Health Benefits of Kefir
June 29, 2007 | 3 Comments
Do you drink kefir?
I discovered kefir when I was babysitting as a young girl for a family who always stocked it in their fridge. I thought it was the most delicious stuff! I never could find it anywhere except the health food coop across town until recent years, and now it’s available in most larger grocery stores. Apparently the benefits of kefir are more commonly known now that people are becoming hip to the benefits of probiotics.
I started drinking it a lot and giving it to my kids after learning some of the benefits of kefir.
Did you know that kefir has twice as much good bacteria as yogurt? Probiotics are very important for intestinal health and even for preventing food allergies. Probiotics even help the immune system work properly! Everything happens in the gut. If it’s out of whack, nothing works right.
You can drink it even if you’re lactose intolerant. Even some people with dairy allergies can tolerate kefir! My youngest nephew had trouble digesting dairy products but does great with kefir. It’s a great food for babies weaning from Mom’s milk as well as older toddlers and kids.
It’s high in calcium, protein and is easily digestible.
When I was pregnant, it was sometimes the only thing my stomach could tolerate. I think it went a long way towards keeping the yeast beast away too (I know, thanks for sharing…but hey, it is a common problem for pregnant women!). I never had those problems when drinking kefir.
Kefir has been shown to reduce harmful cholesterol.
There are two brands that are readily available in most large groceries nowadays: Helios, which has a more tangy flavor that is similar to homemade kefir, and Lifeway brand which tastes more like yogurt.
You can also make your own very inexpensively and easily. Basically, you obtain kefir grains (you can buy them online or get some from a friend), add them to fresh organic milk, and leave it at room temperature for 12-24 hours. You’ve got kefir. 
Then to sweeten, add a drop of stevia or honey. Or make a smoothie with fresh or frozen fruit. It can also be used as a replacement for buttermilk in pancakes and other baked goods, or when making homemade salad dressing.
Give it a try. It’s super easy to make, and a very cheap health food.
Natural Moms Podcast #54
June 28, 2007 | 2 Comments
This week special guest Peggy O’Mara, author of 4 books on natural family living
U Pick Farms - Local, Organic Produce on the Cheap
June 27, 2007 | 2 Comments
Searching out local “u pick” farms is another way to eat more local and organic produce without blowing your grocery budget. Not all of them are organic farms, be sure to ask… but even if they aren’t, eating local (even if it isn’t organic) has its advantages nonetheless.
Today me, the kids and some friends headed out to Adams Farm in Fayetteville, GA. In less than one hour just my crew picked about 9 pounds of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries, as you can see in the pictures. I can see why farm families were usually large… little kids are great farm hands.
They had a great time picking, even the baby, who is lower to the ground which meant less squatting for Mom. And she did pop a few in her mouth despite my best efforts to keep her from it. 
If you’re in the US, you can search this site for local you pick farms: Pick Your Own It’s fun going berry picking, and also educational for the kiddies - one hour in and these city slickers were HOT, TIRED and ready to head to the nearest air conditioned environment! I think doing this really makes you appreciate what life is like for farmers, and the work and love that goes into the food that makes it to our table. Actually, once I got in the groove, I really started to enjoy myself. It was a kind of meditation. I was in the zone. I just wanted some water and a fan. LOL
Dads And Anger
June 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I got permission from Mark Brandenburg to reprint this article here. If you have a Dad in your life who has a problem with anger, maybe you can forward it to him. 
“Get up to your room!” Frank shouted at his kids. The two of them sprinted out of the living room and up the stairs.
They’d been lucky this time. Although they’d been terrified by his screaming, they were far enough away to avoid the blows that sometimes followed. And as they huddled together in their room, they hoped they wouldn’t hear the footsteps coming up the stairs. For if they did, there would be more anger, and more fear.
Sadly, this scenario plays itself out in millions of households across the country. For centuries, men have learned to use anger in an attempt to control their kids. And while it does have short-term results, the long term damage is tremendous, both for the children and for the fathers who carry this anger.
In fact, a 2002 study on men’s anger at Johns Hopkins University (Archives of Internal Medicine 2002; 162: 901-906) showed just how damaging anger can be. The study followed 1,055 men for an average of 36 years following their schooling. It examined the risk of premature and total cardiovascular disease associated with anger responses to stress during early adult life.
The results of this study were that young men who quickly react to stress with anger have three times the normal risk of developing premature heart disease. Also, these men were five times more likely than men who were calmer to have an early heart attack, even if they didn’t have a family history of heart disease.
While it has been clear for a long time that anger damages relationships, the health problems associated with anger have never been made as clear. Anger not only hurts your relationships, it can kill you.
Anger like Frank’s damages relationships more than any other single factor. It hurts loved ones, and creates mistrust. It has caused his own children to fear him. And it prevents him from getting underneath his anger to experience his own fears. For underneath all of his anger is fear. Fear of not being able to control his kids, or even a fear of failing completely in his life.
Frank, like many other men, keeps this a very private matter. A sense of failure and shame surrounds men who struggle with their temper. These feelings cause these angry outbursts to “stay in the family,” causing the cycle to stay the same, or even worsen. And the simple truth about men improving their anger is that it’s a matter of choice. It’s a choice to continue to alienate loved ones, and it’s a choice to take responsibility for your anger.
