Which is Cheaper- Fast Food or Home Cooked Food?

Hey y'all!

Is it cheaper to eat fast food or home cooked food?- image by turtlemom4bacon

It seems there is a myth "out there" stating that fast food is cheaper than home cooking. I have heard a few people say, "We go to ::insert any fast food restaurant:: almost every night, because it is cheaper to eat there than it is to eat at home." I can't believe I am hearing a statement like that, because I raised seven children, and it is definitely cheaper for all of us to eat at home than it is to go out to eat. However, the reasoning goes like this: "I can buy my kid a cheeseburger and Coke off the dollar menu for $2 and he'll be full. Or I can buy a head of broccoli." Is this correct? Is it cheaper to eat fast food than it is to eat healthy home cooked food? Let's break down the food budget and see what it takes to feed the typical family of four (those of you with families like mine can double these figures).

Here's the entire menu from McDonald's. I'm choosing McDonald's because I have a lot of international readers, and McDonald's restaurants are all over the world. McDonald's has a "meal builder" tool online. Let's say I go to McDonald's and order a Big Mac (these images may be copyrighted, so I am sharing the links directly from the McDonald's website). The Big Mac has 540 calories, 29g fat, 45g carbs, 25g protein, and 1040mg sodium. I order "fries with that." The small order of fries adds 230 calories, 11g fat, 29g carbs, 3g protein, and 160mg sodium. With all that sodium, I will need a drink. I live in the town which invented Dr. Pepper, and I used to be a Dr. Pepper addict. However, most people would choose a Coke, so I will give the numbers for a Coca- Cola. A small Coke (which no adult ever orders) has 150 calories, 40g carbs, and 10g sodium- to make us thirsty so we will buy more Coke. Most Americans buy a large Coke and get a refill to go on their way out of the restaurant. For my lunch or dinner, I have just consumed 920 calories (assuming the small Coke), 40g fat (some of which may be trans fat), 114g carbohydrates (none of which are healthy carbs, unless you count the slice of tomato on the hamburger), and 1210mg sodium. If I am like most Americans, I am going to eat a meal like this a minimum of five days a week, and I am not going to exercise.

You may know that it takes 3500 calories to put on a pound of flesh or fat on the human body. It takes a lot of exercise to burn 3500 calories. If the average American is eating roughly 1000 calories for one meal a minimum of five days a week and is not exercising, it is no mystery why 2/3 of Americans are overweight and 1/3 of us are obese.

How much does a meal like this cost? In my town, around $5 (2012 USD). Add another dollar for "supersizing." If two adults did the "supersize" option, and two small children got "Happy Meals," dinner just cost $20. Do that five times a week, and a family of four is spending $100 a week, or $5200 a year on fast food alone.

What if this family cooked hamburgers at home? This week my grocery store has beef shoulder roast on sale for $2.97/pound. I could get that ground, or find a cheaper cut of meat. I could purchase a head of lettuce for $1.20 and only use $0.20 worth at most. Onions are $0.77/pound, and I only need a slice or two because the kids most likely do not like onions. I allow $0.10 for onions. Tomatoes are not in season and cost about $1 each. Still, I only need one. Cheap hamburger buns cost about $1 for eight buns. I can make my own French Fries in the oven with a little olive oil and sea salt. Potatoes are cheap- two pounds may cost $1. I'll add about $0.20 for the olive oil and salt. I can make green iced tea at home at about $0.50 per gallon.

How much does it cost to make hamburgers at home?  $7.00. Yes, I'm using white bread hamburger buns and non-organic produce, but the family eating fast food every night probably would, too. If I opted for organic everything and whole wheat buns, I may be looking at $10 per meal for a family of four. This is still 50% less in cost and 1000% better for the family's health. If you cooked that shoulder roast with the potatoes and onions in a crock pot, and tossed the lettuce and tomatoes together for a side salad, skipping the hamburger buns altogether, the "health ratio" of the meal goes up even higher. Even more health points are gained if you skip the roast and potatoes, and instead throw raw walnuts on the salad with homemade oil and vinegar dressing.

