Embrace Your Sacred Cow

Cows gracing peacefully at The Lands At Hillside Farm, Shavertown, PA

Cow? Really Paula... where can you possibly be going with this? Get as big as a cow? Be gentle like a cow? Have gorgeous, long lashes like a cow? 

Nah, something much more practical! Chew like a cow people. Chew long, luxuriously, peacefully, and gently. 

95% of the clients and students I work with have some sort of GI Tract upset. Their digestive tract is struggling to do the job of, well, digesting. So many more of your bodily processes (all of them really) rely on your digestion so the rest of your body's functions can happen effortlessly. Yup, the bottom line is that efficient digestion is what creates the downstream effects of well nourished body cells or not so well nourished cells. Good digestion and a healthy digestive tract lead to:

• food well broken down into usable nutrients that are
• absorbed through that health 1 cell thick gut lining and then
• circulated effortlessly through the blood stream until these nutrients
• arrives safely at each and every body cell's doorstep and then they
• move across the cell membrane with ease and peace to be
• utilized by every intercellular organelle to make the miracle of you happen in each and every moment.

Digestion IS a sacred and beautiful thing. 

Just because these below images leave out the mouth and esophagus... don't fall for the same foolishness. Both are very important parts of your digestive tract... as is your brain and nervous system! Mouth to brain to gut communication is so key for release of your digestive juiciness.

So I ask... why do we, as a culture, shovel food (or worse yet: food products) into our mouths with no thoughtfulness around what we are eating say nothing about how we are eating it. We then expect our bodies, minds, and spirits to soar with great health and carry us through our days effortlessly and with ease?

I have written numerous times about the sacredness of food, meal times, and chewing. Is anyone listening to me? I know my kids are not...

Here's a suggestion: 

So many of us do realize that bedtime routines/rituals are so beneficial to creating deep and peaceful sleep every night. (Although, many of us are in need of embracing this bedtime sacredness as well.)  My suggestion is to start seeing meal time rituals as important and sacred. Relax, breathe deeply, and chew well. Maybe light a candle to remind yourself how important you are and how important it is to slow down and nourish your body, mind, and spirit with food and eating (chewing your food well much like the cow does instinctively and intuitively with every bite and every mouthful of grass!). 

For my PDF handout on chewing your food well click this link: http://issuu.com/paula754/docs/chewing_with_pictures

Blessings of Happy, Healthy, Peaceful, and Nourishing Meals To You!

Active Vs. Passive Medicine

                     Active                    Vs.                       Passive

Healing oneself takes an individual's active participation in the process. This participation can be physical (body), emotional (mind), or spirit work.  Often times, all three woven together into a beautiful Self-Healing tapestry is your healing magic in action.

We live is a culture that generally works from a space of passive health care.

One western medicine scenario:

1. Visit your practitioner.
2. Explain your symptoms, issues, challenges.
3. Have a prescription handed to you.
4. Go home and take your pills.

Rarely does a western medical practitoner ask you to participate in the process of regaining your health. Drugs and surgery do not get at what is causing your health crisis. Drugs cover up the symptoms. Surgery removes the damaged organs but never opens up space to determine why this organ is in a state of dis-ease and how can I change my habits to reverse the damage that has been done?  What is actually causing the symptoms usually continues in a person's life because no one asks us to take a hard look at what made us arrive at this space of ill health. When we do take this hard look, unravel the causes that led to the problem, we can then start working in reverse to remove the problems and recover health.

Examples of the "You don't have to do anything active about your health problems" scenarios:

• High blood pressure: just take this pill and it will bring your blood pressure down. 
• Type 2 Diabetes: again, take this pill and continue doing what you have been doing. Until, of course, your diabetes get worse and now you need to... inject yourself with insulin at least once daily.
• Joint problems: take this pill, come on in for a replacement... keep eating and drinking all you have been because like the problems above... these problems are not your fault. You know, it's just bad genes. Take this pill and call it a day.

I could go on & on... PMS, menstrual irregularities, infertility, arthritis, auto-immune disorders, cancer... Nothing you eat, drink, or do in your life has anything to do with the presence of this health problem in your life.

Or so we are led to believe by mainstream media, mainstream medicine, and mainstream agriculture.

