There's a Bun in the Oven!

There's a Bun in the Oven!
Another Bun's A-Cookin'!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

There's HOPE for Migraine-Sufferers!

Let me start right off by saying that I have never personally experienced a migraine. I very rarely get a normal headache. However, I've known people over the years who have struggled with them and have seen how absolutely debilitating they can be! I can't imagine the frustration & pain! So- a friend of mine asked me to get together some information for one of HER struggling friends. In the process, I was able to read a chunk of wonderful testimonies. You guys- there is HOPE! I am particularly excited that you've landed on my blog to check out what I have been reading, because I know the potential that's here for bringing some serious relief to you and/or your friends or family who are migraine-sufferers.

So- here's some of what I was reading today that I found quite interesting and encouraging...

HEADACHES AND MIGRANES from Sandy Bevacqua PhD

Headaches and migraines are a sure sign of a toxic system. Other symptoms may be constipation/diarrhea. A healthy system will have 2 or more bowel movements per day, it perspires whenever it should and urinates 2 or more times a day.

For headaches and migraines a detoxification program is required.

1 Hydration is essential.
Alfalfa is necessary to cleanse and purify the blood.
Herb Lax to cleanse the colon and bladder.
Liver DTX is for detoxing the liver.
Optiflora to replace healthy flora and continue to detoxify.
This part of the program should be continued until the system is healthy (see above).

2 Decrease the use of Herb Lax and increase fiber gradually.

3 Once the system is clean, begin a health- building regimen. The following supplements, along with a healthy diet and good hydration, will move you toward optimal health:

Vita-Lea 2 /day OsteoMatrix 4/day
En Soy Protein 3 tbls/day Alfalfa 12/day
Herb Lax 2-4/day Omega Guard 6/day
B Complex 6/day GLA 6/day
Vita C 6/day


Foods that can cause headaches:
- Cheese, chocolate, alcohol (esp. red wine), pickled herrings, soy sauce
- All foods containing amines
- Monosodium Glutamate and food colorings
- Fruits: bananas, plums and pineapple
- Milk products and wheat products.

Emergency Care Recipe for an on-coming migraine:

2 B-Complex 4-5 Alfalfa
2 OsteoMatrix 2 OmegaGuard
2 GLA 1 8 oz glass of Performance

Do this once every hour until you get results.

Additional notes from Barb

There are many causes of migraines and headaches...
Hormonal imbalance
Candida over growth
As well as toxins mentioned above

New research is indicating excellent results with Vital Mag. It is a newer product and reports are coming in that even 2 a day ( one am , one pm ) are helping enormously.

The above recommendations will help with most migraines.
But if there is not 100% improvement, also consider the Candida diet...

Emphasizing fresh raw vegetables (salads daily with at least 5 different ingredients) and reduce or eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates and snacks ( B Complex and the Energizing Protein mentioned above really helps )
Remember when Candida “ dies off” .. it releases toxins.. so it is not unusual to experience detoxing symptoms once in a while .. after many days of being symptom-free…

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Migraine Testimonial

Thanks to both of you is hardly enough for 2 weeks so far of no pain medications for anything, including migraines. I feel like I have my life back. Actually, since my migraines probably started around 20 years ago, I'd say I feel like I have a new body to enjoy life in.

I greatly appreciate the time you both spent with me in discussing my migraine/health history. My regimen has been to take 1 Vitalizer with Iron strip in the morning along with 2 extra OmegaGuards. At dinnertime, I take 3 OmegaGuards and 1 extra Optiflora. I will stop taking the extra Optiflora after 2 weeks. The temporary extra Optiflora was recommended because of a long history of antibiotic-use throughout the years as well as other factors that can contribute to candida. Lastly, I have made the recommended changes to my diet. Although I have long lived a healthy lifestyle, I am now eating more protein as well as increased amounts of raw fruits and vegetables. Whatever grains I eat, I go whole-grain but do limit amounts. I've greatly reduced sweets and white flour/sugar products. Some of the ways I've introduced more protein is through the various high-protein Shaklee products. I am very intentional about starting my day with high protein as opposed to my previous breakfast of cereal or toast. I am happy to say that although I've made these changes, they have been relatively painless and without cravings. The four primary benefits that I noticed immediately included:

* drastically reduced migraine/headaches (before I was at 2 at least a week sometimes lasting more than a day and often not fully responsive to my prescriptions and OTC meds of which I took a lot).
* great sleep (fall asleep easily and stay asleep far better)
* steady energy level all day and even have energy at night (this is a huge change for me)
* mood stabilization (no more roller coaster all day or SAD/depression issues)

There's more benefits but those were the first four things I noticed & documented right away as a consistent pattern. I should also note that I changed all of my cleaning products over to Shaklee's Get Clean at the same time (cleaning products were always a trigger for my migraines).

