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Dragonfly News

The Official Monthly Newsletter of Song of Health
March, 2007

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In this issue: Allergies, The Natural Approach
by Dr. Letitia M. Watrous, N.D.
Sharing Experiences
by Sandra Strom, CEO of Song of Health
Recipes of the Month

 

ALLERGIES, THE NATURAL APPROACH
By Dr. Letitia M. Watrous, Naturopathic Physician

Allergy season is approaching as the days begin to get longer. Many people suffer terribly from allergic rhinitis with constant nasal drainage, weeping itchy eyes, and headaches. This is all unnecessary. What has occurred is a loss of wisdom in our society or perhaps a loss of connection to the seasons. Our bodies change as the seasons change. We are pulled by the moon, stars, planet, and sun, just as the maple trees and hibernating animals are. Coming out of the winter rest the sap starts to flow again in the tree and leaf buds begin to grow. Animals emerge hungry and ready to migrate. Humans, naturally through winter, have eaten root cellar vegetables such as squash, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, beets, and carrots. We have lived for thousands of years on staples like beans, grains, nuts, seeds and the meats we could hunt or fish. A man is to eat food that he can reach by foot in 1 week’s time, which is easily 200 miles. Our ‘habitat’ then has been local foods. It has only been in the last 100 years of our history that food has been so easily transported.

Trains, trucks, ships and airplanes now allow pineapples, oranges, bananas, or mangos to be delivered fresh to store shelves in the middle of winter. This is not what our metabolisms, hibernating in 10-degree winter snow, are ready for. So, eating these foods “out of season” builds up a toxemia. The toxins may be released at the time, but more commonly are released and infiltrate the lymphatic chain and liver at the change of the season, when the days become longer, warmer and we have an increase in metabolic function. The pooling and then dumping of these toxins from wrong eating overwhelm the lymph. The lymph carries the lymphocytes and other types of white blood cells, which eat garbage and keep out bodies pure. As the white blood cells become overburdened they begin to over-respond to every irritant. Mold, pollens and animal dander, for example, then push the body into extreme measures of cleansing. The sinuses, being the body’s first line of defense, respond by producing mucus to flush the irritant, protecting the liver from more toxic lymph to filter. This sinusitis, a normal healing mechanism, should never be stopped or suppressed with nasal sprays, inhalers, or anything to dry up the drainage. If you do this, you stop the body’s wisdom, drive the toxins deeper into the tissues and stress an already congested lymphatic channel and overburdened liver. Chronic degenerative disease such as lymphoma, chronic obstructive lung disease, or congestive heart failure will follow. The body must be allowed to dump the poison.

If a person follows seasonal dietary eating habits and avoids their food intolerances, the ebb and flow of the season and body will be as one. There will be no extra toxic lymphatic drainage occurring. Seasonal allergies are a disorder of modern man. We cause our own suffering. To heal this malady, do not eat any tropical or warm climate foods if you live in a cold winter climate.

To support the lymphatic system at this time of seasonal change you can do some of the following:
Wormwood (WW) capsules can be taken when a sinusitis occurs. Most common dosage is 2 to 6 capsules a day to drain and support the sinuses and lymphatic chain.
Nettle tea has proven effective for “allergies”. Three cups a day is often prescribed. Nettle capsules are also an easy way to help white blood cell function.
Ginger and garlic are warming and immune supportive. These can be taken in the form of teas or capsules.
Homeopathic remedies are often utilized to rebalance the metabolism, depending upon symptom presentation. Hepar Calcarea Sulph, Gelsemium and Allium Cepa, to name a few, are prescribed depending upon the individual’s response to the toxemia.
Constitutional hydrotherapy will rebalance the digestion and drain the lymphatic congestion in usually 5 to 10 treatments. For my new patients with seasonal allergies I tell them this is a mandatory therapy if they are just beginning to follow their food intolerance diet. My long-term patients no longer get this seasonal disease, for they follow the wisdom of the seasons and earth. If they do have symptoms, they know they have violated a natural law of healing and call for guidance.

May you have a healthy and happy Spring! Enjoy the sun when you can. Eat the new shoots that come forth early in the season. We all benefit from the cleansing effects of rhubarb and bitter greens in the warming of our earth in this season. My very best wishes to all of you for another time of change on this planet.

SHARING EXPERIENCES
"The Answers to my Well-Being"
By Sandra Strom, CEO Song of Health

I recently became ill, first with flu-like symptoms, including stomach pain and nausea, which then went into sinus and bronchial congestion. Was I able to pin down what caused my immune system to weaken and become prey to the nearest viruses? You bet I could!

If we slow down long enough to think back on the last couple of weeks and diagnose the condition of our lifestyle habits, then it is simple to pinpoint where our problems begin. For me, it was stress and fudging on my food intolerances.

For several weeks I was allowing myself to buy into stress. True, my work can breed stress but it is my choice as to whether I take it on or not. I know simple remedies to relieve stress, all I have to do is…do it:

Begin my day with prayer and meditation. This is a spiritual activity, not religious, that helps me to establish a connection with a power greater than myself, with Great Spirit. I get to turn all my worries over to that power first thing in the morning, then I don’t have to carry them with me. If I choose to pick up those worries sometime throughout my day, I can repeat the process. If I remember to pray in gratitude for all that I’ve been blessed with, for it is so much, then even if I or a loved one is sick, even if I’m poor or there’s been a catastrophe, there is still something to be found in the rubble worth praying in gratitude for. I have found that my day goes a lot better this way than if I start it with “oh ___”, jumping out of bed as though there’s a fire and immediately tensing up every muscle in my body, ready to run the rat race!

