Family Health

Homemade Chocolate Clusters

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homemade chocolate

These healthy homemade Chocolate clusters are the perfect tasty treat for any chocolate lover.  Plus they’re packed with protein!  They can last 1 week in the fridge but lasted 2 days at home because of my son and husband.  Here is the recipe ⤵️

Ingredients:

– 1 can of chickpeas
– 1 bag (225g) dark chocolate chips 71% (I used @caminoamigos)

Want to learn why using dark chocolate is the way to go?  Click here to read 11 Amazing Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate!

Instructions:

1️⃣  Preheat oven to 365 F
2️⃣  Line a baking tray with parchment paper
3️⃣  Add chickpeas to tray
4️⃣  Roast in oven for 50-60 minutes or until crunchy
5️⃣  Stir twice to make sure undersides are also toasted.
6️⃣  In a large bowl, combine roasted chickpeas and dark chocolate chips and stir using the residual heat to melt.
7️⃣  Spoon the chocolate chickpeas candy onto grease proof paper using a dessert or tablespoon and chill in refrigerator for one hour.
8️⃣  Enjoy your very own homemade chocolate clusters without any guilt!

chocolate

Looking for more easy at home recipes to satisfy the chocolate lover in your life?  Click here for my recipe for Healthy Chocolate Truffles.  You can Surprise your guests by making these healthy chocolate truffles using my secret ingredient, avocado!  Your guests will never know that these are a healthy alternative to the traditional truffle, only that they taste great.

The Important Role Fruit Stickers Play On Our Health!

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plu codes

Have you ever noticed those little stickers on fruit and vegetables you’ve purchased from the grocery store?  Maybe you did, but didn’t realize what purpose they served.  Chances are you were more preoccupied with the shape, colour and price of the produce, so you may not have given those tiny numbered stickers (PLU codes) a 2nd thought.  Further more, you may not have understood what the miniature numbers printed on them signified.  However, knowing what they mean could have a big impact on your overall health and that of your family!

PLU Codes – How To Decode Your Produce

I always found those stickers to be an annoying thing I would struggle to peel off my apple before I could sink my teeth into it!  However, these stickers and numbers known as “price look-up or PLU codes” contain a ton of information.

For almost 20 years, grocery stores and supermarkets have used PLU code stickers on their produce.  They tell YOU, the consumer, how the produce has been grown and treated before even arriving at the supermarket.  Cashiers use them to properly ‘ring you up’ at the checkout more quickly and efficiently.  This prevents them from mistaking your rare Black Oxford apple with a regular McIntosh.  They also tell the cashier what to charge you because they identify the fruit or vegetable as being either organically or conventionally grown (organic produce costing more).

The International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS) is composed of national produce associations from around the globe.  This organization is responsible for labeling produce and assigning PLU codes.  Their codes consist of 4- or 5-digit numbers found on stickers attached to your fresh produce.

As a health conscious shopper, these codes are your way of making sure you are getting what you paid for!  Here’s what to look for while shopping:

Five-Digit Number Starting With A “9”

If your health is a priority, this is what you are looking for!  Five-digit PLU codes starting with a 9.  This indicates that the produce was grown organically or is a product of biodynamic agriculture.  It’s satisfying to know that the fruits and vegetables you’re going to consume meet a detailed set of principles, guidelines, and permitted substances that are used in the organic certification process!

Four-Digit Code Starting With A “3” or a “4”

Four-digit PLU codes beginning with a 3 or a 4 means the produce was likely grown conventionally.  Conventionally grown produce really is the complete opposite to organic growing methods.  It uses synthetic chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones) or genetically modified organisms.

The quality of our food has a profound impact on the quality of our health and prevention of disease.  Sure, conventionally grown fruits and vegetables will contain vitamins and minerals but they will also contain varying amounts of pesticide loads and chemical residues.  These are all known to be cancer causing agents.  In a nutshell, something that should be improving our health can now be harming it!

