Category Archives: nutrition

Chickenpox!

health, home remedies, nutrition

On the first day of Rosh Hashana began, ds5 showed me a blister on his neck that was bothering him. He couldn’t see it, but felt it, and told me he had a wart there. Since recently I’ve been noticing unusual bug bites on ds4 that I don’t know the source of, I chalked this up to another kind of insect bite. I asked if it was itchy, but he said no.

The next morning ds5 told me the ‘wart’ was hurting him. Thinking it must be a bug bite, I asked him again if it was itchy, and he said no. When I was dressing him that evening, I was concerned to see a number of red bumps all over his back. He’s had a heat rash in that area recently, but this was looking like a bit more than heat rash. We wondered if it might be chicken pox, but it’s been fifteen years since I’ve seen it so I didn’t have a recent memory to draw on, and ds wasn’t itching.

Dh went across the street to a retired nurse to ask her opinion, but she wasn’t home. On his way back into the building, he bumped into a neighbor who has three grown children, and asked her opinion. ‘Chicken pox’, she proclaimed. Dh came upstairs and shared the good news with me. 🙂

My oldest three kids had chicken pox, though the third was only a few months old, and though she had a pretty bad case, I don’t know if she has immunity. The next six kids haven’t had it, though I’ve been hoping for years they would catch it. I explained to ds5 that he had chicken pox, which was awesome and amazing, so much so that some people make chicken pox parties to share the germs with children of parents who want their kids to aquire natural immunity.

That’s a problem with homeschooling – your kids stay too darned healthy without all the sick kids in their class to infect them constantly. After all these years of keeping my eyes and ears open for families with chicken pox, it took less than a month in school and no effort on my part for ds5 to catch chicken pox! Who knew how awesome school was and what I was missing all these years?

The worst part about this news was that it was on the second night of Rosh Hashana (Thurs.) when we realized what it was, and there was very little I could do to alleviate his discomfort for another two days. Fortunately, he didn’t really get itchy until Sunday, though by Friday morning I could almost see the spots breaking out on him as I watched him, they were appearing so fast. On Sunday I made him a bath with a blend of oats and herbs, and he spent most of the day in the tub; every time he’d come out, he’d cry that he was itchy, then jump back in the tub and I’d add more hot water. He looked like a prune by the end of the day, but he was a relatively happy prune. 😛 The next day I gave him different shaped containers, cups, and silverware for his bath, and he had a great time. Ds4 kept requesting to join ds5in his bath, but I told him he had to wait until he gets chickenpox.:)

Shown for educational purposes and not to gross you out - full breakout stage

When the chickenpox vaccine came out in 1995, it was well-known that it was developed as a convenience to working parents. Chickenpox basically consists of an itchy rash, mild fever, and general fretfulness, and necessitates keeping your child home from school for about a week. And a week is a long time for parents to stay home from work. So most people thought it was ridiculous and superfluous.

Fast forward about fifteen years, and it’s frightening to me how many people think that chickenpox is something life-threatening. A lot of effort was put into PR to make so many parents who grew up with chickenpox as a normal passage of childhood to believe this. This is a pattern with disease education; when there’s no disease, you’ll read how relatively infrequent it is and how minimal the chances of complications are. Enter a new vaccine, and the slant totally shifts to convincing people they run the risk of severe injury or death if they don’t give their child (or self, when appropriate) the particular vaccine. Well, there’s lot of money to be made if you can convince parents that they need your product, so who can blame the producers for finding an effective way to line their pockets? Fortunately, the mothers I’ve so far spoken to here all expressed the unanimous sentiment that it’s a good thing for a child to get chickenpox at a young age.

Anyway, I really didn’t want my kids to reach adulthood and not have chickenpox, because it’s when people get chickenpox as adults that there’s a problem (when it manifests as shingles). There are exceptions, but for the most part getting chickenpox once offers lifelong immunity. Unfortunately, as chickenpox has become less common during childhood, the incidence of shingles has become correspondingly higher.

So far no one else in the family has shown any signs of pox, but the incubation period averages about two weeks, and it’s during this period when a person is most contagious. When my oldest three had chicken pox, it took six weeks until it passed through all of them.

So I’m hopeful that this will pass around and all the kids will get it.

Avivah

High quality and inexpensive probiotics

frugal strategies, health, nutrition

Dh has been on the GAPS diet since a year and a half ago, yet after the first month, he didn’t use the recommended probiotic supplements since they were so pricey.  We figured we’d do probiotics the frugal way – with cultured foods like kefir and fermented vegetables. But even though he’s found his digestive health improved, it hasn’t been to the degree we would have hoped and expected.

Back in January, I started researching probiotics in order to find an affordable option that would allow us to buy the full amount to give dd16, to see if this would help resolve the stomach pains she’d been having – but high quality and affordability don’t seem to go together when it comes to probiotics.  Until I found Custom Probiotics, a company that sells  customized probiotic blends. 

