How much damage can you do in 36 hours?

(source)

Apparently a lot.

We had a friend's bachelorette weekend and it was by far one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time. 10 girls in a beach house, Friday & Saturday nights, lots of beer, wine, and jello shots. We all had to bring food and supplies since it was a rental, and I made some "healthier" options- potato salad, tuna salad, watermelons and other fruit, hummus.

Guess what I ended up eating?

Cheez-its- lots of them. Potato chips and dip. Italian subs (with white bread). Peanut butter filled pretzels. I pretty much survived on snacks and refined carbs Friday night and all of Saturday until dinner at 8:30 PM, and then housed some more snacks when we got home from the bars at 2 am.

Needless to say, yesterday morning when I woke up I felt like a tornado had been tearing up my stomach. That was by far the worst I've eaten in a long time, probably since I started caring about all this stuff 2 years ago.

Time to start over. I feel like Mondays are the perfect start-over-because-I-destroyed-my-life-this-weekend day. It's literally 12:30ish right now and I haven't felt hungry until about 30 seconds ago.


We'll see how long that lasts, but I am actually looking forward to taking a partying break because the last month or so of summer weekends have really been taking their toll. This happens every summer. I go nuts for about a month and burn myself out. I'm over it! Time to get some S-H-I-T done.

This is my bold statement of the day: I am not capable of drinking like I used to and am going to take it easy for the next month (until the wedding). 

Toxic Overload & Autism

Yesterday, updated statistics on the rates of Autism and Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) came out. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) claims 1 in 88 American children suffer with Autism or ASD. 

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???????

For years people have been blaming vaccines. But I don't really think that is the only reason for the rise in Autism. Since I started learning all this great stuff about nutrition and health, I have come to believe that what we eat (especially when you are pregnant) has so much more to do with your health than any other factor. And from what I have been reading about Autism, it is caused by a combination of a toxic overload and nutrition deficiencies.

Where could these kids be getting too much toxins and not enough nutrition?


Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts, milk, Golden Grams, Gogurt, Cheerios, Coco Puffs, Hot Pockets, Fruit Roll Ups, white bread, Honey Roasted Peanuts, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway (yes Subway), pizza, french fries, chicken fingers, Combos, potato chips, Golden Grahams, Chips Ahoy, Pop Secret Extra Butter Popcorn, Chinese food takeout, Rice Crispy Treats, soy based infant formula, whey based infant formula, Ritz Crackers, squeeze cheese, string cheese, bologna, salami, hot dogs, hamburgers, Oreos, Gatorade, chocolate milk, etc, etc.

How many vegetable are on that list? Now many fresh fruits are on that list? I would venture to say this is what most kids eat today. Some sort of cereal for breakfast with milk & orange juice, a deli meat sandwich for lunch with various processed snacks, and chicken fingers and french fries for dinner. Disgusting!

No wonder there are fat kids everywhere, and Autism is on the rise.

I just read a very interesting article by Dr. Mercola on all of this. You know when you are standing on the outside looking in and you can see everything clear as day? That is how I feel about this. Dr. Mercola's article sums up all of the aspects that "could" contribute to ASD. (Although I feel like Mercola hits the nail on the head)

The Silent Time Bomb Now Affecting 1 in 54 Boys in the US 

By Dr. Mercola (Original Source)

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has announced that 1 in 88 children in the U.S. are now diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD)i. The number represents a 23 percent increase in the last two years and 78 percent in the past five years.

But that was just the average—the numbers were much greater for Hispanics (110 percent) and black children (91 percent).

The study, published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reportii , also found that ASDs are nearly five times more common among boys than girls.

Broken down, the numbers equate to 1 in 54 boys with ASDs, and 1 in 252 girls. The updated estimates are based on data collected in 14 American communities during 2008.

These communities comprised over eight percent of all American 8-year-olds that year. Interestingly, the number of children with ASDs varied widely from site to site.

The highest prevalence was found in Utah, where a staggering 1 in 47 eight-year-olds were identified with some form of ASD.

New Jersey was also far higher than the average, with 1 in 49iii . What's really going on here?

WHAT is Causing the Skyrocketing Increase in Autism Spectrum Disorders?

Personally, I don't see how anyone can look at a 78 percent increase of any health problem in a mere five years without snapping to attention. Prior to the CDC's announcement, the Canary Party, a citizens' action group on autism, rightfully predicted that the CDC would downplay the seriousness of these latest statistics.

On its new autism webpage, the CDC state they suspect some of the increase "is due to greater awareness and better identification" among some of the children.

But even taking that possibility into consideration, the statistics are truly shocking. How can one in 88 American children have some form of autistic disorder? In a normal, healthy environment, that just shouldn't happen. And the fact that it IS happening demands our immediate attention. Something is going very wrong, very fast...

While many are focusing their efforts on nailing down one culprit or another—vaccines being the perfect example—I believe taking such a narrow-minded approach can be extremely counterproductive. In my view, what we're seeing here is the culmination of what amounts to a perfect storm...

Research is now clearly showing that environmental factors play a primary role in the epidemic of autism spectrum disorders. But which environmental factors are to blame?

While vaccines have borne the brunt of people's suspicions, there's plenty of evidence suggesting there are multiple factors at play. The factor that prevents us from writing vaccines off as being harmless is the fact that toxic overload appears to be at the core of the problem, and many vaccines do indeed contribute to a child's overall toxic load. So while it's probably unreasonable to blame vaccines alone for the rapid rise in autism, it would be just as unreasonable to ignore their impact, and continue on with the one-fits-all vaccination policy as if everything is a-okay.

The majority of autism cases do appear to result from the activation or "expression," of a number of different genes, along with multiple epigenetic and environmental factors that interact to produce the traits of autism. But science is increasingly showing us just how malleable our genes are—they continuously respond to their environment, meaning, your body and everything you put into and onto it... Furthermore, there's no shortage of evidence that toxins of different sorts can wreak havoc with brain function. Add to this the more recent findings that your gut is profoundly influential for brain health, and a picture of toxic overload combined with inadequate nutrition comes into clear view.

Why We Must Insist on Invoking the Precautionary Principle

If multiple toxic exposures and poor nutrition is to blame, then trying to tease out "the" primary culprit will get us nowhere. I believe we must tackle the issue of ASD with a much wider aim, and that is to reduce ALL toxic exposure and improve nutrition. This tactic includes but is not limited to reducing the vaccine load, especially in the US where children receive the most vaccines of any country on the planet. I believe it's imperative to invoke the precautionary principle with respects to vaccines, and, at the very least, allow people to opt out if they so choose.