Five-Digit Code Starting With An “8”

Five-digit PLU codes that starts with an 8 indicates the item is genetically modified.  This means it has genes from other organisms.  GMOs (genetically modified organisms), are formed in the laboratories of big corporations using genetic modification/engineering techniques.  Many Scientists as well as consumer and environmental groups have referenced the numerous and significant health and environmental risks associated with foods containing GMOs.  Remember those vitamins and minerals that I mentioned were contained in fruits and vegetables?  Well they get stripped from these foods in exchange for foreign DNA!

The journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition has outlined some of these health risks to GMO foods.  GMO’s are believed to have toxic effects on the liver, pancreas and kidneys.  In addition to the reproductive and immune systems.  Unfortunately, stickers to indicate GMO foods such as corn, cotton, soybeans, papaya and squash aren’t used because they aren’t mandatory and are often labelled as conventional.  That’s scary when estimates suggest 90% of corn, cotton, and soy in the United States has been genetically modified!

The greatest thing we can do as consumers is make the decision to invest in our health.  Paying a little more for the organic produce rather than the conventional or GMO is NOT a COST, but an INVESTMENT!  For further proof, click here to read Do I Always Have to Buy Organic? Here’s What You NEED to Know. It’s time people really take their health into their own hands.  Research their healthcare choices.  Use PLU codes to their advantage.  And make the best decision for themselves and their families!  For further help on how to keep your family healthy, click here to read How To Read Labels Like a Pro and Cut Grocery Shopping Time In Half.

You’re one step closer!

Vegan Cornbread Muffins

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vegan cornbread muffin

Looking for the perfect comfort food that is savory and a little sweet?  Then these vegan cornbread muffins are the perfect fit for you!  Try them straight out of the oven with some vegan butter for a little extra indulgence.

INGREDIENTS:

Dry Ingredients:

  • 2 cups organic cornmeal
  • 1 cup organic unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt

Wet Ingredients:

  • 2 cups organic non-dairy milk (room temperature)
  • 2 teaspoons organic apple cider vinegar
  • 1/3 cup organic coconut oil (melted/liquid)
  • 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup

Instructions For Vegan Cornbread Muffins:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare the wet ingredients – Add the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar to a medium-sized bowland whisk together.  Add the melted coconut oil and maple syrup in and whisk again until the mixture is foamy and bubbly.  Adjust the sweetener to your preference.
  3. Prepare the dry ingredients – Combine the dry ingredients together in a medium-size bowl and stir until well combined.  Transfer the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
  4. Transfer the mixture into muffin cup and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden.
  5. Add blueberry jam as a tasty topping and enjoy!

Like what you see?  Check out more of my healthy recipes by clicking here.

Clean Living Basics And DIY Cleaning Solutions

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clean living

Many people when doing a cleanse or detox usually think of eating organic food and taking herbs.  Although this can be an amazing thing for your body and well-being, it is even more important to also use safe cleaning products for your home (this is where you spend a significant amount of time after all!).  In other words, by practicing clean living and using safe cleaning products you are benefiting your lungs and liver.

A 2003 study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry showed that levels of antioxidants and other cancer-fighting compounds were over 50% higher in organically grown food than in food grown conventionally.  Also, Organic foods do not contain cancer-causing pesticide residues either.  Click here to read an article about Antioxidants – Can They Be Boosted With Chiropractic Care?

The following list are tips on how to incorporate more antioxidant rich foods in your diet.

Love That Limonene

Citrus juices and peel contain flavonoids and limonene, natural anti-oxidants that inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancer cells.  Orange and lemon peels are the most powerful of the citrus fruits.  Add organic citrus peel to your diet by grating a little over your salad or using the peel in your tea daily.

Be Raw

Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures higher than 50°C so we should focus on eating foods rich in enzymes, including raw fruits and vegetables.  Many vitamins are also destroyed through heating.  If digestion is an issue, you can lightly steam vegetables. JUICING is a terrific way of getting in many raw veggies.  Eating 50% of raw veggies and fruits per day is a good balance for most people.