I called to order an eleven strain oxylate blend that isn’t offered on the website,  and the person who answered the phone (Harry – turned out he was the owner of the business), asked why I wanted this particular blend.  I told him it for dd.  He asked about her stomach pains, when it started, and some other specific questions, and then told me it sounded very much like something he had experienced. Actually, it was what led him to starting this business ten years ago, after healing himself naturally by using probiotics.

I had never heard of the term he used -H pylori – so I asked him twice to repeat himself and the third time just asked him to spell it for me.  When he asked me if her stomach pain felt like someone stabbed her in the stomach with a knife, I told him I know it’s pretty bad because she doesn’t complain much so if she says her stomach hurts, she would only say something if it really hurt, but I wasn’t sure if that was how it felt (I was hoping it wasn’t, because it sounded so excrutiating). H pylori is a bacteria that about 50% of people in the world have, but that causes infections in a only some of those people.

A little later in the day I spoke to her and asked if this was an accurate description, and she said that’s exactly how she feels.  I told her all about what he had shared with me, and then while I went off to do some shopping for her, she went on to do some research about it.   When I got back, an email was in my inbox from her, saying she looked at the detailed symptoms and she thinks it looks like a good match for her.

Since then, we’ve done lots more testing and eliminated the possibility of H pylori, and since she had taken massive amounts of this probiotic without change, I was pretty sure even prior to the testing that it wasn’t H pylori.   Before this testing, a naturopath and osteopath both also were strongly inclined to think it was H pylori as well based on her symptoms, so it was a very good guess.  Though it wasn’t what dd16 needed to remedy her stomach issue (and I unfortunately still don’t know what to do to help her – nothing we’ve tried has helped), I strongly believe probiotics are very valuable for the digestive system. 

And back to dh – he and I both feel it would be helpful for him to really get the full benefits of gut healing that are supposed to result from the GAPS diet.  But even inexpensive probiotics aren’t cheap, and so we pushed off purchasing any for dh.  That is, until today, when in preparation for our move to Israel in two weeks, I ordered 200 grams for dh of the customized GAPS blend so he’d have enough to last a good while. 

By the way, I’m very impressed with the owner of Custom Probiotics.  Back in January, in addition to spending 20 minutes talking to me and sharing some ideas about treating H pylori that he’d have no benefit from me buying since he doesn’t sell them, he insisted on sending me the probiotics Fedex at his expense – I told him I’d rather the cheaper shipping option, but he said he wanted to be absolutely sure it arrived to me before I left to visit dd, and he’d cover the difference in shipping.  Today, I asked if there was a larger container available than 100 grams (you know how I buy everything in bulk!), and he said there isn’t but is doing me a favor and filling the bottle fuller (beyond the weight I’m paying for), and charging me the same amount. 

In case you’re wondering about the cost of this particular blend, it’s $175 for 100 grams.  (There are a number of different probiotics blends available and most of them are less expensive than this one.)  I know it sounds insanely expensive to pay that much for a little bottle, but when it comes to probiotics, you have to see how many billion cfus there are in a given serving, then compare that.  Once I did that, I realized that this probiotic was much more powerful than others I looked at, and as a result, a smaller amount was necessary.  We originally bought the BioKult probiotics that are recommended in the GAPS program, and using it was shortlived since we couldn’t keep up with the expense – this is comparable quality and lots more affordable. 

I really appreciate dealing with people who care about what they do, and offer great service in addition to great products!

(This post is linked to Real Food Wednesdays and Pennywise Platter Thursdays.) 

Avivah

Dental woes

dental health

Last night I received an email, and this was part of the message:

>>I read one of the articles on your blog about teeth brushing, or lack thereof of doing it frequently.  I was very thrilled by this, as I am so bad at getting them to brush.<<

I don’t want people to think that not brushing kids teeth is recommended, and in the absence of an exellent diet and regular check-ups, issues are likely to crop up.  Let me update you on my own very recent experience.

For the last three weeks, I’ve been taking different kids to the dentist to get everyone checked before we go to Israel.  I figured that there would be more than enough things to do close to our moving date this summer, so I’m trying to do as much as I can in advance.  I am SO glad that I did this. Because our dental situation is a disaster and it would have been impossible to fit in all the appointments in the last few weeks. 

First I took ds12, who broke a front tooth when playing last year.  We had it repaired, and when playing (with the same friend) several months ago, he broke it again.  We got it taken care of again, but were told that the root had been badly damaged.  So I started off this recent round of dental visits with dd12 getting a root canal.  And he has three cavities.  Since our kids have hardly ever had cavities, this shocked me.  We’ve gotten the cavities on one side of his mouth taken care of, so I have just one more appointment for him until he’s finished (4 appointments total).  

