Showing posts with label Food/Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food/Recipes. Show all posts

Friday, May 9, 2014

Probiotics, Probiotics, Probiotics

I have always heard probiotics are good for you.  I have the opinion that they are absolutely NECESSARY for you.  I have my kids on them, my husband and myself.  And...if you ever absolutely HAVE to take antibiotics, you should definitely be on them during the course of treatment and twice the length of time you were on antibiotics.  That is, of course, unless you are smart and take them daily.
When you take antibiotics, you are killing all the bad bacteria in the gut.  This is good.  BUT....you are also killing all the good bacteria in the gut, as well.  That is B-A-D bad.  When the good bacteria is gone, it allows for multiple things, including Candida Yeast to overgrow.  When Candida Yeast, which is naturally occurring in our bodies, turns into an overgrowth situation, your body will start to fall apart.  I don't have references right now, but when I was researching it years ago, I read that they think that 85% of the population has Candida Overgrowth.  It causes every symptom in the book:  stomach pain, cramping, swelling, weight gain, migraines, foggy brain, itching, yeast infections, food sensitivities, skin issues, joint pain....I kid you not.  EVERYTHING.  I know this because when I went on the Candida Diet, I had all of those symptoms and more that disappeared when I killed off the yeast.  We are raising kids on antibiotics.  It only makes sense that all the good bacteria is gone!

Probiotics help to keep the good bacteria in the gut.  All probiotics don't work.  I ask every doctor and health professional their opinions.  All doctors will tell you to get the ones in the grocery store that have had studies to prove they work.  A naturopath or someone else will tell you a little more.  

1-ALWAYS get a probiotic that is found in the refrigerated section.  Probiotics are live cultures and keeping them cool keeps them alive for longer.

2-ALWAYS get a probiotic that has the most billions of cultures in them.

3-ALWAYS get a probiotic that has the most variety of cultures in them.

Understanding all of that, I have lots of people ask me what I use.  I have found that I really like the GARDEN OF LIFE brand of probiotics.  I have found them at our local grocery store, HEB and at any nutrition store.  Take note that it has 100 Billion CFUs....I take as much as I can get.  Most are around 20 Billion.  And there is a list of all the different cultures included.  When I take this supplement I feel a difference.  If I have had to take antibiotics, what would usually cause severe stomach pain and issues, never happens when I am on my daily probiotics.  They also have a great one for KIDS.

Supplement Facts
Service Size: 1 capsule
Servings Per Container: 30
IngredientAmount% Daily Value**
Replenish Blend - 100 Billion CFU
-ISS Bif Bifidobacterium lactis (SD-5219), Lactobacillus acidophilus (SD-5221),
-Lactobacillus paracasei (SD-5218), Bifidobacterium lactis (SD-5220),
-RAW Whole Food Probiotic Blend: Bulgarian Yogurt (milk) Concentrate,
-Eastern European Wild Kefir Culture containing Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium longum,
-Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus casei,
-Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens,
-Lactobacillus kefirgranum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactococcus lactis, Lacoccus cremoris,
-Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus kefir, Lactobacillus parakefir, Lactobacillus plantarum,
-Lactococcus lactis biovar diacetylactis, Leuconostoc lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides,
-Leuconostoc cremoris, Leuconostoc dextranicum, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Brettanomyces anomalus,
-Debaryomyces hansenii, Saccharomyces unisporus, Saccharomyces turicensis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
-Saccharomyces exigus, Torulaspora delbrueckii
Protein-Digesting Enzyme Blend50mg
-Protease, Acid Protease, Protease S
Eastern European RAW Fruit and Veggie Blend45mg
-Red Bell Pepper (Fruit), Green Pea (Seed), Carrot (Root), Plum (Fruit), Cherry (Fruit),
-Strawberry (Fruit), Raspberry (Fruit)
Hope this helps!


Saturday, September 7, 2013

Aspartame Hurts...

I found this article on my Facebook feed.  The author of the blog I am re-posting is, like me, not the author of the actual article, but has the same sort of passion as I do from first hand experience.  I wanted to share it here for all to read, as well.  Food is powerful...powerfully good and powerfully bad.