Beneficial Brassicas

Particularly potent healing vegetables include members of the brassica family.  This included cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, bok choy, kale, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas, radish and watercress.  We can enjoy this family by eating cole slaw several times per week.  Adding cabbage to soups and salads and adding broccoli and cauliflower to main dishes and salads (not to mention dipping them in hummus!)  The cancer-preventing phytochemical in this vegetable is indole-3-carbinol.

Click here to get an easy to make veggie dip recipe.

Super-Seaweeds

Seaweeds include nori, arame, kelp, dulse and kombu.  Seaweeds also contain calcium and B12.

Click here for clean eating recipes to reset and refresh your body.

Tips For Home Cleaning

Use Natural household cleaners.  The toxins in various household products are toxic to our livers and expose us to cancer-causing.  Many household cleaners also contain hormone-disrupting chemicals–This is especially important if you are trying to conceive or have little people crawling around on the floors.  Click here to read ‘Are You Poisoning Your Family?’ for more information on the hazards of common house cleaners.  Below are some tips to replace common chemical cleaners:

Floor Cleaner:

Use washing soda and a bit of borax in water.  Use white vinegar in your rinse for a natural shine.

Furniture Polish:

Use filtered water to dampen a cloth and place a few drops of olive oil on the cloth.

Kitchen/Bathroom Cleanser:

Use ¼ cup borax with ¼ cup washing soda and minimum water to clean in the kitchen and bathroom.  Use dry washing soda to scour.

Laundry Detergent:

Use ½ cup of borax per load and combine with washing soda for extra cleaning powder.  For stubborn stains, try rubbing with bar soap first and/or rub with alcohol, vinegar or baking soda.

Oven Cleaner:

Scrub with baking soda on its own or mix 1 cup of pure soap, ½ cup lemon juice with 1 gallon of water and scrub.  Rinse with water.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner:

Pour 1 cup borax powder into toilet and let sit overnight. Scrub with a brush and flush. For faster action, add ¼ cup lemon juice or vinegar to the borax. Wait a few hours before scrubbing.  Alternatively, open 2 vitamin C capsules and drop them into the bowl, letting the sit overnight.  Scrub and flush.

Window Cleaner:

Mix 2 tablespoons vinegar in 1L of water in a spray bottle.  Clean your windows using newspapers.

Car Fresheners:

Please avoid artificial car ‘fresheners’ as these are toxic.  Purchasing an essential oil diffuser for your car is perfect for adding some uplifting natural scents to purify the air.  Bergamot and mint are wonderful cleansing scents.

For more information on how you can detoxify your home or yourself, please click here and contact me today!  For further reading click here for an important article about ‘This Common Ingredient Has Been Linked To Cancer’.

Vanilla Pudding Cake

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vanilla pudding cake

Are you hosting a dinner party or having friends over for lunch?  Make-ahead this traditional and easy Vanilla Pudding Cake and save time and stress on the day.

Ingredients:

  • 60cl Almond vanilla milk + 10cl
  • 3 Eggs
  • 30g Coconut sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 100g plain Greek yogurt
  • 160g arrowroot

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat milk until bubbles form at edges.
  3. In a bowl, combine sugar, eggs, cornstarch, Greek yogurt, 10cl milk and the vanilla extract.
  4. Pour into hot milk, a little at a time, stirring to dissolve.
  5. Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens (~5min). Do not boil.
  6. Remove from heat and transfer into muffins this or individual serving bowls.
  7. Bake in oven for about 45-50min.
  8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  9. Place in the refrigerator and chill completely.
  10. Enjoy your delicious vanilla pudding cake!!

Fun Facts!

Did you know mаnу people utilize аrrоwrооt flоur as a wеіght-lоѕѕ ѕubѕtаnсе?  Thе роwdеr thickens mеаlѕ when incorporated, but hаѕ a vеrу low fаt content аnd nеxt tо nо саlоrіеѕ.  Bу adding the роwdеr іn сооkіng, it еxраndѕ the аmоunt of food, without multірlуіng thе саlоrіеѕ.  Click here to learn everything you need to know about the Arrowroot Plant!