Here are some options for men seeking to improve themselves:
- You are the only one who can make you angry—accept this responsibility and you’ve a come a long way towards getting better.
- Write down the irrational thinking that contributes to your anger (people should always treat me kindly, etc.). Ask yourself where you developed this thinking and give yourself some alternative thoughts that are more productive.
- Become more aware of tuning into your body when you begin to become angry. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is a great way to do this. The idea is to focus on you, not the “target” of the anger.
- Prepare yourself before a stressful situation and “practice” your new, calmer response to it. Be aware that it might take some time to feel comfortable with this new response.
- Find the stressors in your life that might be contributing to your anger—do what you can to reduce these stressors, and add some self-care into your life.
When talking about health hazards for men, anger needs to be included alongside the other lifestyle factors that can shorten men’s lives. Managing your anger is a learnable skill, and it benefits everyone around you.
And just as importantly, it may save your life.
Warmly,
Mark Brandenburg
Natural Moms Podcast #53
June 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This week special guest Jan Hunt, author of Parenting From The Heart joins us. Jan is a parenting counselor and director of the Natural Child Project.
Download mp3 link HERE.
Exciting Research on Breastfeeding and HIV/AIDS
June 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I’ve been interested in this issue for some time. Do HIV positive Moms harm or help their children by breastfeeding? Marian Thompson, one of the cofounders of La Leche League International, founded Another Look to take … well, another look at the research.
Here is a recent finding: Breastfeeding alone cuts the HIV risk. Mixed feeding, meaning partial breastfeeding and partial formula feeding, increases the risk because of the damage formula does to the baby’s gastrointestinal system which cause tiny “cuts” in the baby’s bowel, increasing the likelihood of HIV transmission.
Interestingly, the current party line here in the US is for HIV positive women to formula feed. But in developing lands, where formula is prohibitively expensive, and clean water to mix it with scarce or difficult to obtain, this is not so.
Thankful Thursday
June 21, 2007 | 4 Comments
This week I’m so thankful that I can stay home and earn money while I raise my babies.
I’m thankful that my car runs.
I’m thankful for the free Starbucks coffee at Barnes and Noble’s Entrepreneur Breakfast this morning.
I’m thankful that last Monday I could help a roomful of women learn how to work from home.
I’m thankful for the Itch-Aide all natural itch cream that helps my kids sleep when they have ant bites!
What about you?
Skip The Baby Food
June 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Interesting thing I came across: Gill Rapley, deputy director of Unicef’s UK Baby Friendly Initiative said feeding babies pureed baby foods could cause health problems later in life. She has spent 25 years as a health advisor there and is convinced that spoon feeding leads to problems like constipation, overfeeding and later on, texture pickiness. She also blames the food industry for convincing parents that they should give children pureed food. Hmm… would that be the same food industry that convinces Moms that their breastmilk is inadequate?
Now, I always thought that the reason I never did “baby food” was because I was lazy to make my own and too cheap to buy jarred baby food. I even wrote an article about the easy (meaning, lazy. Ahem) way to make your own baby food.
I also hated that whole shovel it in, watch them spit it out, wipe the chin, shovel again, etc… I just handed the kid a banana or some soft cooked peas or carrot or avocado or whatever when he/she was 8 months or so. At that time they have a pincer grasp and can pick up a teeny bit of solid food from the highchair tray.
Worked for 4 kids. They’re still alive, well fed … and none of them are picky!
Birth as a Rite of Passage… Discuss :)
June 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment
A previous guest on Natural Moms Talk Radio, Marcie Macari is hosting a live chat sponsored by Mothering.com tomorrow, June 20th at 9PM EST.
She wanted to invite YOU, as a friend of NMTR, to participate in the discussion on Birth as a Spiritual Rite of Passage, and the concepts in her book:”She Births: A Modern Woman’s Guidebook For an Ancient Rite of Passage”.
Marcie is going to mention a “secret word” one time during the chat. Remember that word, and you will receive a Buy 1 Get 1 offer on her site: http://www.bloominbellysoaps.com/, good for 3 individual items of your choice! (Excluding giftboxes and Blessingway Cakes.)
That means you could get 6 items for the price of 3! Just attend the chat, watch for the secret word, and email Marcie at: bloominbellysoaps@gmail.com . For more information on how to attend the chat, please visit: http://www.mothering.com/interactive/live_chat/live-chat.html .
Discounts for Natural Products Online
June 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment
If you like to buy natural products online, here are a couple of sales and coupon codes for you:
ADDITIONAL 20% off any order at Native Remedies or PetAlive.com. Native Remedies offers a large selection of natural health products. As long as you place your order by June 30, 2007 you will get 20% off the entire order.
To receive the discount special offer, simply enter natural20 (no spaces) in the Customer Code field in the shopping cart, and then press the Submit button (don’t forget to press SUBMIT!), and you will receive the discount.
The Body Shop sale - summer clearance with 75% off many items. They offer a wide variety of skin care, makeup and products for the home.