A Killer In Your Fridge ~ Sweet Poison…A MUST READ

SEPTEMBER 2, 2013
In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.
By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick she just knew she was dying.
She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughter’s name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of.
She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.
On March 19, I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn’t find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS.
I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment.
I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her an article my friend, a lawyer, had sent. My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn’t feel 100% but, she sure felt a lot better.
She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home.
Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda.. and literally dying a slow and miserable death
When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life. If it says ‘SUGAR FREE’ on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!  I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on ‘ASPARTAME,’ marketed as ‘Nutra Sweet,’ ‘Equal,’ and ‘Spoonful. ‘In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.
I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.
Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is!
Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues it’s use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas.
In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We’ve seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly.
This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia. During a lecture, I said, ‘If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs,
Cramps,
Vertigo,
Dizziness,
Headaches,
Tinnitus,
Joint pain,
Unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!’ People were jumping up during the lecture saying, ‘I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?’
Yes!
Yes!
Yes!
STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence!
Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates.
It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight!
These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve ’tissue specimens.’
Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body!
Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the ‘diet products’ and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period. Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.
Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE.. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, Seizures, Depression, Manic depression, Panic attacks, Uncontrollable anger and rage. Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet.
So called ‘behavior modification prescription drugs’ (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place!  Most of these children were being ‘poisoned’ on a daily basis with the very foods that were ‘better for them than sugar. ‘It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.
Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners.
There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.’
Herein lies the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included in 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets.
Sadly, MONSANTO’S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a ‘piece of the Aspartame pie. ‘I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is.
And isn’t it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians?
This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products. Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants.
The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioural symptoms.  The bill was killed. It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you’re informed now!
Note:  I have been studying health and nutrition for 35 years.  What I’ve learned in the past 3 years has been by far…the most valuable.  My husband was diagnosed with liver disease 3 years ago and that sent me on a very aggressive search for help.  I came across an article about Dr. Otto Warburg that said…he won the Nobel Prize in 1931 for proving that no disease including cancer, can survive in an alkaline body.  From there…a friend told me about a Japanese medical device that makes alkaline water.  She went on to tell me that since our body is 70% water, drinking alkaline ionized water is the easiest way to raise your pH.  It makes perfect sense…the health “puzzle” is made up of many pieces including water, diet, exercise, sleep, etc.  But since 3/4 of that puzzle is made up of one big piece…WATER, drinking enough of the “right” kind of water will have a HUGE impact on your health.  If you’d like to learn more, click on the link and request your FREE eBook on Healthy Water:   http://www.usakangenwater.net
(just sharing this info from another blog…i’m not the author)

Friday, August 3, 2012

Butter

Fresh Butter after squeezing it through the cheese cloth
I made 2 new friends this week :)  I actually made quite a few new friends this week heading up crafts at our church's VBS week.  However, these 2 special girls found me, by the grace of God, and we very quickly discovered that they, too, were both fighting GI disease.  It's no fun, but it's not often that I find 2 cute girls to sit around and talk about poop. :)  It made it so clear to me that this little blog is here for a reason, started from a stirring in my heart in the midst of a Beth Moore Bible Study, to share my story and hopefully help those fighting similar diseases.  They were full of questions that I was more than happy to share my experiences and everything I have learned in the last few years about diet and healing.  They prompted me to share some things on My Intestine-mony that I hadn't thought to share.

Today, it's B-U-T-T-E-R!  Yummo!  One major lesson I have learned in my healing process is to NEVER eat "Light" or "Sugar-free."  Nothing that is light or sugar-free is natural and it usually has bad additives, like fake sugars.  For me, fake sugars are worse than plain sugar.  My body revolts against them.  So, when it comes to butter you need to eat the REAL DEAL; not margarine, not butter that you can't believe, REAL BUTTER. Organic real butter, of course.  Real butter is made from milk that your body knows how to digest and it does a body good.

I heard someone once say that milk from the grocery store is basically Antibiotic & Hormone Soup.  Since then, I have not been able to stomach it for me or for my children.  I am fortunate enough to have my fabulous Yonder Way Farm that delivers fresh raw milk to me every two weeks.  I was nervous about it.  One day at pick up, I watched a man load 8 gallons of milk into his truck saying that the butter from the milk was the best butter he ever had.  Now THAT got me curious!  Now, it is a routine.  I order 2 gallons of raw milk from each delivery and use it to make homemade butter.