Cooking meals at home and eating clean is cheaper and much healthier than eating fast food- image by rubyran

Here are a few tips on "eating clean" on a budget:

• Only buy produce that is in season or on sale
• Only buy meat on sale for the week, then plan meals around the sales
• Only drink water, tea, and coffee (unless you are juicing)
• Only buy cheap sources of protein: dry beans cooked in the crock pot, tuna, peanut butter, eggs, Greek yogurt, skim (fat free) milk, nuts, whole chicken instead of chicken breasts, bulk frozen fish fillets and other meat. I know a lot of my readers may be secretly screaming at me, but I am talking about families who are on very tight budgets and think they cannot eat healthy at all because they think it is too expensive
• Quit eating so much delivered pizza- it's $25 for a family of four
• Take water bottles and coolers everywhere instead of buying canned soft drinks, coffees, and lunches out. If you don't like the taste of water, squeeze half a lemon or lime into your water bottle.
• Make your own treats at home for pennies on what it costs to purchase them at the store- granola, oatmeal cookies for the kids, and trail mix
• Grow a garden

What other ways do you save money on your healthy food budget?

Breast Health: How to Find a Bra That Fits and is the Right Bra for You

Find a bra that fits for every function or occasion- image by catchtrend.info 

Hey y'all!

Today's post is for the ladies. I want to teach you how to find a great bra. The best bra for you will fit, it will be the right cup size, and it will breathe. I'm going to teach you the steps for a bra fitting, and some common mistakes women make when buying a bra.

Back in 1995, a book was published called Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras. The main hypothesis of the book was that the underwire in bras restricted the lymph nodes under women's arms and chest, possibly leading to breast cancer. Since then, both the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute have stated that wearing bras do not increase the risk of or cause breast cancer. However, the National Institute of Health released a 1991 study published in the European Journal of Cancer stating that bra cup size may be one risk factor for breast cancer. Women with larger breasts may be at higher risk for breast cancer because of obesity and the lifestyle associated with it. Women of childbearing age who had smaller breasts and did not wear bras had half the incidence of breast cancer than women who were much larger and did wear bras. The study showed that it was the smaller women's healthy lifestyle, and not the bras, that made the difference.

The truth is, most women today do have larger breasts than women in the past did. A lot of women think they have a much smaller bra size than they actually do. They are wearing bras that are too small in the cup and too loose in the band. Here are the steps to find a bra that fits properly:

• Step 1: Find your band size. Most women wear bras that are too loose. When trying on bras, the band is supposed to fit quite snugly right under the breasts. The bra will actually feel tight around the rib cage. You should be able to slip two fingers under the bra band when it is fastened. If the bra rides up when you raise your arms over your head, you need to get a smaller band size, e.g., get a 34 instead of a 36 or a 38. However, you do not want a bra so tight it cuts into your flesh.
• Step 2: Adjust the bra straps correctly. You may have one shoulder that is lower than the other one from holding babies on one hip or carrying heavy purses on one side. If you need to, get bras that have a hook on the straps in the back to keep the straps from falling down. 
• Step 3: Find your cup size. Forget the tape measure. Try different bras on. Most women are really surprised to find they have a much bigger cup size than they thought they have. What you are looking for is a bra cup big enough to support the entire breast without spilling out over the top. If the bra you are trying on gives you "double boob" by creasing the top part of your breasts, or you think you might "fall out" of the bra when you bend over, the cup size is too small. When I was in college, the average cup size was a B. Now it is a D, and many women are much larger than that. Forget the "buy a smaller cup size so my boobs look bigger" idea. Women actually look better and bigger in bras that fit well.
• Step 4: Check the underwire. It should press on your rib cage in front, but should never dig into your breasts on the sides. Some people advocate not wearing metal underwire bras because of concerns about heavy metal toxicity. So far there are no peer-reviewed, double-blind scientific studies to support this claim. However, the TSA website states that underwire bras can set off metal detectors in airports. Women are being subjected to humiliating and invasive breast pat-down searches or requested to take their bras off and then pass braless through metal detectors at airports. There are companies that manufacture bras with plastic underwire. Alternatively, consider wearing one or two sports bras while flying.
• Step 5; Finally, check the front band. It should rest on your chest. If there is a gap between your breast bone and the front band, the cup size is too small.

