The other day I posted about how I woke up with my eyelids all swollen and had a case of the hives again. This has happened to me about 6 or 7 times in my life before and I've never know what it was from. I even went to an allergist a few years ago and that was no help.
It's frustrating as all heck. My eyes get really puffy and itchy. It's not a pretty site folks. Thankfully I wear sunglasses pretty much 100% of the time I'm outside so I could hide it pretty easily from people. Then it starts to migrate down the left side of my face and into my left ear. Then the left side of my neck. It usually stops there but there have been times my stomach was covered in it too. Just random hives...no rhyme or reason.
I normally just deal with it for about the week it takes to go away. I try not to itch as much as I can and I usually put a steroid creme on my face. But, I'm being a lot more aware of medications and I didn't want to use anything that could potentially do more damage then good. I called the new doctor that I am going to start treating with. I always hesitate to call doctor's. I always feel like I'm being a pest. I figured he wouldn't be able to give me any answers since we don't have the test results for my autoimmune test back. Somehow I guess I think I know what their answer will be so I just don't even bother asking. Glad I got over that. We talked through some possibilities of what the reaction could be from.
Long story short. I'm thinking it's from a new lotion I picked up from the store last week. I am a sucker for coupons and I had a coupon for Jergens lotion so I picked up some. I put it on Darren's side of the bathroom and he used it once and told me he didn't like it. Said it had too many perfumes in it. So we switched. It's part of my morning beauty routine to dip a Qtip in some lotion and wipe off any leftover mascara that might be around my eyes. Low and behold...the next day...hives.
I looked at the ingredients and compared it to the normal lotion that I usually use and there was a list of about 17 things that were in the Jergen's that weren't in the Vaseline brand (not saying that brand is any better, it just doesn't make me break out). I started doing research about what goes into lotions etc.... I found out that some brands use Formaldehyde. Yup that's right. The National Cancer Institute had this to say "Formaldehyde has been classified as a known human carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."
It's a KNOWN cancer causing substance and it's in a ton of household products. It's that crazy? So because it smells so bad they cover that smell up with "fragrance". The "fragrance" is more than likely what my allergic reaction is to. The times in the past I have gotten hives it was usually around the time of switching detergents to brands like Gain or All which both use heavy fragrance.
Back to the Formaldehyde...they don't list it as that on the bottles. They have code names of them. One of them is DMDM Hydantoin. I looked at the bottle of Jergen's, sure enough, there is was. I was lathering my body in a Known Cancer causing agent. Lovely! And we wonder why cancer runs rampant.
I was able to get a powdered mix from my doctor (at a hefty price, def not worth the coupon savings I got from buying the Jergens) and I'm already noticing a difference in my hives from that. Healing the body from the inside out is the best way. This is what I'm taking right now in case anyone needs an idea on how to cut down on inflammation in the body (esp intestines). InflamX
Anyway, that's my rant for the day. Check your bottles people.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Easter Candy!
It is almost impossible as a mom to try and curb sugar intake in kids lately. Every holiday revolves around sugar. Now that I am a lot more aware of the harmful affects of food coloring I don't want my kids having any. And I don't want them having too much sugar either. Which makes it very hard to be a mom these days. I am sure I won't be the favorite but my family's health is a lot more important to me.
With Easter less than 2 weeks away I have been trying to figure out how to deal with this holiday that has basically turned into a sugar fest. I can control what I put into my kids baskets but I can't control what other Easter activities will give out to the kids. At this point the word about harmful affects of food dye and sugar on our bodies is still just getting around and not very many people are on the same page...yet.
For my kids Easter baskets I will be researching dye free candies. I have heard that Vitamin Cottage and also Trader Joe's carries dye free Jelly Beans. So I'll be seeing about getting my hands on some of those.
I also had an idea to make my own chocolate for the kids. I've made this recipe before and used it to dip strawberries and it came out awesome. I am planning on picking up some candy molds and making some to put in the kid's Easter baskets. It's super easy and only has 5 ingredients.
Raw Chocolate
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
3 Tbsp maple syrup (room temp to keep oil liquefied)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of Salt
Put all ingredients in blender and process until well combined. Put candy molds onto waxed paper. Place in fridge until hard.
