Sepia - A Homeopathic Remedy for Mothers

Motherhood: at it's best, it can fill our days with joy, sweetness, and contentment. Yet, on the worst days, being a mother can be one of the hardest challenges of life. The ups-and-downs of pregnancy, the constant demands of children, the feeling that we will never be able to have a single moment to ourselves; these feelings seem to just come with the territory of being a mother. But is there a better way?

There is one well-known homeopathic remedy that is of immense help to mothers. It can help those bad days feel less dire and dramatic, and make them happen less often. Homeopathic Sepia to the rescue!

What is Sepia?

photo from sci-news.com

Although the word Sepia is commonly used to describe the reddish-brown tone of old photographs, the origin of this word is actually the Latin word for cuttlefish. Cuttlefish ink is a rich brown color, and it was used as an ink or drawing medium for thousands of years. Homeopathic Sepia officinalis is a remedy made from the ink of the cuttlefish.

Never-Well-Since...

While homeopathic treatment of chronic conditions is typically not do-it-yourself, there are certain chronic ailments that are somewhat easier to treat. These are ailments where there was an obvious trigger, known as a Never-Well-Since event or exposure. For instance, chronic ailments following head injuries are often successfully treated with Natrum sulph or Arnica, and ailments following a broken heart are often successfully treated with Ignatia or Natrum mur.

Homeopathic Sepia is listed as a top remedy for the following Never-Well-Since events/exposures [1 - Hahnemann Revisited: A Textbook of Classical Homeopathy for the Professional]:

• Childbirth
• Nursing
• Postpartum depression
• Hormonal treatment
• Birth control pill
• Hysterectomy
• Puberty
• Menopause

Clearly, Sepia's healing action has a particular focus on hormonal-induced states in women. While it is not a cure-all for each-and-every mother, nonetheless a large proportion of mothers can benefit from Sepia.

Characteristic Mental/Emotional Indications for Sepia

As with all homeopathic remedies, Sepia will work best when it matches well with the mental, emotional, and physical symptoms that a person is exhibiting. The mental/emotional picture for Sepia is one of this remedy's most striking features.

The classic picture of a Sepia woman includes:

• mothers who feel overworked and/or overwhelmed,
• irritability or anger specifically triggered by one's children and/or spouse,
• feeling less affectionate or apathetic towards one's children and/or spouse, 
• a desire to escape, even for just a few minutes of solitude, 
• "loves her husband and children dearly but is too exhausted to feel anything but the need to get through the day's work and survive to the next," [2] and/or
• feeling "overly conscientious about family responsibilities and thus excessively guilty about any desire or effort to avoid them" [3].

Women often assume that these feelings are just a natural part of motherhood. They may feel guilty about having these feelings or try to deny that they exist. Nonetheless, Sepia can help the body and mind become more balanced so that these feelings occur less often and with less intensity.

Additional Indications for Sepia

Some additional indications for Sepia include:

• reduced or absent desire for sex,
• feeling better from physical activity and/or dancing,
• postpartum depression and/or irritability,
• urinary problems after pregnancy,
• weeping while relating her symptoms,
• premenstrual symptoms including irritability and aversion to sex,
• hot flashes,
• nausea during pregnancy which is worse from fasting and smells or thoughts of foods,
• pregnancy-induced varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and/or vaginitis, and
• a wide range of other symptoms including allergies, headaches, insomnia, backaches, and literally hundreds of other conditions.

Although Sepia's overall sphere of action includes a wide variety of symptoms, that does not mean it is "the" remedy for all of those conditions. There are over a thousand different homeopathic remedies, and common symptoms such as headaches are associated with hundreds of different remedies.  For instance, in my homeopathic software, 845 remedies are listed under "constipation" and 1,249 remedies are listed for "headache".

What makes homeopathic remedies so effective is that they are selected specifically for each individual. No homeopath would recommend Sepia for every person who has a headache. However, if the person is a mother who is exhibiting some of Sepia's characteristic mental/emotional indications (described above), then Sepia is likely to be a good match.

Success With Sepia for Mothers

In my own life, I have found Sepia to be tremendously useful in helping to balance my emotions and leave me feeling contented with motherhood:

• During my second pregnancy, I developed irritability and anger that I had never experienced before. By the time I found homeopathy nearly three years later, I was often blowing up at my children and felt quite overwhelmed and exhausted. Some days, when my husband would return home from work, I had reached the point where I felt like running away, and I would have to go for a solitary walk just to escape for a short time. I felt guilty for having these feelings, and didn't want to admit them even to myself. Sepia, along with a few other well-chosen chronic remedies, has made a huge difference. I now rarely feel irritable, and I never feel irritability or anger to anywhere near the same magnitude as I used to. I no longer experience that desire to run away, and I no longer feel overwhelmed by the demands of motherhood and homemaking.

Some examples of treatment with Sepia from the homeopathic literature include the following:

