Category Archives: GAPS

Glucuronidation: one of the body’s detox pathways

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I am forever in awe of our bodies and how they perform every day miracles of protecting itself from toxins.

Today, I learned another term from the wonderful mercury support group: glucuronidation.  It’s apparently another chemical reaction in the body that helps the detox pathways to work properly.  Isn’t this fascinating?

Note how your everyday drugs can interfere with the body’s own design to take care of itself.

I’ve recently started taking ibuprofen to head off a migraine.  It worked a couple of times last month, and I took some this morning because I felt another one coming on.  It’s the only time I will take it anymore–because it can cause damage to the intestines, and it damages kidney cells.  So I have to really feel that  migraine is coming on in order to risk the harm to my body.  I figure that a migraine is much, much more harmful and devastating.  I feel so weak afterwards, it has to be doing some damage…especially when I lose five pounds with them (and then gain it back).

I cringe at the thought that I used to take ibuprofen almost on a daily basis, back in the day.  With being exposed to mercury via coal dust, and amalgam in baby teeth, and being gluten intolerant, I  had been taking ibuprofen for symptoms that would go away with proper detox.  It’s that slippery slope–where the body is damaged, resulting in pain, and the man-made drugs help for a time, but with interfering with detox pathways, make everything worse–and the person takes more of the drugs to relieve the increasing symptoms…and on…

Now, with the glucuronidation knowledge, there is even more reason not to take these FDA approved drugs unless there is an overwhelming reason to do so.

And Big Pharma thinks it’s quite all right for you to get worse on their drugs…more profits for them.

Hope my dear readers find this as fascinating as I do.  Isn’t the body wonderful?

Buying our destiny…

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…or selling our destiny…depending on your point of view.  Naomi Klein was on DN! today, talking about climate change and our need to change the things we value in order to save the planet.

Perhaps it would be better stated to save ourselves…the planet will survive, i.e., after the humans and animals and plant life are dead from toxicity, the planet will re-emerge clean…like a phoenix rising up from the ashes.

Klein makes a point that the Green movement has been co-opted by the very targets they were fighting against.  Sadly, she states that The Nature Conservancy has been drilling.  Incredible!  Back in the day, it was one of the organizations I donated to.  That and Sierra Club, but when I found that Sierra was “partnering” with Clorox bleach…yeah, I stopped supporting them even before my life took its downturn.

She mentions the indigenous taking on the big corporations –asserting land rights.  You might recall about a year ago, with the natives of Canada protesting fracking exploration on their lands–

My posts on the events:

October 20th.   October 22nd.   November 4.   November 8.  November 24.   December 1.   December 15.

Klein asserts that those who stand to lose the most from the change in what we value–solar over oil, coal, and nuclear energy–are fighting a dirty war with the help of politicians and others who are bought and paid for.

They don’t care what ill health effects are created by the toxic environment.  It’s just mindboggling how they think that their pollution is not going to affect them–do they think they live in a bubble, immune from what happens around them?

An example–the pollen counts have been high here lately, so I haven’t been outside to jog.  I went yesterday morning, and then had problems with deep coughing.  I haven’t really had that deep coughing in awhile.  There has to be a connection.  Not only to the “normal” pollution, but from chemtrails, aka bioengineering–as I saw several trails in the sky to the East of me.  They have been spraying them above the clouds so it’s harder to see them, but they’re there.

I saw these from twenty miles away, Sunday:

chemtrails.9.14.2014

Just recently, Joe Donnelly, Dan Coats, and Jackie Walorski, Indiana politicians, have come out against EPA regulations.  The local radio station is airing commercials (surely paid for by those in the industry) stating that the EPA is a threat.  I kid you not.

Joe Donnelly here and here.

Dan Coats here–from an “EPA abuse” website, most likely being supported by the coal industry;  and here and here–this extension period was needed so they could flood the airwaves with the commercials I’m now hearing….

Notice the “job-killing” tactic–classic playbook.  Why doesn’t Sen. Coats tout renewable energy jobs that would be created if we stopped supporting the dirty coal industry?

Jackie Walorski here:  jackiewalorski.com/walorski-farm-bureau-take-aim-epa/

And here–a big thank you from the Farm Bureau. Pfft.

Note the scare tactics of “big government” and “regulating every faucet”….

Farmers need to realize their part in polluting the water.  And they need to be given some incentive for going organic, and not using chemicals in food production.  Where is the money for that?

