New Year

I had something completely different planned for today but got inspired by the New Year. The beginning of a new year marks the time for many to make changes in their lives. This may be to lose a few pounds, stop smoking, or even resolutions like saving money. I hate resolutions and have never been able to keep them. I guess that is why I always seem to make changes on the spur of the moment.

As you know, my husband and I moved to Germany about two and a half years ago. At that time I was hefty (to say the least) and knew I needed to lose a few pounds. I tried dieting and exercise and no matter what, I could not lose a pound. In fact, I was gaining around a pound a week. It was out of control. Between the weight and the hurting I knew things had to change but I didn't think I was strong enough. 

First were the cigarettes. I could not breathe and was suffering from bronchitis every few months. I just quit them cold turkey. It was easier than I thought it would be. I was done with them. I kept a pack around so as not to feel deprived. After quitting smoking, however, I was gaining momentum on the weight gain. 

I decided my next step was the aspartame. I have shared my journey on the withdrawals. It was bad but I made it through. It took about three months in all to be totally free of the withdrawals of aspartame. I did switch my aspartame to organic sugar and stevia at the time.  The sugar and the no smoking was still pushing my weight upwards. However, my body was starting to feel better.

I then went off gluten, wheat, and sugar. It was well worth the hard work and suffering. I do not think I can preach enough about the dangers of refined sugars, flours, artificial sweeteners, and processed foods. Without this junk in your life, you change and for the better. I actually got stronger the more crap I quit. It seemed to fuel my drive when I would feel better each step I took. When I quit the sugar, the combination of feeling better and losing weight really excited me. 

For the New Year, I weighed. I have a terrible fear of the scales. It takes a long pep talk to get me on the scales. In the past two years, the scales kept climbing and it was terrifying and traumatizing. When I got up on that scale today, I nearly jumped for joy...down 26 pounds since I quit sugars in October.

Now I am not exercising at this moment. We walk our dog after dinner each evening and that is the extent of my exercise. I do plan on starting up. I used to jog and I miss it however, I tried it before quitting sugars and I could not handle the pain. I am much better now and think I can pick it up slowly. I would love to do a couch to 5k training. I am giving my body time to adjust and heal from the changes I have made. 

It is little things you notice when you quit toxins. Like my skin. It is soft and clearer looking. I used to think it looked grayish and sallow but now it is more of a pink color. The oil on my face, chest and back are now under control. I used to chronically itch because of gluten but that has stopped. I could not even stand the smell of coconut. I thought maybe I was allergic to it but it must have been a sensitivity and now I have no problems with it in fact I use it all the time. I use coconut oil to clean my face, brush my teeth, on my legs and under my arms. It is so versatile and I love it.

I try to keep chemicals and toxins down to a minimal. You can start slowly and phase out small chemicals and toxins at first. I will tell you this from my experience, when changing hygiene products out for natural products, it is best to start with detoxing sugar from your body. Sugar will make you stink and will make it harder for detoxing. I started with my deodorant a couple of years ago and it was a smelly process. It took me over a month to get the “body odor” smell under control. I realized later it was the sugars and other chemicals that I eat that made me smell so badly.

I know the subject of toxins, chemicals, GMOs, refined sugars, and added sugars can seem overwhelming but it really is simple…if the ingredients have words that you cannot understand then it is no good for you. You should not be using boxed or canned foods as often. I know our cupboard barely has canned food in it because I make everything from scratch.

I do not count points or diet. I make lifestyle changes. I think differently about foods and therefore my attitude towards clean eating is healthier. I even have my husband cook with me so he too can look differently at what he eats. I do not force anything upon him and he still has his moments. Recently he brought home a pint of ice cream. Normally I would have my own or just eat half of his but I did not even think about it. I just added up the grams of sugar he was consuming and put it up on the refrigerator. I do not crave sweets like I used to anymore. If I want something sweet, I eat some of the homemade granola bars. I know what is in them because I make them every week and they are so tasty.