I think it is also important to consider a bra's function, or what a woman is going to be doing while wearing a  bra. If she will be at work, I suggest a full coverage cotton bra. Maidenform makes a great breathable cotton bra for every day wear for around $15-$20 (USD 2012) each. Almost every woman who works out needs a sports bra. Nike has several styles, depending on the kind of workout planned. Finally, for special occasions, millions of women swear by Victoria Secret. Their sizes now go up to 40 DD.

Do any of you women have styles or brands of bras you swear by? Please leave a comment!

Cool Tool to Lose Weight, Build Muscle, and Get Curves

The bluebonnets are here in Central Texas! The bluebonnet is the State Flower of Texas, blooming every year from mid-March to mid-April. Like this photo suggests, they line the roads, hills, and fields across Texas in a blanket of blue. This is the perfect time to go for long walks, get some sunshine, lose weight, and get healthy naturally!- image by quoteaustininsurance.com

Hey y'all!

Today I want to tell you about a really cool tool I just found to help all of us reach our weight and fitness goals from Nowloss.com.  Click on the link. You'll be taken to a page where you enter your gender, height, weight, age, and activity level. The chart calculates not only the calories you need to eat every day, but how you can break those calories down by number of meals you want to eat every day. It tells you exactly which foods will help you lose weight (or gain muscle, or get curves) and which ones to steer away from. It tells you the minimum amount of water you should drink every day. Once you lose the weight, it tells you your maintenance calories per day. This is the number of calories you need to stay under, or you will gain weight again.

The tool also gives sample meal plans from a variety of sources for each calorie level. I found meal plans for the vegetarian, the diabetic, the heart patient, the gourmet, and the busy person. There are tips for losing weight while in college, after having a baby, when you are "older," and just about every situation you can think of.

If you dig through the site a little, you will find a similar page about losing 50 pounds in five or six months. This page includes a huge workout section. If you combine the calorie-restricted eating plan with two hefty workouts a day, you really can take off about 50 pounds of unwanted body toxins in about six months. The site gives several options for working out. If you cannot afford a gym membership, there are a lot of home workouts listed. For cardio, you can just walk, or you can do high intensity interval (HIIT) training on any piece of equipment you have available.

Once you get down to your goal weight, there are lots of resources for bulking up for men, and getting a figure like JLo's (Beyonce, Marilyn...) for the ladies.

Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy is all about getting healthy naturally. I will get into herbs, tinctures, detoxing, cleansing and all that, I promise! But we are doing this "one step at a time." You can take all the chaga extract and Chinese mushrooms you want and not see results if you don't get the common sense stuff down first. Supplements are just that- supplements. We want to build our house (body) with a firm foundation of good ol' diet, exercise, water, rest, fresh air and sunshine, and healthy fun.

How do you like this tool? I'll keep a link up in the sidebar for easy access.

Bonjour, mes amis Franc,ais! Je vous adore! I have new readers in France! It is such a joy to have readers from all over the world!

Which Diet Is Right For Me? A Look at Some of the Best and Healthiest Diets

Hey y'all!

People ask me all the time, "What diet do you recommend?" More specifically, they ask "What diet do you think I should go on?" Honestly, it depends on your health goals and how fast you want to get there. Today I want to share with you the ones  I personally think are best, and let you make up your own minds. I will give short reviews of the Eat Clean Diet, the Paleo Diet, the Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Diet, the Vegan Diet, the Raw Food Diet, and Juice Fasting. I've done them all.

If someone asks me what diet to start out with when they have been eating what is known as the Standard American Diet (SAD) of anything and everything out there, including between one and three meals a day of fast food and sodas, I tell them to get on the Eat Clean Diet. This is such a huge jump for most Americans that it seems radical. Why? Because for the first time in perhaps their entire lives, these people are going to have to learn how to cook from scratch and quit eating processed and pre-prepared food.

The Eat Clean Diet is easy in principle, but hard in reality, because we have to give up a bunch of food addictions like salt and sugar. My strong preference is for all of the food consumed to be 100% organic and GMO-free. However, food budgets can be tight, so I always tell people to do the best they can.