Active Participation in your health and healing means taking ownership of your lifestyle habits; true Lifestyle Medicine. Lifestyle Medicine is Active Medicine. You are asked and required to take a participatory role in your health and healing. You are invited to make changes towards whole health eating and whole health living that will ultimately repair your body cells.

1. How has the food I have been eating over the course of my life impacted my body's cellular health?  (Unhealthy cells mean an unhealthy body.)
2. How are my daily lifestyle habits impacting my health, my display of symptoms?
3. How is my body weight affecting my heart, blood pressure, diabetes, joints, back problems, and overall health?

It is time for your health care providers to invite you and inspire you (that is right, health care professionals who activley participate in their own well being and are good role models of real health). Your health cae providers need to be asking you questions:

"Stand up people. Take a hard look. Where can you change habits that have contributed to this crisis in your health? What can you do to actively return your body to vibrant, vital health?"

Trust me, return to health is a reality.  You just need to get active about the process. Invite healing support into your life:

• Lifestyle medicine professionals (think Functional Medicine, Functional Nutrition, Naturopathic Medicine, Holistic Health Coach)
• Acupuncture
• Massage
• Reiki
• Shamanic Care
• Chiropractic Care
• Spiritual Counselor
• Osteopath who practices lifestyle medicine

So where does preventative health care fit into this?

There is a difference between mainstream medicine's view of preventative health care and "holistic - whole health care - lifestyle medicine's" idea of preventative health care.

Mainstream's Idea of Prevention  -  Whole Health Care's Prevention                                                            (Lifestyle Medicine)

• mammogram                                                                          whole foods
• colonoscopy                                                                            deep, restful sleep
• cholesterol screening                                                              maintain healthy weight
• prostate exam                                                                         yoga, meditation mindfulness
• bone scan                                                                               moving the body daily
• vaccines                                                                                  immune building lifestyle habits
• diabetes screening                                                                  good posture
• blood pressure screenings                                                      hydration with pure water (no chlorine and fluoride)

Natural health habits are preventative health care; TRUE preventative health care.

The "get your annual mammogram, colonoscopy, cholesterol screening type of prevention" (which often leads to your lifetime pharmaceutical prescriptions)  does not actually prevent anything but instead is an early detection tool so your symptoms of dis-ease can be treated, managed, for the rest of your life. This is management of disease through management of disease symptoms.

Healing, active medicine, needs to be part of this equation.

Active Health Care is about real preventative health care... choosing lifestyle habits that build amazing cellular health & vitality so you truly prevent dis-ease from ever darkening your doorstep and actually knocking on your door. 

If disease symptoms are already part of your life, Active Health Care invites you to heal your symptoms of disease. 

I invite you to become an active part of your own healing team AND I will do my best to educate you and inspire you (be a healthy role model) towards whole health choices and self healing! 

Join me at 5 Elements Living for

Creating Inner Wisdom: Your Personal Health Journey

Register Today

3 Class overview
• March 27th: Eating for Cellular Health
• April 3rd: Natural Food Know How
• April 10th: Wise Woman Nurse "Movement Magic"
for Digestive Health & Herbs for Gut Health

Monday Evenings 6-8 PM

More info? Click here.

Ready to join us? Register here.

Not All Vitamin Supplements Are Created Equally

Nature Made? Hmmm, name sounds safe enough. It is Nature made, correct?

People grabs these cleverly named supplements off the shelves of drug stores, grocery stores, and discount department stores feeling confident in something that was nature made.

Cheaper department store vitamins are enticing. Who doesn't like to save a few bucks when and where they can. Money is the currency of our life force energy and we only have so much (life force energy) to burn up in our time on this planet. Is saving a few bucks on cheaper vitamins worth it? Am I supporting or harming my cellular health? This is one of those instances where you get what you pay for and it is best to invest in high quality. Your health is worth it and cheaper versions can be harmful in the long run (your body has to process out, detox through the GI tract and liver, the synthetic vitamins that are not readily or not at all usable by your body).

Reading the nutrient list and ingredients weaves a completely different tale; a tale of deception around these cleverly brand named products.

Reading vitamin labels to avoid synthetic forms of nutrients is as important as reading food package labels to avoid synthetic ingredients.

One of my biggest pieces of advice around packaged food is to read every ingredient in the product with major scrutiny:

• What is/are the ingredient(s)?

