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Heal Your Gut and Your Gut Will Heal You

I’ve spent the last decade of my life researching (and writing about) natural healing, food as medicine, and taking control of our own health. 

For most of that time I have advocated for changing our diets: eating “as close to the ground” as possible. And that is still the best advice. Food is foundational. It’s a constant input to our bodies, and what we eat affects everything. How can it not?


In my research and in my own health, however, there seemed to be a missing piece. As I researched deeper and deeper, the topic of gut health came up constantly. Everything pointed back to the health and the balance of the gut microbiome.

Gut health is literally the root of everything. 

And it actually makes sense. Here is how one doctor put it: 

Your gut makes up the ONE LINE that goes from the entrance of your body to the exit. Everything you put in your body passes through that one line… so how can the health and balance of that line NOT affect every other system in the body? 

 

When you add to that the fact that the brain controls all the functions of the body (both voluntary and involuntary–and how the organs function and work together), it becomes apparent that the gut-brain axis (also called The Vagus Nerve) is VERY important to every aspect of our health. 

For example… did you know that the gut microbiome is responsible for producing serotonin, dopamine, and almost ALL of the neurotransmitters the brain needs to function and keep us healthy? 

And those neurotransmitters are sent to the brain along The Vagus Nerve (gut-brain axis). 

So if there is an imbalance in the gut, OR a deficiency in the brain, OR an interruption in the connection between the gut and the brain, all kinds of issues start to appear. 

The organs start to work less efficiently and begin to malfunction because the signals are crossed. 

We also can’t absorb appropriate nutrients from food or supplements with an imbalanced gut… so the food and supplements we take will be less effective for healing. 

Our hormones are regulated by the gut microbiome as well… so an imbalanced gut can results in hormonal imbalances…and all of the accompanying issues. 

The gut also regulates our thyroid hormones… so balancing the gut can improve T3 and T4 numbers, as well as the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction.

If we are low in serotonin and dopamine because of an imbalance in the gut microbiome, we may suffer from 

The health of the gut affects the brain and mental health so much, the gut has now been commonly referred to as the “second brain.”

(Text “Heal My Gut!” to ‪(802) 227-7051‬ for more information or to chat about your specific situation and get a recommendation. )

Read real-life stories of healing from the root here. 

Allergies and Gut Health

Did you know the presence of allergies is ALWAYS a gut issue?

And it doesn’t matter the type of allergies, whether they are seasonal allergies, environmental allergies, pet allergies or food allergies: all allergies are rooted in gut health. 

My dad suffered from debilitating seasonal allergies his whole life (60 years!)… to the point he couldn’t wear a flower on his lapel at my wedding. 

Guess what happened when he healed his gut? Those allergies he had been struggling with his WHOLE LIFE disappeared. Now he works outside on a farm every day… amongst all of the trees and flowers and pollen he used to hide from. 

I used to be terribly allergic to cats. I would enter a house that had a cat and immediately get a terrible head cold: congestion in my nose, watery eyes, and trouble breathing. This would happen whether or not I was aware there was a cat in the house. When I would ask, the host would say, “Oh yes, we have a cat. We put her in the other room when people come over.”

Guess what happened when I healed my gut? No more cat allergy. Cats literally don’t affect me at all. It’s shocking! 

Food allergies are most commonly caused by leaky gut. Gut healing is imperative, because leaky gut can cause all kinds of issues, including an auto-immune response to eating food. 

There are, of course, some foods that we just shouldn’t ever eat, like highly processed foods, fast food, and junk food. The main reason we shouldn’t eat these things is because they aren’t actually even food. They provide no nutritional value to our bodies and they do more harm than good. So what is the point? Food is for our nourishment and to fuel our bodies, so if it is not providing that, why are we eating it? 

If you have an allergy to real food, however, there is a problem. I have a friend who is unable to eat almost any uncooked vegetables or fruits. This is a sign of severe leaky gut… and needs to be addressed immediately.

Simply avoiding all the food is not the answer: we need to find healing! 

If you are having severe symptoms of food allergies or just know something is wrong in your body but you don’t know what, the best way to find out what you are sensitive to is an elimination diet. 

Elimination diets are the ONLY sure way to determine exactly what you are sensitive to. Even allergy testing at the doctor is not as accurate as elimination diets (and they are often very expensive). 

I mentioned earlier that “simply avoiding” foods you are sensitive to is not the answer… so why am I telling you to do an elimination diet? 

Because those foods are causing a problem, so you definitely will need to cut them out of your life for awhile… UNTIL you heal your gut. After you heal your gut, in most cases you can add those (real, whole) foods back into your diet without issue. 