I was so impressed when you both did a conference call with me when you hardly knew me. I felt cared for and listened to, encouraged and touched that someone would come alongside me and try to help my in an area of chronic need. I have tried just about everything over the years to little positive effect. I remember Barb's words: "our goal for you is 30 days without a migraine." I held onto those words with great hope and have not been disappointed. In fact, I am rather in shock to be living a virtually pain-free life after all these years. I am beginning to shed the long-held belief that when it came to bodies, I got a "lemon" and I just had to make the best of it--lemonade. I'd lastly like to encourage you that when you help someone's health, especially someone with a chronic pain condition like mine, you are not only changing your customer's life, but also that of your customer's family. I can much more easily grow into the wife, mom, and woman I know I can be when I am not limited by chronic pain. Therefore, my husband John, Joelle age 6, Frederick age 3, and our future daughter from China along with myself, thank you for helping to restore me to what we all need me to be but believed had been lost.

May God continue to bless your good work in helping others.

Angela Raske

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And Another Story!

DETOX: No one in any major hospital and specialist I even went to mentioned detoxification. They merely advised my parents and Me that it was NORMAL for ME & MOM (another migraine sufferer back then) to have only one bowel movement every 5-10 days. Not normal, GENERALLY SPEAKING... but NORMAL for us because that's how we had ALWAYS BEEN. Some others experience periods of diahhrea instead (diaahrea is an exaggerated form of constipation... so much is impacted that only the fluid can exit, leaving the matter behind... therefore you have watery diahhrea as the only thing that can exit the impacted area). They told us it was NORMAL FOR US that we did not perspire.

So... if you never hardly perspire... and have bowel movements every 5-10 days... urinate once per day & can HOLD IT forever... How is anything exiting the body? Those are the only ways a body has to detox itself of toxins. When there's a huge buildup of toxins, it was explained to me by some specialists and many in Shaklee... it's almost as if the body gets to a point where it cannot take another second of it and explodes (in my case... in the form of a migraine... for release)

The moment I began to have daily bowel movements and twice per day bowel movements... migraines were not the only thing that felt extremely better. I thought I could actually FEEL the detox happening.

DETOX WITH: Alfalfa is necessary to give chlorophyll to the blood stream and cleanses and purifies the blood stream.
Herb Lax cleanses the colon... and even the bladder of residue.
DTX detoxifies the liver by helping it to regenerate the liver more easily and not overtaxing the liver.
All are important for the initial detoxification. After the body begins to have 2 or more bowel movements PER DAY... perspires whenever it should... urinates 2 or more times per day... THEN, you will (by then) be introducing the body to more FIBER in little increments at a time. As you increase the Fiber intake with Daily Mix or Daily Crunch or Fiber Tabs etc. etc.... you will decrease the amount of Herb Lax you take because your body will no longer require. I weaned myself off the Herb Lax as I increased the Fiber... and keep having normal bowel movements and perspiration. I will always take DTX and Alfalfa EVERY DAY the rest of my life. But, I only require Herb Lax on occasion now like when I travel, eat wrong during Holidays or vacations perhaps... etc. Or when I feel I might be trying to catch a cold or something. You know.

Ref. Amounts I took at the beginning: (I split these up 3 times per day)
Vita-Lea 3 per day (for minimum requirements & balance)
Protein 3T per day (for minimums & balance)
Herb Lax 2 in AM & 2 at Bedtime (to first get 2 bowel movements per day)
You may require less or more... your body will tell you
B-Complex 6 per day (for Stress balancing & for nerve endings & PMS)
Vita-C 500 mg. 6 per day (for Stress & keep sinuses from getting infection)
Cal Mag 6 per day (natural calmer of entire system & muscles... &
help balance hormones & PMS)
Alfalfa 12-15 per day (keep sinus cavities clear of excess fluid buildup &
draining freely and to balance the stomach acids
& keep inflammation at bay)
EPA 6 per day (keep the blood vessels from constricting at base of
neck area. If these constrict... you get a full blown
migraine... plus keeps inflammation at bay)

Remember: Migraines are in the category of Inflammatory Diseases Family along with Arthritis etc.)

Note: I did NOT begin with the Vita-E. But, some migraine sufferers I know did not get complete control of their migraines until they added 4-6 400 IU Vita-E per day. They needed the E for circulation etc.) I did add the Vita-E later for all the wonderful things it is good for in the body... but got my results w/o.

