Natural Remedies and Homeopathic Medicine

A few years ago, I started cutting typical OTC remedies from my life. In America, it's so common to have an ailment and "pop a pill" to cure it. While the overuse of perscription drugs in America is appalling... I am also talking Tylenol, Cold Medications, etc. We all take in so many toxins through pollution, our clothes, laundry detergent, cleaning products (I have converted as much of this stuff to natural and will share on another post)...why not cut out as many toxins and unnatural additives from our bodies as possible?

I have done some discovering and have found some products that work well for me. I am not any kind of doctor so I am not offering medical advice, but am just sharing some remedies I enjoy and feel good about using....and that actually work! If you have a medical problem, seek out the help of a medical doctor. This are just things that I try first before going that route.

I have been hearing lots of complaints about allergies lately. Spring has sprung in San Diego...all of our rain this year has brought tons and tons of lovely wildflowers EVERYWHERE which can be pretty to look at but challenging for allergies. I have only suffered slightly and I attribute this to some of my natural remedies. I took Claritin for years...and it worked pretty well. But I almost think it fought my bodies natural response and ability to fight allergic reactions. Now that I have stopped taking it, my allergies aren't that bad, despite the crazy allergy season we are having.

Allergies

First up for tackling allergies: local bee pollen and local honey. The pretty jar here is actually from France, so it doesn't work for allergies, but I like it for the taste. I did buy the plastic container of bee pollen at Jimbo's and it's local. The honey is local from the farmers' market. Apparently taking these products produces from local bees kicks in sort of immunity to being affected by pollen in the air. I don't really understand it, but I tell you, it works! I believe it's like a natural anti histamine. Just add one or both of these to your smoothies, granolas, yogurt, salad, etc. Everyone loves Honey and I think Bee Pollen tastes good too...just a teaspoon or tablespoon a couple times a week does the trick for me.

When those super natural products don't work, I go to my next step, homeopathic products. My two favorite product lines are Boiron and Hylands. I think they both work well, although you really have to try out different  homeopathic products to see which ones work for you. I have some of each of their products...where I might prefer one to another. They both have products with a single cure "sneezing" and they both have products for multiple problems "allergies including sneezing, itchy eyes, scratchy throat", etc. I use some of both.

Both of these products, Hylands "Hayfever" and Boiron "Sinusalia" work well based on my symptoms. Homeopathic medicines are in a sugar pill of sorts you just let sit under your tongue until it dissipates. It doesn't taste bad, there are no side effects, they are not addictive, you can take as many different types as you want at once, there are no drug interactions... I just can't say enough good things about these products. They work for me, period. And I am happy to put herbs into my body rather than creepy chemicals from money grubbing drug companies.

Sore Muscles


Because of all my recent exercising...I walk around in a constant state of "sore". These products have helped immensely! The first, Natural Calm, is a magnesium based supplement that you add to water and drink. It helps your muscles relax and heal after exercise. It also supposedly helps you stay calm and balance your mood, but I haven't noticed that effect...of course I am high strung, so I need all the balancing I can get! It does work for me and my sore muscles, however.

I also recently read that ginger not only settles your stomach and helps with digestion, it also helps to relieve muscle pain! It's also very cheap, and we all know what ginger is...it's not some weird chemical compound I can't pronounce. I love it. It has definitely made a difference since I started taking it regularly....both with my muscles and with my stomach and digestion.

Traumeel is a topical solution for sore muscles. You just rub it on your body in sore parts. It works better if you put it on places you think will be sore the next day, but also works after the fact. It's not greasy, it doesn't smell weird, and it works.

Lastly is another Boiron product, Arnica Montana. You can get Arnica in many forms and again, it is a homeopathic pill taken under the tongue. I take it after a particularly tough work out to prevent pain the next day or days.