• "A 35-year-old woman became pregnant again soon after weaning her second child, then 22 months old. By six weeks she was exhausted and nauseous before mealtimes and would have to eat a little something to relieve it, but the smell of roast chicken and other favorite foods made her feel even sicker and forced her to lie down to try to sleep. Also sensitive to odors like soap and perfume, she felt better when she remembered to exercise, although at their worst her symptoms immobilized her and made her crabby and apathetic. Sepia 30 soon wrought an amazing change in her: within two weeks she had regained her strength and appetite, feeling only minor nausea occasionally from strong perfume. She remained in good health and went on to give birth at home without any difficulty." [3 - Homeopathic Medicines for Pregnancy and Childbirth]
• "A woman of 26 consulted me for irregular periods, the interval averaging 35 to 40 days, often with brownish staining around the midcycle. After a home birth three years ago she had nursed the child for a year, with hemorrhoids and constipation developing and her periods getting off track during that time. Although reluctant to speak about her personal life, she was openly resentful of her husband, who was devoted to the child but highly critical of her and scornful of her opinions, and she could no longer tolerate making love with him. After a round of Sepia... her periods quickly reverted to normal, while her other symptoms improved significantly, and she herself became much more assertive with her husband. No further treatment was needed." [3 - Homeopathic Medicines for Pregnancy and Childbirth]
• "...emotional apathy may develop from some profound sorrow or disappointment in a reserved individual who cannot allow herself to feel because she cannot afford it. A case in point was a 26-year-old woman with amenorrhoea [the absence of menstruation] who, three years earlier, had suffered severely from an unfortunate love... Since that time she had been cold and unresponsive with her family and friends and toward the world in general... She was polite and dutiful, but completely indifferent... Initially there was no dramatic change. Sepia can be a slow starter. Yet on a visit two months later she was a different person - not carefree or even happy, but more caring and responsive, and her menses had resumed. No further remedy was prescribed, since the single dose had obviously reached some deep level of her emotional disharmony and was beginning to heal it. Instead, the remedy was allowed to continue dispelling her 'stilled' or suppressed emotions, as she blossomed into a warm, lovely and now happy human being." [2 - Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines]

Dosage and Potency Guidance

I generally advise starting with homeopathic Sepia in the 30c potency, although for some people it may be more appropriate to start with a lower or higher potency depending upon their individual sensitivity level. When used very soon after the precipitating event (such as pregnancy or childbirth), it is possible that only one dose is needed for the body to restore balance. When there has been a time lapse between the event and the usage of Sepia, more than one dose may be needed.

If the Sepia state has become part of the chronic symptoms picture (with symptoms lasting more than 6 weeks), a good rule of thumb for simple dosing is to wait-and-watch for several weeks after the first dose to see if the Sepia is making a positive difference. With all homeopathic remedies, the least number of doses is always the best. Homeopathic remedies work by stimulating the body to heal itself. Anytime there is a noticeable improvement, no more doses should be given unless the symptoms start to regress (or unless there is a plateau, where the symptoms get better to a point but then stop improving). And if no improvement is observed within 3 doses of taking a remedy, the remedy should be discontinued.

While Sepia typically works quite well for treating mothers, in cases where the Sepia indications are long-standing it is possible that some other remedies will be needed before Sepia can do its work. For instance, if there have been significant traumas, losses, or drug-exposures in the meantime since the Sepia state was induced, those more-recent events/exposures may need to be treated before Sepia will be able to be effective.  In those instances, consulting with a well-trained homeopath is more likely to lead to long-term success with Sepia.

References

[1] De Schepper, Luc (2001). Hahnemann Revisited: A Textbook of Classical Homeopathy for the Professional. Santa Fe, NM: Full of Life Publications.
[2] Coulter, Catherine R. (1998). Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines: Psychophysical Analyses of Selected Constitutional Types, Vol. 1. St. Louis, MO: Quality Medical Publishing, Inc.
[3] Moskowitz, Richard M.D. (1992). Homeopathic Medicines for Pregnancy and Childbirth. Berkely, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or licensed healthcare professional. I am a homeopathic practitioner whose services are considered complementary and alternative by the state of New Mexico. The uses of homeopathic remedies described herein are provided for educational use only.

Affiliate Disclosure - Links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you use these links, your price remains the same, but I earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting this site!

Cultivating a Positive Body Image

This post is the first in a series about positive body image. 

8th grade - I hated looking younger than everyone else

A Pattern of Discontentment

From adolescence onwards, I was never quite satisfied with my body and appearance. In the early years, it was that I was too short and looked too much like a little child. I was a "late bloomer" in that I didn't start menstruating until just before I turned 15 years old. Combine that with being younger than most of the kids in my grade, and the stage was set for having body image issues.

As I moved on into adulthood, I could still always find plenty to be dissatisfied about in my appearance: my freckles, my lack of 6-pack ab muscles no matter how much I worked out or how slim I was, the gap between my front teeth, my different proportions compared to the "ideal". And after becoming a mother, I could easily find ways to be discouraged in my appearance, with my new stretch marks, bigger hips and abdomen than before pregnancy, and an overall different shape than pre-pregnancy.

2008 - early motherhood

Although my negative body image was never severe, and never caused me to do anything drastic, it was like a splinter wedged under my skin, that inexorably kept poking me for over 20 years. Did I really want to let that splinter keep festering for the next 50 or 60 years?

 

Deciding to Change

A couple years ago I had an epiphany: I could just decide to let go of being dissatisfied with my body.  I could decide to be content with being as I am, knowing that I take good care of my body by eating a healthy diet and getting a good amount of physical activity. Rather than continuing to be unhappy with my appearance for the rest of my life, I could just decide to let it go!

This was a big shift for me. I made the decision to stop the internal self-criticism of my appearance, and promised myself that I would be happy to be just as I am. It was a tearful, sweet moment when I looked in the mirror and told myself that I was fine, just as I am. That I am just as I was made to be. That I would love and accept myself, just as I am.

Content to be me in 2016

Settling in to Contentment

Making the decision to change how I viewed myself has been one of the best self-care steps I have ever taken. Although there have been a few times when I have seen myself shifting back into that old negative thought pattern, by reaffirming my decision to accept myself, I have been able to quickly shift back into being content. Making the conscious choice to change this aspect of myself really has worked and allowed me to live the last couple years feeling happier and more whole.

In future posts in this series on body image, I will share how I am actively promoting positive body image in my daughter and the life-changing system that has revolutionized my wardrobe and appearance.

Do you harbor negative thoughts about your own appearance that are keeping you from finding joy?  What has helped you overcome negative body image?

