Herbal Legacy Articles

By Tara Christopher Eyre

We had an interesting dinner the other evening–I had prepared a fabulous cashew sauce for our zucchini noodles and was excited for the kids to try it out.  My three year old took her first bite, said “Yum!” and then immediately had a look of horror cross her face.  Being the mom that I am, I thought, “Oh no you don’t - not tonight!” and immediately gave her another bite.  She cried and complained while I tried to enjoy some of my own dinner.  As I often do, I gathered my wits, force fed her another bite and ate some more.  But this was not the usual whining about something new for dinner.

Her cries got louder, her face turned red and all of a sudden she had big white bumps around her eyes.  The bumps multiplied, her eyes starting swelling shut, her stomach hurt and I sprang to action.  I grabbed a cold wash cloth for her eyes, held her in my arms and took a moment to think.  It seemed like her body was having a major reaction, that her immune system was just going crazy.  Best thing to calm the immune system?  Marshmallow and Astragalus.

So I had my son grab a bottle of Kid-e-Soothe and immediately gave her three droppersful.  I checked the washcloth, it was burning up, so I cooled that down and gave her three more droppersful of Kid-e-Soothe.  The swelling in her eyes and white bumps started decreasing, so I kept changing the cloth on her eyes and giving Kid-e-Soothe while I flipped through my homeopathic book (that I keep in the kitchen, specifically for times like this!) and finally found what I was looking for - Apis, a specific for hives, reactions, allergies, etc.  I gave her some immediately, and started alternating it with the Kid-e-Soothe.

She was able to lie on the couch while I started some Raspberry/Spearmint/Catnip Tea a favorite at our house for any sickness.  A few minutes later she was done with the cloth on her eyes - and they looked A LOT better.  The cloth wasn’t pulling out heat anymore.  I slowed down the Kid-e-Soothe and Apis because she wouldn’t take it.  And then (about ½ hour into the experience) she threw up.  She would only take one sip of the tea, which was fine, but she did want more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis.  I also put some Apis in a water cup and she sipped on that intermittently.

She threw up twice more that evening, each about an hour apart, and then slept soundly the rest of the night.  The next morning she was back to her old self, playing and laughing with her brothers–and completely starving for breakfast!  She had a few red areas on her face so I gave her more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis and it cleared up within an hour.  She was fine the rest of the day.

As I took care of my little sweetheart I let my mind put the pieces together that caused this experience and realized that she is definitely allergic to cashews.  The only other time she has eaten cashews is when I chopped them up in a homemade energy bar.  She threw up a ½ hour after eating those and again about an hour later.  I don’t remember any swelling or hives during that experience, but maybe it’s because she only had a little bit of the energy bar, not a concentrated amount like the cashew sauce.  The other thing that I realized is that she always refuses cashews when I offer them to her.  Somehow she knows that those aren’t good for her and stays away from them.  What amazing bodies we have!  She was listening to her body all along - it just took an experience like this one for me to understand!

I also felt so thankful for my upbringing and the School of Natural Healing course I am completing.  I was able to keep my wits about me, understand what my daughter’s symptoms were telling me, and act accordingly.  What a blessing!  No trip to the emergency room, no Benadryl, just the safe herbs and homeopathics I had in my kitchen.  What a fabulous dinner!

Tara Eyre is a busy mother of three fabulous children.  She grew up with herbs and is finishing up her Master Herbalist course through The School of Natural Healing.  She loves taking care of her children naturally at home.

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By Tara Christopher Eyre

We had an interesting dinner the other evening–I had prepared a fabulous cashew sauce for our zucchini noodles and was excited for the kids to try it out.  My three year old took her first bite, said “Yum!” and then immediately had a look of horror cross her face.  Being the mom that I am, I thought, “Oh no you don’t - not tonight!” and immediately gave her another bite.  She cried and complained while I tried to enjoy some of my own dinner.  As I often do, I gathered my wits, force fed her another bite and ate some more.  But this was not the usual whining about something new for dinner.

