Make Your Own Vapor Rub

We have alternatives for all kinds of things available to us, but did you know that there is even an alternative for Vick's VaporRub?

You might be asking, what is wrong with Vick's VaporRub? After all, we have been using it for years.

As you might have already guessed, Vick's VaporRub is made from petroleum. You don't want petroleum in your body because it is a toxin. Many cosmetics are made out of petroleum as well.

The recipe was made from 4 teaspoons grated bee's wax, 3 Tablespoons of Shea butter, and 7 Tablespoons of coconut oil. You heat the Shea butter and bee's wax first, then add the coconut oil. There were many options of oils to use, but I used peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, and menthol. The menthol was like crystals (hmmm. Menthol. Maybe they mean meth). I added the oils after adding coconut oil. I put it in a plastic margarine container (Some family members have not given up their love for 'fake butter' so, until they do, I will have little containers when the 'fake butter' is gone).

Here is the web site I got the recipe from:
http://www.mommypotamus.com/diy-vicks-vapor-rub/

Remember, never put peppermint oil on small children. It could be very harmful for them.

I am actually going to use the vapor rub on my pots that are holding plants, because the scent should repel squirrels and other animals, and it should stay on for a while, even after a rain.

They are not cute. They are evil. They will hate the smell
of peppermint oil in the homemade vapor rub mixture.

Top Products/Ideas For Good Health

I am overwhelmed with ideas on how to stay healthy, so I want to compile them on a page in order to organize my own thoughts. I will list some ideas that have been touted as bringing about good health.

1. Vitamin D3 is necessary for good health. Many Vitamin D3 supplements come with probiotics. Probiotics are so necessary for good gut health.


2. Eat clean. Avoid foods that are processed and have preservatives and artificial colorings. Also avoid food that is genetically modified, or irradiated. When it comes to eating produce, eat organic. Avoid food that has been sprayed with pesticides. Watch the Food, Inc. trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2sgaO44_1c

3. Avoid toxins. Eating clean is included under this. We live in a toxic society, and toxins contribute to our lack of well-being. Everything that touches your skin will end up in your bloodstream. Whatever you breathe in goes into your lungs and other parts of your body. It is not just what we eat, that brings toxins into our bodies. It is whatever we touch or breathe in that also brings toxins inside of us.

4. Detox. There are products on the market specifically made for detoxing. Chlorella is good to use to help with detoxing as well. Maximized Living carries a good detox package.



5. Moderate exercise. Exercise helps the blood to flow better throughout your body. It is also good for your heart. Weights are good to use in exercising. Walking is one of the best exercises to do.

6. I have heard about Earthing and there are people with testimonies of how Earthing has helped them. Earthing is also known as 'grounding'. It involves allowing your feet to touch the soil in order to receive the proper balance of electrons. I know this sounds very weird, and it is not some kind of strange religion. It is very scientific, and I personally can see where it matches what it taught in the Bible about man being created out of the dust of the earth. Earthing is not only done by walking in the soil in your bare feet. You can buy sheets, socks, blankets, and some clothing items that have the same effect as if you walked in your bare feet. It is supposed to help with insomnia. *http://wellnessmama.com/5600/earthing-sleep/
*http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/11/04/why-does-walking-barefoot-on-the-earth-make-you-feel-better.aspx

7. Get fresh air and let the air come through your house. Of course, if you have birds in your house, you definitely do not want them to get a draft (birds are very draft sensitive and could easily catch pneumonia and die). You need to get rid of the recycled air in the house. Also, new houses have many chemicals in them that are toxic to breathe in. Grow houseplants which will create oxygen inside the house. If your car is parked inside a garage, make sure that there are no air carriers that would bring in the air from the garage, which would be filled with the gasses from the car that is parked in the garage.

8. Grow Your Own Food - You can do your own gardening and grow your own food, without the use of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc. Gardening can be hard work, but there are several places on the Internet that can help. http://www.gardenweb.com 

9. Get adjusted by a chiropractor. This is so easily overlooked or misunderstood. Many think that a chiropractor is one who helps with back problems, but nothing could be further from the truth. Our brain was made to interact with other parts of the body, and the signals from the brain to the other body parts has to go through the spine. Many times, there is blockage in the spine, so the signals from the brain do not get to the body parts that they were intended to get to. A chiropractor works on the spine to open it up so the signal from the brain can go to the organ or whatever part of the body that the signal is being sent to. I have heard that just one adjustment can boost your immunity by 200%!