Then I took ds8.  Nine cavities.  No, that’s not a typo.  Two appointments left for him.  Oh, and he needs palette expansion (which wasn’t a surprise), but after a trip to the orthodontist, I was told I should wait until moving to Israel to begin that.   Then dd16 (who brushes and flosses regularly) – 3 cavities and a broken tooth.  Oh, and she needs to have her wisdom teeth removed.  I juggled around the appointments I had already scheduled for the younger kids to fit her in before she leaves, since there were no open slots before her departure date.  So she had two visits her first day home (fun, fun!), and one more this week.  Then ds5 – thank G-d, two teeny tiny dark spots that I’d usually just keep an eye on and wait for them to fall out, but because of the upcoming move I want to get them taken care of.  Ds17 – can’t remember the details, but I do know that I scheduled one follow-up for him. 

And lastly (not all the kids had appointments yet) is ds3.  I could see there was some decay between his two front teeth. His teeth are very closely spaced and food gets stuck there. But I really didn’t expect anything more.  Oh boy. The dentist took a look in his mouth, then looked at me and said, “He’s got a lot going on in there for such a young child. At least four cavities.”  He recommended taking him to a pediatric dentist where they practice sedation dentistry.  So I took him to a pediatric dentist.  (Did I mention that all of these appointments were taking place in the two weeks immediately prior to Pesach?)

The pediatric dentist took xrays and before telling me the results, asked me a series of questions like these:  Does he drink juice?  No, only water.  Does he drink milk before bed?  No, only for breakfast.  Did he ever use a bottle at night?  No, he never had a bottle at all.  Does he eat a lot of sugary foods?  Aside from some snacks (from older sibling), I don’t use sugar and minimize other sweeteners.  When she finished, she  told me that he has 15 cavities in his 20 teeth.  Since his eating and brushing habits are just like ds5, this was hard for me to understand.  She attributed it to his teeth being so close together – the cavities are almost all between his teeth, not on the surface, and even if I had been more regular about brushing, it wouldn’t have helped; flossing would have made the difference.  She also said some children have bacteria in their mouths that are different than other children, and this can be a big contributing factor as well.

She explained that it will take 6 visits to take care of this , and told me what was involved in sedation dentistry.  Basically that it doesn’t always take, sometimes it partially takes, and sometimes it fully takes – but there’s no way to know.  (It made me think of an epidural.)  And so she recommended that because of his age and the amount of work he needs done, the likelihood of trauma is high, so it might be better to have it taken care of under general anesthesia at the hospital.  After weighing the pros and cons, we decided to go with this suggestion.  I have an appointment scheduled for him in June, with a pre-op physical scheduled at his pediatrician a few weeks before that.   (Lately I have been on the phone a LOT making appointments!)  Update just a few hours after writing this: I just learned that our insurance company refused coverage for ds3’s dental work.  I can’t tell from the wording of the letter if they’re refusing the hospital part or something else, so now I need to do some more research and decide what the best options from this point on will be.  We might end up doing the sedation option after all.

Though I continually have felt grateful for our dental insurance that minimizes the cost in dollars of all of this to us, I was really struggling with feeling guilty. Guilty, irresponsible, inadequate -I felt embarrassed for my children to have cavities like this, and along with that was the guilt that I know so much about diet and how it relates to dental health, that I should have done all the things I know are important to do.  You know how a mother’s brain has a hard time shutting off once the guilt button gets pushed?  That was me.  My consolation was that our dentist sent us to the same pediatric dentist that he sends his children to.  😛  It reminded me that all parents do their best, and regardless of their knowledge or convictions, sometimes things fall through the cracks. 

Practically speaking, after so many kids and so many years of very few cavities, what do I attribute this big change to?  A few things.  1) This year I really haven’t been as on top of our diet as I usually am.  This wouldn’t matter as much (since our not so great diet is still pretty good) if not for one older child who regularly started bringing home snacks and treats to share with younger siblings.  As a result, snacking has become much less controlled and more frequent.  You can’t compensate for this with a decent diet alone.

2) This dentist is new to us, and because his approach is more aggressive than our past dentist, I suspect that he may define cavities more stringently than she did.  Whether that’s the case or not, there definitely are issues that we need to address, so I’m not complaining or pointing fingers.  Just saying that I wonder if we’d have been told there are as many as there are. 

3) A very big factor, I think, is that it’s been over 2 years since I took the kids to the dentist, since our beloved dentist stopped accepting our insurance, and I procrastinated about finding someone to replace her.  If we were doing our checkups every six months, we would have found signs of decay when it was beginning, and for most of the kids (not ds3), it wouldn’t have reached this point. 

4) Lastly, I think brushing your teeth is valuable even if you have a good diet, but definitely if you have a lousy or even so-so diet (taking into account the added snacks the kids were given, it would downgrade our diet to so-so).  I don’t think brushing will prevent cavities if you structurally weaken them with a lousy diet (dd16 attributes her cavities to the junk she was eating at the beginning of the year when she first was away), but I definitely think it’s a good thing to do.  So please don’t stop brushing your childrens’ teeth because of me!