Fundamental Differences Between Homeopathy and Conventional Medicine

Many people don't realize that homeopathy is a complete system of medicine for treating acute and chronic illnesses.  Although homeopathy is well-known in Europe and India in particular, it is generally misunderstood by most people in this country, who confuse it with herbal remedies and other natural healing modalities.  In reality, homeopathy is very different from other natural healing methods.

At its fundamental level, homeopathy is also very different from conventional medicine. It works in a completely different way, and, as anyone who has fully experienced constitutional (chronic) homeopathic treatment can attest, homeopathy has very different effects than conventional medicine does.  Rather than effecting one specific symptom as conventional medicines do, homeopathic remedies can have positive effects on many different symptoms (including mental, emotional, and physical) all at the same time. What makes homeopathy and conventional medicine so different?

Law-of-Similars vs. Law-of-Opposites

Conventional medicine operates through the Law of Opposites.  With the Law of Opposites, symptoms are treated by using medicines that have opposite qualities.  For instance, if someone is having a hard time sleeping, conventional medical treatment would be to prescribe a medicine that produces the opposite effect, which would be something that induces sleepiness. If someone is congested with too much mucous, conventional medicine would prescribe a substance that reduces mucous. This method of using opposites was originally begun by Galen, who lived from 130-200AD.

image from http://www.docteurclic.com

On the other hand, homeopathy works through the Law of Similars, also known as Like-Cures-Like. This is "the principle that a substance which produces certain symptoms in healthy people can cure the same symptoms in the sick" [1].  The Law of Similars was originally described by Hippocrates, who lived from 460-370 BC. Samuel Hahnemann, who lived from 1755-1843, verified the Law of Similars and went on to develop the homeopathic system of medicine over the course of his lifetime. Hahnemann "clearly pointed out that material eliminations of a disease such as pus, mucus, blood, phlegm, bile, and the like, are the products of a disease and not the disease itself" [2].

When the Law of Opposites is used, as in conventional medicine, there may be "quick palliation of the symptoms for a short period but eventually the underlying disease will return after the medicine becomes less active. This return of symptoms calls for the need to use stronger doses and more frequent repetitions of the same medicine to control the disease. [2] " This is why, with conventional medicine, prescriptions for chronic diseases are often needed for extended periods of time, and sometimes even for the rest of the life of the patient, to continually suppress the symptoms of the disease.  Taking such medicines for extended periods often leads to undesirable side effects, and the underlying disease is not actually cured, but rather the symptoms are just being suppressed.

On the other hand, when the Law of Similars is used, as in homeopathy, the remedy actually stimulates the body to cure itself.  The correct remedy is the one that has been proven to produce the same symptoms from which the person suffers when given to a healthy person. So when the body responds to the stimulus of the correct remedy, the body also corrects its own imbalance. This is why, with homeopathic treatment, the amount of remedy needed is actually lessened over time, and the dosing becomes less and less frequent, until eventually no more remedy is needed at all yet the improvements remain.

Body-and-Mind-as-a-Whole vs. Body-and-Mind-as-Separate-Entities

Another fundamental difference between homeopathy and conventional medicine is in how the body and mind are viewed. In conventional medicine, the body and mind are seen as separate entities. This is based on Rene Descartes' (1596-1650) conclusion that "there is nothing included in the body that belongs to the mind, and that there is nothing related to the mind that belongs to the body... Building on the mechanistic philosophy [the followers of Descartes] began to separate the body into various parts to explain each system as a mechanical agent. The bones and muscles were explained as mechanical levers that allowed the body to move like a machine. The inner organs and various systems were seen as chemical mechanisms that digested food and eliminated waste..." [2]. Only recently has conventional medicine started to question this, but these ideas of each body part being separate and unrelated to the other parts of the body are still very firmly entrenched in our culture. This leads to the idea that, if a person has asthma, for instance, then the asthma needs to be treated (suppressed) with an asthma medication. If the same person has depression, that is seen as a completely separate symptom from the asthma, and it is treated separately from the asthma. 

In homeopathy, the mind and body are viewed as one, and the selection of the correct remedy involves evaluating each person as an individual, including the totality of their mental, emotional, and physical symptoms. Hippocrates was the first to view people from this viewpoint. "As he observed his patients he noticed that different body types reacted to the same stimuli in a different manner... He recorded a definite linkage between the physical makeup of the body and the mental temperament as well as reactions to the environment" [2]. Descartes' conclusion that the mind and body were separate entities was in direct contradiction to what Hippocrates had learned, and with the rise of the Cartesian view, the Hippocratic view was excluded and suppressed. The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, picked back up where Hippocrates had left off.  By viewing the mind and body as a whole, the homeopath is able to select a remedy that can positively effect all areas of health in the mind and body. For instance, in a person who has asthma, migraines, social anxieties, and depression, the correct homeopathic remedy would actually stimulate the body to improve all of those.

 

Nano-Doses vs. Large Doses

In terms of dosing, here again homeopathy and conventional medicine are fundamentally different.  Conventional medicine "[assails] the body with large, often protracted and rapidly repeated doses of strong medicine... The long continued employment of such formulas inflicts new and, in part, ineradicable medicinal diseases [side effects] on the sick body" [3]. Samuel Hahnemann actually started his career in healing as a conventional medical doctor, but gave it up because he felt that he was often inflicting more harm than good upon his patients. To Hahnemann, the side effects and continually degenerating long-term health of his patients indicated that using strong doses of medicine was not the way to heal the sick.

