Balancing Minerals = A Balancing Act

I've been away from home for two weeks. The first week I, along with a team from our church, participated in an outreach ministry in the Tinderloin district of San Fransisco. It was hard work all day, but very rewarding. We met wonderful people who work in the ministry, people who receive help from the ministry and those who run a local business in the neighborhood because they want to be part of the solution.

By the end of the week my body was spent. I had taken my multi-vitamin along and my thyroid supplements, but the other things I left at home. Getting my body back into the rhythm of life has been a challenge. I realize from reading "Healthy Healing," the section on muscle cramps, spasms and twitches, that I'm probably lacking minerals. Linda Page writes, "Muscle spasms, cramps, twitches and tics are usually a result of body vitamin and mineral deficiencies or imbalances. Most cramping occurs at night as minerals move between blood, muscles and bones." It seemed like I could feel every bit of movement those minerals made as I lay still trying to sleep. "Avoid refined sugars, processed and preserved foods. Food sensitivities to these are often the cause of twitches and spasms," Page notes. She also mentions the need for increased Vitamin C in women.

We can't just take a lot of extra minerals in supplement form because it can be too much for the body to process.

"Minerals must be acquired by food. Our bodies do not make them. Although we would hope we could get them from the foods we eat, today’s diets do not contain the minerals we need even if you are eating a pristine diet. A deficiency of a single mineral can negatively impact the entire chain of life, rendering other nutrients ineffective and useless. What about supplements? Most of them are ineffective because they are not coming in a full spectrum form or from a food form. Many are synthetic and can not be properly digested or absorbed, which lead to even further problems. All minerals work together. When you affect one it affects the other." ~InspiringHealth.net

Good foods such as green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, and seafoods will take us a long way in replacing needed minerals.

Good health is such a balancing act, if we tip too far to one side and neglect the other, we lose our balance and can quickly fall. A healthy lifestyle includes deep breathing, plenty of clean water, a healthy diet including the vitamins and minerals we need, and a spiritual discipline as well. So here's a shameless plug for my ebook, which discusses each of these areas in a short, easy-to-read format. "Mid-Life NOT a Crisis" Click for NOOK. And for Kindle.

So, I'm upping my mineral intake along with some Vitamin C and taking much more water. I've also gotten back to my regular diet and begun to exercise again. It's so easy to relax our standards of health when we're out of town!

Here's an informative page about Minerals put out by the US National Library of Medicine, if you're interested in reading more.

What do you do when your muscles twitch, your bones hurt and/or you're just plain exhausted?

Blog Review: Gluten-Free Girl

I found a new blog recently. New to me, but it's actually been around since 2005. It's called "Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef." It's clean pages and bright photos appeal to the eye, but best of all it's full of advice and delicious recipes for eating gluten-free.

If you've just discovered that you have to eat gluten-free the Gluten-Free Girl has a whole page on getting started. She also has how-to videos! How cool is that?

As part of her book promotion, Shauna Ahern (The Gluten-Free Girl) features one recipe from her book that her followers are encouraged to make with her that week. Then they can leave comments or questions for her.

I've just discovered this site and I'm so excited to look around more and learn from Shauna. I've seen her book in the stores and been tempted by it already. Now I'm even more tempted, but I have a planned project to organize and downsize my cookbook and magazine collection, so it'll have to wait. Maybe Gluten-Free Girl can be my reward when I accomplish that goal. Shshsh...don't tell my husband.

In the meantime, I'll be trying her baking mix and other things I can find on the blog sit.

The Protein Myth

Trainers emphasize the urgent need for extra protein when you workout. Many diet plans promote eating a high-protein diet for those trying to lose weight. 

God's original plan for man's diet was a vegetarian diet. It's true He introduced meat into their diet after the flood, but the healthy, human body still needs the majority of their intake to be fruits and vegetables. 

Our soil has been compromised and many of our plant-foods have been modified, so it's important to read labels and seek out organic when possible, however, a high vegetable (as many raw plant foods as possible) diet is still the best for ultimate health. 

Here's what Jessica Jones, MS, RD said. You can find her complete article, The Protein Myth, Why You Need Less Protein, here.

"The take-home message: Before gulping down that protein shake after a workout, or subbing a large steak for carbs and fats at lunch and dinner, calculate your actual needs to make sure the extra protein is really necessary. It's probably isn't."

~Jessica Jones, MS, RD

Here's another article on the dangers of too much protein 

from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,

entitled, The Protein Myth