What Natural Body Care Products Do I Use?

I've had a few questions lately about what I use and where I get it.  Some things I'm particular about, because I've tried several products that don't work; and for some things, I buy whatever I can get for a good deal. Products you've never heard of can be difficult to find, not knowing what it looks like, so here are some pictures. In parenthesis after the description is where I get it, it may be available other locations too).

 Burt's Bees - I use the shampoo and wash (tear-free) for the boys and love it. It has a great scent I love too (although, as boys, they may not love it when the get older). But for now, I'll enjoy! (Kroger, Walgreens, and other places)

California Baby Bubble Bath - we use for bubble bath as an occasional treat, particularly when one of them has a cold, as essential oil of eucalyptus can help break up stuffiness and congestion. You could just buy the essential oil and add it to the bath if you want it for that purpose, no fun bubbles though! (Target)

Dr. Bronner's Soap (purple one in the middle) - this one is scented with lavender. I LOVE this for my own body wash and for shaving. I use one of those bath puffs to get it foamy for shaving. Compared to other natural soaps, it's cheap and a little goes a long way, so it lasts a long time. In a regular liquid soap pump, it clogs. As of this week I'm trying putting it in a container with a foaming pump, we'll see how long that works, so far so good. (Kroger or health food store)

XyliBrite Toothpaste - This is by Nature's Sunshine (which I'm a member of to get all my herbs at wholesale prices) and I love this too. It leaves my mouth feeling so fresh and clean, no fluoride! I've tried several bad and expensive toothpastes, this is great and for a reasonable price. (Nature's Sunshine)

Jason Tea Tree Deodorant - I keep trying different kinds and this happens to be what I'm trying right now. I don't use it often, but when summer hits in Texas, I do like to have something - and something I can count on. And with this one, I may have found a winner. Of all of them I've tried so far, this one is working very well for me. (Kroger, health food store)

For my husband's deodorant, we made some out of baking soda, arrowroot powder, and coconut oil and have found it extremely effective.

All Natural Bar Soaps - I've used these in our bathrooms instead of liquid soap for the last few years. It smells wonderful and lasts a long time. I'm not picky, I don't think I've bought the same type twice, there are just so many wonderful choices and scents. (Kroger, health food store, farmer's markets)

Silver Shield Cosmetic Gel -  This is also by Nature's Sunshine. I use this for my face when I'm getting a breakout or in between (when I remember) to prevent it. (Nature's Sunshine)

Sheer Naturals Make-up - I love this line. It's made by Carrie and is all natural minerals ONLY, no fillers, chemicals, dyes, or preservatives! Make up has always made me break out and this line doesn't and the colors look very natural on me. Carrie is great to work with and can help with color selection, even offering samples to find what works best for you! It is more expensive than most make up, but it lasts a long time and isn't going to end up contributing to my medical bills or disrupting my hormones like most make up eventually will. (online, link above)

In my next post, I'll share my cleaning products with you!

Jordan's Food Sensitivity List

I've kept a list of things Jordan is sensitive to, for reference, because I get so used to what he can't have, when someone asks I always forget to mention a few things. And, if we're going to someone's house for dinner, or if we're visiting our parents and they're cooking, that can cause a problem. It's been so long since going to someone else's place for dinner that I hadn't looked at my list in a really long time, probably a year or so. But, we've been invited for dinner Friday night (we'll see they keep the invitation extended once they see Jordan's list of foods to avoid, if not, they're welcome here at our place and I'll cook). I pulled out my list to email Jordan's foods to avoid list and, many of the things he's not sensitive to anymore! His body continues to heal!!! Here is Jordan's List (AFTER he went through months of allergy elimination treatments, which is really minor considering when we started the treatments he was allergic to ALL food except sweet potatos):

Dairy (all forms or derivatives of animal milk, except ghee)
Gluten
Eggs
Honey
Yeast
Pears
Buckwheat
Tomatos
Corn
Pineapple
Ginger
Chocolate
Ketchup
Walnuts
Gelatin

I haven't tried giving him any of the remaining 6 items on this list, so he very well may have healed from some of them. I'm relatively sure that gluten and dairy are still issues, but maybe someday...

The body is amazing, God created it to heal itself, given adequate nutrients, cleansing and rest.

Toxicity and Pajamas?