• Is/are all ingredients 100% whole food?

• Where was it sourced from? US or foreign?

• Organic?

• Naturally raised, naturally fed (as in cows being grass vs. grain fed)?

Ahhh, the beauty, simplicity, and purity of nature (you are nature!)

Even when you get used to the safeness of a particular product... read the ingredient list every time you buy this product. Companies change hands, ingredients are swapped out for cheaper options... always put your health as #1 priority:

So, let's move on to vitamin/mineral supplements.

Reading labels for the "form" of certain vitamins or minerals in the nutrients line-up can give you a quick idea if the product is quality ingredients or made with cheap versions of the vitamins/ minerals. (The habit by many manufacturing companies is to use the cheapest form of a substance, vitamin or mineral, and charge the customer as much as possible. This ensures the company has the largest profit margin.)

Look for these indications of high quality supplements; it is the natural vs. synthetic form of the nutrients. If the nutrient form is natural, the product just may be of a higher quality. If the nutrient form is synthetic, throw your red flag up to full mast and investigate the entire list with a scrutinizing eye and mind.

This is just 3 easy nutrients to scutinize the label for and start painting a picture in your mind of the quality of the product in your hand (or on your laptop screen if cyber-shopping for vitamins).

Natural Form                 Vs.           Synthetic Form

 Folate (Vitamin B9)                                                         Folic Acid

 Methylcobalamin (B12)                                                  Cyanocobalamin

 d-alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E)                                    dl-alpha tocopherol

You can use the above information to quickly scan the list of nutrients in a vitamin /mineral formula. If any of the above are in their synthetic form, I would seriously scrutinize the rest of the product. The "red flag" to me would be... Cheap, synthetic forms of these nutrients. Most likely the rest of the product was not formulated with high quality, bioavailable ingredients. Lay-person's terms: synthetic is not used well by your body. Nutrients need to be in a form that is usable by your body: meaning the nutrient can be

• digested by your GI tract,

• absorbed into your bloodstream,

• circulated well in your blood, and

• taken in by your cells (pass freely through your cell membranes) to be used in metabloic processes.

Buying quality supplements means getting a product that can actually be used by and benefit your body cells. Body cells are the building block of your body. Vibrantly healthy body cells are the building blocks of wildly happy and healthy bodies.

Vitamins I recommend to clients/students/family/friends/people I pass on the streets:    ; )

• Pure Synergy: I always recommend 2 daily with a whole food eating lifestyle. The bottle says 4 daily. The bottle will last 2 months at 2 per day and will supplement a healthy, whole food diet. Pure Synergy also has great herb supplements such as Turmeric, etc.

• Garden of Life

• Superfood Plus (HerbDoc.com)

• New Chapter

• Mega Food

Some of these are available at Nature's Storehouse in Canton, NY

How about those herbal supplements Paula?

Again, cheaper brands are not always quality products. If you are going to put your money into herbal supplements (or homeopathy, or essential oils, etc) you do want to get what you are paying for. Opt for companies that are high end, high quality, have a known reputation for efficacy of their products. After all, you do want them to work for you.

Companies whose herbal products I have used and trust:

• Herbs Etc.

• Herbdoc.com

• Oregon Wild Harvest

• Wise Woman Herbals

• Nature's Sunshine

• Dr. Christopher's Original formulas

• Living Earth Wild Yam

• Nature's Secret

I am sure there are more but these are the companies I rely on for quality products.

Bottom Line:

Be wise.

Read labels on everything you put into or onto your body.

Know what is natural and supposed to be part of your cellular health.

Avoid synthetics that are counter-productive to cellular health.

Shopper's Rut: Why do I need to avoid this?

Shopper's Rut Defined: buying the same 'ole fruits and veggies every week:

• bunch of bananas
• few apples
• an orange or two on occasion and maybe a pear here or there
• stock of broccoli
• pre-washed & prepared lettuce of some sort
• carrots
• maybe a cuke or bell pepper
• perhaps some celery because it is easy

Why Should You Avoid This Same 'Ole - Same 'Ole Produce Shopping Experience... (Hint: to avoid eating the same things day after day, week after week!)