If you are ready to change your lifestyle and put your body on the natural track, then stick around. I also have a Facebook page and Twitter account where I post tips. You can look on my Google account and get recipes. Shoot me an email or comment and let me know what you think.

 Next post will be about pot bellies… not the pig. 

Sweet Poison

After finishing the first part of this series, I had a major headache. It was probably my "holes" barking!  But I think it was all the technical terms and trying to simplify the best I could. I made it through and now I am powering on.

Aspartame is made up of 50% Phenylalanine, 40% Aspartic Acid, and 10% Methanol. We have explored what happens with phenylalanine and aspartic acid once they become isolates. They are launched into the blood stream in a matter of a few minutes as opposed to 12-20 hours as an amino acid. Once in the blood stream they bombard the brain as excitotoxins. Once the cells has been exposed to the isolate, they start a chain reaction that results in the death of the cell which leaves holes in the brain. Because of the increase of calcium, these holes are filled with excess calcium. The calcium then leads to such things as memory loss and seizures.

But what about the formaldehyde?

Phenylalanine and methanol have a bond called methyl ester and it is very weak. This is what produces the sweet taste of aspartame however, heating it up can cause the bond to break, the drink not to be sweet and the drink to be straight poisonous methanol.

When methanol enters the body, it enters small structures in a cell called peroxisomes. The peroxisomes then turns the methanol into formaldehyde which in some animals, not humans, is then tuned in to harmless formic acid. The formaldehyde is stored in the mitochondrial DNA and the nucleic DNA poisoning them. These storage cells are in certain areas of the body that avoid being filtered through the liver. The damage that is done to the DNA can cause the cell to function inadequately or having an unbalanced homeostasis which can cause diseases. Methanol and formaldehyde are carcinogenic and mutagenic.

So we see that the isolates and the methanol have a way of hurting our brains within hours of consumption, but what about over time? What if you have been drinking aspartame for 10, 15 or even 20 years?

Well folks I am here to tell you what happens in 15 years…you feel like death is knocking on your door. Your doctors think that you are a hypochondriac. Your husband feels the same way and you begin to wonder if there is really anything wrong with you at all.

I had been to a couple of neurologists, had two MRI's of the brain, been on a few medications, and was told I had fibromyalgia (basically they could not figure out what was wrong with me). Yes I hurt and I still do but not like I used to.

I had numbness, tingling, heart palpitations, aches, pains, muscle twitches, and the list goes on. Each time I went in to the see the doctor, the list either grew larger or it included a new area. Everything was random. They checked me for MS, Lyme disease, VD, strokes, you name it. And each time there was nothing they could find.

I was so sick of being old before my time. One day I was talking with our real estate guy and he told me that a colleague had the same issues and realized it was diet sodas. I was like, no way could this be caused by aspartame. I had researched it many times and finally over four years later, I realized I had no choice but to see if it was the aspartame.

I think if only the doctors would have been more concerned and asked me about whether or not I consumed aspartame that I could have been over this years ago but it did not happen. It was just take this and you will be better. I do not believe the doctors know about the dangers of aspartame. They are not taught and unless they do the research themselves they do not know what it looks like or how it affects a patient.

But I am done blaming others and only blame myself. After nearly 15 years of drinking the poison, I quit it cold turkey. It was not easy.

 Aspartame toxicity/poison is real. You can find a lot of answers online. I am including a link to others who have fought the good fight with aspartame. I am a smarter person because of my past addictions. I now want to know what I put in my body. The FDA, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, commercials, et cetera do not care about you and only want to make a buck or two. You are the only person that can stand up and fight for what goes in your body. I just wish I had known this years ago instead of just following the sheep.

I may not have all the correct “science” down for what happens when you ingest aspartame but I do know this…it will hurt you. It will cause dain bramage. Been there, got the holes to prove it!