While vaccine advocates tend to stress the importance of so-called "herd immunity," saying the vaccine will not work unless the majority is vaccinated, there's a great price to pay by forcing everyone into a one-size-fits-all mold.

Not only are some children at greater risk for vaccine damage than others (which I'll review in a moment), but we also eliminate the ability to evaluate the health risks of vaccinations if no one is allowed to opt out. We NEED to conduct comparison studies to evaluate the health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children, yet such studies are not done. An oft-cited reason for that is that it would be unethical to not vaccinate certain children... But this is not really a reasonable excuse today, as many parents want to opt out of one or more vaccines for their children.

Environmental Factors that May Play a Role in Autism

When looking into the possible environmental factors for autism, they are incredibly diverse. The following is just a short list of examples:

Electromagnetic fields: Work by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt suggests there are distinct correlations between a woman's exposure to electromagnetic fields during pregnancy and her child's neurological functioning. He found that if you sleep in strong electromagnetic fields during pregnancy, your child will likely begin to exhibit neurological abnormalities within the first two years of life, such as neurological dysfunction, hyperactivity, and learning disorders.

In 2007, this theory received additional support from a study published in the Journal of the Australasian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicineiv . It presented the theory that electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from cell phones, cell towers, Wi-Fi devices and other similar wireless technologies may work in conjunction with genetic and environmental factors, becoming an accelerating factor in autism. After more than five years of research on children with autism they found that EMR negatively affects cell membranes, allowing heavy metal toxins, which are associated with autism, to build up.

To learn more about the science of HOW electromagnetic radiation affects and harms your body, please review this previous article featuring Dr. Martin Blank.

Mercury toxicity: It is already an established fact that exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions -- all similar to traits defining, or associated with autism. Mercury pollution is widespread from the burning of fossil fuels, but the use of thimerosal-containing vaccines and dental amalgams—both of which contain mercury—also cannot be overlooked as major sources of individual exposure to this neurotoxin

Vaccines: A 2011 reviewv of the peer-reviewed, published studies on autism (going all the way back to 1943) revealed numerous documented cases of autism caused by encephalitis following vaccination. There are many potential vaccine-related culprits, including the use of toxic adjuvants; the presence of human DNA in vaccines; and the increasing number of vaccines given in a short period of time

Phthalates: Research from 2009 discovered that infants who lived in homes with vinyl floors were twice as likely to have autism five years later, compared to those with wood or linoleum flooring. Vinyl floors can emit chemicals called phthalates, which are widely used plastic softeners found in much more than just vinyl flooring. Hairsprays, perfumes, cosmetics, toys, shower curtains, wood finishers, lubricants, certain medical devices and more all contain phthalates. Researchers have suggested the chemicals may contribute to autism by disrupting hormones not only in small children but also in the womb

Vitamin D Deficiency: There is also a link between rampant vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and the proportionate jump in autism, which has been highlighted by Dr. John Cannellvi . The vitamin D receptor appears in a wide variety of brain tissue early in the fetal development, and activated vitamin D receptors increase nerve growth in your brain

Neurologist Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride recently shared a common thread that may be linking these and other environmental factors together, namely brain toxicity stemming from gut toxicity, otherwise known as Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS). She cured her own son of autism using an all-natural treatment involving dietary changes and detoxification, and her hypothesis is in my view one of the most elegant.

GAPS: An Elegant Explanation of the Roots of Autism

Dr. Campbell-McBride is convinced that autistic children are born with perfectly normal brains and sensory organs, but that abnormal gut flora, passed on from their mother and father, leads to devastating gut and brain toxicity. In children with Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS), toxicity flowing from their gut throughout their bodies and into their brains, literally clogs the brain with toxicity, preventing it from performing its normal function and processing sensory information.

But what leads to such devastatingly abnormal gut flora?

Dr. Campbell discovered that a large percentage of mothers of autistic children were bottle-fed. Then, as they received many courses of antibiotics throughout their childhood, they developed increasingly worse abnormalities in their gut flora, which in turn was passed on to their children. Add to that a diet of processed foods and the use of birth control pills, and the damage to a woman's gut flora deepens even further, and each generation quickly gets worse and worse, unless active remediation is undertaken. According to Dr. Campbell-McBride:

"Many of these modern factors created a whole plethora of young ladies in our modern world who have got quite deeply abnormal gut flora by the time they are ready to have their first child."

Vaccination Policy is Oftentimes the "Straw that Breaks the Camel's Back"

Dr. Campbell-McBride's book Gut and Psychology Syndrome contains an entire chapter outlining what health care professionals need to do to improve the vaccination strategy, because the standard vaccination protocol is bound to damage GAPS babies.

She explains:

"It's a matter of the last straw breaking the camel's back. If the child is damaged enough, the vaccine can provide that last straw. But if it doesn't provide that last straw in a particular child, then it will get the child closer to the breaking point."

Fortunately, it's possible to rather inexpensively identify GAPS within the first weeks of your baby's life, which can help you make better-informed decisions about vaccinations, and about how to proceed to set your child on the path to a healthy life. The entire process for identifying children who would be at risk for developing autism from a vaccine is described in her book, but to sum it up, in her practice she starts out by collecting a complete health history of the parents, and their gut health is assessed. Then, within the first few days of life, the stool of the child can be analyzed to determine the state of her gut flora, followed by a urine test to check for metabolites, which can give you a picture of the state of your child's immune system.

These tests are available in most laboratories around the world and cost a very reasonable amount, about $80-100 per test -- peanuts compared to the incredible expense of treating an autistic child once the damage is done.

In my view it is absolutely VITAL to perform this analysis BEFORE you consider vaccinating your child. If the test results are normal the likelihood of autism after vaccines is dramatically reduced. As Dr. Campbell-McBride states, she has yet to find an autistic child with normal bowel flora. If you find that your baby has abnormal gut microflora, or begins to develop symptoms of autism a year or two later, the GAPS program should be started immediately, as the younger the child is when you start the treatment, the better the results. The child should not be given any vaccines until their microflora tests normal. For more information about the GAPS Nutritional Program, including the two types of GAPS diets, and the importance of fermented foods, please review this previous article.