Part of Jordan's healing from food allergies and autism involves avoiding any and all chemicals possible so as not to add to the burden his body is already dealing with in trying to clean out his internal environment. This includes air fresheners, fragrances, dryer sheets, normal household cleaners, and on the list goes. And yes, new pajamas.  Why pajamas? Most pajamas are coated with a chemical flame retardant. So, all his life, Jordan has had hand-me-down pajamas that have been washed hundreds of times or a plain undershirt T-shirt and shorts or sweatpants. Not a big deal.

Well, at Costco, again, on display were pajamas I was ready to run right past, like normal, when Jordan spotted some bright blue ones he fell in love with, to my surprise, they were organic and were not treated with flame resistant chemicals, and not outrageously expensive. He was SO excited to get new pajamas, just for him!

 

Breaking the Cycle of Developing New Food Allergies and Healing Old Allergies

The very short answer of how the break the cycle of developing more allergies and heal old allergies...heal the digestive system: the gut, the bugs (bacteria & yeast), the immune system (75% of the immune system is in the gut/intestines).

 
The Gut. It's very possible that there is an issue with leaky gut. Where "holes" in the intestinal wall allow large food particles into the blood, where the immune system sees them as invaders (virus, bacteria, or toxin)and attacks, because big things in the blood are virus, bacteria, or toxin, nutrients from food in the blood are suppose to be small. The immune system then says hey, remember that substance for next time and we can conquer it more quickly = allergy reaction the next time the food is eaten. An explanation on healing the gut is in the next section on Bugs.

The Bugs. We all have an inner ecosystem - good and bad bugs in our digestive system. It's not that some are really bad, we need them, we just need them IN BALANCE. Too many of one type becomes a bad bug and can cause lots of problems. The most common culprit: candida, or yeast. It is their job to eat large food particles so they don't get into the bloodstream. Lots of large food particles, means more and more yeast are needed, but in the course of doing their job, they can multiply out of control and actually grow into and through our intestinal wall and get into the bloodstream themselves, and into our other organs, etc when they should only be in our gut and in the right proportion to other bugs there. If this is the cause...digestive enzymes to help digest the food are needed to correct the original reason the yeast overgrew in the first place. Yeast can also overgrow because the good bacteria are killed off for some reason. Things like birth control pills, hormone imbalances, acne medication, and ANTIBIOTICS all can cause yeast to get out of control. (Antibiotics - Think about it "anti" "biotic" or "against life". I'm not saying antibiotics are bad, I'm just saying we need to be aware that they kill both bad AND good bacteria and if we must take antibiotics, to make sure we take probiotics as well to help recolonize our gut with good bacteria after being on antibiotics. Personally, I try to find all-natural antibiotics in the form of herbs, essential oils, and things that help our bodies fight the bugs (thereby strengthening the immune system long term) rather than go in and wipe them out with drugs (which used repeatedly, in the long run weakens the immune system because it gets no exercise or experience).

It can be tough at first, but in the long run it sure pays off. My boys used to catch every little thing going around, and Jordan would be sick and completely miserable for 2-3 weeks every time he caught something. Now that I've been using natural things and have been working to build his immune system (for him that meant keeping him away from other sick kids for about a year - when you're sick, it's hard to heal other chronic issues and strengthen the body & immune system). Last week and this week we've been around hacking coughing kids many times and neither of my boys have gotten sick! It's wonderful!! FYI: it also means limiting (or eliminating) sugar. Sugar significantly depresses the immune system for 5-6 hours after it is eaten.

If there is already an issue with yeast, due to partially digested food, antibiotic, or other medication use. Then it needs to be killed and brought back under control. There are many ways to do this. One of my favorites is by using enzymes and probiotics, another is a combination of anti-fungal herbs in a product by Pure Herbs called Can Sol.  FYI: yeast feed on sugar and anything the body can readily turn to sugar: wheat, corn, pasta, potatos, dairy, maple syrup, etc. While combating yeast it may be necessary to seriously cut back (or completely eliminate) the intake of these foods for several weeks.

Once the yeast is controlled and the gut bacteria balanced, the gut will start to heal. There are things to help accelerate the healing of the gut as well. We've used L-glutamine, also knitbone or comfrey.