Top Tips To Manage Your Emotions

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anxiety

For most people the holidays are a time to take a break from the hustle of every day life and a time to spend with family and friends.  It is a time that people observe special religious festivities and a time of gift giving and merriment.  A great many of us will make new year’s resolutions to either give up something that is detrimental to our health or add something to our regimen.  Like something that will help cope with things like depression and anxiety and bring us closer to health and happiness.

But now it’s January.  You’ve just realized you have overeaten, overdrank, overspent, and indulged in a great many behaviours that you normally wouldn’t have if it was any other time of the year.

When it comes to spending habits in Canada, one in three Canadians said they ended up spending more than they meant to last year.  (1) It’s easy to fall into despair, disarray as well as frustration and fear as a result of our actions during the holidays.

According to motivational speaker Tony Robins, “Gratitude is the solution to anger and fear.”  (2) In other words, you one cannot hold feelings of anger/fear and gratitude simultaneously.  This is good news if we are searching for methods to cope with the aftermath of the holidays when all festivities have concluded, all the gifts are opened, and perhaps some anxiety about our credit card bills start to arrive making us ever so reluctant to pay a visit to our post office box.

For more on Tony Robbins, click here for THE 5-STEP PLAN TO AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR.

How To Manage Your Emotions

Here are some tips you can use to manage your emotions and transform your state of being into a healthy and positive state.  This exercise is the HeartMath Institute’s Heart-Focused Breathing® Technique and I would like to share it with the reader as it is entirely possible to calm both our nervous system and our overactive mind.  In other words, attempt to turn down the frantic fight or flight sympathetic nervous system and turn up the parasympathetic system.

Over activity of the sympathetic nervous system will cause our breathing and heart rate to increase as well as release stress hormones like cortisol into our bloodstream to help prepare us for a fight or flight scenario.  This is innately programmed into our nervous system as a protective mechanism. By calming the sympathetics and shifting to the parasympathetics, which control our resting, relaxation and digestive responses, we can put ourselves in a state of ease. The good news is that we can do it relatively easily with this simple exercise.  Click here to read about A Scientific Validation Of Your Emotions.

Step by Step Instructions:

Start with sitting in a quiet place, in an upright posture and begin breathing through your nose and exhale out through your mouth.

Focus:

Focus your attention on your heart area, and breathe a little deeper than normal, in for 5 or 6 seconds and out 5 or 6 seconds.

Breathing:

Imagine breathing through your heart.  Picture yourself slowly breathing in and out through your heart area.

Remember that you are not breathing from upper chest region that uses more accessory muscles and body part and is usually the pattern of breathing of someone suffering form anxiety or anxious state but rather from the heart.  There is a difference.  If this is difficult to visualize try diaphragmatic breathing where your belly expands as you draw oxygen in.  It’s ok if it looks funny and makes the belly look larger than usual.  Nobody is watching remember you’re alone?  Hehe.

Feeling:

Activate a positive feeling as you maintain your heart focus and breathing. Recall a time you felt good inside and try to re-experience the feeling. Remember a special place or the love you feel for a close friend, relative or treasured pet. The key is focus on something you really appreciate.

Conversely, you can attempt a more meditative method and practice NOT thinking about anything other than your breath.  I’ve found both methods effective.  The key is to make sure your exhale is slightly longer than your inhale.

Practice this for at least 5 minutes and observe your mood change in short matter of time.  Click here for 4 Tips to an Abundant, Joy Filled Life

Yes folks, it is literally that easy.  You are in complete control of your mood and emotions.  The mind is a powerful entity and each of us has the capacity to alter our state of well-being should we choose to.  Harness the feelings of gratitude and appreciation.  Appreciate yourself and others.  Be grateful that you are alive.  My wish for you is that this exercise will help you reduce emotional stress and improve your health.  Blessings to you all.