• Variety in fruits and veggies creates variety in the vitamin, minerals, anti-oxidants, and phytonutrients your body is graced with. There are so many nutrients in food that we have not yet discovered. Opting to eat produce that varies with the season opens your body, your body cells, to receiving all of these nutrients.
• Phytonutrients fight oxidative stress, inflammation, and allow your body to heal for disease prevention and disease healing (You want this, trust me and yes, your body is capable of healing from any disease. It is how we are genetically programmed. The "you must take this drug for the rest of your life" medical mentality erases the fact that the body has the ability to heal.).
• Mixing up your fruit & veggies provides your body with different kinds of fiber, the roughage in food. Fiber, complex carbohydrates are good on so many levels. See below for some gut bug info.

• Your taste buds, eyes, nostrils, hands, and brain will be happy for the variation in sensory stimulation. All the colors, textures, smells, and tastes are an amazing way to stimulate your neural pathways. Think of that beautiful summer salad on your plate and then the slow rotation into fall and winter veggies giving us tantalizing root veggie and cabbage slaws. Then there is my favorite winter veggie... beets!  A winter, cooked beet salad with walnuts & feta cheese is a taste bud tantalizing change from the same ole - same ole steamed or sauteed broccoli. 

Above picture borrowed, with permission, from the website of Martin's Farmstand, Potsdam, NY.           Look at the seasonal abundance available in Northern NY!  Go to their website and have fun clicking on the "previous newsletter" links. The pictures from the farmstand, the farm fields, and gardens are amazing. Lush and juicy, fresh, local, and seasonal food everywhere!  And all this food is tended to with love by wonderful people.  For your fall & winter veggies... give them a call.

Looking for a winter CSA in Northern NY State?:  

• Kent Family Growers, 
• Birdsfoot Farm, 
• LittleGrasse FoodWorks  OR check out
• GardenShares website to find a farmer close to you that sells produce, meats, cheeses, milk, herbs, spring plants, etc.

Try these ideas to eat more variety in your fruits and veggies:

• Get Creative in the Kitchen
• Eat Seasonally Fruits & Veggies & Naturally Rotate Your Phytonutrients
• Use Root vegetables instead of grains to add plenty of complex carbohydrates and starches to your eating habits. This is good gut pre-biotic food that feeds the gut bugs you want to survive and thrive in your intestinal tract. A healthy gut microbiome is a self-responsibility tool in your personal medicine bag to prevent intestinal disease, auto-immune diseases, cancer, and a host of other preventable human ills. And food is your easy, at home medicine!
• Grate veggies on a grater (or use a fancy spiralizer); use these grated veggies instead of pastas. Depending on the veggie, I use some raw and gently saute' others.
• Learn what fruits & berries grow in your area, what their season is, and freely indulge in them.

More recipes: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/recipes/

Tip for the Week, Month, & Year: Create seasonal variety in your whole food eating habits not just around the produce you eat. Variety bathes your awesome body cells in different nutrition daily, weekly, and with the seasons of the year.

Your body's health WILL thank you! (Your local farmers will thank you too.) 

Bone Broth: What Is the Hype?

Jar one: bones soaking in apple cider vinegar

Jar two: finished bone broth

I originally wrote this for the Potsdam Food Co-op's August 2016 Newsletter.

Perhaps you remember your mom or grandma feeding you chicken soup when you were ill. Most chicken soup, stock, was made with the bones, cartilage, and the hunks of attacked chicken meat. (If you are vegetarian or vegan… don’t bail on me just yet. I have plant based gut healing suggestions as well. Bare with me on this bones thing.)

Animal bone broths have been used for hundreds of years, thousands really, for their nourishment and healing benefits. People inherently knew the healing benefits of the daily food and life choices they made. Modern living somehow now requires scientific proof that what we are doing is worthwhile. Research into the benefits of bone broth is available and plenty to satisfy the scientifically inclined.

After the long soak and simmer to make bone broth (recipe to follow), the resultant gelatinous and slightly fatty liquid contains valuable minerals and nutrients in a form your body can easily absorb, circulate in your bloodstream, and be taken in and used by your body cells. These nutrients include amino acids, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, silicon, sulfur chondroitin, glucosamine, collagen, and a variety of trace minerals and other nutrients.  The gelatin in bone broth supports gut lining health, gut lining healing, and proper digestion.