After years spent as a chemist and translating medical texts, Hahnemann later went on to discover the use of very, very small doses, "so small that they exactly suffice to lift the natural malady without causing pain or debilitation. The result is that, without in the least weakening, tormenting, or torturing the patient, the natural disease is extinguished and the patient, while improving, soon grows stronger and thus is cured" [3]. The extremely small doses used in homeopathy are often pointed out by critics who insist that, with doses so small, no healing could possibly result from their usage. In reality, the small doses are one of the cornerstones of homeopathy's success. "How can we understand the action of a remedy which does not contain even one molecule of the original substance? Modern physics is just beginning to catch up with Hahnemann's vision of two centuries ago: that matter is essentially energy, that remedies based on energy can be more powerful than those limited to mere matter, and that remedies are essentially information which can be conveyed to the body's own healing energy by their vibrational pattern imprinted onto the inert carrier substance" [1].

Hahnemann did not stumble blindly into using such small doses. He experimented in a very logical manner, using his results to guide his progression. Eventually he found that, indeed, such small doses actually had great curative powers without the negative effects that strong doses of medicines can have (such as side effects and the progressive worsening of the disease over time). Homeopathy's small doses which are so often criticized are actually an essential part of what makes homeopathy work so well.

 

Different Philosophies and Different Outcomes

Conventional medicine and homeopathy are fundamentally different, and their outcomes are fundamentally different as well.  When conventional medicines are used, there is temporary relief of specific localized symptoms, and often the relief is followed by a recurrence of symptoms which require even more medicine to be suppressed. This leads to a cycle of chronically degenerating health, as the body manifests the illness at progressively deeper levels of the body.  

With homeopathy, the remedies are selected based on the totality of a person's mental, emotional and physical symptoms. Such remedies are then applied with very small doses which stimulate the body to heal itself. Over time, the level of health is increased and the body is able to reach a point at which the homeopathic remedy is no longer necessary for the improvements to remain.

Have you had any experience with healing illness and chronic disease in yourself or your family? Have you tried homeopathy?

References
[1] De Schepper, L. (2001) Hahnemann Revisited: A Textbook of Classical Homeopathy for the Professional, Santa Fe, NM, Full of Life Publications.  
[2] Little, D. (2014) The Homeopathic Compendium Volume 1: History and Philosophy, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India, Omnibus Global.
[3] Hahnemann, S. (1842, 1996) Organon of the Medical Art, as translated by Wenda O'Reilly, Palo Alto, CA, Birdcage Press.


Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or licensed healthcare professional. I am a homeopathic practitioner whose services are considered complementary and alternative by the state of New Mexico. The uses of homeopathic remedies described herein are provided for educational use only.  

Links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you use these links, your price remains the same, but I earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting this site!

Shocking Test Results for Fermented Cod Liver Oil

One of the most controversial posts on this blog has been the one about Why My Family Stopped Taking Fermented Cod Liver Oil (FCLO). I've been thanked for that post, I've been attacked for that

post; it definitely seemed to hit some nerves. However, that will be nothing compared to the stir that will be created by some shocking new test data for FCLO.

This new test data comes from multiple independent laboratories, and is the result of efforts by nutritionist Kaayla Daniel, who is the Vice President of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF). Over the last year or two, people started expressing doubts about FCLO, including how it is produced, its vitamin content, and its efficacy. The Board of the WAPF voted against testing FCLO (as they felt like the testing they had already performed was sufficient), but Kaayla wanted to investigate further to find out if there was any validity to the doubts about FCLO.

Because there have been questions raised about the accuracy of the FCLO test results that Green Pasture posts on their website, Kaayla sent unopened bottles of FCLO to multiple laboratories in the United States as well as abroad, who were known to be experts in testing marine oils.  Kaayla wanted to find out if there were any issues with rancidity, and find out how FCLO's nutrient-profile looked.

As the test results came in, she was surprised to find that, in addition to rancidity and nutrient issues, FCLO actually appeared to be made from something other than the liver oil of Arctic codfish.  This led to DNA testing of the Green Pasture Cattle Lick product, which is said to be made from the livers leftover from making FCLO. And the DNA tests showed that the source of the liver was actually Alaskan pollock, NOT cod!

In short, the test results showed the following:

• FCLO appears to not actually be a fermented product, as its pH is too basic and it does not contain significant levels of lactic acid bacteria. 
• At least one of the bottles of FCLO that was tested showed significant rancidity issues. (Note: there is not a consensus in the scientific community about what constitutes rancidity, so this conclusion is widely debated.)
• The bottles of FCLO that were tested had extremely low levels of Vitamin D, nearly nonexistent Vitamin K, and less Vitamin A than claimed by Green Pastures.
• The EPA to DHA ratio of the bottles of FCLO that were tested is not consistent with what it should be if it is really made from the liver oil of codfish.  
• DNA testing of a product claimed to be liver leftover after making FCLO showed it to actually be liver from Alaskan pollock, NOT cod liver! Pollock is a member of the cod family, but it has a very different nutrient profile than codfish.

If you want to dig into the nitty-gritty details of the testing and data analysis, Kaayla has written a detailed report on the matter, which you can see here.

I am relieved that I trusted my gut instincts and stopped giving my family fermented cod liver oil a few years ago. And I am so glad that we can boost our nutrition instead with extra virgin cod liver oil!  The color, odor, and flavor of EVCLO are wonderful indicators of its freshness and purity; Rosita's transparency in describing and showing their processes for harvesting the oil is refreshing and gives me confidence that this really is a well-produced product.