Reference:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4671068/2018-black-friday-canada-holiday-spending/
https://medium.com/thrive-global/tony-robbins-gratitude-is-the-solution-to-anger-and-fear-c3fa819825c
E-mail newsletter: Heart Math Institute, A 3 step exercise to better health.

Top 5 Natural Flu Busters!

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flu

It’s that time of year when the weather keeps changing with fluctuating outside temperatures.  When our immune systems tend to be more run down and can have a hard time fighting off colds and flu.  Thankfully, there are many natural, fun, and effective ways to support the immune system that can start in the comfort of your home.

On that note, here are my top 5 immune boosters for families!

Kick That Flu To The Curb With Vitamin D with K2

It is extremely difficult to get sufficient amounts of vitamin D naturally if you are living in a northern continent or colder climates.  This is no surprise, as Vitamin D deficiency affects almost 50-60 percent of the population worldwide.  So, it’s important to supplement!  Here are the vitamin D intake levels recommended for patients at risk for vitamin D deficiency:

Infants: 400–1,000 IU/day (Upper Limit: 2,000)
Children: 1 -18 years: 600-1,000 IUs/day (Upper limit 4,000)
Adults: 19 +: 1,500-2,000 IU’s/day (upper limit 10,000)

Vitamin K2 is the latest and greatest vitamin that aids vitamin D (Not to be taken if you are on a blood thinner).  Learn more about the importance of vitamin K2!  Click here to read – Calcium without Vitamin K2 is a Heart Breaker.

Essential Oils For Tubby Time

Adding 1-3 drops of an organic essential oil such as tea tree or eucalyptus while the tub is filling allows for the lungs and sinus to stay open and get rid of any stubborn mucus.  Have you heard of this miracle oil? You should be using it! Click here to learn more.

Coat That Throat!

Elderberry syrup ½ tsp/day taken as a tea or added to a shake, or on its own is a delicious way to ward off bacteria, even strep!

Tea Time

There are so many wonderful teas that help strengthen the immune system—my all-time favourite is gingerbread tea→2 inches of ginger chopped, 2 cinnamon sticks, and the rind and juice of 1 organic lemon.  Add these to 4 cups of water and simmer covered for 20 minutes.  Add 1 tsp of unpasteurized honey* to your mug for a warming lovely tea.

Soup It Up!

The collagen that is extracted from chicken or beef bones while making soup still stands as an important flu-fighter.  Use cooked bones and add to a slow cooker full of filtered water. Add lemon or lime juice (this helps extract the goodness of the bones).  Do this for 12-24 hours for the best soup stock.

Use 1 or all of these suggestions in rotation.  I strive to make soup 1/week, have the gingerbread tea 1/week and do the essential oil tubbies, elderberry and vitamin D/K daily.

*Avoid unpasteurized honey in anyone under the age of 1 years old.

Click, Immunity and you – How to boost your Immune System Naturally for long-term protection for further reading.

This One Urine Test Could Save Your Life!

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iodine

Every year, we get the same advice.  Get your mammograms, eat your vegetables and ‘feel your boobies’.  However, even with that advice, we still haven’t made much of a dent in breast cancer prevention.  One thing we never hear about in the mainstream media is iodine deficiency.  This can contribute to breast cancer as well as ovarian and cervical cancers in addition to fibroids.

Facts About Iodine

Here’s what you need to know:

• It is stored in the thyroid gland, ovaries, breast and fat tissue.  Therefore plays an important role in reproductive and breast health.

• Is found in iodized salt, sea vegetables, seaweed, eggs, dairy, and fish

• Iodine deficiency can lead to increased estrogen production.  When you pair that with exposure to environmental estrogen’s in plastic, pesticides, meat, and dairy foods (produced by big agriculture), you have a ripe environment for the development of breast cancer.

