the unseen war on American family farms

Saturday November 19th

6pm Meet our local food producers

7pm Show time

Introductory comments by author David Gumpert

Whipple Hall
(corner of Main and Seamans Rd)

New London, NH

see the events page for more complete details

Research has shown that today’s toxic environment exposes us daily to harmful chemicals that can affect our health.  This exposure comes from a variety of sources such as pesticides in food, airborne pollutants, industrial chemicals in water, heavy metals, and pharmaceutical drugs.  Body burden studies estimate that each one of us carries in our bodies at least 700 contaminants!

These toxins overwhelm our bodies natural ability to detoxify and can cause fatigue, joint pain, digestive issues, headaches, and other symptoms of dis-ease.  Doing a spring cleanse will energize your health and boost your body’s ability to handle toxins.

Here are 7 ideas to get started:

1. Water yourself – Start the day with warm water and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Hydrate with pure water and herbal teas. Try to drink at least 2 quarts of pure water daily to help flush out toxins.  Take a break from coffee, soda, and alcohol.
2. Veg out – Increase the amount of fresh veggies in your diet, preferably organic.  Include beets, garlic, onions, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale and collards as they help support the liver’s detoxification process.
3. Fill up with fiber – Fiber speeds up the removal of toxins from the bowel, reducing your exposure.  Whole fruits, vegetable and beans are rich in fiber.  Try sprinkling ground flax seeds on your oatmeal, salads, or add to a smoothie.
4. Clean up your act – Eat a healthy diet by reducing the amount of refined and packaged foods.  Take a break from flour and sugar.
5. Get moving – Exercise stimulates blood circulation and the movement of lymphatic fluid supporting the flow of wastes out of the body.
6. Sweat it out – Therapies such as saunas, hot baths, and exercise promote the excretion of toxins thru the skin.  Be sure to sweat for 15-30 minutes several times a week.
7. Relax – enjoy a warm bath with Epsom salts to soothe, relax, and detoxify.

I just love the New Year! I love the tradition of reviewing the past year and envisioning what I want to create in my life for the New Year, don’t you?  Looking at what is important in our lives, what do we want more of and what do we want less of by releasing what no longer serves our well-being. This requires a change in our thinking and change in our behavior.  Now is a good time to reassess and recommit to your vision.

Are you happy with your level of health? Are you wanting more energy, better sleep, less stress, weight loss, less gas and bloating, fewer headaches, pain relief, better moods, glowing skin and sparkling eyes, clear thinking, peace of mind, hoping to reduce or eliminate prescription and OTC medications, looking to find time to exercise, wanting to release an unhealthy habit or two?

‘If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?”

-Anonymous

Well, to have a different outcome means making changes!  Whatever your goal, what you eat will either help you succeed or hinder your good intentions.  The good news is that small steps can make a big difference! Here are some tips to help you on your journey:

1. Drink water. Make pure water your beverage of choice. Try to drink ½ your body weight in ounces per day. Start your day by drinking 8 ounces upon awaking.

2. Chew, chew, chew.

3. Eat a high-energy breakfast every day to replenish your blood sugar and set the foundation of balance for the rest of the day.

4. Enjoy an abundance of plant foods in a rainbow of colors.  Deeply colored fruits and veggies are potent disease fighters.

5. Use only high quality fats and oils.  Avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.

6. Commit to purchasing organic foods to avoid the hormones, antibiotics, and toxic chemicals present in commercial foods.

7. Greatly reduce the use of plastics in the kitchen. Use glass storage containers.

8. Sleep is NOT over-rated. Healing requires resting the mind and the body.

9. Move your body.  Exercise is necessary to prevent stagnation and degeneration.

10. Reduce your body burden – detoxify! We live in a toxic world.  Do a detox/cleanse program 2-3 times per year.  Consider using the infrared sauna or doing therapeutic ionic footbaths on a regular basis.

11. Include positive thoughts, smiles, laughter, and fun in each day.

Ø Ginger Baking Soda Bath – add 1/3 cup each of baking soda and ginger powder to a hot bath.  By creating an “inner fever” you’ll assist in burning up bacteria and virus and wake up the immune defense system.

Ø Neti Pot Nasal Wash – a warm salt-water rinse for the nasal and sinus cavities.