Here is a testimonial website online about aspartame users and their stories. http://www.aspartametestimonials.com

The Breakdown

It is important to know what goes on in your body when you drink a diet soda. The combination of the two amino acids and wood alcohol result in major bodily harm. I will try to explain the makeup of aspartame and the effects it has on your body.

Proteins are made up of a chain of amino acids. Aspartic acid is a nonessential amino acid, meaning that it is produced by the body whereas phenylalanine is an essential amino acid. When ingested, the protein is broken down slowly by your gut and the amino acids are absorbed into the blood system. The amino acids are then picked up by enzymes that carry the amino acid to where it belongs in your body.  However, aspartic acid and phenylalanine are isolates when used in aspartame and do not absorb the same way as a regular amino acid.

An isolate is when an amino acid has been artificially separated from the rest of the protein chain. Once the isolate enters the body it acts as a neurotoxin instead amino acid.

Neurotoxins are poisonous and destructive to nerve tissue. When the isolate aspartic acid and phenylalanine are ingested into the body, they are launched straight into the blood system where they are distributed as excitotoxins. An excitotoxin overstimulates neurotransmitter receptors (the brain’s communication) causing them to become exhausted.

There are three main excitotoxins: aspartate, glutamate, and cysteine which are added to the foods we eat. Most know glutamate as a monosodium glutamate or MSG.

The Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) and the Cervical Spinal Fluid (CSF) are the two ways in which excitotoxins reach the unprotected part of the brain, the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus job is to keep the body in balance (homeostasis).  It is linked with the nervous system and the endocrine system through the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus stimulates or inhibits your crucial body processes such as:

• Heart rate and blood pressure
• Body temperature
• Fluid and electrolyte balance, including thirst
• Appetite and body weight
• Glandular secretions of the stomach and intestines
• Production of substances that influence the pituitary gland to release hormones
• Sleep cycles

The transportation of the excitotoxins across the BBB and CSF cause several reactions to take place.

1. They trigger the nerves to fire excessively.
2. Normal enzyme actions are negated due to phenylalanine and aspartic acid.  
3. The energy system becomes compromised from
4. Depleted intercellular ATP stores and from
5. The presence of formaldehyde also from
6. Changed intracellular calcium uptake and
7. Damage to cellular mitochondria and
8. Destruction of the cellular wall and the
9. Release of free radicals (unstable molecules looking to steal an electron from a stable molecule causing a chain reaction and disruption of the living cell).
10. All potentially causing oxidative stress and neurodegeneration and
11. Promotion of DNA structural defects.

Within the next 1-12 hours, cellular death occurs. The dead cells leave behind lesions or holes in the brain. 

However, this is only the short-term effect of the amino acids found in aspartame and does not include cumulative or long-term nor formaldehyde damage. I will explain more of the damage of aspartame in the next post. 

The Sweet N Down Low Of Aspartame

I really want to educate you, my readers, on the dangers of aspartame. I have been doing research and I am still finding new disturbing information. I thought I would be able to write everything in one post but that is not going to be possible.

Aspartame has a sketchy background, a 22 year study done by Harvard, is in over 6,000 products and is owned by the biggest company in the world that loves to push GMOs (another day, another blog).

Aspartame is made of aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. That is two amino acids and wood alcohol. 

Let’s start at the beginning.

Aspartame was accidentally discovered in 1965 by a chemist, James Schlatter, of G.D. Searle Company. He was trying to make an anti-ulcer drug. Apparently, some of the chemical was on his fingers and he tasted the sweetness and realized he could use this in foods as an artificial sweetener.

Originally, aspartame was supposed to be in dry goods in 1974 but  Dr. John W. Olney, neuroscience researcher, put the brakes on the approval. Objections were filed and investigations were led into G.D. Searle’s research practices causing the FDA to say “not now”. So it finally was approved and in 1985, guess who bought G.D. Searle? MONSANTO.

Monsanto divided the company and made a pharmaceutical company and The NutraSweet Company.

