Lovely day...

Hello & Happy Day!

This is actually an experimental post. We have a new Picasa photo organizer on our computer and I want to see if I can actually add a photo to the blog this way. So hopefully when you receive this there will be a photo that was taken this summer. And if not, well - if at first you don't succeed, try, try again, right?

Dear friend Joni is here and we are doing "spa day". She is downstairs relaxing in our far-infrared sauna, and then I will do a reiki wellness session with her to complete her personal retreat. She also brought her Tarot cards and will do a reading for me. Aren't friends amazing? I wish abundance for all of us, not only monetarily, but in loving and being loved in return, blessed with a vast wealth of friends and family. And for those who don't have loving, supportive and nurturing relatives, remember that wonderful quote: Friends are the family we choose for ourselves!

Much love & many blessings,

Sukie

A meditation on pain ...

Greetings ~

Hooray, I am feeling pretty well again, thankfully! My body chemistry was a bit out of whack there for a few days, I could tell. Once I started ramping back up on the salt I started getting bladder infection symptoms. Since I had previously tested sensitive to cranberries (unsweetened cranberry juice being my preferred treatment for the bladder, historically), I purchased some Uva Ursi, and it dealt with the infection in a couple of days. A new, wonderful herb for the "medicine" chest!

One of my favorite books is Kahlil Gibran's, The Prophet. In re-visiting it recently I came across his passage on "pain", and reconnected with the profound and simple truth of this wisdom. This pretty well sums up how I feel about the pain that we experience in life, whether physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, or all of the above....

Perhaps this will speak to your soul, as well,

Sukie

On Pain
Kahlil Gibran

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.


Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,

And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.

Aho ~ and so it is! Many blessings to you...

Lyme life...

Greetings to all ~

We had a fabulous trip up to Whistler, BC - amazing scenery, gorgeous views from our condo, awesome waterfalls, rivers and lakes, peaceful canoeing, a visit to Olympic Park, a spa experience, zip-lining for Erick..... it was a wonderful week! My goal is to feel well enough to zip-line next time we go back up there!

Fortunately, we had a full kitchen and cooked almost all of our meals in the condo. We stopped at the co-op on the way up and picked up fresh, organic produce. I was still getting over hives (3 weeks of non-stop fun!), and so really had to watch my eating while up there. I also spent the week ramping back up on my Salt/C intake (back up to 8 grams of each, per day), and I experienced a few aches and pains, but nothing too serious.

Since I've been home, however, the lyme bacteria have been making their presence known, and I spent the last few days herxing harder than I have in quite some time. I had kind of forgotten how awful that felt, since I was in "coast" mode during July and August with my protocol, and was feeling remarkably healthy and pain-free.

So what does this mean? It means that even though I've come a long way with the protocol, to the point of being nearly pain-free when I'm not on high levels of Salt/C, the bacteria are still very present in my system, and when challenged with the higher levels of Salt/C, they are responding to that aggressively, and also with toxic die-off symptoms. It means I must really stay the course and continue to go the distance until I can remain pretty much symptom-free over time. I'm thinking at least another year of diligence with the protocol, and then I will taper off again and see how I feel.

I've been really tired.... it's been good to catch up on sleep and rest. As much as I would like to be working more hours and bringing in more income at this point, my body is clearly letting me know that we are still very much in healing mode. As they say, patience is a virtue..... and being patient has been one of my life's lessons. I tend to want things now.....

So that's the scoop for today. Envisioning bliss and radiance surrounding us all in all that we do.

Shanti,

Sukie

ps - I'm pasting in an article that came from Dr. Mercola today that I feel is important for us all to consider.....