Avivah

Birthday dinner for mom – grain free

nutrition

Today was my mother’s birthday, so we invited her over for a dinner in her honor!

She has recently started eating according to Eat To Live, a plan that about ten years ago I thought was healthy when I followed its tenets (right after the book came out), but now know is damaging to the body in the long run (though there are some very positive aspects to it).  Those concerns come as a result of lots of reading about physiology, combined with my own search for better health after years of low fat/vegetarian eating.  Little did I suspect when I thought I was eating in a way that I thought was incredibly healthy that I was damaging my metabolism and teaching my body to be incredibly thrifty with fat storage.  This means since having baby number eight 3.5 years ago, it’s been very difficult to lose excess weight despite eating moderate amounts of properly prepared unprocessed foods, even after eliminating flour and sugar from my diet. I’ve been so frustrated and stymied by this, and despite having read lots about physiology and fats, only now am I finally really understanding how someone who focused on healthy eating devel0ped the same metabolic issues found in chronic dieters eating tons of junk food interspersed with restrictive diets.  I’d like to share on the dangers of so-called healthy low-fat eating on the metabolism in a future post, but this post isn’t about that.  😛

The introductory stage of this plan my mom is on is heavily produce based (that’s one really good part), with a small amount of nuts, starchy vegetables, beans, and nuts allowed, no grains (also a good thing) but very little fat otherwise.  It was surprisingly easy to make a meal that would work for her as well as for our family; the main difference is in fats and animal proteins, and accordingly I planned for a vegetarian meal with the fats on the side.  So I didn’t saute the onions for the soup, served cheese sauce on the side rather than as topping, and didn’t dress the salad.  Very simple.

So here’s what I made:

– 16 bean soup with broccoli and onion

– steamed cabbage wedges with cheese sauce on the side (this was a grain-free recipe I made up on the spot, and it turned out great; will share recipe in a couple of days)

– sweet potato fries (made with coconut oil even though it’s not on her plan, but I didn’t want to use heat-unstable extra virgin olive oil).  (When mom mentioned eating coconut oil to her doctor (before she started this plan), the doctor responded with horror, “But that’s trans fat!”  No, it’s actually not trans fat, it’s saturated fat, and there’s a huge difference in how they are processed by the body. :roll:) 

– large fresh salad

– bowl of olives

– plate of red pepper strips

– tahini (sesame butter) dressing

– dessert – frozen blueberries

Some of my kids felt we should make her a birthday cake, but I don’t think it’s a kindness to put a stumbling block in front of someone even in the name of love.  Dd14 wanted to make her a birthday card with a picture of a cake on it, but ran out of time before she got here.  In the end, everyone was too full for the blueberries so I sent her home with a bag of them.  🙂

Avivah

High protein low carbohydrate snacks

menu plans, nutrition

Someone was recently asking me about what to do with her toddler who is constantly hungry.  After determining that it wasn’t coming from a place of boredom or seeking emotional connection, I suggested that some of his food choices be changed to foods that were more nutrient dense. 

Then today I shared my thoughts on insomnia with someone else whose child hardly sleeps; melatonin production is connected to serotonin production, which in turn is affected by diet.  What basic changes in diet need to be made to support serotonin production?  Adequate proteins and fat, which generally means removing some carbohydrates from the child’s diet (most kids have very high carbohydrate diets – lots of grains, flours, dairy, and fruits) – and even when some of these foods are seemingly nutritious, there has to be a suitable balance of quantities. 

I’ve also been asked to share ‘primal’ meals and snacks, so with all of these situations in mind, I’m sharing some suggestions! There are many more possibilities, so these are just to get you thinking in that direction.

Meals:

  • soups with protein and veg (eg. turkey, carrots, onion, celery)
  • omelets, fritatas, hard boiled eggs, scrambled, cooked with butter or coconut oil, and served with veggies
  •  sausages, hamburgers, salmon/tuna patties, steak, chicken, fish, meatloaf
  •  fries – carrot, squash, sweet potato
  •  salads with proteins and nuts, any combination
  •  steamed vegetables with butter, olive oil
  •  tacos/wraps with lettuce replacing flour tortilla
  •  egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad
  •  eggplant parmiagan, shepherd’s pie (can replace mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower)

 

Snacks:

  • sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, walnuts, mixture of nuts with some dried fruit
  •  celery with nut butters (almond, peanut, sunflower, cashew) or cream cheese, topped with raisins
  •  avocado chunks
  •  string cheese, diced cheese, diced meat
  •  hummus and vegetable sticks
  •  berries and cream
  •  devilled eggs
  •  cottage cheese and unsweetened applesauce

 Muffins, pizza crusts, breads can be made with nut/coconut flours – I’ve posted a pizza crust recipe made with nut flour and some other suitable recipes as well.  I think I posted one that was a veggie base – you can blend steamed veggies with eggs and bake it to create something that you can spread stuff on as you would with a sandwich.  (edited to add- sorry, I just checked and either I didn’t end up posting it or I can’t find it now.  Here’s something very similar to give you an idea of what I mean – you can use steamed and blended greens or broccoli instead of the cauliflower for other options.) 