Thoughts on Reversing the Trajectory of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism is a complex condition with many contributing factors and it takes a multi-faceted approach to treat it. We're now also beginning to understand it requires a multi-faceted approach to prevent it. Hopefully, more people will begin to take Dr. Campbell-McBride's information to heart and put it to practice so that more children may be spared from the get-go. But even that's not going far enough. We must tackle this problem from all angles, and that also includes:

Reduce your and your child's toxic burden: This includes avoiding as many dangerous chemicals as possible, which makes listing the do's and don'ts virtually impossible. There's just too many. As a general rule though, eating whole organic foods will go a long way, as that automatically cuts out processed foods and related chemicals, genetically engineered foods, and artificial sweeteners.

Also be careful with the personal care products you use, as well as your household cleaning products and home building materials and furnishings... Opting for "green" and/or organic alternatives will help reduce many of the toxins most people encounter on a daily basis.

Do whatever you can to establish a toxin-free environment for your whole family, and then establish a detoxification program. Please remember hidden toxins like mold and fluoride. The book, Our Toxic World: A Wake Up Call, by Dr. Doris Rapp is an excellent resource if you're unsure of how or where to start.

Lower the EMF burden in your home, especially in your bedrooms.

Carefully review the vaccination issue, including the conventional vaccination schedule, and know that in most U.S. states you still have the right to opt out of vaccines.

Avoid pasteurized milk; it's an absolute imperative to the treatment of autism. Anyone managing this illness without restricting milk is deceiving themselves. This includes all milk products, such as ice cream, yogurt and whey. Even natural flavorings in food must be avoided unless the processor can guarantee that caseinate is not included.

Complete elimination of sugar/fructose, juice, soda, French fries and wheat (pasta, bagels, cereal, pretzels, etc) is also highly recommended.

Get proper sun exposure. It is my personal belief that vitamin D deficiency in conjunction with damaged gut flora may be two of the most significant contributing factors to autism. Optimizing your vitamin D levels and your gut flora during pregnancy appears to be the most important prevention strategies discovered to date.

Adventures in LA LA land

I'm back! Sorry to leave you hanging for such a long time. It truly does a body good to get out of town every once and a while. I went to Los Angeles with no set plans other than to relax, explore, and have fun with friends. It was a great weekend- except for the weather. Apparently I brought the rain and wind with me. It was actually nicer in New Jersey than it was out there.

The highlight of my exploring (with some suggestions from Lisa) was eating at a raw food restaurant- my first ever! I figured since I was in the birth place of raw food (so I'm told), I might as well experience it. The restaurant was Planet Raw which is owned by Juliano, a raw food chef. I must say, a year ago I would have scoffed at the idea of paying so much money to eat something that wasn't cooked. But now, I appreciate raw food so much more that it intrigues me to see someone make such beautiful and tasty creations. Albeit a little pricey, Juliano's dishes are more than amazing. He uses flavors that I have never tasted before and exotic ingredients that make the dishes all the more unique.

Spring Roll w/ avocado, kelp noodles, Thai  herbs, in a coconut wrapper w/ no-peanut sauce

I decided to go with a few appetizers instead of ordering an entree just because I wanted to be able to try a bunch of different things. I also made sure I was good and hungry when I got there. The spring roll was my favorite by far. I'm not exactly sure what the Thai spices were, but it had a flavor that I had never tasted before. So amazing! 

The great thing about raw foods is that even though I ate a huge meal and was stuffed by the time I left I didn't get that after-meal sleepiness that so often follows a filling meal. The reason for this is because when you eat raw foods (uncooked fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds) all of the enzymes are present in the food, which mean that your body has to do little work to digest the food. That is the enzymes' job. The more I read and learn the more I am convinced that enzymes are just as important as vitamins and minerals. The concept that uncooked food is capable of digesting itself is very new to me. I didn't start hearing about this until I became interested in all this raw stuff.

Pumpkin Tortellini

One of the many benefits of eating more raw foods is that, because your body doesn't need to stop to work on digesting the food you ate, it can continue to work on repairing what it needs to repair. Your body is constantly repairing damage done by stress, toxins, and physical degeneration. Cells are constantly being replaced. Your immune system is fighting off foreign invaders. So when you eat raw foods, the enzymes present are doing the work for your body. There are still things that your body has to do to deal with the food like produce stomach acid and bile and hormones, etc, but the bulk of the work is done by enzymes. 

Truffle Heirloom Brushetta 

The digestion of cooked/processed foods is much more taxing. The reason being is cooked foods, and therefore processed foods, have no enzymes. This means that your pancreas has to produce enzymes to digest the meal, the enzymes need to figure out what the food is exactly, break the food down into its absorbable form, and then tell the body where to send the nutrients after they have been absorbed. This is a lot of work and can be taxing on the pancreas and other organs involved. 

This becomes really important for people who are seriously ill with cancer or any other terminal illness. You want your body to spend all of it's time fighting the disease and not digesting what you are eating. 

Sliders w/ fresh & sun dried tomatoes, onion, avocado, on flax cracker w/ fig balsamic reduction.

So what do you do if you can't stomach the though of giving up your steak and pizza? Just start eating more fruits and vegetables. There are simple things you can do to start to make the transition to adding more raw foods in your diet. If you eat out a lot you can start by always ordering extra veggies to come with your meal. If you get a pasta, get a salad and a side of veggies. If you can, make fruit & vegetable smoothies for breakfast. Replace lunch with a big salad. Make fruit salads. There are tons of little ways to begin to increase the amount of raw in your diet.

It isn't realistic for all of us raw food lovers to be able to eat gourmet raw food like this all the time. First, unless you are in a big city, or live on the west coast it is very rare to even be able to find a raw food restaurant. Second, it is costly which is fine for a treat, but would be way too much unless you are super loaded (one day!).

Last but not least- pudding made from Irish moss. You would think that's weird, but it was literally AMAZING!
I have no idea what was in it but it vaguely reminded me of a thicker version of key lime pie.

So do what you can! Remember it is all of the baby steps that add up to something tremendous. Often times people think all or nothing, and most of the time that is counter productive to making progress. Life is a journey and a process.

Anyone else have a raw food experience lately? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Going RAW: Part Deux

It has been almost a week that I have been eating a mostly raw food diet. Wohooo! Even though it is not my goal to cut out cooked food cold turkey I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it. I am not going to stress about it if I absolutely want to eat something cooked every once and a while. I think that my body will take care of what it needs over time and I will want it less and less.

