There is inside me growing a battle. A battle between my desire to be frugal and how things I use and buy are produced.
I am no coupon clipper, nor am I one of those ladies that can somehow buy a pair of $100 jeans for $5, but I like to think of myself as a frugal homemaker. Some might say I am cheap (coughmyhusbandcough) and that is probably a better word for me. I will sometimes sacrifice quality for a low price.
But something is beginning to bother me, and it's going to be an issue for cheap me.
I am not well researched in this area, but it is generally recognized that not all companies manufacture or produce their products in ways that are ethically supportable. From human rights issues to animal mistreatment to protecting our planet and health, no two companies are the same and most seem to have little regard for the care of God's creations.
So...I'm still learning and praying, because I feel like this is something that matters. I don't want people to work in sweat shops so I can have a cute top, or chickens to be force-fed in tiny enclosures so that my family can have a chicken dinner.
I don't know what this looks like for our family yet. Buying from thrift stores more? Online shopping from fair-trade companies? Spending that extra 75 cents a pound on chicken? Being willing to spend $15 on one shirt made on a family farm instead of two shirts made in a factory? I'm not sure yet. One thing i do know is that it probably means that we will live more simply with fewer things and less clutter...and there's nothing wrong with that.
a simple blog for simple people
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
What's new ALCAT, whoaaaoooaaaoooaaaaooooo.
Many of those closer to me know that I have been experience strange and unusual health issues for some time.
Around this time last year I was actually diagnosed with Graves Disease (which promptly disappeared after a short stint on medication) after attempting to learn what had been causing me terribly bodily itching for an entire year. Since then, the worst of my itching has stopped, though I still struggle with an itchy scalp.
Sometime during the same year that my itching was at its worst my sister-in-law was also battling baffling health issues. At her boss' insistence, she eventually got a food sensitivity test done called the ALCAT. The results have pretty much been life altering for her.
Because of ever-present autoimmune disorder on my side of my family my mom, sister and I all got the ALCAT test done a few weeks ago. The results were illuminating.
A couple of things you need to know about the test:
- It is NOT, I repeat NOT, an allergy test. If you are allergic to peanuts then your ALCAT test results will probably list peanuts on your "okay" food list. If you are concerned that you may have an allergy, then talk to an allergist. I believe that I am allergic to shellfish, my test says I can eat shellfish. I will be consulting a doctor sometime in the future. Know your allergies.
- The ALCAT also does not test for Lactose Intolerance, despite being a test for food sensitivities and intolerances. This is because Lactose Intolerance is a lack of lactase being produced in your body, the enzyme that you need to breakdown lactose. Your body is not sensitive to lactose, your body simply cannot process it. I am Lactose Intolerant and my test showed no sensitivities to whey or casein. Know if you're Lactose Intolerant.
- It is not a test for Celiac. If you think you may have Celiac, see a doctor. It's test will test if you are sensitive or intolerant to gluten and gliadin, but will not test for Celiac.
So what's the point? The point is to learn what foods your body is sensitive to now. Food intolerances and sensitivities can change. Many foods that a person is sensitive to can be reintroduced into the diet after the body has essentially detoxed and healed over time, this is not often true for allergies or Celiac. When you do reintroduce them, you do so carefully and keeping in mind the age old adage "everything in moderation." My SIL has been able to begin eating some foods that once made her very sick, because her body as a whole is now healthier.
Does it work for everyone? Probably not. There are medical issues that can't be fixed by your diet. But is it worth a shot if you can't seem to find a solution, or if you want to seek to be healthier overall? I can't imagine it's harmful.
Anyway, I got the test because I feel blah a lot of the time. And my scalp itches. And there is a lot of autoimmune disease in my family and reducing inflammation is shown to be a good thing to help prevent and battle such nasties.
I got the 100 foods test because it really covers a whole lot of foods that I eat regularly...and I had never heard of some of the larger tests. There are also tests for food additives, molds, and environmental chemicals. I didn't get those because one test is expensive enough.
On the test there are four categories that the food reactions can fall into: severe, moderate, mild, and none.
Severe reaction foods are to be eliminated from the diet for at least six months, moderate foods for three to six months, and mild foods should be avoided when possible (though I am going to attempt to avoid them altogether for one month). Obvious, you can keep eating foods that you do not react too.
So...my results?
Wait. First. Three of them make me really almost excited. String Beans (Green Beans), carrots, and onions. I do not like them. Actually, I like raw carrots so that's a bummer but... I now have a reason to pick around onions, cooked carrots, and green beans. That is my silver lining.
Severe:
- green pea
- spinach (this makes me really sad because I LOVE the spinach florentine bagel at Einstein Bros.)
- string (green, French) bean
- sweet potato
- turkey (the only non-fishy meat that my sister can have is turkey...so I guess we are going to be eating a lot of fish together)
Moderate:
- carrot
- cashew
- onion
- orange
- yellow squash (I LOVE spaghetti squash so this is really, really sad)
Mild
- basil (I cook with so much basil...)
