My 35th Birthday--Once in a Blue Moon

I love my birthday! Today is my 35th birthday, a once in a blue moon special day. :)

Once in a Blue Moon is a phrase that means the second full moon in a single month, or as the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. Though the expression "once in a blue moon" is used to describe extremely rare events, blue moons aren't all that unusual, occurring every 21/2 years or so. But a New Year's Eve blue moon is somewhat more remarkable -- we haven't had one since 1990. Blue moons of this sort aren't actually blue in color, though certain natural occurrences, like volcanic eruptions or wildfires, can cause the moon to appear blue, red or orange.Fortunately for New Year's Eve revelers, full moons are also known for stirring up emotions and sparking wild revelry.

My birthdays always make me sparkle. I love the excitement of doing all of my favorite things and saying and doing things I would only do once a year. But on this 35th birthday, I want to mentally capture all the blessings I have in the middle of this season of my life. We ate herb chicken, Swiss chard salad, and blueberry ice cream. I wore pink with Kiera, made avocado pudding and pie with Jayden, danced with Liam, rearranged my bedroom with my mom, sled under the blue moon with Jayden and my dad, and smiled with my husband.

My grandparents will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary this year. I am filled with optimism tonight that being half of that number is going to be a good thing. 35 may be the year of beginning the next era of my life. I now begin 35 being a mom without babies. I have had babies for nine years.

I am also looking forward to the launching of this website and other endeavors. If you are reading this out of curiosity, welcome. If you need help, I pray you find it here. Actually you will only find it in Jesus Christ. But I would be honored if I could help you find physical wellness here on earth or the hope, peace, and joy in knowing God now and forever with Him!

I love my birthday...and I look forward to being in heaven with Jesus, because as I can see, it will be one big birthday party!!! :) God bless you!

Thanks to my mother-in-law and pasta salad

People often ask me how to get kids to eat more vegetables. My old answer: bribery and trickery. I'm still working on a better answer, but here is a glimpse of the a side dish we had at grandma's tonight.

With a carrot peeler, I shaved a long carrot (after washing it with hydrogen peroxide/water and scrubbing it.) I enjoyed some of those "noodles" while cutting the rest into small pieces(a chopper works here too.) Then I mixed them into the pasta salad before serving it to the kids. At lunch yesterday I chopped fresh spinach and added it to the lasagna before serving it.

Note that I added these fresh veggies after the rest of the dish was cooked so that they retained all the enzymes, vitamins, and fiber fresh vegetables are great for.

The fourth leading cause of death

It was recently brought to my attention that the fourth leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease, cancer, and strokes is...........prescription drugs! (ADR--adverse drug reactions)

I just did a little further research and found that is has competition with COPD. About half of the websites listed COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as the fourth leading cause of death.

The article below from the Journal of the American Medical Association list MEDICAL ERRORS as the THIRD leading cause of death in the United States!

It also states "The researchers concluded that ADRs are now the fourth leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease, cancer, and stroke."

Let's all think carefully about what we put into our bodies.

Medical Errors - A Leading Cause of DeathThe JOURNAL of the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) Vol 284, No 4, July 26th 2000 article written by Dr Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, shows that medical errors may be the third leading cause of death in the United States.The report apparently shows there are 2,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery; 7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals; 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals; 80,000 deaths/year from infections in hospitals; 106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications - these total up to 225,000 deaths per year in the US from iatrogenic causes which ranks these deaths as the # 3 killer. Iatrogenic is a term used when a patient dies as a direct result of treatments by a physician, whether it is from misdiagnosis of the ailment or from adverse drug reactions used to treat the illness. (drug reactions are the most common cause).

The National Academies website published an article titled "Preventing Death and Injury From Medical Errors Requires Dramatic, System-Wide Changes." which you can read online at http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309068371?OpenDocument or the book "To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System" at http://www.nap.edu/books/0309068371/html/ - These show medical errors as a leading cause of death.