This is a great book on elimination diets and how exactly to do it from a highly respected physician who identified her food allergy, healed her gut, and then was able to add that food back into her diet. 

Read real-life stories of healing from the root here. 

 

Eczema, Rashes, Acne and other Skin Issues

Our skin is our largest organ. 

If all of our “regular” detox pathways are open and running smoothly, we are able to detox everything through those channels (liver, kidneys, lungs, blood and lymphatic system). But if even one of these detox pathways gets clogged or slowed down, we start seeing signs in our skin.

 

Bright, clear, healthy, vibrant skin is a sign of health: it shows that our bodies are working as they should and there is no toxic burden present.

This is why healthy people are beautiful: health literally shows on our faces! 

Instead of wearing makeup to cover “problem skin,” why not focus on the inside and get glowing, radiant, beautiful skin because you are healthy?

“But I don’t know how to do that!!”

Again, the answer lies in gut health. 

(Text “Heal My Gut!” to ‪(802) 227-7051‬ for more information or to chat about your specific situation and get a recommendation. )

 

Read real-life stories of healing from the root here. 

Food for Thought

Why are 80% of the pharmaceutical products sold in the US (both prescription and over-the-counter) for digestive complaints? 

Why do people who suffer from depression, anxiety, brain fog, mental health issues, autism spectrum disorder, skin problems and allergies virtually ALWAYS have an accompanying digestive complaint? 

Because all of it is rooted in gut health. 

Our bodies are whole units: one part affects every other part. And the gut is the most foundational of parts. 

One doctor I follow put it this way:

“Heal your gut and your gut will heal you.”

No matter what your issue: 

  • Digestive
  • Skin
  • Weight
  • Thyroid
  • Mental Health
  • Energy
  • Blood pressure
  • Detox
  • Mood 
  • Heart
  • Liver
  • Brain
  • Blood
  • Adrenals

Or a combination of several…. 

The root is always gut health. Start there. 

In most cases, healing your gut will begin a chain reaction of healing in your body. 

Our bodies are made to heal. We just need to give them what we need (and stop poisoning them). 

Begin by healing your gut, and then things will start to fall into place. If you need additional support after that, you can reevaluate. But you will be shocked how many things resolve themselves when the gut microbiome is balanced. 

Read real-life stories of healing from the root here. 

(Text “Heal My Gut!” to ‪(802) 227-7051‬ for more information or to chat about your specific situation and get a recommendation. )

How do our guts get imbalanced? 

You may think back to childhood, a time when you ate whatever you wanted and had no issues. 

It may lead you to believe that we are born with perfectly balanced gut microbiomes… but that is not so. 

We inherit our gut microbiomes from our parents: particularly our mothers at birth. As we pass through the birth canal we ingest billions of bacteria, which seeds our microbiome and sets the stage for the health we will experience throughout our lives. 

If our mothers (and to a lesser extent our fathers) have a gut imbalance, we will inherit that imbalance. This is also one reason things like addiction and depression can be “passed down” along generational lines: because we share a gut microbiome profile with the rest of our families. 

Other things can affect our gut microbiomes, both for good and bad. 

Antibiotics and other Pharmaceutical Meds

Most of us have had antibiotics in our lifetimes: some of us have had many, many rounds. 

Antibiotics can be life-saving, there is no doubt: but the rampant over-use of them in our society has not made us healthier. 

Antibiotics are not good at targeting exactly which bacteria to kill: they kill indiscriminately. Recent research shows that one round of antibiotics can kill 25% of the gut microbiome (both good and bad bacteria)! That is devastating to the balance of the microbiome. And just think.. If you take more than one round, how much of our gut balance is affected! 

Other factors influence gut health as well: diet is a huge one. The food we eat feeds either the good or the bad bacteria in our guts: creating balance or imbalance with every bite. 

Sugar, processed food, fast food and other junk feeds the “bad” bacteria, causing overgrowths of candida and parasites. This creates an imbalance favoring “bad” bacteria in the gut, which causes a host of health issues, from weight gain to cravings to blood sugar problems and hormonal imbalance. 

Whole, real food, including fermented food and probiotics, promote the growth of “good bacteria” and create a balanced microbiome, which promotes optimal health in the whole body.

Other environmental components can influence gut bacteria for the positive or negative as well: ambient radiation from Electromagnetic Frequencies (EMF from cell phones, radio waves, cell towers and electronics), as well as toxins in our water, air, personal products and food.    

When we learn all of these things and how foundational gut health is to every system in the body (and even to brain and mental health), our question should not be “What can gut healing do for me,” but

“What Can Gut Healing NOT Do For Me?”

If you have any health issue at all, start with the gut.

