Oral Care: Ortho & Oral Surgery

July 12, 2017By Katie GuyWellness No Comments
Oral Care: Ortho & Oral Surgery

Today we are going to discuss how you can use a plethora of Young Living products to help support your oral health during orthodontics and oral surgery.

Orthodontics and Orthotropics

I would first like to introduce you to an alternative to traditional orthodontics. Myself and 3 of my children are currently going through the Orthotropic process.  I had traditional orthodontics as a teen and it ended up doing more damage than good (including gum recession which I just had oral surgery to correct).  Orthotropics takes more holistic approach taking into account the entire body and how it functions as a whole.  I won’t go into the details only leave you some links to check it out.  It’s pretty fantastic. We go to Gray Family Dental here in the DFW area.

For more information check out the following links.

http://www.orthodontichealth.co.uk/what-is-orthotropics/

https://www.facebook.com/orthotropics/videos/1463819050315921/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY3bIMRKil8&t=11s

Like traditional Orthodontics, Orthotropics moves teeth around.  With this moving of teeth and bones, comes discomfort & muscle tightness.  Shifting of bones, ligaments and muscles isn’t an easy thing.  Your body needs all the support it can get during this time.

I suggest a daily regimen of the following:

  • BLM Provides superior support to the bones, ligaments, muscles and joint health.  BLM supports healthy cell function and healthy fluid movement in the joints.  ANY Ortho treatment stresses the muscles of the jaw, skull and neck, as well as, puts an outside force on the jaw bones while trying to move things around.  BLM is a MUST to support this process. It’s ingredients are:
    • Glucosamine Sulfate: derived from shellfish assists the body while it is rebuilding damaged cartilage
    • Potassium: a vital mineral for proper electrolyte balance and support healthy muscles.
    • Callagen Type II: this is the raw material that joints are made up of.
    • MSM: a superior bioavailable source of sulfur.  MSM supports the body, specifically the flexibility in cell membranes and healthy cartilage.
    • EO’s: Clove, Peppermint, Idaho Balsam Fir and Wintergreen
  • Super Cal I recommend taking 2 Super Cal shortly before bed every night.
    • Calcium: needed for bone and teeth health
    • Magnesium: is required for proper function of muscles & maintains bone health
    • Zinc: an essential trace mineral ours is in bioavailable form, supports the immune system
    • Boron: a mineral may help increase the absorption of calcium
    • EO’s: Lemongrass, Wintergreen, Marjoram and Myrtle
  • Sulfurzyme: supports almost EVERY major function of the body. It combines the MSM with the NingXia Wolfberry Fruit.  The NingXia Wolfberry supports the bodies ability to assimilate and metabolize the sulfur!! On the day you get braces or any appliance and on every time things get adjusted you will notice tight muscles, tender gums, sore teeth and even the entire head affected.  Some products you can use to support your body during this time are:
  • Thieves Spray: get this out and spray it in your mouth for an instant cool, soothing feeling.
  • RutaVala Roll On this is a great one to use on all of the stressed muscles around your neck, jaw and head.
  • Deep Relief Roll On another one to apply to the stressed muscles and bones around your neck, jaw and head.
  • Single oils to get out and apply topically for support:

Oral Surgery

I have had three children have their wisdom teeth removed and I just had gum/bone graft surgery less than two weeks ago.  So this is REALLY fresh on my mind.  So fresh I am still doing some of these suggestions. With all three of my children’s wisdom teeth extractions they were prescribed steriods, NSAID’s, prescription mouthwash, Hydrocodone, anti-nausea medication and anti-biotics. The only thing they took was the Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours for the first day, then every 6-8 hours until it was only once a day before the end of the week. With my surgery last week I was prescribed Ibuprofen, antibiotics and Hydrocodone.  I took one Hydrocodone a few hours after surgery and proceeded to throw everything up.  From that point forward I took only Ibuprofen a few times the second day and after that only at bedtime. Here is what we use to support the body after oral surgery:

Oral Surgery Recipe Oils

Internal

You can use any or all of these.  I suggest looking them up in your reference book and seeing which one would best support what your body needs.  I’m always in a hurry so I grab a bunch and make up my capsules ahead of time, kind of winging how many drops of each.  I LOVE to put in more of Peppermint and Copaiba.  My capsules hold about 12 drops so I could do 1 of each all of these and 4 more additional drops.  Of course, if you are new to oils you will want to dilute these 50/50 so you will only be able to get 6 drops of oil in the capsule and then fill the rest with Fractionated Coconut Oil.

It is my hope that Young Living is working on adding these oils below to the VITALITY line, until then we can only talk about their topical use.