Products that are recommended for good heath

1. Essential Oils - If you know anything about essential oils and their benefits, you are aware that there are at least two big essential oil brands that are widely used. One is called 'Young Living' and the other is 'DoTerra'. Of course, DoTerra has a line over their o and I cannot make that with my computer! A note about oils and their medicinal purposes: Essential oil companies are not allowed legally to sell their oils by describing their oils as cures for various ailments. The reason for this is due to the fact that, according to the FDA (I think), it puts the essential oils into another category, which would correspond to medicine. In other words, essential oils cannot be advertised in connection with curing diseases, or we would not be able to sell them unless we have a medical license to do so.
(Here is a link to my web site. I would like to write all the benefits of the oils*, that I have here on paper, but it would take too long and make this article too long for people to read through. http://www.mydoterra.com/susanseifert1/#/ )

2. Garden of Life vitamins - If you have to take vitamins, Garden of Life is a good brand. Be careful of just buying over the counter vitamins. Many have been tested and have been found wanting.



3. Juice Plus+. This is one of my favorites. The people at Juice Plus+ have a real vision for getting nourishment into people's bodies. They have created a food item that has the nourishment of the amount of vegetables and fruits for 9-13 servings. They come in capsule form and also available, and not only for kids, they make a chewable version. The chewables are similar to Gummy Bears. Juice Plus+ has a program where children who are ages 4 and up can go on Juice Plus+ at no cost, with a subscribing adult. So, if both mom and dad are taking Juice Plus+, they can have two of their children on Juice Plus+ and they do not have to pay for the children's subscriptions. Other items of interest that Juice Plus+ makes are Complete, which is a protein shake, and bars. For more information, please go to:
http://www.ss.juiceplus.com (Note: Juice Plus+ is not a vitamin supplement. It is much more than that.)

4. Tower Garden. This is one way to grow a garden in one place! Instead of sprawling through the yard, plants are grown vertically. You can grow anything on this except plants with bulbs or that grow underground. http://www.ss.towergarden.com

5. Maximized Living. Very good for learning about the 5 M's. Maximized Oxygen and Lean Muscle (exercise), Maximized Mind, Maximized nerve supply (chiropractic adjustments), Maximized Quality Nutrition, and Minimized Toxins. They also carry a line of supplements and have exercise programs as well as informative videos. http://www.maximizedliving.com

* I can give a couple of examples of oils we use right now. I have heard that oil of marjoram is good to help with snoring. We are using one put out by 'Now' brand called 'Peaceful Sleep'. Peppermint oil is good to help with breathing, but it not recommended to not use on children six years old or under. I am going to make a recipe that will be like VapoRub, but without the petroleum. It calls for coconut oil, shea butter and some oils like eucalyptus and peppermint. I have menthol but it is hard as a rock and I cannot get it out of the jar. I will use it if I can get it to melt.

There is always more to do and learn. That is why I have this blog. We have in no way arrived at our knowledge of keeping well. We are just at the beginning of this.

Throughout History, people always got sick. There were many reasons for this. Some of it was due to unsanitary conditions. Some people only had access to certain types of food. There were times of drought when food and water were scarce. But today, we have an entirely different type of environment, and people, in large amounts, are getting sick and not recovering. Today, we have toxins that civilizations in the past were not exposed to. Toxins are the killer for us. We have toxins in our cosmetics, household cleaners, building products, food, air, etc.

I hope this has been helpful. As I experiment with different things, and find new answers to old problems, I will update the page. As I learn new things, I will write about them. I hope you enjoy journeying with me while I am traveling this road. 

I Am Down To Eating Carrot And Celery Sticks

Well, it's my turn to have to have a special kind of diet. I have always prided myself on being able to eat almost anything and adapting to changing my eating habits, when necessary, but this time, the tables are turned.

  For the past several months, I have cut out most white sugar by substituting my need for sweets by using liquid stevia or xylitol. I have also found that coconut sugar is an excellent substitute for the real thing. But cutting out anything with grain? You must be kidding?