“Heal your gut and your gut will heal you.”

 

(Text “Heal My Gut!” to ‪(802) 227-7051‬ for more information or to chat about your specific situation and get a recommendation. )

Read real-life stories of healing from the root here. 

“But HOW Do I Improve Gut Health??”

Healing the gut may sound like a simple fix, but how is it done?

Most people know we should take probiotics and eat real food. But beyond that, things get confusing.

I’ve been researching this topic for years and it is still confusing, because labels don’t answer any of these questions.

And not all “probiotics” are the same. There are literally billions of strains.

So how do we know which ones to choose? 

I’ve tried dozens of probiotics, spending hundreds of dollars… and most of them didn’t do anything for me.

So if you are ready to heal your gut, how do you know where to go from here?

The research I have done shows that the gut-brain connection is key, because the brain controls all of the systems of the body, and the gut and brain communicate in real-time to do that.

If the gut is the “2nd brain” and it provides everything the brain needs to function, and the brain controls the whole body… this gut-brain connection is really important!

Until a few months ago I knew this was the key, but had no idea how to influence it.

How do we heal the gut-brain connection? 

Which probiotics do we take? 

What else do we need? 

So when in my research I came across a gut-brain axis healing protocol, I thought this could be the missing link I’d been looking for.

I’m always skeptical when looking at new products, because I have incredibly high standards for ingredients.

I won’t even consider a supplement if it has:

  • Synthetic vitamins
  • Artificial colors or flavors
  • Harmful additives (like maltodextrin)
  • GMO ingredients
  • Soy,  corn or wheat

This list eliminates almost every supplement I look at.

When this protocol checked every one of those boxes, AND I learned that it is whole-food based and synergistically combined with food, herb and prebiotic ingredients according to the latest research, I started to get excited.

And then I saw how it was working for people.

Over the past few months I’ve seen friends and family find healing in the areas of:

  • IBS
  • Constipation
  • Energy
  • Focus
  • Stomach Pain
  • Food Allergies
  • Eczema
  • Adult cystic acne
  • Hormone imbalance
  • Thyroid disorders
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Brain Fog
  • ADHD
  • ASD symptoms (there is even a kids protocol that tastes amazing!)
  • Seasonal and Pet Allergies
  • Diabetes
  • Blood Pressure
  • Hormonal Imbalance
  • Weight issues

And reduce or eliminate meds for a variety of issues….

I knew I had to share this root cause healing protocol with the world.

There is a group on Facebook where people share their healing stories with this protocol regarding each of these issues and more: men, women and children! Text me at ‪(802) 227-7051‬ with your Facebook name so I can invite you to the group and you can see for yourself.

Want to check out this amazing protocol?

Click here for the adult version

Click here for the children’s version

(And an enhanced adult protocol that also addresses heart health)

And text me at ‪(802) 227-7051‬ if you want recommendations, or I can build you a cart and make sure you get wholesale pricing and the latest promotions included with your order.

And did I mention customers have a money back guarantee for a YEAR??

It’s literally guaranteed to change your life. Try it for a YEAR and if it doesn’t, return the empty bottles for a full refund!

There’s nothing to lose, except your pain, depression, stress, and discomfort!

There is healing.

There is hope.

Find it today.

Read real-life stories of healing from the root here. 

(Text “Heal My Gut!” to ‪(802) 227-7051‬ for more information or to chat about your specific situation and get a recommendation. )

 

 

 

 

New to Freedom & Coffee? Start here.

 

Disclosures:

Many of the product links in this post are affiliate links, which means I will receive a small commission from any purchase. I only recommend products that I love and this is at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our mission with your clicks!

 

Resources

Serotonin is produced in the gut??

Allergies are a gut health issue

How to Heal the Gut-Brain Connection

Introduction to the Gut-Brain Axis Healing protocol (2 minute video by head Biochemist)

Nutritional Facts and Ingredients: Adult Protocol

The only gut healing protocol specifically designed for kids! 

Nutritional Facts and Ingredients: Kids Protocol

ABC News Special Report: Natural Remedy for ADHD that is more effective than Ritalin! 

Pixie Stick (Delicious, Natural and Sugar free) for focus, attention, behavior and mood! 

Read real-life stories of healing from the root here. 

 

 

Medical Disclaimer:
Information found on the Freedom & Coffee website is created and published online for informational purposes only. This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, and is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any medical condition.
If you have questions about your health or a medical condition, please seek the guidance of your doctor or qualified health professional with. Please don’t disregard the advice of a medical professional, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
If you have a medical emergency, contact a doctor or call the emergency services immediately. If you choose to rely on any information provided by this website, it is solely at your own risk.
Under no circumstances is Freedom & Coffee responsible for the claims of third party websites or educational providers linked to from this website.