Based on the findings of one major study, medical errors kill some 44,000 people in U.S. hospitals each year. Another study puts the number much higher, at 98,000. Even using the lower estimate, more people die from medical mistakes each year than from highway accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. And deaths from medication errors that take place both in and out of hospitals are aid to be more than 7,000 annually.


Prescription Drugs - Leading Killer in USAAccording to information we have received, a statistical study of hospital deaths in the U.S. conducted at the University of Toronto revealed that pharmaceutical drugs kill more people every year than are killed in traffic accidents.

The study is said to show that more than two million American hospitalized patients suffered a serious adverse drug reaction (ADR) within the 12-month period of the study and, of these, over 100,000 died as a result. The researchers found that over 75 per cent of these ADRs were dose-dependent, which suggests they were due to the inherent toxicity of the drugs rather than to allergic reactions.
The data did not include fatal reactions caused by accidental overdoses or errors in administration of the drugs. If these had been included, it is estimated that another 100,000 deaths would be added to the total every year.

The researchers concluded that ADRs are now the fourth leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
Source: Jason, et al. (Lazarou et al), Incidence of Adverse Drug Reactions in Hospitalized Patients, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Vol. 279. April 15, 1998, pp. 1200-05. Also Bates, David W., Drugs and Adverse Drug Reactions: How Worried Should We Be? JAMA, Vol. 279. April 15, 1998, pp. 1216-17.
One of the first JAMA article on medical errors appeared in JAMA 1994;272:1851-7. by Leape LL. Then in April 1998, JAMA 1998 Apr 15;279(15):1200-5 See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=9555760
Related articles are at http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v280n20/related/jlt1125-1.html#searchmedline
Other related articles:Schuster M, McGlynn E, Brook R. How good is the quality of health care in the United States? Milbank Q. 1998;76:517-563. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=9879302
World Health Report 2000. Available at: http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/report.htm.
Starfield B. Evaluating the State Children's Health Insurance Program: critical considerations. Annu Rev Public Health. 2000;21:569-585. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=10884965
Leape L. Unnecessary surgery. Annu Rev Public Health. 1992;13:363-383. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=1599594
Phillips D, Christenfeld N, Glynn L. Increase in US medication-error deaths between 1983 and 1993. Lancet. 1998;351:643-644. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=9500322
Weingart SN, Wilson RM, Gibberd RW, Harrison B. Epidemiology and medical error. BMJ. 2000;320:774-777. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=10720365
Guyer B, Hoyert D, Martin J, Ventura S, MacDorman M, Strobino D. Annual summary of vital statistics 1998. Pediatrics. 1999;104:1229-1246. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=10585972
Harrold LR, Field TS, Gurwitz JH. Knowledge, patterns of care, and outcomes of care for generalists and specialists. J Gen Intern Med. 1999;14:499-511. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&Dopt=r&uid=10491236
Holland E, Degruy F. Drug-Induced Disorders - November 1, 1997 - American Family Physician "...more than 1 million patients are injured while in the hospital and approximately 180,000 die because of these injuries." http://www.aafp.org/afp/971101ap/holland.html

Walnut Truffles

This recipe was from 12 Steps to Raw Foods. I adapted a few things and they were amazing!!

from 12 Steps to Raw Foods
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup coconut water
4 TBsp carob
Blend

As we made them tonight

1 cup soaked walnuts
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup water
3 TBsp cocoa
dash of sea salt
1/4 tsp green stevia
Blend and lick spoon!

To go with it (since the walnuts were not organic and didn't sit well with me)

1 cup raw almonds, soaked 24 hours with sea salt in fridge
1/2 tsp stevia (could be less)
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup water (could be less)
3 TBsp raw cacao (pure chocolate)
several dashes of sea salt
2 TBsp cocoa
Blend, lick and try to share. This one was great but the walnut one with dates was awesome!