Right before Monsanto got its grubby hands in the company, aspartame was approved for dry foods in 1983 and in 1986 made its debut in diet sodas. Believe or not, Diet Coke was all the rage. I remember my oldest sister, (shout out) Susie, making the switch to Diet Coke.

Today, the artificial sweetener, aspartame has many names and is consumed by over 200 million people worldwide. Products that have aspartame include carbonated soft drinks, chewing gum, gelatin, frozen desserts, yogurt, tabletop sweeteners and flavoring in medicines.

Side effects from drinking aspartame include (however, there are more):

• Headaches/migraines
• Seizures         
• Nausea
• Numbness
• Muscle spasms          
• Weight gain   
• Rashes
• Depression   
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Heart palpitations      
• Breathing difficulties
• Loss of taste
• Tinnitus         
• Memory loss
• Joint pain      

I had made a list of my ailments in 2014 that showed so many of these side effects and more. That was when I decided I needed to make a change. It was not easy but it got better. My duty to you is to explore each of the components that make up aspartame and its effect on the body. So stay tuned for the next few blogs and learn more about aspartame. Even if the information is not relevant to you, it may be for a friend or relative or it just could come in handy the next time you play trivia.

What’s Your Sign?

We all know that when we stop something immediately we have repercussions. For example, if you slam on your brakes while driving, you knock everyone forward in the car. Same thing happens when you decide to stop consuming a toxin. Your body’s reaction can be overwhelming at times. Until we start coming off the bad stuff we don’t realize how much of a hold it has on our lives. We are addicted to the foods and drinks that our government tells us it is okay to consume. So if you are ready to give up the bad stuff, we need to see how to approach it.

When I stopped smoking, I was aware that the coming off of nicotine would not be easy. So I coddled it for a month by using a vape (no recommendations, just what I used). I got used to not having the cigarette and then lowered the nicotine. After a month, I got rid of all the nicotine and my cravings and the urge to kill others was easier to control. So I slowed down my use of nicotine which helped me with withdrawals however, I did not act so cautious on my other demons.

I gave up aspartame and it treated me rough. Studies I have read about coming off aspartame says that it is like a heroin addiction and at times you feel like it is a demon you are exorcising.  I realized though I could not simply cut down on the diet drinks and that I was going to have to just stop cold turkey. I must admit, I did not learn any lesson from just stopping. I figured once that exorcism was pulled off I could conquer all the rest. I did gluten and sugar the same way however, thankfully, they were not as cruel.

I think my sign would be the “stop” sign now, I just quit and walk away.  I understand we cannot all be like this and I have a tendency to push those around me to just stop. I have to remind myself they are not me. I like to jump in and see results often time too quickly. I will be posting about toxins that you should give up and how it will affect your mood and bodies. I know the holidays are on us and quitting right now is not a good time. I want this to work with you so just wait until the New Year and start it off right. I will, however, begin posting those toxins for you so you will know what you are up against. 

So my question to you is, what is your sign? Are you going to approach your demons and rid them slowly or are you going to throw them for a loop and just stop? Comment me and let me know.

Off the Grid

So thanks for tuning back in. I will recap the last post by listing what I QUIT:

• Aspartame
• All artificial sweeteners
• Diet Pepsi
• Bread
• Flour
• Wheat
• Beer
• Beer 

Yes I mentioned beer twice because it is heartbreaking but we got bigger fish to fry!

Today I am going to tell you what I quit that made the biggest difference in my health. SUGAR. It has only been nine weeks. I say only because I plan on keeping up this new-found lifestyle FOREVER! Yes folks you read it correctly…I am giving up added sugars (refined sugar AND refined flours) for the rest of my days on this beautiful planet. I ain’t gonna lie, I do on occasion cheat but it is okay. I don’t punish myself. I find that my craving sugars and other junk has almost diminished.

Me during the "Sugar Rush of 2014"
Powdered donuts are so good

Since I have quit “the sugar” (say “the sugar” like it has borrowed money from you & never paid you back), I have dropped 20 pounds. I have noticed my skin has improved tremendously and even the oil on my face and scalp has slowed to a crawl. My body’s aches and pains have also stopped screaming at me daily and has become a hum that some days is in the distance. I wish I had done this years ago!