Another thought I had is that when the kids do get candy from other Easter Egg Hunts is that I am going to trade it out with the candy that I already have for them. My kids are pretty well educated about food dyes and are beginning to understand why I'm not to keen on them having them. I feel like as long as I am prepared with good alternatives that it can go to bed at night knowing that I provided healthy options for them rather then filling their body with so much sugar and food dye.
With Easter less than 2 weeks away I have been trying to figure out how to deal with this holiday that has basically turned into a sugar fest. I can control what I put into my kids baskets but I can't control what other Easter activities will give out to the kids. At this point the word about harmful affects of food dye and sugar on our bodies is still just getting around and not very many people are on the same page...yet.
For my kids Easter baskets I will be researching dye free candies. I have heard that Vitamin Cottage and also Trader Joe's carries dye free Jelly Beans. So I'll be seeing about getting my hands on some of those.
I also had an idea to make my own chocolate for the kids. I've made this recipe before and used it to dip strawberries and it came out awesome. I am planning on picking up some candy molds and making some to put in the kid's Easter baskets. It's super easy and only has 5 ingredients.
Raw Chocolate
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
3 Tbsp maple syrup (room temp to keep oil liquefied)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of Salt
Put all ingredients in blender and process until well combined. Put candy molds onto waxed paper. Place in fridge until hard.
Another thought I had is that when the kids do get candy from other Easter Egg Hunts is that I am going to trade it out with the candy that I already have for them. My kids are pretty well educated about food dyes and are beginning to understand why I'm not to keen on them having them. I feel like as long as I am prepared with good alternatives that it can go to bed at night knowing that I provided healthy options for them rather then filling their body with so much sugar and food dye.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Leaky Gut
Isn't that the most disgusting way to diagnose a problem with a small intestine? Leaky Gut. I'm embarrassed to even say the word. But, the truth is, I was diagnosed with it about a week ago. Basically the walls of my small intestine have broken down and now I have small holes and whatever I eat leaks into my bloodstream. My body reacts to this invasion of proteins by attacking my body, mostly my Thyroid and wreaking all sorts of havoc.
My symptoms were not anything major. I honestly didn't even notice how bad they were until this past week when I've had to completely change up my diet. I was dealing mostly with some uncomfortable bloating after eating some meals. I was struggling with depression and anxiety from time to time. I would randomly get very tired after eating. My hair wasn't as healthy as I knew it could be. I would wake up in the morning with a flat stomach and by mid afternoon on some days I could honestly pass for a 3 month pregnant woman. I couldn't lose weight no matter what my diet or exercise routine was. I know a lot of people when they hear that last one always say "you don't need to lose weight". And I agree, I was fine with the weight that I was BUT I also knew that my body was capable of more. I knew that with the workouts I did 2x's a week and the amount of running I was doing 4x's a week that there should be some type of change. I understand metabolism slows down as you get older etc... But I just knew something else was up.
I considered myself a healthy eater. I really was. I always tried to buy organic fruits and vegetables. I can't even remember the last time I had any sort of fast food. I was very aware about food dyes. I knew what healthy portions were. Always Organic Peanut Butter, mac and cheese, cage free eggs, only organic milk etc... I knew how to count calories and how to get enough protein etc... In the past 6 years of this journey I had learned a tremendous amount food and I feel like I have so much more to learn. So how could this happen to me?
I was diagnosed 2 years ago with Hypothyroidism. Nothing uncommon now and days. Seems like everyone I talk to is on Thyroid medication. It runs in my family so I wasn't really surprised. I was a little taken back because I didn't have any of the typical symptoms but I shrugged it off and started taking my Synthroid everyday to control my levels. Fast forward to the last 6 months and a lot of my symptoms from above were getting worse and I had this nagging voice in the back of my head saying that it wasn't normal. Ok, the nagging voice was really one of my sisters letting me know that it wasn't normal. Thank God for her!
I made an appointment to see a Homeopathic doctor. I know, I know, I'm sure that some of you are reading this and thinking that they aren't real doctors. But I assure you they are. They are doctors that are in the know of what is really going on in today's world and not just prescribing meds and recommending a surgery make the symptoms go away instead of dealing with the source. Anyway, I did blood work and found out that I have something called Hashimoto's disease. It's an autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid. Hence giving me all of the symptoms I was having above. BUT, I was also dealing with a lot of gut issues as well. My allergy blood work came back with a list of food items that I am allergic too. How is that possible? I've never been allergic to anything in my life.