Topical

Thieves Mouth Wash!!!!

I can not tell you how wonderful it has been to have my Thieves mouthwash during these past 12 days since my gum/bone graft surgery!!  I have been swishing it every hour.  It brings such cool relief to my mouth.  On top of all of the other WONDERFUL benefits I wrote about here.

I know this is a lot of info to take in and I have only really scratched the surface.  Remember you know yours and your children’s bodies the best.  If you don’t have a reference book to help you navigate your day to day EO usage I highly recommend getting one.  I have had one for 12 years and still use it on a regular basis.  Even after 12 years of researching and looking things up for my family of 8 I still don’t have it memorized.  There is not enough Brain Power EO in the world to help any of us do that.  Take my info and do your research.  Try things out and find what works best for you and your family.

Oral Care: Lozenges, Floss & Mouthwash

July 11, 2017By Katie GuyWellness No Comments
Oral Care: Lozenges, Floss & Mouthwash

Today we are going to tackle these tree awesome Young Living products. As with all the Young Living Oral Care products these are ALL ABOUT THIEVES!!!! If you have not researched the Thieves essential oil blend and it’s individual oils YOU NEED TO!!!  There have been umpteen studies done on Thieves and each of its individual oils and their constituents.  If I could go into it all I would, but I can’t.  Besides there isn’t nearly enough room here to put it all.   There have been university studies in Utah, France, Maryland, medical literature studies, peer reviewed, American Journal of Dentistry study, Journal of Clinical Periodontology study, Over 100 studies have documentation on the power of essential oils to support oral health.  I could go on and on with this kind of info.

Thieves Essential Oil Blend

Ingredients

  • Cloves…supports the immune & circulatory systems, & the bodies natural inflammatory response,
  • Lemon…supports the immune & circulatory systems, normal cell growth
  • Cinnamon Bark…supports the immune system and bodies natural inflammatory response
  • Eucalypptus Radiata…supports the immune system, & the bodies natural inflammatory response
  • Rosemary…supports the immune system and bodies natural inflammatory response

Do we see a pattern here with what body systems the individual oils in Thieves supports? It is such a fantastic blend to have in our mouth as much as possible.  Our mouths are our first line of defense against MANY pathogens.  Supporting our oral health is of the upmost importance!!

Thieves Lozenges and Thieves Cough Drops

Of course, these contain the Thieves essential oil blend.  Making them a perfect partner with the mouth.  Besides the obvious uses, we LOVE to have Thieves Lozenges and cough drops on hand to help freshen our breath when on the go.  As you know fresh breath is a sign of a healthy mouth and in turn a healthy body. Another excellent use is to keep a Thieves Lozenge or Thieves Cough Drop in your mouth during a flight, in fact, keep one in your mouth the whole time you are in the airport as well!!! With hundreds of thousands of people going to and fro…airports and planes are full of stale impure air.  Since our mouth is our first line of defense, any help we can give to support our immune system in this environment will go a long way.

Thieves Floss

Who LOVES to floss?  NOT…flossing is not really the most exciting task in up keeping the health of our mouths, but it needs to be done.  Nobody likes to feel like they have sweaters on their teeth!!!!  Flossing, when done properly, manually removes the biofilm from in-between our teeth and below the gum line. Lets talk about proper floss positioning… You should gently put the floss between your teeth holding it on either side of the tooth, then pull either end of the floss towards the tooth wrapping it around the sides BEFORE going up and down with it.  You will notice, if your gums are healthy, you can get that floss WAY up above the gum line.  This is imperative in cleaning that biofilm out and preventing plaque build up above the gum line. The other fantastic thing about using the THIEVES floss, in this correct manner, is that you will be depositing the Thieves Essential oil blend that is infused into it up above the gum line where it will go on to support your immune system, circulatory system and the bodies natural inflammatory response for hours!!!

Thieves Mouthwash

Oh Thieves Mouthwash, what would I do without you? I am going to get seriously personal here.  I have had six pregnancies.  After several, when you have littles to take care of, certain things start to get neglected in the daily maintenance of your own body.  All moms know this.  We have a hard time taking the day to day advice of “put your own mask on first”. So my first thing to go is flossing and sometimes I would be too tired to even brush before bed…YIKES.  I said it.  I have been known to rarely floss during pregnancy and even skip brushing at bedtime. EVEN WITH A DENTIST FATHER IN LAW.  :-/ With my first three pregnancies I ended up with a cavity after each. Although they weren’t significant they were still cavities.  With pregnancy 4 I began using the Thieves toothpaste and Thieves mouthwash.   With this being the fourth pregnancy my tiredness did not improve so neither did my flossing and brushing habits.  I was, however,  SUPER consistent about rinsing with Thieves mouthwash every night.  This took the least amount of effort and tasted SO GOOD!!!  After the baby was born I went to get my teeth cleaned and as usual, told my hygienist about my poor dental hygiene habits while pregnant, fully expecting another cavity.  Well, she checked my teeth and said actually my gums looked healthier than she had ever seen them before AND I did NOT have a cavity.  I repeated the same bad habits with pregnancy five and six with the exact same conversation with my hygienist at my cleanings after each baby was born.  NO CAVITIES~HEALTHY GUMS!!!  YAY!!! I CANNOT stress how fantastic the Thieves mouthwash is.

