Frugal, Natural, and Healthy Changes Pt. 1

 
Recently I've been thinking about how much our lives have really changed in the past (almost) two years. I'm not just talking about having a baby, which is a big change in and of itself. Since I became pregnant, I began being more careful about what I ate (when I could eat anything, that is), as well as avoiding being around chemicals or taking medications, for the baby's sake. Much of these changes came from what we were learned in our Bradley prenatal/childbirth class, as well as research I had done online and from books. It made sense to be careful while you were growing a new life. What I didn't realize until after Charlie came was how important many of these things are after you are done being pregnant or nursing. These more safe and natural ways of living are important for everyone! So, slowly we started changing our lives to be more frugal, natural, and healthy. I thought I'd break it down by rooms in the house to explain these changes in case they are informative or encouraging to you to make small, healthier changes. Again, these were gradual for us, not all at once...and we still have a long way to go and more to learn.

Part 1: Changes in the Kitchen

1. Drinking less cow's milk and eating less dairy in general. - I've never been a huge milk drinker, but I love cheese and ice cream. I learned more about cow's milk when Charlie was a newborn and struggling with digesting the dairy in my diet when he nursed. What a huge difference it made when I cut it out completely! While some people are more sensitive/allergic to cow's milk than others, it's not really easy for anyone to digest, because it's really designed to be digested by baby cows, just as human breastmilk is designed perfectly for baby humans. We still use cow's milk for cooking/baking, and we still eat cheese and ice cream, but we try to limit it to a smaller portion of our diets.
2. Cooking with coconut oil.- I never knew anything about coconut oil until this past year. Due to it being pretty much blacklisted by the U.S. because of it's supposed high saturated fat content and our obsession with "low-fat," most people don't use it for cooking. However, research has found that coconut oil is composed of medium chain fatty acids instead of long chain (which are the less healthy kind), and they actually help lower cholesterol. There are tons of health benefits to eating coconut oil. It amazingly has anti-bacterial properties, so it has many household uses other than eating (which I'll share in a later post...we love our coconut oil!). Some take it as a supplement to even lose weight. It is more stable than olive oil at high temperatures, so it's healthier to cook with at high heats. We also add it to Charlie's food as it is so important for him to have high good fats right now. Here is more information on how great coconut oil is: http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/
3. Getting rid of our Teflon pans. - Teflon and most other non-stick surfaces for cooking/baking are toxic. They let out chemicals when heated up that escape into the air and leach into your food, as well. So, we've switched over to cast iron and stainless steel for the most part. We figured there's little point buying organic if the cooking process adds back in chemicals that we are ingesting.
4. Phasing out our plastic storage containers for glass.- Same concept as the Teflon. Plastics can leach their chemicals into your food. Yuck.
5. Limiting microwave use.- While we still use the microwave for certain things, if at all possible, we try to use the stove, over, or toaster oven to reheat foods or cook them to begin with. Microwaving food kills many of the beneficial nutrients and even changes the properties of the food in a harmful way to us.
6. Buying organic as possible with our budget (See "clean list" and "dirty dozen list"- these are what we mostly go by: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/the-dirty-dozen-and-clean-15-of-produce/616/). - We also recently purchased an 1/8 of a cow that should last us about a year- organic, grass-fed beef...yum!
7. Trying to stay away from boxed/processed foods as much as possible. We aren't super great at this yet, but it's a good goal.- We didn't realize how many preservatives and additives (not so healthy, and downright dangerous) are in packaged foods. It's crazy! So, as much as possible, we try to eat more whole, unprocessed foods.
8. Taking high dosages of vitamin D in addition to our multi-vitamins. - I realize that a couple of things on this list are perhaps against the norm or even possibly controversial. This might be one of those things. The current recommended daily amount of vitamin D is as low as a mere 200ius. On the other hand, when testing blood levels, the average person is severely vitamin D deficient. The main reason people are sicker in the winter is due to the lack of sun intensity and exposure that has Vitamin D in it. Being out in the sun for 20 minutes will give you up to 10,000ius. And most of the time, we don't catch colds or flu in the summer. There are many doctors who believe the Vitamin D dosage should be much higher, varying per person, but generally between 3,800 and 5,000 ius (for those who are deficient (MOST of us) daily for an adult and possibly higher (up to 10,000 ius daily) in the winter. For pregnant and breastfeeding moms, 6-8,000 ius daily is recommended so that the baby gets enough. Some are worried about overdose, but it has been shown that there are only potential side-effects after someone takes around 100,000 ius a day for years. It is recommended to have your levels checked periodically while supplementing to make sure you're taking the right dosage, but most likely if you are pale like me and living in the North, you could use a much higher dose than what you're getting now. Since I started taking 6-8,000 ius daily, I have hardly been sick at all. I used to get sick almost monthly, and now only about once a year, with a small cold. It's a great boost to your immune system, helps you absorb calcium, and it's pretty cheap! Here's some more info on the wonders of Vitamin D: http://www.vitamind3-cholecalciferol.com/vitamin-d-benefits.htm

I don't believe that we should make decisions based on fear, especially when we think that our choices will guarantee us healthier, longer lives. God is still the one in control over our lives and if it's our time to die, it's our time, regardless of how much we ate organically. Having said that, I believe it is important to be informed and be as healthy as you can (taking care of our "temples") while not making it an idol or breaking the bank. So, we do what we can and try not to worry or fret about the rest.
Next post: Changes in the Bathroom :)