I hired help of course. Lisa was kind enough to fit me into her schedule and help a sista out by making her heavier "transition" raw foods. I can handle fruit salad, smoothies, and green salads (although she does make me a few of these) but I asked her to make me things that are going to be as close to cooked food as possible like her zucchini pasta with creamy basil pesto!

Everything is awesome! I am finding that even with raw food I really love savory (salty) food over sweet. I have always been one for salty things- especially potato chips.

What a change since the last time I tried to do this! If you don't remember (or weren't reading my blog yet) I tried this last November when we were just getting into winter and I was crazy busy with work. I found myself completely freezing and wanted nothing but soup. So I parked it for a few months. Now we are over the hump and spring is around the corner. I don't have the insane need for hot things anymore. I am ready!


Why am I doing this? Well, after last month's EPISODE followed by a bad cold, I was fed up and felt like the next thing to do was to completely change my diet. Enter raw food. I have been reading about people who have made the change and am amazed by their testimonials about how much their health improved. So I thought I would give it a shot. I want to try to maximize the amount of vitamins and minerals I am getting from my food.

Most people, when I tell them what I am doing, say 'oh, I could  never do that', and you know what they probably can't. Because when you say you can't do something you are right. You are putting limitations on yourself before you even try. I used to say that I could never give up meat. Oh how far I've come!

Anyone out there considering going raw? or has and has some advice?

We need a brand!

As promised, I am writing to you to discuss the development of our green juice company. First task...naming our brand. I am the worst at this. Give me a name and the feeling you are going for and I can whip up some graphics and branding in a flash. But ask me to come up with a name and my mind goes blank, then I start thinking of everything that rhymes with green, and the best I can come up with is mean green juice.

This is not the image we are going for.

We are providing fresh, raw, dark green leafy vegetable juice mailed to your door. We juice it, package it, ship it, and all you have to do is drink it. We take the mess out of juicing. We are developing the highest quality product conveniently delivered to your door.

Here are the benefits in a very big nutshell:

• builds a high red blood cell count
• helps prevent cancer
• provides easily absorbable iron to organs
• makes the body more alkaline
• counteracts toxins eaten
• improves anemic conditions
• cleanses and deodorizes bowel tissues (no one likes a stinky bowel if you know what I mean)
• helps purify the liver
• aids in hepatitis improvement
• regulates menstruation
• aids hemophilia condition
• improves milk production (for all you mommies out there)
• helps sores heal faster
• eliminates body odor
• resists bacteria in wounds
• cleans tooth and gum structure
• eliminates bad breath
• relieves sore throat
• benefits inflamed tonsils 
• soothes ulcer tissues
• soothes painful hemorrhoids and piles
• revitalizes vascular system
• improves varicose veins
• reduces pain caused by inflammation
• improves vision
• boosts immune system
• weight loss aid
• highly concentrated and easily digestible source of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, & phytonutrients
• improves energy levels

So I ask you, loyal blog readers....please help a girl out! If you have any suggestions or creative ideas drop a comment below or email me (jessicageier@gmail.com).


WAIT! There is a prize... if we pick your name for our brand or use your creative idea in our marketing you will get an order of one of our first batches for free.


(Image Source)
Health benefits from Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko

OMG I want to eat LIVER!

Well, I've gone and done it again. Just when I think I know enough to make informed decisions about what I am eating I learn something new that totally blows my mind and makes me rethink what I have been doing.

New year's night I ate dinner at my Aunt's house and liver and onions came up in conversation. We aren't weirdos...my grandmother used to eat it all the time. As soon as I heard that my face scrunched up and I got that feeling like "I could never eat organs!" Hahaha like it's any different than eating muscle (which is what meat is).

Anywho, I was just listening to a lecture by Sally Fallon of the Weston A Price Foundation on "what a healthy diet is". In a nutshell, Weston Price (who was a dentist) saw his patients coming in with awful teeth. He knew that diet had something to do with it so he set out to study a bunch of isolated "primitive" cultures around the world. They are referred to as primitive because they have no interaction with the "civilized world". His goal was to examine their teeth, their overall health, and the foods that they ate.

He went to each culture and did just that. He examined everyone from the elders down to the infants and found, to his astonishment, that the majority (99%) had perfect teeth and were generally of good health. Their babies were healthy, the old people were healthy. Then he recorded their diets. He set out thinking that their diets would be vegetarian. On the contrary they ate everything from raw milk to organ meats to fish heads (yum!).

What these "primitive" cultures ate depended on what they had available. There was a group of people in Switzerland that ate mainly raw milk products and a dense sour dough bread.

You ask...how is that possible? I thought carbs and dairy were bad?

Well the bread and cheese those people ate were completely different than the bread and cheese that we eat today. They did not pasteurize their milk which kills everything beneficial that raw milk has to offer, and the bread that they made was made in such a way that is easily digestible.

 There were a lot of similarities between how these "primitive" people ate but here are the few that intrigued me the most:

• they ate what was available to them (whether it was dairy, or bugs, or fish, or grains) 
• they ate entire animals/fish
• they ate the fattiest parts of the animals

How does this relate to liver and onions? Well until just recently it was common to use most parts of an animal. Two generations ago, people ate liver. And this is in New Jersey, not some isolated valley in Switzerland.

liver & onions courtesy of The Food Network

Since then, the no-fat/low-fat health claims have twisted us into thinking that we are healthier without all the fat. But these isolated "primitive" cultures around the world have proven otherwise. These cultures have been eating traditionally for hundreds if not thousands of years (depending) because it has allowed them to thrive and survive in their particular surroundings. They do not need doctors and scientists to tell them what nutrients are in what. They ate liver not knowing it is very high in Vitamin A & D. They did not explicitly know that Vitamins A & D are fat soluable (which means they need fat present to be absorbed). The liver is a fatty organ. They did not explicitly know that Vitamins A & D are important in that they allow all of the rest of the vitamins and minerals to be absorbed and utilized properly, as well as play a huge role in the proper functioning of hormones. Their animals were raised on a pasture, which in turn produces meat that is high in Vitamin D.

They weren't screwed up about what they should eat. 


Why do we (Americans) think we know it all? Why in a relatively short period of time have we screwed it all up? Who do we think we are?

