Gluten Intolerance...or Celiac's Disease.

Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease defined by gluten-induced villi destruction in the small intestine. By this definition, gluten intolerance is the precursor. If you have celiac disease, or its precursor, gluten intolerance, your body is on a progression that results in villi damage because gluten triggers your immune system to attack YOU. Because the first stage exhibits in gluten intolerance, there is certainly a period of time where your body is reacting to gluten--but your villi are not yet destroyed enough to warrant an official Celiac diagnosis by Western medicine's standards.

This condition is genetic, usually occurring in people of northen European descent, and is a life-long condition that worsens and opens the door to systemic yeast (Candiasis, which can cause adrenal failure), metabolic syndrome, hypoglycemia, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension...all of the big lifestyle illnesses.

What are some of the indicators?

* Yeast infections - could present as rash in the groin, axillary, and/or under the breasts or in skin folds

* Itching - most often in the groin, but can present all over the body as well

* Psoriasis

* Excessive weight gain in the gut or sudden unexplained weight loss

* Irritable bowels - diarrhea/constipation, borborygmi (excessive stomach rumbling), nausea, intestinal cramping, heartburn

* Fatigue, depression, anxiety, irritability

* Lactose sensitivity (could present as intolerance or allergy)

* Abdominal distention, bloating, pain, or cramping (especially after having consumed gluten)

* Anemia, iron deficiency

* Arthritis, bone density loss; osteoporosis/penia

* Infertility

* Headaches & migraines

* Hypoglycemia/Diabetes; Neuropathy - numbness, tingling and/or swelling in the extremities

* Mouth sores, swollen tongue, swollen lips

* Vitamin deficiencies: B-12, D, and K


So, what do you do for it? This is a life-long, progressional, detrimental condition - that warrants a permanent lifestyle change. It isn't easy. It's label reading if you continue to consume pre-packaged foods. The easiest way to go is to maintain a whole-foods only lifestyle with clean water sources. Cooking everything from scratch and knowing your food sources. It's buying locally and organically as much as possible, including switching to free range, grass-fed meats unless you choose to go vegan. Think about it - you are what you eat, and so are they. So what's on the menu? Grass-fed, free range meats, eggs,(or hemp seed and nutritional yeast w/B-12 for vegans) non-starchy vegetables (esp dark greens), fruits, nuts, fermented foods, such as kefir, wine, sauerkraut, pickles, and kimchi. (NO grains, no legumes, no beans, no white potatoes, no dairy other than probiotics) And clean water - divide your total weight by 2 and that is the number of ounces of water you should have daily...that's WATER - NOT just whatever liquid you prefer.

It is helpful to break up your meals throughout the day - instead of 3 squares, make those a little smaller and add three snacks of healthy options such as raw almonds or berries...and try to have your last meal/snack three hours before bedtime. This is good for your adrenals. Make sure to also have an iodine source to support your thyroid (Liqui-kelp, clean Shrimp, seaweed, etc).

A lifestyle change isn't just about diet - exercize is tantamount and the best, cheapest way to do this is simple. WALK. Take yourself for a walk, and get a pedometer - make a game of seeing just how many steps you take in a day. Then challenge yourself - walk 10,000 steps a day. You can certainly break it up throughout the day - walk it up to 15-20 minutes sessions at a time! Make it interesting and take up frisbee golf! If you want something more interesting, find something FUN that involves movement - and do it everyday!

Sleep. So many people don't get adequate sleep. Be kind to your body and give it time to assimilate all the other good things you are doing in your life:) Six to eight hours of restful sleep per night is the recommended norm.

The National Foundation for Celiac's Awareness says that one out of every 133 Americans has celiac disease, or about 3 million in all. Another 18 million have a less serious "sensitivity" to gluten, the organization says. Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye. Suspect you (and your loved ones) may have gluten intolerance? Try dropping the gluten out of your life (for a few days even) and see how you feel and how quickly the bloat goes away...then consider incorporating some more lifestyle changes;) Your body will thank you with every step you take!

Some of the Benefits of Massage

Therapeutic massage provides a number of health and wellness related benefits. These benefits are delivered in a natural and safe non-invasive method and therefore do not carry the harmful side effects associated with prescribed medications and the many invasive medical procedures used today in Western Medicine.

Therapeutic massage is wonderful at enhancing and increasing a number of beneficial processes and functions within the human body.
•Massage enhances ones state of well being
•Massage enhances soft tissue healing
•Massage increases flexibility & range of motion
•Massage increases muscle tone
•Massage increases blood flow
•Massage increases dopamine & serotonin levels
•Massage increases and improves lymphatic fluid flow & drainage
•Massage induces relaxation
•Massage stimulates the immune system

Similarly, therapeutic massage is extremely effective at reducing and often eliminating a number of uncomfortable and restrictive symptoms and conditions.
•Massage reduces constipation
•Massage reduces cortisol levels
•Massage reduces depression
•Massage reduces emotional stress
•Massage reduces joint stiffness
•Massage reduces muscular tension
•Massage reduces pain
•Massage reduces scar tissue formation
•Massage reduces soft tissue knots and trigger points

Regular sessions (once a week or bi-weekly) can radically enhance these benefits for you!

Essiac Tea

It was 1922, and Nurse Rene Caisse was given a formula alleged to have cured cancer. She experimented with it and narrowed down the formula to only four herbs each of which grew in her region of Ontario, Canada. She named this formula Essiac, ("Caisse" spelled backwards), and it is taken as a tea. Nurse Caisse successfully treated her Aunt and later her Mother - In 1924 she tested the tea on her aunt who had cancer of the stomach and was given about six months to live. Her aunt lived for another 21 years, cancer free. She later gave the tea to her 72-year old mother who was diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the liver, with only days to live. Her mother recovered and lived without cancer for another 18 years. She would devote over 50 years of her life to the successful treatment of allegedly terminal cancers with this tea...

The four main herbs that make up Essiac are Burdock Root, Slippery Elm (inner bark), Sheep Sorrel, and Indian Rhubarb Root. They are not taken in equal proportions, so it is best to find this tea made by reputable sources.

Burdock Root (Arctium lappa) Used to help reduce mucus, maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract, stimulate a healthy immune response, for weak digestion, as a diuretic for water retention and to sweat out toxins through the skin. It has vitamin A and selenium to help reduce free radicals and its chromium content helps maintain normal blood sugar levels.

Slippery Elm inner bark (Ulmus Fulva) Contains large amounts of tannins and mucilages which help dissolve mucus deposits in tissue, glands and nerve channels. The inner bark, which is also rich in calcium, magnesium and vitamins(A,B,C,K), helps to nourish and soothe organs, tissues and mucus membranes and is helpful to the lungs. It also helps neutralize acids from indigestion.

Sheep Sorrel (Rumex Acetosella) Used to cool the body, create sweating and detoxification through the skin: as a diuretic it is useful in maintaining healthy kidney and urinary functions. It is rich in vitamins and trace minerals (ascorbic acid, mineral oxides, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, silicon and rutin). It also nourishes the glandular system.

Turkey Rhubarb Root (Rheum Officinale) Used in small amounts, this herb acts as a gentle laxative and helps purge the liver of toxic buildup and waste. It helps neutralize acids due to indigestion. Its malic acid also carries oxygen to all parts of the body, aiding in healing and promoting a positive, balancing effect upon the whole digestive system.