Do I Have to Gain Weight to Get the Nutrition I Need?

Question (edited to abbreviate): "I am nutritionally frustrated, and you are someone who will understand. In investigating my sudden onset joint pain, I found that I am anemic. I have never been anemic, and am guessing it may be due to my reduced calorie/reduced red meat diet that allowed me to lose 35 lbs. So today for breakfast I had a bowl of cereal with 5 g fiber and 4 mg iron, prune juice with 2 g fiber and 3.5 mg iron. I added a glass of grapefruit juice with vit C because prune juice has no vit C, and had a strawberry smoothie. This provides 7.5 mg of iron, toward a daily goal of 18, and 10 g fiber toward a daily goal of 25g. It also adds up to 13 Weight Watcher's points, and my daily total is 20 points. Am I going to have to re-gain 35 lbs in order to each enough food to correct my anemia and get enough fiber to avoid getting constipated? I see no option other than to take supplements, and that should not be the way this works. Am I wrong?" - B

Dear B,

This is a great question and a place where herbs are the perfect solution! There are so many herbs that are high in iron and herbal teas have no calories! Some ideas are below:

ROOT TEAS (Make as decoctions)
Choose one or mix together in portions
Burdock
Yellow Dock
Goldenseal
Don Quai
Oregon Grape Root
Pau d'arco

LEAFY TEAS (make as infusions or eat as foods)
Chives
Raspberry leaf tea
Alfalfa
Nettles
Dandelion
Chickweed
Horsetail
Mullein

There are also many dietary solutions to your problem - eating patterns and various foods you can focus on, as well as other therapies you may want to explore. If you would like a full consultation I offer consultations at www.HerbnHome.com

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Carrots and Chlorine

For years I thought I was allergic to carrots. I ate from a variety of sources so I am sure there were a few times I didn't react to them. However, the majority of times I did. I had horrible reactions to them - a catch in the throat and a general feeling of being choked. However, I enjoyed the taste of carrots and for some reason carrot juice never seemed to give me the same problem. Years passed and finally I decided to get new allergy tests. Nothing showed up new - I had the same allergies I had when I was two years old (although interestingly enough many of them don't bother me anymore. I have four cats, for example, and don't have any reaction to them anymore). My favorite carrots were the little mini carrots that were pre-cut. They just seemed so easy. The other place I ate a lot of carrots was when I lived overseas. I ate them fresh from the market.

Have you figured out the mystery yet?

I didn't either. It took me years and years to figure it out until one day I read an article about how packaged carrots are treated with chlorine bleach before going to market. In Egypt, where I was living for a time, it was common for people to soak their vegetables in a weak bleach solution to kill parasites and other contaminants. In both cases I was getting from minute to large doses of bleach - something I am severely allergic to.

I am sharing this story because this happens, not only with carrots but with many food items. You may feel miserable after eating certain foods, but it may not be the food itself - it may be the way it is processed or what is added to it.

Did you know that boxed orange juice most often contains at least a little moldy fruit? This is bad news for people allergic to mold but not allergic to oranges.

Did you know nuts have high mold counts too?

Many salads contain sulfites?

Salad dressings in most restaurants contain MSG?

Some processed meats, chips and canned soups contain gluten?

The list could go on for pages.

So if you are having a reaction to one of your favorite foods it may be helpful to do some research into how it is harvested, stores, transported, processed and displayed. It could be at one of these points that the irritating substance is added and not the food itself. And keep in mind - purchasing organic and/or at the farmer's market will reduce your chances of having a reaction but won't eliminate the chances all together.

Reduce Caffeine in Tea Naturally

One thing I have noticed after years of healing is that one of the main problems we have in today's society is consumption of too much caffeine. I cannot drink caffeine myself because my body has what I call, "natural caffeine". However, I know how hard it is to avoid caffeine! The other day I ate a piece of chocolate cake at a restaurant and didn't realize it was made with espresso. I did not sleep all night. I also realize how hard it is to avoid caffeine in black, green and white teas. I have some dear friends who have given me tea as gifts and they are such lovely tempting flavors, but they all contain caffeine. However, there IS a solution. This solution also works if you accidentally pick up that caffeinated tea at the store instead of caffeine free (I did that with some Earl Grey once) or if your favorite tea that you want to enjoy a cup of in the evening just happens to be the one with caffeine in it.

Did you know that you can make your own decaf tea from caffeinated tea? To do this - put the tea bag in the cup, pour boiling water over this, let steep 20 seconds. Pour off the hot water and then pour on new water. The tea still maintains its healing qualities and taste but is no longer caffeinated. This is especially important for Green Tea as it has almost as much caffeine as coffee!

