Raisins Against Arthritis

A home remedy for Arthritis

Do you remember The California Raisins?

Singing/dancing raisins, from a commercial around 1987. Anyone remember those? I have a collection of the toy figures. I think they were from Hardees. Those were some happy raisins. Now, I think I have an idea why......

I have just made this recipe for a friend who is visiting us who has arthritis.

I heard about it several times on NPR when it was mentioned on The People's Pharmacy, and decided I just had to try making it because its so simple, and yet so intriguing.

I used organic bulk golden raisins from Outpost Natural Foods.

I just tasted some and if nothing else, these raisins are delicious! (Yes, the alcohol evaporated!)


Raisins Against Arthritis
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• Empty one box of golden light raisins into a large shallow container.


• Completely cover the raisins with gin.


• Let stand, uncovered, until the gin evaporates.


• Store them in a closed container.


• Eat nine raisins daily.

~Original source:

credited to Lois L. in the parish newsletter of St. Lucas Lutheran Church in Toledo, Ohio

Reprinted in "The People's Pharmacy" by Joe and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.

People see results in about a month.

People allergic to sulfites (in the raisins) won't be able to use this remedy.
(In my opinion, this is a guess, it increases methylation, which helps detoxify heavy metals and other toxins.)

Its not expensive, not invasive, involves no habit-forming drugs (the alcohol evaporates,) or surgery, requires no prescription, has no side-effects, no drug interactions, so it might be something to try when the more traditional treatments aren't working well enough.

Other reputedly good folk remedies for Arthritis include:
Rose Hips
Apple Cider Vinegar
100% Emu Oil (as a lotion)

And the supplements Glucosamine and Chondroitin.

I have used the glucosamine and chondroitin supplements myself, for ankle, knee and hip pain. The pain always went away just as I was finishing the bottle of capsules, and didn't return for almost a year, during which I didn't need to take the supplements. (I suppose I could have continued taking them all the time, but I wanted to find out how much I really needed, since supplements can be expensive.)

But the thing that ended up helping me with this kind of pain the most was wearing lace-up shoes (with good arch support in them) every day from the moment I got up until the moment I went to bed. Later, I found that sandals with really high arch supports also worked in the summer, such as Birkenstocks. Now I haven't seemed to need the supplements at all anymore.

Cast Iron

Using cast iron pots and skillets for cooking has been recommened for people with low iron.

Here is a good site that talks about how to use cast iron pots for cooking and how to take care of them, and a site explaining the health benefits.

What's Cooking America
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CastIronPans.htm

Holiday Cook
http://www.holidaycook.com/cast-iron/health-benefits.shtml

Besides helping you to need fewer iron supplements, cast iron pots have additional advantages in that they are extremely economical to buy, are very easy to clean, and can last generations. You can cook over a campfire with them, put them in the oven, and put them on the grill. (Unless you have bought ones with wooden handles.)

I have pots that were my grandmothers, that will probably outlast my grandchildren.

Iron has been found to be low in children with Autism and who have had lead poisoning. When our son was given a sleep study to find out what could help him sleep better, the main lab finding was that he was low in iron. Apparently, low iron can be a part of the cause of restless and twitchy legs at night. Low iron is a main cause of anemia, fatigue and other health problems.

Taking too much iron, on the other hand, is not good either, particularly for men.
Men don't have a regular monthly way of getting rid of it, and it is difficult for the body to remove too much iron without, um, you know (cough), bleeding.

"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it."

~ Bible, Song of Solomon 8:7



"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."

~Tagore

The Chair
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A poem about the Power of Positive Thinking

It sits there at the crest of the beach,
on the rise just before the sand dips towards the water's edge.
A lone beach chair, seemingly abandoned.
It's a jaunty chair with its yellow striped canvas seat and sailboats floating on its blue and yellow back support.

It lists just a bit to the left, almost rakishly, as it nestles in the sand, surveying the sea.
It is a chair made just for sitting, and sitting on the sand at that.
It has no legs to get in the way of stretching out, relaxing,
and letting the sun seep into your bones and warm your soul.

It is so unlike another chair I know. A black chair with wheels.
A chair that does not survey the vastness of the ocean with a jaunty air,
but rather a chair that defines a narrower kingdom.