After listening to this lecture, I got the uncontrollable urge to try liver. I heard horror stories from my mom and aunt about liver and onions, but I have a feeling that if I use enough butter and make a pate it will be delicious. I mean if the French can eat it (and a lot of it) why can't I?

Coming Soon...liver pate... are you yay or nay?

*By the way... if you were like me and against liver (or other meat) you can take a cod liver oil supplement, but not without butter!!! Butter makes everything better.

Constipation Consternation

I have been a little concerned as of late because I have not been "regular" if you know what I mean.

WARNING: I am about to talk about poop. If it grosses you out, I am sorry. However, I think in public you would poo poo this, but in private (which I assume you are now) you really want to read more. Just my guess.

It started a few weeks ago, actually it was a few days before Thanksgiving. It was around the time I made lentil soup, so at first I thought it might be that, but it has been too long now. Then I thought it was because I took a brief hiatus from smoothying, but I am back to that now and I am still having "issues". I even started taking Citrucel again.

To be more specific I was just in the ladies room at my office, which is basically right off of the main room. I was "stuck" in there for said reason and realized that I had left one of the doors unlocked, which instantly gave me anxiety about "What if someone walks in? I can't tell them I'm constipated! Then I'm going to have to rush and be uncomfortable!" RACING THOUGHTS...MORE ANXIETY... Then the phone starts ringing...OBVIOUSLY NOT PICKING THAT ONE UP! Then I thought about 2 days ago when I had an "episode" in my house where I literally thought I was giving birth out of my ass and actually grunted when all was said and done. LOL I am literally crying laughing right now as I am writing this.

For what it's worth, I am not really sure why I consistently have these ridiculous stories to tell, but I hope it brightened up your day and made you laugh.

See what anxiety does to people? Do you suffer from anxiety? 

Does a bear S-H-I-T in the woods?

Yes. Do I have to S-H-I-T every time I am running in the woods? YES. What the hell? I mean, lately this has been happening quite a bit. Like every time I get a mile and a half from my car/house/gym I get the 'Oh-my-god...is this really happening?' pains. My workouts lately (few-and-far-between) have been cut short and I have to walk all the way back.

Today, I got as far out as I possibly could and all of a sudden...sharp pains, heavy breathing, bent over, racing thoughts. WTF? Why does this always happen to me? This time I made it all the way back to my car (running) before the really bad pains started. I chugged a water and raced back to my office.

Whew!! I missed a major malfunction by a few minutes.

I used to think that I was the only one that things like this happened to, but recently I came to the conclusion that there is no way that I am the only 29-year-old who sometimes comes close to crapping in her pants while working out. You know who you are! I actually haven't had an Oops-I-Crapped-My-Pants episode since I stopped taking Metamucil a couple of years ago.

Don't let it discourage you if this happens to you. If you have to crap in the woods, on the beach, or on the side of your house, just make sure no one is around, pop a squat, pull up your big girl panties, and afterwards run like hell to the closest bathroom. *Advice- do not wipe with leaves unless you are 100% positive you know what poison ivy, oak, and sumac look like.

These types of things will seriously teach you how to laugh at yourself. Does this ever happen to other people?

Ready to go RAW...almost

Since I'm sure you are all aware now, I have been working like crazy.  SO...I enlisted my friend Lisa to prepare a bunch of raw foods for me so I could keep them at work. I told her what I don't like (beets) and gave her how much I wanted to spend a week, and VOILA! She appeared with tasty raw food. This has lifted such a burden. I was getting sick of eating the same things everyday.

A funny thing happened last week. I can laugh about it now because it is over, but at the time I was dying (not literally). The day after Lisa dropped off my food I got my lady episode. I call it an episode and not a period because I think if I were to be studied by doctors they would diagnose me with severe rage, emotional swings, and abnormal tolerance for loss of fluids (I'll spare you the details), or weathermen might compare it to an F-5 tornado that leaves very little standing. Anyway, I was caught off guard like I am every month, because for some reason I have not been capable of tracking my episode since it started 16 years ago. So, I took a lot of Tylenol.

AND...I ate all fruits and vegetables. I had a mini meltdown in the middle of the day for no reason other than I wanted to rip out my uterus and lower back (despite all of the Tylenol). I am hoping that with all these healthy foods I am eating this will eventually get better. Anyways...I overdid it with the Tylenol BIG TIME! I ended up with the awful urge to vomit all over everything for the rest of the night and the following day. If any of you know me I would rather die than throw up, so naturally I made myself miserable for several hours. I couldn't eat anything because all I had was raw vegetable dishes, and every time I thought of it my mouth started to water and a wave of nausea took over. I couldn't talk about it, I couldn't think about it, I couldn't look at it.

My dad brought up food a couple of times in our conversation before I went home. I immediately glazed over and tuned everything out so I could fight the wave of VOM that wanted to come out. I asked him if we could not speak about food. His response was, 'Sure, but if you throw up on yourself you can blog about it'. (or something along those lines) Thanks Dad :)

That was supposed to be my first "all raw" day. Suffice it to say, I became so hungry after not being able to eat anything I had that I had to stop and get McDonald's french fries. That was the only thing that I could think about that didn't make me want to puke. Sorry Lisa, I promise it wasn't your food. It was the damn Tylenol.

So that night and the next day I ate pasta with butter (my favorite comfort food) and my cauliflower and leek soup. By Friday night I felt all better, just in time for Mexican and wine!!!

What is the moral of the story? I need to buy Advil instead of Tylenol. Tylenol does nothing for me (except bother my stomach).

Does anyone know of any natural pain relievers I could take? 

This "Health" Food's SOYld Reputation

By the way...if you haven't noticed I'm becoming obsessed
with Natalie Dee's comics

Yesterday I wrote about why I eat canned salmon instead of canned tuna- it is because I have not found a brand that doesn't have soy in it. I know that I have mentioned before that I read a book about the dangers of soy and immediately after embarked on a personal mission to cut all soy out of my diet. Let me explain to you why I was compelled to cut out this so-called health food.

Everyone is in a soy-frenzy and it has become the new "healthy" choice. It seems like a great option for vegetarians and vegans. How would they get their protein anyway? That's what I used to think.

Well the book I read was The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN. It is a thick book, almost 400 pages with another 40 pages of end notes. This is not a light read. I was getting the "Why the hell are you reading that?" looks from EVERYONE! So here it goes...I am going to try to condense 400 pages into a few paragraphs...