Update:  
Here are some links for those who want to read more analysis of Kaayla's FCLO report and the controversy surrounding it:

• Weighing In on Fermented Cod Liver Oil by Chris Masterjohn
• A Summary of Dr. Kaayla Daniel's New Report on Green Pasture's Fermented Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil by Ron Schmid
• Questions and Answers about Fermented Cod Liver Oil by Sally Fallon Morrell 
• Green Pasture's Response to Questions on Fermented Cod Liver Oil
• Important Update on Cod Liver Oil by Chris Kresser 
• Can You Ferment Cod Liver Oil? by Firelight Heritage Farm
• My Take on the FCLO Scandal by Cheeseslave 
• What Would Dr. Price Do About the FCLO Mess? by David Gumpert 

What has been your experience with FCLO?  Have you tried EVCLO? 

Links to Corganic are affiliate links. If you use these links, your price remains the same, but I earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting this site!

The Importance of High-Vitamin Butter Alongside Cod Liver Oil

Nutrients in Butter and Cod Liver Oil Work Synergistically

Photo from Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

In Weston Price's research into Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, he found that the diets of traditional people contained much higher nutrient-content than modern diets.  For instance, traditional diets contained ten times the amounts of Vitamin A and D present in modern diets.  The higher nutrient-content led to people with robust health and virtually no cavities, heart disease, or cancer. One easy way to boost the amount of nutrients in our diets is through the use of superfoods such as extra-virgin cod liver oil, which is a nutritional powerhouse providing Vitamins A and D, plus Omega 3's, DHA, and EPA.

Weston Price found that cod liver oil worked synergistically with high-vitamin butter. Price wrote of controlling and preventing cavities through the following:

"The program that I have found most efficient has been one which includes the use of small quantities of very high vitamin butter mixed in equal parts with a very high vitamin cod liver oil... When this butter oil is mixed in equal parts with a very high-vitamin cod liver oil, it produces a product that is more efficient than either alone...The quantity of the mixture of butter oil and cod liver oil required is quite small, half a teaspoonful three times a day with meals is sufficient to control wide-spread tooth decay when used with a diet that is low in sugar and starches and high in foods providing the minerals, particularly phosphorus. A teaspoonful a day divided between two or three meals is usually adequate to prevent dental caries and maintain a high immunity; it will also maintain freedom from colds and a high level of health in general. This reinforcement of the fat-soluble vitamins to a menu that is low in starches and sugars, together with the use of bread and cereal grains freshly ground to retain the full content of the embryo or germ, and with milk for growing children and for many adults, and the liberal use of sea foods and organs of animals, produced the result described."

It is clear that, to get the most benefit from taking cod liver oil, the nutrients in high-vitamin butter should be consumed alongside cod liver oil.

My Family's Experience with Butter Oil

My family stopped taking fermented cod liver oil (FCLO) years ago because of digestive and flavor issues. Back when we were still using FCLO, my family tried taking high-vitamin butter oil along with our cod liver oil, but we had a hard time with the flavor.  The butter oil had a very strong smell and flavor that I found to be unpleasant; my toddler daughter did like the butter oil, but my husband and I could never get ourselves to take it with any regularity.  At that time, I gave up on the idea of having butter oil, and just focused on liberally using high-vitamin butter (usually on toast or waffle) whenever we took our dose of cod liver oil.

For nearly a year now, we have been using extra-virgin cod liver oil (EVCLO), which we aim to take a couple times a week. EVCLO has such a light, pleasant taste that it is no chore to take it regularly. Thus far, I have been continuing to rely on high-vitamin butter to enhance the benefits of the cod liver oil.  However, recently Corganics sent me a complimentary bottle of their extra-virgin butter oil to try.

I opened the extra-virgin butter oil with the expectation that it would have the same strong and somewhat offensive smell and taste as the butter oil I tried years ago, but I was in for a surprise. Extra-virgin butter oil has a pleasant smell that reminds me of the smell of homemade popcorn, and it tastes like unsalted butter.  I like to add a tiny pinch of salt or dab of raw honey to the butter oil and that makes the taste truly fantastic. Both of my children enjoy the flavor of extra-virgin butter oil and like taking it along with their EVCLO.

We will still be using high-vitamin butter liberally, but especially for those times of year when the butter from the store is on the pale side, it will be a pleasure to supplement with extra-virgin butter oil to make sure we are getting the most benefit from our extra virgin cod liver oil.

 

What are your experiences with butter oil? Do you take cod liver oil and butter oil together?

Affiliate Disclosure - Links to Amazon and Corganic are affiliate links. If you use these links, your price remains the same, but I earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting this site!

Home Birth is Safe and Healthy

In planning to have a home birth for each of my children, the response I typically encountered from others was something along the lines of “what if something goes wrong?” or “you are really brave”. These responses underscore the fact that most people in our society have no idea that home birth is a safe option, and they certainly don’t think labor is something we are designed to handle naturally, without interventions or drugs. As an avid researcher of so many decisions in my life, it was surprising that people would think I was somehow being cavalier by deciding to have a baby at home, as if I was potentially sacrificing the safety and health of my unborn child.

In fact, home birth is as safe (if not safer) than hospital birth for low-risk women. A recent study of nearly 13,000 births was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal [1]. There were three groups of women in this study: those planning home births with a registered midwife, those planning hospital births with a registered midwife, and those planning hospital births with a physician. Both groups of women that were attended by a registered midwife were attended by the same group of midwives; additionally, all of these women met the eligibility requirements for home birth, which means that women in both of these groups did not have any preexisting disease, significant complications of pregnancy (such as hypertension and gestational diabetes), or multiple fetuses, among other criterion.

The study showed that rates of perinatal death (i.e. death during the last weeks of pregnancy and up to four weeks following birth) were slightly lower in the planned home birth group (0.35 deaths per 1000 births) than in both of the groups of women planning to give birth in the hospital (0.57 deaths per 1000 births in a hospital attended by a midwife and 0.64 deaths per 1000 births in a hospital attended by a physician). This means that there were fewer deaths of mothers and babies in the planned home birth group than in both of the hospital birth groups.

