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Healthy Healing Digest
Volume 1, Issue 16
July 12, 2018
THIS​ ​ WEEK’S
THOUGHTS​ ​ AND​ ​ THINKINGS
Hope you all are doing well in this summer's heat. It's been so hot and humid around here. The humidity is the killer. It might only be mid-90's, but the humidity bumps up the heat index by 10 degrees!

Okay, enough whining. 😝

In this issue you'll find a yummy recipe for these hot summer evenings. It's from the Pioneer Woman. We've adapted it to fit in with Trim Healthy Mama. But even if you're not THM, you'll love the recipe as it's written. You need to make it tonight.

You'll also find some thoughts on beets and varicose veins. Lol. I know, those don't necessarily go together. 😁
chronicpain
And we also talk about a bit of the basics on Essential Oils.

Along with this issue there's also a new post up on the blog. Some thoughts about dealing with pain on a day to day basis. Here's the link:

Living with Chronic Pain

I guess that's about it! Talk to you again in a couple-three weeks.

Love y'all, mary 💗

Weight Loss Journey: TRIM HEALTHY MAMA

chickentacosalad
Click the Pic to get to the link!
Here’s another recipe that is wonderful for the hot, hot days of summer. It’s not THM per sé, but is easily adjustable.

We usually make it an E meal by adding a (drained) can of black beans to the salad. E is for energy. That means it’s higher in carbs than other meals. So, to keep the blood sugar balanced, we have to be careful about too much fat.

I haven’t talked about it in a while, but THM is very much about balancing blood sugar more than about dieting. Being careful to keep high-carb foods and high-fat foods separate is what balances the blood sugar ...and as a side effect, causes weight-loss.
In this case, the corn and the beans are carbs, so to keep it on plan we need a low-fat meat like chicken breast.

Also, the chips are carbs because of the grain. You can find baked, blue-corn tortilla chips to stay completely on plan, but honestly, we cheat and just use regular blue chips from Walmart. Blue cornmeal is slightly lower in carbs than yellow cornmeal, and we keep it moderate and don’t pile them high or anything.

As far as my own weight-loss, I’m still in a resting place. I’m not losing weight, but am still losing inches. I’m finding much happiness in just enjoying being in a size 14 for the first time since 9th grade. Lol.
size14me
Wanna talk about Trim Healthy Mama? Send me an email at:
Jordanscrossingherbs@gmail.com

Herb Friends:

Essential Oils & Varicose Veins

marketbooth
Question:
I’m looking for some advice. I have a lot of varicose veins and I’m wondering if there are any essential oils for helping to minimize them. I read that lemon oil is good but I read it on the internet so who knows 😂 but I thought you might have some suggestions.

Answer:
On the overall picture varicose veins are basically tiny blood clots. They’re related to hemorrhoids. And the best advice is to not get constipated. 💩 And that’s not just because of the hemorrhoids but constipation contributes to varicose veins too. Standing a lot also causes varicose veins. So make sure to eat a lot of fiber while you’re sitting down.😉 Lol.

As far as herbs, 🌿 one thing I read was that peppermint tea is really good for varicose veins. So if you like mint, get yourself some peppermint tea and drink at least a cup (or more) every day. Make sure it’s truly the actual herb of peppermint, and not just flavored pepp tea.

As far as essential oils it looks like the general consensus is lemon and peppermint oils are the two good ones for varicose veins. Another one is Cypress oil—which we don’t have (but we can get it) and I might order some just
to try it. Although, honestly, my sense is that just about any oil would help, even just lavender. Any oil that helps with circulation and inflammation. So, maybe experiment with the oils you already have.

No matter what you use you want to dilute it. I’ll send you a little chart on how to dilute. You basically need one drop per teaspoon of carrier oil and then you apply that several times a day and see what happens. My basic plan of action is to commit to diet/herbs/oils for 2-3 weeks and then reassess and see if it’s helping.

It’s also best if you use a different oil maybe every week because, if what I’m reading is right, then our bodies become resistant when we use the oils for too long of a time. I’ve found that true with deodorants, that they stop cutting the smell after a week or so, but if I change up oils, we’re good again. So I think the resistance thing is right.

So.... eat more veggies, 🥦 🥒🥕do more sitting, drink pepp tea, 🌿 and use a diluted oil for a week, then the second week do the same thing but change the oil, and ditto on the third week.

So there you go. 😊 That’s basically the gist of what I got from my researching. This is what I’m going to try and see what happens (I had told her I had the same trouble starting and had been wanting to research it). Hope it’s helpful and if you have questions we’ll figure it out together.
CE6BD91E-7C0C-471F-A39F-0C6CD998483C
A Handy Chart for Diluting Oils

Nutritional Healing: More Beets, Please!

beets
I made a discovery recently. Involving beets. You need beets in your life. ✌️Trust me. If you don’t like beets you need to learn to like them. 🖖Here’s my story of why.