A tongue-in-cheek version of the Obama Administration's "My Plate" nutrition program accurately portrays the healthy Eat Clean Diet many fitness competitors embrace- image courtesy of one of my Facebook friends

Bodybuilders and fitness models live on the Eat Clean Diet, because it works. All this diet consists of is healthy proteins, healthy fats, and healthy carbohydrates in approximately a 33-33-33% calorie ratio. We don't eat anything with more than one or two ingredients listed on the label. We eat healthy proteins like chicken breasts, salmon, tilapia, turkey, eggs, dairy if we tolerate lactose, and the occasional steak. We eat healthy fats like coconut oil, avocados, fish oil, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds, and butter. We eat healthy carbohydrates in two forms: healthy starches such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, and quinoa, and all manner of  fresh vegetables and fruit from the produce aisle or Farmer's Market. We eat five or six small meals a day in order to keep our metabolism up so we burn more fat.

The Paleo Diet includes approximately half of calories in protein and half of calories in vegetables and fruit- image by The Paleo Divas

The Paleo Diet takes clean eating a step further. Some people just don't get the sleek look they want on the Eat Clean Diet. The Paleo Diet removes dairy and grains. With all of the current concern over GMO labeling, the Paleo Diet may be a safer, more healthy diet for meat eaters. Practically all of the calories come from nutrient-dense healthy proteins and fat as outlined above, and vegetables and fruits for the carbohydrates. I see a lot of fitness competitors, whether in bodybuilding or Crossfit, "go lean" with the Paleo Diet prior to a contest or competition. There are fantastic resources for recipes for the Paleo Diet available online. I love Everyday Paleo, Mark's Daily Apple and theclothesmakesthegirl for starter references.

A vegan diet is consumed by many people across the planet in respect for the lives and gentle treatment of animals- image by veganfoodpyramid.com

Some people, out of respect for the lives and humane treatment of animals, choose to become vegetarians. Of these, one can become a lacto-ovo vegetarian or a vegan. One of my daughters is a lacto-ovo vegetarian. She consumes dairy and eggs for some of her protein, but her conscience will not allow her to participate in the slaughtering of animals for her to eat. She (and I) prefer cage-free eggs and dairy products from grass-fed cows. Vegans eat no animal products at all. Instead, they rely on vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and seeds for all of their protein and other vitamins and minerals.

While the above diets are what I might recommend for most individuals, there are times when what I call "cleansing diets" may be appropriate. These are the high raw vegan, the 100% raw vegan, and juice fasting diets. I recommend these diets when the body needs to go into "healing mode," but I do not recommend them for a long term lifestyle (as in decades) diet. The high raw vegan diet is simply adopting a vegan lifestyle, but consuming a minimum of 80% raw, live, uncooked plant food. Many Christians may recognize this diet by the name "Hallelujah Diet."

If one adopts the 80-20 high raw vegan diet to correct a health issue such as diabetes or to prevent cancer the way groovy Kris Carr is, I strongly encourage the addition of a "superfood" product for additional protein, vitamins, and minerals. Why? Because the soil on most farms have been so badly stripped of minerals that our plant food supply usually does not contain all the vitamins and minerals we see listed on nutrition lists. Actually, I recommend that everyone take a "superfood" product for their vitamin and mineral supplement for the same reason. I am writing an ebook right now on superfoods which will include a recipe you can make yourself.

This chart actually lists the electromagnetic energy in foods, depicting which foods give us the most healing (alkaline) energy and which (acidic) foods actually take away our energy. While the terminology may be offensive to some, the chart makes it pretty clear which foods will heal our bodies the fastest- image by living superfoods

A way to ramp up the healing process and detoxify faster is to adopt a 100% raw vegan diet. In this diet, no food is cooked at all. Soup may be warmed some, but in general, everything is eaten fresh and uncooked. There are a lot of raw food gurus and chefs now with some creative and delicious recipes. Check out David Wolfe, Matt and Angela Monarch, Shazzie, Ani Phyo, Mimi Kirk, and Quintessence raw food restaurant in NYC for starters. I know I left some gorgeous people out- sorry!

