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