For a couple years now my fingernails have been separating and peeling. Nothing major. Just a lil at the corners. It started on a finger I had smashed a long long time ago, and I just thought that injury was the reason. But then, a few months later, a couple more fingers started doing it.

I still didn’t really think a lot about it. I had heard that abnormalities in your fingernails can dictate health needs, like clue you in on vitamins/minerals your body may be lacking, but I didn’t take the time to figure it out.

But then about 4 weeks ago, my toenail on the big toe of my left foot just peeled off! All of it. Just separated and peeled off! 😯 I expected it to hurt. Thankfully it didn’t. But it did make me set up and take notice.

So I started investigating into the whys. Turns out, peeling finger/toenails are a sign of iron deficiency. A light bulb came on. I know from bloodwork I had done a couple years ago that I was slightly anemic even then. It wasn’t bad enough for the doc to really even mention it, but it had obviously progressed.
And it makes sense for me. I’m 54 and nearing menopause and have had struggles with periods for the last couple
years. Very heavy periods, lacking in energy, headaches, a lot of the classic symptoms that go with blood loss and anemia. Eventually getting bad enough
that my toenail peeled off.

Solution? Need more iron. Ew.😛

Not too much a fan of that idea. I still remember taking an iron supplement years ago when I was pregnant. ☹️ Let’s say it wasn’t a happy thing for the ol’ plumbing. Constipation was a big issue. So, I looked up ways to get more iron via foods.

Yup. You guessed it. Beets. Beets are known to actually replace lost blood. So, I started getting some from the Market. To be honest, I was just plain lazy and didn’t want to cook them, so I just cut them up as is and ate them raw. Surprise! They’re actually really good that way. Sweet and tasty.

You do have to be careful to not get them on your clothing or they’ll stain. And they’ll stain your fingers if you pick them up, but a couple good hand-washings gets rid of it. And you’ll have a bit of red teeth/tongue for a few min.. but hey, life goes on.

But the best part is, after just a week of eating a small to medium beet a day, my energy levels are up and my nails aren’t peeling any more! They look like they’re supposed to look. I was amazed at how fast my body absorbed the iron and corrected the deficiency.
mypeeledtoe
My toe is taking a little longer to heal. I should’ve taken a pic when it first peeled for comparison, but here it is about half grown back already. After only a week. (Sorry for the dirt☺️).

Go. Get yourself some beets. Seriously. Go right now. 😊

Healthy Healings: The Basic Basics of Essential Oils

eosmarket
Someone at the Market came up last Saturday and said, “tell me about essential oils.” She said she knew zero about them and wanted to learn.

Wow.

I blinked. And thought. The subject is humongous. Where would you start? At the beginning, of course.

My answer went something like this:

“Essential oils are from plants. Herbs, flowers, roots, trees and fruit mostly. Every plant has its own smell. Like the aroma that you get when you smell a rose. Everyone knows what a rose smells like. That rose’s scent is called its ‘essence’. Thus, an ‘essential’ oil is the actual ‘essence’ of the plant.”

It was an “aha” moment for her, and her face lit up as she made the connection. (Kinda like my own when I first heard about it 💡). Pretty cool.

I continued, “We call those smells ‘aromas’; thus you have ‘aroma-therapy’. The very best way to use these
‘essences’ (aromas) is via the nose. I don’t totally understand how or why the process works (nobody really does), but the molecules from the essence enter the brain through the nostrils, and since our brains control all of our physiological functions.... healing (over time) can happen from there.”

That was pretty much the end of the convo. I gave her some literature and pointed her to DrEricZ.com and the videos on his website for a simple and easy to understand presentation of essential oils.

I wanted to share it here cuz it’s pretty much the very VERY beginning point of understanding essential oils. I think one of things I’m seeing this year at the Market is how many people are curious about essential oils, like the idea of smells, but few have any real basic understanding of what they’re capable of and what they can do.

I’m not saying that with any condemnation. I feel I’m just learning these things in greater detail myself.

A couple other basics I would add to all this would be: the second most effective way to use essential oils is applying them topically with a carrier oil (like coconut or olive). They actually enter the bloodstream and can affect healing that way. And also, essential oils aren’t a quick fix. They’re not drugs, and their effects aren’t immediate. Consistent use over a period of days/weeks gives the best picture of the effectiveness of an essential oil.

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Healthy Healing Digest is published from Barnsdall, Oklahoma 74002

Copyright © Jordan's Crossing 2017-18

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