My whole family uses it.  For my younger kids I dilute it about 70-30.  That’s 70% mouthwash, 30% purified water.  If your kids are more sensitive you can dilute yours 50-50. Another example of its efficacy is my daughter Lucy, who is now 10.  She was unable to open her mouth for three years…from 1.5-4.5 years old, when she had jaw replacement surgery.  In that time, she rinsed with Thieves mouthwash several times a day as we could not even get a brush in her mouth.  The surgeon FULLY expected to pull many of her teeth when he got her mouth open during the surgery.  He pulled NONE. The MOUTHWASH has the Thieves Essential oil blend, plus Peppermint, Spearmint and Vetiver. It also has the awesome Liposomal Time Release Technology that I wrote about yesterday, keeping your breath smelling and tasting fresh for a LONG time. Another important ingredient is Colloidal Silver.

Colloidal Silver

  • Supports the immune system
  • Swishing in your mouth has been shown to prevent plaque buildup, tooth decay and bleeding gums
  • Supports the bodies natural healing process
  • Prevent viruses from entering human cells
  • Supports the bodies natural inflammatory process
  • Disrupt bacterial biofilm
  • Dozens of studies on its effects on all types of bacteria, fungi and viruses
  • Studies on its effects on herpes simplex virus, i.e. cold sores
  • Penetrates the large intestine and help support the digestive system
  • International space station used it to purify water
  • Greeks and Romans used it to prevent food spoilage

As you can see the colloidal silver in the Thieves Mouthwash catapults its effectiveness to powerhouse status.  No-one can afford NOT to use this.  And the price is SO AFFORDABLE.  If for some horrible reason I had to choose one oral care product, I think I would choose the Thieves Mouthwash.

If you have not tried any of these three, get them on your ER orders this month.  You’ll thank me.

Oral Care: Toothpaste

July 10, 2017By Katie GuyWellness 1 Comment
Oral Care: Toothpaste

I am so excited to share with you guys about dental care.  Man there is just SOOOO much to cover and so much I want to say.  I will try to keep things as short as possible, which probably will not be easy.  I married into a dental family.  My father in law (now retired) was one of the ONLY holistic dentists in the Dallas-Forth Worth area for many years…a pioneer in the industry.  So this has been my life for over 22 years!

Let’s kick this series off with TOOTHPASTE If you are NOT using one of Young Living’s toothpastes you need to start…NOW!!!  Our family has been using Thieves toothpaste for 12 years!!  Our favorite was the Thieves Dentarome with the green stripe on it, which they discontinued a few years ago…decisions, decisions.  We had to choose a new one.  My husband and I settled on the Thieves Dentarome Plus.  We LOVE this toothpaste.  My older children had been using the Dentarome Ultra for many years so they were not effected, but my younger ones were.  They were great with the Dentarome, but the Plus was a bit too spicy for them.  Thankfully, we had other choices.  The younger three now use the AromaBright Toothpaste and love it!!!

ALL of Young Living’s Toothpastes are:

~SLS FREE

~Fluoride FREE

~Plastic FREE

~Preservative FREE

~NO sugar

~NO Artificial colors

~NO Artificial Flavors

~NO Artificial Sweeteners

~NO synthetic chemicals

This means it’s TOTALLY cool if you or your children SWALLOW any of Young Living’s Toothpastes.  I mean, seriously, even if you and your kids spit it out, you know some of it is going down.

READ your toothpaste.  If it says “Call Poison Control if Swallowed”  THROW IT IN THE TRASH…or Better yet, take it to the hazardous chemical place!!!!

ABSOLUTELY NO reason to call poison control EVER if you swallow Young Living’s toothpaste.

ENAMEL & LOW ABRASION…

Most brands of toothpaste contain very large sized abrasive particles that will easily wear away your tooth enamel.  You know the hard outer part of the tooth that protects it.  It is a difficult process to remineralize our teeth.  Any precautions we can take in protecting our enamel the better!!  Young Living’s toothpastes contain a low-abrasion formula containing the smallest particle size, yet still able to remove biofilm from the teeth.