And yet, I think this other chair is a happier chair than the one that sits and stares out to sea,
for it is a chair with wheels that take the place of legs no longer able to propel their owner forth.

This other chair is not made for sitting and looking at the world.
It is a chair built for exploring, for meeting life face to face and tasting of its spirit.

Perhaps this chair should have a seat of yellow and white stripes,
and a back support adorned with sailboats.
A far better statement of its adventurous and joyous possibilities.

~Suzanne Mintz
From The National Family Caregivers Association
http://www.nfcacares.org/improving_caregiving/believe_in_your_family.cfm

About Me!

Hi! My name is David. I am 14 years old, & I'll tell you a little bit about myself.

My favorite video game is Pokemon (I hate the show). My favorite movie is Wall-E. My favorite TV shows are SpongeBob SquarePants, and The Simpsons! When I grow up, I want to be the world's greatest Anime Artist! In case you're wondering, the picture on the left is my very first made-up character, Sara.

Discovery

"When we seek to discover the best in others....we somehow bring out the best in ourselves."

~William Arthur Ward

Men in Sandals

What is your opinion on men wearing sandals?

I like men in sandals. I love seeing guys in sandals at the beach on vacations, and camping.

I think they look innapropriate for at work (unless you are the boss, or you sell sandals for a living!) for dancing, in nightclubs, or in a sit-down restaurant.

But I think people who wear sandals, men or women, have to take care of their feet, and toenails.
Sandals are good for this, actually. They give your feet a break from being confined in shoes with no sunlight and fresh air.

In my humble opinion, I think you can't wear them to death so they are falling apart, except around the house. Get a pair that is a good fit and not super cheap. Put them on in the early spring when you start wearing shorts so you don't have a tan line at the ankles!

Socks with sandals are ok at home, but in public only if you are definitely not single looking to date anyone new. Unfortunately, sandals with socks have a bad rap. I think they are just too comfortable that way. Kinda like wearing sweats and an old t-shirt.

Maybe someday someone will invent a sandal/sock combination that is both comfortable and stylish. Remember when bowling shoes were in style? Nice leather shoes in bright colors, that would last your lifetime. The VW of shoes.

I just bought a pair of Birkenstock's. I love the way I can walk all day in them at the fair, a festival, the farmer's market and my feet don't hurt. I had a pair that were a bright trendy orange/salmon color that I wore to death and lasted almost 3 years.

This time our local Birkenstock store had closed and I could only find 3 styles to pick from at Stan's Bootery (nice store.) So I have the classic hippie style, that my neice called something like "Jesus sandals." But everyone at the Farmer's Market was wearing them......

I'm sad that a German town like Milwaukee lost a store that originated in Germany. I love that Birkenstock's were invented by a woman. As a German woman, I feel a kind of loyalty.

Favorite Soap of All Time

I am very fair skinned, and have sensitive skin. I am also so thin-skinned (in more ways than one) that when I blush, I look like I have a sunburn.

I love Yardley's of London products. I have been using their Aloe soap for about 25 years.

Everybody says I have great skin, and I have had no skin problems the entire time I have used this soap.

This is the best soap in the Universe. I would take it to a desert island with me as a minimal survival essential.

Sweet Summer Aloe & Cucumber Bar Soap by Yardley of London.

I was a rebel and didn't follow the trend to sit out in the sun with mineral oil on my skin in the 70's. (I just gave up trying to tan--I went from no tan to burning with nothing in-between.) I also like to wear hats with a brim and sunglasses that wrap around my eyes. This makes me feel like a celebrity posing as a housewife.

All-purpose flour mix (GFCF)

All-purpose flour mix

Buy some rice flour, tapioca starch and cornstarch (or potato starch)

Mix them in these proportions:

1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch

Blend and store in the refrigerator and use for any recipe that calls for wheat flour.

