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Long Winters, Hello Cod Liver Oil

Posted by Joette Calabrese on February 9, 2012

Where’s the sun?

Oh, those dreary, sunless, taupe-colored months.  It’s just about this time of year when I wish I could fill up my battery bars with some revitalizing sun.

But without our free source of vitamin D, we’re left to fend for ourselves to keep vitamin D levels adequate.

No one wants the winter blues and it’s well established that they result from a deficiency of vitamin D, present in soluble fats.

How can we be certain that our families are getting enough vitamin D in their diet without relying on the so-called “fortified” cereals, milks and synthetic vitamins?

As a homeopath who teaches mothers and others how to maintain and restore heath, I often suggest using lard in baking (like our grandmothers’ pies!) and in sautéing.  I also teach folks how to employ homeopathic remedies, such as Calc phos 6x, to help promote the proper absorption of nutrients.

All good stuff.

But truly, the easiest way to sustain vitamin D in the winter is to take fermented cod liver oil daily.

Yet, I’ll share a secret.  I teach my clients that cod liver oil is essential even in the warmer months.   Why? Because no matter how often our children are outside and getting vitamin D from the sun, they will not receive a priceless source of nutrition – liver, itself. Quite simply, liver contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food!

It took me years to learn the importance of the consistent habit of eating liver, particularly that from a clean source.  Yet, when I was raising my children, it was nearly impossible to get liver into them.  After years of pâté, liver smothered in bacon and onions, and many turned up noses, I simply had to find a simple solution. Desiccated beef liver, available from Radiant Life in both powder and capsules, provides a convenient way to obtain all the legendary health and nutritional benefits of liver.

It can even be sprinkled into soups and stews and served to unsuspecting recipients of this sacred food!

Getting back to the importance of fermented cod liver oil…

Fermented cod liver oil is a time-tested method for consuming these most precious nutrients. Our ancestors instinctively understood the importance of daily cod liver oil long before the studies substantiated the findings.

My Italian grandmothers raised their large and robust families on such fare. When there was barely enough money for milk during the depression, they made certain that their children at least had cod liver oil. Fermented cod liver oil wasn’t available to them, but at least plain cod liver oil was.

Fermented cod liver oil is packed with fat-soluble vitamin D, which helps promote bone and teeth growth, as well as building immunity. Additionally, it supports healthy body weight and encourages brain development and lung function.

The high quality fermented fare wasn’t available in capsules when my children were young.  So, I incorporated a nightly ritual of taking cod liver oil with a tall glass of fresh milk.  My boys affectionately dubbed it the “spoon of doom”.

It made it more fun.

Things are different today. Now, my sons are young men and they take their fermented cod liver oil daily on their own.  In fact, while in college, they often doubled up on their doses while studying for exams.  The results were always high grades.

Radiant Life makes these age-old products available, and I make the recommendation to all my students/clients and anyone who asks, to take advantage of this near perfect food. For those who wish to avoid the cod liver oil’s taste, fermented cod liver oil capsules are the answer to skipping over the “spoon of doom”.

No need to let those clouds keep you and your family down this season. Instead, make Fermented Cod Liver Oil part of your daily routine and you’ll keep your brain sharp and your smile sunny, too.

Posted in cod liver oil, Fermented Foods, health, Nutrition, Vitamin D, Weston A. Price Foundation | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Get Your Kids High

Posted by Joette Calabrese on February 2, 2012

Wait.  Did you think I meant…….

Courtesy of www.thenutritionpost.com

No, no.  Not that kind of high.

I’m talking about a high fever.  In fact, it’s high time we all understood that getting a fever has phenomenal value in the short and long term.

This was known back in the late 1700’s, when Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the Father of Homeopathy, acknowledged that fever is an occasion.

An occasion for what though?

First off, a fever provides lifelong immunity by completing a short term illness. Secondly, fevers help to prevent what would otherwise become chronic illness as long as they’re not suppressed. But when a fever is suppressed, so is the illness it was trying to combat. In the end, that same illness is simply heaved into the future. And there it looms in the form of chronic disease.

Let me explain.

Fever is the marker of a stimulated and activated immunological reaction.   The virus or bacteria is the provoking agent which triggers a normal response from the white blood cells.  The pain, fatigue and fever that ensues is what we call being sick.

My goal was to be sure that my children were allowed to complete their childhood illnesses with a good high fever, so that the cell remediated responses could clear the illness fully.  I never used sponge baths of alcohol or warm water. Instead, allowing the fever to flourish was paramount to the long term wellness of my child. In fact, it was an opportunity for wellness.

In other words, when someone (especially a baby or child) is sick, not only is a fever a natural response, but it’s also an indicator that there’s a “so far, so good” action occurring.

Fevers symbolize positive reaction.

But you might ask, “Can’t fevers be dangerous?”

Well, it depends on the temperature. Some say that 106.7° is the danger point and that this kind of fever is usually caused by an intracranial hemorrhage from trauma, as opposed to a strep or viral infection. Other medical experts are convinced that above 107° is the threatening high point.

Nonetheless, most infections in childhood diseases limit the febrile response to about 105°.

Fevers do not just build up immunity and gird the body against future colds and flu’s.  In fact, Dr. Thomas Cowan, a recent speaker at the Weston A. Price Conference in Dallas, aptly said, “Every time I treat fever, I’m treating cancer in the future.”  He was referencing evidence which shows that cancer is the result of suppressed fever and he went on to say that the fever’s response is the way we maturate our white blood cells.

His sentiments are that we should embrace the febrile response because fever is not an illness at all…it’s simply a symptom.  Indeed, an illness can cause damage, but a fever is not the illness, it’s only the febrile response.

And this response is a therapeutic one, too; fevers cure the problem by “cooking” off the virus or bacteria.

In the last 50 years, there hasn’t been even one thread of evidence showing that fevers cause damage, unless they’re outside of the normal range.

Why then, have we treated it?  If you ask a candid pediatrician, he will tell you that it’s because the parents entreat him to “Do something!”    Then, if you ask parents, they say the reason they treat fever is because their doctor told them to do it.

