If you suffer from frequent acid reflux, you may need to build up your stomach acids. Stomach acid allows your food to be digested with any discomfort. Stomach acid is beneficial for adequate digestion. Historically people have used teas, tinctures, and essential oils. Different cultural groups also consumed fermented foods daily which were prebiotics that aided their digestion. Examples are dill pickles and sauerkraut made in crocks without the process of canning. In Korea, kimchi is the same lacto-fermentation. These food prepare the stomach for digestion. To be beneficial to stomach health, the fermented foods cannot be canned or processed. You can make yourself or purchase from the refrigerated section of many graocery stores. Traditionally these fermented foods were most of our salad dressings, including mayonaisse. Now processing has made the ones on the grocery shelves ineffective.
Easiest way to aid digestion is to take one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (brand name like Bragg’s) with water before the meal. You may wish to add an herbal tincture of digestive bitters or make your own using chamomile flowers, dill leaf and seeds, and peppermint leaf. (Can be purchased as well) .
Essential oil DoTerra’s Digestzen can be added with coconut oil to a veggie cap or purchased as a softgel. This can also be put into a roller bottle with fractionated coconut oil and rubbed on tummy.
Another helpful aid is Manuka honey from New Zealand (purchased in health food stores). Take 1 teaspoon before meals to aid in digestion. Lastly is our meals themselves. Chew our food at least 30 times each mouthful. Some doctors say up to 100 times until food turns to liquid. Also smaller meals to reduce amount of stomach acid to digest intake. To give the stomach a break, you may wish to fast with bone broth or juice. Both allow nutrients through the intestional walls but help repair intestional cells, To learn more about essential oils, go to https://www.mydoterra.com/debrapeters/#/
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If you dare, check the labels in your bath and kitchen. I will guarantee that that many contain fragrance. Fragrance sounds good. Everyone likes things to smell good, but what is really in fragrance? Not even the FDA knows, as they are only loosely regulated after the products have been marketed and have been proven to cause problems. Only then, will the product contain a warning label. Actually a fragrance is most likely a chemcial combination to replace the natural scents of flowers, trees, herbs, and spices. Lemon and pine scented, floral, and ocean breeze are on cleaning products and personal hygience products, and usually contain chemicals. Actually these fragrances are lose dose poisons that can cause major health issues, as cancer and auto-immune diseases.
Think about your exposure in your own home. Does your daily routine start with a shower that includes shampoo, conditioner, body wash or soap, facial cleanser, mouthwash, toothpaste, moisturizer, hair mousse, hair gel, hair spray, deodarant, and possibly make up and perfume. You haven’t left the bathroom and the average American has used 9 products containing toxins labeled fragrance. Each day we freshen our homes and clothese with detergents, sprays, and softeners loaded with fragrance. We breathe these constantly. We use candles and plug-ins to mask foul odors. All loaded with fragrance. These daily routines are loaded with toxic chemicals that are dragging down our immune system and making us sick. America is getting sicker because we live in an environment full of chemicals. They are in our homes and we brought them in. We asked for them and we paid for them. The result is more asthma - more digestive issues - more migraines - more depression. So what can we do? We can either throw out all of the toxins today or slowly begin to replace the contaminants in our household. This means we have more labels to read, more internet searche for DIY products that are safe or for purchase. Natural ingredients and real fragrance need to be in our homes. We need to clean up our personal environments. Outside air is usually far less polluted than our inside air. We need to spray real scents and put natural ingredients on our skin. The best place to start is with essential oils and a diffuser. Clean your home with real citrus (lemon and orange) in the diffuser and use the lemon to clean out the skin. More ideas and a place to start with essential oils is
Peppermint is one of the easiest plants to grow and multi-purposed for medicinal uses. Today we use peppermint flavoring and ignore all of the therapeutic uses. With a resurgence to more homeopathic remedies, peppermint is once again used in homes to relieve headaches and fevers, sooth aching muscles, and calm upset bellies.
HISTORIC USES Native Americans used peppermint for calming and numbing effects for all aches and pains in tinctures and poultices. Also used for flavoring. Colonial American gardens grew mints for candies, cough drops, toothpaste to freshen breath, and teas to reduce nausea. USAGE TODAY Peppermint Essential Oil - Always use a therapeutic grade to ensure the integrity of the peppermint. It is available at mydoterra.com/debrapeters. Peppermint Tea - Use fresh mint leaves steeped in hot water Toothpaste - baking soda mixed with peppermint essential oil (none of the harmful chemicals in commercially produced toothpastes) May also be made with kaolin clay and baking soda. Mouthwash - Add one drop of essential oil with a drop of lemon for a fresh breath rinse (All natural and no chemicals) Muscle Reliever - Mix 10 drops of peppermint essential oils with coconut oil. Massage into the achy muscle for momentary relief. Headaches and Fever Reducer - Rub a drop of peppermint oil onto your temples and/or forehead. It will have a tingling sensation, followed by a cooling that produces relief and cooling. Peppermint is not harmful to the liver and kidneys like over the counter medications (Tylenol or Alleve)
More information on oils, check out at
Currently I am on Day 11 of the Daniel Fast. My diet has no pleasure foods, but does include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and juices. No sugars, alcohol, flour. More information on this healthy fast can be found at the Daniel Fast Website. I am amazed at the mental clarity and better mood as a result of eating clean and healthy food. After traveling for six weeks I came home groggy and unhealthy. Using God's food, I eat less, feel better, and lost 8 pounds.