Lets Talk LIPOSOMAL TECHNOLOGY…

~Uses only water and lecithin

~Slowly release beneficial compounds and flavors overtime

~Binds essential oils to the mucus membranes and tooth enamel in the mouth to provide long-lasting control of bad breath

~in studies it took 30 repeated rinses with water to remove the dental liposomes

Thieves Dentarome Ultra & Thieves Aromabright Toothpastes BOTH have the awesome Lipsomal Technology.

If you LOVE the Dentarome Plus like I do, which does not have the Liposomal Technology, don’t fret!!  The Thieves Mouthwash has the Liposomal Technology.  I have always used BOTH!!

Dentarome Plus DOES have sodium bicarbonate which helps to enhance the effects of the POWERFUL Thieves blend and Peppermint essential oils in it.  As well as ionic minerals and stevia.

Who wants WHITE teeth??

Dentarome Ultra may be your goto toothpaste.  It contains calcium carbonate which is essential for brightening teeth, it also contains xylitol and Zinc oxide.

Or maybe you prefer the Thieves Aromabright Toothpaste…this ALSO contains the calcium carbonate for brightening teeth.

AROMABRIGHT has BOTH the calcium carbonate & the sodium bicarbonate, along with the liposomal technology, xylitol, Thieves EO blend and the addition of Ocotea this makes the Aromabright the most broad spectrum toothpaste Young Living carries.  It also contains NO WINTERGREEN EO for anyone that is avoiding that.

I, personally, do not like the taste of Dentarome Ultra.  I can use the Aromabright, but just really prefer the Dentarome Plus.  So I know that I am not getting that extra whitening power.  Whenever I feel like my teeth need a little pick me up in the brightening/whitening area, I simply add a drop of orange or lemon oil to my toothpaste or add those fantastic citrus oils to my oil pulling routine (we’ll talk about oil pulling another day)

KIDSCENTS SLIQUE TOOTHPASTE!!!

This is going to be the MOST mild toothpaste Young Living has for those tiny, more sensitive mouths, mouths that ALREADY give you a hard time about brushing their teeth.

KidScents has the totally awesome Slique Essence essential oil blend in it along with the Thieves essential oil blend.  You could just sit and eat it.

It also contains Xylitol, which I have not talked about yet.

Xylitol

~balances PH levels in the mouth

~bacteria in the mouth are unable to digest xylitol…no food source, no growth

~may rise the PH of the plaque

When PH is above 7 your body has an easier time moving the minerals in your saliva into softened enamel, ensuring that these spots do not get so soft they decay and need a filing.

Sugar & artificial sweeteners lower the PH of your mouth and body and FEED bad bacteria.   ALL the more reason to use Young Living’s toothpaste!!!!

One great thing I learned early on was to explain to the children in very simple terms what is going on in their mouth.  The mouth contains bad bacteria (germs), when you eat sugary foods it feeds these bacteria, which then poop on your teeth.  This poop is the plaque.  Brushing helps remove the bacteria poop.  :O  Explaining this always helps ensure my little ones are fervent about brushing their teeth.  The GREAT tasting toothpaste makes it an even easier task for us busy moms to get accomplished around the house!!

 

Above you can see a wonderful chart to help you decide which toothpaste is for you.  Remember everyone is different.  We all have different mouths, different spit, different PH levels in our mouths, different needs.  If my mouth were different I probably would gravitate to one of the other toothpastes.  You know your body and your mouth the best.  Give them a try and see which works best for you!!!

 

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The Best Berkey Hack on the Planet

January 22, 2015By Katie GuyAt Home, Family, Wellness No Comments
The Best Berkey Hack on the Planet

OK people, if you have a Berkey water filter you’ll know what I am talking about (if you don’t know about Berkey’s read my post All About Berkey Water Filters here) when I say it is such a drag when you go to get some water and it dribbles out.  You tilt it just to get that last bit out.

However, being out of water isn’t the biggest part of the drag.  It’s the fact that you NOW have to REFILL the Berkey!!!

UGH!!!!!

Cut to an image of me or one of the kids walking back and forth from the sink to the Berkey with a pitcher full of water.  If you have the Big Berkey or Travel Berkey this isn’t such a daunting task, but think about that Crown Berkey.

A whopping SIX GALLONS!!!  Who even has a pitcher that is a gallon.  Most are maybe 64 ounces. So we are talking about going back and forth 12 times with that pitcher.  And who is agile enough to carry a 64 ounce pitcher all the way full without spilling it?  NOT ME!!  Nor my kids.  🙂  So we do it an extra time for all the water we spilled and couldn’t fill to the top.