Her cries got louder, her face turned red and all of a sudden she had big white bumps around her eyes.  The bumps multiplied, her eyes starting swelling shut, her stomach hurt and I sprang to action.  I grabbed a cold wash cloth for her eyes, held her in my arms and took a moment to think.  It seemed like her body was having a major reaction, that her immune system was just going crazy.  Best thing to calm the immune system?  Marshmallow and Astragalus.

So I had my son grab a bottle of Kid-e-Soothe and immediately gave her three droppersful.  I checked the washcloth, it was burning up, so I cooled that down and gave her three more droppersful of Kid-e-Soothe.  The swelling in her eyes and white bumps started decreasing, so I kept changing the cloth on her eyes and giving Kid-e-Soothe while I flipped through my homeopathic book (that I keep in the kitchen, specifically for times like this!) and finally found what I was looking for - Apis, a specific for hives, reactions, allergies, etc.  I gave her some immediately, and started alternating it with the Kid-e-Soothe.

She was able to lie on the couch while I started some Raspberry/Spearmint/Catnip Tea a favorite at our house for any sickness.  A few minutes later she was done with the cloth on her eyes - and they looked A LOT better.  The cloth wasn’t pulling out heat anymore.  I slowed down the Kid-e-Soothe and Apis because she wouldn’t take it.  And then (about ½ hour into the experience) she threw up.  She would only take one sip of the tea, which was fine, but she did want more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis.  I also put some Apis in a water cup and she sipped on that intermittently.

She threw up twice more that evening, each about an hour apart, and then slept soundly the rest of the night.  The next morning she was back to her old self, playing and laughing with her brothers–and completely starving for breakfast!  She had a few red areas on her face so I gave her more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis and it cleared up within an hour.  She was fine the rest of the day.

As I took care of my little sweetheart I let my mind put the pieces together that caused this experience and realized that she is definitely allergic to cashews.  The only other time she has eaten cashews is when I chopped them up in a homemade energy bar.  She threw up a ½ hour after eating those and again about an hour later.  I don’t remember any swelling or hives during that experience, but maybe it’s because she only had a little bit of the energy bar, not a concentrated amount like the cashew sauce.  The other thing that I realized is that she always refuses cashews when I offer them to her.  Somehow she knows that those aren’t good for her and stays away from them.  What amazing bodies we have!  She was listening to her body all along - it just took an experience like this one for me to understand!

I also felt so thankful for my upbringing and the School of Natural Healing course I am completing.  I was able to keep my wits about me, understand what my daughter’s symptoms were telling me, and act accordingly.  What a blessing!  No trip to the emergency room, no Benadryl, just the safe herbs and homeopathics I had in my kitchen.  What a fabulous dinner!

Tara Eyre is a busy mother of three fabulous children.  She grew up with herbs and is finishing up her Master Herbalist course through The School of Natural Healing.  She loves taking care of her children naturally at home.   

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By Jo Francks M.H. - Utah

October is breast cancer awareness month.  Dr. Christopher was successful in helping many patients in overcoming many incurable diseases.  The following is an interesting experience he had on an airplane, shared from the book Every Woman’s Herbal.

While boarding a plane in Salt Lake City, Dr. Christopher had buckled up, and was ready to enjoy a little free time on the plane, reading, studying and meditating.  A lady sat down beside him.  As the plane took off, she began to talk, “Hello, where are you going?” she asked. “To Toronto, Canada.” said Dr. Christopher. “Why?” she asked further. “I lecture, and will be lecturing there. ” was Dr. Christopher’s response. Again she questioned,”What do you lecture on?” Dr. Christopher could see that he wouldn’t be getting much quiet meditation, and began to feel a little irritated, but he answered that he was an herb doctor, lecturing on healing the body. “Isn’t that interesting?” she responded, and began to tell him her story.

She said that two years before she had had pains in her breasts, so bad that she went to the doctor.  She had severe cancer of the breast, so the physician took her right to the hospital, and when she came out she had only one breast.  They assured her that he had cleaned out the cancer very thoroughly, but six months later her other breast started hurting.  It got so severe that she again went to the doctor, who said that he must have missed some of the cancer, so he rushed her to the hospital and they removed her second breast.  She went home with the assurance that this would be it, no more problems, but within six months, she was having abdominal pains in her organs and lower cavities and was in terrible pain.  When she was examined, the doctor told her that she would have to have her reproductive organs removed and part of her bowels, because the cancer had spread throughout her body.  She said that she wouldn’t let them do any more cutting on her.  They suggested chemotherapy, but she wouldn’t allow that either.  She said that if she was going to die, she didn’t want to be in pieces. She would die on her own.

