this side of heaven

The comments are the best part

I found such an interesting article on Dr. Mercola's site about the benefits of detoxification and fasting. He recommends detoxing, but not fasting. Hey, the Lord recommends fasting once in a while, so I think the One who knows the owner's manual inside and out is right about that one. Sorry Dr. Mercola!

But what I found fascinating (as usual) are the comments which follow the article. The benefits of fasting are well explained and documented. The bottom line of the comments (not Dr. Mercola's advice) is that fasting done with the proper preparation can help cleanse and heal the body. The proper preparation includes seven days of a controlled diet to get off the sugar and white carbs roller coaster. Hey, that is Dr. Gittleman's plan! And then a juice fast with lemon on the days of no food to help the liver detox. Also Dr. Gittleman!

And I learned a few things from reading the comments: 1) the juice of 1/2 lemon in water first thing in the morning helps banish constipation; 2) a sensible diet high in oats and yogurt helps heal leaky gut (often caused by a yeast overgrowth, often caused by antibiotic use).

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Terrain is everything

I was thinking about the swine flu epidemic, specifically, how there is some evidence that this particular strain of the flu bug has been genetically engineered, containing parts of the swine flu, human flu, and avian flu. Evil men will continue playing God in this way to try to achieve their ends (which is what? Population control? Some leftists and new age earth worshippers believe it is the people who are the "disease" on the planet, contrary to the Lord's command in Scripture at the creation of mankind) until they succeed. So in the new 1984 that we live in, what can we do to protect ourselves and our families?

I didn't realize until recently that Louis Pasteur, the notable 19th century French chemist and microbiologist (and Bible- believing Creationist) best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease, RECANTED his germ theory of disease at his deathbed, stating,

"The microbe is nothing. The terrain is everything."

What does he mean by that? Simply, that microbes can only grow in the proper medium. They require a favorable environment. All of us are constantly being bombarded by microbes daily. Why aren't we daily coming down with devastating illnesses? Because those microbes can only begin to multiply if the conditions are right.

It is no wonder that the good bugs which inhabit our intestines and provide innumerable benefits to our digestive and immune systems, and the bad bugs such as swine flu, which cause us to get sick, require a different set, an opposite set of conditions to thrive. It stands to reason, that if we encourage the terrain necessary for the good bugs, we will discourage the terrain necessary for the bad bugs, and vice versa. Just by nourishing our inner terrain rightly, we can make ourselves and our families "immune" to the swine flu or any other pathogen which might come down the pike.

Here is the best article I have read on cultivating the proper terrain. (DETOX!) I have used the information in this article to heal myself from pneumonia without antibiotics or other drugs. Here is another article on another therapy designed to nourish the proper terrain. I have tried the first and not the second, so I can't comment on the second. The testimonials are compelling, though. And if we were to put together a few things to prepare for emergencies or a disaster, knowledge like this could prove to be a life- saver.

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On swine flu

When I wrote this post on flu and flu shots recently, I had no idea a swine flu epidemic was right around the corner. Following that advice will help you avoid catching the swine flu too, just as it will help guard against any other kind of flu. Get outdoors every day while the threat is still on (thank you God that it is spring)! One researcher has theorized that the flu is nothing more than a symptom of vitamin D deficiency. Dr. Mercola has posted his excellent knowledge and advice about the swine flu, and Health Sciences Institute has also written succinctly on the subject.

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Sorry for the hiatus

My laptop (where I work on all my blogs) got a virus, and it was a nightmare getting all my files off without losing any data, wiping the hard drive, and then reloading all my programs. Actually, not all the programs are back on yet, but life is slowly returning to normal. The week of the laptop crash, I was going to blog about the swine flu, I had tons of good information. That will be in a post coming up. The up side to all this: I am on a backup schedule now with my laptop; and as I had to have Homestead Blogger send me a new password since I can't remember what I chose several years ago, I got into my e-mail for this blog also. I have got to make a file with user names and passwords for everything. So if you ever wanted to e-mail me, or did and never got a response, I am trying to check my blog e-mail once a week now. :) Oh! Plus the other benefit: my laptop runs great with a fresh install of Windows! (My next computer is going to be a MAC!)

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Gardasil vaccine update

Remember Gardasil, the so- called cervical cancer vaccine? Merck, its manufacturer, wanted to have it made a mandatory vaccination for every nine- year- old girl, in order to attend school. 32 girls have died from the Gardasil vaccination.

