Where did we go wrong....?

As a society, especially in the past 50 years, we have focused somewhat in a blind fashion on FUTURE growth, change and exponential progress of our world. I often reflect at the vast number of changes in technology that I have personally experienced in my own mere 45 years. The advent of the Microwave Oven, the VCR/DVD player and Video Game Systems, Computers, Internet, Cell Phones…… we have sped our lives up and expect instant gratification at a faster and faster pace, year after year. We are racing ahead to solve all of the worlds’ problems without once looking back and contemplating the foundational wisdom of those before us. Combine this pace of technology with our food supply and we have leapt forward in the corporate agenda led -food sciences industry . We now have bigger breasted chickens, the “perfect” pork chop, insecticide resistant soybean seeds, fluffier loaves of bread, and even genetically modified tomatoes that will not go bad on the extended trip across the globe to the supermarket shelf. We have flavor enhancers that cause brain lesions, Food dyes that are directly related to neuro transmitter disturbance, Sweeteners that alter our brain chemistry and hormones. If that’s not enough in super progressive scientific developments , we have NEW fats/oils that come with a risk of gas, bloody stools, nausea and the inability to control bowel movements(scary). We can buy magic bullets (supplements) that make outrageous claims for curing the incurable without changing our eating or physical activity. Currently,doctors prescribe more medications that offer serious lethal side effects than provide actual treatment. Lastly, we have skin care products that contain petro-chemicals that are also found in anti-freeze. Seriously, who could possibly think this is okay?

And yet with all of these advancements and at no other time in the history of the world, have we ever been more concerned about the subject of diet and nutrition. If we accept the premise that-- what we eat determines our health--, then we must add the current (statistically evidenced) observation of how poorly we eat in this country alone must result in how poorly we feel.

Although heart disease and cancer were rare at the turn of the century, today these two diseases strike with increasing frequency, in spite of the billions of dollars spent on research, prevention and methods to combat them through amazing advances in diagnostics and surgical procedures. In America, one person in three dies of cancer, one in three suffers from allergies, one in ten will have ulcers and one out of five pregnancies will result in mis-carriage. One quarter of a million babies are born with birth defects each year. Other degenerative diseases—arthritis, multiple sclerosis, digestive disorders, diabetes, osteoporosis, alzheimers, epilepsy and chronic fatigue—afflict a significant majority of our country. This is draining the energy and very lifeblood from our nation. Learning disabilities such as dyslexia and hyperactivity afflict several million young people. These diseases and disabilities were extremely rare only a few generations ago. Today, chronic illness afflicts nearly half of all Americans and causes three out of four deaths annually. Most tragically, these diseases that were only experienced in the aging population are now striking our children—younger and younger each year.

Americans spend one dollar out of every fourteen for medical services, or over $800 billion yearly---more than the national deficit, the food bill and the profits for of all US corporations combined—yet we have little resources to show for this drain on our economy. Medical science has not been able to lengthen our life span. Fewer persons alive at 70 today survive until 90 than forty years ago. Even with our improved sanitation and the reduction in infant mortality. Clearly something has gone very wrong, even though many Americans have been concientous about following their doctors and government agencies (American Heart Associations) advice on their dietary intake and exercise guidelines. Many have stopped smoking and increased their consumption of vegetables and fruits, reduced consumption of red meat and salt. But none of these measures have made a dent in the ever-increasing toll of degenerative disease.

It is our only hope for survival to slow down and revisit the legacy of our ancestors just a few generations ago. A more PRIMITIVE way of living, away for the chemistry experiment that we have conducted on our nations and families health all in the name of progress.

The REAL Cost of Convenience…..?

Most of what we take for granted in our comfortable lives is NOT what nature intended. However, in the name of protecting and saving our most promoted precious commodity(s) of time and money—we have spent our most fragile/invaluable commodity…. our health.

This year alone this country will spend more on fast food than higher education—Not to mention the increased money required for the resulting expense of healthcare, pharmaceutical and disease process. If we tabulate the actual cost to life and culture (food borne disease, near global obesity and its related disabilities, animal abuse in the many CAFO’s and out of control political corruption) We soon realize the health of this country is founded on the premise and promise of cheap lab created franken-foods and with a proper perspective---even the richest of us all cannot afford the $1.99 value meal.

Put profit ahead of health is the steadfast corporate mantra! Independent producers (local farmers) of REAL food (i.e. grass fed beef, free range chickens/eggs, fresh raw milk/butter/cream and local chemical free produce—have the lowest profit margin in the industry. The junk food manufacturers and creators of “franken-foods” have the highest profit margins---create cheap, sell high.The bottom line is..... it is a great return on their investment!

Don’t give up hope! There are so many seeds of social change being sprouted by way of several mind expanding movies,books (like Primitive Diva, wink!) shocking investigative journalism and extreme social movements------ that are laying a foundation for awareness of the consumer.

You have a vote against this practice- do you know what it is…? Your buying dollar!


So become a bit more primitive and get back to the past and don’t be afraid to try something old!

I have missed being here.....

So, now that the kiddo's are settled back into their school groove and I am winding down my consulting schedule (I will truly miss Dr.M's patients. Get ready for some reading. I will be sharing alot more information and bouncing many of my book topics off the walls of my blog.This will become my virtual office-so, join me when you have time. It seems that for several months I have been doing a crazy amount of research and reading for my book.....NOW its just time to finish it. So, I am here to make myself accountable to my friends out in cyberworld. I will have PD ready for editing by the end of February, okay?

PLEASE, I would love some feed back on the structure and content of the book:

I will have information on returning to a more basic lifestyle with our health,food (recipes),homes, children, cosmetics/skincare (yes, I am a diva!) fitness and even pets. I plan to launch future books that expand on these topics. Along with a few ideas for product lines....my mind races with ideas for this!

So, we begin a new chapter, new goals and renewed commitment to my project---Hold me to it everyone- because, I just KNOW you will love the results(Wink)

Beginning on Monday November 1st, 2010 I will relaunch my blog with a guest blogger. Lets just call him Mr. Primitive Diva :-)

So let the feedback begin....what do you want most from this book?

