Blog Posts for 2013: Happy New Year and Thank You, Readers!

Blog Posts for 2013: Happy New Year and Thank You, Readers!

Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy is having its first birthday celebration!- image by We Take the Cake.com

Hey y'all!

I am so excited because Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy is one year old! I launched this blog a year ago on a hope and a promise, not knowing how it would be received, or really, what the direction would be. I started the blog as a showcase for my writing talents as a search engine optimized (SEO) copy writer and owner of Heart of Texas Copy Writing Solutions.com (currently under a massive site revision). 

I was soon blessed to receive visitors from all over the planet. My jaw just drops in humility when I realize I have had over 67,000 unique visits to Bluebonnet in a year and I am currently getting over 10,000 hits a month. This is for a little natural health blog which is only one year old and only posts new content once a week! 

Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy was named a "Top Health Blog" by Wellsphere last year, and is proud to offer several affiliate products from some amazing vendors such as Mountain Rose Herbs, Natural News (where I am a feature writer), and Raw for 30 Days. This year I am going to add a ton of new vendors, products, rave reviews, and maybe even launch my own line of herbal goodies for you to enjoy. 

I am in the process of designing a really cool Facebook page for Bluebonnet, so y'all can meet each other, hang out, ask questions, or post links to your own businesses. Since I am a SEO copy writer, I will be learning social media management this year. I want to be able to offer this service to my business clients, so both my Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy and my Heart of Texas Copy Writing Solutions pages on Facebook will be my laboratories for learning social media management. You guys can be my guinea pigs, and help me make these pages interesting and fun. 

Before I move on to what's cooking for 2013, I want to say a very special thank you to all of my readers who have left the most heartwarming and encouraging comments either here, on Facebook, or on Google+. You guys are amazing, and I love every one of you.

I even got two phone calls from readers who wanted to thank me personally for my work. One reader was a single guy who reached out to me, telling me how hard it was to be the only high raw vegan in a very small, country town. How many of you can relate?

Another reader called a week or so ago and just blessed my heart to pieces. Her name is Katherine.  I know her in real life. Katherine is a diabetic. She told me she had reduced her prescription medications from 33 to TEN, with the help of her doctor, by reading this blog. 

This is why I write. This is why I do what I do. I've got muscular dystrophy myself, and I know what it's like to have something and go all over the Internet doing research, trying to figure out a way to get better.

What's in store for 2013? Here's what I have planned:

Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy 2013 Blog Posts

1. Liver Function
2. Mild Liver Flush
3. The Controversial Big Liver Flush
4. Liver Herbs and Tea
5. Liver and Gallbladder Tincture
6. Kidney Function
7. Kidney Flush
8. Kidney Herbs and Tea
9. Kidney and Bladder Tincture
10. Morning Citrus Juice for Vitamin C
11. Yoga
12. Superfoods
13. Green Smoothies
14. Bananas
15. Good Fats v. Bad Fats
16. Where Do You Get Your Protein?
17. Echinacea: My Number One Herb
18. Hot and Cold Showers
19. Makeup for the Health Conscious Woman
20. Laundry and Clothing
21. What is a Mono Meal?
22. A Healthy Mind
23. Blood Detox Herbs
24. More Green Smoothie Recipes
25. Juicers
26. Blenders
27. Brain Function
28. Brain Herbs
29. Adrenal Function
30. Adrenal Herbs
31. Bone Function
32. Muscle Function
33. Joint Function
34. Herbs for Bones, Muscles, and Joints
35. What’s For Dinner?
36. Raw Food Recipe Books
37. Kitchen Equipment
38. Why No Plastic?
39. Keeping an Orderly Home
40. Decluttering and Trashing
41. Enemas
42. The Lymphatic System
43. Fun Exercises for Cardio and Lymph
44. Skin Brushing
45. Shampoos, Conditioners, and Body Wash
46. Skin Oils, Moisturizers, and Essential Oils
47. Foot Reflexology
48. Female Health and Herbs
49. Male Health and Herbs
50. Positive Affirmations, Intentions, and Goal Setting

If you would like me to write about something specific, leave a comment and I'll be happy to add it to the list!

Thank you, so much, every one of you, for making *our* first year together a success. Please know I love and care about every one of you. I leave you with special blessings of love, prosperity, and of course, wonderful health in the coming year.

With much love,

Donna

How Bad is Fluoride?