‘Sounds like the cat running around trying to catch its tail…a rather silly reason to place our children into a risky setting, wouldn’t you agree?  Instead, let’s base our parental decisions on sounder judgment.

If you must treat fever, let me share the methods I’ve used for my own children and which I’ve taught to mothers and others over the years.

Yes, fevers are uncomfortable, but the authentic goal is not to suppress the fever, but to keep your child hydrated with lots and lots of good quality fluids.  Here are my guidelines:

Treating Fever Guidelines

  • Offer kombucha
  • Give your child water with fresh lemon and Bioplasma (a homeopathic mixture made by Hyland’s)
  • Hand over a cup of ice chips…flavored with lemon and raw honey
  • Make some freshly  squeezed  fruit juice (at home) and  dilute it with water
  • Offer a warm cup of raw milk with a splash of vanilla
  • Provide a tall glass of refreshing cold milk
  • Have your child sip on a mug of bone broth
  • Suggest a glass of kefir
  • Mix some yogurt in water with a bit of raw honey
  • Blend raw honey with a splash of vinegar in water
  • Whip up some homemade ice cream with raw milk and cream
  • Brew herbal teas, such as chamomile or rose hip
  • Freeze some popsicles made from any of the above drinks

Then, keep your child in bed.  Hold him, read to him, pray with him and smile with confidence.

That’s how we treat fever.  The only thing that goes into his mouth is what you’ve concocted in the kitchen via your motherly hands. No suppression, no synthetic pills and no short term illness thrown into the future to bankrupt your child’s long term health.

Once you understand how important it is to allow the body to finish the good work of healing via fever, you’ll be girded for an important step in autonomy. And autonomy is a critical step in authentic family wellness.

So the next time the kids get high, instead of calling in the psychologists, celebrate with a tall glass of kombucha and know that your parenting skills have developed enough to allow your child to cure himself.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you yearn to learn, contact Joette Calabrese at HomeopathyWorks.net for a free, 15 minute SKYPE or phone session and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for you and your family’s lifestyle strategy. For a download of our new, printer-friendly First Aid Chart, go to www.homeopathyworks.net and find it in the “Free Downloads and Articles” box. Don’t forget to check out all the information on Joette’s upcoming system designed for moms. Just click Yearn to Learn.

Posted in Fever, health, Homeopathy | Tagged: | 6 Comments »

Keep Those Winter Ills At Bay!

Posted by Maureen Diaz on January 7, 2012

One delightful child enjoying her immune-boosting tea!

Lately our family has been battling a belligerent chest cold. We’ve seldom been sick at all in recent years, and if we do have a sniffle or a cough it rarely lasts for more than a few days. But this bug has been nasty, I’m thinking more so than usual because we now have 2 wood stoves going in the house to keep us warm, and we are also just plain worn out from the business of (holiday season) life. So while it’s on my mind, I thought I would share with you a few of the simple strategies we use in our home to prevent and recover from illness.

Vitamin D is Crucial

One of the main things to remember this time of year is the need to keep our Vit. D levels up as much as possible. With the very limited access to UVB rays most people’s D levels will be quite low. This vitamin is crucial to our immune system, and so it is very important that we take our fermented cod liver oil from Green Pasture to try to boost those numbers, and our resistance to illness! I personally take 2-3 tsp. daily, with the children taking about half of that. But alas we’ve been slipping of late…

Herbal Pharmacy

Another very helpful thing that we do is keep an immune-boosting herbal tea mixture on hand. We’ve been making it by the half gallon lately, and trying to down from 2-4 cups of it per person each day. Here is my recipe for this herbal wonder:

1 cup dried elderberries

A fresh pot of immune-boosting brew

1 cup elderflowers

1 cup licorice root

1 cup echinacea purpea

6 sticks astragalus slices, broken into pieces

1 cup rose hips

1 cup peppermint (or a few drops peppermint essential oils per half gallon)

1-2 Tbsp. whole leaf stevia (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, or better yet in a Vita Mix or other food processor. Store it in a glass jar. To make tea, use 1/4 cup mixture per quart of hot water. Let steep for 20 minutes, strain. Do not throw the wet herbs to the compost pile yet, but toss them back in the jar, add more dried herb (generally I use half as much more), and make the next batch. If not using stevia, you may add a touch of honey to the finished brew, but the tea doesn’t taste bad as it is, so sweetness is not a major concern.

I am planning on using this same mix and making a tincture next week by filling a quart jar 3/4 of the way with herb, covering it completely with vodka, and topping off the jar with pure water. This will steep for 3-4 weeks with an occasional shake, and then it will be decanted into a glass jar.

Moist, Cool Air Essential for Respiratory Infections

Anytime a respiratory illness wants to creep up, we pull out the humidifier and add 2 droppers full of lemon eucalyptus essential oil. White camphor is also helpful and soothing, and occasionally some lavender and/or rosemary makes its way into the reservoir. We recently purchased a new Vicks cool mist vaporizer which seems to be working very well, and hopefully will last a few years. We are running it during the day time in the general living area of our house to help boost the moisture in the wood-heat-dried air. All of these herbs, in oil & dried forms, are available at Mountain Rose Herbs, my favorite herb source!

Two herbals that I keep on hand at all times are Oil of Oregano and Goldenseal. I purchase empty gel caps and fill them with the Oil of Oregano and a drop or two of peppermint oil, which makes it easier on the stomach. Even our 4 year old can take these capsules, 1 at a time 4 times a day. the adults & big kids take 2 capsules at a time. Again, Mountain Rose Herbs offers this otherwise pricey oil at a much better price than you can find in the health food store.

The dried root of the Goldenseal Plant. Photo, Mountain Rose Herbs

Goldenseal is a potent herbal, broad-spectrum antibiotic. This stuff is powerful! Unfortunately I ran out of it this go ’round and have to wait for the next batch, but taking it usually results in a speedy recovery, especially when combined with the oil of oregano. You can brew this into a nasty tasting decoction, use the powdered form in capsules, or make a tincture by filling a jar 3/4 full of dried herb (goldenseal is very pricey, so likely you’ll do about a quarter pound in a quart jar), cover with vodka, and then top off with water. Close tightly and let infuse with the occasional shake-up, for 3-4 weeks.