Dirty Dozen

These produce items were found to retain the highest amount of
chemicals as they are commonly eaten.

DIRTY DOZEN
(Buy these organic when possible)
1 Peach
2 Apple
3 Bell Pepper
4 Celery
5 Nectarine
6 Strawberries
7 Cherries
8 Kale
9 Lettuce
10 Grapes (Imported)
11 Carrot
12 Pear

CLEAN 15
Lowest in Pesticides
1 Onion
2 Avocado
3 Sweet Corn
4 Pineapple
5 Mango
6 Asparagus
7 Sweet Peas
8 Kiwi
9 Cabbage
10 Eggplant
11 Papaya
12 Watermelon
13 Broccoli
14 Tomato
15 Sweet Potato

This list is taken from the site below. It contains a downloadable,
printable version.
http://www.foodnews.org/EWG-shoppers-guide-download-final.pdf

I have switched to the organic on many of the dirty dozen and love the increased flavor so much that I am happy for the "excuse" to buy them organic. Organic produce often contains many times the nutrients (besides being better for soil microorganisms, pets, ground water supplies, and air.)

Advanced glycoxidation end products (AGE)

Advanced glycoxidation end products (AGEs), the derivatives of glucose-protein or glucose-lipid interactions, are implicated in the complications of diabetes and aging.

Unfortunately, the AGE content of some foods rises when they're cooked in certain ways. Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City recently conducted a study to determine the variations of AGE content of 250 common foods when cooked by different methods.

• Fats tended to have a higher AGE content than carbohydrates.

• The amount of AGE in all types of foods was related to cooking temperature, length of cooking time and moisture content.

• Broiling and frying created the highest levels of AGE (with the least amount of moisture).

• Roasting and boiling created the least AGE (with greater moisture).

• In general, lower cooking temps for longer periods of time resulted in lower levels of AGE.

• Cooked fruits and vegetables have very low AGE levels - but those levels rise when they're heavily processed.

The Mount Sinai research, as reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, makes it clear that a few alterations in the ways that foods are prepared can make a big difference when it comes to AGE content.

For instance, the daily AGE average in a typical U.S. diet is about 16,000 kilounits (KU), according to the Mount Sinai team.

About half of that average daily AGE intake is contained in a single slice of pizza. So eating two or three slices of pizza is not the best meal choice in terms of AGE. Chicken broiled for 15 minutes contains five times the AGE of chicken boiled for an hour (about 1,000 KU).

A typical fast food hamburger contains more than twice the AGE as a burger pan-fried at home for at least six minutes (about 2,400 KU). And 3.5 ounces of potato chips (which is barely enough to get most people started) has a whopping 13 times more AGE than 3.5 ounces of baked potato (just 218 KU).

People with diabetes may risk damage to the kidneys and the heart when AGE intake is high. But you don't have to have diabetes to benefit from a low AGE intake.

For instance, one AGE study found that subjects with low-AGE diets also had low levels of C-reactive protein; the inflammation marker that's associated with an increased risk of heart disease. And a high intake of AGE is also believed to play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Facial Signs

When visiting with an herbalist this year, she commented on the health
of my liver based on her observations of my face. I recently found the
following website with a diagram pertaining to this. By observing
certain areas and signs on the face (I'll later post on the feet and
other signs.) one can recognize what is going on in the body.

http://www.marysherbs.com/heal/heal-f-rP.htm
Mishio Kushi Theory
The herbalist added, spleen is horizontal across the bridge of the
nose, liver is vertical between eyebrows, gallbladder is horizontal
just out from liver line.

Simple Sweet Green Smoothie Recipes

Our kids' breakfast

1/2 cup berries

3 bananas

4 cubes or 4 leaves of green

1 cup water (optional)

1 TBsp golden flaxseeds (optional)

Some mornings we have smoothies and other mornings we have ice cream--it just depends on whether the items are frozen or not. We leave the water out of ice cream and add the flaxseeds to smoothies.