Primitively yours,
Melissa

Dr Feingold and his common sense brilliance......!

Did you know that the brand of ice cream, cookie, and potato chip you select could have a direct effect on the behavior, health, and ability to learn for you or your children?

Numerous studies show that certain synthetic food additives can have serious learning, behavior, and/or health effects for sensitive people.
The Feingold Program (also known as the Feingold Diet) is a test to determine if certain foods or food additives are triggering particular symptoms. It is basically the way people used to eat before "hyperactivity" and "ADHD" became household words, and before asthma and chronic ear infections became so very common.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is the term currently used to describe a cluster of symptoms typical of the child (or adult) who has excessive activity or difficulty focusing. Some of the names that have been used in the past include: Minimal Brain Damage, Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD), Hyperkinesis, Learning Disability, H-LD (Hyperkinesis/Learning Disability), Hyperactivity, Attention Deficit Disorder, ADD With or Without Hyperactivity.

In addition to ADHD, many children and adults also exhibit one or more other problems which may include: OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), Bi-polar Disorder, Depression, Tourette Syndrome (TS), and Developmental Delays. These people often have food or environmental allergies. Many have a history of one or more of these physical problems: ear infections, asthma, sinus problems, bedwetting, bowel disorders, headaches/migraines, stomachaches, skin disorders, sensory deficits (extreme sensitivity to noise, lights, touch), vision deficits (the left and right eyes do not work well together, sometimes nystagmus).

While all the above symptoms might be helped by the Feingold Program, generally the characteristic that responds most readily is behavior. Although the symptoms differ from one person to another, the one characteristic that seems to apply to all chemically-sensitive people is that they get upset too easily. Whether the person is 3-years-old or 33, they have a short fuse.

Dr. Feingold began his work on linking diet with behavior back in the 1960's. He soon saw that the conventional wisdom about this condition was not accurate. At that time most doctors believed that children outgrew hyperactivity, that only one child in a family would be hyperactive, and that girls were seldom affected. Parents using the Feingold Diet also saw that these beliefs were not accurate. Years later, the medical community revised their beliefs, as well.

Another change in the medical community has been the increased use of medicine to address ADHD. In the 1960's and 1970's medicine was used with restraint, generally discontinued after a few years, and never prescribed to very young children. If there was a history of tics or other neurological disorders in a family member, a child would not be give stimulant drugs. The Feingold Association does not oppose the use of medicine, but believes that practitioners should first look for the cause(s) of the problems, rather than only address the symptoms. For example, ADHD can be the result of exposure to lead or other heavy metals; in such a case, the logical treatment would be to remove the lead, arsenic, etc.

The Feingold Association believes that patients have a right to be given complete, accurate information on all of the options available in the treatment of ADHD as well as other conditions. Sometimes, the best results come from a combination of treatments. This might include using the Feingold Diet plus allergy treatments, or plus nutritional supplements, or plus a gluten-free/casein-free diet, or even Feingold + ADHD medicine. We believe that it's useful to start with the Feingold Diet since it is fairly easy to use, not expensive, and because removing certain synthetic additives is a good idea for anyone.

Used originally as a diet for allergies, improvement in behavior and attention was first noticed as a "side effect." It is a reasonable first step to take before (or with if already begun) drug treatment for any of the symptoms listed on the Symptoms page.

The Feingold Program eliminates these additives:

Artificial (synthetic) coloring
Artificial (synthetic) flavoring
Aspartame (Nutrasweet, an artificial sweetener)
Artificial (synthetic) preservatives BHA, BHT, TBHQ
In the beginning (Stage One) of the Feingold Program, aspirin and some foods containing salicylate (Suh-LIH-Suh-Late) are eliminated. Salicylate is a group of chemicals related to aspirin. There are several kinds of salicylate, which plants make as a natural pesticide to protect themselves. Those that are eliminated are listed in the salicylate list which is included also in the Program Handbook. Most people can eventually tolerate at least some of these salicylates.
You will notice this dietary program is often referred to as a program because fragrances and non-food items which contain the chemicals listed above are also eliminated.

Where do food dyes come from?


Those pretty colors that make the "fruit punch" red, the gelatin green and the oatmeal blue are made from petroleum (crude oil) which is also the source for gasoline.
You will find them on the ingredient labels, listed as "Yellow No. 5," "Red 40," "Blue #1," etc. The label may say "FD&C" before the number. That means "Food, Drug & Cosmetics." When you see a number listed as "D&C" in a product, such as "D&C Red #33" it means that this coloring is considered safe for medicine (drugs) and cosmetics, but not for food. See more about colorings.

What are artificial flavorings?


They are combinations of many chemicals, both natural and synthetic. An artificial flavoring may be composed of hundreds of separate chemicals, and there is no restriction on what a company can use to flavor food.
One source for imitation vanilla flavoring (called "vanillin") is the waste product of paper mills. Some companies built factories next to the pulp mills to turn the undesirable by-product into imitation flavoring, widely used in many cookies, candies and other foods. See more about food dyes and flavorings.

What are BHA, BHT and TBHQ?


Those initials stand for three major preservatives found in many foods, especially in the United States. Like the dyes, they are made from petroleum (crude oil). Often, they are not listed in the ingredients.
These chemicals may be listed as "anti-oxidants" because they prevent the fats in foods from "oxidizing" or becoming rancid (spoiling). There are many natural, beneficial anti-oxidants, but they are much more expensive than the synthetic versions.

There are other undesirable food additives (MSG, sodium benzoate, nitrites, sulfites, to name a few) but most of the additives used in foods have not been found to be as big a problem as those listed above. See more about these preservatives.

Food additives are not new.


Artificial colors have been around for more than 100 years. (Originally they were made from coal tar oil.) And children have been eating artificially colored and flavored products for decades.
But then . . . most children ate these additives infrequently. They got an occasional lollipop from the bank or barber shop. Cotton candy was found at the circus. Jelly beans were given at Easter, orange cupcakes at Halloween and candy canes at Christmas.