Cuts / Burns / Bites


I started using tea tree oil instead of Neosporin a few years ago. It works better, it's all natural, and I like the smell. It cures everything! Got a burn? Tea tree oil. Got a zit? Tea tree oil. Got a cut? Tea tree oil. I like this ointment for skin issues.

I also love this Burt's Bee's Res-Q-Ointment. I like it for mosquito bites because it takes some of the itch away.

Both are great products.

 Headaches

We all get headaches, right? Stress, staring at our computers for too long, etc. I think this product works better than Aleve which is what I took for YEARS. Aleve has scary side effects including causing stomach bleeding! This product has NO side effects and it works. Really! Try it! I get bad headaches occasionally, and this really, really works.

Sleep Issues

I have struggled with sleep my whole life. The number one thing that has improved my sleeping regularly is yoga. I highly recommended it. But, even with yoga, sometimes I don't sleep well. I like this Hylands product, Calms Forte. Taken an hour before sleeping, it calms with out drugging and you won't feel like a slug the next day. The only thing is that I prefer to take it before I go to sleep if I think I am going to have a hard time sleeping. If I take it in the middle of the night I am slow going the next day...not a drugged feeling, but a tired feeling. It really works and makes you feel sleepy.

This little pouch is filled with organic lavender. Lavender is a natural sleep inducer with very calming effects...so adding lavender oil to your pillow, putting fresh cut lavender in a vase by your bed, or placing one of these on your eyes definitely helps sooth and get you to sleep!

Flu!

Who wants to get the flu? I don't. I also don't want to get the flu shot. Here comes this amazing product to save the day! During flu season I sprayed this into my mouth everyday. I NEVER got the flu. Twice during flu season, I started to feel run down, like the flu was on it's way. I upped my intake and sprayed this into my mouth 4-5 times a day (along with increasing vitamins for immunity)...the flu never came and struck me down like it has every other year of my life. Plain and simple, this stuff works.

Stress

OK, I definitely stress out. So far, a combination of things has helped...number one being yoga. I can't say it enough...Yoga is a miracle drug. 

I do many things to combat stress, including eating a balanced diet, listening to calming music, taking supplements, using aromatherapy, and talking to friends and family. I also use the two following products when things get really crazy.

Holy Basil leaf tastes bad but you just put a few drops in water when you really feel like you are going to freak out...or maybe you already did freak out. It calms me down within minutes. It works well for me as an "on the spot remedy" when my stress levels are already out of control.

The other Boiron product is Sedalia. I take this during times of long term stress...working through a personal problem, a busy time a work, etc. I like this when I think a longer term...say couple of days to a week...of a stressful time is happening.

Well, there you have it. I hope you will all consider looking to some new natural remedies that help you with your ailments without causing some other damage to your body. 

Farmers' Market Finds...

Farmers' markets in San Diego are unreal. Although I love my beloved CSA, I still make a point to go to at least one of our wonderful farmers' markets each week. There are literally dozens of them in every neighborhood on every day, so it's easy to find one that suits your fancy. My favorite is in Leucadia...it's in a hippy little town and itself seems very "hippy-ish" with live music and lots of delicious vegetarian food being cooked over hot stoves and grills. There is a good variety of vendors and I typically find what I need. I also love the Del Mar one, mainly because it's closest to my house, parking is never an issue, and my favorite farm fresh egg stand is there. There are several others I visit but those two I frequent.

