Cheating

At least I'm being good while being bad

Filling in a gap before an acupuncture treatment with a little "treat"

Tea and Research

Good Morning. It’s a fire-in-the-wood-stove kind of morning. Cup of ginger, turmeric, garlic, rosemary, black pepper tea with 1/2 tsp of honey while I hit the books and interwebs and find out what I can about oxalates.

I came across the suggestion that high oxalate foods can increase joint pain in those with rheumatoid arthritis (and trigger other issues for other people). Since I have been loaded up on several high oxalate foods lately–sweet potatoes, beets and carrots, to name a few–I want to explore whether oxalates could be contributing to my recent increase in joint pain. Maybe. Maybe not. Something worth exploring.

The Cholesterol Numbers are in

Here I am more than four months into following the paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) wherein I have consistently eaten more meat and fats* than I have in my life. The numbers are in, and the only cholesterol number that has risen is HDL the “good” cholesterol (and along with it then, my total cholesterol). My LDL “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides are lower.

* “Good”, quality, grassfed and wild caught animal protein and quality fats: coconut, olive and avocado oils, animal fats

Note that cholesterol levels have never been a concern for me. I wanted to post these lab results because the question of cholesterol levels as they relate to an ancestral-type diet arises frequently in conversation. Keep in mind that this is a sample size of 1. Nothing I write on this blog should be considered medical advice.

Before I began the paleo AIP, I considered my diet healthy: I was gluten free yet still eating loads of oatmeal and homemade granola. Except for my daily indulgence of a piece of quality dark chocolate, I didn’t eat sweets. I avoided milk but ate cheese and organic yogurt. I never drank sodas. I enjoyed wine and spirits and organic tortilla chips with homemade salsa.

Harvest before the Big Chill

Yesterday before harvest. With temps expected to dip into the teens last night, I decided I had better harvest these two rows of young lettuce that I planted a month ago

Enough lettuce for a couple of salads for three people

After harvest… I am curious to see if the plants will survive the freeze and provide a few more salads. I hope so

Blessings of Healing and Wellness in the New Year!!

A vial of healing water from Lourdes, France, site of pilgrimage and miraculous healings, given to me on the last day of 2014 by a kind friend and generous student of mine who collected the water while on pilgrimage to Lourdes this past summer

On this first day of the year I am appreciating a generous gift of healing water shared by a kind-hearted friend. I love that in addition to the vial of healing potency collected from the site of miraculous healings unexplained by science and attributed to belief and prayer, that my friend also unknowingly reconnected me with the terroir of one branch of my ancestors who lived in the same Basque region very near to Lourdes–Chelle-Debat.

Since the healing protocol I am following strongly favors following an ancestral-type protocol for living, I think it is super cool to connect with Mouledous, Betbeze, Martin, Carrere and the many unknown ancestors before them via a vial of healing potential from the region of the Pyrenees that they inhabited.

Basque region of Southwestern France, ancestral home (Chelle-Debat) to one branch of my family tree and location of Lourdes, site of pilgrimage and healings

I believe that:

• nutritious and low inflammatory foods heal
• quality sleep and movement heal
• herbs heal
• love heals
• optimism heals
• prayer heals
• yoga and meditation heal
• avoiding toxic exposures promotes healing
• kindness heals
• quality breath heals, and
• water heals

I wish everyone a year filled with blessings and blissings and healing and wellness!