Then there is the clean up.  Yep, mopping up all of that spilled water, which we use precious towels to do.  Towels that are then needed to dry hands or dishes on later.

“Mom there are no more towels in the drawer.”  Then we are off to do another load of laundry.  All because of this Berkey.

It does make DELICIOUS water though!!!  This is why we go through all of this….for the delicious water and the knowledge that we are not putting toxic chemicals and pathogens in ours and our children’s bodies.

So after owning a Berkey for many years now and trying out several hacks:

•the dreaded pitcher

•the dreaded larger pitcher

•filling when emptey

•trying to remember to fill a few pitchers throughout the day

•running a hose from the  hose faucet in the garage to the Berkey (without a sprayer handle) making sure someone was near by to turn it off before it overflowed or trying to kink the hose so no water would come out as you run back to the faucet to turn it off

•the hose thing with a sprayer, said sprayer that always leaked and sprayed all over the breakfast nook.

•making sure you kept a tall chair near by so children could do any of the above

•moving to new house with no hose hook up near by and back to the pitcher thing!!

I decided to get creative.

Basically I ran an ice maker hose from a nearby water heater that already had a T valve on it.  Then I hacked my way through some faucets with shut off valves.  After many trips to Lowe’s then finally Home Depot, as the plumbing department at Lowe’s is subpar, I finally got all the required parts (of which I made up as I went along).  I probably couldn’t tell you what all they are, so hopefully you can just see them in the video if you want to try to do this yourself.   If you get really stuck and need more details comment below and I will try to figure out what they all are!!

This is yet another example of Swell Living!!!

All About Berkey Water Filters

June 24, 2014By Katie GuyAt Home, Wellness 1 Comment
All About Berkey Water Filters

We love our Berkey Water Filter.  I firmly believe that we need to be drinking pure water whenever possible.  See this for why.  I don’t sell Berkey’s, but I want to get the information out about them.  I’m constantly getting questions about them, especially “How do I know when to change my filterers?”

How Berkey® Natural Water Purifiers Operate

To use, water is poured into the upper chamber. Gravity draws this water through the exclusive purification elements where contaminates are captured on and within theses micro-porous elements and are separated from the water. The purified water then collects in the lower chamber where it can be drawn through the spigot. What’s more, Berkey® elements are cleanable and can be used over and over again.
When I clean my filters, I make a point of cleaning out the inside with Thieves Household Cleaner.  I don’t rinse it out all the way.  I spray it in, scrub, rinse, then spray again and wipe with a dry paper towel.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

Healthy

Berkey® systems are far superior to other filtration systems because they remove viruses, harmful pathogenic bacteria, cysts and parasites as well as unhealthy chemical contaminates and impurities while leaving in the essential minerals your body needs.  Berkey® systems produce virtually the most healthful, clean and delicious water available.

Convenient

Berkey® systems assemble in minutes without tools, electricity, water pressure, or plumbing.  What’s more, they are simple to operate and maintain.

Economical

Berkey® systems are easily the most economical water purification system you can own.  Their unique design allows you to easily remove and clean the purification elements over and over again.

Powerful

Berkey® systems can easily purify ordinary tap water, yet are so powerful, they efficiently purify raw, untreated water from such sources as remote lakes and streams.  What’s more, Berkey® systems are the ideal water purification systems to have on hand in the event of natural disasters such as blackouts, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes as well as local or national emergencies when treated tap water may not be available.

Flexible

Berkey® systems are so convenient and easy to use, you can take them anywhere: on vacations, hunting and camping trips, college dorms and they are ideal systems for RVs and pleasure craft.

Elegant

The elegant high-grade polished 304 stainless steel design makes Berkey® systems an attractive addition to any kitchen or home yet each system is both rugged and durable.

Proven History

The same high quality and effectiveness of the gravity filtration process, that is utilized in Berkey® systems, has stood the test of time. Gravity filtration has been used by relief organizations such as UNICEF, the Peace Corps, Red Cross Societies Internationally, missionaries and relief workers in over 140 countries throughout the world.

How often do the Black Berkey® purification elements need to be replaced?

Each element has an expected life of 3,000 gallons or 6,000 gallons for a set of two.

I have been using my system for about six months and the flow rate has slowed down considerably.  Do I need to replace the elements?

No, unlike other filtration elements Black Berkey® purification elements are re-cleanable. What typically causes the filters to drip slowly is turbidity and sediment clogging the micro-pores of the purification elements. Simply remove the elements from your system, scrub the exterior of each element with preferably a white ScotchBrite pad or stiff toothbrush. Simply scrub a section of the filter until you see a bit of black on the white pad then move to the next section.  It’s simple to do and takes less than a minute. Then re-prime each element and reinstall them. Your problem should now be fixed.