Bone broth has been proven to help with infection fighting (why Mom and Gram gave you chicken soup when you were sick with the cold and flu). Bone broth contains amino acids that easily nourish the body on the cellular level. L-arginine and L-glutamine are two nourishing amino acids present in bone broth that decrease inflammation in the gut (and whole body inflammation) assisting the immune system in its never ending job of fighting infections and inflammation.  L-glutamine is known for its gut health enhancing properties. L-glutamine helps to heal and seal the lining of the digestive tract, your gut. More L-glutamine information coming up.

Many issues of modern living (antibiotics, hand sanitizers, modern wheat-gluten and dairy, chlorine and fluoride in drinking water, household chemicals, cosmetic chemicals, glyphosphate and other industrial agricultural chemicals… the list is never ending) create inflammation in the gut. An inflamed gut lining creates problems that allow undigested particles of food, chemicals, microbes, etc. to directly enter into the blood stream. This happens because the gut inflammation creates a diseased small intestinal condition medically named increased intestinal permeability.

This dis-ease of the body’s small intestine is more commonly known as Leaky Gut Syndrome. The small intestine has junctions that are very tightly packed together. These tight junctions serve a wonderful purpose by keeping unwanted particles (chemicals, bacteria, viruses…) in the digestive tract to be dealt with and passed out in solid waste OR food digested down to the smallest particles* to be absorbed, circulated, and used for cellular nutrition.

·         *Carbohydrates to simple sugars

·         *Proteins to amino acids

·         *Fats to fatty acids

The issues of modern living, mentioned above, create inflammation that irritates and erodes away at the gut and loosens these tight junctions. When these junctions are loosened all hell breaks loose in the body. The above mentioned substances pass through the now loose junctions directly into the bloodstream. This is not meant to be. The substances are meant to be digested first, cleaned up by the liver, and/or pooped right out of the body. When they slip into the circulation because the junctures are no longer tight to keep them where they belong… your immune system goes postal on them. Antibodies are created to combat these substances that are seen as foreign invaders, antigens. The next time you eat or take in one of these substances, the substance moves into the bloodstream through the loose junctures setting off the immune system (The immune response to this now problem food or substance actually happens before the food even reaches the intestines). This time the immune system has the antibodies ready and war is waged on the substance, the assumed antigen. Over time the body wears down from this cycle of inflammation, gut juncture loosening, seepage of the unwanteds into the blood stream, and a result can be that the body starts attacking itself (auto-immune issues).

Above 2 photos used with permission of Tracy Harrison – http://www.wildlysuccessfulhc.com/  Photo #1 shows tight junctures and loose junctures in a simplistic drawing.  Photo #2 inside of small intestine showing a very blown up view of the thousands of villi covered by millions of micro-villi. These villi are where the junctures exist.

My gut story is a very simplistic explanation meant to assist in the understanding of what in the body is going awry.  An inflamed gut lining contributes to leaky gut syndrome and the resultant food sensitivities and allergies, auto-immune conditions, and many other inflammatory body issues leading to a host of dis-ease. (Dis-Ease being a lack of ease in the body; lack of health.)

L-Glutamine, contained in bone broth, is a gut junction healer. It helps to soothe the inflamed gut and heal the loose junctions back to their tight junctions. Tight junctions are immune and whole body health enhancing.

Now you know some substances and habits that can contribute to leaky gut issues and how bone broth plays a crucial role in the healing of this condition. It is time to tighten up junctions everyone; time to learn how to make bone broth. (Again, I have added vegetarian and vegan suggestions to mimic, as closely as possible, bone broths healing benefits to your gut and body’s health.)

Making Bone Broth: 

By the way… bone broth Cafés are now quite popular in metropolitan areas.

Bone broths are made with fish, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and lamb bones in water. Different animal bones and tissues have different nutrients and benefits. (Buffalo, venison, rabbit, wild bird bones are fine as well.) Use only bones, cartilage, feet, tails, etc. from pasture raised or wild animals. Never use bones from commercially raised animals (factory farm animals) that are given anti-biotics, hormones, and/or fed genetically modified feed (corn, soy…).  You are what you eat and animals are what they eat. If unhealthy substances were used in the raising of the animals, those substances will be concentrated in the animal bones and body tissues, and therefore concentrated in your finished bone broth.