She went home, not knowing where to turn, knowing nothing about diet, medicine, or anything.  She said she knelt down and prayed, and the answer came to her.  Did the Doctor want to know what it was? By this time, Dr. Christopher was all ears, and yes, of course, he very much wanted to know what it was! She changed her diet to eat fruits and vegetables, grains and seeds, as much as possible raw.  A few months went by and she was feeling better, like a different person entirely.  She went back to the doctor, who claimed that she had improved amazingly.  There was just a little cancer showing in her pap smear.  The doctor said to wait and see what happened.  She went back home, and in a few months on this diet of natural foods, she said even the pap smear cleared.

The thought went through Dr. Christopher, “Lord, what kind of a God are you?  It takes me forty years, and this woman kneels down and the answer comes immediately to her!  This is exactly what I’ve been teaching all these years, and learning it gradually.” This woman traveled all over the United States, speaking to women’s groups, women who fear they might get cancer or women who already have it, telling them to go to live foods and change their diet. Dr. Christopher felt that their conversation was time well spent!

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By Noell Larsen H.N., M.H. - Oregon

Fall is the perfect time to can and preserve or prepare what the summer has abundantly blessed us with. More specifically, as fall approaches, I find myself taking a mental inventory of the herbal preparations I have on hand, and the ones I will most likely need to restock as the cold winter months approach. Here are a few herbs/ herbal formulas my home surely would not want to be without this upcoming season and a few of the many ways in which we use them:

Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Mune: Echinacea Angustifolia prepared in a glycerine tincture. I like to use this whenever I feel a child’s immune system could use a boost and when we travel (via airplane) for the holidays. Is especially effective at the very first signs of irritation such as a sore throat or runny nose.

Echinacea Tincture (Alcohol or Glycerin Extract): I like to use this formula with the adults for the same reason of boosting the immune system when needed. Is especially effective at the very first signs of irritation such as a sore throat or runny nose.

Garlic oil: Easy to make yourself and great to use at the first hints/signs of ear infection. Worth it’s weight in gold when applied to the soles of the feet of sick little ones at night (make sure to cover with cotton socks).  Can also be applied on the chest of little ones (and anyone) with coughs.

Dr. Christopher’s Super Garlic Immune Formula: With fresh garlic juice, mullein, wormwood, lobelia, marshmallow root, white oak bark, black walnut, skull cap, gravel goot, plantain, aloe vera, pure apple cider vinegar and raw honey, using this formula is like bringing out the “big guns” in a battle with any cold and flu.

Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Well: A combination of yarrow flower, elder flower, peppermint leaf and echinacea angustifolia makes a great formula to help children work through and overcome the cold and flu.

Dr. Christopher’s Respiratory Massage Oil: A preparation of mullein leaf in oil and very effective in helping the body work through colds that have gone to the chest, especially with little ones. Rub on the chest at night combined with garlic oil and you have a great infection fighting formula that will also help the body expel mucus from the lungs/chest.

Mullein: Amazing herb for helping the body rid moisture/mucus from the lungs. This is especially effective for the cough that seems to linger.

Dr. Christopher’s Lower Bowel Formula: A formula of cascara sagrada bark, barberry bark, cayenne pepper, ginger root, lobelia herb, red raspberry leaf, turkey rhubarb root, fennel seed and goldenseal root. When dealing with illness it’s always a first priority to make sure the bowels are functioning properly. Most often blocked eliminatory channels are the tipping point of a virus/bacteria winning in the first responses of our immune system’s attempts to fight them off. Open/regular elimination channels allow the body to function optimally and are generally a sign of a good diet.

Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Reg: With slippery elm bark, licorice root, fennel seed, anise seed and fig syrup, you get a kid-friendly version of the lower bowel formula; helping children’s bowels eliminate properly so that the body can more effectively heal. Also effective in helping alleviating the source of post-holiday-stinky-behavior in children who have been eating a less-than optimal diet due to holiday indulgence - not that any of our children do that (sure :-).

Noell Larsen is a Holistic Nutritionist and Master Herbalist/ Masters of Science graduate of The School of Natural Healing. Together with her husband (a current Medical Student) and as a mother of two children… speaking, writing and tutoring others in health has become a family passion.

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by Yvonne L. Salcido M.H.

Most of us have grown up with the idea that we all want to have good health. Health is usually defined by absence of disease or injury, but it can also be classified as the general condition of the body and mind. A newer concept is that of “Wellness” this classification is referring to optimal health and vitality. A life with optimal health and vitality actually allows a person to have the quality of life they desire. This is a possibility if one is willing to take responsibility for their own health instead of placing that responsibility on others.
There are several areas that individuals need to focus on to take responsibility in creating a life of wellness. These are the most common referred to: Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, Physical, Interpersonal, and Environmental; additional areas not as popular are Financial Wellness and Occupational Wellness. All of these areas are contributing factors in our health

• Spiritual Wellness gives you principles to govern yourself, giving joy and purpose in life. This leads to the ability to love and forgive which is very healing.
• Mental Wellness gives you opportunities to challenge your mind through continuing education through life, seeking new experiences and mastering new skills.
• Emotional Wellness is being able to identify your thoughts and feelings and make conscious choices toward a positive emotional outlook. Very important to emotional wellness is the releasing of negative emotions. Negative emotions left unchecked cause physical imbalance leading to disease.
• Physical Wellness includes good nutritional practices following the “Mucusless Diet”, exercise, and using natural means to heal the body such as herbs when sick.
• Interpersonal Wellness is acquiring and upholding relationships this adds to a happy home, and community. Interpersonal wellness is a big factor in your physical and emotional health. Think of when you’ve been extremely upset with someone did you even feel like eating?
• Environmental Wellness allows one to have a healthy environment free of toxins with clean natural resources available such as water.
• Financial Wellness exercise of self -discipline in managing your money wisely, meeting financial obligations, budgeting, setting goals, and becoming and staying debt free. This eliminates your life of much stress.
• Occupational Wellness looks at your levels of happiness and fulfillment in the work you do for a living. Planning and moving towards goals to bring enjoyment in this area is important.

Setting goals to address all the areas of “Wellness” in our life will lead us to a balanced and happy life. I know I want to live a long life that is full of vitality and optimal Health!

Yvonne Lunt Salcido is a Student Advisor for and a Master Herbalist Graduate of the School of Natural Healing. She is a current student at Utah Valley University majoring in Health and Wellness Education.

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By David Christopher M.H.

Proper digestion is essential for good health.  Remember, as natural practitioners we mainly need to make sure that each cell of the body gets the nutrients and energy necessary for optimal functioning and that the waste from the functioning gets carried away from the cell and disposed of outside the body. When organs malfunction, the cells of that organ are not receiving nutrients, nor disposing of waste, and/or have been physically damaged. Our number one responsibility is to help the body cleanse and provide the proper nutrients to regain health.  If the digestive organs are not functioning properly then the chances of healing are greatly diminished, even if we are taking in the best foods.  So we need to help the body restore its digestive capabilities.

1. First, chew your food thoroughly. If chewing well is not possible, use a blender to accomplish the mastication.  The food must be mixed with saliva, chewing accomplishes this, but blended food would need to be sipped and swished in the mouth to release the saliva.
2. Second, the food needs to be acted on by hydrochloric acid.  If the body is not making it, orally ingesting cayenne pepper will stimulate its production.  Other aids are ginger, mustard, and apple cider vinegar.
3. Third, the food needs to further breakdown by digestive enzymes.  These are abundant in raw food and supplemented by enzyme production from the pancreas.  If the pancreas is malfunctioning and not producing the needed enzymes, then the Dr. Christopher Pancreas Formula should be taken to strengthen this organ.  In the meantime plant based digestive enzymes should be added to the diet until the pancreas is healed and producing its own enzymes.  I personally like Udo’s Choice brand enzymes.
4. Fourth, the now broken down food needs to be absorbed into the body.  This process depends on sufficient colonies of friendly bacteria (flora).  If someone has had this system compromised or destroyed, through the use of antibiotics, drugs or improper diet, they should supplement with probiotics, again I like Udo’s Choice probiotics.  If the intestinal tract has been compromised then one should follow the protocol outlined in a back issue of this newsletter “Protocol for Yeast overgrowth and leaky gut syndrome.”
5. Fifth, the nutrients from the food might not be absorbed because of retained waste.  This should be resolved by using Dr. Christopher’s Lower Bowel Formula, and Quick Colon Formula # 2.