Note: They did not have GLA at the time. If they did, I would have taken 6 GLA along with the 6 EPA. Keep those blood vessels from constricting... plus work on the hormones with the GLA. Nowadays... SOME people get migraine results QUICKER when adding the GLA.

Note: They did not have DTX at that time. I would DEFINITELY take this daily for the rest of my life. Not just because of the migraines... but because you have had lots of medications in your body over the many years while trying to work on your pain etc. My liver had to have been overtaxed it's entire life. It regenerates itself... but with DTX it doesn't have the extra stress of attempting to regenerate all those medications, along with the other stuff.

Ref amounts I take now: I have DECREASED the EPA to 3-4 & I only take Herb Lax IF I begin to get backed up or for the reasons I stated above.

Actually... as I felt better and learned more... I added other nutrients and herbals to my daily intake over the course of these 12 years. Gradually... as MY BODY required it. Your body wil tell you. I take more B-Complex and Cal Mag due to hormonal stresses and other stresses. You know. But... NO... not for the migraines. My body responded to those initial amounts. They seemed like a TON of supplements at the beginning... but, now, I find it hard to imagine those amounts working at all. Some doctors who use Shaklee in their practice did not think those amounts would work. They thought I'd need MORE of each. Each person is different and requires different things. Your body will TELL YOU.

Seems as if your body is already sending you some "messages" via the grape vine. You said you increased & are feeling "better".


When to CUT BACK: I never cut back until I went approx. 4 months without getting even one full blown migraine or headache. That was a personal choice of mine. I was feeling too good to take a chance at getting even one migraine. And I cut back really GRADUAL so that I KNEW when I needed more because I got that "feeling" that one wanted to come attack me. (some call it an aura... I call it a feeling).

OH... I took the migraine BATCH at the very FIRST sign of that feeling (always... even to this day): The Migraine Batch is: 2 B-Complex
2 Cal Mag
2 EPA
2 GLA 4-5 Alfalfa
I keep these in my purse, car, everywhere and took every hour until the "feeling/aura" went away. At the beginning year... I would SOMETIMES have to take this batch every hour for 3-4 hrs.

I also took this batch BEFORE bed every night. So... in actuality... I took the supplements in this batch 4 times per day that first year. This gave me an EDGE so my body did not go w/o nutrients for the last 8-12 hrs of the day.

Later on in the years: Shaklee created Performance Drink. Dr. Miller suggested I take the migrain BATCH w/Performance because it would get the supplements to enter the blood stream a bit QUICKER for quicker results. Worked for me.

And I would take extra Protein, as I do today, Whenever my body requires it. Some days it doesn't... some days it does.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have so many more stories I could share with you, but I think this is a good start. (Let me note, too, that there are some references to EPA. This product is now called Omegaguard, just for your reference.)

Let me also say that I have almost 35 years of experience using Shaklee nutritional supplements. I stand by them whole-heartedly. There are so many gimmicks out there that the buyer MUST beware. With that in mind, let me encourage you to take a serious look at Shaklee, the leader in the health and wellness industry. You will be amazed- at their high standards, real-deal clinical research and development, proof that the products do what they say they'll do, and this list could go on and on. All of the preceding stories are from people who decided to go for Shaklee. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Don't waste your money on supplements that could very well go straight through your system and into your septic tank. Is that, after all, really a savings?

I would love to help you in starting a supplement program should you decide to move forward with a nutritional approach for ridding the migraines.

Feel free to visit my website or contact me. I am here to serve you. And I so look forward to hearing your success stories! It is unbelievable what our bodies will do when we give them what they need. God made us fearfully and WONDERFULLY!

My contact information:
http://gofit4life.myshaklee.com/us/en/about.html
heather@gofit4life.com
404.592.4186 (o)
678.234.9450 (c)

To your health,
~Heather

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Creamy Squash & Eggplant Soup

2 lb. banana squash
1 small eggplant
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/3 c. red onion, chopped
1 tsp. dried basil
4 Tbsp. butter
salt to taste

Peel & chop squash and egglplant into chunks. Place in water and boil (or steam) until soft. Meanwhile, saute tomatoes and onion in melted butter until soft/opaque. Using a slatted spoon, scoop squash and eggplant into blender. Blend until smooth. Add tomato/onion/butter mixture as well as basil and salt (to taste) to blender and puree. Serve hot and enjoy!

I invented this recipe and we all think it is delicious. :-)
Oh- and the last time I made it, i also cooked about a half-pound of lentils until they were very soft (i cooked them seperately) and pureed them into the mixture as well. I did double the quantity of tomatoes and onions though. I wanted to add more protein to the soup. It was still delicious!