Shelley Pagitt

Life is better, in all ways, when we have people to share it with.

This is especially true for me in the area of healthy living. I have sought out and invested in friendships that respect and share my desire and effort to live naturally. Honestly, these friends are treasures to me. They have open minds and hearts, and want to learn how to create a life for themselves and their families that is sustainable (this means something different to each of us) and beneficial to all of creation.

If our primary relationships (husbands or teenage children for example), are in opposition or indifferent to ours, it becomes easier to adopt their ways. Life is already a lot of work and ‘swimming upstream’ increases the difficulty. The company that we keep directly effects us and our behavior so having friends who share our desires helps us keep balanced.

I encourage you to seek out friends who will support you in your pursuit of more healthful ways. The changes that you make will be more likely to become good lifelong habits if you have someone by your side.

My conversation with Doug Pagitt on AM 950 from 12-13-09.

First step: Start eating butter.
Second Step: Throw away your partially hydrogenated oils and food like products that have processed oils in their ingredient list.

It’s okay to throw away “food” that you have purchased. It is better to “waste” it in the trash than to ingest it and create havoc in your body. So, please throw away your Crisco, Butter Flavored Crisco, non-stick pan spray (unless olive oil), Velveeta, American Cheese, Jif, Skippy, margarine, etc. These items are not natural and cause inflammation and throughout our bodies (joints, muscles, arteries (heart, erectile dysfunction, head aches), intestines (IBS), etc.

Try replacing Crisco with butter and coconut oil for baking. You can melt these oils and use them as a liquid vegetable oil replacer in most recipes. Butter is better for cookies and other baked goods that call for a solid oil. Coconut oil is high in Omega 3′s and is the most stable oil at high heat so I like to use it for searing meats and making stovetop popcorn as well as for curry and Thai dishes. It is also antibacterial and makes a great skin lubricant and natural sunscreen. Olive oil is great for salad dressings and for low heat sauteing.

Video conversation from Doug Pagitt Radio (12-06-09).

I am surprised that people are still buying and using margarine and other hydrogenated oils with the recent media coverage of the negative health implications from ingesting these processed oils. So, I want to exclaim to all who will listen, “Butter is Better!”.

The origins of butter go back thousands of years to when our ancestors first started to domesticate animals. The first written reference to butter was found on a 4500 year old limestone tablet illustrating how butter was made. It is natural and a great source of beneficial Omega 3 fats. The best butter is from pastured cows with a grass diet who are not given hormones or antibiotics (organic) or grains. This butter is more nutritious and also more expensive. Other butter is fine though, if it is rbgh free, and always better than margarine or soy based butters like Earth Balance.

Butter and other animal (saturated) fats have gotten a bad rap and blamed for coronary heart disease. But if you trace their history, you will see that this has been misrepresented and heart disease and other inflamatory health conditions directly correlates with the increase in consumption of hydrogenated (highly processed) oils. (Check out Weston A. Price for research).

Some benefits of butter-
*Butter is rich in the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A necessary for thyroid and adrenal health.
*Saturated fats in butter have strong anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties.
*Vitamin D found in butter is essential to absorption of calcium.
*May promote fertility in women.
*Is a source of quick energy, and is not stored in our bodies adipose tissue.
*Reduces cravings for simple carbohydrates and sugar and keeps you feeling full longer acting as a n appetite suppressant.
*Cholesterol found in butterfat is essential to children’s brain and nervous system development.
*Is your only source of anti-stiffness factor, which protects against calcification of the joints.
…. and so much more.

I talked about Butter on Doug Pagitt Radio (11-22-09) if you want to take a look.

Sometimes I just want to SHOUT into a megaphone and make people listen!!!
This is one such moment.

I just watched A THOUSAND SUNS on the Food Matters website. It is a short (27 mins) documentary about the inseparable relationship between agriculture and spirituality in the Gama Valley in Africa. I am sickened every time I hear a reductionistic statement or report on health when the issue at hand is ALWAYS more complex.
This film presents many sides of a very complicated situation – world hunger, philanthropy, biodiversity, sustainability, history, genetic modification, production, future generations, ecosystems, spiritual practices. big business, world politics, etc. Where does the benefit lay?