Hey y'all,

As promised in the video, I want to share with you some research I have done on the effects of fluoride on our bodies. While most of us have grown up believing either that 1) "fluoride must be safe, or they wouldn't be putting it in drinking water and toothpaste," or 2) "yes, fluoride is poisonous, but you would have to eat fifteen train cars of it before you got sick."

Is fluoride good for your teeth?

Let's look the truth about fluoride and your teeth.

One of my most popular blog posts here on Bluebonnet is the one on fluoride and your teeth, specifically dealing with the topic of dental fluorosis in children. Fluorosis develops when children swallow toothpaste and other dental products containing fluoride, poisoning the children mildly. The fluoride causes ugly, mottled teeth, such as the ones in these photo images:

Mild fluorosis- image by fluoridation.com

You can see how some of the enamel has worn away and the teeth are beginning to pit.

Serious fluorosis in an 8 year old child- image by fluoridation.com

In 2010, the Cochrane Database System Review, which may be the most conservative medical journal in the world, posted a review of all clinical studies to date regarding dental fluorosis. Cochrane's conclusion was that children under the age of six years old should use a low-fluoride or fluoride-free toothpaste if fluorosis is a concern to parents.

Of particular note in this review is the following comment:

" Future trials assessing the effectiveness of different types of topical fluorides (including toothpastes, gels, varnishes and mouthrinses [SIC]) or different concentrations or both should ensure that they include an adequate follow-up period in order to collect data on potential fluorosis."

More dangers of fluoride in toothpaste and water

• arthritis linked to fluoride
• fluoride sensitivity in fibromyalgia patients
• fluoride connection to one type of cancer
• fluoride and brain damage (plus DNA damage in the brain)
• fluoride lowers children's IQ scores

Is fluoride poisonous? See for yourself.

You can protect your teeth and your children's teeth simply with good brushing habits. It is the brushing, and not the toothpaste, that helps to prevent dental caries.

Here is a link to the Tate's website. I am not an affiliate for Tate's, although I would be if they had an affiliate program. I hope you enjoy the product.

Drink Your Water!

Hey y'all!

As promised in the video, I want to share a few links to some blog posts I write earlier this year on the importance of drinking water.

This post has a great tool for finding out the toxins in your city's water supply. This is a 2007 article, so hopefully some cities have cleaned up their water supply by now: http://bluebonnetnaturalhealingtherapy.blogspot.com/2012/01/water-water-everywhere-but-nary-drop-to.html

This post gives some great information on fluoride in our drinking water and why it is so important to get fluoride out out of your life:

http://bluebonnetnaturalhealingtherapy.blogspot.com/2012/02/just-how-bad-is-fluoride-in-drinking.html

And here is a post on fluoride in bottled water for babies- the news just about blew my mind:

http://bluebonnetnaturalhealingtherapy.blogspot.com/2012/02/nursery-water-fluoride-laced-bottled.html

How much water should we be drinking?

My favorite source for the health benefits of water is a book called Your Body's Many Cries for Water by the late Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj. This may have been the first book on natural healing that I ever read. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how many illnesses can be reversed simply by drinking more water. 

You may download a free copy of Your Body's Many Cries for Water by clicking the link. It's a pdf file.

"Dr. Batman," as he was lovingly called, among any number of professional athletes and health professionals, will state that we should drink a minimum of half our body weight in ounces of water. So if we weigh 120 pounds, we should drink 60 ounces of water, or roughly a half gallon (2 liters). If we weigh 240 pounds, we should drink a whole gallon of water as a minimum (4 liter).

This is pure water, not the equivalent liquid in coffee, sodas, tea, energy drinks, or sports drinks.

As I said in the video, I knock out 16 ounces (a half liter) first thing in the morning, and I have already lost a pound by doing it. The water gets into the colon and kidneys, and starts loosening up toxic waste. It plumps up every cell in the body, so each one can do a better job. 

Hopefully by continuing this habit I will lose more weight, have more energy, and improve the texture of my skin.

Please leave a comment and let me know what positive changes you experience by drinking more water.