Ø Sinus Steam – Add a drop of Refresh peppermint oil, tea tree oil, or eucalyptus essential oils to a bowl of hot water, lean over the bowl, cover the head with a towel and breathe deeply.

Ø Infrared Sauna – eases body aches and pains and by raising body temperature you’ll increase immune activity.

Ø Ionic Detox Footbaths – a relaxing way to open up the flow of the lymphatic system and gently detoxify.

Think positively.  Affirm “my body is cleansing itself of wastes and poisons”

Ø Eat lightly but with good nutrition. Light meals of miso soup with garlic, ginger, and leafy greens such as kale or collards. Include fresh and steamed veggies, cultured veggies, and grains such as brown rice, quinoa, millet, and fresh fruits.  Add spice especially garlic, ginger, thyme, and cayenne.

Ø Chicken Soup made with bone broth. Grandma was right!  Research has confirmed chicken broth as a treatment for colds and flu.  The gelatin rich broth heals the nervous system, improves digestion, and supports mucous membranes.

Ø PaleoMeal smoothies are easy to digest, yummy, and support the immune system with whey protein from “happy cows”. Blend with water, mineral rich coconut water, or coconut milk.  Add a serving of PaleoGreens, Vitality Greens, or NanoGreens (for the added alkalizing nutrients, antioxidants, and superfoods), a handful of berries, ½ an apple, and ground flax seeds or PaleoFiber.

Ø Probiotics and cultured foods provide the beneficial bacteria that help support our immune system and fight off infections.  Include cultured veggies (raw sauerkraut), probiotic beverages such as kvass, kombucha, CocoBiotic, InnergyBiotic. Dr O’s or Flora Synergy capsules provide therapeutic doses of beneficial bacteria to keep the inner ecosystem healthy.

Ø Cod Liver Oil is rich in vitamin A and D to support immunity.  1-3 tsp/day.

Ø Water – drink plenty and avoid caffeine.  Enjoy hot herbal teas such as lemon, ginger, licorice, peppermint, elderberry, and fenugreek.

Homeopathic remedies, botanicals, and nutritional supplements can help provide relief and strengthen a weakened immune system during cold and flu season. Be prepared by stocking your natural pharmacy with professional quality products before you need them.

Primary Support Considerations (adult doses)

Ø XenoForce – is an excellent phyto-nutritional for anyone needing an immune boost, such as traveling business people, teachers, and healthcare professionals.  This powerful combination supports the immune system and offers protection during the cold and flu season.  Enjoy a cup of XenoForce Tea: empty 3-4 capsules into a mug, add boiling water, honey or xylitol to taste if needed, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

o   Prevention: 2 caps daily

o   Acute: 2 caps/hour for first 24-72 hours

Ø Temple Guardian – is a wonderful Chinese botanical supportive of the lungs.

o   Prevention: 30 drops 1x/day

o   Acute: 20 drops/hour for first 24-72 hour

o   30 drops 3-4x/day while symptoms persist

Ø Flu-Tone – homeopathic support for cold and flu symptoms.  Powerful and more complex than the common homeopathic flu remedy Oscillococcinum.

o   Prevention: 30 drops 1x/day

o   Acute: 20 drops/hour for first 24-72 hours

o   30 drops 3-4x/day while symptoms persist

Ø Drainage-Tone – offers homeopathic drainage for healing the lymph, spleen, and thymus, with immune support. This potent blend helps clear congestion.

o   Prevention: 30 drops 1x/day

o   Acute: 20 drops/hour for first 24-72 hours

o   30 drops 3-4x/day while symptoms persist

Ø Core Sambucus – a spagyric botanical used for support with influenza, sinus issues, mucous, and lymphatic drainage.

o   Prevention: 30 drops 1x/day

o   Acute: 20 drops/hour for first 24-72 hours

o   30 drops 3-4x/day while symptoms persist

Ø Monolaurin (lauric acid from coconut oil) 600mg capsules – offers profound immune support for viral specific diseases.

o   Prevention: 1 capsule daily

o   Acute: 3 capsules 2x/day on an empty stomach

Ø Throat Spray Tone – eases ticklish throats, sore throats, and coughs.  This is an excellent remedy for cold, flu, and allergy season. Whenever there is inflammation of the throat, Throat Spray Tone offers instant, soothing relief.  For added respiratory protection especially use when you are around people who are sick.