Finally, if you are really ill, dying, or someone told you you were "incurable," I recommend starting out with at least a 30 day fresh juice fast. I highly recommend the movie "Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead." You can watch it online through Netflix. The main character, Joe, heals himself on a juice fast using his "Mean Green Juice" as his primary diet. Here's the recipe:

I've done several juice fasts, and must say they are amazing healing tools. I will teach y'all about juicing and juice fasting in later posts. The Mean Green Juice is delicious and incredibly good for the body. You can make it in a cheap blender if you don't have a juicer and just squeeze out the juice into a bowl with a clean cotton dish towel or nut milk bag.

I want to give a special warm "Hey Y'all!" to my new readers in Brazil, Pakistan, Indonesia, Papau New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, and Bangladesh! I am so deeply honored to connect with you! I send you love from Deep in the Heart of Texas!

I'd love to hear which diet is your favorite. Leave a comment and vote!

Milk Man Tortured for Selling Raw Milk in California

A California milk man gets jailed and tortured for selling raw milk in California- image by bestacnesolution.net

Hey Y'all!

Breaking news here- some of y'all know I am honored to write for Natural News.com and am an affiliate for Natural News products. Mike Adams, the senior editor of Natural News, did an exclusive interview with a 65 year old milk man from Los Angeles named James Stewart. James Stewart was arrested, jailed, and *tortured* like a prisoner of war while in prison for what heinous crime? Selling raw milk in the State of California.

I never would have believed it, except I remember some sweet, precious Christian mothers in Texas back in the early 80's who were handcuffed, dragged to jail, and had their children taken from them. What was their crime? Teaching their own children how to read. They were homeschooling before there was a state law saying it was legal.

Here's the story Mike Adams published on Natural News.com about the milk man who was tortured for selling raw milk: http://www.naturalnews.com/035208_James_Stewart_torture_county_jail.html

The Bible describes the Promised Land as "a land flowing with milk and honey." How can selling raw milk incur the same punishment as a prisoner of war?- image by themorristribe.com 

While in jail for a week, this 65 year old milk man was starved, branded as a "sovereign"- remind me to teach y'all what this means- it has deep significance for all Americans, wrapped with heavy chains several times around his waist, handcuffed to a bench, medically examined against his will while still handcuffed, suffered freezing temperatures, and deprived of sleep every night. If this wasn't bad enough, the jail cell was then flooded with raw human sewage two or three inches deep and Stewart was forced to clean it up with a squeegee. The guards were verbally abusive and refused Stewart his Constitutional right to an attorney. In addition, at no point in time was Stewart informed of the charges against him. Bail was set at $1,000,000 USD (2012).

A million dollar bail and torture of the kind seen only in prison of war camps for a guy who sold milk straight from the cow without heating it first? The kind of milk my dairy farmer grandfather, uncles, and father got up at 4 and 5AM every morning every day of their lives to get? The kind of fresh milk my Daddy grew up on and I drank when I went up to the family farm in Oklahoma for visits? The kind of milk that is drug and hormone-free, comes from happy grass-fed cows, and no coloring or emulsifiers are added to it?

My grandfather was a dairy farmer and milk man. Would he be considered a criminal in California now?- image by sodahead.com

This story has to have more going on than the sale of raw milk to a long line of happy customers who understand the health importance of probiotics. I say that because I live in Central Texas where I am literally surrounded by cattle ranches. Dairy producers cannot legally sell raw milk off-site in Texas, such as at a Farmer's Market, but people can drive to a nearby farm to get raw milk.

Learn more about raw milk from Weston A. Price.org.

There are several action items for you to consider in Mike's piece. Feel free to share this blog post to your friends and loved ones, as well.

Earthing, aka Grounding and Barefooting Information Bomb!

Hey y'all!

Today's post is a big one! I'm going to get heavy into earthing, grounding, barefooting, or whatever you want to call it, hopefully to help all of us protect our families and ourselves from the dangers of WiFi and EMFs. Last week I wrote about barefooting. Today I want to get into that more, plus give you all kinds of information and links you can take home and start implementing in your own lives. Later in the week I'll tell you how I got slapped with a Smart Meter (I know! Right?), and how I plan to deal with it.

I am so excited about grounding. Some of this may go over your heads, and for some of you, you'll get it immediately. Either way is OK with me, but I want you to get this.