How do I know when it is time to replace the elements in my system?

The best way to gauge when to replace the filters is to do the following:

  1. Multiply the number of filters in your system by 3,000 gallons to get Total Gallons For All Filters within the system.
  2. Next keep a track of how many times you need to refill the upper chamber in one week.
  3. Then multiply that figure times the capacity in gallons of your particular system (for example the Berkey Light™ system is 2.75 gallons) to determine Total Gallons Used Per Week.
  4. Finally divide the Total Gallons Used Per Week into the Total Gallons For All Filters and that will tell you how many weeks before the filters should be replaced.

Next calculate the future date for replacement (52 weeks per year) and write that date on a sticker and attach it to the bottom of your system for future reference. By the way, if you have been using your system for some time now, you can still use the above formula to determine when to replace the elements. Just count forward from the date you purchased your system.

 

Pressure Cooking Bone Broth

September 6, 2013By Katie GuyAt Home 1 Comment
Pressure Cooking Bone Broth

The other day I decided to try making my bone broth in my pressure cooker for the first time. I had been on the fence about this method for some time. I had too much on my plate to research it, so I kept on using my crock pot. Then the crock croaked!!! I was forced to do my research. I read and read and found several trusted sources say that you could, in fact, get the same healthy bone broth benefits from 30 minutes in a pressure cooker as you do in 24-48 hours in a crock pot. They also claimed it was better because it would consistently jell.

I was a skeptic still and didn’t have the money to buy a new crock pot AND a pressure cooker. Then I found the Instant Pot. It is a pressure cooker, crock pot, rice cooker, and many more all in one!! I’ve had it now for several months and still had the skepticism. Being a creature of habit I have been using the Instant Pots crock pot feature to make broth. Lack of planning and time led me to try pressure cooking my broth for the first time.

I used the same recipe from Nourishing Traditions.

 

  • 1 whole pastured chicken or 2-3 pounds chicken bones with or without bits of meat, including feet if you have them
  • 4 quarts cold water (I could only fit 2)
  • 2 T apple cider vinegar
  • 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
  • 2 carrots coarsely chopped
  • 3 celery sticks, coarsely chopped

 

My chicken carcass came straight out of the freezer. (We throw these plus any left over bones from our plates in a big ziplock bag every time I make a chicken.)

I stuck it all in the pot, put the lid on and set it to 40 minutes of pressure cooking. Thirty or so minutes is the recommend time. I bumped it up to 40 since my bones were frozen and I was still skeptical.

Those 40 minutes were over before I knew it. I let it cool down naturally instead of releasing the pressure, mainly because I was busy. When I opened it I was still skeptical. It was a lot lighter than my broth normally is. I thought “this must be a dud, but we’ll eat it anyway”.

 

I strained it, put it in a bowl with a lid and stuck it in the fridge. A few days later I reluctantly pulled it out, thinking we would be consuming an inferior broth than normal. Then I pulled the lid off and too my surprise I saw what looked like a bowl of jello!!

 

Since I am feeding my baby bone broth I needed to separate this into several jars for storing. I literally had to spoon it into each jar.  Six jars in all, twelve cups worth of broth.  Not bad for 10 minutes of prep and 40 minutes of cooking!!

 

It has actually been easier to feed him. I take one of the mason jars out of the fridge 30 minutes or so before he eats, put his portion in a little bowl and feed it to him around room temperature. It’s still jelled so it stays on the spoon and he loves it!! It all ends up in his mouth instead of half on his bib and clothes.

 

Another bonus to pressure cooking instead of the crock pot is that you don’t need to do the last step of parsley to pullthe minerals out of the bones. I notoriously forget to buy parsley anyways and the one in my garden doesn’t produce enough for this.

So I highly recommend the pressure cooker for bone broth. My husband appreciates that our house doesn’t smell for days on end. I don’t mind the smell but we have all commented that you have some weird food dreams when bone broth is simmering over night.

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Baby’s First Food…Bone Broth

August 9, 2013By Katie GuyFamily, Wellness 1 Comment
Baby’s First Food…Bone Broth

Our little number six, Owen is six and a half months old now and I finally found some time to make him a batch of fresh bone broth. I have been making my own wonderfully, healthily delicious bone broth for several years now. In my research, I found out that cultures that still consume an indigenous diet often feed bone broth to their babies as their first food. This broth helps to seal the gut! It’s amazing that our ancient ancestors just seemed to know these things by instinct. God is so wonderful and faithful that he infused this knowledge into our ancestors to help sustain generations of people. Modern society thinks it is so smart and advanced, but really I have found that the industrialization of a culture tends to bring it further and further away from this infused knowledge. Industrialized nations spend generations trying to advance, then they spend generations trying to relearn all that was lost.

