Since I have pretty much lost faith in mainstream medicine, I am determined to change my lifestyle to be the best advocate for my body and my family. I do not want them to have to go through again, what the last several months brought us. Watching out mother fade away over several months and really being helpless to stop it was/is very painful. Pancreatic cancer is a terrible disease. My mother was a shadow of herself when she passed. I would like to find a way to make sure research is funded but I'm not sure that's enough. I feel that cancer is a
symptom of something that has gone very wrong. Treating the cancer is like a tissue for a runny nose. Our western ways need to be challenged. The way we eat, socialize, work, play, love all contribute to who we are and our wellness. So I am going to start my own plan of prevention which will be the topic of this blog for a while. Maybe I'll start some huge awareness campaign, write a book or go into politics. Time will tell...till then I give you my wellness ideas.
Reduce your Toxic Load!!!
- Houseplants around your house to clean up the air. Make sure you let the soil dry out so you don't start a mold farm. There are resources online that can tell you which plants clean up what your air.
- Consider carefully what chemicals you use to clean...and don't trust marketing. Look into using only products that are natural, fragrance free. Detergents, glass cleaners, kitchen & bathroom cleaners etc.
- Avoid air-fresheners, scented candles and the like. They make the air you breathe in your home toxic.
- Consider carefully what you put on or near your skin. Shampoos, body lotions, shaving creams, cosmetics, hand soaps..most contains stuff that is toxic. I've read that 4lbs of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your body every year...
ewww.
- Prescriptions and over the counter remedies. Almost all prescriptions and remedies that can be found at the drug store treat symptoms and cause additional symptoms or conditions. This is a deadly circle that should be avoided. Throw out all your drug store remedies, and work with you doctor to get off of prescriptions. You might need to find a
naturepath doctor to work on the true cause of whatever is bothering you. I'm willing to bet most conditions can be treated with proper diet.
- Eat organic food. Buy local! Shop the edge of the grocery store and avoid packaged foods. When at all possible eat foods that you grew/raised yourself. When that isn't possible do as much processing as you can yourself. Bake your own bread or better yet grind your grain just before you bake. Most can't raise their own grain but this would be ideal. Find a place where you can pick your own produce that you can't grow yourself. If you can't make it yourself, consider if this is something that is essential to your diet. I find that if it's something I'm not willing to spend the time making myself, I can live without it. (example. I can get motivated to make Creme
Brulee, but haven't tried making homemade pastas.) Find a friend that raises animals for eating. This meat will be much better for you. Get a big chest freezer and buy meats in bulk from a local farmer. Consider carefully the journey your food has taken before you eat it and decide if you want to incorporate that journey into your body. Think about or research all the machines chemicals, and processing that it takes before a product gets to the grocery store. In many cases it's only "food" by technicality. Consider the teenagers that assembles your Value Meals from "foods" processed and shipped from a factory half way across the world at the local fast food establishment. I believe that everything that happens to your food before it gets to you becomes part of you. We have become disconnected from our food sources...it's time to reconnect.
To prove that I am trying to follow my own advise I give you pictures of the 10 house plants I purchased at K&W Greenery. Yes, I know they won't do me much good hanging out in my new little greenhouse but hanging pots are hard to come by in sub-zero weather. If you have a favorite air cleaning house plant be sure to let me know! I'm always excited to procure a new plant. So far we have spider plants, snake plant, dracaena, peace lily, English, ivy, golden pothos, and maybe some others that I can't think of at the moment. We looked at weeping figs and chinese evergreens, but those only came in big 6 or 8 inch pots and I like the little 4 inch ones. Much more cost effective. Ben noticed that the spider plant had a baby plant and insisted I get a little pot for the baby plant. Mother and baby are doing well. :)
