they could prevent heart attacks. 

Well, guess what!? It lowered their risk which was already low. Hmmmm. At $3.45 per day, don't you think that the drug manufacturers would like to get EVERYONE on a statin drug? How about chewables for children?

I know I hold radical and sometimes unpopular opinions about health and wellness and especially the FDA. But studies like this only go to prove to me that ideally the FDA would like you to live a very long life (about 80 years), however, to turn a big profit off of you, they need you to be just a sick enough so that you need to buy drugs all those long years. Let's say you're 45 and you live to be 80. If the FDA and drug companies prey on your fears (not your high-risk) of heart disease, you'll pay out over $44,000 on this drug you may not - probably do not - need. Voila! You are a very good customer! The FDA likes you. 

And now that you're in the system, they know that you'll have side-effects which can be remedied by....what else?....other drugs! Woo Hoo! Bonus for the system.

Now, what was interesting in the study was that they used inflammation as the indicator of "possible" future conditions for heart disease. What causes inflammation? Um, diet primarily. 

OK, FDA...why jump over DIET and go straight to A PILL?! Because it is very profitable. If the FDA encouraged you to analyze and change your diet, you become the not-so-great potential customer.

THE FDA IS NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR OPTIMAL HEALTH! Healthy people are very bad for their business.

Inflammation is caused by candida. Candida is yeast caused by alcohol, sugars, carbohydrates, medications as well as physical injury and bacterial infection. But I'm not talking about those last two which are situational and less common.

It is being discovered that most chronic ailments have the common denominator of inflammation. And this can, for the most part, be controlled by changes in diet. 

But, I know, a pill is much easier that habit change. But at 44 grand, I think I'd at least look twice at my diet. For MUCH less than that, you could pay a nutritional counselor to look at your diet for you and help you to change your destructive ways that can set you on a much more promising path for a lifetime...a long, healthy lifetime.

It's all about choice. You make yours every day.

Live Light, xo-C.

Day 5 PE/F2N CLEANSE!

I'm hungry!!!!!

Started the Toxin Absorber routine at 9 am. Took 12 pm and (oops!) 4 pm doses - was supposed to have been 3 pm, but I was in the bathtub!

My blood sugar is starting to dip, so I'll probably eat something before the night is done. The glittery stars out the corners of my eyes and my inner trembling is indication that my blood sugar is on the decline.

8:45 pm: Skipped the 6/7 pm dose and calling it quits. Ate a man sized salad and some dry Kashi cereal to celebrate. Woo Hoo! I have a full day tomorrow and a busy week. I can't risk a blood sugar crash.

BlessedHerbs.com is an excellent kit - very powerful. It's not for the weak-willed or cleansing lightweight. As I mentioned before, I think it would work well in tandem with the Master Cleanse for a seasoned cleanser/faster. I'll have to work up to that level!

There are three levels to the kit - Best, Better and Good. The Good approach is always a great way to go while cleaning up your diet, but doesn't require fasting. You will be able to better regulate your digestion and elimination by incorporating the supplements from this kit into your daily routine for a month.

Overall I feel great. The surge of energy was most appreciated just at a time when I had a mountain of thinking work to accomplish. The slightest sluggish energy or foggy thinking would have really interfered, so I am glad that the cleanse helped me get through this weekend's mental project.

Equally, I have enjoyed the break from Facebook and the news. I may ease back into it over the coming weeks, but this peace of mind has been quite enjoyable and this I'll want to protect.

Live Light, xo-C.