• A brief history of soy in the east...The soybean is one of the five sacred grains along with rice, millet, barley, and wheat. However, the soybean is a legume not a grain, and it was originally not used for food like the other sacred grains. Farmers originally grew soybeans as "green manure"- as a cover crop plowed under to enrich the soil between plantings of food crops. Soybeans are very good at capturing nitrogen from the air and delivering it to the plants roots in the soil. Soy went from fertilizer to fermented food about 2500 years ago. Until then the Chinese considered soybeans inedible- they were only found edible after the discovery of of processing methods that could largely deactivate an anti-nutrient found in soybeans known as the trypsin inhibitor. Trypsin inhibitors are chemicals that reduce the availability of trypsin, an enzyme essential to nutrition of many animals, including humans.

• The process of fermentation uses bacteria, fungi, and other beneficial microorganisms to help breakdown complex proteins, starches, and fats into highly digestible amino acids, simple sugars, and fatty acids. The ancient Chinese originally used this process to preserve fish, shellfish, game, and meat. Then came chiang (the original form of miso), soy sauce, natto, tempeh, but not until after the 4th century AD. As some of you may know, there are records of the Chinese culture that go back 5000+ years. The ancient Chinese did not eat soy. The fermented products we know now like miso and tofu did not come about until a few hundred years ago. 

• Since the 1950's the market for processed foods has seen explosive growth- most of them containing soybean oil. The industry found itself saddled with leftover sludge (yum) from soybean oil manufacture which it could either dump or promote. Which do you think it did? "The quickest way to gain product acceptability in the less affluent society," said a soy-industry spokesperson back in 1975, "...is to have the product consumed on its own merit in a more affluent society." Enter: imitation meat, milk, cream, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, candy bars (I think she means protein bars), smoothies, breads, infant formulas, chocolate, and meat extenders to name a few. 

• For years, the soy protein left over from oil extraction went exclusively to animals, poultry, and, more recently, fish farms. Today the industry aggressively markets soy protein as a people feed as well. Soy is now an ingredient in nearly every food sold at supermarkets and health food stores. The industry also makes a profit off of other waste products, most notably soy lecithin (an emulsifier that replaced eggs), protease inhibitors (digestive distressers sold as cancer preventatives), and isoflavones (plant estrogens promoted as "safe" hormone therapy, cholesterol reducers, and cancer cures). 

• Soy is now genetically modified which is monopolized by Monsanto. If you haven't ever read anything on GMOs please read my post.

• This is so typical of the US FDA..."While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a heart healthy claim for soy protein, the agency also lists soy in its "Poisonous Plant Database." A search of the word "soy" in the database reveals 256 references, including studies that warn about goiter, growth problems, amino acid deficiencies, mineral malabsorption, endocrine disruption and carcinogenesis.

• All soybeans contain anti-nutritional factors (which is the opposite of what you want to eat) and toxins. Mother nature put them there to block seeds from sprouting prematurely and to harm insects and other predators (humans) that would otherwise eat too many of them. Unfortunately, they can harm us as well unless the soy beans are properly processed to neutralize them- i.e. fermentation. 

• Soy's other "healthy" effects on the human body:
• can lower testosterone levels in men
• can cause allergic reactions...soy is one of the top 8 allergens
• goitoestrogens damage the thyroid
• lectins cause red blood cells to clump together and may cause immune system reactions
• oligosaccharides are the pesky sugars that cause bloating and flatulence (farts)
• oxalates prevent proper absorption of calcium and have been linked to kidney stones and painful disease known as vulvodynia 

• phytates impare absorbson of minerals such as zinc, iron, and calcium
• isoflavones are phytoestrogens (plant estrogens) that act like hormones and affect the reproductive and nervous systems
• protease inhibitors, most notably trypsin inhibitors interfere with the digestive enzymes protease and trypsin. This can lead to gastric distress, poor protein digestion and an overworked pancreas
• saponins bind with bile. They may lower cholesterol and may damage the intestinal lining

Fermented soybean products enjoy high honor throughout Asia as digestive aids, potent medicines, powerful energizers, stamina builders and longevity elixers. Treasured as more valuable than gold, the molds and cultures used to make miso, shoyu, natto, tempeh and other fermented soybean products are often heavily ensured and safeguarded in vaults. Those, along with soy sauce, are the only acceptable ways to eat soy. Soy protein is notoriously hard to digest unless enzymes and microorganisms go to work on it first. These tiny workers not only predigest the soybeans, but deactivate the powerful protease inhibitors that inhibit our digestive enzymes and overwork the pancreas. 

A WARNING ABOUT SOY SAUCE: The soy sauce-like products most commonly sold in American supermarkets and used in Chinese restaurants are commonly made in 2 days or less. This process is not the traditional fermentation and uses hydrocholoric acid to break down the soybeans, followed by sodium carbonate to neutralize the brown liquid. Sugars, caramel coloring and other flavorings are added before further refinement, pasteurization and bottling. A true soy sauce should say "naturally brewed, fermented for over a year", and should also only have a few ingredients- soy, water, salt and possibly wheat.

Long soy story short, all of the soy products that appear in our foods are not natural. They are heavily, heavily processed. The soy products show up in most processed food as: soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, soy flour, soy oil, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated soy oil, textured vegetable protein,  textured soy protein, soy lecithin, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (PS..that's MSG).

Here's a fun fact about soy protein isolate. Before 1958 it was only used as an industrial product to bind and seal paper product. Think about that next time you open up a fresh ream of computer paper. That glue that is holding the packaging on there is quite likely the same stuff that is in your protein shake. 

I know this was a long one with a lot of information, but hopefully you are taking something away with you (that you are never going to buy anything with soy in it ever again!). I would not have spent weeks reading this book, hours and hours scouring my grocery store for products without soy in them, and probably hundreds of dollars of donated food (from my pantry) if I did not believe 100% that the soy that we are being told is healthy for us is actually poisonous to our bodies. 

There....I've said my piece.

Smoothie Rules

Over the past several weeks I have found some things to work out really well and some to be truly gross. These are the "rules" that I have come up with when making fruit and vegetable smoothies.