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Bacteria Boom: What are Probiotics and Why are They So Popular?

Over the past couple of years, I noticed that the pastor at my church has had some health issues which made him him sometimes miss meetings, stay home sick from church on Sundays every once in awhile, and generally just not feel very well.

Thinking back, I remembered about two years ago he had a big infection and was hospitalized for several weeks. During that time, he was put on an aggressive course of antibiotics (as most sick people are, whether or not they have a bacterial infection).

I don’t know the details of this original illness, but I do know that he’s been suffering from digestive issues ever since, which have increasingly tormented him and prevented sleep at night, interfering with his work and ministry at church.

One day after hearing he was again missing meetings, I emailed him and told him my suspicion: the course of antibiotics resulting from his illness two years ago had wrecked his gut and had precipitated most (if not all all) of his current issues.

I recommended he try taking some high-quality probiotics.

I shared some articles and research, then gave some recommendations of how to choose a few good ones.

I told him to start slow (because there can be an adjustment period as “bad bacteria” die off and “good bacteria” begin to populate the gut–but nothing worse than the symptoms he was already experiencing).

Two weeks later my pastor approached me and said, “Leah, I’m a new man! I feel so much better! I’m sleeping better and I have energy and I don’t feel sick any more!”

Word began to spread at church, and now I have people approaching me with questions about health all the time. I’m happy to pass along any knowledge and resources I have, because the information is all out there!

What are Probiotics? 

Probiotics are “beneficial” bacteria, and our gut health depends on them. In modern society, we’ve been conditioned to see all bacteria bad, foreign things that will make us sick, but this is simply not true. There are millions of beneficial bacteria that live with humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship: they benefit us, and we benefit them. When there is a balance in our gut microbiome, we experience gut health, which influences our overall health in big ways: from our hormones to our weight to our moods and even our mental health!

Why is Gut Health Important?

We don’t know the full scope of the symbiotic role that beneficial bacteria play, but we are beginning to understand how vital they are to our existence. The gut has even been named the “second brain” for the close relationship our gut health has with brain function and overall mental wellness.

  • It is estimated that human bodies are made up of approximately 90% bacteria by volume. These microbes are everywhere: on our skin, in our sinuses, ears, mouths, in our guts… literally everywhere. These microbes do a good job of helping to regulate our bodies and keep them functioning properly, and in return, we feed them with the food that we eat or byproducts from our bodies, like skin cells and sweat. When we are proactive about our gut health, our bodies thank us in numerous ways.
  • A huge variety of our bacteria live in our digestive systems, or our “guts,” and researchers are discovering that at least 70-80% of our immune system is in our gut. Our gut health has a huge influence on our overall health: both physical and mental.
  • Bacteria do a lot of work in our bodies, including helping to regulate hormones that control fat stores, skin issues, auto-immune response, fertility, available energy, and overall well-being. Gut health is vital to all of these!
  • Balance is key. We refer to bacteria as “good” and “bad” but really we just need a balance of the bacteria in our guts: that’s what gut health really is. The fact is, we all have “bad” bacteria such as E. Coli in our bodies, but if these bacteria don’t overrun our systems or multiply too quickly, they are not a threat. Even “good” bacteria can cause problems if there’s too much of it. Our bodies generally do a good job of regulating the population of bacteria, as long as we ensure we have a good variety of bacteria for our bodies to work with. As long as we have enough “good bacteria,” or probiotics, in our guts, they will fight off the “baddies” and keep our bodies balanced and healthy.

How Can I Get Them?

You may have noticed an array of probiotic supplements in your local health food store (and how expensive they are).

The good news is that you don’t have to buy a lot of expensive supplements to get a good balance of bacteria in your body. In fact, different fermented foods carry a large population of beneficial bacteria, and they are really easy to make, and to eat.

Yogurt is the most popular and widely-known source of probiotics, but not all yogurts are created equal.

Many of the yogurts on the store shelves are full of sugar (which feeds bad bacteria) and a lot of them even have harmful additives like carageenan (which has been found to cause cancer) to keep them refrigerator shelf-stable for weeks at a time.

Store bought yogurts can be a source of probiotics, but you need to know what to look for, and they shouldn’t constitute your only source of probiotics.