All obstetrical interventions, such as episiotomy, electronic fetal monitoring and assisted vaginal delivery, pose some risk to the mother and/or baby. The same study [1] showed that “women who planned a home birth were significantly less likely to experience any of the obstetric interventions [that were] assessed, including electronic fetal monitoring, augmentation of labour, assisted vaginal delivery, cesarean delivery and episiotomy.” For instance, 3% of mothers in the planned home birth group received an episiotomy, while the women who planned hospital births with midwives and doctors had episiotomy rates of 7% and 17% respectively. 24% of women who planned homebirths had some augmentation of labor (such as rupture of membranes or oxytocin), while the women who planned hospital births with midwives and doctors had labor augmentation rates of 40% and 50% respectively.

In the same study [1], women who planned to birth at home were also much less likely to have adverse maternal outcomes, such as 3rd- or 4th –degree perineal tears or postpartum hemorrhage. Additionally, newborns in the home birth group were less likely to have birth trauma, require resuscitation at birth, or have meconium aspiration.


All of these trends make it clear that mothers and babies in the home birth group were safer and healthier than those that planned births in a hospital.

This article is part of a series on home birth. For more about home birth, check out these articles:
Why home birth?
Natural birth is optimal and empowering
Home birth allows mothers the freedom to move
Home birth facilitates bonding and breastfeeding
Home birth works cooperatively with the Sphincter Law 
Home birth is great for siblings 

Are these home birth statistics surprising to you?  How was your birth experience?

Reference
[1] “Outcomes of planned home birth with registered midwife versus planned hospital birth with midwife or physician”, Patricia A. Janssen PhD, Lee Saxell MA, Lesley A. Page PhD, Michael C. Klein MD, Robert M. Liston MD, Shoo K. Lee MBBS PhD, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 15 September 2009, Volume 181, Issue 6-7.

Can a Perfect Diet Lead to Perfect Health?

GAPS, Paleo, Primal Blueprint, Perfect Health Diet, Weston Price: There are so many different diets that are touted as being "the" answer to the question of finding health.  Does following these diets lead to perfect health?

My Family's Experience With Finding Health Through Diet

2005
Nearly 10 years ago, my husband and I embarked on our journey of finding health through diet.  Prior to that time, we were following a typical Standard American Diet, with lots of processed foods, low-fat foods, and restaurant foods.  While neither of us suffered from any very serious health issues, we did have some health issues since we both had cavities, we had both been prescribed inhalers for asthma, I had acne rosacea, irritable bowel syndrome, and carpal tunnel syndrome, and my husband had long-standing issues with eczema, insomnia, and sinus problems (which had not been improved even with two sinus surgeries).

I learned about Weston Price's groundbreaking research into traditional diets and jumped right in to changing our diets.  We were looking forward to having children soon, and I wanted to make sure we were both very healthy before conception. We started consuming plenty of grassfed beef, pastured chicken and eggs, butter, raw milk and cheese, fish eggs, homemade chicken stock, sprouted and/or soaked whole grains, fermented foods, fruits and vegetables, and a daily dose of cod liver oil.

My husband and I both saw health improvements from these dietary changes.  The frequency of illnesses decreased and we both saw some improvements in our chronic health issues. For instance, my acne rosacea and irritable bowel syndrome disappeared, and my husband had less frequent sinus flareups. We kept on following the Weston Price-based diet and making it a normal part of our lives.

2010
Fast forward 5 years through the birth of two children and things weren't looking so rosy. Despite having consumed an excellent Weston Price-based diet her whole life, our 3-year-old daughter had poor weight gain and a pattern of recurrent illnesses. She would get sick roughly 8-10 times per year, each time running a high fever for several days, and often she had a lingering cough for 2-3 weeks after each illness. When other kids had a minor "tummy bug", she had an extreme version with vomiting for 48 hours and losing over 10% of her body weight.

My exclusively-breastfed infant son slept horribly, waking frequently every night; he had eczema and was constipated, and he cried inconsolably for 30-45 minutes several times every day. During my recent pregnancy, I had developed three new health issues that did not subside after the birth - insomnia (awake for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night every night), joint pain (that made normal activities such as holding the baby very difficult), and irritability (losing my temper and being impatient with my daughter, which had never been an issue previously). My husband's sinus problems flared up and he had a sinus infection for over 6 months. My husband and I were getting sick more frequently as well. 

Thinking that we would be able to fix these problems through an even stricter diet, my family started the GAPS Diet in the late summer of 2010. The GAPS Diet is similar to Paleo and Primal Diets, except that it has a specific emphasis on curing health conditions through healing the gut. The GAPS Diet is based on healthy fats (such as butter and coconut oil), meats, fruits, veggies, broth, and fermented foods. The GAPS Diet does not allow any grains or starches, and allows no sweeteners except honey.

We followed the GAPS Diet strictly for over 16 months, and completed two rounds of the Intro Diet. Initially, we had amazing results: our daughter got sick less frequently and she started gaining weight, my joint pain was gone, and my husband's 6-month-long sinus infection finally abated. We thought we had finally found the answer to our health problems.

2012
Even though we were still strictly following GAPS, some of our old health problems started to come back. My husband's sinuses started to flare up again, and his eczema flared up and became worse than ever.  I developed adrenal issues including spells of extreme low energy, and yet if I went off GAPS my joint pain came back again. Our (already low-weight) daughter stopped gaining weight and even started losing weight.  A full rundown on the positive results and set-backs for each of us on GAPS can be seen in this post.

The positive benefits of GAPS had waned and we had developed new problems while on the diet. We stopped strictly following GAPS and found that we now had food sensitivities that we had not observed prior to following the GAPS Diet. And many of our previous health concerns were once again in effect.