I am a fan of listening to the wisdom of the past. We don’t have to go ‘back to a better time’ but we do need to consider as many aspects of a situation as possible before coming to a conclusion and acting in ways that prevent a sustainable future!

I IMPLORE YOU TO WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!!

The Holidays are quickly approaching and often accompanied with large meals and irresistibly tempting treats. I have discovered a few helpful ideas over the years. Maybe you are ready to try a new approach this year or have your own ideas to share.

1-Offer to bring the veggies and other foods that you can make in a more nutritious way. I like to bring steamed cauliflower (cut stem off but keep the bunch in tact) with butter and salt and pepper. I steam peas as well and pour them around the edges of the cauliflower. The presentation looks pretty and they make a tasty pair. If there are lots of kids, making a cheese sauce to pour over the top is usually a winner.
I also like to make the yams sans marshmallows. Peel and dice yams. Put in a baking dish and sprinkle with sea salt. Drizzle with maple syrup and little pats of butter all around. Cover and bake at 375 (or whatever temp your oven is already baking at) for about 20-30 minutes. Serve hot.
2- As the hubbub of getting the meal on the table begins, drink a full glass of water before you sit down to eat. This will fill you up so maybe your eyes and your stomach will be more evenly matched for the meal event.
3- Enjoy your time with friends and family and enjoy your food! Eat smaller portions of the less healthful items and just take your time.
4- Get up and do the dishes.
5- Go for a walk. Make it a new tradition and get everyone to join you. They want to but will need someone to motivate them. Let it be you.
6- For Pete’s Sake- DO NOT USE FAKE WHIPPED CREAM! I hope we are all capable of buying a pint or two of good, fresh whipping cream, adding a dash of sugar and vanilla and whipping some tasty pie topping. Try it!

Happy Holidays~

Halloween has come and gone, again. The costumes are stashed into the dress-up trunk, traces of make-up smeared into pillow cases. But what is the plan for all the treats?
My thoughts are pretty straight forward. Throw it away! The hunt is over and the fun of gathering, counting and sorting complete. The bag of high fructose corn syrup, sugar, artificial flavoring and colors can be wasted in your (and your kids’) bodies and adversely effect your health. Or, they can be wasted in the trash causing no harm to anyone. I know this seems a bit harsh but here’s the deal. Sugar, in all of its varied forms, has become the norm in our culture. Most of us don’t go one day without ingesting sugar and we average more than 40% of our daily calorie intake in the form of carbohydrates, most of them simple. This is a recipe for degenerative illness in all forms, and attributed to most auto-immune diseases which are all too common in adults and becoming more common in children. Also, when we eat sugar, and it’s relatives, our immune system is compromised, as it tries to process this ‘unnatural toxin’, for 4-5 hours following ingestion, leaving us vulnerable to bacteria and viruses and other toxins that we encounter daily.

Halloween, specifically collecting and eating gobs of candy, used to be a unique happening. A Holiday splurge. We would eat as much as we could. Get sick. And be done with it. Now, sugar and HFC are literally everywhere and in most processed and packaged foods. I have to work to avoid it!!
That’s a problem.

I challenge you to get off the sweet wagon this week. It takes 7 days to eliminate the cravings for (read: addiction) processed sugar. Start today. Go on another hunt. Collect all your sugar sources. Lay them out. Look at them. Don’t forget the drinks. How about alcohol? The King of Sugar himself! Now, dump them out and throw them away. You can do it!

If you need a little weaning. Start with the most obvious. The candy, cookies, bars, sugary cereal. You know. The obvious ones. It is a good idea to keep some natural sugar in your diet. Our brains crave sweets so make sure and eat plenty of fresh fruit (dates are super sweet), sweet veggies like carrots and beets and onions (caramelized in a little olive oil and butter is delish), and even a bit of dark chocolate (over nuts or fruit is good) and some natural licorice will help you and your brain quench the cravings.

As for next Halloween-
1-Buy candy you don’t like, in mini sizes, to hand out.
2-Pick out a predetermined amount of treats you will eat or allow your kids to eat (like 3-10).
3- Choose chocolate with nuts and fruit over artificial colors and flavors. Teach your children about the spectrum of sweets when making a choice.
4- Have your children help you throw the extra candy away and explain why. Make it fun!
5- Take 2 tsp of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, in a few ounces of water, before, during and after Halloween to help digest the sugar load.