Our water flows into the Ohio, which flows into the Mississippi, which flows into the Gulf.  It has been noted that Indiana is one of the biggest polluters (17 million pounds of toxins into our waterways EVERY YEAR), and the coral and sea life are dying because of it.

All the while, mercury in Indiana waterways is ABOVE the standards set from the USGS website.

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 Mercury contamination in water and fish throughout Indiana has routinely exceeded levels recommended to protect people and wildlife. About 1 in 8 fish samples tested statewide had mercury that exceeded the recommended safety limit for human consumption. The causes include mercury in the rain and mercury going down the drain, according to a recently released federal study.The most significant source of mercury to Indiana watersheds is fallout from the air. Much of the mercury in the air comes from human activity. In Indiana, coal-burning power plants emit more mercury to the air each year than any other human activity. In urban areas, wastewater discharge contributes a substantial portion of mercury to waterways.

The toxic waterways

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I had heard this report was out but hadn’t seen it until now–about our toxic waterways.  Indiana, unfortunately, heads the list for toxic load.  It’s worse than I first read about–the number now is 17 million pounds of toxins into our waterways.  43 million pounds released into the Ohio river, THE most toxic river.  Good Grief.

And Joe Donnelly, Dan Coats, and Jackie Walorski, paid by their bosses (in the form of campaign $$, and God knows what else), are fighting for the industries’ right to poison us.    Some of them are so bold to say they’re fighting for us and our families….seriously.  17 million pounds of toxins.  Whom is irresponsible, Mr. Coats?

NY Times has a page up on fines and violations…and how nobody takes responsibility.

The Sierra Club’s take on the Indiana Dept. of Environmental Mis-Management, including a dog boiled alive by hot water discharge, and a coal industry lobbyist being appointed to…wait for it…the IDEM–for prosecuting the polluters.  If this wasn’t so serious, I would be laughing my arse off.

 

 

Progress

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So…you all might recall I blogged about the vulnerability of the Irish to heavy metal poisoning due to a genetic factor…

…my other sister dropped a bombshell last week at the funeral dinner–she had her daughter tested because of health issues…and….drum roll please….she has the double gene responsible for the inability to detox heavy metals.

I knew it….but I couldn’t convince my siblings that because we were Irish, we were more susceptible.

They had a hard time believing that my stupid amalgams had made me so ill.  My sis was a dental hygienist in another life, so she was brainwashed into believing that stuff was perfectly safe.  She was exposed to it eight hours a day, five days a week.  I won’t go into her health issues, but there’s plenty to point towards mercury poisoning.

And yet, it’s still hard for her to wrap her brain around–because she just noticed the red spots on my arms–that have been there for over ten years–probably closer to fifteen years.  She thinks that’s a sign of allergies.  Yes and no.  Allergies are worse with mercury poisoning and many on the support group have some sort of skin issue like mine.

I explained to my sister (she lives out of state, so I don’t get to see her that often), that my red spots got much worse when I worked at the state mental hospital that was located near a cement plant that burns hazardous waste.  I found out a couple years ago that it was spewing mercury into the air.  This just clicked for me that my red spots got worse when I worked there, and then started to disappear when I moved out of town after losing my house.  The thing is–when I chelate, the red spots itch like crazy and become an angry red.  And when they do go away, there is a pink scar left on my forearm.

I’ve passed another milestone that indicates I am progressing, however slowly–my long time readers might recall I mentioned warts on my thumb and middle finger.  The warts on my thumb began to disappear a year or two into chelation.  The middle finger, however, was still there.  Until now.

It was getting itchy and red during chelation, but still remained until this week–where the body finally dealt with it and tada! I no longer have the wart.  Incredible how the body is such a miracle.  I knew that viruses cause warts, so I was waiting for the immune system to take care of it.  Doctors, of course, want to just remove the warts without thinking about why the wart is there and if there is something gone wrong with the immune system…?

So…yeah…a little progress, but a giant leap as far as I’m concerned.

And knowing that I was right all along about the Irish genetics is just wonderful.  Validated.

Now if they’ll only listen to me about Dr. Cutler’s protocol and start chelation before things get really bad…

…and following a grain free organic diet…but yeah, that’s probably not going to happen–lots of resistance, but I can hope, can’t I?