  • Look for “live and active cultures” on the container, and check the ingredients for which specific cultures are contained.
  • Find out if the yogurt has been pasteurized. Most yogurt is made with pasteurized milk, but even after it’s been turned into yogurt is then pasteurized again. Pasteurization will kill the beneficial bacteria that were necessary to make the yogurt, so they won’t benefit you.
  • Get organic. Yogurt is made from milk, and if the milk is not organic it will contain antibiotics and hormones that were given to the cows. These substances are detrimental and even toxic to our bodies, and can cause hormonal imbalances and antibiotic resistance in the long run.
  • Get plain and unflavored yogurt. You may not like the taste of plain yogurt, but you can add fresh fruit and honey for flavoring, instead of consuming a lot of extra added sugars.
  • Get whole milk yogurt. Studies have shown that low-fat dairy products do not contribute to weight loss and may actually cause weight gain. The full-fat options allow your body to more efficiently process the beneficial fat-soluble vitamins in the yogurt, and the fat will make you feel full longer, so you’ll eat less overall.
  • Check the ingredients. In addition to checking for live and active cultures, make sure your yogurt doesn’t have any additives like carageenan, sugar, color, or anything else. Ideally, it should just be milk and a culture.

Did you know? 

Yogurt is so easy to make. Yogurt makers are inexpensive and make it easier, but you don’t even need one to make yogurt. My favorite yogurt is clay-batch yogurt, which I make in VitaClay.

VitaClay has a built-in yogurt maker in most models.
VitaClay Personal Yogurt Maker and Slow Cooker

All you have to do is load in milk and a yogurt culture and press “yogurt” and a few hours later you’ll have the best yogurt you’ve ever tasted, and a starter batch to make more!

Kefir is a milk-based probiotic beverage that is also known as “drinkable yogurt.” Kefir often contains different bacteria than yogurt, and sometimes at greater quantities per serving. If you’re buying kefir from the store, apply the same checks as listed above for yogurt. Add kefir to smoothies or drink it plain–it tastes like buttermilk.

Incidentally, my father suffered from terrible seasonal allergies for over 60 years. My mother read about kefir and started making it at home, and he hasn’t had a problem with allergies since!

Homemade Sauerkraut: cheap, easy to make, and loaded with probiotics!

Other fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, kimchee, natto and miso contain other probiotics that are beneficial, and they are delicious additions to your diet. Sauerkraut is super easy to make, and two ounces of homemade sauerkraut contains exponentially more beneficial bacteria than a whole bottle of store-bought probiotics, for pennies on the dollar!

Chop up the ingredients for salsa, then just add a little whey and let it sit on the counter for a couple of days–you won’t believe the healthy zing!

Additionally, lots of things can be fermented: I’ve fermented homemade salsa, which was super easy and so delicious! I’ve also seen recipes for fermented carrots, onions, cucumbers (pickles!), and even guacamole! The possibilities are endless! (Wild Fermentation link)

If you don’t want to make these fermented foods at home and would rather buy them, follow the rules listed under yogurt, and make sure they have live and active cultures (which is, after all, the whole point). Also watch for additives such as MSG and citric acid, in addition to those listed for yogurt.

Probiotic Supplements

Overall, I think that many probiotic supplements are a waste of money. As discussed above, the probiotics in just one serving of homemade sauerkraut can contain more good bacteria than an entire bottle of store-bought bacteria! This generally applies to lacto-based bacteria, however, which are the type contained in yogurt and most fermented foods. These bacteria are good, and you should definitely get them. If you absolutely don’t want to ferment anything at home, go ahead and buy them.

I’ve tried almost every gut health probiotic supplement out there, and the one that I have found to be most effective is Amare.

Amare specifically targets not only bodily health but also mental wellness through the gut. They even have one specifically for kids!  It also helps to balance good and bad bacteria for all facets of health and to kill candida: the American parasite. 

They even have a mental wellness quiz you can take to see where you stand and if these products could be a good fit for balancing your gut and improving your mental wellness. Because our bodies are interconnected. Healing one part will benefit all of the other parts as well.

AND! Check out this really great database that can help you determine which probiotic strains may help you the most based on your current symptoms and struggles!

Look for a bottle that lists the type of bacteria included and a guaranteed number of live bacteria per serving (usually listed in the billions CFU). The higher the number, the more bacteria it will contain (and very high numbers will require a slower breaking in period, which you can discuss with the worker at the health food store). These higher-quality probiotics will cost more, but this is a classic case of getting what you pay for, and what we want here is results.

Probioitics I buy

My one exception to the “store-bought probiotics are a waste of money” rule is in the category of soil-based probiotics. Here’s why: the lacto-based probiotics like those found in yogurt, sauerkraut and other ferments are so easy to make and so delicious to eat that there’s no reason to pay expensive store prices for a shelf-stable inferior product.

Soil-based probiotics, however, are different strains that have a different effect in our bodies: they go deeper into the gut and contribute differently to immunity. So we need both, but soil-based are found in soil, as the name implies.