 

Anyhow, once I learned about bone broth as a first food, I just knew I HAD to do this if God blessed us with another little one. You see, my last two babies before Owen had allergies. I had hoped this baby would be different, but that has not been the case, I am currently gluten, dairy and peanut free, along with several other weird things for this adorable baby.

 

This is why starting him out on solids properly is so important. This could be the difference between lifelong allergies and outgrowing them before pre-school. How do I know he is ready for food? You may be asking yourself. Well, first of all he has started to grab at my cup and food when I am eating, he has seven teeth, he is huge, we made it past the six month mark and he has started to seem less satisfied with just breast milk. He seems to be hungry more frequently, wanting to nurse very often especially in the middle of the night, yaaaaaawn!!

 

Did I mention he is huge and has seven teeth? So we started bone broth a few weeks ago. The bone broth was going so well we started farm fresh egg yolk, you see above, about a week ago.  I think the most fun is watching all of the funny faces the baby makes when experiencing new tastes. We’ll see what’s next. I’m really liking the idea of baby led feeding. You can read about that over here.

Branded at Birth

February 15, 2013By Katie GuyFamily No Comments
Branded at Birth

I have to say I was quite shocked to have a package of my Seventh Generation diapersopened up and one handed to me the day my son was born.  Here I was ready to put clothes on this new blessing, this brand new baby that had never had clothes on before and the first thing I have to put on him has advertising on it!!!  COME ON!!!

Talk about ruining a moment.  My new little darling is a billboard!  Seriously?  It was quite shocked.  Seeing as I have not opened a package of diapers in probably 4 years this was not something I had seen before.  Maybe it’s been going on for a few years.  Who knows?  I instantly voiced my shock over this and one of my midwives put it like this…

Yeah, I know!  I love how you pay for their product and then you advertise for them.

Actually, it’s not even for them it’s for their third party company that has paid to be on the diapers.

Years ago I read about where cities were allowing advertising to be sold on their school busses.  I thought this was bad.  Now they are branding our babies!!!  I love good design, but there has to be a limit.  I remember the days when you could goto the store and the generic store brand was always a white box with black writing on it.  I bet it was even in Helvetica.

 

Well, this was the only picture I could find and it doesn’t look like helvetica, but, oh well, you get the point.  Simple, clean design.  Less is more.  Our lives are so over inundated with visual stimulation.  It would be a breath of fresh air to see a company go this route.  Hey, they could even name their company “Generic”.  OK so if you see this product pop up I thought of it first!

Don’t get me wrong, I thought the Lorax was a cute movie and I get that they are saying Seventh Generation diapers are Lorax approved/green/good for the earth and baby, but couldn’t they just put it on the package and not every single diaper.  By the way it was not even on the package ANYWHERE, only the diapers.  We got rid of television mainly because of commercials, we don’t buy the paper or magazines, but they’ve found a way to advertise to us haven’t they.  Good thing we EC (if you don’t know what this is I’ll be writing about this coming up soon), so diapers won’t be around our house very long!!!  Also, it is kind of funny if you think about what my child is doing right on their advertisement every day!!

What’s next ads on our toilet paper??

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Caffeine is a Drug

November 10, 2012By Katie GuyWellness No Comments
Caffeine is a Drug

A friend recently posted an article A Visual View of Caffeine from the Healthy Home Economist. The picture above is from her post. It is an actual picture of caffeine crystals. I had never heard of this blog before, but after perusing her site, she has lots of great information. I have to tell you caffeine is one of those subjects, right up there with sugar, that gets people very defensive. I find it very mind boggling that most people don’t truly realize that caffeine is a drug, a very powerful drug, a very addictive drug.

She states in her article, of which I highly recommend reading in its entirety, that:

Even folks who are seriously health conscious seem to have trouble shaking the caffeine habit which never ceases to surprise me. Those who eat low carb seem to be particularly devoted to caffeine perhaps because caffeine stimulates the liver to release sugar into the bloodstream – in essence, a way to get carbs without actually eating them.

