Monday, June 20, 2016

Happy Father's Day, 2016!

Debra McVay's photo.     I hope all of you out there had a great Father's Day. I know Ray did, even though his sugar was all over the place. He got Adventure Time: Stakes from Lydia and me, and he got Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales from the boys. I got some good pictures of Ray with the kids.

Debra McVay's photo.     We had our usual Father's Day fare: burgers with all the fixin's, sweet potato fries, and vegetables fresh from the garden. We also had some fried eggplant and some homemade pickles. My mom made the pickles and they are the magic pickles. They're made with apple cider vinegar and turmeric just to name a few of the magical ingredients. We napped and watched some of our favorite shows. We made crafts with the kids and just enjoyed the beautiful day. I even got out in the garden and gathered the massive zucchini that have grown there. Zucchini really get huge after a good rain. Some of them are larger than Ray's forearms. They could be used as a weapon. I've including a picture. That's a cup of pens next to the zucchini to show scale.

     We absolutely love zucchini. It can be used as a noodle substitute in traditional "pasta" dishes, "pasta" salads, and stir fries.

     We had hoped to get our first video up this weekend, but we had too much illness in the family over the last two weeks: first Ray with the flu, then Lydia brought home a sore throat/virus from band camp. Now Alex has it, so the video did not happen. Oh well. We are going to try to get that up really soon.





Monday, June 13, 2016

Reducing Acid After the Flu




     Did you know that throwing up a lot, as you might when you have the flu, can cause your body to become too acidic? It's true. Just ask Ray. He had the flu last week, and that is why I did not post. I was in charge of keeping track of his blood sugar and giving him insulin while he was in charge of sleeping, running a fever, fighting the virus....and throwing up. A lot.

     When he finally started feeling better, he was still feeling terrible. He could barely eat, even after he got his appetite back because his mouth was burnt, his esophagus hurt, and his stomach was sending acid up to his heart level on a regular basis. This is something that diabetics are even more susceptible to. I'm sure you've heard of ketoacidosis. Maybe you haven't. It's where the body becomes too acidic and starts releasing ketones in the urine and breath in an attempt to balance the acidity. It's why some diabetics get fruity breath. They'be breathing out ketones It's very bad.

     Anyway, there are natural ways to reduce the acid in the body. The medical way is to pump you full of potassium. The natural way is to eat more fruits and vegetables, especially green veggies. So this week, we've been drinking a lot of green juices for breakfast, and it's amazing how good we've been feeling. We're doing the whole juice by placing cucumber, spinach, carrots, and an apple in a blender instead of through a juicer.

     A lot of times, people see the Paleo diet and just think that it's about eating meat. While meat is an important aspect of this lifestyle, it is not the only one. The true Paleo diet encourages eating lots of vegetables, both cooked and raw, and some fruit. In fact, most Paleoistas will tell you that at least 50% of your plate should be vegetables of any and all colors. In fact, I absolutely think we should change the image in our heads to imagining a variety of beautiful vegetables in all the colors instead of brightly colored candies when we hear "Taste the rainbow."