Hello Moon(s): What your nails can tell you about B vitamins (and Celiac)

Posted on by mscellenea

Some decades ago I read a book about a very proper woman, who maintained that each nail on a well-groomed hand should have a perfect half moon at the base. Not to have them indicated you were some sort of cultural slacker.

I thought ‘is this some crazy habit like having your purse match your shoes?’– or perhaps a genetic anomaly, like twinsets, duck boots, pearls and Lilly Pulitzer?

But then I thought I’d try to achieve those half moons. Continue reading Hello Moon(s): What your nails can tell you about B vitamins (and Celiac)

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Spring cleanse: Suffering something chronic? Try something tonic

Posted on by mscellenea

My week-long spring cleanse ended yesterday. Whoot.

I reminded myself of some good habits to follow this week, and invented some new ones. To keep my mouth and brain from getting bored, I made a few things that taste great, have interesting texture, and support health. Particularly in the drinks department as wine and my hacked vodka were off the menu. Continue reading Spring cleanse: Suffering something chronic? Try something tonic

Spring cleanse: 1-2-3, 1-2-3, swish

Posted on by mscellenea

I decided to try to take control of the recent blood test fiasco by doing a detox this month, right before my next blood test.

I used a product from Garden of Life called Raw Cleanse.

The cleanse has three parts:

  1. a probiotic mix you swish and swallow first thing every morning
  2. organ-detox capsules
  3. a fiber-rich mix to help with elimination.

It was an easy, gentle formula, that didn’t require being too close to a bathroom, and I was able to go to work all week. Continue reading Spring cleanse: 1-2-3, 1-2-3, swish

Spring cleanse: bitter greens

Posted on by mscellenea

I am thinking Spring this week, despite gale-force winds and a temperature that feels like 33F. I bought some pots for outdoor plants, and I bought a lot of fresh greens to help my detox this week and keep things interesting.

From top left, radicchio, arugula, scallions, sprouts, watercress, and radishes.

I pack a mix of these greens into jars for the week. Then I suck out the air to keep them fresh longer. Continue reading Spring cleanse: bitter greens

@IndigoWild I still love you

Posted on by mscellenea

UDATE 4/5/16: From the cool folk at @Indigo Wild:

Thx 4 the love! The F&M is still the same, it will naturally get darker as it ages. Like fine wine, it gets better with age. 🙂

 

Seriously, what’s up with this?

I’ve been buying this soap for years.

It never was this color before.

Did a get a  melatonin-challenged bottle? It’s about 32 shades lighter than it used to be. Continue reading @IndigoWild I still love you

Liver-friendly topical pain relief

Posted on by mscellenea

I have been on a hunt for some pain relief that will not compromise my liver. I figured I’d start from the outside in. I’ve had enough drama involving insides lately, and wanted to give them a break.

While topical creams can avoid gastric complications, some contain ingredients, which when absorbed through the skin, can have the same side effects as those taken internally. You have to be doubly careful if you are using such a cream while also taking an oral pain reliever with similar ingredients.

Pictured here are three pain relievers. Two are “natural” remedies, one is by prescription. Continue reading Liver-friendly topical pain relief

Thistle Truce!

Posted on by mscellenea

After three weeks of incremental additions to the dose, I’m finally on the recommended 40 drops of this stuff, three times a day. And, I feel pretty darn good.

My doctor put me on this blend when recent blood tests showed elevated liver and kidney functions. I’ve since found that a lot of the problem was caused by diclofenac, a precsription NSAID pain reliever (liver-knew about that) and the diclofenac in combination with candesartan (kidney). Continue reading Thistle Truce!

@Factor75: 10 Easy Paleo Recipes You Haven’t Seen Before (#9 Is Our Favorite) | Factor75 Blog

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Hey, that way to make lasagne with butternut squash is great — I do it all the time. You’ll be all “zucchini-what?”

10 excellent recipes.

via 10 Easy Paleo Recipes You Haven’t Seen Before (#9 Is Our Favorite) | Factor75 Blog

Can’t get enough of these ice cube trays

Posted on by mscellenea

I find lately, every time I order from Amazon, I add a pack of these ice cube trays.

They’re nothing beyond the standard ice-cube tray except for a few features.