At this point I finally realized that diet alone was not sufficient to heal our chronic health issues. While different dietary strategies were able to give us temporary improvements, over time our old issues always came back, no matter how strictly we followed the diets.

Why Didn't Diet Heal Our Health Issues?

In the intervening three years since we stopped the GAPS Diet, I have learned a great deal about health and healing chronic health issues.Through constitutional homeopathic treatment, my family is finding health in ways that diet could never even come close to. Through my intensive search for answers, I have come to understand health in a whole new way.

Using diet to heal chronic health issues is somewhat like putting a band-aid on a cut: diet can aid in the process of healing, but it can't actually cause the healing process to occur. Just as a band-aid alone cannot heal an infected wound, diet alone cannot heal chronic health issues. Diet can certainly lead to temporary improvements, but unless the underlying imbalance is healed, the chronic issues will keep coming back again despite any dietary measures. Homeopathy works differently than dietary measures because it seeks to correct the fundamental imbalance that is leading to the symptoms in the first place.

What Is the Root Cause of Chronic Health Problems?

From a homeopathic perspective, chronic health issues are an indication of an underlying imbalance, often as a result of genetic predispositions (which are referred to as miasms in homeopathic literature).  Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, was well ahead of his time in that he developed an understanding of genetic influences on the health of subsequent generations nearly 200 years ago. Constitutional homeopathy works differently than diet (and many other healing modalities, including herbalism and conventional medicine) in that it seeks to uproot those underlying miasms and thereby remove the fundamental cause for the illness rather than just addressing the outward symptoms. 

Our Successful Path to Health 

Over the last 3 years, we have been finding answers to our health problems with homeopathy. In fact, our results have been so astonishing to me that I became a homeopath to share this healing modality with more people. A brief rundown of the benefits we have seen through homeopathy are:

• We all get sick much less frequently now, and when we do get sick the intensity is much less than previously.
• Our low-weight, poor appetite daughter now consistently gains weight and eats well. Her previously-poor immune system has been boosted so much that she has averaged only 1-2 minor illnesses per year over the last 2 years (as compared to her previous average of 8-10 more serious illnesses per year). Her homeopathic treatment has evened out her emotions so that she no longer cries at the drop of a hat, and also improved her focus and uncoordination (clumsiness).
• Our son, whose sleep had degenerated over time to where he was waking every hour every night by the age of 2 years old, now sleeps 8-9 hours straight consistently. His intense temper tantrums were greatly improved and eventually stopped altogether through his homeopathic treatment. He has become much more cooperative and easy-going as well, and the correlation between these changes and his doses of homeopathic remedies is very obvious. He is the member of our family who is nearest to completing his homeopathic treatment, as evidenced by the fact that these improvements remain even while he is taking less remedy, less often.
• My joint pain is gone, no matter whether or not I eat grains. I now very rarely have problems with low energy, and my irritability/mood is so much better! My insomnia is not completely resolved, but has improved from waking every single night for 2-3 hours to now waking about 10-15% of the time. My menstrual cycles have also normalized through my homeopathic treatment.
• My husband, who has the most chronic health problems in our family, has seen steady improvements in his chronic health issues over the last few years on homeopathic treatment. His homeopathic treatment is turning back the clock on many of his health complaints, so that they are now better than they have been in over 12 years. His eczema is minimal, he is sleeping longer stretches of time at night (whereas previously he would wake every 1-2 hours), his weight is steady, and his sinus issues have much diminished over time.

I think it is very interesting that Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride, the author of the GAPS book, recommends combining homeopathic treatment with the GAPS Diet.  Through my post-GAPS experiences, I wonder how many people who were "cured" by GAPS were actually healed through homeopathic treatment. Several of my homeopathic patients had previously tried the GAPS Diet, but are now seeing better results through homeopathic treatment than they experienced with the GAPS Diet.

Where Does Diet Fit In To Overall Health?

People are often very surprised to find out that I have serious reservations about recommending the GAPS Diet. For my family, the GAPS Diet ended up being an empty promise. Given the extreme amount of time and effort involved in following the GAPS Diet (I spent an average of 6 hours per day in the kitchen), that empty promise is not something I would recommend to others. In the end, it was not able to solve our chronic health problems, and it actually ended up creating more problems.

However, I do believe that diet is an important part of maintaining overall health. Providing the body with an abundance of nutrients, through eating nutrient-dense foods, gives the body resources to use in healing. The body does need those nutrients, just as it needs adequate sleep and physical activity. But those nutrients alone are not enough to heal underlying imbalances that lead to chronic health issues. Good nutrition is important, but it is not the solution to healing chronic health problems.  

What is your experience with healing chronic conditions through diet? Have you had any increased food sensitivities after grain-free dieting?

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Top 10 Storebought Body and Hair Care Products

I love to use homemade body and hair care products, but my husband still prefers some storebought products.  And, since there isn't enough time to make everything, there are some products I have never even tried to make (such as soap). These are our favorite storebought body and hair products. I'll talk about my favorite homemade body and hair care products in a future post.

Skin Care Products

1. Coconut and Papaya Bar Soap
I always thought I hated bar soaps. All of them would leave my skin feeling stripped and dry. But then a couple years ago I was given a bar of Coconut and Papaya Soap as a gift, and realized I was wrong.  This soap has a wonderful, light scent, a smooth, foamy lather, and it does not dry out my skin!  Now I use this soap in my every-other-day showers and in the soap dishes by our bathroom sinks.

2. California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo and Bodywash 
My husband and son have rather sensitive skin with a tendency to eczema, and in the past they have had skin reactions to soaps and laundry detergents. It took a lot of trial and error to find California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo and Bodywash, which works for everyone in the family with no skin reactions.