DOES SUGAR FEED CANCER?
Are all sugars equal in terms of the health effects they produce?
Sooner or later, science will put this debate to rest once and for all. It's already been conclusively shown that fructose, most commonly consumed in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), is FAR more hazardous to your health than regular sugar, but the corn industry still vehemently denies such claims.
Through successful PR campaigns, industry has managed to pull the wool over your eyes for some time now, but eventually even they will have to surrender to the scientific evidence...
Until then, propaganda machines like the Corn Refiners Association's site, SweetSurprise.com, will continue telling you that "research confirms that high fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like table sugar and honey. All three sweeteners are nutritionally the same," and that "though the individual sugars are metabolized by different pathways, this is of little consequence since the body sees the same mix of sugars from caloric sweeteners, regardless of source."
But are these metabolic differences of little consequence?
Far from it!
Fructose Speeds Up Cancer Growth
Research just published in the journal Cancer Research shows that the way the different sugars are metabolized (using different metabolic pathways) is of MAJOR consequence when it comes to feeding cancer and making it proliferate.
According to the authors:
" Importantly, fructose and glucose metabolism are quite different... These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation."
In this case, the cancer cells used were pancreatic cancer, which is typically regarded as the most deadly and universally rapid-killing form of cancer.
The study confirms the old adage that sugar feeds cancer because they found that tumor cells do thrive on sugar (glucose). However, the cells used fructose for cell division, speeding up the growth and spread of the cancer.
If this difference isn't of major consequence, then I don't know what is.
Whether you're simply interested in preventing cancer, or have cancer and want to live longer, you ignore these facts and listen to industry propaganda at your own risk.
How Does Sugar Feed Cancer?
Controlling your blood-glucose and insulin levels through diet, exercise and emotional stress relief can be one of the most crucial components to a cancer recovery program. These factors are also crucial in order to prevent cancer in the first place.
It may surprise you, but the theory that sugar feeds cancer was born nearly 80 years ago. Even more shocking, most conventional cancer programs STILL do not adequately address diet and the need to avoid sugars.
In 1931 the Nobel Prize was awarded to German researcher Dr. Otto Warburg, who first discovered that cancer cells have a fundamentally different energy metabolism compared to healthy cells.
Malignant tumors tend to use a process where glucose is used as a fuel by the cancer cells, creating lactic acid as a byproduct.[i] The large amount of lactic acid produced by this fermentation of glucose from cancer cells is then transported to your liver. This conversion of glucose to lactic acid generates a lower, more acidic pH in cancerous tissues as well as overall physical fatigue from lactic acid buildup.[ii] [iii]
This is a very inefficient pathway for energy metabolism, which extracts only about 5 percent of the available energy in your food supply. In simplistic terms, the cancer is "wasting" energy, which leads you to become both tired and undernourished, and as the vicious cycle continues, will lead to the body wasting so many cancer patients experience.
Additionally, carbohydrates from glucose and sucrose significantly decreases the capacity of neutrophils to do their job. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that help cells to envelop and destroy invaders, such as cancer.
In a nutshell, ALL forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer, but in slightly different ways, and to a different extent. Fructose, however, clearly seems to be one of the overall most harmful.
Connecting the Dots: Fructose—Uric Acid—Cancer and Chronic Disease Risk
One particularly interesting tidbit I noticed in this latest study is the mention of how fructose metabolism leads to increased uric acid production along with cancer cell proliferation.
In my first interview with Dr. Johnson, he explained just how detrimental the impact of fructose is on your uric acid level. Interestingly, ONLY fructose, NOT glucose, drives up uric acid as part of its normal metabolic pathways
And, the connection between fructose, uric acid, hypertension, insulin resistance/diabetes and kidney disease is so clear that your uric acid level can actually be used as a marker for toxicity from fructose -- meaning that if your levels are high, you're at increased risk of all the health hazards associated with fructose consumption and you really need to reduce your fructose intake.
For more information about this topic, please see this link.
Dr. Richard Johnson has written one of the best books on the market on the health dangers of fructose, called The Sugar Fix, which explains how fructose causes high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and kidney disease. As I've mentioned previously, he does promote the use of artificial sweeteners in this book, which I cannot recommend. His research on fructose, however, is unsurpassed in my opinion.
Now it's safe to say that cancer, at least pancreatic cancer, is also definitely on the list of diseases that are directly linked to excessive fructose consumption.
So are Fruits Good or Bad for You?
This recommendation has created much controversy among many who regularly consume fruit and believe this recommendation does not apply to them.
Many who eat large amounts of fruit have no symptoms, just as those with high blood pressure may not have any symptoms. However lack of symptoms is no assurance you are not exposing yourself to some danger.
Please remember that over three-quarters of the population has insulin resistance.
How do you know if you have insulin resistance? If you have any of the following conditions it is a safe bet you have it:
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Overweight
High Cholesterol
Cancer
If you have insulin resistance it would be strongly recommended to limit your total grams of fructose from fruit to below 15 grams per day (see the table below). If you believe you are very healthy and are an exception to this recommendation, then you can easily confirm if this is true for you by measuring your uric acid level.
If your uric acid level is greater than 5.5 than you have a risk factor and should limit your fructose consumption. The higher over 5.5, the stronger the risk factor is.
Keep in mind that fruits also contain fructose, although an ameliorating factor is that whole fruits also contain vitamins and other antioxidants that reduce the hazardous effects of fructose.
Juices, on the other hand, are nearly as detrimental as soda, because a glass of juice is loaded with fructose, and a lot of the antioxidants are lost.
It is important to remember that fructose alone isn't evil as fruits are certainly beneficial. But when you consume high levels of fructose it will absolutely devastate your biochemistry and physiology. Remember the AVERAGE fructose dose is 70 grams per day which exceeds the recommend limit by 300 percent.
So please BE CAREFUL with your fruit consumption. You simply MUST understand that because HFCS is so darn cheap, it is added to virtually every processed food. So even if you consumed no soda or fruit, it is very easy to exceed 25 grams of hidden fructose in your diet if you are consuming anything processed.
If you are a raw food advocate, have a pristine diet, and exercise regularly, then you could be the exception that could exceed this limit and stay healthy. But in my experience that is certainly the exception and not the norm.
So please, carefully add up your fruits based on the table below to keep the total fructose from fruit below 15 grams per day.
Fruit Serving Size Grams of Fructose
Limes 1 medium 0
Lemons 1 medium 0.6
Cranberries 1 cup 0.7
Passion fruit 1 medium 0.9
Prune 1 medium 1.2
Apricot 1 medium 1.3
Guava 2 medium 2.2
Date (Deglet Noor style) 1 medium 2.6
Cantaloupe 1/8 of med. melon 2.8
Raspberries 1 cup 3.0
Clementine 1 medium 3.4
Kiwifruit 1 medium 3.4
Blackberries 1 cup 3.5
Star fruit 1 medium 3.6
Cherries, sweet 10 3.8
Strawberries 1 cup 3.8
Cherries, sour 1 cup 4.0
Pineapple 1 slice
(3.5" x .75") 4.0
Grapefruit, pink or red 1/2 medium 4.3