First, I want you to understand that there is electrical current all around us, and we are constantly being bombarded with electricity. Some of it is fantastic energy- like the energy we get from the sun, the negative ions we breathe in from either ocean air or after it rains, and the fresh air at night if we open our bedroom windows just a crack. There is also wonderful healing energy from the negatively charged electrons in organic green vegetables. When we talk about "having more energy," it's actually energy- the same thing that runs motors! This is all great stuff.

But there is also energy that it not good for us. This energy is positively charged. I had to get clear about this, because I am not a chemistry major or a scientist at all. If a form of electricity has a positive charge- you know, the plus sign (+) on a battery, it is not healthy for us humans or the animals. This form of electricity is what is emitting from our computers, microwaves, electric wires, cell phones, everything electrical. These are EMFs- electromagnetic fields.  Refined junk food also has a positive charge.

The waves in electrical devices pass right through us, and since we each have an electrical charge, too, our  "voltage," if you will, is in a constant state of flux. That positive electricity in the EMFs are actually a very low form or dose of radiation. XRays and CAT scans are high doses of radiation; our cell phones and laptops are low doses of radiation.

Since our bodies conduct electricity like water- we are 70% water, remember?- we are like antennae. So we need to stay grounded or we actually build up a positive charge, which can lead to all kinds of serious diseases like cancer, brain damage, and now we are finding out, reproductive damage.

I want you to watch this amazing video featuring world-renowned natural health guru, David Wolfe. I'll try to interpret what he says for those of you who are not familiar with the language used in natural healing and raw foodie circles. You really do need to watch it, or the rest of this post isn't going to make much sense.

First, David says we are cutting off the ability to stay grounded- just like a grounding wire in our house or office- because we wear shoes all the time, which disconnects us from the ground. When he is talking about getting great ideas in the shower, he is talking about the negatively charged ions in the water, just like I mentioned with rain water. 

"The Flow" is what Christians call "The Spirit." Sometime I'll write a blog piece about the Flow as Holy Spirit. When a person is in the Flow, he or she is acting as he or she was created to be naturally in the presence of God. Onward....

David tells the audience about an earthing mat. You can purchase one and put it right under your desk where your computer is, plug it in to your three-prong wall socket, and stick your feet on the mat as you work. All of that positively charged energy your body is being hit with goes out of you and out of your house or office, down to the ground. You are grounded.

The earthing mat I recommend is the one from earthing(dot)com. It costs $59.00 plus shipping. I do not have one yet, but I want one ever so much. My dearest natural health friends have them now and gush about these all the time. I have never seen the enthusiastic responses about a product like I have seen with the earthing mat.

Now, we are not only getting delicious energies from the sun's magnetic rays and the negative ions from fresh air and rain, the Earth itself has an electromagnetic frequency. It does! Let me show you:

The Earth's magnetic field plays a huge part in grounding us from EMFs- image by endoftheworld.blogspot.com

Here is another representation, showing you that the Earth's electromagnetic field is in 3-D- image by Pittsburgh Suipercomputer Center.edu

So the Earth's energies reset our circadian rhythms, and David found research stating that every 90 seconds, our bodies check for this reset. If we're wearing shoes, or if we aren't touching the actual planet, or if we are't using some kind of grounding device like the earthing mat, we can't get that positively charged electrical energy out of us. Also, we can't absorb the good, healing, negative charge from the Earth. So what we're doing by wearing shoes, by staying above ground either in a pier and beam house or a high rise apartment or an office on the second floor, is short circuiting our bodies. This is where the concern is.

So we *have* to eat clean. We *have* to eat a lot of organic leafy green vegetables and fruits. We have to become as alkaline as possible, get as much anti-oxidants in us as possible (because oxidation= lack of oxygen= cell death= becoming really sick and eventually dying) , and re-mineralize with plant foods. Plus, we have to get the positive charges neutralized and away from us. 

David then mentions the earthing sheet, which has silver threads running through a cotton sheet. My friends are also raving about this. One of my male friends has had severe insomnia for years, bless his heart. He has tried everything. I know he bought the half sheet and he may have bought the fitted sheet as well. He can sleep now! I have to have one, and y'all do, too.