Today . . . the typical child growing up in the United States is exposed to these powerful chemicals all day, every day.


What the child growing up in the U.S. in the 1940's got:-vs- What the child growing up in the U.S. today gets:

White toothpaste -- Multi-colored toothpaste, perhaps with sparkles
Oatmeal -- Sea Treasures Instant Oatmeal (turns milk blue)
Corn flakes -- Fruity Pebbles
Homemade Toast & grass fed butter, w/real fruit jam -- Pop Tarts
Cocoa made with natural ingredients -- Cocoa made with artificial flavoring, & some with dyes.
Whipped whole fat cream -- Syntheic Cool Whip with hydrogenated oils and HFCS
No vitamins (or perhaps cod liver oil) -- Flintstone vitamins with coloring & flavoring
White powder or bad-tasting liquid medicine-- Bright pink, bubble-gum flavored chewable or liquid medicine

Sample school lunch:
Meat loaf, freshly made mashed potatoes, vegetable. Milk, cupcake made from scratch.

Sample school lunch:
Highly processed foods loaded with synthetic additives, no vegetable. Chocolate milk with artificial flavor.

Sample school beverage:
Water from the drinking fountain

Sample school beverage:
Soft drink with artificial color, flavor, caffeine, aspartame, etc.

Combined with the weekly birthday celebration of a classmate--where food dyed cookies and cupcakes are served generously as a treat!!!

Here is another article that was written during my research on food additives for a previous workshop: It gives a few more definitions

Food additives, used by mankind for centuries, are chemicals applied to foods at home or by the food industry to improve the taste, color, texture, and longevity of food. Salt, sugar, and vinegar were among the first food additives discovered and were used both to enhance taste and to preserve foods. Although salt, smoke, spices, and sugars have been used moderately for millennia, in the past 30 years, with the advent of processed foods, there has been a massive explosion in the chemical adulteration of foods with additives. Food additive technology through research and development has become big business.We have created a market full of "Franken-Foods"! Considerable controversy has been associated with the potential threats and possible benefits of food additives. Commercial food additives are regulated in this country by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and food additives tend to receive the most detailed scientific attention because of regulatory scrutiny. There are literally thousands of chemical additives used in our food today, and scores of those are considered to be harmful elements. A brief discussion of the more popular additives will serve to illustrate potential health problems, and hopefully will help you begin thinking about avoiding these harmful substances:

Sulfites (Sulphites) are used as bleaching, antioxidant, and preserving additives in food. They've been implicated as allergens due to the fact that a typical sulfite reaction involves flushing, dizziness, shortness of breath or wheezing. Asthmatic attacks can be provoked by sulfites and a few deaths have been attributed to their consumption as well. Unfortunately sulfite sprays have been widely used on fresh produce in stores and restaurants to prevent browning due to air exposure. The huge American favorite, french-fried potatoes, are also treated in this way. As preservatives, sulfites were at one time found in processed food, alcoholic beverages (wines and beer), and drugs. Even aerosols used to treat asthmatics contained sulfites as preservatives in the past! The increased notoriety of sulfites in 1985 led to new regulations limiting their use, and the FDA has banned the use of six sulfite preservatives in fresh fruit and vegetables. However the ban still permits manufacturers of processed foods, dried fruits, wines and beer to use sulfites, although if these manufacturers are prudent on behalf of their customers, they will voluntarily restrain or curtail sulfite use.

Nitrates and Nitrites Several chemicals used as food preservatives
are also found naturally in many foods. Nitrates and nitrites are ever-present in plants. They form part of the essential chemistry of soils and plants, and as every gardener knows nitrogen is essential for plant growth, thus nitrogen fertilizers containing nitrates are the most abundant agricultural chemicals. Surprisingly, some very beneficial foods such as, beets, radishes, spinach, and lettuce contain the highest levels of nitrates. We know that daily nitrate consumption is estimated to be in the range of 100 mg per day.

Although nitrites do occur in nature they are less common in the food supply, but are produced in the mouth and intestine by bacterial action on protein and nitrates. Their intake is in the range of 2-3 mg per day. Nitrites, usually as sodium salts, have been used widely as preservatives, especially in bacon and other processed meats. Saltpeter is the best known nitrite with its undeserved reputation as the sex-drive inhibitor. The chief concern is the ability of nitrites to combine with amino acids in the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) to form nitrosamines, potentially carcinogenic molecules. Vitamin C inhibits nitrosamine formation and is thought to protect against GIT cancer. Vitamin C as an antioxidant preservative, can replace less desirable preservatives in some foods. Tobacco smoke is the major source of human exposure to nitrosamines.

Salicylates are common in vegetables and fruit. Medicinal salicylates (aspirin) came from plant sources such as willow-bark methylsalicylate. As oil of wintergreen, methylsalicylate has been rubbed on many cold-stricken chests and inhaled by coughing children for years. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), or aspirin, is one of the most popular and useful drugs of all times. ASA is an effective drug with diverse benefits, but it routinely causes GIT irritation and bleeding. It's a major allergen and causes many rashes and hives and can occasionally trigger asthma. Dr. Feingold postulated that salicylates and food dyes produced hyperactivity and behavior issues in children, popularizing low salicylate diets. Feingold recommended avoiding foods that contained natural salicylates or chemically similar substances. His lists excluded such foods as peaches and cucumber, for example, which are low in our list of symptom-producing foods.
Food Colors and preservatives have been suspected of producing allergic reactions, and behavioral disturbance for many years, and their exclusion is part of Dr. Feingold's program for treating hyperactive children.

Food colors are used liberally in all commercial food manufacture and are very popular in home use as well. We know that the yellow dye tartrazinea, and the preservative benzoate, can cause hives (urticaria). In the study of hyperactive children by Egger et al, tartrazine and benzoate were the most common substances to provoke abnormal behavior in children, although they were never the only cause of behavioral problems. Tartrazine is a yellow food color commonly found in a wide variety of manufactured foods. It produces an assortment of symptoms, typically within 90 minutes of ingestion, including asthma, hives, generalized swelling, headache, and behavior change (usually hyperactivity). Colors derived from natural plant and animal sources are usually exempt from FDA control in the US and are generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Beet pigment, beta-carotene, grape skin extract, paprika, saffron, turmeric, and vegetable juices are examples of GRAS colors. While these substances are not known to be toxic or carcinogenic, there is no assurance that they're not allergenic or otherwise troublesome to some people. Certified colors are approved by the Food, Drug and Cosmetic act and bear the certification name FD&C Red No. 2 and so on, tartrazine being FD&C Yellow No. 15. Of the nine colors currently certified, seven may be used in amounts consistent with good manufacturing practice.