What was happening was that because I have holes in my small intestines, the food that I would eat on a regular basis was getting into my blood stream. My body recognized that those proteins shouldn't be there and would attack my thyroid or other parts of my body causing all of the symptoms I was having. So now my body is allergic to a lot of foods, all foods that are good for me, and I need to keep them out of my diet for the next 6-12 months. I'm talking about chicken, beef, turkey, avocado, gluten, banana, coconut and the list goes on. AND the biggest of all....CORN. If you didn't know, corn is in absolutely everything. It's actually in the Synthroid medication I was taking on a daily basis.
For the last week or so I've carefully planned out all of my meals and snacks for the day. I need to make sure that I'm not eating certain foods more than 2x's a week. I also cannot have certain foods at all until my gut heals. I have a new part time job. It's researching what I can and cannot eat and then standing in the kitchen cooking for hours! It's a lot of work BUT...I am already seeing results. I've been off gluten 3 weeks and notice a HUGE difference. Yesterday, I ate "gluten free" chips...thinking they were ok...and I immediately got irritable and very fatigued. My brain couldn't focus on what I was doing. I was getting anxious. I ended up falling dead asleep on the couch for 30 minutes. Mind you, I had plenty of sleep the night before. I looked at the back of the chip bag and sure enough, there was maltodextrin in it. Which is made from corn.
Ok, that's my whole sob story. And I'm dealing with it all day by day. BUT, it has really gotten me thinking about how can someone who is relatively healthy have these issues.? And I'm not happy with what I'm starting to realize. We are being lied to about our food. I could go on and on about all of the lies being told to us but I'll save that for another post.
I just watched a video called Genetic Roulette. Feel free to watch here: GMO Documentary. I'm just amazed at what is in that video. Genetically Modified Soy and corn was introduced in 1996. Since then, has anyone else noticed a rise in a whole ton of medical problems? The gluten intolerance/celiac issues? The infertility issues? Autism? Gut problems? It's amazing to see the connection. I strongly urge you to spend a few minutes watching it. Seventeen years they've been feeding us this stuff all the while knowing what it does to us. It's not war that is going to kill us. It's the FDA and Monsanto. In my opinion this is far more important than gun control but yet of course gets very little coverage.
Now I'm officially a crusader against this stuff. I don't want my kids growing up with this stuff in their bodies and I'll be doing my best to keep it out of mine and theirs. Please, educate yourself about what we are being told is fine for us to eat. If your food is not in it's whole form or you aren't making it yourself....be very careful. You'll save yourself a lot of money by spending the time and money now to take care of your body.
This is really just my official warning that my status updates on Facebook are probably going to become a little annoying to people as I'll be sharing a lot of articles I've been reading about this issue. I've held myself back from doing that because I don't want to come off as a judgmental person saying to everyone to stay away from soda and fast food (but you really should) But I realize that it's more important for people to be educated about this stuff then to be left in the dark any longer. So if it annoys you...hide my status updates :)
My symptoms were not anything major. I honestly didn't even notice how bad they were until this past week when I've had to completely change up my diet. I was dealing mostly with some uncomfortable bloating after eating some meals. I was struggling with depression and anxiety from time to time. I would randomly get very tired after eating. My hair wasn't as healthy as I knew it could be. I would wake up in the morning with a flat stomach and by mid afternoon on some days I could honestly pass for a 3 month pregnant woman. I couldn't lose weight no matter what my diet or exercise routine was. I know a lot of people when they hear that last one always say "you don't need to lose weight". And I agree, I was fine with the weight that I was BUT I also knew that my body was capable of more. I knew that with the workouts I did 2x's a week and the amount of running I was doing 4x's a week that there should be some type of change. I understand metabolism slows down as you get older etc... But I just knew something else was up.
I considered myself a healthy eater. I really was. I always tried to buy organic fruits and vegetables. I can't even remember the last time I had any sort of fast food. I was very aware about food dyes. I knew what healthy portions were. Always Organic Peanut Butter, mac and cheese, cage free eggs, only organic milk etc... I knew how to count calories and how to get enough protein etc... In the past 6 years of this journey I had learned a tremendous amount food and I feel like I have so much more to learn. So how could this happen to me?
