Nutritional medicine?

Research into my "mystery ailment" has lead me into a health labyrinth. I optimistically say labyrinth rather than maze, because I'm hoping that everything is leading in one direction - to the solution. Though, there have been some dead-ends along the way so far. I prefer to think of them as blips in the journey.

One positive thing that has come out of all this is a return to a more sensible way of eating. I've investigated the GI Diet extensively. This isn't really a diet so much as making commonsense food decisions. But more about that in another post.

Today I bring you what appears to me to be an interesting look at nutritional medicine - "What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutritional Medicine May be Killing You", by Ray D. Strand, M.D. Oxidative stress and the damage of free radicals is the main thrust of his book. He deals with heart disease, high cholesterol, eye health, autoimmune diseases, arthritis and osteoporosis, lung disease, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

He speaks as a doctor who once was an unbeliever in the powers of nutritional medicine, but gradually came to see their value.

One of the things I like is that he is not selling a product. A red flag goes up for me when a person is trying to sell you on a concept - the solution to which will make him money. A weakness of mine perhaps, but it's there none the less.

Check out his website http://www.raystrand.com/

Purple Cows

I can't believe that I haven't posted since mid-October. So much has been going on in my life. Yes, I've been reading, but mostly online stuff as I try to get to the bottom of my sudden health issues. Maybe I'll talk about that...but maybe I'm sick and tired of it and won't after all.

I like to use post-it notes when I read a book - especially if my journal isn't handy or I'm just not in the mood to write notes. "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin is literally bristling with post-it notes. This book is actually a business self-help type, but I'm reading with children's ministry in mind. Hey, the subtitle is "transform your business by being remarkable". Any area of life you're involved in can use a shot of that! I picked it up online somewhere, but I would have loved to get it in the original packaging. A milk carton with a purple cow print on it. That would be a keeper.

Basically the message of this book is all about thinking outside the box, cutting edge, being different, leading the crowd, don't be boring and more. It's short, succinct, and practical. And it looks great too. A book I'm proud to have on my bookshelf.

Edward Hallowell...prolific author

Checking my library account I discovered that I have an interlibrary loan book due...tomorrow! Yikes, I haven't read it yet. Skimming time. The funny thing is that some of the first words out of this author's mouth were a discourse on skimming and how prelevant it is in our information overload society. Whoops! Caught! He did become one of my favorite people, though, when he confessed that he CANNOT go into a bookstore without coming out with more books than he will actually read. A man after my own heart. Just the owning is pure joy.

In any case, this book (that I will end up paying a big fine for), is called "the childhood roots of adult happiness" (lower case choice was his). Subtitled: Five steps to help kids create and sustain lifelong joy. His theory is that the key to adult happiness is a connected childhood. He goes into detail on how to get that in a child's life. But skimming through the book I was pleased to see that we have gotten it pretty much right in the life's of our own children. A study showed that there were two factors that most protected children from negative outcomes. A feeling of connectness at home and a feeling of connectedness at school. Wow! If you home school what does that mean? Other important factors were: a parent's presence at key times during the day (morning, after school, dinner, bedtime); parents' high expectations for school performance (expecting them to graduate/post secondary); parents' engaging in activities with their children on a regular basis; absence of guns in the house; parental disapproval of the child engaging in sexual intercourse; not having easy access to cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana; lack of prejudice at school; self-esteem; not working at a paid job twenty hours a week or more.

Hallowell's five step program to adult happiness consists of connection ... play.... practice... mastery... recognition - a repeating cycle. He briefly describes each of these steps and then in the last third of the book he gives practical suggestions for creating a connected childhood. My focus will be here in the next day or so as I try to glean as much as I can from this book.

Glancing through I see that he is VERY big on pets. Oh, no! Does that mean the dog stays?!! And what about one of the puppies, as the kids are hoping? We'll wait and see.

The mom and one of her puppies

Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself

Can I really not have read a book since the end of August??!!!!! Maybe that's where my health problems are coming from :) I HAVE to read! I LIVE to read! And I HAVE read...just not books all the way through. Magazines, blogs, online articles have been my nutrition for the last few months. The summer months were bliss as I spent copious hours on the beach reading. Then fall hit. Copious hours are long gone. Free time is at a premium. Books in progress will be the topic of conversation here on the book blog.