In antiquity, people got a good amount of soil in their diets from digging up veggies and eating them.

These days, I don’t trust the soil as far as I can throw it. It’s been compromised with pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceutical drugs, and all manner of other toxins from our waste water and runoff. Even if I were inclined to eat soil (I’m not), it would probably do much more harm than good.

So when it comes to soil-based probiotics, I will purchase them from a reputable company that can guarantee their purity, quality, and effectiveness–even if they are expensive. I’ve listed below a few soil-based probiotics on which I have done research. I trust them to deliver a safe, effective, quality product.

What About Prebioitics?

Prebiotics are the “food” for beneficial gut bacteria that already live in our guts. And since not all gut bacteria can be supplemented with probiotics, it’s a great idea to get some good prebiotics in your diet as well.

As a matter of fact, you probably already do get some prebiotics, as they are often soluble fiber found in fruit.

There are also symbiotic prebiotic-probiotic supplements that you may find beneficial, especially if you have recently taken antibiotics or had some digestive problems. A great probiotic will also include enzymes and prebiotic strains that assist the good bacteria in the propagation and colonization of your gut, so you actually get real, lasting benefit from them.

Read this article about how different strains may help different health issues.

Resources:

Humans: 10% Human and 90% Bacterial
Our Bodies, Our Health, Our Gut Bacteria  (Cornell)
5 Quick Tips For Healthy Guts And A Healthier Immune System
The Gut: Where Bacteria and Immune System Meet (Johns Hopkins)
Gut microbes closely linked to proper immune function, other health issues
How to Repair Your Gut After Antibiotics
Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow
Antibiotic overuse: Stop the killing of beneficial bacteria
Is Carrageenan Safe?
VitaClay– Make Whole Food, Nutritious dishes easily at home: save time, money and effort, while healing your family! 
What is the Gut-Brain Axis?
Is the Gut Really Known as the 2nd Brain?
Gut Health For Children, and How it Can affect Children’s Brains and Cognitive Development

 

 

New to Freedom & Coffee? Start here.

Disclosure: Many of the product links in this post are affiliate links, which means I will receive a small commission from any purchase. I only recommend products that I love and this is at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our mission with your clicks! 

 

 

Medical Disclaimer:
Information found on the Freedom & Coffee website is created and published online for informational purposes only. This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, and is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any medical condition.
If you have questions about your health or a medical condition, please seek the guidance of your doctor or qualified health professional with. Please don’t disregard the advice of a medical professional, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
If you have a medical emergency, contact a doctor or call the emergency services immediately. If you choose to rely on any information provided by this website, it is solely at your own risk.
Under no circumstances is Freedom & Coffee responsible for the claims of third party websites or educational providers linked to from this website.

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Ginger Tea: Your New Best Friend in the Winter (Plus a Hot Toddy Recipe!)

My step-daughter Lexi recently had an issue with her foot: it was swollen, painful and difficult for her to walk. Being in college, that is a big problem. She was forced to use crutches for several weeks, she was in constant pain, and she was at the mercy of whatever her doctors told her.

My husband and step-daughter on a daddy-daughter date in San Francisco.

It was clear her doctors didn’t know what was causing it: she was getting contradictory opinions and diagnoses, and all they could really do was prescribe pain meds.

My husband works out several times a week at the gym, as well as playing softball games twice a week, visiting the batting cages, playing flag football, and coaching sports teams. Needless to say, he often has sore, tight, or stiff muscles.

I’m usually cold. I have to carry a jacket everywhere, and when it starts to get cold in the fall I end up catching a chill and eventually getting a head cold or sinus infection as a result.

What if I told you there is a cheap, easy, and delicious way to relieve all three of the above issues, and many more?

GINGER

Ginger is a rock star in the world of natural healing and “food as medicine.”

  • Ginger is an anti-inflammatory: inflammation causes most of the pain and disease we experience
  • Ginger boosts the immune system: fend off that cold & flu virus going around
  • Ginger warms up the body: ward off chills and stay toasty in the winter!
  • Ginger breaks down toxic build-up in the body
  • Ginger improves cardiovascular health
  • Ginger relieves nausea and improves digestion: even nausea from motion sickness!
  • Ginger lowers cholesterol
  • Ginger works with fiber from your diet to cleanse your digestive tract
  • Ginger balances blood sugar
  • Ginger is a pain reliever: studies have found it even more effective than over-the-counter pain meds when taken every day!
  • Ginger can reduce the risk of cancer
  • Ginger is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal: it helps your body fight infections
  • Ginger can ease nasal discomfort: and serve as an alternative to decongestants and allergy meds
  • Ginger may rev up body fat loss: it ramps up your metabolism by raising your body temperature, encouraging your body to burn fat
Ginger does so many things!