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by Mishelle Knuteson R.E.T., M.H. - UtahIn 1976, Dr. John R. Christopher published a book called “Childhood Diseases”. Since that time, the book has been added to and reprinted as “Herbal Home Health Care”. This book is a staple for many people’s library because it contains tried and true principles in health care. From the introduction of the book Dr. Christopher teaches a principle that has been proven once again to be true. In talking about childhood disease he says:

“The time we start preparing for an anti-disease susceptibility is many months before conception. If, however, that is too late and the child is here and sick at this time, we will have to work on the present cause, but this effort could be eliminated if we had started a few generations back.”

Recently published in Time Magazine, January 2010, is an article on “Why Your DNA Isn’t Your Destiny.” A preventive-health specialist, Dr. Lars Olov Bygren from northern Sweden, was testing the long standing idea that whatever health choices we make during our life affects only our own health and does not change our DNA, thus having no effect on our children. However,

what Dr. Bygren and his team found is that environmental conditions and what we do to our bodies can somehow leave an imprint on the genetic material in eggs and sperm and these genetic imprints can pass along a new trait in a single generation. The poor health choices that we make can predispose our children even before the are conceived. This science is called Epigenetics of which Dr. Lars Olov Bygren comments,

“At the most basic, epigenetics is the study of the changes in gene activity that do not involve alterations to the genetic code but still get passed down to at least one successive generation. These patterns of gene expression are governed by the cellular material — the epigenome — that sits on top of the genome, just outside it (hence the prefix epi-, which means above). It is these epigenetic “marks” that tell your genes to switch on or off, to speak loudly or whisper. It is through epigenetic marks that environmental factors like diet, stress and prenatal nutrition can make an imprint on genes that is passed from one generation to the next.”

This once again proves the importance of the health choices we make. What current research is discovering today was understood by Dr. Christopher more than 35 years ago. Let’s commit to making healthier choices - not just for our well being, but for our children and grandchildren as well.

Mishelle Knuteson is certified in Rapid Eye Technology (RET) an emotional release therapy, an Iridologist, teaches classes in The Art of Feminine Presence and a Master Herbalist ~ graduate of The School of Natural Healing. Mishelle currently works as an Educative Master Herbalist (MH) for The School of Natural Healing and as Office Manager of Christopher Publications.

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By Riley Alexander M.H. - Utah

Truthfully, my first experience with essential oils wasn’t very fun. I was in 5th grade and I took a bottle of Cinnamon oil to school to finish a project with some friends. None of us 5th graders knew anything about essential oils let alone essential oils high in phenols (oils like cinnamon, clove or oregano) and let’s just say the situation didn’t turn out very well! That was the day I learned a valuable lesson…Use oils with caution!

Essential oils have been called the spirit, soul, essence or lifeblood of a plant and have been used medicinally and therapeutically throughout history. In a nutshell, essential oils are aromatic and potent liquids extracted from various parts of plants using heat, water, pressure, chemicals, gas and/or other liquid. However, the quality and therapeutic value of an essential oil varies widely due to the extraction method(s) used, and of course the quality of plants used, which can vary with conditions like location, weather, altitude, soil and species.

Although Dr. Christopher didn’t talk much about essential oils, he knew how powerful and beneficial they were. In one lecture while explaining how to make a peppermint tea, he mentioned that the lid must be left on the pan while steeping the tea or the “volatile oils” (essential oil) would escape with the steam and in this case much of the value was in the oil. Not only do most essential oils smell good (notice I wrote most oils for those of you familiar with valerian oil), but they work for us on a subconscious level. For example, when we smell an essential oil, the olfactory nerves which are cranial nerves (nerves that originate directly from the brain) located on the roof of the nasal cavity pass along sensations as nerve impulses straight to the brain from the nose. So although we may just be thinking “this smells good” it can be benefiting us as well!

Just like any other product on the market there are variances between the qualities of these oils. So it’s important to have trustworthy sources and ask questions if needed. Here are some quick tips on things I have learned over the years when it came to finding the right oils. Don’t worry, you’re not taking tips from the 5th-grade-Riley.

1. Avoid “food grade” essential oils if you’re using oils therapeutically. Think of essential oils like olive oil, the best olive oil comes from the first pressing of the olives. Each pressing afterword leads to a decline in the quality of oil. The same goes for essential oils and distillations. Food grade oils, meant for internal use are not 1st distillations and will not yield the same results as 1st distillations. The most commonly redistilled oil is likely peppermint as it changes its smell.
2. Be aware of which oils are “absolute” or “concrete” essential oils like Jasmine for example, as they have been solvent extracted and usually immersed in acetone or a petroleum byproduct. Marcel Lavabre (author of aromatherapy workbook) wrote, “Unfortunately, such oils always contain some traces of solvent and are therefore not suitable for aromatherapy…they should not be used for aromatherapy.”
3. Lastly, use only essential oil deriving from a single species to assure cheaper species have not been added to dilute a more expensive species that share similar smells.

To wrap it up, essential oils when used correctly are safe, effective and make perfect additions to any natural regimen for supporting better health. Plus… they smell awesome!

Riley Alexander is a Master Herbalist Graduate from the School of Natural Healing who has also received his certificate in aromatherapy and is now studying for his certificate in iridology. Riley currently works for Wholistic Botanicals (Manufacturers of all Dr. Christopher’s formulas).

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by Doreen Spackman M.H. - Utah

September is National Preparedness month and with Mother Nature being so busy this last year - tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunami’s, floods, hurricanes etc., no one is exempt. That’s okay, let’s just be prepared. In our home we have had 72 hour kits for over 15 years, the contents have changed over the years and we have never used them for an emergency, but I have always loved knowing we have them just in case we need them.

Once we have initially created the kits, we take them out every 6 months. At this time we eat the food, check expiration dates, restock the food, see if the clothes still fit, and update other items as the children grow and needs change. There have been times when… one or more of the children rationalized an emergency and would eat some of the food from their kits for an afternoon or late night snack, so we had to make sure to move the kits out of each child’s bedroom to another location in our home. Now the children are grown and pretty much gone, but our grandchildren are excited as we get their kits together. We have found over the years that more and more food is packaged in single servings and have easy-off lids that make it much nicer, especially for younger children. It was also fun to practice not squeezing the boxed juice (or it all comes out of the box) and other little tricks before the time comes to use them.

You can keep them as simple or complex as you would like but there are some things that are really necessary. I would start out simple and go from there. I like to put most of the items in separate gallon ziploc-type bags. Adjust this to your needs and I will explain some healthier food choices that I use.

Back Pack- (lightweight) for each person or fanny pack for small children, they can hang across neck and shoulder,sling style.

Vital Information for Each Person- put in a plastic bag. This should include, but is not limited to:

• Name
• Address
• Birth Date
• Phone Numbers Home & Cell
• Blood Type
• Allergies/Medical Information
• Parents Names & Phone Numbers
• Neighborhood meeting place
• Out of town contact person and phone number
• Family picture (or pictures of belongings/important documents on a flash drive)

Water - (weighs 8 lbs per gallon, so with this in mind) for children the small 8 oz. water bottles are great and bigger sizes for older people. Put in as much as you can but remember it gets heavy fast. Keep extra at home in case you don’t need to evacuate, you can never have too much water. It is recommended 1 gallon a day per person.Food for 3 Days - it is best if it requires no refrigeration, cooking or preparation. See what’s on your grocer’s shelf. Remember to check the dates so they last for 6 months. There are many healthy choices and for me I can’t have the sugar laden items so enjoy the variety. There is canned pineapple (in it’s own juice), fruit in cups, granola in packages, trail mix, I even found salsa and refried beans in small servings with pull-top lids. I have put oat groats, chia seeds, millet, and quinoa in individual bags and then in a plastic container. I put in a wide mouth thermos so I can soak any of my grains if needed. There are healthier type crackers that you can put almond butter on, I have found almond butter in single servings too. It is fun to have so many nutritious foods that we can put in our kits and feel good about when we need to use them.