Monosodium Glutamate, well-known as MSG, is perhaps the most vilified of additives. MSG is blamed for almost everything that goes wrong in Chinese restaurants, and many people scan food product labels, rejecting any displaying MSG. Glutamate is a respectable, normal amino acid however, that is continuously present in all our cells and always available in the blood. One possibility for MSG to act in a negative fashion in the body would occur with the sudden absorption of a large amount. In this case, an individual may experience a rapid rise in blood glutamate, activating receptors which ring alarms, causing the headache and shooting pains that are associated with MSG. A variety of other symptoms are commonly reported, including flushing, numbness and tingling, chest pains, fast heart action, abdominal pains, and behavior changes such as irritability, hyperactivity, and angry outbursts.


Aspartame, a well known popular artificial sweetener, contains two normal amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid and is well tolerated in reasonable doses. The fact that combining them produced a sweet taste was a surprise (and lucrative) discovery. Problems with ingesting large amounts might occur in people with known phenylalanine intolerance. In addition, excess phenylalanine could affect brain function adversely by increasing excitability of brain cells and, in the worse case, promoting seizures. Occasional reports of "allergic" reactions to aspartame are surprising since this molecule should not act as an allergen.

As we all become informed and educated about how chemical additives in our foods affect our bodies, we will be able to make better informed choices to insure our health and well being. It is my sincere hope that more and more Americans will make healthy, organic, unprocessed foods a larger part of their daily diets, especially our children!

Eating healthy is an mental disorder....?

I just had to share an article from Natural News and the Health Ranger about a more descriptive write-up of the newly coined disorder called....."Orthorexia"!

(NaturalNews) In its never-ending attempt to fabricate "mental disorders" out of every human activity, the psychiatric industry is now pushing the most ridiculous disease they've invented yet: Healthy eating disorder.

This is no joke: If you focus on eating healthy foods, you're "mentally diseased" and probably need some sort of chemical treatment involving powerful psychotropic drugs. The Guardian newspaper reports, "Fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder" and goes on to claim this "disease" is called orthorexia nervosa -- which is basically just Latin for "nervous about correct eating."

But they can't just called it "nervous healthy eating disorder" because that doesn't sound like they know what they're talking about. So they translate it into Latin where it sounds smart (even though it isn't). That's where most disease names come from: Doctors just describe the symptoms they see with a name like osteoporosis (which means "bones with holes in them").

Getting back to this fabricated "orthorexia" disease, the Guardian goes on to report, "Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating. Refusing to touch sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy foods is just the start of their diet restrictions. Any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out."

Wait a second. So attempting to avoid chemicals, dairy, soy and sugar now makes you a mental health patient? Yep. According to these experts. If you actually take special care to avoid pesticides, herbicides and genetically modified ingredients like soy and sugar, there's something wrong with you.

But did you notice that eating junk food is assumed to be "normal?" If you eat processed junk foods laced with synthetic chemicals, that's okay with them. The mental patients are the ones who choose organic, natural foods, apparently.


What is "normal" when it comes to foods?
I told you this was coming. Years ago, I warned NaturalNews readers that an attempt might soon be under way to outlaw broccoli because of its anti-cancer phytonutrients. This mental health assault on health-conscious consumers is part of that agenda. It's an effort to marginalize healthy eaters by declaring them to be mentally unstable and therefore justify carting them off to mental institutions where they will be injected with psychiatric drugs and fed institutional food that's all processed, dead and full of toxic chemicals.

The Guardian even goes to the ridiculous extreme of saying, "The obsession about which foods are "good" and which are "bad" means orthorexics can end up malnourished."

Follow the non-logic on this, if you can: Eating "good" foods will cause malnutrition! Eating bad foods, I suppose, is assumed to provide all the nutrients you need. That's about as crazy a statement on nutrition as I've ever read. No wonder people are so diseased today: The mainstream media is telling them that eating health food is a mental disorder that will cause malnutrition!


Shut up and swallow your "Frankenfoods" or "Food-Like Substances"
It's just like I reported years ago: You're not supposed to question your food, folks. Sit down, shut up, dig in and chow down. Stop thinking about what you're eating and just do what you're told by the mainstream media and its processed food advertisers. Questioning the health properties of your junk food is a mental disorder, didn't you know? And if you "obsess" over foods (by doing such things as reading the ingredients labels, for example), then you're weird. Maybe even sick.

That's the message they're broadcasting now. Junk food eaters are "normal" and "sane" and "nourished." But health food eaters are diseased, abnormal and malnourished.

But why, you ask, would they attack healthy eaters? People like Dr. Gabriel Cousens can tell you why: Because increased mental and spiritual awareness is only possible while on a diet of living, natural foods.

Eating junk foods keeps you dumbed down and easy to control, you see. It literally messes with your mind, numbing your senses with MSG, aspartame and yeast extract. People who subsist on junk foods are docile and quickly lose the ability to think for themselves. They go along with whatever they're told by the TV or those in apparent positions of authority, never questioning their actions or what's really happening in the world around them.

In contrast to that, people who eat health-enhancing natural foods -- with all the medicinal nutrients still intact -- begin to awaken their minds and spirits. Over time, they begin to question the reality around them and they pursue more enlightened explorations of topics like community, nature, ethics, philosophy and the big picture of things that are happening in the world. They become "aware" and can start to see the very fabric of the Matrix, so to speak.