1.  Put slightly meaty bones, cartilage, feet, tails, etc. (they do not have to be stripped clean of meat) in a sauce pan or big soup pot (if you have a lot of bones) and cover with water, just enough to cover bones well. I break up the bones as best I can and squish them down into the soup pot bottom.

2.  Add a generous tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar (ACV) and cover the pot.  If you are doing a big pot of bone broth use more of the ACV. For estimation purposes I use a heaping tablespoon of ACV for a whole chicken’s pot of bones.

3.  I soak the bones in the vinegar water for at least an overnight and then…

4.  I slow simmer the bones for hours the next day. I gently bring the bone filled pot to a simmer on the stove top.

5.  I then place the pot o’ bones in a pre-heated 220 F oven and leave for 5-6 hours if chicken or fish bones and longer if the harder bones of pork or beef (at least 6-8 hours).  Yes, a crock pot works well.  You could simmer for hours on the stovetop but I find the oven temp is easier to regulate and keep the simmer from boiling away the broth. Cool fall and cold winter days make for extra warmth in the kitchen with the oven going. Slow roast something for dinner to get extra bang for your buck using the oven for so long.

6.  After simmering, I remove the bones with a large slotted spoon.  Use the broth as a soup stock or eat the broth as it is, drink it like a morning or evening cup of tea.  I add a bit of unrefined sea salt to taste.

7.  If making soup, I sauté the veggies and other soup ingredients before adding them to the hot bone broth. This avoids further simmering of the broth.

8.  Toward the end of bone broth simmering you can add herbs** that contribute to the anti-inflammatory effects: turmeric & ginger root, rosemary, thyme, oregano… allow the herbs to gently simmer (that 220 degree oven is hot enough) for an hour if a leaf/flower and simmer for 2 hours if a bark/root/seed.  (Similar information is the making of herbal tea infusions: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/making-herbal-infusions-teas/ )

9.  When I re-warm the broth for sipping I will sometimes add small amounts of marshmallow root powder, slippery elm bark powder, and/or licorice root powder. These herbs are anti-inflammatory and also contribute to the soothing effect; the heal and seal for the gut lining.

10.  Using a large slotted spoon, remove the bones from your finished broth.  

Now what to do with it?

• Put into glass canning jars and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Drink one or two cups daily, gently warmed up, like a tea.
• Use it as soup stock.
• Freeze to use later as bone broth tea or soup stock.

I often keep my bones soaking in the vinegar solution for days or weeks. I keep the bones in a wide mouth canning jar in the fridge. I add bones to this jar until I have enough to justify making bone broth and/or the outside temperature is cool enough to be ok with my long oven usage. With fall and winter just around the corner, sorry dear Co-op friends, it is a good time of the year for long cooking of bone broth.

Enjoy making and sipping bone broth.

**This is part of my vegetarian and vegan friendly information for enhancing your gut health through plant based choices…

Thanks for hanging in there and continuing this read. As a vegetarian or vegan you can cook up vegetable broths that are enhanced with the above herbs.

· Slippery elm, marshmallow, and licorice root have coating and soothing effects on the gut lining. I use them in many ways as bonus gut health foods – teas or the powdered herbs mixed into plain/full fat yogurt with added L-glutamine powder.

·Add red cabbage to your soup as it is a plant based source of L-glutamine. Red Cabbage is considered the densest vegetable form of L-glutamine. Making red cabbage sauerkraut is another great way to use cabbage and create a highly bio-available form of l-glutamine.

·Other sources of L-glutamine to help tighten up those junctions: the highest levels found in grass-fed beef, bison, chicken, and free range eggs. Raw dairy products from grass-fed cows and goats are also very high in L-glutamine.

·Plant sources: almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, peanuts and peanut butter are all good sources (peanuts can be disturbing to gut health in people with pre-existing gut issues). Dried lentils, peas, and beans contribute L-glutamine as well. Other vegetables sources include spinach, parsley, and beets.

·It is best if these vegetables are consumed raw or fermented in order to maximize their glutamine content and increase bioavailability. Cooking heat, especially high heat, breaks down the L-glutamine.

·A recipe for using raw, red cabbage in fresh slaws: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/winter-salad/

·Making sauerkraut with red cabbage: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/02/04/i-popped-the-cranberry-of-fermentation

Conveniently made for you bone broth in Canton-Potsdam area: 

• Potsdam Food Co-op in Potsdam carries Pacific Organic bone broths, in aseptic packages, on the grocery shelf.
• Nature's Storehouse in Canton carries Bonafide organic beef broth in their meat freezer.