Fun Things - a small toy or game, notepad, pen/pencils, chalk. These items go in a small bag, not the gallon size.

Clothing - pants, shirts, underclothes, socks, shoes and work gloves.

Light and Shelter - light sticks, small lightweight LED flashlight, emergency blanket, hand and body warmers, tube tent, water proof matches (please do not put the matches in children’s packs), whistle.

First Aid- You can often get a small kit for $1 close to the school supplies. Then add in latex gloves, small scissors, hand sanitizer, whistle, adhesive tape, band-aids, self adhesive wrap or elastic bandage, Complete Tissue and Bone ointment, cayenne powder or tincture, cotton balls and a bandanna (I use this for many things not just first aid).

Hygiene - wash cloth, soap, toilet paper, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, deodorant, brush/comb, nail clippers, feminine supplies, shampoo, q-tips, wet wipes, rubber bands or clips for longer hair. Most of these items I get in the travel size, they usually have small containers for many of the first aid items that I want to bottle into smaller sizes too (make sure you label any items that you package out of original containers).

Enjoy gathering the things you and your family need. I have often put my 72 hour kit in my car since we are in it so much. Have a fun and safe time preparing for the unexpected.

Doreen Spackman is a Master Herbalist graduate and employee of the School of Natural Healing. Doreen enjoys helping others learn the benefits of eating well and taking care of their health with herbs.

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By David Christopher M.H.

When I recommend drinking carrot juice on a daily bases, or even just eating carrots, I am still asked “But, David, what about the high sugar content of carrots? Ever since the South Beach Diet emphasized the Glycemic Index, people have developed a phobia for some very beneficial foods, like carrots.  Currently, carrots are classified as “low” on the Glycemic Index, scoring 39 - for cooked and 45 - for juiced (The scale is 0=water to 100=glucose).  Other foods at the same level are polished white rice, macaroni, and a Snickers bar!  In fact table sugar is only 20 points higher at 65.  Needless to say, the Glycemic Index can be confusing. The Glycemic Index can be a useful tool, but only if we keep in mind the true nature of food.

Glucose is not a nasty word and we should not shun it.  Glucose is the fuel that runs every cell of our bodies.  Whole, fresh foods that are high in glucose are foods we should use for immediate energy needs.  Highly processed foods with high or added glucose should be avoided (these are classified as High Glycemic Load foods).  These highly processed foods are digested far too quickly and trigger an insulin release from the pancreas; which is just doing its job by protecting the body from high blood sugar levels.  This quick response, for many people, creates an overshoot in the production of insulin and the body is left with a deficiency of glucose.  When glucose levels crash, hunger is stimulated especially for starchy or sugary foods.  If the person satisfies this crash with the same processed foods that caused the problem, a vicious cycle of feast or famine is created and this leads to stress on the beta cells of the pancreas, resulting in insulin resistance and eventually Type II diabetes.  There is no evidence that the naturally occurring sugars, in fresh whole fruits and vegetables, has any adverse effects on the body.

Another related question that I often respond to is “Which is worse glucose or fructose?”  Again, in their whole, fresh, natural states, as fresh fruits and vegetables, neither is a problem.  They are both beneficial, glucose for immediate use and fructose for later use.  Fructose cannot be used by the cells until converted to glucose by the liver.  Fructose is used by diabetics because it doesn’t raise blood sugar.  However, if enough is consumed, as with the highly processed (manufactured) high fructose corn syrup, it overwhelms the liver and the excess is converted to fat.

Artificial Sweeteners should never be used.  These substances trick the body into responding to an energy source with no energy available.  So in response to a perceived intake of glucose the pancreas secretes insulin.  High insulin levels stimulate the production of fat cells.  High insulin levels also stimulate the liver to convert glycogen (stored, chained glucose) to glucose, again raising blood sugar, and again overworking the pancreas.  The only safe and usable sugars are in fresh, whole, live foods.

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