Enjoy your tea!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
www.HerbnHome.com

Healing Breath by Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

The other day I happened to be in a room with a reiki master when I experienced a tightening of my chest. It was uncomfortable but it was not unexpected. I had just eaten a bagle with lox and cream cheese and raw onion. A lot of bread does not agree with me and raw onions never do. I should have known better. So I commented that I was going to excuse myself for a glass of water. Instead I was offered a treatment. Her comment was, "you should not be in THAT much pain from some onions". Just another example of how, as a healer, it is often most difficult to heal oneself!

After a few moments in the chair, she commented that I was not breathing. My breath was so shallow that I was not getting enough oxygen to my heart and chest and entire body. Not surprising. It had been a stressful day and the event I was at was one I felt "forced" to attend - I was eager to get back to my own world and was not feeling very comfortable.

She lead me through a simple exercise:

Breathe as deeply as you can in through your nose.

Hold the oxygen there in your lungs.

Breathe out.

Repeat 10 times or as needed.

After this I was completely pain free.

It is amazing how we can so often forget the most basic things of life.

So next time you have pain or are feeling anxious or unwell - try to breathe and see if it helps you. It is free and only takes a few moments so it is worth a try! And remember - if that does not work, drink a large glass of water. Many issues in our life are also caused by slight dehydration.

To learn more about inexpensive healing methods visit my website:

www.TheNaturalLivingChannel.com

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
www.HerbnHome.com
www.NaturopathicHealingCourse.com

Space Clearing Reminder

We often forget how simple healing can be and how taking care of just the basic things in our life can heal us. Water - air - and our environment can all heal us if we take care to drink enough, breathe deeply enough and clear our space. I send this reminder out once a year - these are my instructions on how to give your space a regular and easy "space clearing":

Initial Space Clearing and Weekly Maintenance
1. Clean your home (or the space you are clearing)
2. Put things where they belong
3. Throw out anything and everything that you do not need.
4. Take a ceramic or glass bowl and fill it half with sand. Make a little hole in the sand and fill it with sage leaves. Set them on fire and walk slowly around the house with your “sage fire” distributing the smoke. Concentrate especially on the corners and entryways of the rooms.
5. Buy some fresh fruits – including at least one or two unusual ones and place them in a basket in your kitchen.
6. Buy some fresh flowers. Place one bunch in your living room and one in your bedroom. Yellow is good for the bedroom. (if fresh flowers are too expensive for weekly. Buy two cheerful plants or two multi-bright-colored scarves and put them in these rooms)
7. Buy (or unpack) an aromatherapy candle and place it in your bathroom. Burn it for two hours.
8. Place a beeswax candle on your dining room table with a small houseplant (Such as a baby cactus or flowering or green plant – whatever appeals to you).
9. Play some music that you enjoy for one hour in the space. Even if you are not in the space.

In general – create a beautiful perfect world for people to come into and invite them in. Don’t let people come in and create or change the atmosphere of your home. You control it. If someone comes and leaves a bad “impression” on your home or you have a fight or a serious discussion. Burn the aromatherapy candles, burn some sage, buy some more fresh flowers and re-new YOUR space that you control.

Other Names for MSG

If you look on the sidebar of this blog you will find a few articles I have written on MSG. Not everyone reacts to this substance. However, if you do, it can be devastating. Symptoms can range from headaches to insomnia to heart palpitations. MSG can cause anxiety attacks in some people and much more. I have found some useful links to supplement the articles I have already written on the subject. The first set of links gives you a list of other names for MSG and a little background, the second set of links talks about the many restaurants that use it and the places you will most commonly find it.

http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/MSG.htm - along with this there is a list of restaurants that use this at: http://www.msgtruth.org/whywe.htm and:
http://www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm
and
http://www.msgmyth.com/discus/messages/12/12.html

To learn more about eating right you can audit the Nutritional Healing Course or earn a certificate in Nutritional Healing at: www.TheAvicennaInstitute.com

Music and Healing

You have probably heard the term "Musical Therapy" or are familiar with the idea that music can heal. However, did you know how easy it can really be? In its basic form, it is something very simple that everyone can do for free at home. The following chart tells you which sound you should hum and which note you should hum it in for each of the body systems you are dealing with.

The link below shows you where you can get some of those notes online (there ARE online tuning forks!) if you do not have a tuning fork or other instrument at home. If you have a tuning fork at home it is best for you to hold the tuning fork to that area of the body so you can feel the vibrations of the note. Another good "trick" is to fill a glass with water so it vibrates to the note you need. After clinking a fork on the side of the glass a few times you can drink the water that was in the glass.

Crown Chakra (Head) - ngngng - B
Brow - mmm nnnn - A
Throat - eeeeeeee - G
Heart - ay - F
Solar Plexus - ah ah ah - E
Sacral - oooooo - D
Root/Base - oh oh oh - C


http://www.onlinetuningfork.com/

Enjoy!

If you want to learn more about natural healing remember to visit:
www.TheNaturalLivingChannel.com to see free videos or
www.TheAvicennaInstitute.com to enroll in classes. Classes start at only $25.00.

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND