Do you have Heartburn (Reflux)?

Heartburn is generally caused from *inadequate* stomach acid, not too much.

For natural comfort, I'd try Tum-Ease or Gripe Water (fennel and ginger are the ingredients), or improving stomach acid and thus digestion, are safer solutions than antacids which don't address the *cause*.

When food is incompletely digested, it begins to putrefy in the stomach. Purification of food in the stomach causes gas, which regurgitates up the esophagus (with stomach acid).

Suppressing stomach acid only relieves the discomfort of the regurgitation. Suppressing stomach acid DECREASES the ability of the body from digesting food properly and completely into nutrients. Undigested or poorly digested food leads to further digestion issues in the gut (and nutrient deficiencies).

Inadequate stomach acid allows pathological bacteria to survive in the stomach.Undigested food is then sent to the small bowel where it increases the growth of "wrong" gut microbials and feeds candida, for instance.

Stomach acid is the first line of defense against disease, after saliva.

A squeeze of lemon juice in water or raw apple cider vinegar in water with meals, or a forkful of whole food probiotics with meals will improve stomach acid, digestion, nutrient absorption and gut microbial balance.

Cabbage juice, sauerkraut, zinc, apple cider vinegar, fermented vegetables, B12 all help to improve stomach acid naturally.

Spices, teas and herbs, i.e. camomile, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, nettles and other "bitters" etc. stimulate digestion also.

Eat beets. If they turn your urine pink/red, then you have low stomach acid. Stomach acid is a very important first step in digestion. Without enough, you can't absorb B12, and you have trouble absorbing zinc as well as several other nutrients.https://www.facebook.com/HealThyself/posts/279319132131497

If you don't have adequate stomach acid, proteins aren't broken down properly, and so they can cause trouble in the small intestine and/or get absorbed whole into the bloodstream. This leads to inflammatory issues, food intolerances, digestion and bowel issues, allergies and asthma as the body reacts to the *foreign* products in the blood.

If one system (digesting proteins with HCl in the stomach) doesn't work, then the next system addresses the problem, if it is functioning. If the HCl is present with zinc and B1 and B6, then the proteins are digested!!

This article was made by another great website you should check out --> HealThyself

Natural Holiday Room Scents Made In The Crockpot

Fall and winter are the perfect time of year to make your own natural holiday room scents!

Cooler weather means spending more time indoors and holiday entertaining with friends and family. Your home will smell cozy, comforting, festive and absolutely delicious with these all natural holiday room scents made in the crockpot.

I’ll pass on the artificially scented candles and room sprays. While many of these do smell nice, they are filled with synthetic fragrances and toxic chemicals associated with hormone disruptions, allergic reactions, migraines, sinus pain, mental vagueness, dizziness, eye and skin irritations and more. What’s especially troubling is that these chemical toxins accumulate in human tissue. No, thank you. I’ll stick to my natural room scents that smell just as nice.

And these natural room scents couldn’t be more easy to make because they’re made in the crockpot! Oh how I love crockpots and this is just one more reason to love them. Just put your room scent ingredients in a mini crockpot (I love THIS one), fill it with water, turn it to low and you’ll have such a lovely holiday scent all day long.

Here’s 3 of my very favorite natural holiday room scents:

Ingredients

Holiday Spice

• Orange peels from one orange
• ¼ cup fresh cranberries
• 2 teaspoons whole cloves (Find HERE)
• 2 cinnamon sticks (Find HERE)

Warm Apple Pie

• Apple peels from 2 apples
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves

Orange Cinnamon Vanilla

• Orange peels from one orange
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 4 drops of vanilla essential oil (Find HERE)

Instructions

1. Choose a scent and place the ingredients in a mini crockpot.
2. Fill the crockpot with water.
3. Turn to low and leave uncovered.
4. Enjoy!

Notes

If the water levels gets too low, just add more water!
You can reuse the room scents a few times – just keep the mixture stored in the fridge up to 4 days while not in use.

Source: PrimallyInspired

Natural Remedies for Flu

Natural Remedies for Flu (flyer)

(free flyer, download to share with family and friends)

The flu is a viral infection easily spread by droplets from the nose, throat, and lungs. We spread the virus from the day before symptoms appear. The virus is then washed out of the body through mucus production for about 7-10 days by sneezing and coughing.