The stack of books on my side table is about 12 inches high. The one I keep going back to (and just renewed) is "Worry" by Edward Hallowell. Worry does worry me, I have to admit. I can be a bit of a worry-wart, although I prefer to think of it as "being concerned". There IS a time and place for being concerned, or worrying. Some of us take it to extremes, though. Another great book I read awhile back was "When the Body Says No" by Gabor Mate. His theory is that stress can cause physical illness. Given my present physical problems I'm starting to wonder if what I considered to be my laid-back (albeit sometimes worrying) nature isn't so laid-back after all. Maybe when I THOUGHT that I wasn't bothered by something, I really was but suppressed it till finally my body said NO! Just a theory.

Back to "Worry". I can't seem to find the time to just sit down with this book and read it through. I read bits and pieces that are all so interesting I want to finish it. Finally, I flipped to the end - at least I can hear what he suggests we DO about all that worrying. From page 245: "Instead of letting worry bore into your brain, the next time worry strikes try immediately to put the sequence of EPR into motion: evaluate, plan, remediate. If you can make this a habit, you can control many worries quickly before they control you.

For example, let's say you experience a pain in your chest while walking upstairs one day. Instead of spending the next few hours worrying what it meant, and dodging the question, you could do as follows:

1. Evaluate: This was a kind of pain I don't remember having felt before. It was sharp, in the area of my heart. It passed when I paused for breath. I do not know what this means.

2. Plan: Since I do not know what this means and since I do fear it might be serious, I will seek expert advice.

3. Remediate: You call your physician right away."

This is actually a technique that I have learned to some extent in my years as a messy. One thing that caused a lot of worry and stress was "where are the keys?" Years ago I made a place for the keys and always put them there. No more worry. On my desk are two stacking filing units. There's a slot for every part of my life. All bits of paper and important information goes into its respective slot. Now when I get that "yikes, where did I put our passports for the trip (or whatever)" I can relax immediately because I know they are right where they should be. A place for everything, and everything in it's place. An old cliche, but a true and useful one.

More of Ted Dekker

"THR3E" is a thriller with a message. How great is that?!! I won't say anymore - lots of surprises, twists and turns.

"The Martyr's Song" asks the question "what would you die for?". Very thought-provoking and challenging. Short little book that comes with a CD of the song.

Kickin' back on the beach...

I look forward to summer days at the beach when all there is to do is read, read, read. It's nice to have uninterrupted stetches of time. Usually I have to limit myself to bits and pieces amid schooling and housework and errands. In the last month and a half I have read some really good books. But now I have to get back to reality, so I don't have time to give an indepth review of them.

Here's a listing:

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (5 stars - must read. The story of several women in Afghanistan. There's an interesting video interview with him online somewhere. I bought this but it's available in the library)

"Prey" by Michael Crichton (3 stars - a page turner, but WAY too technical for me. I skipped over all the jargon and scientific explanations. This is in the library)

"Enter Three Witches" by Caroline B. Cooney (4 stars -a novelized retelling of MacBeth from a young girl's perspective. Library)

The Circle Trilogy, "Black", "Red", and "White", by Ted Dekker. (4 stars only because I was starting to get a little tired of the series by the end of it. Great theology lessons - these books will stretch your spiritual mind. Library)

"Irish Chain" by Barbara Haworth-Attard (4 stars. The story of a girl with dyslexia during the time of the Halifax explosion in 1917. I own this book)

"A Part of the Sky" by Robert Newton Peck (4 stars. Sequel to "A Day No Pigs Would Die". Library)

Life on the farm

Coming of age books can be iffy. "A Day No Pigs Would Die" is a sweet book that gives you a look into the life of a young boy growing up as a Shaker. I had an image of Jethro Bowdean (sp?) from the Beverly Hillbillys show as I heard the thoughts and conversation of young Robert Peck. Since Robert Peck is also the author of the book it is probably autobiographical, although written as a novel. You will delight in his stories of life on the farm, even as you agonize with the harsh realities of that same life. A young boy or young man would find this book a good read - and perhaps learn a thing or two about what it means to take on the responsibilities of manhood.