We have been using California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo and Bodywash for over 6 years now. My son's chronic eczema has now been cured through homeopathy, and my husband's eczema has gotten better and better as he continues his homeopathic treatment.  Nonetheless, we still use this soap.

I use this soap as a gentle facial soap. My husband uses this soap as an all-over bodywash and shampoo. I also add a squirt or two of this soap under running water to make bubbles for my kids' baths, which they use to wash themselves with. This soap is sold at Target for cheaper than it can be found online.
 
3. Unrefined Coconut Oil
I love using unrefined coconut oil as a moisturizer. I coconut oil as a daily light facial moisturizer as well as for all over my body after showering. Click here to see my tips for using coconut oil as a moisturizer. My favorite brands of unrefined coconut oil (which I use for body care as well as cooking) are Spectrum and Dr. Bronner's, and the best prices for these are at our local healthfood co-op. 

4. California Baby Super Sensitive Everyday Lotion
My husband's preferred moisturizer is California Baby Super Sensitive Everyday Lotion. He has been using this lotion on his sensitive skin for over 6 years.  We used this lotion on our daughter when she was a newborn (back before we realized that kids don't need baths daily; now they hardly ever need to use lotion at all since they aren't bathing daily). I used this lotion as a facial moisturizer for years, until I started using coconut oil.  I currently use this lotion occasionally at times when I need a lotion that will absorb quickly.

 

Deodorants

My husband and I stopped using conventional antiperspirants many years ago, when we learned how unhealthy antiperspirants can be. Through lots of trial and error, we have both found deodorants that work for us.

5. Alvera Aloe and Almonds Deodorant
For some reason, my body chemistry has always reacted to scents. Back in high school when I first tried wearing perfume, I was always disappointed that shortly after applying perfume the scent would change to not smelling very good.  I have the same problem with many deodorants.

But I love Alvera Aloe and Almonds deodorant. I've been using this deodorant for over 5 years. The fragrance is fantastic, and it stays smelling good all day. This is not an antiperspirant (which is good from a health standpoint), so I do still sweat while using this deodorant. But it does make my sweat smell very good.

6. Bubble and Bee Pit Putty Cream Deodorant
My husband's favorite deodorant for the last few years has been Pit Putty Cream. He prefers the Spearmint and Tea Tree scent, and I love it's refreshing scent. (Being a short person myself, I do get to have a sniff of this deodorant whenever I hug my husband.) Pit Putty Cream contains arrowroot powder which will absorb small amounts of sweat, so I have used this deodorant occasionally when I needed to prevent sweat rings under my arms with dress shirts. 

 

Hair Products

I use homemade shampoo, conditioner, and hairspray (which will be included in my upcoming list of Top 10 Homemade Body and Hair Care Products), but there are a couple of storebought hair care products that I use as well.  

7. Argan Oil
Argan oil is renowned for its moisturizing properties. Even though it is an oil, Argan oil is very lightweight and does not leave any greasy sheen. Many people use Argan oil as a facial moisturizer, and it is reputed to be anti-aging.  I'm sticking with coconut oil for my face, but I do like to use Argan oil for my hair.

I use a very small amount (one or two drops) of Argan oil after my every-other-day shower. I simply rub the oil on my fingertips and then apply it to the ends of my towel-dried hair. Argan oil helps keep my hair shiny, moisturized, and smooth. Argan oil is very pricey, but I use such a small amount that I have used less than half a bottle in 6 months (and that includes the time I accidentally knocked the bottle over and spilled some).
 
8. Giovanni Sunset Styling Lotion 
This is a very lightweight product that contains essential oils, and it has a watery consistency.  I use it because it reduces frizz and flyaways in my very fine, wavy hair. After applying Argan oil to the ends of my hair, I apply a small amount of Giovanni Sunset Styling Lotion all over, and then I scrunch my hair and let it air dry.

Toothpaste

In addition to the homemade tooth cleaners I discussed previously, we enjoy using the following two storebought toothpastes. Because my family is hypersensitive, we need to avoid using mint toothpastes as they can interfere with our homeopathic remedies, and that rules out most toothpastes on the market. However, these two options work well for us and are glycerin-free.

9. Lemon EarthPaste
Earthpaste is a non-foaming toothpaste based on Redmond Clay (which is rich in more than 60 trace minerals that may aid in tooth remineralization). I had heard of Earthpaste before, but only ever saw flavors such as cinnamon, which I am not fond of. However, I randomly saw lemon-flavored Earthpaste in the children's section of our healthfood co-op a few months ago, and decided to give it a try.  We love it!

10. Coral Kids Toothpaste
On days when I would like to have the classic foaming-toothpaste experience, I use Coral Kids Toothpaste.  We used Mint-Flavored Coral White toothpaste back before we started our homeopathic treatment, but with out mint sensitivity that option is currently ruled out.  But now we can use the Coral Kids version instead. It tastes great, and people who want something more "normal" will like it just fine.  This toothpaste also contains minerals such as calcium which may help in tooth remineralization.

What are your favorite storebought body and haircare products?

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WINNERS of Raw Extra-Virgin Cod Liver Oil

There were 99 entries to the giveaway for the Raw, Extra-Virgin Cod Liver Oil! "Rosita EVCLO is real Norwegian cod liver oil that is fresh, raw & handcrafted from wild livers using a very rare ancient extraction technique which uses nature to separate the oil from its liver.


I used a free random number generator to select the winner.  The winners are:

Rebecca Turner in Waverly Hall Georgia

Stephanie Larsen in Silver Springs Florida 



Congratulations, Rebecca and Stephanie!  Please e-mail me at nourishedandnurtured[at]gmail[dot]com no later than August 30th. Send me your mailing address so I can ship the EVCLO to you pronto.