Restricting Fructose Consumption is Crucial Part of a Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Plan
Reducing (or preferably eliminating) fructose and other added sugars, as well as limiting grain carbohydrates from your diet, is usually a primary priority on my list of cancer reducing strategies, and for good reason.
This dietary strategy should also be part of your comprehensive cancer treatment plan.
By severely reducing your intake of fructose and carbs in your diet, you help stave off any potential cancer growth, and "starve" any tumors you currently have.
It also bolsters your overall immune function, because sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately.
Unfortunately, few cancer patients undergoing conventional cancer care in the US are offered any scientifically guided nutrition therapy beyond being told to "just eat healthy foods." I believe many cancer patients would see major improvement in their outcome if they controlled the supply of cancer's preferred fuel, glucose, and stayed clear of fructose to significantly reduce tumor proliferation.
Starving Cancer – Another Up-and-Coming Strategy
Before I go into further cancer prevention strategies, I'd like to remind you of another recent cancer research development I recently wrote about, namely 'starving' cancer by eating foods that prevent angiogenesis.
Angiogenesis (too many blood vessels) is a hallmark of cancer as the tumor actually needs blood in order to grow (this is how it feeds on the glucose in your bloodstream). But angiogenesis appears to be preventable by consuming foods that are natural inhibitors of excessive blood vessel growth.
When you regularly consume these foods, you can effectively starve any microscopic cancerous growths, effectively preventing them from growing further and becoming dangerous.
According to Dr. Li, who is currently leading this research, resveratrol from red grapes, for example, have been shown to inhibit abnormal angiogenesis by 60 percent. Even more potent is the ellagic acid found in strawberries.
Other potent anti-angiogenetic foods include:
Green tea Berries: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries Cherries
Citrus: oranges, grapefruit, lemons Kale Turmeric
Nutmeg Artichokes Parsley
Garlic Tomato Maitake mushroom