This, of course, is a huge danger to those who run our consumption-based society because consumption depends on ignorance combined with suggestibility. For people to keep blindly buying foods, medicines, health insurance and consumer goods, they need to have their higher brain functions switched off. Processed junk foods laced with toxic chemicals just happens to achieve that rather nicely. Why do you think dead, processed foods remain the default meals in public schools, hospitals and prisons? It's because dead foods turn off higher levels of awareness and keep people focused on whatever distractions you can feed their brains: Television, violence, fear, sports, sex and so on.

But living as a zombie is, in one way quite "normal" in society today because so many people are doing it. But that doesn't make it normal in my book: The real "normal" is an empowered, healthy, awakened person nourished with living foods and operating as a sovereign citizen in a free world. Eating living foods is like taking the red pill because over time it opens up a whole new perspective on the fabric of reality. It sets you free to think for yourself.

But eating processed junk foods is like taking the blue pill because it keeps you trapped in a fabricated reality where your life experiences are fabricated by consumer product companies who hijack your senses with designer chemicals (like MSG) that fool your brain into thinking you're eating real food.

If you want to be alive, aware and in control of your own life, eat more healthy living foods. But don't expect to be popular with mainstream mental health "experts" or dieticians -- they're all being programmed to consider you to be "crazy" because you don't follow their mainstream diets of dead foods laced with synthetic chemicals.

But you and I know the truth here: We are the normal ones. The junk food eaters are the real mental patients, and the only way to wake them up to the real world is to start feeding them living foods.

Some people are ready to take the red pill, and others aren't. All you can do is show them the door. They must open it themselves.

In the mean time, try to avoid the mental health agents who are trying to label you as having a mental disorder just because you pay attention to what you put in your body. There's nothing wrong with avoiding sugar, soy, MSG, aspartame, HFCS and other toxic chemicals in the food supply. In fact, your very life depends on it.

The REAL price for Beauty.....!

In my nutritional therapy sessions, I frequently suggest strict avoidance of the "Dirty Dozen" of the most contaminated foods. Did you know there is a "Dirty Dozen" list for your skincare products. The common sense of reading a skin care label and asking yourself...."would I eat this" should be taken daily. Your skin is the largest organ of the body and everything you put onto it WILL be absorbed transdermally.

From shampoos, to soaps, to lotions, to makeup — it's not uncommon for a single person to use 10 or more personal care products each day. But some of the ingredients in beauty products aren't that pretty. U.S. researchers found that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors, plasticizers, degreasers, and surfactants.

Here is a list of 12 chemicals you might want to avoid. Check the ingredient lists on the personal care products you purchase. I suggest printing a list to keep with you on your next trip to the cosmetics counter,drug store or salon.In my upcoming Primitive Diva book, I will share some recipes and resources for safe natural skincare, dental care and hair care. Please let me know what your Healthy Living products are.

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) are used mainly in moisturizers and makeup as antioxidants and preservatives. They are also a hidden ingredient in some fragrances. BHA is toxic to the immune system and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies it as a possible human carcinogen. Studies suggest that BHT may be toxic to the skin, lungs, liver, and immune system. Both chemicals can cause allergic reactions, are suspected of interfering with hormone function (endocrine disruption), and may promote tumour growth. They also have the potential to bioaccumulate in aquatic species.

2. Coal Tar Dyes

•Look for p-phenylenediamine or colours identified as "C.I." followed by a 5-digit number
Phenylenediamine, used in hair dyes, has been found to be carcinogenic in laboratory tests conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and National Toxicology Program. Other coal tar-derived colours are used extensively in cosmetics, identified by a five-digit Colour Index (C.I.) number. The U.S. colour name may also be listed ("FD&C" or "D&C" followed by a colour name and number). Coal tar itself is recognized as a human carcinogen and the main concern with coal tar colours are their potential as carcinogens. As well, colours may be contaminated with low levels of heavy metals and some contain aluminum (a neurotoxin). This is of particular concern when used in cosmetics that may be ingested, like lipstick.

3. DEA

•Look also for related chemicals MEA and TEA
DEA (diethanolamine) and DEA compounds are used to make cosmetics creamy or sudsy. They irritate the skin and eyes and may be toxic to the immune and nervous systems. DEA compounds can also react with other ingredients in cosmetics to form carcinogenic nitrosamines. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency classifies cocamide DEA as hazardous to the environment because of its acute toxicity to aquatic organisms and potential for bioaccumulation.

4. Dibutyl Phthalate

Dibutyl phthalate (prounced thal-ate) is used mainly in nail products as a solvent for dyes and as a plasticizer that prevents nail polishes from becoming brittle. Phthalates are also unlisted fragrance ingredients in many other cosmetics. Dibutyl phthalate is absorbed through the skin. It can enhance the capacity of other chemicals to cause genetic mutations, although it is not a mutagen itself. In laboratory experiments, it has been shown to interfere with hormone function (endocrine disruption) causing reproductive and developmental problems. Dibutyl phthalate is banned in cosmetics in the European Union, but not in Canada.

5. Formaldehyde-releasing Preservatives

•Look for DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, methenamine, quarternium-15, and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate
Formaldehyde-releasing agents DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, methenamine, quarternium-15, and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate are used as preservatives in cosmetics. Formaldehyde is a recognized human carcinogen. DMDM hydantoin and quarternium-15 can irritate skin and eyes and trigger allergies at low doses. They are also toxic to aquatic organisms.

6. Fragrance or Parfum

The term "fragrance" or "parfum" on a cosmetic ingredients list usually represents a complex mixture of dozens of chemicals. Fragrance recipes are considered a trade secret, so companies are not required to disclose fragrance chemicals in the list of ingredients. Of the thousands of chemicals used in fragrances, most have not been tested for toxicity, alone or in combination. Many of these hidden ingredients are irritants and can trigger allergic attacks, migraines, and chemical-induced nerve irritation in sensitive individuals. In laboratory experiments, individual fragrance ingredients have been associated with cancer and neurotoxicity. For example, one chemical of concern is dimethyl phthalate (prounced thal-ate), or DEP. Widely used in cosmetics to make fragrances linger, DEP is suspected of interfering with hormone function (endocrine disruption), causing reproductive and developmental problems. Health Canada recently announced regulations banning six phthalates in children's toys, but DEP is still widely used in cosmetics.

