After beginning my mini-series about addressing Blake's health through nutrition and supplementation, I have had an influx of questions. So I want to address a few of the ones I think I can help with.
1. Books to recommend? Ummm, I don't read a whole lot of books these days, but I love to do research online when I can. So my go-to sources are: http://robbwolf.com/category/anti-inflammatory-diet/ and Robb Wolff's book The Paleo Solution, I hear, is great. I know a lot of adoptive mom's follow: http://www.gapsdiet.com/
The Paleo Mom is another go-to blog I enjoy. She is a mom with a Ph.D. who provides the science behind this way of eating in real-person terms. Plus she draws some great stick-figure pics to explain what she's saying. There are also some great recipes there: The granola bars under the Kids recipe tab are AMAZING! The french toast is a hit in our house as well. www.realsustenance.com/ is a great source for recipes. So is www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ is another great resource.
2. If you have the time to listen to this, give it a glance. Great documentary.
3. I had lots of questions about Tei Fu Oil. Haha! Makes me laugh. It is an essential oil that I use a lot. I use it on sore muscles. I rub 1-2 drops under the kids ears if they begin to show symptoms of an ear infection, sinus infection, or excess drainage. This stuff helps improve circulation, thus helps the 'gunk' drain from the ears without causing the build-up and infection. I literally will find stuff running out of the kids ears the next morning after rubbing a few drops on the night before. This stuff works!
4. This leads to my next question. Where do I buy my supplements? I usually purchase them online from: www.naturessunshine.com We live in a rural area so 'health' food stores are not exactly on every street corner. I buy my Tei Fu Oil from there as well. It lasts forever. This is also where I purchase my colostrum, which I had several questions about. I just use the capsule form, rather than the farm-fresh, milky form. This is a lot cleaner, lasts longer, and the kids will actually consume in applesauce.
5. Probiotics in yogurt. After recently attending a conference on Nutrition and its Effect on the Brain, my tone has changed a bit about the benefits of probiotics in yogurt. According to this speaker, most people don't digest food very well anyway, so the minimal amount found in yogurt is not nearly enough to help change the bacteria balance in the stomach, let alone what you actually get after digestion occurs. She recommended a refrigerated blend of probiotics in capsule form, as much as 100-200 billion a day! That's a lot. I'm still experimenting with how much is enough for me. But, yogurt is still good. Because we are dairy-free, we use almond and coconut yogurts that I purchase in Wichita at Natural Grocers, Green Acres, or Whole Foods. Yummy and expensive, so we consider it a treat when we get it!
6. What type of Anti-Fungal am I using? Well for the kids, I use a brand we purchase from our chiropractor, called System Formulas. It's called CX4, FungDX. I started out adding 7-8 drops a day, then backed down to 4 a day, now I'm doing 4 every other day. It definitely 'cleans a person out', so beware.
7. I also used lavender oils in the bathtub at night. I use this for allergy purposes, because lavender is known to help relieve allergy symptoms. This is also to help Blake calm down for nighttime. This is when his anxiety rears its ugly head. I also apply a topical adrenal cream, called AdrenaCalm (K-16), several times a day to help his already stressed out body, nourish his adrenals. I often rub a little on myself as well, depending on the day!
8. Finally, I also use an aloe vera cream on his face to help with the tissue damage from his reaction to American food, our dry air, and the change in environment. I try to use as natural of skin products as I can. One, because of all the toxins in most smell-good body creams (aahhhem, Bath&Body Works). Two, because my kids are super-sensitive to skin creams for some reason. So we just play it safe. I recommend Arbonne. Also Aveeno. We use just plain 'ol coconut oil or olive oil in the winter.