2 websites for further learning about bone broth and healing the gut lining (type "bone broth" or "leaky gut syndrome" into the website's search bar):

·         http://www.mercola.com/

·         https://draxe.com/

Simple & Sensible Reasons To Take Magnesium

A week or so ago I sent a newsletter (not a blog post) titled #1 Supplement I Recommend about the magnificent mineral magnesium. Below I will quickly list and explain, in simplest terms, some of the benefits of taking magnesium: meaning the ill health symptoms you experience from your magnesium insufficiency will buzz off and leave you alone when you actually have enough magnesium in your system for your body cells to use.

1. Constipation: having an uptight and anxious colon is not pleasant, take some magnesium citrate and relax the colon for happy pooping daily (yes, I said daily. Anything less is constipation).
2. Migraines, headaches: again, tension from tight body tissues, lacking magnesium in the cells, can leave you prone to headaches.
3. Anxiety: magnesium helps you relax and release tension and anxiety.
4. Gut health: this is a catch 22 as you need strong acid to break down magnesium out of your food and yet adequate body supply of magnesium builds strong stomach acid (trust me, this is a good thing. You want strong stomach acids... get rid of those acid blocking drugs, just saying people. Rx drugs are not body healing).
5. Vitamin D levels: magnesium works with Vitamin D. Deficient in Vit D? Help your body work properly with some magnesium.
6. Calcium and mineral absorption: calcium alone will not build strong bones. The just take calcium supplements mentality leaves your bones lacking in so much more. Your bones need magnesium... and many other minerals, vitamins, and micro/macro nutrients. Calcium is not the bone issue cure all. Magnesium sufficiency promotes the deposit of calcium in your bones. Magnesium insufficiency or deficiency deposits calcium into your soft tissues. This spells: Plaque in arteries (50% calcium, only 3% cholesterol), kidney stones...
7. Magnesium is needed for DNA repair... you want this!
8. Magnesium insufficiency and deficiency contribute to hyperinsulinemia... can you say diabetes?
9. Got high blood pressure? Maybe you are insufficient in magnesium. Constricted, tight, anxious blood vessels make it hard for your heart to pump blood through them. Think about a garden hose that has been stepped on or kinked.
10. Magnesium calms muscles and nerves preventing cramps, excitability, and irritability in both your muscles and nervous system. Got that urge to snap when stressed out about work, teenagers, stupid driving maneuvers? Soothe yourself with some magnesium.
11. Prevent sleep disturbances by keeping your body relaxed.
12. Prevent depression as magnesium sufficiency is required for adequate neurotransmitters. Healthy levels of neurotransmitters keep the brain, nervous system, moods, etc. fring happily & healthfully.
13. Coffee drinker? Soda? Body stores of magnesium are depleted by coffee, alcohol, phosphates, (e.g. in dark sodas) and by calcium only supplements. We are meant to eat whole foods and use supplements that are balanced, not single constituent minerals. No food is made up of just calcium without other nutrients. Real food is a balanced package of nutrition.
14. Inflammation is a marker for disease. Magnesium is an anti-inflammatory agent. Relax, release, soothe yourself! 
15. Got hideous menstrual cramps?  Ease the uterine tension and anxiety with some magnesium. Depending on whether your are constipated or have diarrhea pre-menstrually or at the start of your period... see below to pick your magnesium wisely.

In the last century, the magnesium content of food decreased by approximately 50% as a consequence of food processing, loss of top soil, and loss of minerals in soil. If we are no longer getting healthy doses of magnesium in our food, we do need to supplement. Yes, this means single constituent magnesium supplementation because... there are exceptions to every rule!

Questions? Post in the comments below & I'll do my best to help you out.

Or their is always email: pyoumell@paulayoumellrn.com

USE Magnesium Citrate if you tend towards constipation (At least one healthy bowel movement daily should be a happening event with your body).

Available at Nature's Storehouse in Canton, NY

USE Magnesium glycinate if constipation is not your issue.

Need a blend of mag citrate & mag glycinate? This combo will provide just a little assistance with constipation but not a full on intestinal dynamite system?

Available at the Potsdam Food Coop.