Logically, different foods contain different potencies of anti-angiogenetic compounds. Some foods have even been found to be more potent than current anti-angiogenetic drugs! These include parsley and garlic.
But interestingly, when researchers evaluated a combination of two of the LEAST potent teas, for example, they discovered that this combination tea had greater potency than any given tea by itself.
"There's synergy," Li states, which should come as no surprise to those of you who are well-versed in holistic nutrition.
It is this synergy that makes fresh, whole foods so potently nutritious!
The sum is far greater than the individual parts, and this is why it's far more important to focus on eating a diet of whole, organic foods, rather than obsessing about individual nutrients.
Other Cancer Prevention Strategies
Aside from avoiding fructose and other added sugars (which means cutting out not only soda and sugary beverages, but also processed foods since most are loaded with HFCS), and incorporating more anti-angiogenetic fare into your diet, here are several additional strategies you can incorporate to virtually eliminate your cancer risk:
Normalize your vitamin D levels with safe amounts of sun exposure. This is one of the most effective, and least expensive, cancer prevention strategies available to most people. Ideally, you'll want to monitor your vitamin D levels to make sure your levels stay within a therapeutic range year-round.
Get appropriate amounts of animal-based omega-3 fats.
Exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.
Have a tool to permanently erase the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. My particular favorite tool for this purpose, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique.
Only 25 percent of people eat enough vegetables, so by all means eat as many vegetables as you are comfortable with, preferably fresh and organic.

Ideally, you'll also want to determine your nutritional type, as some veggies are better than others, depending on your type. In addition, if you are a carb nutritional type, for example, you may need up to 300 percent more vegetables than a protein nutritional type.
Maintain an ideal body weight.
Get enough high-quality sleep.
Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.
Boil, poach or steam your foods, rather than frying or charbroiling them.
References

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[i] Warburg O. On the origin of cancer cells. Science 1956 Feb;123:309-14.
[ii] Volk T, et al. pH in human tumor xenografts: effect of intravenous administration of glucose. Br J Cancer 1993 Sep;68(3):492-500
[iii] Digirolamo M. Diet and cancer: markers, prevention and treatment. New York: Plenum Press; 1994. p 203

P.S.

BTW, a couple of posts ago I was calling for summer to come. Just wanted to share this: IT CAME. It's been in the 90's the past couple of days and should be hotter tomorrow. Ask and you shall receive..... (phew!)

Got an itch for sugar?

Hello there ~

Thought I'd weigh in once again before we leave for vacation on Tuesday. Can you believe it? I still have the hives! And boy are they itchy, not to mention pretty darn ugly.... I have tried just about everything.... baking soda (not helpful), aloe vera (somewhat helpful), Caladryl (fairly helpful for a little while). A couple of people told me to take a sulphur bath, but I really don't want to smell like sulphur, so I've been holding out on that one as a last resort. I did a 2-day water fast (lots of water; no food) as suggested by my naturopath, and that didn't seem to help too much, either. Hot baths are definately OUT for now. Cold water helps a LOT, so I keep a cold wash cloth handy. Quite honestly, the two things that have helped the most are my far-infrared sauna (go figure!), and Karen's Nourishing Coconut Cream (my next door neighbor whom I've mentioned before who is an absolute genius with all things, healthy, organic and botanical). Even though I get redder and itchier for awhile in the sauna, I actually feel better afterward, once I've taken a cool shower, and can go for a few hours without any major scratch-attacks. I guess this is because the hives are actually releasing something from the inside, and sweating would naturally expedite that process. The coconut cream is also awesome as it's very soothing, and I've been slathering it on like it's going out of style.