What you need:
1-2 gallons of raw milk
Mixer (unless you prefer to churn :))
cheese cloth
plastic wrap
Butter form (optional)

My grandmother's butter form
Making butter is NOT rocket science.  When you buy organic at the store, it is still great for you, but it only makes sense that there are preservatives in it....it has to have a shelf life!  Making it at home, is like making dessert and its a breeze.  As soon as I get home with my two gallons of milk, I pour them into 2 big bowls.  I let the cream rise for 24-48 hours.  The longer the better.  Then, with a measuring cup, I carefully scoop the cream off the top of the milk in the two bowls.  Get as much as you can, but if you get a little milk, it won't be bad.  It will eventually separate out.

At that point, I put the cream in my mixer on medium-high and mix it!  Add nothing at all....it takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes.  While it mixes, I use my funnel and poor the milk back in the saved jugs (that remained in the fridge so they didn't sour) and I freeze a gallon.  YES!  You can freeze milk until you need it.

The cream will thicken up to whipped cream...PLEASE take bite.  It is a piece of Heaven!  Then, the yellow in the butter will start to come out and the milk will start to separate and it will get sloshy if there's too much milk.  When it appears that the butter is stuck to the beaters for the most part and the milk is in the bottom of the bowl, it's time to stop.  Pour the milk out and drop the butter onto a piece of cheese cloth.  Squeeze the cheese cloth enough to squeeze out the extra milk, but not so much to squeeze the butter through.

At this point, I wrap the ball of butter in plastic wrap and put it in my butter form. (It was my grandmothers.)  Then I gently push the butter with the form and make a stick of butter that has no additives and is LOADED with probiotics!  Not to mention, it tastes out of this world!
Inside the form...
The finished product!

This butter is heavenly and if I choose to "cheat" a little, I smear it on my very favorite, Vinta crackers.  My eyes roll to the back of my head and I dream a little...for just a moment.  There is no butter that tastes as good as homemade butter...and it couldn't be easier!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Coconut Oil

Because I love coconut oil now, I wanted to share this with you. I found it on Pinterest, no less!  See how GREAT coconut oil is!
Reposted from: Delicious Obsessions

52 Uses for Coconut Oil
  1. Eat a spoonful when you need an energy boost.
  2. Use it as the base for a homemade body scrub.
  3. Use to condition your wooden cutting boards.
  4. Use as a super conditioner on your hair (apply to dry hair, leave in as long as possible and then shampoo as normal).
  5. Use as a styling agent if you have really dry hair. Just rub a tiny bit on your palms and apply to your hair and style as normal.
  6. Keep a little container in your purse for lip moisturizer.
  7. Add a spoonful to your dog or cat’s food. CO is great for our furry friends!
  8. Replace nasty, unhealthy vegetable oils in your cooking and baking with CO.
  9. Make healthy Magic Shell ice cream topping.
  10. Use it for oil pulling (learn about oil pulling here).
  11. Use a tiny dab on your underarms for a natural deodorant.
  12. Use coconut oil instead of shaving cream.
  13. Add to your bath tub for a moisturizing soak (a drop of peppermint oil is wonderful!).
  14. Use as a makeup remover.
  15. Use it to help sooth chicken pox, shingles, or other rashes or skin irritations.
  16. Use it to treat athlete’s food, ringworm, or other fungal or yeast infections.
  17. Take a spoonful with your vitamins to help improve absorption.
  18. Spread a thin layer on cuts or burns to speed up healing.
  19. Take up to 5 spoonfuls per day for improved thyroid function.
  20. Add a spoonful to your smoothies for extra nutrition and flavor (herehere, andhere).
  21. Use on the delicate tissue around your eyes to help prevent wrinkles and sagging.
  22. Use as the base for homemade toothpaste or lotion.
  23. Use in place of massage oil.
  24. Use on your baby’s diaper rash or cradle cap.
  25. Use to help reduce visibility of stretch marks or to prevent stretch marks.
  26. For nursing mothers, use coconut oil on your nipples to prevent cracking and irritation.
  27. For nursing mothers, consuming coconut oil will help increase your milk flow.
  28. Apply to bee stings or bug bites to soothe and heal the wound.
  29. Women can use in the nether regions to relieve yeast infections, dryness, and/or discomfort.
  30. Eat a spoonful with each meal to improve digestion.
  31. If you’re prone to nosebleeds, coat the inside of your nostrils with coconut oil regularly.
  32. Helps soothe and heal hemorrhoids.
  33. Take to helps reduce or eliminate migraines.
  34. Use as the base for homemade vapor rub.
  35. Mixed with peppermint, lemon balm, rosemary, or tea tree oil makes an excellent insect repellant.
  36. Mix with baking soda for a non-toxic “Goo Gone”.
  37. Use to help detox the body during a cleanse or fast.
  38. Use as a metal polish, but always test a small area first.
  39. Use as a leather moisturizer.
  40. Season your cast iron pans.
  41. Use to oil your pans and baking dishes instead of pan spray.
  42. Got gum stuck in your hair? Try using coconut oil to remove without cutting your hair.
  43. Use instead of WD-40.
  44. Use as a personal lubricant (not safe with latex).
  45. Take a spoonful to help with heartburn, acid reflux, or indigestion.
  46. Use as a natural sunscreen.
  47. Mix with a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice and use as a furniture polish (always test a small area first!).
  48. Mix with butter and toss your popcorn in it.
  49. Use on cracked or rough heals to help smooth them out.
  50. Massage into your nails and cuticles to help strengthen them.
  51. Use as the base for homemade chocolate candy (like peanut butter cups).
  52. Take a couple spoonfuls every day to help overall immune function.
Now, go get some coconut oil! :)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Healing Cuisine by Elise