  Grain products make up probably 75% of my diet, or more. I can't imagine life without bread products or cream of wheat. I can't just let go of pasta, can I? After all, I use imported organic semolina to make my pasta products with.

   Most everything I make is organic and should be safe, at least from an organic standpoint. But can a pre-diabetic person eat organic flour and not have any serious side effects? I don't know. Not yet, anyway.

   So, I have made a start in my diet. Now, instead of having pasta for lunch, or eggs on toast, I will have an omelet. I will make my omelet with as many interesting ingredients as I can find. For example, today I made the omelet with cooked sausage, mushrooms, and cheese. Tomorrow I will make ricotta cheese and add that to the omelet. Somehow, cheese and omelets seem to be made to go together.

   When I come up with a new menu containing the limited amount of food I can eat, I will post it somewhere here, so that others who are newly found pre-diabetic human beings, can find something to eat, besides beans.

   Now for the dessert! Where's the dessert in all this. Step #1 is to make ricotta cheese. You can use ricotta cheese in many recipes, and since dairy products are fine to eat for a pre-diabetic, ricotta cheese is a good choice. Ricotta cheese is used in Italian cakes. If you can find a recipe for Italian cakes that doesn't use flour, please post the url in the comment box!

   I could eat ricotta cheese right out of the bowl. Put some stevia in it and whip it up. Maybe it would make a nice dip for zucchini slices! Not!

3 Foods that can be eaten by pre-diabetic people:

* Omelets
* Ricotta Cheese
* Smoothies Made With Protein Powder (sugar-free)

Oh, and I also found some gluten-free beef jerky in the pantry. After I spend days on Pinterest, I will update my list of allowed foods for pre-diabetic people.

Which One Is It? Quantity or Quality of Life?

People wonder why in the world do I want to eat and live in a healthful way. Especially since it is so much easier to buy prepared food that tastes great, why would I go through all this trouble? Is it so I can add a few more years to my life?

Think about it this way: If you live to be elderly, would you rather live on a farm or in a nursing home? Would you rather have a mind that thinks clearly, or would you rather be sleeping all day, not even knowing or caring where you were?

Perhaps you are not willing to give up your Big Macs or Oreos. You might be thinking, living clean only adds a few years to one's life. I would rather keep my junk food and lifestyle and live a few years less. That is your choice, and I will not interfere with that.

But perhaps you don't understand the deeper issues. It's not so much about quantity of life as much as it is about quality of life. If you ever see someone dying of cancer, you should be thinking, what can I do to help? What can I do to prevent this horrible disease from taking over my loved ones? If you don't see the correlation between our modern, western lifestyles, and the rise of disease such as cancer, diabetes, and allergies, then take a moment to look at some statistics.

   In 1985, my father died of cancer. No one expected it. It came suddenly and he died a terrible death. Back then, the statistics for cancer were about 1 in every 4 persons. Today, cancer is even greater than heart disease. Now the statistics for cancer are 1 in every 2 people. That means 50% of the population in America will probably succumb to cancer, sometime during their lifetimes.

   The problem is, most people today did not see the slow change in our environment and food industry. Americans today assume that we always had grocery stores and food that came in boxes. But that is not true. In the early to mid 1900s, most of the food eaten was grown on local farms, without the use of modern pesticides and herbicides. By the mid 1900s, supermarkets were becoming more and more popular. But they probably were not as lacking in nutrients as they are today. Today, people prize convenience. People love what is easy to make. It is a lot easier to open a box, put the ingredients in a bowl and add water, then put it in a pan and bake it for 25 minutes, than to collect the ingredients and prepare them yourself and do whatever baking or cooking is necessary. Believe me, cooking food that has nutrition is by far harder than just opening a box and adding water. But food on the shelves of grocery stores is full of additives. Some are preservatives. Some are coloring and flavoring. Agricultural farms give antibiotic shots to their animals to help prevent them from getting sick. What they don't seem to know is that, in turn, we are consuming antibiotics and they are getting into our systems as well. Growth hormones are given to the animals as well. Could this be a reason why girls go through puberty much earlier than their grandmothers did?