 

 

Alert

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Just wanted to give you a head’s up on something the mercury group has posted~

Vitamin Research Products (vrp.com) is no longer stocking DMSA, one of the chelators of mercury and lead.  They just suddenly stopped stocking it and have even removed the page from their website.

This is not good news.  They were the main supplier of DMSA.  Theories are abound that Big Pharma is behind this–buying out the competition.  And if they can buy out natural cures, they can force sick people to buy their side-effect-laden crap.

There are also allegations that Obamacare is limiting natural methods of healing, such as chelation supplements, making it harder for folks to get well. I don’t know this for fact, but it is one of the reasons I have not signed up for the health care.  Another reason is the link to the insurance industry instead of single-payer, which would have been more palatable, being like Medicare for All.

I can tell you that many of us on the group lost jobs as a result of mercury–therefore, we had lost the ability to pay for medical insurance and the ability to pay for supplements that insurance didn’t cover.   But at least the supplements were available…and cheap.  I would have not gotten well without that.  So once again, the poor take a hit for the uber wealthy to make even more profits….

I suspected that Big Pharma would try to grab this part of the market again, because they had in the past and continually try to get some twerp in Congress to do their bidding with making supplements illegal.

With billions of dollars and high-priced lawyers, they have gotten away with trying to take credit for natural healing herbs and methods, such as those used in India.  These were used for thousands of years…and Big Pharma comes along and tries to claim a patent.  Utterly mindboggling.  More here on Big Pharma’s battle to get a share of the market in India. An even better explanation of it here.

Big Pharma tries to claim that compulsory licenses aren’t available for cancer drugs – a lie; or that they are only available for national emergencies – another lie; or that India is establishing a general exception to patents for pharmaceuticals – an even bigger lie.  Sovereigns retain the right under TRIPS to issue compulsory licenses or to allow public, non-commercial use of patented products or processes.  As long as the correct procedures are followed and adequate remuneration is paid, the patent holder has nothing legitimate to complain about – unless, of course, it is a U.S. multinational who doesn’t want an emerging country like India to get in its way.

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…or for a group of U.S. citizens who want natural methods to heal their bodies to get their way….

And unfortunately, that’s not all that the greedy are trying to patent.

Lastly, here is a good segment on DN! with Vandana and Mira Shiva–two “uppity” women I admire for fighting the good fight~~

Vandana brings up the point of liability.  It would seem that none of the chemical companies — be it Dow/Union Carbide or any Big Pharma — want to take responsibility for the harm that they cause.  All the profits. None of the guilt.

She also highlights the attitudes towards the poor–they don’t matter so let’s poison them or use them as guinea pigs.

It was great to hear of them speak of their strong mother in the end~~no junk food in the house.  My father, too, did not allow junk food in the house when I was growing up–a parent who cares is not going to feed their child junk.  I heard the other day of parents of my children’s generation feeding their kids nothing but junk…and they don’t see anything wrong with that.  Very unsettling.  Regretfully, I didn’t appreciate my Dad’s wisdom until recently.  I always felt deprived because other kids got to have a “treat” of junk food on Friday night.  Just before the divorce, my sister would make Chef Boy-ar-dee pizzas on Friday night.  I felt happy at getting that “treat”.  Pfft.  The “treat” that kills.

Food is medicine.  Weeds are medicine.  When will we learn to value that which is not valuable by profit-making and make that available to all, not just those with cash in hand??

 

 

The shootings in Santa Barbara

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(Side note~Migraine is gone…weird.  I felt like I was getting one Tuesday, and then it went away.  Probably due to the new stress of job and getting away from all grains and chocolate….it’s going to be interesting to see how my body re-adjusts, if my migraines are any clue.)

I got the rare chance of watching Melissa Harris-Perry this morning.  I don’t always agree with her conclusions, but do enjoy the stimulating program.  She talked about the Santa Barbara shootings and the gender bias of the shooter, Elliott Rodger.  She mentioned a video by him, but refused to play it, so I went looking for it on youtube:

 

Wow. Just Wow.  Two minutes into this video, and you can see why women rejected this guy.  Narcissistic. Self-absorbed. Playing the victim. Shallow. Entitled.

Over and over again, he claims rejection by women and doesn’t understand why.  Over and over again he says “these beautiful blonde women” are out with “douchebags”….when they should be out with “wonderful” him.  Women have great intuition (which they don’t always listen to) and probably could see this guy’s warped view of himself and the world and his negative energy towards them…as is now known by his murdering people.