When All Else Fails

When my kids have been croupy or otherwise critically congested, I have also made  a poultice of steamed fresh onions, layered in cheese clothe, and applied to the chest area. When covered with a heating pad or hot water bottle this has always succeeded in breaking up the congestion.

Parting Thoughts

When faced with any illness it is absolutely critical to avoid sugars, as it greatly depresses the immune system. I include all simple carbohydrates in this, not just “sugar” (white, high fructose, etc.). When ill the best way to nourish the body and heal is by consuming simple foods like bone broth and other easy-to-digest foods, raw foods, and also coconut oil. I will down a tablespoon of CO followed by a swig of hot tea or warm milk.

A soothing and nourishing beverage for times when appetites are want but nutrients needed is as follows: gently warm 1/2 gallon of fresh, raw milk. If possible you may add extra cream. Beat 2-4 whole, raw eggs and whisk into the warmed milk. To this add 1/4-1/2 cup blackstrap molasses and 1 Tbsp. vanilla. Be careful not to overheat, but serve warm in a nice mug and settle into  a bed full of pillows, with a side of good book or favorite movie !-)

You may be wondering why I don’t use colloidal silver or grapefruit seed extract. Both of these were formerly part of our repertoire, but we just don’t see the good results from CS that we do with the above. And after using GSE for years, I learned that the product is not “natural” at all, but made mostly of chemical extractives used to pull the “oil” out of the seed. In fact, it may not be the oil of the grapefruit seed at all that performs, but the other ingredients! I’m sticking with things that work, and do no harm.

I hope that these suggestions will be of benefit to many of you. Just remember to keep these things on hand for the season, and don’t let them run out! Our illness has tarried likely due to the fact that just when we are almost better, we run out of Oil of Oregano or Goldenseal. But it seems we are mostly on the mend now, and we have a fresh supply of goods that just arrived from Mountain Rose Herbs that should get us over the hump, and back to business as usual!

Maureen Diaz is a home schooling mother of a large family, Weston A Price Foundation chapter leader, Liberation Wellness educator, and producer of 3 DVD’s including Liberation Wellness Home Cooking. For more information or to order her DVD’s please visit her website: www.nourishingtraditionalcook.com

Posted in coconut oil, cod liver oil, Family Wellness, health, liberation wellness, Maureen Diaz, raw milk, sugar, Uncategorized, Vitamin D | Leave a Comment »

Foods That Are Good For Your Teeth

Posted by Dr. Richard Walicki on December 29, 2011

In a previous article, Foods That Are Bad For Your Teeth, I reviewed three broad categories of foods that can be detrimental to your dental health.  These were sugars and sweeteners, low fat foods, and foods that contain white, especially bleached, flour.

With this article I would like to spend some time talking about an area that I feel receives entirely too little attention – whether by patients, or dentists, for that matter.  Possibly, this comes about for the simple reason that by the time many patients arrive at the dentist they are looking for resolution of a specific problem.  In this sense, the market has conditioned both patients and doctors into focusing upon the end-game.

This has its place and fills a need.   Patients who are in pain do not generally want to hear about what they should be eating – they want to handle their pain.   Yet, knowing what foods can repair teeth may be a key element in establishing their future long-term dental stability.

In today’s economic climate, health care has undergone many challenges and the consumer has been faced with high medical and dental costs.  Consequently, health care is not infrequently reserved for the handling of emergencies.  This is actually counter-productive, as emergency dental care is also expensive.  Couple this with efforts by the patient to reduce costs, and the “treatment” may be a decision to remove the offending tooth.  Later, when the patient starts to regret his choice and seeks tooth replacements, he may find that replacement costs are many times more than had they handled the problem once discovered.

Economics can also influence the quality of the food we consume.  In an effort to save money many consumers will also select lowest cost items.  These are typically quite profitable for the producer but are usually highly processed and very unprofitable for your health.

So what do you need to know?

Let’s start with this simple concept:  If what you eat comes out of a box, a jar, a can, or a plastic wrapper, it has been processed.

Your diet is the single most important thing that you can control to create or maintain a healthy mouth.  When you eat too many processed foods – especially those that contain sugars and bleached flour – you create effects that may not be immediately noticed by you.  For example, the level of blood sugar can become elevated and with it a person can experience elevated cortisol.  Cortisol is a hormone produced by your adrenal gland and is responsible for raising blood sugar.   It also affects the flow of parotin (a salivary gland hormone) and, in so doing, can lead to cavities.  Cortisol also counteracts insulin which regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body, and it slows down bone formation.

The inability to metabolize fats, in turn, can keep you from benefiting from the healthy foods that can help you to repair your teeth.

So, you see, it is a little like the children’s song “The foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone.  And the ankle bone’s connected the leg bone.”  The bottom line: what we do – or don’t do – can have unseen and unwanted effects when it comes to our diet and teeth.

Maintaining healthy hormones is very important to your dental health as well as to your general health.  The relationship between demineralization and remineralization is balanced when hormones are healthy.  When unbalanced, calcium and phosphorus can be pulled out of the blood and create deficiencies in our bones as well as the teeth.  It can also create a condition wherein your body becomes excessively acidic. An acid environment is more receptive to the growth of bacteria and fungi.   If there is one take-home message that you take out of this article it should be that real food – namely unprocessed food, as nature intended that it be consumed – will not only support your general health, but will also support your teeth.

What foods, then, are good for your teeth?