Find balance before you are swept away by the sugar tide.

Give it a try….then your pants and your shoes. I stand by my health tip in this video but it does derail into a comedy bit fairly quickly.

After the radio show we had some friends over for lunch and a little “Stand Up and Put your Socks On” demonstration. Here you go.

The CDC recommends the following concerning the Swine Flu (H1N1):

#1- Wash your hands.

#2- Stay home when possible (to avoid passing/contracting the flu virus).

#3- Get vaccinated.

That’s it. Really. This drives me absolutely crazy!! “They”, whomever this includes, basically scare us all to death, with threats of a dangerous flu epidemic, and this is the best they can do! It is the epitome of living into a ‘victim mentality’ creating a helpless scenario.

I believe we can choose to live proactively in all areas of life, including how we respond to a potentially harmful flu strain. It seems to me that it makes most sense to BOOST OUR IMMUNITY so our bodies are strong and resilient rather than weaken them by taking toxins in, through the vaccine, or waiting to get the illness. Strong immune systems prevent all types of illness, not just the flu.

A few suggestions:

#1- Wash your hands (yes, often. no, antibacterial soap/hand sanitizer).

#2- Limit sugar (except fruits) as they compromise your immunity for many hours after ingesting them. Your immune system is so busy trying to process the concentrated and refined sweetener so it does not have the ability to fight infection.

#3- Increase Vitamins A & D by taking Cod Liver Oil (I like Carlson’s-lemon OR Nordic Naturals,orange, liquid), which is the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A. Get out in the sun for at least 20 minutes every day for natural Vitamin D or take D supplements (2,000/daily, more at the first signs of symptoms).

#4- Take probiotics on an empty stomach to increase the good bacteria which keep the harmful bacteria in check in your colon. This balance is essential for proper health.

#5- Do not get the Flu Vaccine. The results are inconclusive at this time and many doctors are speaking out against the vaccine. Watch this video and contact me for more ideas on flu prevention and treatment.

#6- Eat well. Drink well. Be healthy.

Drinking water is the most obvious choice to ensure adequate physical hydration. Of course, this is also my recommendation. Drinking half your body weight in ounces (do the math…), of purified water every day is the best amount to flush toxins out and keep your organs healthy.

Eating foods with a high water content is another way to hydrate your body and much less talked about. Think about it. Raw fruits and veggies, especially wet and juicy greens and sprouts, are super refreshing on a hot, sunny day. Obviously, they quench our thirst as well as feed our appetite. Foods work their way through our intestines slowly which gives them time to absorb nutrients. Liquid in the colon also aids in moving waste along in a timely manner and improves digestion.

IF you want clear skin, to limit toxins, healthy organs, fresh breath, etc., HYDRATE YOUR BODY with WATER and FRESH FRUITS AND VEGGIES.

If you want to listen to the “HYDRATE” segment from Doug Pagitt Radio, follow this link. It is the last 10 minutes of the show.

Oxygen is essential for life, right? Why is it that so often we don’t even notice our breath? We take it for granted. That is a beautiful thing in many ways, namely, we don’t HAVE  to think about or attend to our breath in order to continue living. Whew!

On the other hand, I believe that if we turn our attention to the ‘practice of belly breathing’, we will be supporting our entire body thus increasing its overall health and function. Our organs are counting on us to bring oxygen to them. Take a few minutes and practice belly breathing (inhale through your nostrils and watch your belly rise. fill to the bottom of your abdomen. exhale through your nostrils. give measured effort and push the air all the way out until your belly falls and your belly button is pushing in toward your spine).

Watch a baby breath. This is exactly what they do. It is truly the best way to move air deeper into our bodies. Give it a try and then keep doing it.

This video is from this morning on AM 950-Doug Pagitt Radio. I am a weekly guest at 11:30 every Sunday morning. Check it our live in MPLS/ST PAUL or live stream at dougpagittradio.com. Have a listen if you want to hear our conversation about breath.