There are two mac daddys of farmers' markets in San Diego: In Hillcrest and Little Italy. Both of these are major events with literally hundreds of vendors and thousands of people. You can get everything from fresh shucked oysters to organic grains and lentils to organic dog treats and handmade jewelry to the most gorgeous produce, flowers and plants you have ever lied your eyes on. I forgot to mention the roasted, organic, free range chicken (which I don't eat anymore but urge you omnivores to seek out...it's as close to French Rotisserie Chicken I have found in the US), the gorgeous vegetarian crepes, beautiful deserts, endless tables of ethnic foods, and freshly baked bread. With all of the vendors and all of the people...and all of the sights and smells......it's a feast for your senses. Not only can you eat like a queen while you attend these events, you can purchase local, sustainable, organic foods to enjoy with your family all week! I highly recommend seeking out your local farmers' markets for your grocery shopping needs. You can get SO much more there than just tomatoes and strawberries...breads, artisan cheeses, dips, chips, teas, chocolates, coffee, salads, fresh fish, etc.  Last weekend I went to the Hillcrest location and literally drove around for 30 minutes before I found a parking spot. It is intense...and a far cry from my leisurely strolls in Del Mar and Encinitas! But sometimes you want to pick up some of these gorgeous soaps that my mom and I love dearly.......

Sometimes it's just so fun to go to one of these events and stroll around...observing all there is to observe...including some lovely people watching....

I also found a lovely new organic spice stand...selling lovely teas, peppers, spice mixes, seeds, etc. I bought a French curry blend which was lovely...along with some organic pepper, caraway seeds, and harrissa spice mix. I have already used my curry spice with large zucchinis, baby potatoes, and coconut milk to make a take on Heidi Swanson's new recipe "Summer Squash Soup" from her most recent beautiful book: Super Natural Everyday
I absolutely love Heidi's Blog 101 Cookbooks and also have her earlier book Super Natural Cooking. I have also given this book to several people as gifts. I think Heidi makes healthful vegetarian food that is lovely to look at and lovely to eat as well as easy to cook. Her pictures transport you to her San Francisco Kitchen and make you want to tuck into interesting ingredients like Heirloom Beans and Black Sesame Seeds. I highly recommend her blogs and books for anyone looking to incorporate more beautiful vegetarian cooking into their lives.

Recipe:

Summer Squash Soup, Very Loosely Adapted from "Super Natural Everyday" by Heidi Swanson

Toast 1 heaping TBSP French Curry Blend over medium heat in the bottom of a dutch oven.
Chop one purple onion finely.
Add 1 TBSP Coconut oil and 1 TBSP EVOO to your pot after the spices become fragrant and toasty (my seasons were whole, not ground. You could do this with ground curry powder too).
Add the onions and saute for a few minutes until translucent.
In the meantime, cut 5 small yellow potatoes into cubes about 1/2 inch.
Add the potatoes to the pot.
Sweat the potatoes with the onions for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly so things don't stick to the pan.
Add 1 cup water, 1 cup veggie broth (I used low sodium) and 2 cups of Coconut Milk (I used So Delicious Brand from a carton, but you could also use one can of coconut milk instead).
Make sure to get all the seasonings from the bottom of the pan incorporated.
After about 10-15 minutes (depending on your potatoes cooking time) add in two large cubed zucchinis. Allow everything to soften, but not too much. You don't want mushy zucchini which happened to me.
While the soup is cooking, you can crisp up some cubed tofu in pan or roast in the oven.
Taste the soup and add more seasonings in necessary. I added more salt and some garam masala at this point.
Serve a big bowl of soup with your "tofu croutons" and enjoy!

This soup was wonderful. Heidi called for adding the zucchini before the potatoes which I did, and they became WAY too soggy. That is why I adjusted the recipe here. It was a wonderful soup and not too heavy on a warm spring night. Although a reheated bowl really hit the spot after on of my recent training swims on a chilly evening in Mission Bay.

I had some leftovers which I pureed...and that was great too!

Triathlon Training Updates

Well folks, I haven't done a good job of blogging once a week this year...not at all. I have been super busy with work and with triathlon training!

I believe I mentioned I signed up for a triathlon in October. I started training with a group and the group is training for another triathlon in May...so I think I am going to do that one too! Who am I? Triathlons? Running is out of my comfort zone. Swimming is out of my comfort zone. I am really pushing my limits here! However, I am really enjoying the challenge and think I am getting in better shape.