The internet says hives can last for up to 6 weeks (say WHAT???!!!!!!!!). However, I feel confident that mine are very slowly drying up and going away. I also feel strongly that not only are they an allergic reaction to sugar, wheat, and garlic that I ate last weekend, but that on a higher level they are also purifying and helping me cleanse something that needs releasing. So I'm trying to look at them as ultimately helpful. Though I'm not quite ready to say "hives are my friend...."

Anyway, of all my food allergies the one that is probably hardest to handle, overall, is the allergy to cane sugar, simply because it's in so many things, even things you wouldn't think it would be in, and quite frankly, it's pretty addictive. That's why I get really excited when I find a gluten-free, cane-sugar-free, dairy-free dessert recipe. I still have to eat desserts in moderation because sugar is sugar, and agave, honey, maple syrup, etc., will also make me crazy if I eat too much of them.

Therefore, when I saw an article today about how addictive sugar can be, I realized it was something I wanted to post here for folks to think about. The American diet is so over-saturated with sugar, and it seems a good time in the great scheme of things to really re-visit how much of it we want to put into our body temples. See the article below. Oh, and here's the Sweet Sisters website again if you ever need some coconut cream, or other healthy products: www.sweetsistersbodycare.com.

Sukie

10 Ways to Overcome Sugar Addiction

Are you addicted to sugar?

When I ask that question, most people attending my weight-management lectures raise their hand. Addiction to sugar is stronger for some people than others, but the truth is sugar is a powerfully addictive substance. If you've overindulged in cookies, candy, cake, or ice cream—and who hasn't, at some point—you know its seductive pull. Food manufacturers bank on it when they load sugar into soft drinks, breakfast cereal, soups, salad dressings, spaghetti sauce, energy bars, and even catsup.

THE DETAILS: Addiction to sugar is probably more common than you think. Americans consume an average of 20 to 30 teaspoons (about ½ cup!) daily of this substance, which has been linked to a variety of health problems, including obesity, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), attention and memory problems, hyperactivity, anxiety, and depression. Every month a new study comes out adding to the list of dangers posed by consuming sugar and its cousins, high-fructose corn syrup, maltose, and dextrose. Despite the risks, we continue to eat sugar because it is so addictive.

In fact, sugar meets all the criteria for an addictive substance:

•It stimulates release of neurotransmitters in the brain, such as dopamine and serotonin, in a manner similar to alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs of abuse.
•People eat it compulsively, despite negative consequences and the intention to stop.
•With continued use, people develop a tolerance to its effects.
•Heavy sugar consumers have trouble functioning without it.
•When consumption ceases, withdrawal symptoms occur.

WHAT IT MEANS: Breaking free from a dependency on sugar is easier said than done. Because the roots of sugar addiction are both physical and emotional, you need a combination of physical and psychological approaches. The less you eat sugar, the less you will crave it. If you get withdrawal symptoms, know they will only last a few days and then you'll feel more balanced and energetic than ever.

These 10 recommendations will make it easier to get a sugar problem under control.

#1: Keep sugar and sugar products out of your house. This includes white and brown sugar, corn syrup, and maple syrup.

#2: Eat enough healthy food to satisfy your hunger. Eat healthy, whole food snacks like fruit, carrots, red pepper, cherry tomatoes, dates, and dried fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth. Drink plenty of water, too. Add a little fruit juice to sweeten iced tea, carbonated water, and other sugar-free drinks. Frozen fruit, whole or pureed, makes a delicious alternative to ice cream. Once you have cleared sugar from your system, your taste buds will become more sensitive, and these whole natural foods will taste sweeter and more satisfying. If you slow down and eat mindfully, you'll enjoy these foods even more.

