Back to a New Grind

I'm being bad in posting on here right now but if I don't do it now, I don't know when it will get done.

I had a jam-packed couple of days. At the last minute, I decided to go to Portland, Oregon with Marc on a business trip. A couple of courses for health professionals were offered at a good price and it was too good an opportunity to miss when one of my older daughters was available to babysit. We left on Wednesday morning around 8:30 and arrived in Portland around 12:30 that night. We jumped into bed and then next morning I was up early to take in a class on "Glycosciences in Fundamentals of Health and Disease," a technical medical course that is worth four hours of continuing education for MD's and other health care professionals. It was very technical, immensely interesting, and extremely encouraging. One of the presenters was Dr. Robert Murray, the editor of Harper's Biochemistry, a text book used in medical schools.

In the afternoon I met up with Dee Dee S., a fellow Covenanter in the RPNA, as well as a business partner. I sat with her and Kelly K through another 4 credit hour course on living at goal weight by Dr. Gil Kaats, the head of the Health and Medical Research Foundation. I now have all the credit hours I need with the addition of some other courses I took prior to this to qualify for certification as a weight loss consultant. My education is not ending there though. I have also signed up for a diploma course that will certify me as a nutritional consultant and charter member of the American International Association of Nutritional Education through the University of Miami's School of Medicine. Who says homeschooling doesn't work?

I'm afraid I am a bad girl. I sometimes think that one of the negative side effects of glyconutrients is that it causes people to run off at the mouth with cliches. In some of the later presentations I attended I had Dee Dee and another gal on my other side laughing their heads off and telling me to shut up and behave because my running commentary on what was happening was distracting them.

There are some truly astounding studies that are coming out. These are bona fide medical studies being done and not merely the result of anecdote and placebo induced results. For instance, I have in front of me Volume 3, No.2 of the Proceedings of the Fisher Institute for Medical Research. In a study involving 91 subjects afflicted with Cystic Fibrosis, 72.5 % reported an improvement in their lung symptoms while 81.1% reported an improvement in their digestive symptoms. Some of the children no longer present with CF clinical symptoms. This sort of thing is unheard of using the standard allopathic care. What is interesting is that this is not merely a bunch of "quacks" from the alternative medical field doing these studies, but bona fide medical experts in the allopathic field. Other conditions that are reversing are things like peripheral neuropathy and various forms of cancer. When you are looking at any form of autoimmune disorder, you are basically looking at a glycosylation problem, which can be corrected by the supplementation of the glyco part of the equation, for proper glycoprotein synthesis.

Another interesting lecture I attended was presented by Dr. Marcia Smith on Nutrigenomic Modulation. Nutrigenomics is the study of how naturally occuring chemicals in foods alter molecular expression of genetic information in each individual. Food molecules enter the human body and act as hormone-like messengers that regulate pivotal body functions at the cellular level. They literally turn on some genes and shut off others. These functions include the division of cells in the human body that have implications for cancer as well as heart disease inflammation processes. In addition, some mental imbalances can be aggravated by the consumption of particular foods that contribute to mood and learning disorders. An example of this would be ADDHD, schizophrenia, and dyslexia. It is likely that a fatty acid imbalance is aggravated by the consumption of foods high in the Omega 6 fatty acids, like those found in deep fried foods. What is ironic, is that people who are diagnosed with severe mental disorders are often institutionalized in places where they are fed fatty foods and a nutritionally poor diet, thus making the condition worse.

Most of the hormone-like food molecules are synthesized by plants and can't be manufactured by the human body. Age-related diseases like heart failure, diabetes, and many types of cancer have increased significantly in the Western world due to a dramatic decrease in the consumption of plant-based food such as veggies, fruit, herbs, and spices. Food molecules enter our body and modulate our genes. Your diet is more powerful than drugs are, and many disease processes are the result of food deficiencies, not drug deficiencies. IOW, you don't get cancer cuz mom forgot to sprinkle chemotherapy drugs on your cornflakes when you were a child. It is more likely that a person develops cancer because key elements of nutrition are missing from the diet on an on-going basis.

If that doesn't make the parents reading this feel a bit guilty about all the processed food and sugar that you feed your kids, it should. It does for me. If you want to see how food choices play out over generations, read this article on Pottenger's Cats.

By Saturday night, I was suffering from information overload. Poor Marc. It was a good thing that I came down with him because he had a bit of a relapse of his intestinal problems. Our main fear was that he would end up in hospital in the US with their exorbitant rates. But thankfully, putting him to bed early, restricting his diet, and making him take it easy meant that he was able to get by with bedrest, fluids, and a few glyconutrients.

Sunday morning we left Portland and I drove us through insane traffic (where were all these people going on a Sunday morning?) by-passing Seattle, and we made it to Everson, Washington, where I was able to attend worship with some more Society People while Marc crashed in the spare room they had allotted to us. It was great finally getting to meet all the Tarons en masse and amusing to watch Paul Roberts and Bob Suden engage in verbal sparring on immigration.

Monday morning saw us leaving the Tarons and heading back over the border into Canada. I love Canada! I love the mountains, the valleys, the lush green overgrowth of the Lower Mainland, the sage brush and sand of the desert-like Fraser Canyon, and the beauty of the mountains and rolling hills of the central interior. Yeah, we may need to wait in line for medical care, but at least we don't have to worry about it bankrupting us if we do need it. Yeah, we are afflicted with social and practial atheists who run this country, but the land itself is a testimony to me of the greatness of the God who created it and is able to remove the morons or convert them when He deems the time right.

I managed to sneak into the house without anyone seeing me because my "water tank" was full and in danger of overflowing. When I came out of the powder room, there was Elodie in my husband's arms. As soon as she saw me she gasped and said "Mama!" and held out her arms to me. Her next words were a command to sit down so she could nurse. So much for thinking this trip would mean she would wean! I was then smothered in a multitude of hugs and kisses from children who realized that grumpy as mama bear can be, they still need her and miss her when she is gone.

So here I am back at home, facing Laundry Mountain once again, trying to organize for school, figure out scheduling, and preparing to re-stock the pantry as well as do some business stuff. At least I am not bored. Oh, and Marc is recovering well.