  • the lid makes them stack-able
  • the lid keeps them fresh and odor-free
  • they are BPA-free
  • the hole in the lid makes them easy to fill with water without spilling
  • the lid,left on, allows you to pop out the ice cubes without bedizening the floor with them — you flip the tray upside down, use what you need, and flip the rest back into the tray
  • you can choose the quality of water that goes in them. My fridge has a filter for the ice maker. The ice cubes still smell like chlorine. I have flipped up the lever on the ice maker to turn it off, and fill the bin with these cubes instead. Stinky cubes? Got fresh ones in the tray

I’m sure there are higher quality ones out there, but these, for the price are working great for me, and I like the thin plastic tray for flexibility in popping the cubes. I use them for seed cream, water, and other uses (maybe pesto) yet to be discovered.

 

Seed cream — and the PK Protocol

Posted on by mscellenea

I have lately added some new oils to my life, one a particularly brain-healthy one called PC, or phosphatidylcholine. My doctor told me to be particularly careful about brand here, and not to substitute cheaper versions for the PC oils made by Body Bio, Xymogen, or Nutrasal. Rather than using something cheaper, the doc said to take as much as I could afford of a good brand.

PC oil is a highly refined replacement for something you body naturally produces. It has similarities to, but is NOT the same as, lethicin and unlike the waxy candle-tasting beads of my fab ’70s childhood  when my grandmother took that stuff with everything — and shoved it into me too if I didn’t disappear fast enough — PC oil is water-soluble, and apparently very hard to make. Continue reading Seed cream — and the PK Protocol

Chicha Morada

Posted on by mscellenea

More of the tale of fixing the troubles I mention in last post: here is a drink from Peru that does wonders for my blood numbers (A1C is excellent these days), and is said to have many health benefits. For me, it’s a superb anti-inflammatory. Not bad with pisco or vodka either, but I’m off the hard stuff for a whole. And, yes, I had pineapple trimmings in that same freezer of doom. Why, you might ask, do I beg pineapple trimmings off people who eat pineapples? This drink.

This is made of purple corn, some pineapple peelings, and usually apples. Add spices and simmer for about an hour, until the drink is very deeply-colored. It’s a glass full of antioxidants. Just don’t spill it. It stains like heck.

I got the recipe from a Peruvian friend, and then tried to amp up the antioxidant value with some additions. No effect on taste, as the spices are pretty forward. Continue reading Chicha Morada

“Emergency” chili

Posted on by mscellenea

I had a couple of bad weekends recently because of drug and supplement reactions. As it turns out, diclofenac, the NSAID I take for pain, doesn’t get along at all with my blood pressure med (candesartan) or with the coumarin in the cinnamon I used to use. I usually don’t use much diclofenac, so the drug didn’t have the opportunity to react with the rest of my daily doses until I had some significant pain.

I took a lot of diclofenac in January, as an old shoulder injury I had flared up again. In the last blood test, done after taking 2-3 diclofenic tablets a day, my kidney and liver functions were all out of whack. Continue reading “Emergency” chili

LDN and pain relief — the nettle and the sting

Posted on by mscellenea

About three years ago, I fell on some black ice, landing  hard on my palms and one knee. I healed quickly and didn’t think much more about it. However, since, during times of low atmospheric pressure–as in an impending storm, I find that the pain comes back, twice so far, much worse than it was in the original fall.

The first time this happened was extremely painful. I squirmed my way into the car to see my doctor, who prescribed an opiate with many warnings. I took it. Nothing happened–like taking air pills. I had to call back and point out that LDN was an opiate blocker.

Oops. Continue reading LDN and pain relief — the nettle and the sting

Bah, what’s up with jars these days?

Posted on by mscellenea

I remember as a kid the main screaming-point where the mother met the fridge was the fact that I didn’t screw on the jar lids tightly enough. Well, I expect the first few decades of that horrible behavior was laziness. Anything after about age 25 was probably MS.

These days, I can’t open some lids, and I struggle to close them. Small ones, like water bottles, I close and can’t open again. Hours of fun there. Continue reading Bah, what’s up with jars these days?

A new addition to the household: Waterwise distiller

Posted on by mscellenea

Even more saga on my quest for water quality. The hardworking Storm-Trooper distiller died with a dramatic gurgle and a melted power switch. That was both sad and scary.

Then I found out how much I needed that thing. I use about a case of distilled water every week, for various uses. I take my probiotics with it, for example, so there is no chance of the chlorine in my tap water killing the helpful bugs. And I use it to make my biotin. Continue reading A new addition to the household: Waterwise distiller

The 40% solution?

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To drink or not to drink with chronic pain associated with a disease like Multiple Sclerosis? There are two recent studies that argue for pro- and con-sides of the argument. The “pro” study says that regular moderate consumption improves the EDSS scores of MS patients. Another says that moderate drinking reduces the risk of developing MS. Continue reading The 40% solution?