Radio Naturopath Episode 442: Muscle Repair, Hypertension, Respiratory Allergies

This week, we found that Ron is plugging along and had a not-so-good day because yesterday he dared to work in the yard. His poor muscles just don't want to be disturbed! We are hoping that this will just take time and he'll be back to his favorite activities soon. As for me, my tremors have been quiet, and I'm hoping that's in part due to the low dose lithium orotate, and that the herbs are working to clear any remnants of tick borne illness! However, I have to face that I have hereditary hypertension. All the supplements and stress-reducing activities are just not working to get my blood pressure into a safe zone. So, I'm going to try a low dose of an angiotensin receptor blocker. My mom and sister are both on blood pressure meds and they work well for them. My mom is also on an ARB but my sister is on a pair of diurectics. I am taking an ARB because they are safer for athletes, in that they don't dehydrate you nor reduce your cardiac output. More about hypertension next week!

It's SPRING, and that means beautiful flowers, trees, and POLLEN! So we did a nice review of what to do for your respiratory allergies. Neti pots, supplements, nasal sprays, foods, we've got it all! 

Radio Naturopath Episode 240: Help for Colds, New Year's Resolutions, Those Veggie Burgers!

 I managed to catch a cold while in Florida. The good thing is that I was in Florida, didn't have to work, got to lie about and relax, lie in the sun, and eat fresh-picked citrus! So I was only sick for about 3-4 days. It goes to show you, when you really take care of yourself you don't stay sick long! Ron caught my cold and is going through it now. We're using neti-pots, nasal sprays, elderberry, echinacea/goldenseal throat, spray, and zinc. I'm going to keep up the immune boosters and the cleaning the whole season! 

It's a great time for those New Year's Resolutions, but don't feel like you have to do everything all at once. For example, if you want to lose weight, a good rule of thumb is to plan to lose 10% of your body weight in 7 months. If you give yourself that timespan, you're more likely to make lasting changes and keep it off!  There are numerous top 10 resolution lists available, but some of them are: change your diet/eating habits, exercise more, lose weight, take control of your finances, tidy up the house. Don't overwhelm yourself! A great thing to do is to take some time to take an inventory of your life and write down what you'd like to change. You can review it weekly, or as you'd like, and do small bits of each item as you have time. Trying to tackle everything at once or when you're tired usually results in frustration, and people giving up on resolutions by February! A great one to start with: Be good to yourself. Really, you're doing fine!

We reviewed a couple of the new vegetarian burgers again. We looked at the Impossible Burger, which is being sold at a number of fast food establishments. Well, if you really want to eat a meat substitute, you might try it, but it has oils that concern me, like sunflower oil and refined coconut oil that winds up getting heated and hydrogenated, more carbs and salt than a beef burger. If you want a meat-like treat once in a while, it might be fine, but it's much better to eat the ingredients separately and without added sugar, dextrose, yeast extract, and high sodium. They Beyond Burger is made from pea protein, which I like, but again has refined coconut oil and canola oil, which may present some hydrogenation issues. In the end, have it occasionally and saute the ingredients in real virgin coconut oil or olive oil most of the time!

Radio Naturopath Episode 140: Increasing Red Blood Cells After Babesiosis; All About Vitamin C!

Time to learn all about Vitamin C! It's ASCORBIC ACID or ASCORBATES. This important water soluble vitamin can't be synthesized by our bodies, so we have to eat it. It's part of the structure of collagen, so it's part of every tissue and organ. It stimulates the function of the immune system, so it helps with allergies, asthma and illness. It's a cofactor for detoxification. It can be found in citrus, but also in other cool foods, like peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, acerola cherries, and rose hips! Let's spread some vitamin C to the world! Also, we talk about how to get that red count up after a bout with Babesiosis.