Secondary Support Considerations

Ø C Bio Fizz – a delicious powdered buffered vitamin C formula with antioxidant and immune protective bioflavonoids.  Stir into water or tea for a tasty immune enhancing beverage.

Ø Core Echina-B – helpful for bacterial infections, the respiratory system, colds, flu, and low immunity.

Ø Core Echina-V – same as above, yet targeting the viral load on the body.

Ø Core Myrrh – a spagyrically processed botanical blend traditionally used for lung congestion, breaking up mucous and pathogenic burden.

Ø Sinus-Tone – provides relief for inflammation and congestion of the sinuses.

Not feeling well?  Unsure what remedies you should be using? Come in for a quick remedy check to see what products will offer the best support for moving the infection out.

The moment a cold or flu virus enters the body, the immune system goes into action to eliminate it. When the immune system is weakened our body is more prone to infections. Maintaining a powerful immune system is essential to addressing bacteria and virus infections. The best way to stave of illness is to support your immune system with better diet and lifestyle choices.

• Avoid immune weakening substances by reducing sugar as it suppresses immune function for up to 4 hours!
• Eliminate the highly refined and packaged junk foods that contain many hidden sugars and bad fats.
• Reduce caffeine, soda, and alcohol.  Best to cut them out totally!
• Nourish yourself with whole foods and stay hydrated with pure water.
• Include foods rich in vitamin D: oily fish such as sardines, cod liver oil, and animal fats. Studies have shown that low levels of vitamin D contribute to higher rates of the flu.
• Wash your hands! Most infections occur via hand-to-mouth, hand-to-nose, and hand-to-eye transmission.  Wash frequently with plain old soap and water for at least as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday.  Do NOT use anti-bacterial soaps with triclosan, which is not only toxic to you and our environment, it also creates antibiotic-resistant germs.
• Soaking your toothbrush in 3% hydrogen peroxide is a good inexpensive and safe way to kill germs on a toothbrush.
• Avoid the flu vaccine. Not only is the effectiveness exaggerated, the vaccines also have toxins such as thimerosal (a preservative with mercury), formaldehyde, and polysorbate 80 both of which are potential carcinogens.

2 c rolled oats

1c chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pecans)

½ c butter, melted

juice and zest of 1 lemon

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp cardamom

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Place the fruit in a baking dish, sprinkle on the zest, and squeeze on the lemon juice.  Melt the butter and combine with the nuts, oats, salt, and spices.  Spread over the fruit.  Bake at 350 ° until hot and bubbling.

As a added treat whip up some organic heavy cream, add vanilla extract and a few drops of liquid stevia to add on top or use a dollop of plain yogurt.

Here’s a wonderful dessert recipe that is delicious enough for the holidays and is perfect for a healthy eating plan. This recipe has NO flour and NO sweetener.

This yummy stew is wonderful for cooler weather and can be served as is or over basmati rice.  Don’t let the list of ingredients discourage you, as this is quicker to make than it looks.  Serves 6.

1 medium yellow onion, quartered

¼ c grated coconut

3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 serrano or Thai chili peppers seeded and diced (optional)

1 tblsp fresh ginger root, minced

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp ground coriander

2 c chicken broth, vegetable stock, or water

coconut oil

2 c tomatoes, diced

4 c fresh pumpkin (1 small sugar pumpkin) peeled and diced

2 c cooked black-eyed peas

2 c kale or spinach, chopped

3 tblsp mint, minced

1.    Combine onion, coconut, garlic, chili peppers, ginger root, garam masala, cumin, cinnamon, salt, turmeric, coriander, and 3 tblsp stock in a blender. Puree mixture to a paste, scrapping down the sides of the blender.

2.    Heat coconut oil in a soup pot, then add the spice paste and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes.  Add remaining stock, tomatoes, and pumpkin.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until squash is just tender, about 20 minutes.

3.    Mix in black-eyed peas and kale. Continue to cook, stirring often, until kale is tender, about 10 more minutes. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasonings, stir in mint just before serving.