I have one major "go-to" blog that I use for recipes.  I discovered Healing Cuisine by Elise when I was searching for Advanced Plan recipes.  She happens to be the wife of a Maximized Living doctor and a foodie.  So, she creates some great recipes according to the Advanced Plan in the green Maximized Living Nutritonal Plan Book.

Just to reiterate, I am following the Candida Yeast Diet.  My husband is following the Advanced Plan.  They are both VERY similar diets.  The Candida Diet eliminates all things sugar in order to starve the yeast in our bodies, thus killing it off.  The Advanced Plan eliminates almost all of the same things, with a few exceptions.  The goal of the Advanced Plan is to reduce all inflammation in your body, allowing your body to heal itself.  Sugar causes inflammation, so sugar is eliminated.  The exceptions that are allowed on the Advanced Plan are berries, because they are natural anti-inflammatories.  Also, you are allowed to have raw cheeses because they are loaded with probiotics.  There are a few more differences, but those are the major differences I see in the recipes on Healing Cuisine and what I am allowed to eat.  So, be sure to always be aware of what you are allowed to eat and adjust your recipes accordingly.

This site is a great resource...I have made LOTS of her recipes and really like them.  I will share some specifics in the future.  But for one....this week I made the Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  It was good!  A bit of a different texture than I was expecting, but it sure filled my need to have a scoop of Blue Bell!

Dynamic Greens

I will be the FIRST to admit that I don't LOVE vegetables.  I have a few staples, including broccoli, squash, zucchini. Oh! And I LOVE fried okra :) I love things that are added to stir fry like bean sprouts and water chestnuts.  I eat tomatoes in salsa or bruschetta and I love grilled or sautéed onions.  And thats about it for me.

Being on this diet, I eat a LOT of protein and not enough veggies.  I can tell it's slowing down my digestive tract.  And my hubs caught on to it, as well.  So, he investigated and found these Dynamic Greens to be one of the suggested greens powder for those of us that don't like greens.  And I LOVE IT!  I have even surprised myself.  I just plop a scoop in my protein shake, which makes it BRIGHT GREEN and slurp away.

What I have discovered is that for me not eating ANY sugar, I shouldn't have eaten this at this stage in my diet.  It does have fruit in it, thus naturally occurring sugar, which I can't have.  However, it is a fantastic way to get your vitamins from green veggies if you are watching what you eat...just not if you are trying to eliminate sugar from your diet, like me.

I have the berry flavor and it tastes amazing...a far cry from greens powders I have tried in the past!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Yonder Way Farm

I mentioned that I would explain grass-fed vs grain fed beef a couple posts back.  The first time I ever heard of such a difference was about 3 years ago when my husband and I were on a hot date having a steak dinner.  One of the items on the menu was a 4 oz grass-fed steak and a 4 oz grain-fed steak served together to compare.  So, we compared.  While I had no idea my future held a life of grass-fed beef, the grass-fed beef was, by far, richer in taste, juicier, and more tender.  We were sold!  It only makes sense that what a cow eats is whats in its muscles.  You ARE what you EAT!  So, if a cow eats synthetic food, then when you eat a steak, you are eating the synthetic food that fed that cow..antibiotics, hormones, and all!  However, cows were created by God to eat grass.  Eating grass doesn't hurt you and it certainly doesn't hurt the cow.  Cows should be eating grass!