These simple green smoothie recipes from 12 Step to Raw Foods can start your family's appetite. Be sure to adjust and experiment to fit your individual tastes. I have added my own notes at the end. Enjoy!

Apple-Kale-Lemon

4 apples

1/2 lemon (juice only)

5 leaves of kale (remove white stems for better taste)

2 cups water

Peach-Spinach

6 peaches

2 handfuls of spinach leaves

2 cups water

Mango-Weeds

2 mangos

1 handful of edible weeds, such as lambsquarters, stinging nettles, purslane, etc.

2 cups water

Strawberry-Banana-Romaine

1 cup strawberries

2 bananas

1/2 bunch romaine, or 6-7 large leaves

2 cups water

Pear-Chard-Mint

4 ripe pears

5 leaves of chard

1/2 bunch mint

2 cups water

Each of these recipes makes 3 cups of green smoothie.

My notes:

We were blessed with the ability to buy a VitaMix this October so making these is a breeze. What we have on hand is what we use the most. We use apples whenever recipes call for pears because we stored up on organic apples in October. We also dried homegrown, organic kale and throw the crispy treat (to my tastes) in smoothies and on top of salads and live soups. I buy 2-4 bunches of greens a week for our family of five. If one bunch is not as favored and starts to get older (or is not organic and I start reacting to the chemicals on it) I blend it up and freeze it in ice cube trays then put them in a labeled bag.

The first week we had the blender we had a taste test. I blended one leaf of each green we had. Our least favorites were romaine and one of the kales. Our most liked was Swiss chard (without the rib.) We also considered these pretty neutral: celery, red leaf, green leaf, a different kale, and aloe. My kids don't like mint, I do. They also do not favor garlic, I do. Find your favorites. My kids will eat any berry with great enthusiasm.

Start with very little green, then add more as the smoothies find favor with your family. Depending on the apple, I sometimes add a bit of sea salt or stevia. Be aware of the "dirty dozen" in these recipes (the top 12 chemical holders in the produce section.) Use organic when you can.

Thermography: Picture of Health

Thermography is available in our area:

Picture of Health

Valerie Zumbusch, CNHP, CCT

7035 Wayzata Blvd, St. Louis Park, MN

118 W 6th St, Suite E, Monticello, MN

763-295-4525

www.picturemyhealth.com

www.meditherm.com/breasthealth

In summary, breast thermography reads the temperature of the skin. Cancer needs a great amount of warm blood so a problem or future problem will show on thermography. If a problem is found, one can take the current route of mammography etc after that, but an annual Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) eliminates the problems of compression, false positives, x-ray exposure, and discomfort of annual mammograms. If mammography does not find a problem (and DITI does suggesting a future problem) prevention can include testing of vitamin D levels, hormone balancing, iodine testing, and other nutritional and lifestyle interventions to head off a problem.

Welcome to Vita-Mix

I love this paragraph from my "welcome to the Vita-Mix family" letter:

"One thing is for sure, you're about to have a lot of fun...and you'll really enjoy having complete control over what you eat and how you look and feel."

First 10 NAET items

Egg/chicken, Calcium, Vitamin C, B Complex, Sugar,

Iron Mix, Vitamin A Mix, Mineral Mix, Salt, Grain Mix

"Kurt Street Club"

We will be playing with the letter K: kickball, K'nex, koalas...
We'll start off with group time, then a couple table/floor activities, and backyard running and playing with apples and water for snack.

Thursday, November 12th. 1-4 PM (naptime for our toddler)

Our family has an 8 year old boy, 5 1/2 year old girl, and 2 1/2 year old boy. If your ages are close to that, please join us.

Moms welcome to stay or drop off 5 and up

If you have a special "K" item (stuffed koala, K'nex creation) bring it along. (no cost)

Visit the ROCK website to sign up.

This is the day that the Lord has made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it! :)