Here are some tips for baking with no-wheat flours:
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• Warm up all ingredients to room temperature (for instance the eggs.)
• Use a deep-sided bread pan (3-4 inches high)
• Pre-test your yeast to make sure it is still active before using it.
• Mix the salt into the flour, not directly with the yeast (hurts the yeast)
• Be careful about how much liquid you use, too much and you get a gummy center, too little and it will be crumbly.
• Use a thermometer to check doneness.
• Bread is done when it is 200 degrees inside and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.
• Remove the loaf from the pan when done and cool it on a rack or it will get soggy.

Anger Management

http://www.angriesout.com/

The website is a favorite resource for things to help both children and adults deal with angry feelings.

Lynne Namka has a great free newsletter that you can sign up for. It is inspirational, about self-growth and is spiritual and theraputic.

Eating Gluten-Free Casein-Free on a Budget

For eating gluten-free on a budget, there are nothing like potatoes!

A bag of potatoes can go a long way and there are a million ways to make them! The easiest is to scrub one, poke two holes in the skin and microwave for 4 minutes. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on it, add a tablespoon of water and some sea salt. Any cooked vegetable is a good topping.

Beans are very inexpensive. Black beans are easy to digest. Beans go very well with rice. To save money, buy a pressure cooker and make beans from a bag according to the directions on the bag. This is a great source of protein, and very inexpensive. If you cook them right, they will digest easily.

Easy Bean Recipe:
Mash up a cup or two of the cooked beans up with a 1/8 cup lemon/lime, several cloves of crushed garlic, 1/4 cup of sesame paste and sea salt for a great pate. Drizzle with olive oil and paprika before serving. (This is usually called hummus if you make it with chick peas.)

Now that its summer, try going to a Farmer's Market in your area and get just about anything there. The cost is often lower because you are cutting out the grocer. The seller's often have great suggestions and recipes for cooking their produce. Buying locally is also good for the environment, and you get to meet the people who grew your food!

Get an air popcorn popper. (See my previous posting on air popcorn poppers, Friday, July 25, 2008.)

Popcorn is very cheap and you can buy it in bulk, organic, and have it for snacks. Some celiacs can't eat fibery stuff, so be careful that this is something your system can handle.

Sprout mixes are very inexpensive. Making sprouts is easy and cheap!

One of the most inexpensive and versatile vegetables is red or green cabbage. Cabbage keeps a long time in the refrigerator, and is a great flavor enhancer. Sliced thin and mixed with shredded carrots and your favorite salad dressing it makes a nice summer cole slaw. Add a few leaves of cabbage chopped up into any soup or stew for a much fuller flavor. It seems to make everything more savory and more satisfying. Just don't overcook it or it can turn to mush!

Try getting any fruit, or berries in season and making smoothies with them, just put them in a blender with some ice and some rice milk, and add some honey or real maple syrup for sweetness.

Don't forget that nuts, seeds and nut butters are good sources of protein! Make sure they are very fresh. Nuts can go rancid easily.

We have a bowl of cherries on the table right now, next to a bowl of cashews. I slice a sweet red pepper crosswise (the slices look like a flower) and put on a plate with some black olives. It is the best junk food!

Sauteed mushrooms have a savory taste that makes anything have a meaty flavor.

Inexpensive Vegetable Stew:
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Take all your current vegetables (include an onion or a leek, and a stalk of celery with tops, and a leaf or two of cabbage for flavor) and some potatoes and saute them a little in some olive oil, or roast them in the oven. Cut everything up into chunks before beginning, sautee the harder vegetables first or roast them longer. Start a 1/2 large pot of boiling water. Add a can of black beans. Add the vegetablesand some fresh garlic. Throw in a handful of carrot tops, a few beet tops, some kale or other greens at the last minute. Add some Sea Salt, pepper. Cook until everything is done about 15 minutes. Serve in a bowl with a little gluten-free mayonnaise on top for a garnish.

Don't forget that most Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Indian foods are mainly gluten-free. Mexican is gluten-free if you get the corn tortillas instead of the flour. You have to call ahead, or call the manufacturer to be certain that there are no additives that contain gluten, however.

Really cheap shopping list:
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A bag of black beans.
A bag of popcorn.
A sack of potatoes.
A head of red cabbage.
A clump of carrots with tops on.
A bunch of celery.
A head of garlic.
A container of lemon juice.
Iodized Sea Salt.
A can of mixed nuts.
Some honey or real maple syrup.
Extra Virgin olive oil.
The freshest fruit in season.
Any favorite vegetable.