And funnily enough, after I had written this post and was preparing to link to Real Food Wednesdays, I saw that the theme of the day there is Grain Free/Low Carb!  So be sure to check out the post there as well as the additional links for what I’m sure will be lots more fantastic ideas!

Avivah

Question about ADHD

nutrition, parenting

>>It has been discussed with us that our ds9 has symptoms of ADHD.  For example he’ll climb under his desk to listen to the teacher while peeking out of a hole or the like.. also obnoxious behavior to other children I.e. spitting or throwing things.  He does these things at home too, it’s hard for him to walk past a sibling w/o a bump or push of some kind to them.  He’s doing well academically but socially not so good.  My own mother told me that she suspected this in my son since he was much younger but I guess I didn’t want to consider it at that time.  What I’m trying to (ask) is what you would recommend for a child w/ ADHD.  I may have him assessed formally to get a diagnosis but I really do NOT want to medicate.  The school said they know of families who took the “natural” route to help children but it just took a lot more time.  Ritalin apparently gives the child more focus throughout the day.  Any advise you have would be so very appreciated.  I’m so sad for my son and hope we/he can get through this.  Thanks so much.<<

There are several aspects of ADHD to consider: nutrition, vaccination history, behavioral expectations, and parenting are those which to spring immediately to my mind.  This is a very emotional topic for many people, and I strongly suggest that parents do their own research.  I do not make recommendations one way or another beyond that!

I believe Ritalin is drastically over-prescribed, and what historically fell into the range of normal behavior on the very energetic side has now been labeled as dysfunctional.  We expect kids from a very young age to sit still for what is unreasonable for their ages and abilities.  Some kids can manage but young boys in particular have a very hard time with these expectations.  Not surprising that young boys are the most heavily medicated for ADHD!

One book that I would suggest parents interested in doing some research begin with is: ‘Healing the New Childhood Epidemics : autism, ADHD, asthma, and allergies : the groundbreaking program for the 4-A disorders’.   The doctor who wrote it discusses from his professional perspective the relevance of vaccine history and nutrition, which is interesting and relevant to everyone, but particularly to children who have attention deficit disorders.

The quality of food eaten and the effectiveness of the digestive system is tremendously important for ADHD kids.  Much has been written about this, and it goes way beyond not giving children sugar, chemical additives, or food coloring.  To get you started, here is a link to the first in a series of interviews with Donna Gates (Body Ecology Diet) and Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (Gut and Psychology Syndrome).  Though the title of the series is Autism Diet, the brain imbalance for autism and ADHD is very similar though it outwardly manifests differently, and healing the underlying problem is therefore addressed in the same way.  Both address issues that I think parents of the ADHD child will find of interest; it is a six part series and you can continue on your own to research if this aspect interests you.

Of course the way a parent deals with a child who is very high energy is also very important. Parents need to learn what reasonable expectations for their children are, and how to appropriately navigate challenging situations that arise.  I’ve written about this in various posts, but I strongly feel that someone in the above situation needs personal consultation with someone skilled in mentoring parents so they get the detailed help they need.  Reading suggestions that aren’t targeted to their specific concerns will be somewhat helpful but to really turn things around, you need to take clear and concrete action in the right direction, and be sure that you’re really headed in the right direction!  I have a very strong sense in this particular situation that this is a very critical factor.

The alternative approach does take longer, but time takes time – the natural process can’t be rushed; it proceeds at an organic pace.  If you do wish to avoid Ritalin, then you’ll need to be willing to experience the discomfort of not immediately being able to resolve the situation, though the commeasurate satisfaction will come from addressing the root issues at the core rather than eliminating the symptoms.

Good luck!

Avivah

Organics – is that really what’s most important?

nutrition

Yesterday I spoke for a very short time with a local reporter about organics and local food who connected with me at the recommendation of a blog reader.  However, I don’t eat exclusively organic and don’t claim to feel any passion about the topic of organics, so I was probably the wrong person for her to speak to. The things I felt were most important didn’t seem to be of much interest to her.

What kind of things?  Like the affordability of eating a high quality diet – her presumption was that it was expensive and when I said my experience was that good nutrition wasn’t precluded by a modest income, there wasn’t any question about how to accomplish that.  It would have been better, I sensed, if I emphatically agreed that it was outrageously expensive to eat well. But I don’t think it serves people well to believe that it’s unrealistic financially for the average person to eat nutritiously – most people will just give up and feel nothing they do will make a difference when told they have to spend money they don’t have.

Then when she asked what foods we ate organically, I told her that our raw milk from grass-fed cows and free range eggs aren’t legally able to be labeled organic, but are what well-known grass farmer Joel Salatin has called ‘beyond organic’.  But the only follow up to that was to ask if I buy organic milk from the store – no inquiry into what ‘beyond organic’ means, or what the benefits of eating animals raised in this way are, or to ask how to find local sources of free range eggs.