Epsom Salt Baths, Restful Sleep, and the Wonders of Magnesium

Hey y'all, Watch my video above for my explanation on how to do Epsom salt baths. Here are the basic steps:

• Fill the bath tub all the way with the hottest water you can stand- people with MS or adrenal issues will want to start with comfortably warm water
• Add between 1 cup to 1 pound of Epsom salt to the bath water- start with 1 cup per week
• When you get to the point you are so relaxed that you can fall asleep in the tub, that's your personal amount of Epsom salt
• Soak and sweat profusely in the tub for 20-30 minutes- use an egg timer if you like
• Cover as much of you body as possible- you may need to change positions
• If the water cools down, add more hot water
• If the water leaks out through the drain-out, put some duct tape around the drain-out to seal it
• Feel free to add aromatherapy candles, soothing herbs, peaceful music, cucumber slices on your eyes, etc.
• Quickly rinse off with cold water when you are done
• Do these 1-7 times a week to relax tight or sore muscles, reduce anxiety and depression, detox emotionally, "escape," wind down, and sleep well and deeply

Do you have a magnesium deficiency?

You may have a magnesium deficiency if you experience the following:

• Hyperexcitability (feeling hyper" or anxious, "wired")
• Dizziness or feeling as if you might faint or black out
• Muscle cramping or spasms
• Muscle weakness
• Fatigue or feeling wiped out

If you are severely deficient in magnesium, you may also be depleted in calcium, potassium, and may retain sodium. Often, retaining sodium can manifest high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and edema (swelling) in the ankles, feet, or hands. You may get the "shakes," lose your appetite, feel nauseous, or experience mood swings.

What does magnesium do?

Magnesium is responsible for many functions in the body, including muscle function, blood clotting,   nerve signal transmission, calcium absorption, and even heart failure.

Dr Russell Blaylock, MD, says that diabetics and cardiac patients have the lowest magnesium levels of all. He says that people who are low in magnesium are at a greater risk for heart disease and sudden cardiac arrest, and when they do have a heart attack, it is harder to resuscitate them.

Benefits of magnesium include:

• Restful sleep and a peaceful calm during the day, as I mentioned in my video
• Regular bowel movements, since magnesium relaxes smooth muscle tissue, making it a natural, gentle, and inexpensive laxative
• Relief from hyperactivity, irritability, anxiety, migraines, heart palpitations, and PMS
• Relaxed muscles after a strenuous workout, or for those with muscle cramping and pain issues
• Increases DHEA (the "youth hormone") levels, which increases sex hormone production, when absorbed through the skin

Yes, we can get magnesium from our food.  All of the leafy green vegetables contain magnesium. Rice bran is full of magnesium, as are a variety of seeds, nuts, blackstrap molasses, and the woman's favorite, chocolate. However, many people are not eating enough of these foods. In addition, so much of our commercial farmland has been stripped of essential minerals that the nutrient content in our produce is lacking.

I suggest that if you are having trouble getting to sleep or suffer from anxiety issues that you try the Epsom salt baths. If you do, please comment and tell the Bluebonnet community about your experience.

From deep in the Heart of Texas,

I love you all.

How to Get Enough Sleep

Hey y'all,

I'm going to start doing videos on Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy and the first one is called "How to Get Enough Sleep."

Let me share some interesting things about sleep.

First, here is a chart from the National Sleep Foundation showing how much sleep each person needs by age:

What happens when we sleep?

While we are snoozing in the Land of Nod, our body is still very busy. Sleep is the time for:

• Muscle repair
• Memory consolidation
• Growth hormone activation
• Appetite hormone activation

If we do not get enough sleep, we cannot concentrate fully, we cannot make good decisions, and we have trouble engaging socially with others. We may also feel hungrier, because our appetite control hormones have not had enough opportunity to work properly. A lack of sleep may actually contribute to unwanted weight gain.

How does sleep work?

75% of the night is spent in four sleep stages:

1. The period of time between being awake and fully asleep; dozing or light sleep
2. Falling asleep; disengaging from surroundings; body temperature drops; heart rate and breathing are regular
3. Deep sleep; blood pressure drops; breathing is slower; muscles relax; muscles repair and grow; energy is restored; hormones are released
4. Same as #3

25% of the night is spent in REM sleep. This first occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep, and recurs about every 90 minutes. As the night progresses, the time between REM cycles lengthens.

During REM sleep, the following things are observed:

• Dreams
• Eye movements
• Muscles relax and the body becomes immobilized
• Cortisol levels drop, and elevate when it is close to time to wake up

I think I will do a couple of videos and blog posts on natural ways to prepare for sleep and how to deal with insomnia naturally. I'll share a really nice herbal recipe I have and talk about some herbs that may help you wind down.

As I mentioned in the video, feel free to leave a comment and tell me how you feel after getting eight hours of sleep. Maybe you could also share how you rearranged your schedule and life to get enough sleep.