Did you know that the Gardasil vaccine contains a substance known to cause infertility in mice? That one of its components is sodium borate, better known as roach poison? The National Institutes of Health said of sodium borate in 2005, that it "is now known to be a dangerous poison, it is no longer commonly used in medical preparations.” And yet despite all this, the FDA gave Gardasil the stamp of approval in 2006. Why? MANDATORY VACCINATIONS ARE CASH COWS, that's why. The love of money is the root of all evil.

Because of the deaths, and other problems with the Gardasil vaccine, Merck has finally stopped pushing for mandatoy vaccinations. Yay! But you may notice that they are aggressively marketing Gardasil for voluntary vaccination. I see several commercials each week for the Gardasil vaccine, and we don't watch that much TV. Don't be suckered in.

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My msg migraine story

I have been doing a liver detox lately. When I do, there are certain foods I must get in my diet every day, as well as certain foods I must avoid. One of the musts is foods that help heal your liver, such as asparagus, beets, celery, dandelion root tea, or whey. Another must is raw high fiber fruits and vegetables, such as berries, apples or pears, or carrots. So I often make a yogurt fruit smoothie for a snack, on and off detox. Here's what you do:

2/3-1 c plain lowfat yogurt
1 c frozen fruit (I use berries during detox)
1 pkt Stevia (to keep it sugar free)
1 dash vanilla extract (for yumminess)

Blend it all together in the blender. Yum! High fiber must haves in, sugar and processed chemicals out, and probiotics to boot - a win win! Whey is a liver healer, and I purchased some whey protein powder from my local health food store, to add to my smoothies to get even more must haves in. I read the ingredient label very carefully, to make sure I was getting nothing with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, chemicals or additives, or any other bad thing. So I have been making yogurt fruit smoothies all week with a scoop of whey powder, but I have been suffering from terrible migraines and could not figure out why. I thought at first it was a detox reaction (headaches can happen in the beginning of a detox) but it has been over a week now and I shouldn't still be having them.

Then Dr. Mercola sent this article to my inbox - hidden MSG in foods. I almost didn't read it, because I know all about the sneaky ways food manufacturers sneak MSG into our food under misleading names. But I am glad I did! For some reason, I read "whey" in this article the first time around, and that led me to go look at my whey powder ingredient label again. I am so glad I did - whey protein powder yields 18-19% glutamic acid - that is the main ingredient in MSG! No wonder I have been having such blinding migraines all week. No more whey protein for me.

Now this is the strange thing about all this: when I reread Dr. Mercola's article this morning, to prepare for this blog post, I could not find the word "whey" in it anywhere! Sometimes I wonder if the Lord helps me "see" things which He knows will lead me on the trail to the answer. I don't have another explanation - I had no reason to go examine the whey protein powder label other than this article!

So here is the moral of the story: in Dr. Mercola's article, he says that if you stick to a whole and fresh foods diet, you can avoid MSG and its alter identities. I am eating a whole and fresh foods diet! When he says whole and fresh foods, he means nothing processed at all, not even something that is supposed to be good for you! So be warned, even things from the heath food store can negatively impact your health.

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Cautiously optimistic

I have heard through back channels that the response of all of us out here in the grass roots to HR875 and other so called "food safety" bills, really designed to harass the small and organic farmer into finding something else to do for fun and profit, has been strong. These bills were on the fast track for approval, but Congress has received approximately a million calls, letters, and emails about them. The result has been that the bills are off the fast track for now while the Congress persons have become nervous about being seen to support something so unpopular. We should understand that the food safety bills ARE NOT DEAD, but they are experiencing trouble making the rounds and garnering the approval of the Congress people because of the opposition - FOR THE MOMENT! As soon as pressure dies down, the food safety train might begin moving again. What we need to do, is NOT STOP THE PRESSURE! We need to keep informing others, and keep letting Congress know they represent us but these bills do not represent us. I will keep trying to let everyone know what I am finding out.