MHP’s guest stated that this guy had a sense of entitlement.  I can see that in the video.  By his view, he was such a “terrific” guy, and was entitled to the beautiful women, but couldn’t get them….so he killed them.

There are so many things tied to Elliott Rodger’s view –one of which is the society’s rape/violence culture against women.

Rodger focuses on rejection by beautiful women.  I would lay bets that there were women who liked Elliott…but they weren’t “beautiful” on the outside.  He probably treated them badly…as he claims he was treated.  It’s okay, you see, to treat women who are “ugly” by society’s standards in a disrespectful and dismissive tone.  This makes me so angry I could spit nails right now.

They brought up that Elliott was autistic.  Okay, you all know what I’m going to say next…he was a high functioning autistic, with apparent aggression and rage — both tied to mercury poisoning.  Will anyone explore that possibility while investigating this case?  Probably not.  And another chance at recognizing mercury/heavy metal poisoning/toxicity’s influence in crime is ignored.

From the first link:

Studies involving a large sample of autistic and schizophrenic patients found that over 90 % of those tested had high levels of the milk protein beta-casomorphine-7 in their blood and urine and defective enzymatic processes for digesting milk protein(92,93,83), and similarly for the corresponding enzyme needed to digest wheat gluten(92,94)

Due to the large number of vaccinations that are now containing mercury thimerosal, most children have been documented to receive mercury exposure far above the government health guideline for mercury, and the number of causes of autism has increased over 600% in the last decade[81,A,43b].

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A group of violent criminals had signif. higher levels of hair lead and cadmium levels than non violent controls(62b)

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Studies at the Argonne National Laboratory found that the majority of delinquents and criminals had high metals levels such as cadmium and lead, and to fall into 2 categories. One group with high copper and low zinc, sodium potassium tended to have extreme tempers, while another group with low zinc and copper, but high sodium and potassium tended to be sociopathic(115). But it was found that treatment of delinquent or violent prone individuals for metals related problems including nutritional therapy usually produced significant improvements in mood, violent behavior, and functionality- with complete cure in the majority of cases (115,119,120).

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A note here about hair analysis–Dr. Cutler is of the belief that hair levels are helpful, but not 100% indicators of toxicity.  Time and again, mercury poisoned folks have tested low mercury on hair tests — NOT because they are not poisoned, but rather, because their bodies are not secreting mercury.  They lack the ability to efficiently rid the body of mercury.  Once they began to chelate, and their poor bodies were able to function half-way decently, their hair tests have changed to high mercury levels.

It is almost a rule that on the mercury support group, that we are gluten and dairy intolerant–lack of enzymes since mercury interferes with it.

It will be interesting to see the developing story.  God Bless the parents and loved ones who lost someone.

The pharmacy in your yard… **edited

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(I want to preface this with:  I am not a health professional.  Please consult with your health care provider before breathing, er I mean, before trying anything outside of Big Pharma, er I mean, before trying anything I suggest here.  You are responsible for your own health decisions. Which is why you should run, not walk, away from American medicine.)

I wanted to explore the link between dandelions and cancer, and found this. 

It supports my own intuition that this plant that we categorized as a bothersome weed could be our lifeline.

It’s just amazing that we’re pouring toxic chemicals–those same chemicals linked to cancer –on a plant that could very well cure that cancer.  (I’m not pointing fingers, mind you, because I am guilty of doing this in my past life, before becoming informed and aware.)

Breast cancer is especially of interest to me because my grandmother died from breast cancer…at least we think it was breast cancer–by the time it was discovered, it had metastasized all over her body, but the concentration was in her breasts.

I still have my two breast lumps, discovered nearly two years ago, but they shrunk after upping my iodine.  And in the last couple of years–drinking dandelion tea every day. Part of the reason for the lumps is the messed up hormones from mercury poisoning…so I am hopeful that they will disappear once I get this horrible poison gone from my system.

I also drink rose hip tea every day–loaded with natural Vitamin C….after reading that synthesized vitamins, such as “C”, are not really that good for us.  The body doesn’t recognize the synthetic version as it does the natural version–which makes sense to me.

Dr. Horner’s list begins with what I’ve been saying all along–eating organic food is the best medicine for your body to do its miracle work of healing itself. Unfortunately, she also recommends grains–which I now see as poison, as well.

A minor quibble with the good fats suggestion–butter from cows allowed to eat naturally–grass, without hormones and antibiotics–is good for us, too.