• Bromide, fluoride and chlorine compete with iodine for absorption.  They are abundant in the environment and food supply.  Bromide is found in furniture, carpet, cars, fire retardant clothing and mattresses.  Asthma medications, bread products and toothpaste.  Municipal water supplies, food prepared with fluoridated water and tea leaves.  The antidepressants Paxil and Prozac also contain fluoride.  Chlorine is also found in our water supplies, swimming pools, and the artificial sweetener Splenda, or sucralose.  Click here for more information about cancer risks.

How To Get Tested

One of the best steps to take in preventing cancer is to get an iodine loading test.  This is a urine test, not a blood test.  You will take 50 mg of iodine and collect your urine for 24 hours; I know, not fun, but it may just save your life.  You can also get a bromide test.  Click here for more information on iodine and bromide testing.

Simple Steps

I highly recommend finding a physician who is knowledgeable about iodine so you can get the right dosage.  It is best to take it with vitamin C, magnesium, and selenium.  Get plenty of unrefined sea salt.  The chloride component of salt can help eliminate bromide.  Sea salt does not contain much iodine, so you can also sprinkle kelp granules on food.  If you eat meat, choose grass fed over conventional.  If you do dairy, raw is best, followed by low heat pasteurized and non-homogenized.  Click here before buying seafood.  If you are allergic to iodine, focus on eliminated toxins like bromide.

Click here for more information on iodine and breast health.  The Switch Diet is almost here and will help you eliminate toxins.  To get notified when it is released, like my Facebook page.

A Natural Proven Solution To The Opioid Crisis

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opioids

The pharmaceutical industry has come under heavy fire in the media recently.  They’re being blamed for the opioid crisis facing many communities.  The irony of it all is that the Company responsible for initiating the opioid crisis is now claiming to offer a solution.  They want to introduce yet another drug to help suffers cope with their addiction.  I don’t have to tell you about the dangerous and unethical practices of this particular company for you to know we cannot place our health in their hands.

Break The Cycle Of Opioid

Pharmaceutical companies are showing time and time again that instead of helping manage peoples pain, they are instead only out to further benefit their investors.  In order to tackle the problem of opioid addiction, which is now a pandemic, we need to look past the big Pharma for help.  Their solution will only place more people under the influence of their drugs.  They will only provide solutions within their capacity creating a vicious cycle of drug dependence as a means of solving a health problem.  It’s important that patients and health professionals look for natural alternatives to put an end to this crisis.  Click here for more facts about the opioid crisis.

Where To Turn To For Help!

In 2017 a new systematic review was published in a medical journal which confirmed an association of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT), with clinical benefit and harm for acute low back pain.  This is the standard treatment method utilized mainly by chiropractors.  The review looked at 26 eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and showed that 15 of the trials (involving 1711 patients) provided evidence that Chiropractic care, in the form of spinal manipulative therapy, recorded improvements with their pain.

Twelve RCTs [1381 patients] produced evidence that SMT has a statistically significant association with improvements in function.  No RCT reported any serious adverse event.  This is important to consider given the multitude of side effects that drugs produce.  High quality studies tended to report larger benefits.  So, the analysis of 26 randomized clinical trials, spinal manipulative therapy was associated with statistically significant benefits in both pain and function of, on average, modest magnitude at up to six weeks [compared with sham or alternative treatments].

The Evidence Is Clear

Chiropractic adjustments reduce pain, increase comfort, and lead to increased functional abilities.  Chiropractic adjustment is not just effective compared to placebo or sham adjustment, it is also more effective than surgery, usual medical care, or physiotherapy.

The key take-home points from the study are that opioid are addictive, deadly, expensive, and ineffective in the long-term.  Introducing more drugs to fix the problem created by opioid does not lead to better results based on lack of evidence for effectiveness and have their proven side effects.  Physiotherapy was also shown to be ineffective for spinal conditions and back pain compared to chiropractic.  There is only one scientific logical conclusion from all this: Chiropractic is the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective choice for patients with spinal health issues if you exclude spinal fractures, spinal infections, and spinal cancer.  To learn more about natural healing click here read about what conventional medicine doesn’t want you to know.