David loves to do analogies as a part of his teaching style. So our "mothers' include Mother Earth as well as our flesh and blood mother. So just like a newborn is supposed to have constant skin-to-skin contact with his or her mother, we are supposed to have skin to skin contact with Mother Earth. What he says about negatively charged food and supplements stripping bad calcium (placque) off our blood vessels is true. What he says about the emotional power of hugging our mothers is also true.

Now... y'all need to read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Earthing-Most-Important-Health-Discovery/dp/1591202833. I'm giving you the Amazon link so you can read all the reviews and gain more insight into how important grounding actually is. Now, this isn't a "new discovery." Indigent tribes have know this forever. But Western society has lost this knowledge, and it is uber cool that the practice is being re-introduced by natural health advocates. I'm asking you to read the book because the science is there. As much as David Wolfe comes across as an airy-fairy woo woo New Age hippie dude, he's really very knowledgeable and incredibly respected among his peers. But if you are put off by David's personality, read the book.

If you are of the persuasion that you prefer "real' science from "real" doctors and scientists, then please listen to this outstanding interview Dr. Joseph Mercola did with Dr. James Oschman, the author of the Earthing book referenced above. The video is about 1 hour and 15 minutes long:

What are your experiences with earthing, grounding, and barefooting?

A Free and Fun Way to Protect Yourself From Electromagnetic Field Radiation (EMFs)

Hey y'all!

The other day I posted about how WiFis and cell phones are causing brain cancer and are destroying the DNA in little girls' eggs. Today I want to give you a tip on how you can protect you and your children from electromagnetic field radiation (EMFs or EMR) that will not cost you a penny (or a pence, or a peso). I have to warn you, that when I first heard about this tip, I thought the people telling me were "bat poo crazy." I am prepared for you to think I am bat poo crazy, too. But I am telling you, the science is there to support this little tip, and if you will start doing it, and letting you kids do it, you will notice a positive difference in your health. So what is this "one crazy trick" to help protect you from electromagnetic field radiation? Going barefoot outside in the grass or dirt every day.

I'm serious.

Connecting with the planet every day in your bare feet is one of the best ways to get rid of electromagnetic field radiation (EMFs), and it's free- image by Care_SMC

In natural health circles, the technique of going outside barefoot and either standing, walking, sitting, lying down, or rolling around like a bunch of little kids is called "Barefoot Grounding." The technique is also called "Earthing." Yes, it is "grounding," just like a lightening rod grounds a house or skyscraper, and like grounding wires are used to prevent electrical shock in a wall socket.

I first heard about barefoot grounding in order to get of electromagnetic field radiation from one of the greatest master herbalists of the twentieth century, Dr. John Ray Christopher. Dr. Christopher was telling his "patients" to walk or jog or play outside barefoot every day in order to "cure" insomnia. I can tell you from personal experience that if you take a nap or sunbathe in your back yard directly in the grass without a beach towel under you for half an hour or so, you will go back into the house luxuriously refreshed and clear-headed. Dr. Christopher also insisted that any of his patients with a so-called incurable disease to "walk or jog barefoot on the lawn to get rid of the static electricity in the body and allow new electrical vibration to come from the atmosphere."

I found out from Dr. Christopher that our bodies are actually antennae. Electrical currents, or waves, go through us all day, every day. This builds up static electricity, and if we don't get rid of it, by literally standing on the ground, or as I like to say, the planet, those EMFs can actually change the electromagnetic energy (EMEs) in our own bodies. In other words, we can get re-wired. The medical studies are out there to prove this. What I thought was "airy fairy hippie stuff" is actually scientific truth.

Even if you sit in a chair outside and just stick your feet in the grass or dirt, you automatically ground yourself just like a grounding wire does. All of us need to kick off our shoes and go barefoot as much as possible. I almost never wear shoes at home. If you work outside the home, then when you change your clothes after work, go barefoot. Go outside and either work in your yard, or walk your dog, or go jogging in your bare feet. Let your kids unwind after school by allowing them to play outside barefoot. If you put chemicals on your lawn, stop right now, and start adopting an organic lawn care program so you can play outside in your yard without shoes. This is all free, and it really will make you feel good and help you and your family to become healthier.

In my next post, I will explore other options for staying grounded in your home and at your desk at work.

By the way, Buenos Dias, Columbia! I am so excited to have you and all of my international readers!