**edited to add:  she recommends flaxseeds every day — you should be aware that those of us of Irish heritage lack the necessary enzyme to digest flaxseeds.  I was taking flaxseed oil every day thinking it was a good thing, but I started having such nausea with it that I stopped.  It was only later that I found out about the lacking enzymes.

Teas are okay, but Dr. Campbell-McBride (GAPS), allows only loose leaf tea–not processed.   Tea  is high in salicylates, which can cause some severe issues, such as bladder pain and urgency, even blood in the urine. I guess it’s what you call too much of a good thing.

I’ve tried turmeric, too, but didn’t have results with it.  I guess that is one of the individual aspects of “food medicine.”  One size does not fit all.  Listen to your body, and learn to recognize when it is telling you to “stop”.

I wouldn’t recommend stevia, either, as I’ve read of issues with it.  Honey or maple syrup are preferred sweeteners–naturally offering benefits. I might note that royal jelly–from bees–has been touted as energizing–but if you’re allergic, it can have the opposite effect.  I began taking it before I knew I was mercury toxic, and I felt pretty good the first couple of weeks I took it.  Then, I began to feel more tired and developed a sore throat.  When I discontinued the royal jelly, I felt better.  In the interest of science, I took the royal jelly again, and again felt worse with a sore throat after just a few days.  I don’t know if this is a result of the mercury, because it does cause one to be allergic to everything, or whether it was just too high a concentration for my body.

I also disagree with soy–it is a known to impact the thyroid negatively.

So, yeah, nature has provided for us…we just need to value it.

 

 

 

Diet and Health, via Weston Price **edited

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A member of the mercury support group posted this link to the Spring Caustic Commentary on the Weston Price Foundation website.

It’s pretty informative for those who are unfamiliar with Weston Price’s work.  He was a dentist who traveled the world, observing the indigenous tribes.  He discovered that they had perfect teeth–no dental decay.  When they became industrialized, and ate a more Western diet, their dental health began to suffer.  Price also observed the changes in mouth structure–before the Western diet, the parents had bright, wide smiles….but the generations afterward had more narrow smiles and misshapened teeth by overcrowding the mouth.  And yet, Western doctors refuse to see the connection between diet and overall health and wellbeing.

**edited to add the link. Geesh.

More adventures in gluten free foods

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(I meant to post this a few days ago. Oops.  Too much going on…geesh.)

A member of the mercury support group posted about foods that might create problems for folks who are gluten sensitive.   She had taken an expensive ($225) test for foods that the body reacted to as if they were gluten.  A lot of the foods she reacted to are on the “safe” list for gluten sensitive folk.

And then another member of the group posted this link.  Of course, coffee, chocolate and eggs are on the list.

As you can imagine, I was depressed that chocolate was once again mentioned as a problem for us.  But coming off of a five day migraine means that something is wrong and I need to start looking at what I am eating.

Worse than that was the eggs and coffee.  If you can’t eat grains, the usual stuff you would eat for breakfast is out the window…so eggs were an easy option for me.

So, I went searching for others’ views on this, and found a helpful links here .  This makes more sense to me, because Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (GAPS), had eggs on her list for recommended foods.  She even recommended raw eggs beaten with honey for their nutrient value.

I have been trying to get free range eggs, but that is hard to come by in my area.  I came across someone who has eggs for sale independently of stores, and I plan on asking about the feed they use.  As a side note~when I first saw the notice, my first thought was “I wonder if they take food stamps?”  And the next happy thought was…”I don’t have to choose my food according to who will take food stamps anymore! Woot!”

On another site, coffee is debated (in the comments section) on whether it or the dairy creamer might be responsible.  Dr. McBride states that we should not drink instant coffee, but that freshly made coffee that is somewhat weak can be in our diet.

Okay, I feel a little less constricted.

And I realize that chocolate IS a problem, but I seriously don’t know how I’m going to give it up.  It’s an addiction, for sure.  I think I’m going to have to approach it like an addiction and focus on one day at a time.  It would be sooo much easier if it didn’t taste so good.  And be comfort food.

Same with rice.  I had purchased rice flour and made biscuits and gravy as comfort food…and now it looks like I’ll have to give that up, too.  And the rice flour pizza, too.  Arrgh.

One of the comments linked to this page.  He explains gluten reactions a little more in-depth than most.

Another mentioned the gluten free society.