So how can you get it in you? You can cook with it–I love the subtly sweet-hot flavor it adds to dishes. There are ginger candies you can eat as well–they’re a little spicy but pretty good! Or you can drink it as a tea!

Ginger tea is not actually tea, it’s an infusion of ginger in water. Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients for Ginger Tea

  • Fresh ginger root
  • 4-5 cups Pure filtered water

Directions for Ginger Tea

  1. Cut the fresh ginger into slices, using about one inch total
  2. Add the ginger and water to a saucepan and boil for 10-15 minutes
  3. Strain out the ginger and use the “ginger tea” that results

You can also buy ginger tea bags, or other ginger-infused products such as these ginger-honey crystals.

Ginger tea can be enjoyed hot or cold: you can even make a big batch in the summer and refrigerate it for a refreshing beverage with health benefits, or use it to make ginger lemonade!

It’s great sweetened with honey and with lemon, or you can use the “ginger water” in other things: like if you make herbal tea (I love this one) at night, use the ginger water instead of regular water to add ginger’s health benefits without the flavor–you’ll just taste the tea!

You can also use ginger water as the base for soups, stews, or other beverages. It can be used in place of water in a lot of recipes, and be swapped out for water when making rice, quinoa, or oatmeal. You can even use it when you make hot cocoa!

Some people (and kids) don’t love the strong taste of ginger. My friend Jennifer over at Home on the Meyerstead came up with this really great honey-based throat elixir that is great for kids–it’s sweet and sour with a great flavor, but also has the benefits of ginger, along with lemon and honey! It’s delicious–so much better than cough medicine but works just as well–and it’s a great tasting and nutritious ready-made add-in for tea!

When I feel a chill or get a tickle in the back of my throat, I make this delicious hot toddy and it warms me right up:

Ingredients for Healing Hot Toddy

  • 2-3 cups hot ginger water
  • 2 T lemon juice (if using a fresh lemon, throw in the whole lemon slice to get some of the benefits of the rind and zest)
  • 1-2 T raw organic honey (depending on how sweet you like it)
  • A splash of whiskey (about 1 oz)
  • 1-2 oz Elderberry tincture or a spoonful of Elderberry syrup
  • 2 T Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
  • A sprinkle of cinnamon
  • A sprinkle of real salt (for electrolytes and flavor)

Directions for Healing Hot Toddy

  1. Add all ingredients to hot ginger water
  2. Stir and add to two mugs

I love this hot toddy because it warms my whole body up right away–

perfect if I’ve caught a chill.

It also tastes great! it’s like hot apple cider, thanks to the apple cider vinegar.

It’s the perfect immune-boosting nightcap!

It’s even better to pair up this hot drink with a detox bath at night before you go to bed or when you feel sick.

My step-daugter Lexi said the ginger tea helped relieve pain in her foot as it was healing, too!

Ginger is an age-old remedy that really works as a warming, soothing, anti-inflammatory food, and it’s very inexpensive and easy to use! Grab some ginger next time you’re at the store and get to healing!

 

Read more about how to boost immunity and stay well during the winter:

Caught a chill? Take a Detox Bath! 

Make Your Own Elderberry Tincture: Stay Healthy and Ward off Cold & Flu Season! 

Plus: Watch “5 Top Ingredients to Add to Your Detox Bath“

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Disclosure: Many of the product links in this post are affiliate links, which means I will receive a small commission from any purchase. I only recommend products that I love and this is at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our mission with your clicks! 

 

 

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No More B.O.! Going Natural With Your Deodorant (Recipe!)

Growing up, if anyone said to my dad, “I’m gonna go take a shower,” He’d say: “That smells like a good idea.”

Ahhh. Dad jokes for days.

 

Nobody wants to smell, and deodorant is big business. With breast cancer an ominous threat to women (and even men!) in the world today however, the chemicals in commercial deodorant and antiperspirant are getting more attention.

Is it a coincidence that the vast majority of breast cancer tumors are found in the upper-outer quadrant, closest to the armpit?

Armpits sweat a lot, and this makes them a toxin eliminator in the body. When we prevent our armpits from sweating we are preventing that toxin outflow as well. Those toxins get trapped, building up in that area. Since toxins are easily stored in fat, the fatty tissue around the breasts is the perfect breeding ground for mutated cells that can develop into cancerous tumors.

What we don’t want to do is add more toxins to the mix, by applying chemical-laden products on our skin. Did you know that the skin absorbs about 70% of what is put on it?