- broccoli (my favorite vegetable)
- coconut (the oil actually makes me violently ill)
- fructose
- halibut
- pear
- pecan
- tuna
So. My list is actually not that long. And there is a good change that someday I will be able to eat those things I love again. But for now...nope! It's time to get healthy. And this is just a small part of the whole picture.
So...what kind of extreme and crunchy things have you done to get healthy?
P.s. My laptop is kaput again. Sooo...my posts are going to be very simple since I'm using the app on my iPad. Probably no pictures.
P.p.s. the ALCAT people did not pay me or ask me or anything to do this. I'm just sharing my experiences.
Around this time last year I was actually diagnosed with Graves Disease (which promptly disappeared after a short stint on medication) after attempting to learn what had been causing me terribly bodily itching for an entire year. Since then, the worst of my itching has stopped, though I still struggle with an itchy scalp.
Sometime during the same year that my itching was at its worst my sister-in-law was also battling baffling health issues. At her boss' insistence, she eventually got a food sensitivity test done called the ALCAT. The results have pretty much been life altering for her.
Because of ever-present autoimmune disorder on my side of my family my mom, sister and I all got the ALCAT test done a few weeks ago. The results were illuminating.
A couple of things you need to know about the test:
- It is NOT, I repeat NOT, an allergy test. If you are allergic to peanuts then your ALCAT test results will probably list peanuts on your "okay" food list. If you are concerned that you may have an allergy, then talk to an allergist. I believe that I am allergic to shellfish, my test says I can eat shellfish. I will be consulting a doctor sometime in the future. Know your allergies.
- The ALCAT also does not test for Lactose Intolerance, despite being a test for food sensitivities and intolerances. This is because Lactose Intolerance is a lack of lactase being produced in your body, the enzyme that you need to breakdown lactose. Your body is not sensitive to lactose, your body simply cannot process it. I am Lactose Intolerant and my test showed no sensitivities to whey or casein. Know if you're Lactose Intolerant.
- It is not a test for Celiac. If you think you may have Celiac, see a doctor. It's test will test if you are sensitive or intolerant to gluten and gliadin, but will not test for Celiac.
So what's the point? The point is to learn what foods your body is sensitive to now. Food intolerances and sensitivities can change. Many foods that a person is sensitive to can be reintroduced into the diet after the body has essentially detoxed and healed over time, this is not often true for allergies or Celiac. When you do reintroduce them, you do so carefully and keeping in mind the age old adage "everything in moderation." My SIL has been able to begin eating some foods that once made her very sick, because her body as a whole is now healthier.
Does it work for everyone? Probably not. There are medical issues that can't be fixed by your diet. But is it worth a shot if you can't seem to find a solution, or if you want to seek to be healthier overall? I can't imagine it's harmful.
Anyway, I got the test because I feel blah a lot of the time. And my scalp itches. And there is a lot of autoimmune disease in my family and reducing inflammation is shown to be a good thing to help prevent and battle such nasties.
I got the 100 foods test because it really covers a whole lot of foods that I eat regularly...and I had never heard of some of the larger tests. There are also tests for food additives, molds, and environmental chemicals. I didn't get those because one test is expensive enough.
On the test there are four categories that the food reactions can fall into: severe, moderate, mild, and none.
Severe reaction foods are to be eliminated from the diet for at least six months, moderate foods for three to six months, and mild foods should be avoided when possible (though I am going to attempt to avoid them altogether for one month). Obvious, you can keep eating foods that you do not react too.
So...my results?
Wait. First. Three of them make me really almost excited. String Beans (Green Beans), carrots, and onions. I do not like them. Actually, I like raw carrots so that's a bummer but... I now have a reason to pick around onions, cooked carrots, and green beans. That is my silver lining.
Severe:
- green pea
- spinach (this makes me really sad because I LOVE the spinach florentine bagel at Einstein Bros.)
- string (green, French) bean
- sweet potato
- turkey (the only non-fishy meat that my sister can have is turkey...so I guess we are going to be eating a lot of fish together)
Moderate:
- carrot
- cashew
- onion
- orange
- yellow squash (I LOVE spaghetti squash so this is really, really sad)
Mild
- basil (I cook with so much basil...)
- broccoli (my favorite vegetable)
- coconut (the oil actually makes me violently ill)
- fructose
- halibut
- pear
- pecan
- tuna
So. My list is actually not that long. And there is a good change that someday I will be able to eat those things I love again. But for now...nope! It's time to get healthy. And this is just a small part of the whole picture.
So...what kind of extreme and crunchy things have you done to get healthy?
P.s. My laptop is kaput again. Sooo...my posts are going to be very simple since I'm using the app on my iPad. Probably no pictures.
P.p.s. the ALCAT people did not pay me or ask me or anything to do this. I'm just sharing my experiences.
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