1. Books to recommend? Ummm, I don't read a whole lot of books these days, but I love to do research online when I can. So my go-to sources are: http://robbwolf.com/category/anti-inflammatory-diet/ and Robb Wolff's book The Paleo Solution, I hear, is great. I know a lot of adoptive mom's follow: http://www.gapsdiet.com/
The Paleo Mom is another go-to blog I enjoy. She is a mom with a Ph.D. who provides the science behind this way of eating in real-person terms. Plus she draws some great stick-figure pics to explain what she's saying. There are also some great recipes there: The granola bars under the Kids recipe tab are AMAZING! The french toast is a hit in our house as well. www.realsustenance.com/ is a great source for recipes. So is www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ is another great resource.
2. If you have the time to listen to this, give it a glance. Great documentary.
3. I had lots of questions about Tei Fu Oil. Haha! Makes me laugh. It is an essential oil that I use a lot. I use it on sore muscles. I rub 1-2 drops under the kids ears if they begin to show symptoms of an ear infection, sinus infection, or excess drainage. This stuff helps improve circulation, thus helps the 'gunk' drain from the ears without causing the build-up and infection. I literally will find stuff running out of the kids ears the next morning after rubbing a few drops on the night before. This stuff works!4. This leads to my next question. Where do I buy my supplements? I usually purchase them online from: www.naturessunshine.com We live in a rural area so 'health' food stores are not exactly on every street corner. I buy my Tei Fu Oil from there as well. It lasts forever. This is also where I purchase my colostrum, which I had several questions about. I just use the capsule form, rather than the farm-fresh, milky form. This is a lot cleaner, lasts longer, and the kids will actually consume in applesauce.5. Probiotics in yogurt. After recently attending a conference on Nutrition and its Effect on the Brain, my tone has changed a bit about the benefits of probiotics in yogurt. According to this speaker, most people don't digest food very well anyway, so the minimal amount found in yogurt is not nearly enough to help change the bacteria balance in the stomach, let alone what you actually get after digestion occurs. She recommended a refrigerated blend of probiotics in capsule form, as much as 100-200 billion a day! That's a lot. I'm still experimenting with how much is enough for me. But, yogurt is still good. Because we are dairy-free, we use almond and coconut yogurts that I purchase in Wichita at Natural Grocers, Green Acres, or Whole Foods. Yummy and expensive, so we consider it a treat when we get it!
6. What type of Anti-Fungal am I using? Well for the kids, I use a brand we purchase from our chiropractor, called System Formulas. It's called CX4, FungDX. I started out adding 7-8 drops a day, then backed down to 4 a day, now I'm doing 4 every other day. It definitely 'cleans a person out', so beware.
7. I also used lavender oils in the bathtub at night. I use this for allergy purposes, because lavender is known to help relieve allergy symptoms. This is also to help Blake calm down for nighttime. This is when his anxiety rears its ugly head. I also apply a topical adrenal cream, called AdrenaCalm (K-16), several times a day to help his already stressed out body, nourish his adrenals. I often rub a little on myself as well, depending on the day!
8. Finally, I also use an aloe vera cream on his face to help with the tissue damage from his reaction to American food, our dry air, and the change in environment. I try to use as natural of skin products as I can. One, because of all the toxins in most smell-good body creams (aahhhem, Bath&Body Works). Two, because my kids are super-sensitive to skin creams for some reason. So we just play it safe. I recommend Arbonne. Also Aveeno. We use just plain 'ol coconut oil or olive oil in the winter. 
I have been following your blog for quite some time! From back when you started fundraising to bring Blake home! Anyway, one of my boys has SERIOUS skin issues, eczema flares, etc- we just had his allergies tested (IgE), and he's allergic to Dairy, Egg, Soy & Peanuts. He reacted to Almonds, but I would presume that would still be an intense sensitivity for him. So he's drinking Hemp milk, and we're supplementing w/ Calcium & Vitamin D. I am looking forward to checking out some of the sites you listed for foods. I also was wondering your stance on Arbonne, since the products are botanically based. I actually just started selling Arbonne 2 months ago, and have felt like they have helped, but wanted to know what your opinion was as well.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on taking charge, and doing whatever it is that needs to be done to meet your kids needs. I am always inspired by your posts!