• Mix like-colored fruits and vegetables together.
• Orange fruits and vegetables- carrots, peaches, cantaloupe melon, yellow apples, apricots, mangoes, nectarines, papayas, tangerines, orange peppers
• Red Fruits and vegetables- red apples, beets, red cabbage, cherries, cranberries, red grapes, pomegranates, radishes, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes watermelon, red bell peppers
• Green fruits and veggies- green apples, celery, avocados, kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, broccoli, green bell peppers, green cabbage, cucumbers, green grapes, honeydew melon, kiwi, lettuce, peas, spinach, zucchini, green herbs like cilantro, parsley, mint, and last but not least wheat grass
• Blue & purple fruits and vegetables- blackberries, blueberries, figs, plums, prunes (be careful with these- they cause going to the bathroom and farting issues), purple grapes, raisins
• Citrus fruits- oranges, lemons, limes, pineapple, grapefruit. 
• Bananas are a great base for every smoothie
• If you want to add a vegetable to a smoothie another color than one using green fruits and veggies, use spinach, cucumber and romaine lettuce, they are the mildest flavors of all
• Pineapple, peaches, and mango are great in just about every smoothie I have tried.
• I do not think that protein powder should be added to fruit and vegetable smoothies because the flavor over powers the great taste of the fruits and veggies. See my protein shake post for an alternative.
• One blender full makes about 3 large glasses and lasts me into the early afternoon, but when I first started I needed more because my body was  not used to eating just fruits and vegetables. 
• I smoothie instead of juice because when you eat the entire fruit/vegetable, you get a ton of fiber which would be non-existent if you were to juice. This is especially important with fruit. The fiber present in the whole fruit slows down the absorption of the sugar into the blood stream thereby creating a lower glycemic effect than if you were to drink the fruit juice (which is converted into glucose very rapidly causing a spike in blood sugar, a dump of insulin, and a crash- NOT GOOD!)
• Avoid mustard greens unless you want to drink a mustard smoothie (learned the hard way by my sister)
• Use fresh ginger VERY sparingly (learned the hard way by my father)

If you replace breakfast and lunch with smoothies (it doesn't matter which color, but ideally you would want to alternate everyday to get the benefits from all of the colors) you will feel better within a matter of a week or two. NO JOKE! I can tell now after several weeks on the smoothies that I am having better workouts, I have more energy, I have better poops, and I crave healthy foods instead of potato chips. Oh yeah, I almost forgot....I AM LOSING WEIGHT WITHOUT EVEN TRYING! 

Blue/Purple fruits and vegetables contain such phytochemicals as anthocyanins and phenolics. These help to lower the risk of some cancers and are good for urinary tract health, memory function and healthy aging. 

Green fruits and vegetables contain varying amounts of lutein and indoles, which help to promote strong bones and teeth, vision health and may lower the risk of some types of cancer.

White produce, which includes tan and brown fruits and vegetables, is known for the phytochemical allicin, found especially in the onion family. It promotes heart health, a lower risk of some cancers and helps cholesterol levels that are already healthy. Garlic and onions are the top items in the white/allicin produce list. Other white fruits and vegetables are bananas, brown pears, dates, cauliflower, ginger and jicama.

I would stay away from using onions and garlic in smoothies for obvious reasons. 

Yellow/Orange fruits and vegetables contain vitamin C and the phytonutrients carotenoids and bioflavonoids. These are beneficial for heart and vision health, a healthy immune system and a lower risk of some cancers.

Red produce is a common host to the phytonutrients lycopene and anthocyanins. Between them, they promote heart and urinary tract health, memory function and a lower risk of some cancers.

All fruits and vegetables are powerful anti-oxidants that contain numerous different micro-nutrients that our body needs to perform necessary functions and heal itself from damage. So eat as many different fruits and vegetables as you possibly can, preferably as raw as possible. 

Swap soda for KOMBUCHA

I got a call from my good friend Michelle today, who was asking me about B-12 vitamins. A couple of years ago I had a serious fatigue problem so I went to my doctor to get blood work done. It turned out I was seriously deficient in B-12. So I became borderline obsessed with finding out what I could about it. I took a B-12 vitamin orally for over a year before I stopped taking vitamins all together and started relying on food for my vitamins. You can find B-vitamins in green vegetables, meat, dairy, and KOMBUCHA!

If you are not aware of each of the B-vitamins here is a list:

• B-1 or Thiamin 
• B-2 or Riboflavin
• Niacin
• B6 
• B-9 or Folic Acid
• B12
• Biotin
• Pantothenic Acid

B-vitamins as a group are super important. They are all involved in turning food into usable energy for the body. In addition to that they assist the nervous system, heart muscle, and regulate appetite, play a part in mucus membrane and skin formation, help reduce the risk of heart disease, help form brain and spinal cord during fetal development and is involved in cell division and red blood cell formation. 

While I was visiting my sister in Savannah a few months ago, my hairdresser introduced me to Kombucha. (If you are wondering, I lived there for 5 years during college and grad school. I don't normally travel 800 miles to get my hair done. However, I will take advantage every time I visit. If you are ever in Savannah go to her and tell her "Jersey Jessica" sent you. Salon Aqua works miracles.) It had been at least 4 years since I had been to her so I was talking about what I am up to and the book that I am working on. She was like "Jess you need to drink kombucha". In fact everyone in the salon was raving about it and they ran to get me one while I was there getting my hair did. 

Now I do not drink soda because it is garbage, but I love carbonated drinks. This is slightly vinegary, slightly sweet, and tangy. The kind that I have found and love is G.T. Dave's Raw Kombucha that I buy at Whole Foods. You can buy the 100% raw kombucha or the 95% raw with other fresh pressed juices added. In addition to containing a bunch of the B-vitamins, it has live probiotic bacteria cultures in it which are super important for a couple of reasons. First, probiotics keep our intestines healthy. There are billions and billions of different bacteria in our guts that help us digest food, synthesize vitamins, and support our immune system. 

Did you know that immune system cells are located all around our digestive tract? This is because the most common way for invaders to get into our body is through the food we eat. We eat 3+ times a day with our dirty fingers. I guarantee you do not wash your hands and then touch absolutely nothing until you touch your food. Not to mention if you are a nail biter like I am- gross! I try to stop every day...it is a problem sometimes.