#3: Eat three regular meals each day that combine complex carbohydrates (vegetables, whole grains, and fruits), lean protein (poultry, fish, meat, dairy, tofu) and healthy fats (milk, cheese, omega-3's, olive oil and other cold-pressed oils). This will help you maintain a steady blood sugar level throughout the day and reduce your sugar cravings. Eating a diet high in fiber also helps to reduce sugar cravings.

#4: Take a multivitamin and mineral supplement. Chromium picolinate and l-glutamine help to reduce cravings for some people.

#5: When you go out, make sure you are not ravenously hungry, especially if sugary sweets will be the only food available. Bring your own healthy snacks with you, or eat before going out.

#6: Get regular exercise, plenty of sunlight, and adequate sleep to reduce sugar cravings.

#7: Learn to identify and manage cravings that are not a result of physical hunger, but instead are rooted in stress or anxiety. Develop alternative ways of managing stress: Take a walk, call a friend, read a book, play with your pet, watch a movie. Breathe, meditate, listen to music, or take a hot bath to activate your body's relaxation response. Relaxation helps to balance your blood sugar and reduce cravings.

#8: If you have turned to sugar to deal with uncomfortable feelings, learn to identify the specific feelings and respond appropriately to them. If you are tired, take a break or rest, rather than trying to persevere in the face of fatigue. If you are bored, find something stimulating to do. If you are lonely, reach out to a friend. Overcoming your sugar addiction involves really paying attention to what you are feeling, and giving yourself what you really need instead of using sugar as a substitute.

#9: If you do overindulge in sugar, acknowledge that you slipped, and get back on track as soon as possible. Let go of the guilt and shame. Eating sugar is unhealthy, but it's not a sin. As with other addictions, it doesn't matter if you need multiple attempts to quit, just that you keep trying until it sticks.

#10: Be kind to yourself. To end the struggle with sugar, learn to nourish your body well and respond compassionately to your own feelings. The best sugar substitute is genuine self-acceptance.

Jeffrey Rossman, Ph.D., is a Rodale.com advisor and director of life management at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA. His column, "Mind-Body-Mood Advisor," appears weekly on Rodale.com.

And there they are....

Hello....

Just a short check-in. I went in to see my naturopath the other day for a functional blood analysis (my fourth in the past year). My blood cells look healthier these days, so much better than when we started. For awhile the borders were kind of "puckery" looking (is that a word?), and now most of them are beautifully round, although a few still shaped like balloons. And lots of inflammation still showing (it looks like cottage cheese splattered all over a field of red); however, it seems to be somewhat less.

Whenever she does this test, she also lets some of the blood incubate for a period of time and then scans for the Borrelia bacteria, which is the primary critter causing Lyme disease. To date, she has never found Borrelia... until now. After two days of incubation the spirochetes were visible under the microscope.

So even though I've tested positive for Lyme through the Western blot, it's strangely validating to also finally be able to "see" the bacteria, as it's so notorious for hiding throughout the body. Some people never receive a visual confirmation of Borrelia, even though they've tested positive for Lyme and have all the symptoms. These bacteria are very smart and they tend to stay in hiding except during certain phases of their life cycle when they are proliferating. So it's an interesting little game to try and catch them under the microscope.

I still have hives, although I think I am finally feeling slightly better today; I think the worst of it may be over (knock on wood!!). I drank only water for two days and took Quercitin, as recommended by Dr. R. I had a couple of handfulls of spinach along the way, that's it. Hives can last for a day, or they can last for weeks and even months. So I am truly hoping these wretched little itchy welts are on the way out....

That's it for now. Going to go enjoy the beautiful sunshine,

Sukie

Hives are not just for bees....

OMG, I am covered with red, itchy, annoying welts! A pretty case of hives that has been gathering in momentum over the past few days, from shins up to elbows. I shared with you last time that I haven't been as "on" my eating plan as I would have liked these past few weeks, and I figured it was probably the wheat I've been eating, and perhaps some of the sugar alternatives I've had. But I woke up this morning with the sudden realization that the culprit may be garlic.