Millions of people in the United States get the flu each year. Most people will recover completely in about one to two weeks. Since influenza is caused by a virus, antibiotics have no effect on the infection.

Whole food probiotics provide nutrients and beneficial microbials to balance the gut. The gut is 70-80% of our immune system.

Immune Boosting Foods:

• Green Smoothie
• Nettles infusion
• Homemade Milk Kefir
• Fermented Veggies
• Homemade Bone Broth
• Master Tonic
• Liver 
• Coconut Oil,
• Cod Liver Oil

… and Epsom salt baths.

“Infection” is the body healing itself.  The Flu is treated with rest and fluids.

Homeopathic “Cold Calm” can help to relieve symptoms of sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion and minor sore throat. Homeopathic "Oscillococcinum" can help to relieve symptoms of feeling run down, headache, body aches, chills and fever.

Chicken soup has been documented to shorten the duration of a virus. Feverreducers lengthen the duration of viral illness. “Master Tonic is awesome, potent and healing!

How to Support the Body To Heal:

• Astragalus
• Cayenne
• Echinacea       
• Elderberry   
• Garlic
• Honey             
• Lemon            
• Licorice
• Thyme                  
• Turmeric               
• Herbal teas      
• Chamomile      
• Catnip                  
• Rosemary
• Cinnamon
• Oatstraw
• Vitamins A, B, C and D, Magnesium and  Zinc.
  
  GreenMedInfo.com lists 104 medical research studies from the US National Library of Medicine regarding natural substances and influenza.

Avoid:  • Alcohol  •  Allergens  •  Dairy  •  Smoking  •  Stress  •  Sugar  •  Toxins

Garlic and honey are a natural anti-viral and anti-bacterial and work well to address infections. Just chop 6 cloves of raw (peeled) garlic, place the garlic in a jar and pour (raw) honey over it. Steep for at least 3-4 hours; give one teaspoon every hour as needed.

Alternately, onions, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, or cayenne pepper can be added to honey for the antiviral, antibacterial and immune boosting benefits. The honey syrup can be made and stored unrefrigerated for up to 3 months.

Bone broth is easy.  Roast a chicken, put the carcass in a pot of water, and simmer for 1-2 days. Strain, use as soup, or for cooking rice, pasta, gravy or drink it straight.

Whole Food Probiotics

Probiotics help strengthen the immune system by balancing your gut with good bacteria. Eat probiotic rich foods even after symptoms are gone (for prevention). Fermented foods, such as kefir and yogurt, are easy, inexpensive and healthy options.

Dairy-Free Juice Kefir:

    1. Purchase Real Kefir grains, inexpensively.

    2. Buy 100% juice, organic grape works great and is delicious.

    3. Pour equal amounts of water and juice into a jar and add the kefir grains. Cover loosely with the lid.

    4. Store in a cool, dark place, for 24-72 hours. (cupboard)

    6. Twist cap regularly to release the carbonation build-up.

    7. Strain out kefir grains and store kefir in fridge.  Drink a glass every day.The grains can be reused several times.

Source: HealThyself

How to Make a Sourdough Starter

Love sourdough breads?  Wondering how to make your own sourdough starter?  It’s easy.  While the internet is full of sourdough starter recipes that call for odd ingredients like pineapple juice, orange juice, potato flakes or sugar water, to make a truly good sourdough starter you need just three things: flour, water and time.  It’s easy, but there’s a few things you should keep in mind first.

water for your sourdough starter

With so few ingredients used in sourdough starter, it’s essential that the ingredients that are used be of the highest quality.  If you live in an area where water quality is compromised (most of us do, by the way … ahem), take care to feed your starter with filtered water.  Most municipalities treat water with chlorine to opportunistic microorganisms lurking in the water supply before they pipe it into your home.  The chlorine not only kills opportunistic and pathogenic microorganisms in the water supply, but it also kills other microorganisms as well – the bacteria and yeasts you need to keep a lively starter.  We filter our water with a Berkey filter (find them online) which removes chlorine as well as heavy metals that can also damage the beneficial bacteria and wild yeasts present in a sourdough starter.