This is part of what is annoying about the organic focus – people ignore the quality of what they’re eating and assume it’s good for them because it’s organic.  Many, many organic foods are processed and raised in virtually the same way as non-organic, except that pesticides aren’t used (though apparently the letter of the law may allow for some pesticides, and organics grown overseas aren’t restricted by US laws).  Though I prefer to buy organic when it works for my budget, I’m simply not willing to pay significantly more for what doesn’t show me to be much more value.  Foods don’t automatically become good for you because it’s organic; foods that aren’t high quality to begin with are just less bad for you.

Even though I try to eat animal products from animals that are treated humanely, I don’t like when food is turned into a moral or religious issue, and never approach nutrition from that perspective.  I dislike when dogma becomes part of the discussion, though I obviously am aware of the broader societal applications of making certain food choices.   The ethical treatment of people is much more important to me than the ethical treatment of animals, and far too many people in the ‘ethical treatment of animal’ camp don’t seem to have much compassion for people.

An example is the story I remember hearing on the radio in Seattle of three masked men who beat someone over the head with a baseball bat until he was unconscious – because he worked in a laboratory where animals were used for testing.  I would bet the irony of their concern for animals leading to this horrific action isn’t lost on the average person.  More recently Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth, was pied in the face with a pie laced with cayenne pepper when she was giving a talk – ironically, she was talking about the evils of factory farming when she was attacked.  I therefore keep myself separate from that entire movement which has been coopted by radical elements that are frankly, seriously imbalanced.

So when asked if I felt it was especially important from a religious perspective to eat organic and local on Rosh Hashana more than any other time, I’m sure I gave the ‘wrong’ answer.  I responded that I don’t think it’s more important to care more about the quality of your food on the Jewish New Year than any other time, and that everyone should eat the best quality diet he is able to afford that fits with his needs.

Other than giving her details about locally sourced beef, I don’t think I was of much help to her.  So I won’t expect to see my name anytime soon in the paper on this topic!

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.)

Avivah

The advantages of xylitol

dental health, nutrition

I first heard about xylitol about three years ago when I was researching tooth health, but because it ends in ‘ol’, that indicated to me a chemically created processed sweetener and I had no interest in learning more at that point.

But now ds4 and ds3 (almost) have exactly the same problem that none of the older 6 kids had – they each have one top front tooth that is grayish.  Exactly the same tooth.  (Edited in Jan. 2011 to add – it turns out that this isn’t a result of decay, but because the tooth was injured by being hit during a fall – the dentist said it was very common in young children.  If a tooth is rotting, it will be brown, not gray.)  So clearly I need to do something more than what I’m doing, and in addition to beginning homeopathic cell salts for them (something else I learned about back then but didn’t do!), I decided it was time to do some more research into xylitol instead of responding with a mental knee jerk to the thought of something that didn’t seem very traditional.

So I started doing some reading and it was really, really interesting!  I was fascinated at how many benefits a sweetener could have. I learned a lot and since I don’t particularly enjoy writing reports on my blog with lots of technical details, I’ll just share with you what I find to be the most salient points.

First, what is it? Xylitol is a sweetener that was originally made from birch bark when discovered during World War II in Finland; it is actually a substance that is naturally occurring in the human body and in many fruits and vegetables.  Xylitol is a white crystalline substance that looks almost the same as white sugar, and can be effectively used to replace sugar in most foods in the same ratios (ie 1 cup for 1 cup), though I prefer to use a little less.

The biggest complaint that I read about was intestinal discomfort.  A person can take 15 -20 grams daily with no side effects. More than this acts like fiber and cleans your system out, which can cause intestinal discomfort until the body gets used to consuming these quantities.  As a person who is comfortable with the concept that good foods sometimes can lead to cleansing reactions, the possibility doesn’t really bother me.  But it seems like the easiest thing to do is just start with small amounts and avoid the problem altogether.

Because it is chemically a different structure than most sweeteners, it doesn’t lead to food cravings and doesn’t feed candida (and therefore can’t be used in baking yeast breads, because it won’t feed the yeast for it to rise).  To me those are two very incredible features, but additionally, it’s been found to be beneficial to your health in other ways.

It can prevent colds, ear infections, runny noses, and head colds in children.  It aids in stronger bones because it allows the calcium in your body to be absorbed better.  It metabolizes in the body without using insulin, which makes it a great option for diabetics. It doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar and actually helps reduce sugar and carbohydrate cravings.  It benefits your teeth by changing the acidity in your mouth, making your mouth less hospitable to the bacteria that cause decay – this is my main motivation in using it.

Does xylitol fit with a natural foods way of eating?  The answer is that I don’t know.  It seems the WAP foundation has come out against it, but just saying something is processed and wasn’t eaten by our ancestors isn’t in and of itself compelling enough for me to disregard all the positive benefits of using it.  I’ve been eating according to traditional foods guidelines for about five years, but learning all that I have in addition to doing some initial experimenting with xylitol has pushed it to the top of my list in terms of preferred sweeteners.  So call me a rebel, but I’m just not willing to be a purist about food for the sake of dogma.

My kids like the taste – they think it tastes like sweet snow – it has an almost minty feeling in the mouth that isn’t mint – it’s a refreshing feeling.  I plan to use it actively to combat tooth decay by giving the littles some after dinner, and ideally after every meal (1.5 teaspoons daily is the recommended amount for this purpose).  Some people use mints or gum that are xylitol based, and eventually I’d like to make my own ‘candies’ with xylitol to give the kids, but for now, I’m planning to give it either directly on the spoon or dissolved in water, in addition to using it directly to brush their teeth with.  It will take me some time to make it part of our regular daily routine, though.

Tonight after I gave ds3 his cell salts, which are lactose based, I gave him a spoon of xylitol to eat before bed so the lactose wasn’t the last thing in his mouth for the night.  It seems outrageous that a mother could do something like this and be responsible at the same time!  So easy!

In addition to the benefits I listed above, I like that it’s white – we’ve been using organic sucanat as our primary sweetener for baking, and dd15 (our primary baker) finds it frustrating that all cakes turn a brownish color as a result.   However, though she initially liked the idea of using xylitol, as well as the taste, so far two cakes that had cocoa in them flopped (her words, not mine), and  she believes xylitol doesn’t react well with cocoa and caused the problem.  I think we have to try it a few more times to see if that’s regularly the case or not.

Since I don’t eat anything with flour in it, I can’t say what the flopped cakes tasted like – the other kids liked it – but I can say that the few times I’ve had xylitol it’s been very tasty and whatever I made turned out well.  I used it just this morning with my chia seed/coconut milk drink, and have had it with nut butter dessert recipes and it was excellent.

My general approach is to minimize the use of sweeteners, and this continues to be my approach.  Too much of anything isn’t good for anyone, and I’m not about to start adding lots of sweetener to our diets, no matter what it is (the exception being the very small amount for the littles for their teeth).  Having said that…..

Good for the body, good for the teeth, fights infection, doesn’t cause cravings, low in carbs, tastes great, and substitutes well for sugar in most dishes – xylitol has a lot of advantages.  With my purchase in bulk of 55 lb (I bought Xylosweet), it made it affordable enough to be a full-fledged addition to my pantry.  Move over sucanat, here comes something better! :)))

(This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.)

Avivah

Handling social challenges related to eating styles

nutrition

>>From reading your blog it’s evident that you invest a great deal of time and energy into feeding your family in the most healthful way you know how.  I’m hoping you can help me naviagte a social situation to enable me to do the same.

I’m presently 8 1/2 months pregnant with our first child, and have been married about 16 months.  Eating organic is something I feel strongly about, and something my husband basically goes along with for me.  When hearing of our organic preference, a well-meaning friend excitedly reported that her family also eats organic.  After we accepted the invitation and the hostess did her cooking, she informed me that, actually, she used some mayonnaise that wasn’t organic because she didn’t want to make a special trip to Whole Foods, and the eggs in the (dish) weren’t organic because the organic ones have more blood spots, and then there was the non-organic mazta meal in the kugel, and the challot were from a bakery–not organic.  She reiterated that the chicken and vegetables were definitely organic.  I would have preferred not to have eaten there.

My husband is concerned that my dietary preferences will socially isolate us.  I’m hoping that once we live in that neighborhood and can reciprocate … by having people over, not eating by other people won’t be such a big deal.  There’s also the possibility that once in the neighborhood, I might find at least a couple families similarly committed to eating organic.

What do you think?  How do you handle Shabbat invitations from families that don’t sprout their grains, etc.?  How can we best manage Shabbat invitations that I’d rather not accept?<<

I can see how this is a challenging situation for you!

I have a few thoughts on this. The first issue is to determine how flexible you're willing to be for the sake of developing relationships.  There are things I prefer to do in my own home but don't impose on others – we'd never go anywhere if I did!  I don't have an absolutist attitude about food even in my own home – life is very full and busy and it takes more  time and energy than I have to insist on always having something a certain way.  That means I myself don't always sprout my grains, soak flour, or whatever else, so if I myself don't do it 100%, I certainly don't expect it of anyone else!

Practically speaking, because dh and I both have health protocols that we need to follow that don't allow for sugar or flour, that's where we draw the line when we go to someone else's home.  I basically stick to vegetables and simple proteins from whatever is served, and bring my own whole wheat matza.  The kids eat whatever is served, and I'm fine with that, even if it's all white flour and lots of sugar.  I prefer not to give them fluorescent popsicles and allow only a minimal amount of soda, though.