7. Parabens

•Look for ingredients ending in "paraben" (e.g., methylparaben)
Parabens are widely used in cosmetics as a preservative. They easily penetrate the skin and are suspected of interfering with hormone function (endocrine disruption). There is some evidence that parabens mimic estrogen, the primary female sex hormone. Some studies suggest a possible association between parabens and breast cancer.

8. PEG compounds (e.g., PEG-60)

•Look also for related chemical propylene glycol and other ingredients with the letters "eth" (e.g., polyethylene glycol).
PEG (polyethylene glycol) compounds are widely used in cream bases in cosmetics. PEG (and its chemical cousin, propylene glycol) opens the skin's pores, allowing harmful ingredients to penetrate more deeply. PEG and other "ethoxylated" ingredients (which usually have chemical names including the letters "eth") may be contaminated with ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane. Both contaminants may cause cancer. Also, ethylene oxide may harm the nervous system and interfere with human development, and 1,4-dioxane is persistent. In other words, it doesn't easily degrade and can remain in the environment long after it is rinsed down the shower drain.

9. Petrolatum

Petrolatum (mineral oil jelly) is used as a barrier to lock moisture in the skin in a variety of moisturizers. It is also used in hair care products to make your hair shine. A petrochemical, it can be contaminated with cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The European Union considers petrolatum a carcinogen and restricts its use in cosmetics.

10. Siloxanes

•Look for cyclomethicone and ingredients ending in "siloxane" (e.g., cyclotetrasiloxane)
Cyclomethicone and siloxanes are used in cosmetics to soften, smooth, and moisten. These compounds can, however, irritate the skin, eyes, and lungs. They are also suspected of interfering with hormone function (endocrine disruption) and of liver toxicity. These chemicals are persistent. In other words, they don't easily degrade and can remain in the environment long after they are rinsed down the shower drain. Environment Canada considers cyclotetrasiloxane and cyclopentasiloxane to be toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms.

11. Sodium Laureth Sulfate

•Look also for related chemical sodium lauryl sulfate and other ingredients with the letters "eth" (e.g., sodium laureth sulfate).
Sodium laureth sulfate is used in cosmetics as a cleansing agent and also to make products bubble and foam. This and other "ethoxylated" ingredients (which usually have chemical names including the letters "eth") may be contaminated with ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane. Both contaminants may cause cancer. Also, ethylene oxide may harm the nervous system and interfere with human development, and 1,4-dioxane is persistent. In other words, it doesn't easily degrade and can remain in the environment long after it is rinsed down the shower drain.

12. Triclosan

Triclosan is used mainly in antiperspirants/deodorants, cleansers, and hand sanitizers as a preservative and an anti-bacterial agent. It can pass through skin and is suspected of interfering with hormone function (endocrine disruption). Environment Canada categorized triclosan as potentially toxic to aquatic organisms, bioaccumulative, and persistent. In other words, it doesn't easily degrade and can build up in the environment after it has been rinsed down the shower drain. The extensive use of this chemical in consumer products may contribute to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Canadian Medical Association has called for a ban on antibacterial consumer products, such as those containing triclosan.

What Vegetarians Should Learn About Traditional Foods.....

Information and Research via Weston Price Foundation (Media Panel)

While the traditional foods movement seems to focus heavily on the inclusion of high-quality, pasture-raised meat and dairy products and is, indeed, a largely animal food-based diet, that doesn’t meant that it offers no guidance or dietary wisdom for vegetarians. Indeed, there’s a lot that vegetarians can glean from the traditional foods movement and, in many ways, the practices advocated by traditional foods enthusiasts and organizations like the Weston A Price Foundation and the Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation might prove even more important for vegetarians and vegans who rely on grains and legumes for much of their foods. From soaking and souring grains and legumes to fermenting veggies and eating healthy fats, here’s five things that vegetarians can learn from the traditional foods movement.

1. To soak, sour or sprout grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and beans.
Grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes often make up the foundation of a vegetarian or vegan diet. For this reason, it’s critical that vegans and vegetarians learn to prepare these foods to reap the greatest nutritional reward from them. To prevent premature sprouting until conditions for plant growth are optimal, grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and beans are potent sources of antinutrients which include phytate and enzyme inhibitors. These antinutrients cause reduced mineral absorption and reduced ability to properly digest foods. Since vegans and vegetarians forgo mineral-rich meats and bone broths, deriving much of their mineral intake from plant-based sources, one of the most significant and beneficial actions an adherent to a plant-based diet can take to maximize nutrient intake would be to soak, sour or sprout all their grains, nuts, beans, legumes and seeds – a traditional practice that renders the nutrients in these foods more bioavailable1.
Sprouting, soaking and fermenting grains, nuts, beans, seeds and legumes activates the enzyme phytase which neutralizes phytate, and these traditional processes help to free up minerals otherwise bound in a raw, untreated state. Indeed, once phytate has been adequately degraded, legumes can become good sources of both iron and zinc2. The simple act of sprouting and roasting oats, or malting, before preparing a breakfast porridge has been shown to increase zinc absorption by 55% and iron by 47%3. Sprouting mung beans followed by a simple fermentation increases the absorbable iron by over 70% compared to the untreated bean4. Simply choosing to bake whole grain sourdough bread over regular whole grain bread not only reduced antinutrient content, but significantly increases the availability of magnesium5. Incidentally the process of souring grains as required in sourdough bread appears to naturally increase the levels of folate by as much as three-fold13.

In a plant-based, vegetarian or vegan diet you miss out on animal foods as a dense source of minerals, for this reason you can do your body a favor by making sure to properly prepare grains, nuts, beans, seeds and legumes to maximize the availability of iron, zinc, magnesium and other minerals. Read more about soaking grains, beans and legumes.