Exercise for at least 20 minutes daily, stretch often during the day and consciously get up and walk around for a few minutes…with a smile on my face.

Find healthy humor in my life. Laughing is one of the best stress relievers there is and having a good, upbeat attitude makes life fun instead of a drag.

If someone else’s actions are affecting me in a negative way and I’m finding myself getting stressed over it, I first need to be aware of what is happening and then step out of the emotion. The easiest way for me to do this is to either pray for the other person (at the very least, say the Serenity Prayer!) and/or try thinking about what the person is really upset about, the underlying issues, and does it have to do with my actions or am I just being their sounding board. This gives me enough time to remove myself from the immediate whirlwind and emotion, which will ultimately help to avoid stress and afford me the opportunity to determine what the next best action is.

I had been fudging on my diet for a couple of weeks. A co-worker was bringing me chocolate candy every day, and like any typical woman’s thinking, chocolate sounded like the ultimate quick fix for the immediate difficulty of the day. One of my food intolerances is the combination of refined sugar with fruit within six hours of each other. I thought I could get away with just a small bite of candy, even though I had consumed a fruit substance not three hours before, plus the candy itself probably had coconut oil in it. I was becoming addicted to the sweet morsel. And although I wasn’t necessarily getting immediate reactions every time I committed the food mixing violation, eventually it caught up with me. Bam! I was down sick for several days, and the symptoms of congestion continued to linger for over a week. I did go to a local naturopath for an Echinacea shot, which helped to boost my immune system, so my energy level at least returned in a few days. And I took some homeopathic remedies that Dr. Watrous suggested, which aided immensely in recuperating.

Sometimes it seems easier to cave in to our cravings or desires for that quick fix, our personal poison. We pay the price with our health, one way or another. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually. The longer we abuse ourselves, the worse our condition gets.

We are human beings on the path of progress. Sharing our experience, strength and hope, we continue together, to achieve…and maintain…

Great Health – Great Life.

I wish you a great month!

* Hydrotherapy at home: If no one is around to help you by placing hot-then-cold compresses on you, you can get the same results by:

• First prepare a cold compress by dipping a towel in cold water and ringing it out. Then either step into a hot shower or bath for at least five minutes – long enough for the body temperature to rise. Get out, wrap the towel around your torso and immediately get under blankets and cover yourself completely. Stay covered until the towel is warmed by your body, approximately ten minutes.

* Homemade Nasal Douche:
Mix together

1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. boric acid
1 pint warm water
 

Dissolve first three ingredients in the warm water. Cup it in your hand and sniff it up. The intention is to sniff as deeply as possible so it goes through the nasal passages and into the throat. DO NOT SWALLOW. Spit it out. Repeat several times, until you feel relief. Repeat several times throughout the day. (This sounds gross and isn’t the most fun thing to do, but it works great by breaking up the phlegm while soothing the membranes.)


RECIPES OF THE MONTH

MAIN DISHES

SCALLOPS IN LIME SAUCE
(Contributed by Sandra Strom, CEO Song of Health)


½ lb. bay or sea scallops
½ tsp. cilantro, fresh or dried
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. lime juice
¼ cup green onion or leek, chopped
2 Tbsp. rice mirin
2 cloves garlic, diced


Rinse scallops and drain.
In cast iron skillet melt butter on medium heat. Clarify butter by skimming the fat off, leaving the clear “oil.”
Place onion and garlic in skillet. Then add scallops and cilantro. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add limejuice and rice mirin. Turn heat up to between medium high and high, just until sauce begins to boil. Take skillet off heat immediately. Stir and let set for 30 seconds. Serve immediately, pouring some of the sauce over the scallops. Serves 2.

VEGETABLES

SCALLOPED YUCCA ROOT
(Contributed by Sandra Strom, CEO Song of Health)


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
1 quart boiling water
1 cup cheese
1 large yucca root
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. butter
¼ cup green onions, chopped
4 Tbsp. flour
1 Tofurky Vegetarian Italian Sausage, thinly sliced
2 cups rice/soy blend milk

(½ and ½ may be substituted for part of the milk)
1 clove garlic, finely diced

Peel the yucca root and cut into slices ¼ inch thick. Drop in boiling water and cook just till tender.
Meanwhile, melt butter in saucepan, clarify by skimming the fat from the top, leaving the clear “oil.” Add flour and stir to make a “roux.” Slowly add about ¼ cup of the milk, stirring constantly. Continue to add the remainder of the milk and cheese, stirring until thickened.
Put olive oil in a 9x12 glass baking dish. Add onion, sausage and garlic. Put in oven and heat until “frying.” Add yucca, making sure everything is spread evenly in dish. Pour cheese sauce over yucca mixture. Bake until browned on top, about 15 minutes.
Note: Potato may be substituted for yucca. Meat sausage may be substituted for vegetarian. Milk may be substituted for grain milk, but the grain milk gives it a sweeter flavor.


Get one on one advice for your Food Intolerances from Sandra Strom

 

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