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Healthful Living Newsletter Holistic Health and Healing for Mind and Body
July/August 2005 Issue

Dear Julie,

Welcome to the Healthful Living newsletter - With summer in full swing, we hope you enjoy our suggestions for healthful living. We have some great radio shows planned this month. Don't miss Jane Hersey from the Feingold organization June 30th, as well as Sally Fallon and many others.

in this issue
  • Tune in to Reality Sandwich:
    A Palatable Taste of the Truth
  • Kombucha: For Your Health by Julie Matthews
  • Nutrition for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding by Julie Matthews
  • The Real Reasons Why Raw Milk is Becoming More Popular, excerpt from Dr. Mercola's website
  • States and Stages by Jason McClain

  • Kombucha: For Your Health by Julie Matthews

    Kombucha, a cultured food we don't hear of too much about, but it is catching on very quickly. It is my favorite of the cultured foods. It is delicious and kids love it! Kombucha is often misclassified as "mushroom tea" leading people to believe it is some sort of mushroom boiled and made into a tea. This is not the case. It is a brew of sweetened black or green tea that is fermented with a culture of bacteria and yeast. The bacteria and yeast feed on the sugar and convert it into beneficial components that help with digestion, detoxification, immune function, cellular metabolism, weight loss, alkalinity, etc. Kombucha contains enzymes, amino acids, vitamin C, B vitamins, and beneficial bacteria and yeast for a healthy digestive system. It's amazing when you see all of the uses for it including: constipation, candida, digestive disturbances, immune system problems like AIDS, cancer, headaches, and a variety of heart-supportive uses.

    Kombucha can be purchased at the store or made at home. I warn you ahead of time (jokingly), this beverage is delicious and may lead to an expensive habit. However, you can ferment it at home very inexpensively. It tastes nothing like black tea: it tastes like fermented apple cider, and often has a bit of juice added (after fermentation) for a variety of great flavors: including gingerale, mango, guava, and many others. Although kombucha is made with sugar, the yeast and bacteria consume the sugar and what is left is only 2 grams of sugar in 8 ounces of kombucha.

    The beneficial yeast and bacteria compete with and inhibit pathogenic microbes such as strains of candida, staphylococcus, e. coli, salmonella, listeria, and helicobaterpylori. The bacteria and yeast are a balance of lactobacillus and Saccharomyces (including S. boulardii). The Saccharomyces family is known to kill candida and pathogenic bacteria such as clostridia. It does NOT feed yeast: There is an old rumor that yeast promotes candida growth. This is not true across the board - it depends on the type of yeast - some yeast kills other yeast.

    I suggest going to a natural food store and trying a few flavors to see what your family likes. You want to buy a raw kombucha stored in the refrigerated section. Synergy and GTS brands are my favorites. Once you get a sense of the flavor, you can start making it on your own. You can get a kombucha culture from a friend or online, and two great books for instructions to make kombucha are Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions and Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation.

    Kombucha makes a refreshing summer drink, so drink up! Here's to your health!


    Nutrition for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding by Julie Matthews

    Much of nutrition for pregnancy and lactation is similar. Eating a healthy, nutrient-rich diet is ideal for all stages of life including during times of pregnancy and breastfeeding. Eat a wide variety of vegetables, whole grains and legumes, and high quality protein. To keep energy high, eat every few hours and eat carbohydrates with fat, fiber, and/or protein to keep blood sugar stable. Consume plenty of good fats during pregnancy and lactation as they are essential for brain growth and brain development. Get a wide variety of saturated and unsaturated fats including: high quality fish oil or cod liver oil, flax oil, coconut oil, olive oil, and nuts/seeds.

    The following are some foods to focus on:

    Leafy green vegetables
    Fermented dairy (yogurt/kefir)
    Animal protein including organic organ meat
    Legumes and blackeye peas
    Eggs
    Black strap molasses
    Flax seeds and oil
    Nuts and seeds

    Avoid sugar and caffeine. Be careful about fish consumption, as mercury is very dangerous to developing babies. To play it safe, you may want to avoid fish all together. Others eat only fish lowest in mercury and highest in omega-3 such as sardines, anchovies, and salmon, and keep it to a couple times a month.

    For those interested in the more technical nutritional differences between pregnancy and lactation, here they are. A woman needs 200-500 more calories during breastfeeding than during pregnancy (and 300-500 more calories than before pregnancy). Water is important at all times, but during lactation water consumption is even more crucial as adequate fluid intake is essential for producing enough breast milk. "High" protein is important for both stages; however, levels are slightly higher during pregnancy. Certain nutrient needs are higher during pregnancy: calcium, magnesium, folic acid and iron. Other nutrient needs increase during lactation, including: vitamin C and A, zinc, and iodine. B vitamins are helpful postpartum to address fatigue and stress; however avoid high- dose B vitamin pills as they can decrease milk production. Eat foods rich in B- vitamins such as nuts, whole grains, eggs, animal protein and dairy, leafy greens.