  1.  Proteins:  Eat proteins in order to regulate blood sugar.  As mentioned above, blood sugar fluctuations are one of the key reasons that we lose minerals.  High quality proteins such as grass fed, or wild game are best.  While I realize that this may pose a problem for vegetarians, it doesn’t alter the fact that the most productive stores of minerals, protein, and fats are derived from meats.  Vegetarians must rely on eggs and cheese for their protein.
  2. Foods with phosphorus:  Possibly more important than calcium for your teeth, phosphorus can be obtained from milk and cheese.  Raw, unpasteurized milk is best.   Unless, strictly vegan, vegetarians should have no trouble getting their phosphorus from these sources.  Other good sources of phosphorus include organ meats of both land animals and those from the sea.  Muscle meats (most common meats consumed, i.e., not from organs such as liver or kidney, for example) are also a good source, as are beans and nuts.  Organ meats have more phosphorus than muscle meats.  Although present in some grains, the quantities can be insufficient or difficult to absorb, and this may not be the best choice for your teeth.
  3. Trace minerals are important:  In addition to phosphorus, the following deficiencies can also lead to problems with tooth decay – iron, copper, magnesium and manganese.  Foods with iron include shellfish and organ meats.  Copper is found in liver and mollusks.  Smaller amounts exist in mushrooms.  Magnesium can be found in fish, nuts, and spinach.  Manganese, also important in the regulation of blood sugar, occurs in liver, kidneys (organ meats), mussels, nuts, and pineapple, to name a few sources.  Other trace minerals may also play a role, but are too numerous to mention here.
  4. Healthy fats: These are a great source of energy, but are also important to help maintain hormonal function and balance.  Among the healthy fats are olive oil, butter, beef, chicken, pork and duck fat.  Avocado and coconut oil are also healthy fats, especially if from organic sources.  Vegetable fats do not generally contain the vitamins that help to re-build our teeth.
  5. Fat soluble vitamins D and A: Simply put, without adequate stores of these two vitamins, we can’t get the calcium and phosphorus into our bones or teeth.  People with tooth decay are typically lacking these two vitamins.  Seafood is an excellent source of Vitamin D.  If you don’t have easy access to seafood, or if you don’t like it, lard, or pork fat, will help. Suet, or beef fat appears to be more effective, however.  Another excellent (and relatively simple) way to get Vitamin D is with daily exposure to sunlight.  Consuming fermented cod liver oil is still another easy way to get Vitamin D into your diet.

Eating healthy is the single-most effective action you can take to protect your teeth – and your overall health.  It is also one thing that you can control.  Take the time to learn which foods can provide you with proteins, phosphorus, healthy fats, vitamins D and A, as well as trace minerals, and you will be well on your way to healthier teeth and gums!

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Known as the Doctor of Dental Wellness, Dr. Richard Walicki is a graduate of the Temple University School of Dentistry. Dr. Walicki is a general dentist with a focus on wellness and has maintained an active private practice in Philadelphia for over twenty years.  His mission is to help people attain practical solutions for their dental health problems through education, prevention and nutrition. Dr. Walicki is a contributor to the LiberationWellnessBlog and a supporter of real food. Additional articles of related interest can be located on his website.  A free newsletter and bonus report are also available.

Posted in blood sugar, Cheese, coconut oil, cod liver oil, Dr. Richard Walicki, farm fresh, grass fed beef, gums, health, lard, Nutrition, oral health, pasteurization, ProBiotics, processed food, raw milk, real food, sugar, Vitamin D | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Foods That Are Bad For Your Teeth

Posted by Dr. Richard Walicki on December 28, 2011

This is the first of a two-part series that discusses the effect of foods on our teeth.  Part One will review those foods considered harmful to the teeth, and Part Two will discuss foods that can actually help to rebuild them.

Generally, more attention is given to the former than the latter.  From a viewpoint of prevention, this has its value.  Nevertheless, a good understanding of which foods are beneficial to dental health is, in my opinion, of no lesser importance.  In actual fact, this understanding may hold the key to not only improving an individual’s dental health, but very possibly their general health as well.

While there are usually several components to any program that leads to improved dental health, of these, it is my opinion that diet is paramount.

Dentists generally spend the bulk of their time discussing the importance of hygiene.  I, too, have addressed this topic in several articles.  Nevertheless, over time, I have come to see the value of spending a great deal more time with patients reviewing and modifying their diets.  Truthfully, this is more challenging – and meets with greater resistance.  But it is vitally important.

I don’t think it is important to the exclusion of hygiene, however.  Yet, I have come across some opinions that promote diet only.  So let’s take another look at this area more broadly, just to put it into perspective.

Hygiene involves care of the entire body.  Naturally, that includes the mouth.  While good personal hygiene is generally something one should practice for themselves – it is also important to insist others maintain it as well.  Consider the following example:

Let’s say you have adopted a diet of fresh organic food and you are now on your way to your local butcher to purchase some fresh meat.  You arrive and are greeted by someone who smells as though he hasn’t bathed in a week.  His hair is greasy.  His hands are dirty and after he unceremoniously coughs into them, he wipes one hand on a dirty shirt.   Then he reaches over for your fresh cut of meat and holds it up for inspection.

You would have a right to refuse it.  Not because there is anything wrong with grass-fed, hormone free meat.  Rather, it would be because the person clearly practices poor hygiene and may infect you – and whoever else they come into contact with.  You wouldn’t be wrong to say something about it.

Similarly, good oral hygiene is simply a reflection of the total care of one’s body.  This also means getting sufficient rest and exercising regularly.

That having been said, let’s take a quick look at what types of food cause people dental problems.

These can be simplified into three broad categories.  As you will see, however, they comprise a very wide array of commonly consumed foods.

  1. Sugar and Sweeteners.  The first category I will mention is the one nearly everyone focuses upon and possibly falls into the category of “common knowledge.”  Despite this fact, you might be surprised by the quantities of sugars and sweeteners that are regularly consumed in a typical diet.  When the quantity of sugar in the blood rises it upsets the balance of calcium to phosphorus in the blood as well.  This has the effect of pulling calcium out of our teeth and bones.  Low phosphorus levels likewise affect the mineral content of dentin, which is the layer of tooth structure supporting tooth enamel.
  2. Low Fat Foods. This includes such items as skimmed or low-fat milk, which many individuals assume helps their teeth if they consume it in sufficient quantities.  Unfortunately, this is a fallacy that gets many people in trouble. Milk that is homogenized and pasteurized has been stripped of its nutritive value.  Pasteurization kills off the probiotic (good bacteria) quality of raw natural milk.  Paradoxically, this can allow pathogenic (bad) bacteria to grow more easily in pasteurized milk.  Also, the absence of healthy fat can affect hormonal function which, in turn, may affect mineral levels adversely.
  3. Bleached (White) Flour.  Products that contain white flour can also be damaging to teeth – especially when combined with sugars and in the absence of healthy animal fats.  If one stops to consider how many foods are made with white flour, this can create quite a dietary challenge.  Furthermore, if not removed after meals, these foods will create a thin sticky layer of what is basically a form of sugar.  Because this, in turn, can stick to the teeth for hours – and becomes acidic – it can accelerate that demineralization process that breaks down the outer layer of your teeth, resulting in tooth decay.  Also, the bleaching process typically adds chlorine dioxide or benzoyl peroxide to make the flour appear bright white.   You don’t need these in your diet.

In the next article, we will cover what foods are good for your teeth.  The positive side to this story is that there is good news and you can do something to remineralize or rebuild your teeth; however, knowing how foods come into the picture and which ones are detrimental to your teeth and gums is a critical element for taking control of your dental health.

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Known as the Doctor of Dental Wellness, Dr. Richard Walicki is a graduate of the Temple University School of Dentistry. Dr. Walicki is a general dentist with a focus on wellness and has maintained an active private practice in Philadelphia for over twenty years.  His mission is to help people attain practical solutions for their dental health problems through education, prevention and nutrition. Dr. Walicki is a contributor to the LiberationWellnessBlog and a supporter of real food. Additional articles of related interest can be located on his website.  A free newsletter and bonus report are also available.

Posted in blood sugar, Dr. Richard Walicki, gums, health, low fat dairy, Nutrition, oral health, Uncategorized | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

Looking For Work? Fix Your Teeth

Posted by Dr. Richard Walicki on October 30, 2011

Bad teeth may not only have negative consequences for your health, they can cost you a job.

Many people with visibly unattractive teeth go through life avoiding eye contact with strangers for fear of having to smile back or even to make small talk. Not infrequently, when such people do talk or feel compelled to smile, they cover their mouths with their hand.

Unfortunately, in a job interview, this will not go over well. Yet, for the person with dental problems, to smile or talk would compel them to reveal something they are deeply embarrassed about – their teeth. There is an old saying that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. And first impressions are typically based upon appearance. Your teeth, or even your breath, can either enhance or completely destroy your chances of landing that new position.

Teeth that are blackened by decay, are crooked, discolored, or even missing may not just be embarrassing – they may turn off prospective employers. Also, hiding your smile during an interview can be one of the worst things you do. A smile and a confident response project self-assurance and make a person appear likeable.

This is just one of many subtleties employers may take into account when interviewing a prospect. Teeth that are stained by coffee, tea or cigarettes may distract the interviewer from what is really important – you and your qualifications.

Likewise, coffee and cigarettes leave a smell that can be easily detected. Apart from not showing visible stains, a prospective job-seeker should also avoid certain other foods shortly before their interview. The most obvious offenders are garlic, onions, anchovies or tuna. But it is also prudent to steer clear of such lunch meats such as salami, pepperoni or pastrami before your interview. Strong cheeses, such as Roquefort, Camembert, or Bleu cheese also leave persisting odors and, similarly, should be avoided.

Women are cautioned to avoid getting lipstick on their teeth. Softer shades or lip gloss are preferable to bright red. Lipstick on your teeth can give you the appearance of being careless or hurried – which may also sink your prospects the moment you open your mouth to speak.

In today’s economy, competition for work is fierce. Applicants need every advantage they can get to land the job. Applicants’ teeth need to be as good looking as the way they dress, comb their hair, or even shine their shoes, because employers can afford to be selective with so many qualified people looking for work.

Recent research conducted in the U.S. estimates that those prospects with well-maintained teeth experience as much as a 58% higher chance of finding a job than those whose teeth are perceived as unattractive. It also seems that potential employees who have invested in dental treatment with cosmetic dentistry are regarded as more professional, congenial, and trustworthy.

Individuals seeking employment can increase their chances of getting work by taking several steps before their interview. These include getting a dental examination, completing unfinished restorative work and possibly even having cosmetic dentistry. The number of job seekers getting their teeth whitened and getting porcelain veneers placed (as a way to increase their chances of hiring success) is increasing for these very reasons. So what do you do if you can’t afford a Hollywood smile? Don’t worry, there are affordable answers.

If you need a lot of work and it is out of your reach, temporary cosmetic solutions such as a Snap-On Smile® can make a dramatic change in your appearance – very often at less than one quarter the cost of a more permanent solution. This is on the order of a functional, but temporary, smile design that snaps over your natural teeth. Once you land the job and start making an income, you can consider something more permanent!

Posted in Dr. Richard Walicki, health, oral health | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Is There Such A Thing As A Good Sugar?

Posted by Dr. Richard Walicki on October 1, 2011

What if a person could reduce tooth decay by 25%?  That would be pretty good.  Don’t you think?

How about if YOU could suffer 40% fewer cavities?  Would that get your attention? 

Dentists have been tackling the tooth decay problem for decades.  There have been many theories and various approaches.  These range from focusing upon home care, to controlling dietary factors, to using chemical agents such as chlorhexidine and fluoride.

Most of us would agree – a 25% to 40% reduction in tooth decay would be desirable.  But, what if – and without too much effort – a mother could see her five year old child reduce their tooth decay by as much as 70%?  (This reduction is compared to children given a fluoride or chlorhexidine varnish.)

Simply put, that is a BIG deal.

Still other studies have shown that mothers who did this two to three times a day, starting three months after delivery and until their child was 2 years old, reduced the levels of cavity-causing bacteria in their children up to six years of age.

The secret?  The mothers were chewing xylitol gum.

What is xylitol?  It is a sugar alcohol sweetener that is naturally occurring and can be found in the fibers of various fruits and vegetables.  Most commonly, it is extracted from corn husks and birch.  It is both tooth-friendly and diabetic friendly.