Folks, it ain’t easy either. I walk down aisle that are full of candies and cookies and lick my lips like a cartoon character but I keep going. Sometimes I pick up a bag and smell it. People stare but I don’t care.

I am here to help you with quitting the bad stuff and eating the good stuff. Since quitting sugars, I have limited snacks and dinners are not quick. But I do enjoy cooking more than ever now. It is funny. The more work I do the more the meal is rewarding. I think it has to do with the fact that I am cooking healthier meals for me and my hubby. I really cannot wait until I get back to the states to cook for my family. I want to show them that healthy food can be delicious and easy to prepare.  So that is why I want to do this blog. I want to show others what I am going through and share with them. I want to challenge myself and others to get healthy and stay healthy. No more fad diets just lifestyle changes. I am not a doctor or even a nurse but I am a woman who has let society dictate that fast foods and convenient foods are my only choices.

So join me on my journey that can also be your journey. I believe we can self-heal. This is a gift from God that we have abused. Let’s put our bodies back in order. Let’s go off the mainstream foods and live off the grid.

I am a QUITTER!

You will find that I quit so many things but they are for the best reasons!

About a year ago, I start to rid my body from toxins, such as the chemicals from cigarettes, aspartame/artificial sweeteners, gluten, GMO wheat, and refined sugars and flours.  

Before I began this journey, I was having many health issues. At one point, my daughter referred to it as the “Ozzy stage”. I was basically dragging my left leg around, stuttering, and running into everything. I was checked for strokes and MS. Was told I had hemiplegic migraines and was put on medicine. When I realized the medicine was causing more problems than I originally had, I QUIT the medicine. I then continued on hurting however, the symptoms were changing and I was checked for Lyme disease. I was eventually told I had fibromyalgia and put on new medication. After taking the new medicine, I realized it too was causing new symptoms so I QUIT it. Which brings me to about a year ago…Somethings had to change. The first thing I QUIT was smoking…that was not too hard. I have now been smoke free for a year. Woo Hoo! However, it got worse after that…

I was hurting, gaining about a pound a week and my sleep was so horrible. I needed answers and I was tired of turning to doctors who put a label on it that was basically an umbrella and handing medicine to me that were causing more harm than good. So I decided to take another step and break up with a long term lover I had, diet Pepsi.

I QUIT my soda…my comfort drink, my buddy.

And I did it a month before we went to France. Mistake.

Sans aspartame
France 04/2015

Most breakups are done and over but not aspartame…it lingers like a stalker ex that you have to get a restraining order for. I figured a month into it I would be fine but no, it hit me like a ton of bricks. All I wanted to do was sleep. My feet, ankles and face were swollen and I had shortness of breath. I was irritable and just plain miserable. I had severe anxiety problems and was not coping well but it soon passed after a couple more weeks and I was free from the demon and I felt so much better. But of course that feeling did not last…

What I realized though after quitting cigarettes and aspartame that I still was not feeling 100%. I knew I had more demons to slay and what a better way than one at a time?? So my next victim was Gluten. Worst of all it was in my beer and not just any beer but my German beer! Death come now and take me please!! I had to QUIT beer.

I am a known connoisseur of beer…I like to drink it. We moved to Germany over two years ago and I discovered the best tasting beer in the world, Bavarian beer. Now, I can give up bread, cookies, candy, and even cigarettes and diet Pepsi but to give up beer could cause me to revert back to old ways, kick my dog, and divorce my husband….could, but didn’t. So I left wheat and gluten high and dry.

  

I noticed things changing for the good when I gave up my gluten however I still had one more thing to quit and it was a biggie. One that I never knew was so prevalent in foods. It actually caused the least amount of withdrawal symptoms and is the one that took me over the top with my health. The biggest demon I had to slay was...to be continued...