flour for your sourdough starter

Any flour, provided it’s a grain-based flour, will work for making a sourdough starter.  Rice flour, rye flour, spelt flour, whole wheat flour, barley flour, sprouted flour, einkorn flour, bread flour  - they all work.  In my home, where we typically only consume whole grains – properly prepared according to traditional principles, I typically use unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour in preparing my sourdough starter.   In a pinch, I’ll stir in well-sifted whole grain flour; however, sourdough starters maintained on whole grain flours can develop off flavors, becoming skunky over time.  In my experience, sourdough starters fed on unbleached, all-purpose flour or bread flours are remarkably resilient, rise exceptionally well and offer a pleasant and mildly sour flavor.

why you should use an established starter

All you need to prepare a sourdough starter at home is flour, water and time.  This wild fermentation of flour and water will yield beautiful results; however, getting a boost in beneficial bacteria and yeasts from an established starter is always helpful – particularly for first-time sourdough bakers whose technique and knowledge are limited by inexperience.  These established sourdough starters – usually sold fresh or dried and powdered – are rich in established bacteria and yeasts, and they give your sourdough starter a much-needed boost, acting as a sort of insurance policy to make sure your starter starts bubbling away reliably.  And it’s that level of insurance and reliability that is so helpful to newcomers of sourdough baking.

where to find an established starter

You can find a sourdough starter to give your own starter a boost through bakeries, sourdough-baking friends or through specialty shops online.  If you’ve found, purchased or been given an established fresh starter, use one-quarter cup to help your starter take off.  Personally, I’ve found the most success using the Parisian-style sourdough starter which is available online (see sources).  In working on Nourished Kitchen over the years, I’ve tried many different starters (including a completely wild starter that made everything I baked taste like goldfish crackers), and the Parisian starter is my favorite: it’s milder in flavor than most sourdoughs and yields a beautiful rise.

helpful tools

your sourdough jar

Your jar should not be kept airtight as sourdough thrives on circulating air; further, the process of fermentation releases carbon dioxide which can build up in a tightly lidded jar; instead, simply set a lid loosely on top of the jar, or cover the lip of the jar with a cheesecloth to keep out debris.  Remember: your starter will expand and rise to twice its volume after a feeding once it’s well-established so the jar you choose should have double the capacity of an un-fed starter.  I like to use wide-mouthed glass canisters (like this) to keep my sourdough.  A wide-mouthed canister as opposed to a mason jar will make it easier for you to feed your sourdough starter, properly aerate your starter and keep the sides of the jar clean (thus preventing potential mold or cross-contamination with other microorganisms).

your whisk

A wooden spoon works fine to mix together water and flour for sourdough starter; however, I prefer a Danish-style dough whisk which helps to aerate the starter more thoroughly. Aeration of the starter is essential to ensure that the bacteria are well-distributed throughout the starter and can, thus, begin to ferment the new flour and water mixture added to the starter at each feeding.  Proper aeration of the sourdough also helps to ensure that the production of hooch – a thin liquid that sometimes rises to the top of sourdough starter – is minimized.

Ingredients:

·         flour

·         established sourdough starter (available here), optional

·         filtered water

Instructions:

1.    Starting the sourdough: Whisk 1/4 cup flour with sourdough starter (if using) and 3 tablespsoons filtered water in a small bowl. Pour this into a jar, and let it sit for twelve hours. Twelve hours later, whisk in 1/2 cup flour with 1/3 cup filtered water and continue adding 1/2 cup flour and 1/3 cup water every twelve hours for one week until your starter is brisk and bubbling. As you feed your starter, take care to whisk in the flour and water thoroughly into the established starter – aerating the starter will help to yield the best and most reliable results.

2.    To accomodate for expansion of the sourdough when it’s fed, make sure that your jar is only half full after each feeding. If you’ve made too much sourdough starter for the capacity of your jar, pour some off and use it in sourdough biscuits, sourdough pancakes or sourdough crackers

3.    Maintaining the sourdough: After a week, your sourdough should be sturdy enough to withstand storage. If you bake infrequently (that is: if you bake less than once a week), you can store your sourdough in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature and feed it well about twelve hours before you plan to bake. If you bake more frequently – every day or a few times a week – you can store your sourdough at room temperature and feed it with 1/2 cup flour and 1/3 cup filtered water once a day.

4.    Special considerations: If a brown liquid appears floating on top of your sourdough starter, simply pour it off. Sourdough bakers call this liquid “hooch,” and it is harmless; however, it often signifies that you’ve fed your starter too much water in relation to flour or have let your starter go too long between feedings. Sourdough starters are relatively resilient, and bounce back quickly once you resume proper care of them.

Source: NourishedKitchen