I was diagnosed 2 years ago with Hypothyroidism. Nothing uncommon now and days. Seems like everyone I talk to is on Thyroid medication. It runs in my family so I wasn't really surprised. I was a little taken back because I didn't have any of the typical symptoms but I shrugged it off and started taking my Synthroid everyday to control my levels. Fast forward to the last 6 months and a lot of my symptoms from above were getting worse and I had this nagging voice in the back of my head saying that it wasn't normal. Ok, the nagging voice was really one of my sisters letting me know that it wasn't normal. Thank God for her!
I made an appointment to see a Homeopathic doctor. I know, I know, I'm sure that some of you are reading this and thinking that they aren't real doctors. But I assure you they are. They are doctors that are in the know of what is really going on in today's world and not just prescribing meds and recommending a surgery make the symptoms go away instead of dealing with the source. Anyway, I did blood work and found out that I have something called Hashimoto's disease. It's an autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid. Hence giving me all of the symptoms I was having above. BUT, I was also dealing with a lot of gut issues as well. My allergy blood work came back with a list of food items that I am allergic too. How is that possible? I've never been allergic to anything in my life.
What was happening was that because I have holes in my small intestines, the food that I would eat on a regular basis was getting into my blood stream. My body recognized that those proteins shouldn't be there and would attack my thyroid or other parts of my body causing all of the symptoms I was having. So now my body is allergic to a lot of foods, all foods that are good for me, and I need to keep them out of my diet for the next 6-12 months. I'm talking about chicken, beef, turkey, avocado, gluten, banana, coconut and the list goes on. AND the biggest of all....CORN. If you didn't know, corn is in absolutely everything. It's actually in the Synthroid medication I was taking on a daily basis.
For the last week or so I've carefully planned out all of my meals and snacks for the day. I need to make sure that I'm not eating certain foods more than 2x's a week. I also cannot have certain foods at all until my gut heals. I have a new part time job. It's researching what I can and cannot eat and then standing in the kitchen cooking for hours! It's a lot of work BUT...I am already seeing results. I've been off gluten 3 weeks and notice a HUGE difference. Yesterday, I ate "gluten free" chips...thinking they were ok...and I immediately got irritable and very fatigued. My brain couldn't focus on what I was doing. I was getting anxious. I ended up falling dead asleep on the couch for 30 minutes. Mind you, I had plenty of sleep the night before. I looked at the back of the chip bag and sure enough, there was maltodextrin in it. Which is made from corn.
Ok, that's my whole sob story. And I'm dealing with it all day by day. BUT, it has really gotten me thinking about how can someone who is relatively healthy have these issues.? And I'm not happy with what I'm starting to realize. We are being lied to about our food. I could go on and on about all of the lies being told to us but I'll save that for another post.
I just watched a video called Genetic Roulette. Feel free to watch here: GMO Documentary. I'm just amazed at what is in that video. Genetically Modified Soy and corn was introduced in 1996. Since then, has anyone else noticed a rise in a whole ton of medical problems? The gluten intolerance/celiac issues? The infertility issues? Autism? Gut problems? It's amazing to see the connection. I strongly urge you to spend a few minutes watching it. Seventeen years they've been feeding us this stuff all the while knowing what it does to us. It's not war that is going to kill us. It's the FDA and Monsanto. In my opinion this is far more important than gun control but yet of course gets very little coverage.
Now I'm officially a crusader against this stuff. I don't want my kids growing up with this stuff in their bodies and I'll be doing my best to keep it out of mine and theirs. Please, educate yourself about what we are being told is fine for us to eat. If your food is not in it's whole form or you aren't making it yourself....be very careful. You'll save yourself a lot of money by spending the time and money now to take care of your body.
This is really just my official warning that my status updates on Facebook are probably going to become a little annoying to people as I'll be sharing a lot of articles I've been reading about this issue. I've held myself back from doing that because I don't want to come off as a judgmental person saying to everyone to stay away from soda and fast food (but you really should) But I realize that it's more important for people to be educated about this stuff then to be left in the dark any longer. So if it annoys you...hide my status updates :)
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