Diction SOS - Teaching an Autistic Person Language and Reading

Diction SOS

When my son was still learning to talk, with only a single word or two, (about age 4) we discovered he was totally fascinated by the alphabet. He couldn't talk, but he did learn the alphabet, and became obsessed with it. Sometimes, we heard, this can be an indication of "Hyperlexia" which is a form of language disorder, but not necessarily Autism, although apparently Autistic persons can have it.

A friend of mine had a son who had lost all his hearing due to an infection. They mortgaged their home to purchase a cochlear implant for him. The cochlear implant people recommended a rehabilitation program for him that included The Association Method for teaching children with language deficiencies. She taught me this method, and I used some of it in teaching my son language. He not only learned to talk better with this, but he also learned to read at the same time. (To this day, he has perfect diction, I think in part because when he was having trouble saying a word we could put it on a card using the phenomes and umlauts and then he would be able to "get it.") He wasn't always understanding what he read, but he at least had learned "the code" of language this way, by memorizing it. To him it was just a puzzle, or a code, not useful for anything yet, but at least we had sort of a "morse code" to start with in reaching him.

Here is a reference to a curriculum that includes this method:

TLDC: Teaching Language-Deficient Children
http://www.proedinc.com/customer/ProductView.aspix?ID=3921

"Theory and Application of the Association Method for Multisensory Teaching"

The gist of this method was putting the 42 English phonemes onto flash cards (umlauts and all) and having him memorize them. He was delighted to learn this "secret code" and thought it was fun. Then we taught him to read by using cursive, color, patterns, and visual repetition.

An Autistic person often can't see what a word unit is because they persist in seeing each individual letter as unique, and not a part of a whole. So by using cursive, the letters of each word are connected and only have a space between each word. The cursive style did not take any extra effort to teach him. It seemed easy for him to read the cursive part. He loved knowing where a word began and ended, and this made it much easier for him to sound out the word. We used different colors to differentiate sounds at first, and then used a different color for each word when doing sentences.

When doing words on a page, we let him pick the colors of bright markers, and wrote them in patterns on a plain peice of paper, for instance in a star pattern, or a step pattern, or in some set of circles, with about 4 repetitions to each page. Then we would point to each "step on the ladder" and say the word together. This made reading much more fun, and he loved the "patterns." We later did the same thing with short sentences, with about 4 - 5 repetitions in different colors on a page. It looked like story diagramming, but with the same sentence repeated instead of different concepts at different positions on the diagram. Each time we did this pointing and saying the sentence. Each word or sentence took about 15 repetitions, over short periods of a few minutes at a time, and perhaps taking a week to finish for him to learn it. Sometimes we put a coin, or a tiny sweet down on each word as we were pointing to it, which he could keep.

I also put words for common things around the house onto flash cards and taped them to the object they named. There was the word "Window" on all of our windows, and "Door" on all of our doors, for instance. I didn't do this all at once, a few items at a time, so he wouldn't get overwhelmed. Sometimes we would go on a treasure hunt and find all the window cards, then take them for a "prize" from the prize box. Then I would put up a different set of cards, like "mirror" for all the mirrors, and "phone" for all the phones.

Getting Enough Sleep for Someone With Autism

Here is another simple remedy for sleeplessness in persons with Autism:

Melatonin

Melatonin is very safe, and actually has some health benefits. Children tolerate it well with few side effects. It sometimes causes grogginess the next morning, but this can be remedied by cutting the usual dose in half.

The tablets generally come in 3 mg doses, which is more than enough for an adult. You can also purchase 1.5 mg doses, but it is a little harder to find this package. Cutting the pill or using half a capsule works fine.

Extended release Melatonin is available, and works well, but is usually a little more expensive. Give the child the dose 20 - 30 minutes before the desired bedtime. Lately, we have been giving it about an hour before bedtime, to avoid the morning grogginess.

It is non-narcotic, (not habit-forming--non addictive) and is available over the counter without a prescription at most regular pharmacies. This will not be like a regular sedative, it doesn't work the same way. It does not prevent the child from awakening to use the bathroom (if he/she is toilet trained.)