Garlic came up fairly high on my food sensitivities test last year. I made a mental note of that at the time and stopped using it, but the last week I've had quite a bit of it, as the sensitivity had completely slipped my mind. Erick makes exquisitely yummy garlic bread a few times a year when friends are over. I ate quite a bit of it on Saturday night, and then yesterday had a spinach salad that was covered in a super garlicky salad dressing. So now I'm thinking it's the garlic, or perhaps a combination of the garlic, wheat, and maybe sugar alternatives. And who knows, maybe even a reaction to pesticides or something "hidden", since I've eaten out in restaurants more these past couple of weeks than I have in a long time, and not everything has been organic, the way I normally eat.

So for the first time in my life I have hives, and I am extremely grateful that I have an appointment anyway with my naturopath this morning. I've been using aloe vera, which takes the edge off, but am hoping Dr. R. can make me some type of homeopathic remedy that will help relieve the itching. I have much more empathy now for people that get poison oak or other types of allergic reactions - I never knew how painful and crazy-making that could be....

Anyhoo, other than that, life's going well. We still have company this week, then next week it's off to Whistler, BC, for R&R, and a week of healthy, organic eating in the condo. Yea!!

Is anyone else wondering where summer went this year? We've had rain the past three days. Summer, oh summer, come hoooommmmmmeeeeeeee! ;-)

Many blessings to all,

Sukie

Rice Dreaming...

Hello, Readers ~

Sorry to have been away so long. This is the busiest summer I can remember in quite some time! We've had lots of company, which has been tremendous fun. Of course that means more restaurant food, and I've found it more challenging to stay the course with my protocol this past month. I have been drifting away here and there from my healthy eating plan, most notably by eating breads with wheat, a little dairy in things like dips, and have eaten a couple of things containing small amounts of cane sugar, which has caused me to have some really itchy hives....! Additionally, our sauna is in the guest room so I've only been able to get in there a couple of times a week. But let's face it, I made these choices, so I really can't complain about it. I've also lowered my salt/C intake a bit so that I don't find myself having terrible herxes while guests are here.

So I've given myself permission to be "on hold" with the protocol through Labor Day, and after that I will be resume my diligence with the plan. I must admit I do miss the routine of the protocol because I can literally feel myself healing. The good news is that even though I haven't been right on target with everything, I am holding my own... not regressing into previous pain levels or anything like that. I have some pain, some stiffness and achiness, to be sure, but it's been manageable.

One thing I truly look forward to week after next is a few days in a condo up in Whistler, BC, just Erick and me. It has a kitchen so we will stop at the co-op on the way up and stock up on healthy foods, and spend a week relaxing and decompressing from the summer madness. I'm really ready for that! And in September I'm doing a spa week with a dear friend in the Sonoma area, and that will also be SO much welcomed!

A friend who was here last week, Jennell, showed me how to make "pudding" with chia seeds, so thought I'd share that here with you today. Chia seeds are very high in protein, and they do this weird little thing where once they are soaked in liquid for awhile, they plump up and get this slippery coating - similar to the consistency of tapioca. When you put 1/3 cup of them into 2 cups of a liquid, it will "gel" a little bit and make an interesting concoction. She made some for us using chocolate Rice Dream (I also added some cardamom which made it really pretty awesome). She says at home she usually uses chocolate chai Rice Dream, and sometimes the vanilla Rice Dream. She says it can also be made as a savory treat by using it with a soup or boullion base. And it can also be added to juices that are non-acidic (grape; apple). If making it as a pudding, let the seeds soak in the Rice Dream at least an hour at room temp, or for several hours in the fridge.

There you go.... a new way to get some extra protein in your diet. Let me know if you think of more creative ways to use chia seeds!

I hope you're enjoying these last weeks of summer. How about those solar flares? Our skies were hazy and funky looking for three days or so earlier this week. We had hoped we might get a glimpse of the northern lights down here, as it was reported they would be seen further south, but we weren't able to see anything. May we all live in interesting times..... ;-)

Sukie