pH Testing

pH TestingpH testing is an easy way to determine your level of health.  I’ve got some pHion diagnostic pH test strips that I got on Amazon, and they measure pH between 4.5 (very acidic) and 9.0 (too alkaline).

An optimal pH of urine and saliva (says the lablel) is in the range of 6.75 to 7.25, which is right around a neutral pH of 7.0.

I just measured my own pH, and I’m at 7.5, which is optimal.  Given what I know about nutrition, I’d guess it’s easier to correct a too-alkaline pH rather than a too-acidic condition.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is very acidic because it’s full of sugar, processed grains, starches, meats and dairy, all of which are acidic (sugar being the most acidic).  SAD foods are typically low in alkaline foods such as sea vegetables, vegetables and sea salt.

Dr. Mark Sircus, author of “Sodium Bicarbonate – Full Medical Review“, says that the “first step in maintaining health is to alkalize the body”.  He also writes that “The closer the pH is to 7.35 – 7.45, the higher our level of health and well being”.

I have to say I feel pretty great right now, and my pH is 7.5.  I’m curious to see how it measures when I’m not feeling well.  I’d guess it’d be on the more acidic side.

Interestingly, Dr. Sircus writes that “cancer cells have a lower pH than surrounding tissue” because “excessive acidic pH leads to cellular deterioration, which eventually brings on serious health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and heartburn.”

A low pH can also be associated with colds, the flu, viral infections, allergies, asthma, cancer and neurological disorders.

If you want to get vain about it, Dr. Sircus points out that there is “a relationship between the aging process and the accumulation of acids”, so there’s another reason to eat your veggies – so you won’t age so fast!

Now that I’ve read this book, I’ll be more diligent about tracking the pH of my family and tracking it versus how we feel.  How about you – have you ever checked your pH?

 

THE “R” WORD

road to recovery signYou may or may not know my personal recovery story. I have recovered my 2 sons, now ages 5 and 7, from sensory processing disorder (SPD), asthma, allergies, acid reflux and eczema with a biomedical approach, which means correcting nutritional and hormonal deficiencies, removing toxicities and correcting gut dysbiosis.

I’m still working on failure to thrive, mitochondrial dysfunction, hypothyroidism and persistent eczema in my older son. In addition, they both had developmental delays, and my older son had severe hypotonia as a baby.

I have recovered from immune dysregulation, in which I had shingles twice, the worst case of poison-ivy ever, bronchitis (which I’d never had before), constant sinus infections and constant colds that would last 3-4 weeks at a time.

My older son had immune dysregulation, too, when he was younger: he would go to preschool, get sick and be out for at least a week at a time, then go to school the next week, get sick, and the cycle repeated ad nauseum (pun intended).

I also had severe adrenal fatigue, which was caused by dealing with my older son’s severe SPD.

Adrenal fatigue caused middle-of-the-night insomnia, in which I would be awake for hours at a time in the middle of the night and be so dead tired the next day that 3 hour naps wouldn’t help.

I later learned that adrenal fatigue was the cause of the onslaught of my “female problems”, which I’d never had before: a suddenly irregular menstrual cycle, a uterine fibroid and ovarian cysts.

I also found out I have two types of anemia: iron-deficiency (the more commonly known about kind) and folate-deficiency. I learned how these and most of out other problems can be tied back to gut dysbiosis and its chronic infections, especially Candidiasis.

I also discovered that I am hypothyroid and that this may have played a large part in my sons’ problems when I was pregnant with them.

I found out that I was loaded with heavy metals, especially mercury and lead, which are the most neurologically damaging. I immediately had my sons tested and found out they were full of them, too.

It’s been very hard going through this, as most people, even most doctors, don’t know about the causes of all these problems. They don’t understand that all of these problems are related, and they certainly don’t know that recovery is possible.

We got a lot of help from changing our diets and seeing a naturopath, a functional-medicine doctor and a holistic nutritionist, as well as from me doing never-ending research about how all of these problems are connected.

We’ve recovered from so much, although there is still more work to be done. In any case, we are so much better off now than we were 4 years ago, when all of these problems hit a crescendo.

I want people to know that recovery is possible, which is why I joined the non-profit Epidemic Answers. We seek to educate parents about the causes of these problems as well as let them know that recovery is possible.

In fact, we’re making a documentary film to show the world that recovery is possible because most people just don’t know that.

Most people don’t know that a child can recover from autism or asthma or that an adult can recover from an autoimmune disease, even multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis.

If you want to learn more about our film, you can find out more by watching this video or by visiting our website. Please help us get this film made!