My son is very picky about what he will eat or put into his mouth--(well at least food anyway!) and I was worried that he would refuse to take the Melatonin. But after coaxing the first pill into him and a good night's sleep, he accepted the next night's pill easily and now just puts it in his mouth and chews it. As a teen, he sometimes even reminds me that he needs to take one! He used to have dark circles under his eyes all the time, and with a regular good night's sleep he doesn't have this anymore.

So what is Melatonin?
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Melatonin is a hormone made by a part of the brain called the pineal gland. Melatonin may help our bodies know when it's time to go to sleep and when it's time to wake up. There are two types of melatonin that may be used in the pills: natural and synthetic (man-made). Natural melatonin is made from the pineal gland of animals. This form could be contaminated with a virus and is therefore not recommended. The synthetic form of melatonin does not carry this risk. If you are not sure if your melatonin is natural or synthetic, ask your doctor or pharmacist before taking it.

Research has shown the effectiveness of Melatonin for this use, and also for use in treating jet lag.


Melatonin Deficiency
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"Significant reductions in overall melatonin levels have been seen in Autistic Spectrum Disorders, and disturbed melatonin regulation may underlie sleep disturbances seen in many ASD subjects."

~"Autism, Brain, and Environment" by Richard Lathe 2006

Simple Autism Treatment -- Epsom Salts Bath

Epsom Salts

Pour 2-3 cups Epsom Salts into the warm bathwater.
Have the child/adult soak for about 20 minutes before washing up or adding soap.

If you add bubble bath or something to the water, this can get irritating if you soak in it for that long. We do this about 3 - 4 times per week, but I suppose you could do it every night if you wanted to.

Epsom Salts helps in several ways; the magnesium helps them with a type of incomplete digestion that many people with Autism suffer from (yes, small amounts are absorbed into the skin.) The magnesium also helps tone down leg cramps, and numbs the skin slightly so they can sleep better. It is very helpful to take the bath just before bedtime. Autistic persons have very sensitive skin, so the mild numbing is perfect for them. Autistic persons often have trouble settling down to sleep, and an Epsom Salts bath before bed helps with this. I also sometimes use it before we go to a noisy, over-stimulating type event.

Epsom Salts are inexpensive, and you can get them at any place that sells pharmaceuticals. They can be taken internally, in small amounts (will cause loose stools) and so if the person gets some in their mouth, its not toxic. People have used it for constipation for years.

Here is the current rationale for why this helps people with Autism:

Sulfate is used for many functions in the body, including detoxification, maintaining the lining of the gut, and hormone production. Some children with autism have a low level of sulfate in their bodies, due to a variety of reasons including poor absorption in the gut, excess loss in the urine, poor recycling of sulfate by the kidney, or oxidant stress and inflammation can shut down cysteine dioxygenase, which throttles the cysteine -> sulfate route.

Testing:
Blood testing can be used to check for levels of free and total plasma sulfate, and this is probably the more reliable test. Plasma cysteine can also be informative. (Urine testing of free and total sulfate may be useful to look for excessive loss of sulfate, but this is only one of several possible causes of low sulfate in the body, and should not be solely relied on to assess sulfate status).

Alternatively, since Epsom salt baths are very safe, one could simply try them for up to several weeks and look for improvements in behavior and functioning (see below).

Treatment:

Tapan Audhya evaluated many different ways to increase plasma sulfate levels in children with autism who had low levels. The two most effective methods were oral MSM (500-2000 mg depending on size and sulfate level) and Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate) baths – 2 cups of Epsom salts in warm/hot water, soak for 20 minutes, 2-3x/week. A few children did not tolerate MSM, but Epsom salt baths are generally very well tolerated. (T. Audhya, Role of Sulfation, presentation at Autism/Asperger’s Conference in Anaheim, CA, February 2007.)

Many parents and physicians have anecdotally reported that Epsom salt baths were beneficial to their children. However, there is less experience with MSM for children with autism, and more research is needed.--Source: "Summary of Biomedical Treatments for Autism" by James B. Adams, Ph.D.