 I focus on what I can do to eliminate toxins in my own life, and this has included eliminating antiperspirant and switching to natural deodorants.

 

I decided to nix antiperspirant completely, because I don’t want to prevent the sweat from flowing–it’s getting rid of toxins, so why would I want to stop that?

Let that sweat flow!

My sister wears antiperspirant to work because she worries that she’ll have sweat rings on her shirts all the time. This may happen at first, as your body adjusts to the absence of the antiperspirant, but after a week or two your body will adjust and for most people this will not be an issue unless you are doing strenuous activity.

When I was in college I was alerted to the toxic ingredients in commercial deodorants, and I switched to a deodorant salt crystal, like this one:

I loved it. It was cheap, easy to use and travel with, and worked like a charm. Just wet it and wipe on your armpits. Plus it lasts forever. I probably still have the first one I started using in college; you literally might only ever have to buy one.

I’ve talked to people who say that the salt crystals don’t work for them, though.

Luckily, there are other options that work great as well.

I actually have been making my own for the past few years, because I like having a pasty texture (similar to conventional deodorant) and I can add whatever scents I like with essential oils.

Here’s my basic recipe:

Ingredients for Safe, Cheap, Effective Homemade Deodorant

Directions to make your Safe, Cheap, Effective Homemade Deodorant

  1. Add all of the ingredients into the jar and stir
  2. Allow to cool to room temperature, and use by applying with your finger
  3. That’s it! How easy can it be?

*The magnesium oil, jojoba oil and essential oils are not completely necessary: the essential oils are for scent, and the jojoba/Vitamin E are soothing. I like to add the magnesium oil because it’s a great way to absorb more magnesium and it gives the deodorant a fluffier texture that I really like.

 The active ingredient here is the baking soda: that’s what really neutralizes the odors. Some people are sensitive to baking soda. If that’s you, try using a lower quantity of baking soda relative to the other ingredients. Some people have recipes for “sensitive” deodorants that eliminate it, but for me those don’t work.

Even though it’s easy, inexpensive and totally customizable, I have friends who don’t want to make it. If that’s you, there are lots of natural options that use similarly safe ingredients, like these:

 

 

 Some people also recommend an armpit detox, like the one mentioned here. 

The main reason to do something like this might be to make the transition between commercial and natural deodorants easier, and possibly pulling toxins to the surface to be eliminated. If you want to do an armpit detox, it’s easy enough to do in 10-20 minutes after taking a shower, and there’s no harm in it.

I have taken a regular clay mask that I have for my face and spread it on my armpits, waited for it to dry, and rinsed it off. Another great way to detox your whole body, including your armpits, is to take an Epsom salt bath  a couple times per week.

Since you are already detoxing every time you sweat, I don’t think an armpit detox mask is super necessary. As long as you stop using the harmful, chemical-laden stuff and switch to something more natural, and allow yourself to sweat, you’ll be on the right track.

 

Resources:

What Is Armpit Detox? (And Why You May Need It)

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet

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Disclosure: many of the product links in this post are affiliate links, which means I will receive a small commission from any purchase. I only recommend products that I love and this is at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting our mission with your clicks!

 

 

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Why Freedom & Coffee?

I love period dramas.

To be able to experience what life was like in another time period is to catch a glimpse of a world that once was, and never will be again. Especially alluring to me is the 1700-1800’s, the times of the Revolution, Civil War, and Westward Expansion.

The series Outlander goes deep into the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland in the mid-1700s. It drew me in for several reasons: the time period, the location (I am ever fascinated with Scotland) and the message. This ragged band of 18th century Scottish highlanders fought for freedom with everything they had. They believed that “the system” (British monarchy) was corrupt and didn’t serve their interests. They fought for a country and a king of their own, no matter what the odds. The story hooks you with deep character development and even has a time travel twist.

One episode was called “Freedom & Whiskey.” Whiskey was a symbol of Scotland, and during this time it was banned from being sold, and it became synonymous with Scottish freedom. Robert Burns wrote a poem alluding to this tie, calling for “Freedom and whisky,” which every Scot understood as a call to independence.

Just as whiskey was to the Scots, so coffee is to America. We are a people fiercely independent; winning our own freedom from the Monarchy just a few years after the Jacobite fight was lost.

The freedom for which we fight

is no longer a fight of sovereignty, but for a freedom for which every person longs: to live our lives happy, healthy and free; to teach our children to become great; to fear no person, or circumstance, or government.

Let’s live in freedom:

where cancer is not a death sentence;

where we do satisfying, productive work and reap the rewards;

where we are afraid of nothing.

 

Grab a cup of coffee and let’s go!