What makes it so special?  Unlike sucrose, or common table sugar, xylitol, does not ferment – a process which results in acid formation that breaks down tooth enamel.  To the contrary, the organic structure of xylitol allows it to help remineralize enamel before decay has time to form.  Saliva containing xylitol is also more alkaline than saliva exposed to some other sweeteners, so is not as likely to produce decay.  Additionally it has other chemical properties that help to remineralize the teeth.   Studies conducted in Finland in the 1970s showed that people who chewed sucrose gum had nearly three decayed, missing, or filled teeth, compared to roughly one such tooth in a group chewing xylitol gum.

Xylitol also has a more specific anti-bacterial action which could also be responsible for controlling tooth decay.  It is known to inhibit the Streptococcus mutans group of bacteria, which are significant contributors to the process which results in cavities.  Because it also inhibits Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae on nose and throat cells, it can also be used as a nasal spray.

The FDA permits xylitol to be marketed as a product which does not promote tooth decay.

Are there any risks?  While there is no known toxicity to xylitol in humans, if taken beyond a person’s individual threshold for this type of sugar alcohol, temporary gastrointestinal (GI) side-effects such as bloating, gas, and diarrhea can occur.

Generally, these effects diminish and a person’s threshold for xylitol use without the laxative or GI effect increases over time.

An important note for dog lovers:  dogs that have consumed high levels of xylitol (greater than 100 mg per kilogram of body weight) experienced drops in blood sugar that could be life-threatening.  Very high levels (500 to 1000 mg per kilogram of body weight) have also been tied to liver failure in dogs.  Xylitol does not appear to have the same effect on cats, and it has also been acknowledged as capable of reducing plaque and tartar in cats when added to their water.

Xylitol is available in toothpastes, mouthwashes, nasal spray, chocolates, jams, lollipops, and in granular form.  When used as a sugar substitute it is typically used in the same ratio as one might use table sugar.  It also tastes like sugar, but without the aftertaste associated with many other artificial sweeteners.

Where you get your xylitol may be an additional risk factor, however.  Some readers may be familiar with a recent (FDA) warning to consumers to throw out all toothpaste made in China after the agency found a poison commonly used in anti-freeze in the toothpaste it evaluated in three U.S. cities.  Unfortunately, there have been similar concerns about Chinese xylitol.

If buying from a domestic distributor, you may want to check the source of the xylitol.  Also check to make sure your “xylitol” gum isn’t mixed with aspartame, a potentially dangerous sweetener with many reported side effects including memory loss, brain lesions, and multiple sclerosis to name just a few.

So how much xylitol do you need to consume to get cavity-fighting benefits?  Most studies suggest about six grams are needed in order to get a result.  That translates to roughly twelve pieces of gum a day.

Hmmm.  Several hours in the dental chair or chew gum six times a day?  You decide.

 

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Known as the Doctor of Dental Wellness, Dr. Richard Walicki is a graduate of the Temple University School of Dentistry. Dr. Walicki is a general dentist with a focus on wellness and has maintained an active private practice in Philadelphia for over twenty years.  His mission is to help people attain practical solutions for their dental health problems through education, prevention and nutrition. Dr. Walicki is a contributor to the LiberationWellnessBlog and a supporter of real food. Additional articles of related interest can be located on his website.  A free newsletter and bonus report are also available.

Posted in blood sugar, diabetes, Dr. Richard Walicki, health, sugar, xylitol | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

A Sampling Of My Recent Gourmet Low-Carb Paleo Meals

Posted by Jimmy Moore on September 16, 2011

It’s been just under a month since Christine and I decided to give a low-carb version of Paleo a try and we’ve loved it. Armed with deliciously healthy real whole foods (including the occasional “odd bit”), we’re enjoying the incredible flavor of the foods we’re eating with the best quality of grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, wild-caught fish, organic and local veggies, healthy oils, and spices galore. I’m excited to jump in the kitchen each day to whip up a gourmet low-carb Paleo meal for my sweetheart Christine. Here’s a sampling of the kind of food we’ve been having lately:

These are all recipes I’ve made up myself, but I’m looking forward to trying two new AMAZING Paleo cookbooks soon: Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking in a Gluten-Free Kitchen by Charles & Julia Mayfield (with a foreword by The Paleo Solution author Robb Wolf) and Make it Paleo: Over 200 Grain Free Recipes For Any Occasion by Bill Staley & Hayley Mason (with a foreword by The Primal Blueprint author Mark Sisson). Paleo IS mainstream now and it continues to grow in popularity! I’ll keep updating you on how my low-carb version of Paleo is working. We’re certainly eating mouthwatering meals fit for a king.

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Jimmy Moore is the popular blogger, podcaster and author of Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb who lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet in 2004 and quickly established himself as a highly influential layperson in the field of health and nutrition. His wildly successful Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Blog has been educating, encouraging and inspiring readers since 2005 and his accompanying iTunes podcast The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore is one of the most listened to health broadcasts online today featuring hundreds of enchanting interviews with the leading voices in the world of diet and healthy living! Jimmy’s latest book compiling all the knowledge he has learned along his journey is called 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: How The Health Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew. He lives in Spartanburg, SC with his beautiful wife Christine and their three cats!

Posted in fresh and local, grass fed beef, health, jimmy moore, livin lavida lo-carb, Paleo | 1 Comment »

70 Paleo, Low-Carb & Health Blogs For You To Enjoy For Labor Day 2011

Posted by Jimmy Moore on September 4, 2011

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you are able to be off of work for it (which is ironic since it’s LABOR Day) and crank up that grill one final time this summer for a big fat low-carb steak on the barbie! I don’t know about you but I’m ready for some cooler weather and a changing of the seasons.

Speaking of change, Christine and I will be appearing on a local television program in Greenville, South Carolina on Monday morning to talk about our recent failed embryo adoption story in an effort to help others understand the subjects of infertility and the frustration of the various options for having children. Christine still has her moments, but she’s been amazing through all of this and time is slowly healing the wounds. We appreciate all the continued prayers and positive thoughts for us as we move forward.