I don’t drink caffeine and have not since I became pregnant with my first child 18 years ago. At the time I got pregnant I just knew that I needed to quit all drugs, including caffeine. I tried to go back to caffeine after he was born, but thankfully it made me sick. Perhaps since I had indulged in heavier drugs as a teenager along with a steady diet of Dr. Pepper my entire childhood, at least since I moved to Texas at 8, my body went into major repair mode once I quit everything. Then once I tried to drink caffeine again it severely rejected it. I will say that I have experienced this several times in my health journey. It happened again with high fructose corn syrup, MSG, and now even sugar. Having said all of that I can totally relate to the quote above. I do still indulge in chocolate and up until I gave up sugar for Lent this year, it was an almost daily consumption. I would get so tired around the middle of the day and craved chocolate. As soon as I ate it I would feel much better. SURPRISE!! Right? I knew exactly what it was doing to my body. I have been studying this stuff for years and yet I indulged regularly anyway.

Here is another interesting point from the Healthy Home Economists article:

If your diet is making you so tired that you need caffeine to indirectly boost your blood sugar and artificially stimulate your adrenals, you’ve got a problem and the diet you’re following is clearly not optimal for you…Frequent stimulation of the adrenal glands from caffeine eventually leads to adrenal exhaustion whether this be at age 20 or age 60. If you’ve been drinking coffee for years and think you are “just fine thank you”, think again.

With the several years of stress from my daughters condition, my adrenals were shot. Practiacally non functioning. I actually craved the chocolate because my body was so out of whack I needed something artificial to keep functioning. With the help of a wonderful naturopath and the motivation to get off of sugar for Lent, I was able to do several things to help my body heal and get my adrenals functioning again.

If you consume caffeine on a regular basis, the first step is to realize that you are probably an addict. Yes, that’s right, a drug addict. The next step is to realize that this drug is harming your God given body. This body that is supposed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Next, start cutting back your consumption. You’ll need to do this slowly as caffeine withdrawal symptoms can be debilitating!! Mental preparation is extremely important also. You need to mentally prepare yourself for the day when you will no longer look forward to that cup of morning joe. I had conditioned myself to expect something chocolately right after lunch, mostly because this is when I would be crashing, but it also became an emotional attachment. Sometimes I still find myself thinking about how nice it would be to eat a big piece of chocolate after lunch, even though I don’t physically “need” it anymore. As an interim you can switch to tea, as the caffeine in tea is not nearly as harmful as the caffeine in coffee. Chocolate is actually pretty healthy for you and has lots of antioxidants in its raw, organic form…not the yummy kind that’s been processed with lots of sugar added to it.

There are several essential oil products that can help support you in this process. Ocotea is a wonderful oil discovered for the general public by Young Living from their research with the indigenous people of Ecuador. If you already have some on hand at home, Thieves vitality essential oil blend is great to take a few drops of internally during the day.  A great tea to switch to to get off of coffee is Slique Tea, formulated by Gary Young of Young Living. Young Living is the only company to be blessed with being able to purchase this rare oolong tea, usually sold to tea connoisseurs in Thailand only. It has the highest antioxidant levels.

I know some of you may be feeling quite angry at my assertion that you could be a drug addict.  Take a few deep breaths and try to let go of those emotions.  Remember the first emotional stage of addiction is denial, followed by anger.  You can read more about that here.  Having grown up in a drug culture around many people addicted to illegal drugs, I guess it was just a complete shock to me to see all of these straight laced people completely addicted to a drug, coffee.  The most bizarre thing to see is that they somehow have fooled themselves into thinking they are not consuming a drug and their daily dependance on it is nothing more than normal.  In reality, I see the exact same behavior exhibited in these very sophisticated, productive, sometimes elderly members of society that I saw in my illegal drug addict friends growing up.  Granted coffee isn’t as rapid of a demise as illegal drug addiction, but lets just be honest with ourselves.  If you drink coffee every day and can’t just stop without being sick, you are a drug addict.  I’m not telling you that you have to stop, even though your body will thank you, I’m simply asking that people stop lying to themselves about the reality of what they are doing.

(11/09/18 UPDATE: Shortly after I wrote this we had our 6th child, who was planned and we can’t imagine life without, but he was a terrible sleeper, I became severely sleep deprived and my adrenals tanked again.  I have yet to recover, with many other life issues and still consume sugar pretty regularly with occasional fasts.  I have even started to consume a bit of caffeine in Ning Nitro and NingXia Zyng, both of which are very mild levels of caffeine and naturally occurring from green & white tea.  They also both contain fantastic essential oils that help support the body…two other products that could be great to switch to if you are trying to wean off of coffee.  I on the other hand, do not consume coffee and have been slowly cutting back on my consumption of both of these!

My husband is a coffee drinker and two things he has found to help curb his coffee habit is drinking our homemade bone broth first thing in the morning and drinking bullet proof coffee.)  

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