We have since started order all our beef, chicken, and eggs from a local farm that delivers to Houston and the surrounding areas, Yonder Way Farm.  We love them.  It is a young family just doing their thing, living off the land and growing healthy food for those of us city-folks who can't do it for ourselves.  PLEASE peruse their site and their blog.  It is loaded with all sorts of information, including the Grass vs Grain debate.

If you are lucky enough to live in the Houston area, I would highly recommend ordering your meat from Yonder Way.  Your bodies will love and appreciate the REAL THING!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Coconut Oil

Before I learned about Expeller-pressed, I ordered this gallon size.
Coconut Oil has become our life blood.  When on the yeast diet you can't have many of the oils you are used to cooking with.  Coconut Oil is one oil that is allowed and it is allowed to be heated, unlike olive oil.  So, I buy coconut oil by the vat.  I often substitute for butter and always for oils.  I make my scrambled eggs with it.  Even when I wasn't following the diet, I started using coconut oil in brownies and treats (yummo!) and we have always used it to pop our popcorn.  Coconut oil is a treat in and of itself and makes everything taste better.

The great thing about coconuts is that they are a natural anti-fungal agent, so it is REALLY good to eat lots of coconut products while on the yeast diet.  ALWAYS be sure to read the ingredients and make sure that there is no sugar or unidentifiable additives.  I have read that sticking with the Thai brands of coconut milk is good.  And I order my coconut oil online.  Expeller-pressed coconut oil is the best form to get because it was extracted the old-fashioned way with as few added ingredients as possible.

This is the primo!
Gratefully, there is SOMETHING on this diet that I love.  AND, drinking a coconut protein shake is like have my own little sugary sweet.  If you are interested, I just concocted my own shake and LOVE IT!


I fill my Magic Bullet up about 1/4 - 1/2 full of ice.  I fill it half way with raw milk (we get it from a local farm) and another 1/4 with coconut milk.  I put one scoop of my vanilla protein powder (in the margin) and I sprinkle about 4 Tablespoons of organic, unsweetened coconut in to give it a little texture. Mix 'er up and DELISH!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Maximized Living

I am following a diet with absolutely no sugar and sugar slows healing by requiring more energy to break it down.  Refined sugar is bad.  In my case, the pain it causes, I often think it is truly from the Devil.  We can live life without sugar! And this is coming from a sugar-aholic.  I have learned to sweeten with 100% Maple Syrup, Sucanat, honey...there are many God-given and unrefined options that actually provide more flavor when you cook.  The problem with our society is that white sugar, refined sugar, is cheaper and easier to make in bulk.  Any nutritive value is completely stripped in the processing.  Cheap and easy...sugar is purely a slut.  That is the only reason so many things are loaded with refined sugar...the ease and the price. Richer flavors and healthier options are out there!

I am, was, and probably always will be a picky eater.  The first time I did this diet, there was a fasting phase, where I existed for three days on lemonade made of water, fresh lemon juice and....maple syrup!  I thought, "No way! That's so gross!"  I tried it and you wouldn't believe it, but I couldn't taste a drop of maple.  It was purely a sweetener AND it doesn't spike your blood sugar.  Interesting, huh?

I wanted to explain my love of Maximized Living products. The reason I have referred several Maximized Living products is because they are made WITHOUT sugar.  Try finding a protein powder ANYWHERE that doesn't have sugar or fructose of some form in its ingredients.  The protein powder at Maximized Living is made not only with Stevia, a natural plant sweetener, it is made with by-products of grass-fed animals.  I will hit on that soon.  Grass-fed is VITAL.  I have just come to learn this in the last few years, but this means that the products are made from cows that ate their natural food and they weren't given antibiotics and hormones to prevent diseases and plump them up. And thus...when you consume these products, you will not be consuming antibiotics and hormones in the process! Yeah!

I know it's brief...but the proof is in the ingredients!