I'm comfortable with this approach because I don't think there's a big issue with periodically having non-nutritive/non-ideal food.  My thoughts are that a strong foundation is important for health, but if that framework is in place, there's room to wiggle a bit and allow for things that are less than ideal.  Even when my kids went to camp for a month, aside from giving them guidelines about how to make the best possible choices food-wise, I accepted that they would eat whatever was served.  (In fact they did choose to stay away from most white flour products and stick mostly with proteins and vegetables.)

Having said that, we all have to draw a line somewhere, and if you feel passionately that you don't want to eat anything non-organic, it leaves you three options:

1) Prepare food for yourself (not your husband) and take it with you when you're invited out.  I think this is the best option, and have done this at times in the past when I didn't want to inconvenience my host to prepare foods without sugar for me.  I recognized it was hard for someone used to cooking in a certain way to adapt for me.  My message was never: "I have to bring my own food because what you cook isn't good enough"; rather "I know my food limitations can be challenging for someone not used to it, so I'd like to save you the work and will bring my own."  The former approach would clearly rub a host the wrong way and leave them with a bad feeling, the latter doesn't.

The focus on being at someone's home isn't about the food, but the fellowship, and you can enjoy that whether you eat their food or your own.  I've had guests bring their own food and I'm glad they are honest and have a way to meet their needs while we are able to enjoy one another's company.

2) Have guests to your home – this is a great choice but realize that it starts to be challenging to only have people over and then refuse their reciprocal invitations.  It makes a relationship inequitable when one side is always in the position of giving and one of taking, and most people aren't comfortable with this long term.

3) Socially isolate yourself by not accepting invitations and not be in a position to invite others over.  Obviously this isn't a good option!

My main concerns based on what you wrote are: a) be careful that you aren't giving off vibes to people that you feel they are below you in some way because their food standards aren't up to your preferences; b) it seems your husband doesn't share the strength of your convictions, so you'll need to be careful not to polarize the situation or turn this into an issue that you argue over.

Avivah

Healthy feet – part 1

nutrition

Over a year ago, my dd15 (then 14) complained about foot and ankle pain.  Thinking she’s probably twisted it, I suggested waiting it out, since that’s usually what the doctor recommends, along with ice packs, rest, and elevation.  She didn’t complain much (she’s not a complainer at all), but three months later when she returned from her month at sleep away camp, she told me it was still hurting.

That obviously was way too long for a strain to still be a problem, so I took her to the pediatrician, who recommended rest, cold, and elevation. I told her we did all that and together we determined that a referral to a podiatrist would be in order.  I spent the next five months taking dd to the podiatrist.  He tried a number of things – taping her foot, wrapping her foot, uniboots – but nothing improved the pain.

At one point he said said the inflammation was the problem, so I did some research and prepared some herbal capsules dd was able to take to reduce that, rather than take steroids.  (I wrote about that here.)  Her foot stopped hurting but when we returned, the podiatrist said if we hadn’t reduced the inflammation with medicine he was familiar with, he couldn’t trust that the swelling was actually gone.  He said pain was the only indication that there was swelling, and just because the pain was gone it didn’t mean anything – maybe the herbs I gave her had an anti pain effect.  So she’d still need to take the anti-swelling medication he recommended before he could determine what else he could do to address the situation.

In short, dd decided she didn’t want to, and we never went back – after five months and a number of visits, we were no closer to figuring out the problem and I didn’t have confidence that it was going to be figured out.  I did take her to our chiropractor, who did an adjustment as well as energy work, which improved the situation. But the pain was off and on, and I felt there was something physiological that had to be dealt with.

Several months later, a fantastic orthopedist was recommended by a friend, and I was very impressed by him and grateful that we met someone so knowledgeable and competent.  In our first and only visit in the beginning of June, he determined that the pain was caused by slightly fallen arches – her walking pattern had changed to compensate for this, which was what was causing the pain.  And this could easily be taken care of – all she needed were orthodic inserts.

I met the orthodist there, made an appointment for the next day, and went to get dd fitted for orthodics.  The orthodics she needed were $500 for a pair, and my insurance company recently stopped paying for these.  (I found it ironic that they’d be willing to pay for visits to a podiatrist for months but not a one time outlay to alleviate the need for future visits.)

I asked her about options if we didn’t go with the orthodics, and she mentioned cork bottom shoes were good since they mold to the shape of the wearer’s foot.  The brand she particularly recommended was Teva, which are very pricey.  However, the factory is located in Israel and if you go there, you can buy them at half the price – and the factory is fairly close to where my daughter will be for the coming year. So I told dd we’d wait for her to go and she could treat herself to a few pairs when she got there.

But then at the end of the visit the orthodist said something that I wondered about – she said that for dd, the worst thing possible for her feet was to go barefoot.  This seemed counterintuitive to me, and got me thinking and then learning more…..

(Since this is getting so long, I’ll share the rest of my research in another post.)

Avivah