Running is getting easier and I think it is helping me loose a few lbs. In fact, I went shopping to splurge on my self for my birthday, and seemed to have dropped down a dress size! This is fantastic! I feel more confident and am excited for bikini season this year!

Biking is not too hard for me either and I have been doing fine with that.

Swimming is definitely the most challenging for me. I am a pretty good swimmer but have never distance swam before. I grew up swimming in Lake Tahoe, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sacramento River, as well as swimming in pools, so I am comfortable in the water for the most part. I have been practicing in the pool and over the weekend I finally went for a swim in Mission Bay, which I have been putting off due to some needed vaccinations first. The October Triathlon is in Mission Bay, so it's time for me to get used to it. Putting on my triathlon wet suit was a challenge in itself....that should be one of the events of the triathlon! It's so hard to put it on.... Then I slip on my freaky looking goggles and silly swim cap... now I am really the epitome of fashion, right? I got so worked up before jumping in that water. Why? Partially because I was nervous about swimming alone in the bay. And....Mission Bay is not known for being particularly clean. Well, I got in and the wet suit works awesome...it is SO buoyant that you literally float in the water. It makes the swimming almost effortless. However, I couldn't stay in the water for long. First of all...it was dirty. Literally, garbage was everywhere. Ewe.  Also, it was dark, murky, and full of seaweed! It was really freaking me out. Hopefully swimming with more people will make it easier. I felt like I strong swimmer but wished that my eyes were closed! Ignorance really is bliss.

I am continuing with my yoga practice as well as doing the training and continuing to walk my dog everyday.

I calendar my workouts and it has helped me stick to the plan. Here is what an average week looks like:

Sunday, Long (10-12 mile) Bike ride with training group, Walk for 30 minutes, run for 30 minutes (about 3 miles)
Monday, Swim for 30 minutes, Sculpt Yoga Class, Walk for 30 minutes
Tuesday, Long Run (5-6 miles), Swim for 60 minutes with training group
Wednesday, Sculpt Yoga Class, Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday, Yoga, Run for one hour with training group
Friday, Swim for 30 minutes, walk for 30 minutes, Yoga
Saturday, Yoga, walk for 30 minutes

As you can see, it's a lot! Thankfully now that I work for myself, my schedule is very flexible. I am doing my workouts primarily in the morning at 7:00 and at lunch time at 12:00, and then two nights a week in the evenings with my training group. Luckily, on days when I don't have business meetings, I can work in my workout clothes, so I am not having to worry about that...and not having to get ready to go to an office saves me some time. If I was still employed by someone else, I don't know how I would have been able to commit to this, so I feel very fortunate that I have this flexibility.

There have been a couple of unforeseen issues with all this working out:

• I am taking 2 showers a day! (On Saturday I took three...one after yoga, one at the bay after swimming, and one when I got home!) I am trying to avoid blowing my hair dry as much as possible so it doesn't dry out. I am worried about my skin drying out, but body oil helps with that. 
• I am doing BUCKETS of laundry. Yoga clothes must be washed the same day....with heated yoga, it can't wait. Between my yoga clothes, swimsuit, towels for the pool / bay, running pants, biking pants, sports bras, warm up jackets, running socks, headbands, etc, I am doing at least one load of laundry a day. It's uncanny. I feel very guilty about all the water I am using, but I don't think it's avoidable. At least I have a high efficiency washing machine that doesn't use a ton of water.

So there you have it. It's been a pretty wild ride so far, but I feel a great sense of accomplishment, and know that the day of the race will be such an unbelievable high! I am going to be so excited. I have a feeling I am going to get addicted to this! 

Sonoita, AZ

The last stop on our wild west adventure through Arizona was to Sonoita / Elgin area. This is, if you can believe it, a wine region! It was about a 70 minute drive from Tucson (we actually passed through it on our was to Bisbee) and we took Aaron's sister wine tasting for her first time. We visited a few wineries...some of which, to our surprise, were wonderful! We could not believe the quality of wine in this area. We visited one winery which was downright awful, but the majority of the wines we tried were beyond decent. They are really doing a good job! It was so pretty too...lots of open spaces, sun bouncing off the mountains. This was the icing on the cake for a surprising exploration of Arizona. I really couldn't believe how much I ended up loving all the places we visited.