    The Real Reasons Why Raw Milk is Becoming More Popular, excerpt from Dr. Mercola's website

    The Real Reasons Why Raw Milk is Becoming More Popular
    By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege

    I was happy to see a published story that documents how some families have become aware of the health benefits of raw milk and are switching to it, despite the warnings of public health officials who are ignorant about the serious damage that pasteurization does to the quality of the milk.

    Less than 1 percent of the milk consumed in America is raw, which is most unfortunate as raw milk is a highly health- promoting food. Public health officials warn that raw milk poses the risk of transmitting bacteria such as listeria, E. coli and salmonella, but pasteurizing the milk kills these bacteria while extending the milk's shelf life, which also happens to be more profitable for the dairy industry.

    While it is certainly possible to become sick from drinking contaminated raw milk, it is also possible to become sick from almost any food source. But it seems that raw milk has been unfairly singled out as a risk, when only a very small risk exists. This excerpt from the Weston A. Price Foundation Web site further states my point:

    Except for a brief hiatus in 1990, raw milk has always been for sale commercially in California, usually in health food stores, although I can remember a period when it was even sold in grocery stores. Millions of people consumed commercial raw milk during that period and although the health department kept an eagle eye open for any possible evidence of harm, not a single incidence was reported. During the same period, there were many instances of contamination in pasteurized milk, some of which resulted in death.


    States and Stages by Jason McClain

    A follow up to our KPOO interview on June 9th

    Have you ever been to a workshop, had an amazing and inspiring time, knew that your life was forever changed for the better, and then within a few weeks of the experience, you were experiencing the same old habits patterns and felt dejected?

    At some point we all have.

    This is the result of confusing peak--and often profound--states with stages of development.

    As we move through those stages [most often--unconsciously] we experience this differently. From unconscious to conscious to super-conscious. From pre-rational, to rational, to trans- rational. From shallow to deep to deeply reflective and inspiring. From instinct to intellect to intuition. From body to mind to soul with each level transcending and including the former. From ego-centric to ethno- or natio-centric to world- centric. From selfish to care to universal care with each successive stage giving us more emotional freedom and a greater sense and sensibility of responsibility in the world.

    Jennifer went to a weekend workshop. While there, she was exposed to "what 'the best' do the achieve emotional mastery". While there she experienced consistent access to peak positive emotional states, had more choice than she had ever experienced, and left certain that her life would never be the same.

    And she was right-but not in the way she thought.


    Tune in to Reality Sandwich:
    A Palatable Taste of the Truth

    Healthful Living's radio show,
    "Reality Sandwich,"
    airs Thursdays @ NOON

    Tune in to 89.5FM KPOO in San Francisco, or online at www.KPOO.com.

    Listen in to hear some of our new co-hosts.

    June 30th
    Host: Julie Matthews
    Guest: Jane Hersey, National Director of the Feingold Association
    http://www.feingold.org
    Phenols and Salicylates: Substances that Affect Autism, ADHD, as well as All Children

    July 7th
    Host: Julie Matthews
    Co-Host: Jason McClain
    Guest: Mark Michael Lewis, Author of The Priest and The Punk
    http://thepriestandthepunk.com/

    July 14th
    Hosts: Julie and Martin Matthews
    Guest: Arthur Ciaramicoli, Author of Performance Addiction: The Dangerous New Syndrome and How to Stop if from Ruining Your Life

    July 21st
    Host: Julie Matthews
    Guest: Sally Fallon, Author of Eat Fat Lose Fat and Nourishing Traditions
    Sally Exposes the Dangers of Low-Fat Diets and Urges a Return to Traditional Food Choices and Preparation Techniques

    August 18th
    Host: Martin Matthews
    Co- Host: Jason McClain
    Guest: Arete
    http://www.aretecenter.com/

    August 25th
    Host: Julie Matthews
    Guest: Susan Senator, Author of Making Peace with Autism

    Also in August...
    August 4th - Martin Matthews and co-host Jan Lundberg
    August 11th - Julie Matthews and co-host Paul Goettlich

    Links of Interest...

    The Clean Plate Club by Kelly Burgess, featuring Julie Matthews

    Ask the Nutritionist... Q&A

    More about Julie...

    Healthful Living Hypnotherapy

    Oppose restrictions on dietary supplements





    IN THE NEXT ISSUE...

    DNA Activation and Vibrational Healing

    More on healthy pregnancy and babies!

    More practitioners share insights...



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