The Immune System. This is multifaceted and involved. To be completely honest I don't totally understand this area yet. What I do know is that immune system disregulation is epidemic today, with Th1 and Th2 responses being imbalanced. Th2 is overactive in many, many children (just think asthma & allergies). This means the immune system is always on high alert, fighting, everything. How did this flip happen? Well, it's not the only reason, but the most common answer for that is: vaccinations.

So, the immune system. That bring us back to the basis of recovery from many things (including: asthma, ADD, allergies, autism spectrum):

1)Stop putting bad things in
2)Put only the best things in as possible (food, body products, scents)
3)Get the bad stuff that is still in the body out.

For more information on this check out the pages about causes and treatment, toxicity, and nutrition.

While Working on the Gut, Bugs, and Immune System. If the child needs a greater variety of foods, the best thing I have found to help is called NAET or BioSET. However, the effectiveness of these techniques is very dependant on the skill and knowledge of the practitioner. Try to find one that others have had success through and who won't break your bank with a gazillion treatments.

After balancing the gut bacteria, immune system, and healing the gut, it may be necessary to do a treatment of NAET or BioSET for an existing allergy/sensitivity to clear it from the system and "reset" the immune system so that it no longer reacts.

UPDATE 3-10-12: On the flip side, once all those root causes are healed the allergies very well may just disappear one by one, that's what we are finding is happening for Jordan.

A Whole Lot of Normal That Hasn't Been

Over Halloween weekend, we went camping...and had a blast!  I realize that may not sound significant to most of you. But for those of you with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) in the family, that can be a pretty major thing depending on the child's particular issues.

We tried it a year and half ago, with disastrous results. It was too much change, too many sounds, too many smells, too many people too close, too much of everything except sameness and his white noise machine, and completely overwhelmed him. This time it was pure adventure and enjoyment! 

 We rode bikes...

...a long ways

We swung on a grapevine

He swung high! (He used to go crazy swinging even an inch or two was absolutely terrifying to him - sensory issues).

...not anymore!

And for dinner...GF free range turkey hot dogs, chips, carrots and smores! In a very rare event (like the first time in his life) we broke the diet rules. We used gluten-free, dairy-free, (and relatively free of toxins) "graham" crackers and chocolate bars, but couldn't find decent marshmallows here (we've found them in the past in MI), so I let him break the rules and eat normal marshmallows, blue food coloring, horrible chemicals and all. Believe me, this will only happen once or twice a year, for camping purposes only, when I don't remember to order others ahead of time...until his body has completely healed! And he did fine, no noticeable effects, but we won't make a habit of it. I know the cumulative effects, and we aren't going there!

A Favorite Snackbar

Finding packaged foods Jordan can eat and is good for him is a very difficult task. On my way through Costco a couple weeks ago, I see Mrs. Mays has a box of bars. Hmm, that holds possibilities. 

The first thing I check - the ingredient list, because it always tells the real story. My priorities -Jordan's allergens first, health a very close second. I'm pleasantly surprised.  It's mainly nuts, seeds and fruit. Although it does have evaporated cane juice, it's second to last on the list and there are no chemicals listed!  There are 3 different varieties, Acai Strawberry, Pomegranate Blueberry, Goji Cranberry so they vary slightly, but here is the list for the Pomegranate Blueberry: cashews, almonds, pistachios, blueberries, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dates, pumpkin seeds, raisins, rice malt, natural flavors, freeze dried pomegranate powder, evaporated cane juice, sea salt.


They are gluten-free and dairy free, along with no preservatives! No only that - the boys (not to mention my husband and I) love them.

The only down-side is that they are somewhat crumbly, so I make sure they are eaten at the table or outside, not in the car.

At just under $16 for a box of 20, they are less than $1. per bar!!! By Jordan's food standards, for a packaged food, that's a deal!

Homemade Applesauce!

Nearly all Jordan's food is homemade, and having healthy foods on hand to grab quick is a huge help in staying on his healing diet.

My mom brought some MICHIGAN apples with her when she visited! 

Jordan making "snowmen" with the apples

  

Boiling it down into SAUCE and into the jars, added several drops of liquid STEVIA to each pan (no sugar).

My canning MAN! Having a glasstop stove, we can't can on it, so the canner goes outside on a propane camp stove we got at an auction YEARS ago.

    

The finished product - 26 QUARTS of applesauce!