Historically speaking, I haven’t done a post like this one today unless I’m headed for vacation. But don’t worry–I ain’t going anywhere! But my list of new and interesting Paleo, low-carb and health blogs has just ballooned in just the past month and I couldn’t wait any longer to share these whopping 70 links with you. As usual, it’s an eclectic group of blogs for you hitting all angles of diet, food, health, nutrition and life. It’s good to see what others are putting out there and you may just find yourself a new favorite among the bunch! I’ve said it many time before, but be sure to leave a comment, write an e-mail, and bookmark the page of those blogs you especially enjoyed. You really will make their day. Here’s a list of all my previous blog listings–check ‘em out here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Don’t miss these 70 new blogs for you to enjoy this Labor Day 2011:

1. LOW CARB DIETITIAN
2. PALEO SPIRIT
3. THE PRIMAL PARENT
4. LOW CARB CARNIVORE
5. KICKING CARBS TO THE CURB
6. FAT STATE
7. THE NUTRITION DEBATE
8. THE COMMON SENSE WARRIOR
9. LOW CARB WISDOM
10. PRIMALMEDED
11. EXUBERANT ANIMAL
12. TECHMEDIC
13. MASTERING THE ART OF PALEO COOKING
14. CRITICAL MAS
15. PRIMAL GRUB
16. NATURALLY ENGINEERED
17. THE PALEO CURE
18. CAVEMAN BISTRO
19. 30 DAYS OF PALEO
20. FOLLOWING MY GUT
21. JUST REAL FOOD
22. CIVILIZED CAVEMAN COOKING
23. BIG TIM’S PRIMAL JOURNEY
24. CURE FOR THE CONVENTIONAL COLD
25. THE CLAN: A PALEO GATHERING
26. COMPREHENSIVE FITNESS SOLUTIONS
27. THE CULINARY CAVEGIRL
28. PALEO SUPERHUMAN
29. IRISH PALEO GIRL
30. GIRL.MEETS.FARM
31. THE PALEO NETWORK (Australia/New Zealand)
32. PALEO PLAN
33. PRIMAL BALANCE
34. SLOW CARB FOODIE
35. THE PRIMAL CHALLENGE
36. HEALTHY, HUNGRY AND HAPPY
37. COURAGEOUS MIND
38. CAVEMAN HOME COMPANION
39. PALEO IN ALASKA
40. HUNT GATHER SAUTE
41. REDBLOG
42. QUEEN OF THE STONE AGE
43. PALEOMG
44. SWEET CHEEKS
45. BETHANY’S BLOG
46. BE WISE MONKEY
47. A LOW CARB/PALEO DIARY
48. PRIMAL PLAYMATE
49. ECLECTIC KITCHEN
50. CROSSFIT 206
51. MY PALEO WORLD
52. AN OMNIVORE’S DECISION
53. PALEOHUND
54. TO LIVE, TO LAUGH, TO LOVE
55. THE SOULFUL SPOON
56. HAZMAT PALEO
57. PRIMAL-LIBERTARIAN
58. BECKY’S KALEIDOSCOPE
59. LOW CARB DIET DIARY
60. THE COMMON ROOM
61. DELIGHTFUL TASTE BUDS
62. LABEL FREE LIFE
63. PRIMAL ORLANDO
64. CAVEMAN FOOD
65. THE CAVEWOMAN’S KITCHEN
66. THE BULLETPROOF EXECUTIVE
67. PERSONAL INFLUENCE
68. EDIBLE HEALTH
69. PIZSEZ
70. EDIBLE INTELLIGENCE

Did you like these blogs? Don’t forget to TELL THEM by leaving a comment. If you or someone you know has a low-carb, Paleo or health blog or web site that you’d like to see featured in a future blog post here at “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb,” then I’d love to know about it. E-mail me the name of the blog and the URL to livinlowcarbman@charter.net so I can add it to my next big blog update coming when my list gets to be too long like it did this time. If you’ve been successful in your weight and health eating a healthy high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet, then you should consider starting your own low-carb blog to pass the message on to a world desperate for answers. THANKS so much for reading!

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Jimmy Moore is the popular blogger, podcaster and author of Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb who lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet in 2004 and quickly established himself as a highly influential layperson in the field of health and nutrition. His wildly successful Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Blog has been educating, encouraging and inspiring readers since 2005 and his accompanying iTunes podcast The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore is one of the most listened to health broadcasts online today featuring hundreds of enchanting interviews with the leading voices in the world of diet and healthy living! Jimmy’s latest book compiling all the knowledge he has learned along his journey is called 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: How The Health Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew. He lives in Spartanburg, SC with his beautiful wife Christine and their three cats!

Posted in health, jimmy moore, livin lavida lo-carb, Paleo | 5 Comments »

Jimmy Moore’s Adventures In ‘Odd Bits’: Cow Tongue

Posted by Jimmy Moore on September 3, 2011

It’s been almost two weeks since my wife Christine and I went full-fledged low-carb Paleo with our nutrition and I can’t say anything bad about the experience so far. Surely I’d have some cravings. Nope. But what about finding good quality food to consume? No problem between my local farm, farmer’s market and the Internet. In fact, take a gander at all the delicious and nutritious food we are consuming now!

I’ve been cooking a couple of times daily since this started and have rekindled my long lost love for experimenting with food again. It’s been a revival of my low-carb lifestyle of sorts that has been sorely needed for a long while. Christine is certainly loving all the fresh, homemade Paleo food (and doesn’t mind cleaning up the dirty dishes I pile up in the sink) and is thrilled to be walking this journey at this time.

However, if you watched that video of me showing you what is in my refrigerator, then you may have noticed a rather strange food I mentioned was lurking in there. Did you catch it? No? WATCH IT AGAIN HERE–FAST FORWARD TO THE 1:39 MARK.

Yes, you heard me right. I’ve got beef tongue. As in the tongue from a cow. It’s not just any cow, mind you–grass-fed all the way baby! But I know the first thought so many of you are having right now if you’ve never consumed tongue in your diet is “EWWWWW, gross!” Believe me, I got a lot of that from my Facebook friends. Take a look at what some of them had to say about this:

“I cannot get over that’s it is a tongue. I’m sure it’s delicious, but I have a serious mental block that prevents me from eating tongue. lol”

“Can’t get over the mental hurdle. I’d feel like I was french kissing my food :P “

“I just can’t get by the thought and would gag….lol”

“I’m for organ meats per se, I’ll eat pate like a princess, but I’m not going to look at a huge beef tongue.”