2. To only consume traditionally fermented soy products and with iodine-rich companion foods.
For many vegans and vegetarians, soy and soy foods make up a base of the diet: soy milks and yogurt, tofu, texturized vegetable protein, soybean oil, soy-based protein powder, cooked soy beans and other soy foods. Unfortunately, soy foods, much like all beans, are a potent source of antinutrients. Soy’s potent isoflavones can also interfere with human endocrine function, particularly the function of the thyroid and reproductive health of both men and women and may have broader implications for the population as a whole7. Properly prepared through traditional means of fermentation (note that soaking and germinating on their own prove inadequate), as in traditional soy sauce and tempeh can reduce phytates found in soy almost completely. Also, by serving small condiment-sized portions of soy foods with traditional iodine-rich accompaniments like seaweed, one may help counteract soy’s antithyroid properties.

3. To eat healthy fats, including monounsaturated and saturated fats.
Fat plays an enormous role in health and well-being and the traditional foods movement focuses heavily on the liberal use of fat, particularly animal fats and this may rub some vegetarians and vegans the wrong way, particularly those who adhere to a low-fat vegetarian diet or attempt to adhere to a no-fat vegetarian diet. Fats help us to absorb vitamins and offer other health benefits as well. In a recent study, women who ate the most fat (particularly saturated and monounsaturated fat) suffered from fewer signs of aging than those who ate the least8. A look into history will illustrate that peoples who consumed their unprocessed, native, traditional foods enjoyed good health9 and that their diets ranged upwards of 80% of fat by calorie10. Moreover, vegetarians should remember that while they should continue to consume vegetables liberally, a recent Swedish study indicates that fruit and vegetable consumption is linked to a reduction in the risk of heart disease only when combined with a diet rich in full-fat dairy11. Whether a vegetarian feels dairy meets his or her needs or preferences, we could all do with making sure to consume healthy, wholesome traditional fats. Healthy fats that are suitable for vegans may include unrefined olive oil (see sources), unrefined coconut oil, ethically and sustainably harvested palm kernel oil, almond and other cold-pressed and unrefined nut oils while a vegetarian might also include butter and ghee (see sources).

4. To learn how to culture vegetables and make naturally fermented probiotic beverages.
Meat and animal foods are rich sources of B vitamins, particularly vitamin B12 which is not found in plant-based foods with the exception of fermented and cultured foods and beverages. For this reason vegetarians and vegans are at risk of B vitamin deficiency; indeed a 2002 study analyzing the B12 status of vegetarians found that more than 60% of vegetarians suffered from stage III B12 deficiency12. Fermentation of vegetables and beverages, as in the case of kombucha and water kefir, can provide B vitamins though reports of B12 in fermented foods are largely unreliable so vegetarians and vegans should not rely on kombucha, water kefir, sauerkraut and other fermented foods as a source of B12; however, they do present an excellent source of other B vitamins.

Nutritional yeast, which is not strictly a traditional food, can be a source of vitamin B12 as well as other B vitamins and is also produced through fermentation. Incidentally, it is a source of free glutamic acid and those sensitive to MSG might do well to avoid it altogether.

Beyond the benefit B vitamins, fermented foods and beverages present an excellent source of beneficial bacteria and live food enzymes. Beneficial bacteria work in conjunction with the immune system, keeping the body alert, healthy and keep pathogens at bay15, and may even show promise in alleviating inflammation in the gut16.

5. To find a source of raw, enzyme-rich protein and eat it every day.
In populations adhering to their traditional, native diets, people consumed at least some form of raw, enzyme-rich protein every day. For many people this meant eating meat, milk, eggs, butter, cream, fish or roe raw and for traditional foods enthusiasts who drink raw milk liberally. While the thought of eating raw meat or egg yolks may turn a vegetarian’s stomach, one might, instead, choose to eat fresh sprouts – while the protein offered in fresh sprouts is minor by comparison to that offered in fresh meat, it still offers an opportunity to consume an enzyme- and vitamin-rich food daily. Sprouted mung beans are a popular traditional food in Asia. For vegetarians who aren’t opposed to the inclusion of some animal foods in their diet, raw egg yolk from pastured hens mixed into a salad dressing or mayonnaise offers a great source of vitamin-rich, raw protein and fat as well as fresh butter, milk and cream.

1. Hotz, et al. Traditional food-processing and preparation techniques to enhance the bioavailability of micro-nutrients in plant-based diets. Journal of Nutrition. April 2007. 2. Sandberg. Bioavailability of minerals in legumes. British Journal of Nutrition. December 2002. 3. Larsson, et al. Improved zinc and iron absorption from breakfast meals containing malted oats with reduced phytate content. British Journal of Nutrition. November 1996. 4. 5. Lopez, et al. New data on the bioavailability of bread magnesium. Magnesium Research. December 2004. 7. Doerge, et al. Goitrogenic and estrogenic activity of soy isoflavones. Environmental Health Perspectives. June 2002. 8. Nagata et al. Association of dietry fat, vegetables and antioxidant micrnutrients with skin ageing in Japanese women. British Journal of Nutrition. January 2010. 9. Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. (6th Edition) Keats Publishing. 2003. 10. Cordain. Saturated Fat Consumption in Ancestral Human Diets. Phytochemicals: Nutrient-gene Interaction. 11. Holmberg et al. Food Choices and Coronary Heart Disease: A Population Based Cohort Study of Rural Swedish Men with 12 Years of Follow-up. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. October 2009. 12. Herrmann & Geisel. Vegetarian lifestyle and monitoring of vitamin B-12 status. International Journal of Clinical Chemistry. December 2002. 13. Kariluoto, et al. Effects of yeasts and bacteria on the levels of folates in rye sourdoughs. February 2006. 15. Gorska. Probiotic bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract as a factor stimulating the immune system. 2009. 16. Isolauri, et al. Probiotics effects on immunity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. February, 2001.

Play in the Dirt and get a little WILD....Letting Nature Heal!

