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Gardening for Nutrition
The Many Benefits of a Vegetable Garden: There are a multitude of benefits to gardening in general: vitamin D from the sun, exercise, fresh air. But the benefits of vegetable and herb gardening can stand on their own. Besides the pride of serving your own home-grown food, you can feel secure in knowing that you’re providing sustenance your family needs. So set aside an area of your garden, gather up your vegetable gardening supplies, and start your family down a path of gardening for nutrition. Here are some healthy options you can plant right in your garden. Radishes: I start with radishes because I’ve rarely had any…
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4 Weird Side Effects of Prescription Drugs
Medical treatment can be a difficult process and challenging which requires different areas of care. One particular complex area in medical healing is pharmaceuticals and prescription medications. Most if not all drugs come with some side effects, typically minor. However, you will run across those drugs that do indeed cause side effects and even more, weird ones. Below are 4 weird prescription drug side effects. Blue Urine Urine color change is not unusual. For instance, when you consume beets, your urine could possibly turn pink in color and while taking vitamins, it can turn orange. However, have you ever experienced blue or green urine? You just might if…
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Reflections :: Honoring Life’s Passings
In a few weeks it will be the anniversary of the death of my aunt Mary. I have written here about her before; she helped raise me in that my parents shared a house with her and her husband. Her daughter is the closest I will ever have to a sister. The kind that I talk to almost every day, stay up late waiting for, eat unhealthy food with, and sing songs badly and too loud for no reason other than because the car windows are down. We both just went through chaotic, emotional weeks of great change. While processing on the phone, we only barely touched at…
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Wellness :: Kids and Healthy Food Choices
Being a parent can a frustrating struggle, especially when you are engaged in a battle to get your rambunctious toddler, child, or preteen to eat healthier foods. We’ve all been there at one time or another. At the end of our rope and still the little tyke screws up his nose at the nutritious peas that you have provided him. Then comes the demand for curly fries cooked in the deep fryer. Fear not—if you begin young enough—there are methods to instill a healthy eating mindset. Below I will provide some methods that can be used to guide your children toward healthier foods—as well as a few methods that…
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Hawthorne for the Heart
The Hawthorne ( Crategeous oxyacantha or mongyna) is a sweet scented flower with snow-white blossoms; however, in the fall, red berries emerge. Hawthorne is well known as a heart herb for anyone needing to increase circulation, bring on more joy and love into their lives. History The Hawthorne plant has long been known as a sacred and protecting. In fact, for centuries, parents would place sprigs of Hawthorne around a baby’s cradle to protect against evil spirits and illnesses. Hawthorne tinctures, teas or syrups are also used to lift spirits and relieve sadness. In Greece, wedding guests would bring sprigs of Hawthorne to gesture happiness, prosperity (and fertility) to the…
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The Importance of Staying Hydrated
This is the time of year that many people are stressed out trying to get everything ready in time for the holidays and it can take a toll on our health. One of the most important steps you can take to ensure you stay healthy through the holidays is to drink more water. This might be hard to believe but after reading “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” by Dr. F. Batmanghelidj through my masters program in nutrition, I don’t quite look at water in the same light. It is such a fascinating book for many reasons, but the Dr. makes recommendations on how to naturally prevent and reverse such conditions…