Previous posts on HR875 and other "food safety" bills:
More food safety bills before Congress
HR875 - ways to take action
Stopping HR875

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The case for healthy bowels

Okay, I will probably get no comments for this post ... the title alone will send people screaming from the blog, LOL. But The Case for Healthy Bowels by Dr. Mercola is one of the best articles I have ever read that summarizes what is known about the balance of good bacteria vs. bad bacteria in the human digestive tract. What was surprising for me to learn, was that probiotics are now being used by some doctors to treat seemingly unrelated disorders ... like autism or excema. And what is an even bigger bonus, are the 10 pages (!!) of comments that follow the article ... people who have suffered with Crohn's , IBS, heartburn, food allergies, you name it, weighing in on what they have learned to reduce their symptoms and heal themselves without prescriptions. I am still reading, LOL. This article is a keeper, and will reinforce your resolve to JUST SAY NO! to drugs ... of the prescribed kind.

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Liver detox

I am doing my annual liver detox this week - it is the week of Unleavened Bread, so I am already not eating much white flour -- a built in excuse to skip gluten right there. The detox is easy in the spring, because of the abundance of fresh greens, asparagus, strawberries, and other necessary foods. Follow the links at the end of each post for the full instructions. I always feel so much better after a detox - I am really looking forward to next week and the boost in my energy level!

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More "food safety" bills before Congress

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HR875 - ways to take action

HR875 is currently in committee in the House. The committees which are researching it, and their members, are listed here. You can also keep checking the current status of the bill on this website. There are a few petitions started, and other ways to track and network about this bill.

Don't stop with just contacting the committee members, although that is a great first step. We all need to let our own Congresspeople know our thoughts about this bill, so that when it comes up for a vote, he or she will know a significant portion of his constituents are opposed, and are paying attention to his vote on this bill. Also, we need to be spreading the word on the dangerous nature of this bill to everyone we know.

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Blogkeeping

I have been going through the links on the sidebars, since I noticed some of them were broken. So I have repaired all of them on the left sidebar. There are so many, that it took time! Next I will do the links on the right sidebar. I think I will print out a bunch of the info I have linked to, and bind it in a notebook, in case the Internet ever goes down just when you think it might be handy to know how to do a few things.

I just want to highlight some of the changes I made to the left sidebar. Under :: home business ::, I found a great website which lists CPSIA compliant suppliers, for artisan and home- based businesses. Each of the suppliers has had their raw materials tested and has certified proof of their compliance with the law. Under :: natural healing ::, I added a link to the Healthier Talk Forum, which is a regular discussion board, but which also features articles from the giants in nutritional healting, such as Dr. Mercola and Dr. Gittleman. There is always interesting and informative discussions going on over there!

I have more links waiting in the wings, which I will highlight once I get the right sidebar done. Stay tuned.

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Stopping HR875

I have been blogging about HR875 since February. Here is a recap of my post and the news and opinion articles I have been able to find about it:

Monsanto's Dream Bill (HR875) at Dr Joseph Mercola's site
Change we can believe in? (HR875) at Cryptogon.com
Glenn Beck on the food safety modernization act (HR875)
and commentary on Hot Air.com
Lose your property for growing food? World Net Daily
Is HR875 set to wipe out organic farming?

So now what do we do? If we flood Washington DC with calls and letters voicing our extreme displeasure, if ENOUGH of us call, over and over again, Congresspeople are still enough in love with their cushy life at taxpayer's expense to not do something if they believe that We the People will make them pay at re-election time. Start by calling your local Congressman. After you have let him know that you are opposed to this bill, and why, ask his staff to direct you to the committee looking at this bill. Your Congressman's office should be able to give you the names and phone numbers of every Congressman on that committee. Call them and let them know why you are opposed to this bill. It could be, like CPSIA, that they are rushing something without thinking through all the ramifications, merely for the sake of seeming to be doing something about the peanut butter contamination. Don't get me started, LOL. In the old days, haste was considered the mark of a fool.

And as I discover more and more about this bill, I will keep everyone informed as best I can. And if you discover something I have missed, leave me a link or a comment or send me an e-mail, and I will get the word out. And please, tell everyone you know about this bill. We need it go viral and the opposition to come from the grassroots.

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HR 875, again

More and more media outlets are beginning to sound the alarm about HR 875, the misnamed Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. This bill is designed to do to small farmers what the CPSIA has the potential to do to small business. This article is good because it delves into Monsanto, the GMO seed giant whose executives are all over this bill, and who stands to benefit the most from the destruction of organic and small family farms.

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