Source:

Paige et al. (2017) Association of Spinal Manipulative Therapy with Clinical Benefit and Harm for Acute Low Back Pain. Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA;317(14):1451-1460
Dr. James Chestnut (2018) Newsletter: New Systematic Review in Medical Journal Confirms Benefits of Manipulation for Low Back Pain

Pyroluria Test – Why You Should Get One Today!

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sleep apnea,sleep apnea symptoms,sleep apnea treatment,obstructive sleep apnea, what is sleep apnea

Pyroluria is a disorder with numerous symptoms including migraines, fatigue, food sensitivities, insomnia and poor morning appetite.  It has also been linked to loss of libido, mood swings, sensitivity to smells and sounds, hyperactivity, hypoglycemia, and overeating, just to name a few.  This is why having a Pyroluria test is important should you be experiencing any of these symptoms.

Conditions associated with pyroluria include but are not limited to acne, allergies, depression, anxiety, postnatal depression, eczema, substance abuse, learning difficulties, autism, Tourette’s, and Asperger’s syndrome.

So, What Is Pyroluria And What Can You Do About It?

When we synthesize hemoglobin, we produce a byproduct known as pyrrole.  Normally, this is not a problem but some people produce excessive amounts.  When this happens, pyrroles bind to zinc and B6 leaving them unavailable for the body to use.  They also deplete the omega-6 fatty acid gamma linoleic acid (GLA).

Why Should You Have a Pyroluria Test and Why Is Zinc, B6 And GLA So Important?

The body needs zinc for:

• Immune health
• Cell growth and replication
• Enzymes
• Hormone health and reproduction
• Protein metabolism
• Cognitive function, memory, learning
• Thyroid function
• Normal appetite, taste, and smell
• Wound healing

The body needs B6 for:

• Neurotransmitter production
• Convert food to energy
• Immune health
• Brain development
• Healthy sleep cycle
• Balanced moods

GLA acts to:

• Reduce inflammation
• Support hormone health
• Aid fat loss
• Increase energy
• Keep the skin hydrated and healthy

We are just scratching the surface but it is obvious that we need to be able to use these nutrients if we want to maintain good health.  Click here for information on how to read labels like a pro and get the most out of your food when grocery shopping.

Pyroluria is generally not recognized by mainstream medicine and few physicians are even aware of it because there is no drug cure for it.  Instead, it requires a lifetime of nutritional supplementation.

The Pyroluria Test

You will find a list of symptoms here and if you have 15 or more you definitely want to get tested.  If you’ve got a few symptoms and have tried different things and nothing has worked, it may be a good idea to test and at least rule it out.  If your physician won’t order a test, you can get a kryptopyrrole test from DHA Laboratory without a physician order (they have a physician who will sign off on it).  It costs around $82 and is a urine test. There are very specific instructions which include freezing the sample before shipping it, so read everything carefully before collecting your urine so you know what to do.  You can also get supplement guidance from a physician at DHA labs if you end up with high levels.

What Causes Pyroluria?

Pyroluria is caused by both genetic and lifestyle factors.  Stress increases the production of pyrroles as does poor digestive health, alcohol, smoking, drugs, and heavy metal exposure. Excess pyrroles in turn impair digestive health, so it’s a vicious cycle.

My daughter has pyroluria and her symptoms improved significantly when we started high doses of zinc, B6, and biotin along with manganese, magnesium, and GLA.  I recommend working with a physician or qualified healthcare practitioner with supplementation.  I never had to put my daughter on an antidepressant or antianxiety medication which both holistic and conventional healthcare practitioners recommended.  Not one of them ever mentioned pyroluria.

Could Pyroluria Be Causing Your Symptoms?

Maybe. It’s certainly worth testing for, especially if the alternative is an antidepressant or antianxiety medication.  If you do have pyroluria, medications won’t help.  Click here if you would like to learn more about natural relief options for pyroluria.