Bisbee, AZ and Tombstone, AZ...and a bonus Ghost Town!

 While out in Arizona, we were encouraged to add Bisbee to our lists of must sees. Having never heard of this place, we were really apprehensive. We were planning to go to Tombstone, but added Bisbee to our itinerary as well. We drove outside of Tucson, past Tombstone, and up through some mountains. Before we knew it, we literally stumbled across this little town called Bisbee, which looks so much like San Francisco! Bisbee was an old mining town and a bunch of wealthy San Francisco locals developed the place, hence, it looks a lot like SF. It was full of VERY interesting characters...lots of hippees and other odd people. While most of the town was clean and quaint, there were some strange...parks?! and odd buildings inhabited by some of these people I would suspect were living off the grid. We also noticed tons and tons of stairways everywhere. The town is quite hilly, so to connect from street to street you can climb these stairwells. The town had so much character, tons of great restaurants, and lots of little haunted hotels! The next time we go out there we plan to get a hotel room for a night. We were really pleasantly surprised at this little gem of a town.

 After heading out of Bisbee, we stopped in Tombstone. I had been there years ago and it was similar to how I remembered....commercialized and filled with tourists. BUT...it obviously has history, and there were some cool places to visit. We had a beer in a bar with live gun shots and a man playing piano...it was not boring.

 We made one last stop before heading back to Tucson in Fairbank which was REALLY a ghost town...completely abandoned in the late 1970's...but really most of the town left in the 40's after the mining boom. The town was SO creepy and Aaron made me walk about a mile out this dirt road to a cemetery...I almost had a heart attack I was so scared!

 This was a gas station that was in operation through the 70's if you can believe it!

 This was the school which was recently refurbished and is used as a little museum and book store.

 This is the SPOOKY trail that lead to the cemetery....

 The sun was starting to set.... so CREEPY...

 These are some of the graves. I don't know how appropriate it is to take photos of a cemetery, but I wanted to capture how darned scared I was. The whole thing was really run down but you could definitely tell there were graves everywhere.

 The walk back through the trail was even spookier than the way over because we were fighting the sunset! Ah! I get the willies just looking at these pictures.

All in all a great day discovering some of the old west. What an interesting place!

Tubac, AZ

Hi Bloggies,

I never shared my Christmas vacation with you all. The BF and spent Christmas in Tucson with his family and stayed at his sisters house.

Aaron and I took a few one day trips, to Tubac, Sonoita, and Bisbee, AZ. All three of these places were very appealing and I enjoyed our exploration of AZ very, very, much.

First, I give you Tubac. Tubac is a little artist's colony about an hour outside of Tucson. Like many Arizona towns we discovered, it really pops right out of the desert. It's filled with artists shops, antiques, restaurants, etc, and it was such a fun way to stroll around in the AZ sunshine. Aaron and I enjoyed lunch at a cute little dive bar and restaurant called the Tubac Inn and scored an awesome birthday gift for my Texan step dad in Fort Worth. I love buying gifts as I see them for people rather than rushing around the week before and being forced to get something.I also found some great gourmet products at Tubac Olive Oil company.... hazelnut oil and blackcurrant balsamic vinegar. They taste great on a simply dressed salad.

The Tubac Chamber of Commerce really needs to redo their website because the pictures don't do the place justice. It's quaint and very pretty in it's own southwest way.

Enjoy the pictures.
Aaron checking out a hotrod, per usual.

 Pretty December sky.

 Another one of Aaron's action series....

Tubac was well worth the 50 minute drive from Tucson. We noticed quite a few restaurants, bars, and little hotels. It might be a fun place to stay for a night and explore!