I highly recommend using this as a starter fast, as it is not as drastic as a juice or water fast. Most importantly I spend time with God's word and it delivers profound messages that help me get through this turbulent political season.
http://daniel-fast.com
Before Neosporin and Substitute for Neosporin Neosporin is used frequently in America for all kinds of cuts, bruises, and burns. it is an antibiotic cream or jell. When I coached 40 years ago, Neosporin was in the first aid kit. When I coached 20 years ago, it was not in the first aid kit, because some people are allergic to it.I continued to use it in my home with my own children, not thinking anything about adding another antibiotic to their system through the skin. As a child, my parents and grandparents used Merthiolate, which is the compound thimerosal, that is comprised of mercury and sodium. This kills disease-causing microbes and burns when applied to the skin with an open wound. I remember holding my breath to brace myself before the applicator come out of the dark brown bottle. Now it is still used before medical procedures. Parents today commonly use creams like Neosporin, containing bacitracins. Do we still want to expose our children to antibiotics for every small cut and/or burn? There are essential oil alternatives. At my home we call it “Boo Boo Spray.’ Boo-Boo Spray
Add essential oils to a 1oz spray bottle and top of with fractionated coconut oil. Spray on wound for healthy healing. Also great for relief from itchy bug bites or other skin irritations. Back in the day people grew their own food. Colonial America had kitchen gardens next to their homes. Hohokam Indians grew the three sisters - corn, squash, and beans in the hot Sonoran deserts. Today we purchase our food at the store. You can grow some of your own food. You say that is impossible. Kitchen gardens take little space or can be planted in pots and other containers on your patio, backyard, or front porch. You can replace flowers and plants in your yard with herbs, vines, and fruit trees, even in the front yard. Commercial fruits and vegetables are at least a week old before purchased at the store. Replace these with freshly picked one from your yard. I live in the Sonoran Desert, Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, Arizona area. We all have yards, we love to eat, lots of sunshine, but little rain and high temperatures during the summer months. Even these obstacles can be overcome to grow herbs, fruit, and vegetables. My favorite kitchen garden is the raised bed garden. The beds keep the dogs and children out of the garden, as well as allowing me to not get down on my knees to work in the garden. You can buy kits at home improvement stores or build them yourselves. We built ours and had dirt hauled in. We purchased a composter to dispose of the garden wastes and recycle back for a healthier garden soil. Benefits of a kitchen garden are plentiful.
![]() In the beginning, I was a teacher for 30 quick years. I stressed over each student, lesson, and class in my educational career. Through those years, I contacted numerous illnesses, but thought I was a person of good health and exceptional intelligence. Then I hit the wall. Allergies, arthritis, thyroid, insulin levels, digestive issues - all developed slowly and permeated each day. Fatigue became a constant battle as I attempted to not falter with over-work and stress filled days. In the beginning, I thought that the doctors could heal me through surgeries, prescriptions, and over the counter drugs. I took much less than other people took, but isn’t that how all Americans heal themselves? In the beginning, I ate what most Americans eat. Our favorites were pizza, pastas, burgers, and sandwiches. Cheese with more cheese and sizable helpings of the meat on sale at the local super markets. Also, Americans drink Coca-Cola each and every day, until I switched to Diet Coke to lose weight. In the beginning, I followed what the world proposed as the perfect life for today’s woman - full time job, 4 children, and a husband. Well educated, well read, well traveled, and ambitious. Leaving little time to relax and develop a spiritual life. Sleep dwindled to 6 hours, as more time was needed to be a successful American woman. Now, I am retired with a slightly changed focus. History, food, and family have always been my passions, but the current twist includes the traditional history of healing, food, medicines, family life, and meditation. I retired to get balance in my life and to find better health. Now my desire is to share traditional or historical food, healing, health care, and cultures that teach others ways to improve the quality of their life. The purpose of this site is to look at the quality of our lives and analyze if we are improved or in need of lessons from the past. My first year of retirement has been a journey to discover the history of ancient healing practices and food preparation. I currently share with family and friends, but feel compelled to expand my family so others can ruminate about their own lives. My journey has taken me to alternate healing techniques, traditional cooking practices, and spiritual awakenings. Thank you for sharing the journey to a balanced life. |
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October 2017
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