 

How to Reduce Healthcare Costs

How to Reduce Healthcare Costs

Find out how to reduce healthcare costs by investing in a healthy lifestyle here. True, it costs more money up front, but as Benjamin Franklin is famously quoted as saying “A stitch in time saves nine.”

One of the best ways to create health is to eat organic foods.  Pesticides used in non-organic foods have been linked time and again to diseases and disorders ranging from cancer to Parkinson’s to autism and ADHD.

Yes, organic foods cost more, but consider that the typical American family pays less than half of what other cultures do because so many of our unhealthy crops are subsidized (sugar, corn, wheat, soy, canola, etc.).

Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farms and author of “Folks, This Ain’t Normal:  A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and a Better World“, says “If you think the price of organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?”

Another way to create health is to eat fresh-as-possible foods.  Americans typically eat far more processed foods loaded with these subsidized crops than other cultures do.

Take a look at this Time photo-essay to see that most other cultures eat far more fresh food and less processed food than Americans do.  Many times, processed foods contain preservatives, trans fats, sugar, artificial colors, antibiotics, growth hormones and, sometimes, even carcinogens.  No wonder Americans have such high healthcare expenses!

Do you think what you eat can have an impact on your health?  I know it does from both my personal and professional experience.

 

BOOK REVIEW: IT’S ALL GOOD, GWYNETH PALTROW’S COOKBOOK

Gwyneth Paltrow It's All Good book coverMy husband bought me a copy of Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, “It’s All Good:  Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great” the other day for my birthday.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised!

She openly talks about the health problems that she had that led to her needing to make dietary changes.  I can relate because I’ve had to do the same for myself and my children.  [Read more…]

WHAT WORKS FOR POISON IVY?

poison ivyI was outside gardening today, pulling out strings of poison ivy vines, and I thought about how I had a nasty rash of poison ivy a few years ago.

It was all over me, and it was spreading.  I was also going through a very stressful time dealing with my son’s worsening Sensory Processing Disorder, and I believe the stress was making it worse.  [Read more…]

Migraine Relief from Ginger and Cayenne!

ginger and cayenneLet me tell you a true story about how I got migraine relief from ginger and cayenne!

It got hot here all of a sudden, which for some reason, made me wake up with a horrible headache.

Although I used to pop ibuprofen a lot when I worked on Wall Street, I know better now.  Ibuprofen can destroy gut flora, while Tylenol lowers glutathione (the body’s master antioxidant).

The headache got worse as the day went on, and it turned into a migraine.  It got so bad that I thought I was going to throw up.  I was walking down the street in New York City thinking I might need any nearby trash can.

I walked by an Organic Avenue shop, where they sell bottled organic juices.  I thought, “Hey, maybe there’s something in there that can help my headache.”  (I’m a big believer in food as medicine.)

I bought a shot of Dragon’s Breath, thinking it might help.  Ginger is an herb classically used for nausea, and I remembered that cayenne might help with my headache.

Sure enough, by the time I had walked 5 blocks down the street, the nausea was gone, and the headache was gone enough to where it didn’t bother me.  Try this recipe of ginger and cayenne next time and let me know if it works for you!

[gmc_recipe 4734]

ADRENAL FATIGUE

exhaustionI became severely stressed when I began taking care of my two boys without any help because that’s when my older son’s sensory issues and “fight, fright or flight” issues really kicked in.  [Read more…]

CAUSES OF NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

apple with vitaminsNutritional deficiencies are rampant.  I believe many people are falsely lulled into a sense of security by RDA (recommended daily allowances) listings on food and nutrients.

What you don’t know is that RDA requirements are the bare minimum to stave off diseases of deficiency like scurvy or rickets.

RDA requirements do NOT promote optimal health!  [Read more…]

HOW MY SON’S SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER CAUSED MY SEVERE HEALTH DECLINE

tired womanHaving a son with a developmental delay was very hard on me.  He didn’t walk until he was 20 months old.

This was extremely hard for me because he didn’t walk until 3 weeks before his little brother was born, and I was having to carry him everywhere.

I suppose the bright side is that he didn’t weigh a whole lot, given that he was also a failure-to-thrive baby.  [Read more…]

REMOVAL OF ALLERGENIC FOODS HELPS ASTHMA AND ACID REFLUX

toddler with inhalerMy older son got sick a lot, especially after he started preschool when he was 3.

He would go to preschool for a week then be out the whole next week because he was sick; the preschool didn’t want kids coming in who were sneezing and coughing.

Constant Sickness Turned to Asthma

When he was 4 years old, he had a severe asthmatic episode after we went to Los Angeles to visit my husband’s family.  [Read more…]