“I think I am going to pass on that dinner invitation. I remember being served tongue in grade school. I did not get to go to recess on those days cause I did not clean my plate.”

Funny? Yes! In fact, I probably would have been cracking the same kind of jokes not that long ago if I had read about one of my friends on Facebook talking about cooking up a tongue…that is, until I started being more adventurous with my food thanks to the influence over the years of The Weston A. Price Foundation and my newfound Paleo diet. The fact is the tongue of a cow is nothing more than another muscle in the body. And we already eat much of the other muscle on a cow–so why not the tongue?

Coincidentally, as I was beginning to become gung ho about trying beef tongue for the first time in nearly four decades of life, I heard from my friend Jennifer McLagan, a James Beard Award-winning author of Fat: An Appreciation Of A Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes which was named the “Cookbook of the Year” by the Beard Foundation in 2009 (I even had the privilege of interviewing Jennifer on my podcast in December 2008 about this awesome book). Well, she’s back in 2011 with a brand spankin’ new book that deals with–what else?–all the “odd bits” of meat that aren’t usually consumed but can be a critical part of the animals we consume. The book is called Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal and I look forward to interviewing Jennifer about this later this year.

Jennifer has a section in her book on animal tongues beginning on page 49 where she acknowledges how some people get grossed out by the thought of eating a tongue. She recalled having “ox tongue” at Christmas each year that was potted tongue meat with jelly which she admitted was “not my favorite part of Christmas dinner.” She later grew to appreciate tongue more without the jelly and on a sandwich with sharp mustard instead. Jennifer says it’s time for people to give tongue a second chance to be explored. She encourages making sandwiches, salads, or just about anything that goes with tender, melts-in-your-mouth meat. My new friends from the Ancestral Health Symposium last month named Bill Staley and Hayley Mason (authors of an upcoming new cookbook in October 2011 I’ll be sharing more about soon called Make It Paleo: Over 200 Grain Free Recipes For Any Occasion) have an awesome Beef Tongue Taco Bites recipe. The sky truly is the limit!

Other than the novelty of eating a tongue, are there any nutritional benefits to consuming tongue? Absolutely! A 3-ounce serving has 19g fat and 16g protein with zero carbs. The protein in the cow tongue specifically helps to produce vital hormones and enzymes for your body as well as build lean muscle. Cow tongue is also and excellent source of Vitamin B-12 and other B vitamins. Zinc is another valuable mineral provided by the cow tongue which is merely a bonus on top of all the delicious meat you get to enjoy. So what was my first experience with cooking and preparing a cow tongue like? I took lots of pictures so you can relive it with me.

I can’t say I wasn’t a little creeped out by what I placed on my cutting board. My local farmer who I purchased the tongue from actually had TWO tongues processed and wrapped for me (at an affordable cost of around $11) and they were frozen solid. That required me to refrigerate them so I could get one of them defrosted to cook. When they were frozen together, everything was hard as a rock. But pulling out one of the tongues after being thawed was a bit surreal. Here’s what it looked like:

OMG, this a TONGUE! After getting over the heebie jeebies of that coarse tongue and blob of what would ostensibly be the meat I’d be consuming, it wasn’t so bad. But here’s a close-up of the tongue itself where you can see the prickliness of it:

I put the tongue in my crock pot, filled it up with water to submerge the tongue, and added in some Celtic salt, fresh garlic cloves and other spices. The broth this created by the next morning after letting it cook on low overnight (about 8-9 hours) actually looked pretty good:

Pulling the tongue out of the broth and placing it in a bowl, it really wasn’t much to look at. What is that alien creature in my kitchen:

Taking a sharp knife out of my drawer, I carefully started slitting down the middle of the tongue which peeled away surprisingly easily to reveal some luscious and tender meat that had been cooking in my crock pot overnight:

Using a fork, I was able to get most of the meat gathered and put into a container for me to use in a recipe. Here’s the good stuff:

I was tempted to try to follow some recipe, but instead I took on the continued adventure of seeing what I could come up with. I mixed in some cumin, garlic, peppercorns, Celtic salt and other spices as well as some macadamia nut oil to the meat to see how it would taste. Because that combination brought a lot of heat to the dish, I attempted to temper that by adding in some fresh blueberries and country-scrambled eggs:

The meal was delicious and satisfying! All in all, my first experience with cow tongue was pretty good. Christine still hasn’t taken the plunge to eat it yet. She’s got the whole mental block that some of my Facebook friends above expressed. I wonder if I just served it to her and she didn’t know it was a tongue if she’d eat it like she would a pot roast. No doubt about it because the taste and texture is virtually identical. Oh well, if she doesn’t have any, that just means more for me. And I’ve got another beef tongue waiting to be cooked. Maybe this next one I’ll pop in the Sous Vide Supreme. We shall see.

How about you? Have you eaten a cow’s tongue before? Why or why not? If you haven’t, then what is holding you back? If you have, what were your impressions of it. I’d love to hear what you think! Share your thoughts in the comments section below. This is but the first of my adventures in “odd bits” that I’ll be blogging about. I’m not sure what I’ll take on next, but you can be certain I’ll blog about it when I do.

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Jimmy Moore is the popular blogger, podcaster and author of Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb who lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet in 2004 and quickly established himself as a highly influential layperson in the field of health and nutrition. His wildly successful Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Blog has been educating, encouraging and inspiring readers since 2005 and his accompanying iTunes podcast The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore is one of the most listened to health broadcasts online today featuring hundreds of enchanting interviews with the leading voices in the world of diet and healthy living! Jimmy’s latest book compiling all the knowledge he has learned along his journey is called 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: How The Health Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew. He lives in Spartanburg, SC with his beautiful wife Christine and their three cats!

Posted in farm fresh, fresh and local, grass fed beef, health, jimmy moore, livin lavida lo-carb, Nutrition, Paleo, real food, real foods, red meat, saturated fat, wapf, Weston A. Price Foundation | Leave a Comment »

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