Second, is that I learned by accident that they cure yeast infections (gross I know but a real problem for some people). "A friend of mine" was feeling kind of funny down there and happened to drink a bottle of kombucha. A little while later "she" noticed that it wasn't so funny anymore. So "she" drank 2 bottles a day for 3 days and it was gone! That is probably the same price as over the counter meds, but who the hell knows what is in that goo that you are squeezing up into your lady parts. "She" would much rather drink some refreshing kombucha. Here's a quick review:

So, instead of drinking soda (read my post about high fructose corn syrup and aspartame if you aren't aware of these dangerous ingredients that are in sodas) do something great for yourself and start drinking kombucha. It is a little expensive, but in the long run it will make you feel better.

I have no affiliation with G.T. Dave's Raw Kombucha, or Salon Aqua....I just love both of them!

FIBER: When doody calls

That's not me if you are wondering.

Whether you want to admit it or not (gentlemen) poop is a part of life. Women poop. Sometimes you will have a poopy day. You will have to change thousands of poopy diapers if you have children. So let me enlighten you with some knowledge and a funny story. 

Fiber is an integral part of keeping your poop shoot clean and in perfect working order. (I'm already laughing as I write this) The process of turning food into waste is a rather complex one, but let me break it down for you in laymen's terms. 

Obviously digestion starts in your mouth where you start to break food down by chewing. When food reaches your stomach it continues to be mushed up and mixed with stomach acids and enzymes that aid in the breakdown of the food. Food is not absorbed in the stomach. The stomach acts as a funnel to slowly deliver broken down food to the small intestine. It is in the small intestine where most of the nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream. Anything leftover that has not been absorbed by the small intestine moves along to the large intestine. Enter fiber. Fiber is not digested by the body, but acts to keep the mass moist so it does not get stuck to the inside of your intestinal walls. The mass that enters the large intestine is mostly watery waste, undigested food, and fiber. Some of the water gets absorbed back into your body through the walls of the large intestine. Your large intestine (colon) is filled with millions of different bacteria that feed on fiber. These bacteria are extremely important to our health and have the capability to synthesize Vitamin K, which is used by our bodies for bone growth and blood clotting. As the bacteria eat the fiber they create CO2, which is why EVERYONE farts. Everything left after the water is absorbed and the fiber is consumed by the bacteria leaves the body in the form of poop.

There are 2 types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and insoluble doesn't. Soluble fiber actually absorbs water which is what keeps your poop moist as it travels the 30 or so feet from your mouth to your butt hole. An example of the two would be that soluble fiber is found in the meat of a fruit and insoluble is found in the skins. 

Most Americans do not get enough fiber in their diets which is why products like Metamucil and Citrucel are so popular. My father has always taken Metamucil so I started taking it when I was in college, because I was "having issues". (WARNING: I am not embarrassed to talk about farting or pooping) Specifically I had monster gas. Like clenching my butt cheeks together, leaving the room just to fart type of gas. Not too conducive to being single and ready to mingle if you know what I mean. I thought I was lactose intolerant- meaning I was allergic to dairy. 

It took me about a year to slowly cut all dairy out of my diet. I thought I would loose weight, but I didn't. I thought my gas would go away but it didn't. Instead I started eating all of these fake dairy products like non-dairy creamer (read hydrogenated soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup) and Smart Balance Buttery Spread (soybean oil). Still I was taking my regular dose of Metamucil.

This went on for years. I had to just come to terms with the fact that I would have to date a guy who could deal with massive farts. The climax of my "issues" came when I was just 26 years old. I was in a semi-long distance relationship with this guy (not my current boyfriend), it was a Sunday night and I was driving home from his house. When I had just gotten on the highway I got a wave of "Oh My God I hope there is a rest stop or I am going to shit my pants". Lucky for me there was a major accident blocking the entire highway! I don't know if you have ever been in this situation, but no matter how you cut it it sucks. I squirmed over to the shoulder and rode it illegally until the next exit, low and behold the urge went away. Go figure. 

So I have a nice hour and a half drive home, and as if my butt hole knows I am a mile from my house, the pains start again and this time it is SERIOUS. I'm almost crawling out of my body and literally going 70 miles an hour down our street (long, hilly, windy, and frequented by deer). If I had gotten pulled over I would have had an extraordinary excuse...I was going to shit my pants!!! So I pull up to the driveway (I was living at my father's house at the time) and F***! The driveway is full and I see my father, step-mom, and their best friends sitting at the dining room table having dinner. WHAT THE F*** AM I GOING TO DO???

Our house is on a corner. The front of the house is on a main road, and the side street has probably 20 or so houses on it- cars are always going up and down both of them. I park my car on the side road, and have a freak out moment. "If I wait any longer I won't make it to the bathroom. BUT I can't just run in the house without being noticed by the dinner party. I am going to look like a lunatic. OMG I can't even move right now or I am going to shit right here. If I shit right now I am not going to be able to go into the house because I will have to walk right past everyone eating dinner." In my state of panic I realized that my only option was to unbutton my pants and poop on the side of the car. My only saving grace was that it was pitch black out, because I did not even have time to open the car doors to shield me from any innocent bi-standards who may happen to drive by. 

I literally would have looked like a deer in headlights if anyone had witnessed that scene. Luckily, no one did because they probably would have called the cops and reported someone who looks like they are on crack shitting on the side of the road. (I have tears running down my face right now)  

There are a couple of morals here: #1 stop even if you think the poop has gone away- it hasn't. #2 do what ever you need to do to save face. #3 try to figure out what is making you have to shit on the side of the road.

And that is what I did, although it took me a while and a few more close calls. For whatever reason I switched from Metamucil to Citrucel. My issues- all of them- monster farts, sharting, shitting on the side of the road- went away. After about 2 years of not eating dairy I slowly started eating it again. I had no problems. Low and behold I was allergic to the psyllium husk fiber in Metamucil (Citrucel is not made with psyllium husk). 

Psyllium Husk

This story should not discourage you from eating fiber. Since I have made some huge changes to my diet (specifically eating a lot more fruits and vegetables) I have not needed to take fiber. That is how I believe it should be. You are supposed to get everything your body needs from food and the sun. In my opinion, Metamucil and Citrucel are band-aids just like vitamins are. The only way I would recommend their use is if it is temporary while you are in the process of making the switch to eating more fruits and vegetables, or if you are temporarily on medication that makes you constipated. 

So, I hope I brightened up your Tuesday and gave you a good laugh. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself then what is the point?

**If you are interested in contributing your stories email me. I am serious. They will not appear on this blog, but maybe we could get a book put together and make some money at it. Who knows! Anything is possible!!!