    Think of household cleaners. There are many toxic ones out there. They are not only toxic if taken internally, but they are toxic to breathe in the fumes and when they have contact with our skin, our skin absorbs the toxins and they get into our bloodstream. Did you know that chlorine is carcinogenic? Fluoride is another carcinogen. The FDA approves it in very small amounts, but, we don't get small amounts. Think about how many times you have to brush your teeth? Every time you brush your teeth, a little fluoride gets into your mouth. Several tooth brushing experiences will cause the amount of fluoride to add up. Plus, fluoride is mandatory to be in our drinking water. Of course, this is only in America. Europe doesn't allow fluoride in the water over there. Fluoride has ended up in our soil, and many plants are now contaminated that are growing in these places where the soil has taken up fluoride.

   So, the question is not, how much longer will one live if they eat right and live right. The question is, what kind of quality of life do you want? Perhaps you don't have any motivation for living. Maybe you are depressed or see no reason for living. The Bible says, 'Where there is no vision, the people perish'. Those who have no vision for their lives will wander aimlessly, without purpose.

   So, do you want to live in a nursing home one day? Do you want to die of a horrible disease that could have been prevented? Or, do you want to live out all your days in good health, with your memory intact?

   If you are one of those who are depressed or lacking vision for your life, God has a different idea about why you are here. God didn't create you to mope around and be depressed all your life. God created you for something much higher. He made you so that you could worship Him. You could live a life designed by God, instead of a self-centered, self-seeking life, which goes nowhere but to the grave. If you would like more info on this, please go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com   or   http://test4gp.wordpress.com

Coconut - It is Good For You

With all the talk about how good coconut oil is for you, as well as other parts of the coconut, it is worth investigating. I just saw a Facebook post saying that coconut oil will help you lose weight. There was also a picture with it ( a drawing) of a woman with a tape measure going around her waist. On the final picture, this once fat woman was now slim, due to taking coconut oil. Maybe this is the key to losing weight.

Last year, my mother in law, who lived about 2 hours away from us, was suffering from dementia. I had heard that coconut oil helps with dementia, so when we went to visit her, I made her some candy with coconut milk and oil. I love this stuff, and she did too, according to what I had heard. She was becoming a picky eater, but there was no problem with her eating the candy I made (I don't even think I added any sugar to it). If I lived up there, I would have given this to her all the time, but because we lived so far away, it was hard to get this homemade candy to her.

When I sold Shaklee, we had available some informal classes on nutrition and health, and I was in a place where I could go to these classes. I learned a lot from them. They taught us how to make protein balls with their protein powder. The recipe goes something like this:

Protein Powder Balls

1/3 protein powder
1/3 honey
1/3 peanut butter

Combine and roll into balls. Eat and enjoy this nourishing snack.

I have come up with my version of something similar, but with the value of coconut too.

Coconut Protein balls

1/2 cup protein power
coconut cream (a can of coconut milk separated. Put in fridge to help with separation before opening)
flaked coconut (you can get unsweetened)
Peanut butter (optional)
1 TBS. coconut oil

Coating
Chocolate chips, melted (I would use chocolate chips that have a high percentage of cacao).

This recipe is a little tricky because the coconut cream will make it very soupy and hard to work with. Take a can of coconut milk and put it in the fridge for a while, then open and the cream part should be separated from the liquid like milk part. Combine protein powder, coconut cream, coconut, peanut butter, if using, and oil. Add more protein powder if too soft. The rolled balls will be very soft, and they need to be refrigerated for them to harden. After they are rolled, place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
I have put too much protein powder into them and then they become kind of hard when in the refrigerator. You can add peanut butter if you want to, but it is not necessary. If you like peanut butter, it is a good choice to add. If you leave the peanut butter out, the coconut protein balls appear like Mounds bars. Also, coconut butter can be added (see picture below).
Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler or on very, very low heat. The chocolate chips are the only thing in this recipe that contains sugar. I have added liquid stevia to the mixture to make it sweeter.
Dip the balls into the melted chocolate chips. Put back in the refrigerator to harden again.
I don't really have any measurements to this, and I add the ingredients until they make a fairly good consistency. They will be very soft until refrigerated.
Another word about chocolate chips; If they are heated too high, the chocolate will 'seize' which I guess means that the melted chocolate will be grainy and will not spread. Been there. Done that.

This coconut butter is a
good addition to the
protein balls

Chocolate chips that are highly recommended

This is the coconut milk I use.

Shredded coconut is a good addition
to many recipes