Sorry to have been away from my Blog for a few weeks. I typically write and share about the science of nutrition and its extreme importance in the overall Healthy Living perspective. However, as I have been completely immersed in research for my Primitive Diva book for the past 2 weeks- I have been led to several books that have provided life changing introspectives that have resulted in profound and beneficial change to mine and my families lives. I am learning the importance of taking care of and/or nourishing our spirit, soul and our TRUE selves NOT just our physical bodies! I have been enlightened to the fact that we cannot be whole without reconnecting to our selves through nature and disconnecting from the "busy-ness" of our lives. This allows us to embrace who were TRULY are and to realize potential and gifts that we hold. It has been a lesson in "stopping to smell the roses...." This has created change in EVERY role I have in life as author, health educator, wife, mother and friend. The beauty of this new found knowledge is simple....briefly,throw out the science,the minute breakdown of nutrients and cellular function,all neuro-psychological jargon and SIMPLY reconnect with the natural wonder around us.See what happens.....!

First, as a mother of a child labeled as "Special Needs",Learning Disabled and ADD/ADHD and who obviously possesses a brilliant minded IQ, I experience a great deal of frustration, stress and guilt for not being able to find the "right" dietary formula to help him, the "right" tutor, the "right" educational protocol, the "right" form of motivation,the "right" discipline, the "right" diagnosis.....I am exhausted just typing that-let alone living this daily. In my above mentioned research for the Primitive Kids chapter,I pondered a book that has sat on my bookshelf for several years- titled "Last Child in the Woods"- A Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. This explores the many changes and advances that our childrens generation have experienced and the resulting total disconnection to nature and their use of our human instinctual imagination. Being in nature has a calming result on adults and children----it offers a much stronger effect than any drug on the market. It can produce substantial bio-chemical changes. So, why do we move farther and farther away from our bond with nature? This book offers us insight on numerous studies of the "whys and whats" of this cultural movement and what it has brought forth. Combine this with the deleterious shift in our food supply, process and manufacturing and its no mystery why we have the staggering rise of many highly disturbing trends: (i.e. childhood obesity, attention deficit, violence (brought forth by increased stimuli...)and, depression). This book has important resonance with many parents who feel our children deserve the childhood that we were blessed to enjoy.


Today's kids are increasingly disconnected from the natural world, says child advocacy expert Louv (Childhood's Future; Fatherlove; etc.), even as research shows that "thoughtful exposure of youngsters to nature can... be a powerful form of therapy for attention-deficit disorder and other maladies."

Instead of passing summer months hiking, swimming and telling stories around the campfire, children these days are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a result, Louv says, they've come to think of nature as more of an abstraction than a reality. Indeed, a 2002 British study reported that eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than they could name "otter, beetle, and oak tree."

Gathering thoughts from parents, teachers, researchers, environmentalists and other concerned parties, Louv argues for a return to an awareness of and appreciation for the natural world. Not only can nature teach kids science and nurture their creativity, he says, nature needs its children: where else will its future stewards come from? Louv's book is a call to action, full of warnings—but also full of ideas for change.

Book Description
“I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are,” reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.

As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.

In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply—and find the joy of family connectedness in the process.

Please give yourself the gift of reading this amazing book.....I am contemplating a "Primitive Kids" group where like minded parents can meet to discuss and support each other in this quest. I will send out some information over the summer. This book among a few others have led me to another literary discovery that has given me incredible personal insight--"Women Who Run With Wolves"! I am awaiting its arrival in hardcopy now. Even though I have only read 20+ reviews and discussions on this book, haha....I honestly feel I know its contents by heart! I will write at length after my get away to Colorado where I will dive into the whole foundation of the book. I wanted to share some of its contents that drew me to the book.

Women Who Run with the Wolves
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.

Every once and a while a truly great book for women comes along. Sometimes the book calls us to arms, sometimes it provides us with important new information about ourselves or our bodies, and sometimes--like this book--it will nourish our souls.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a Jungian analyst and cantadora, a collector and teller of stories. She has birthed a book about the archetype of the Wild Woman that has so much gut-level wisdom in it, you immediately sense that Estes is a woman who is really living her life (as opposed to simply existing in it). Estes has gotten past mentalized "good ideas," and presents material that applies to the total being: body, heart, mind and soul. This book is for any woman who longs in her secret self for something more, who knows that her mind works better than her heart, who feels as if she's stretched too thin, who has forgotten how to create, have fun, get dirty, laugh, cry or growl. Estes offers the "medicine" of folk and fairy tales to these wounds with insight and care. She shows how the archetype of the Wild Woman can be a model of wholeness for the modern woman.

Who is this Wild Woman? If you're thinking this is a book about how to be wild and crazy, you would be a little bit right, but mostly wrong. The Wild Woman is not wild in the sense of being crazy, angry or out-of-control, she is wild because she has not lost her connection to life, death and rebirth--or, to put it more simply, nature.

"A healthy woman is much like a wolf: robust, chock-full, strong life force, life-giving, territorially aware, inventive, loyal, roving. Yet separation from the wildish nature causes a woman's personality to become meager, thin, ghosty, spectral. We are not meant to be puny with frail hair and inability to leap up, inability to give chase, to birth, to create a life. When women's lives are in stasis, ennui, it is always time for the wildish woman to emerge; it is time for the creating function of the psyche to flood the delta...It means to establish territory, to find one's pack, to be in one's body with certainty and pride regardless of the body's gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one's behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one's cycles, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much consciousness as we can."
Ms. Estes begins her book with a story that introduces us to La Loba, The Wolf Woman, one of the hundreds of Wild Woman's names. (To you students of the Goddess: are your whiskers twitching yet? The ancient, female being of many names and places...yes, of course, who else could Wild Woman be but the Great Mother herself!) Estes then expertly leads us down the pathway to Her door; a pathway often so perilous with briars, bogs or other mysterious oogly-wooglies we would never even try it without someone like Estes' help! The titles of the chapters are evocative in and of themselves: Stalking the Intruder: the Beginning Initiation. Nosing out the Facts: the Retrieval of Intuition as Initiation. The Mate: Union with the Other. Hunting: When the Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Finding One's Pack: Belonging as Blessing. Joyous Body: the Wild Flesh. Self- Preservation: Identifying Leg Traps, Cages and Poisoned Bait. Homing: Returning to Oneself. Clear Water: Nourishing the Creative Life. Heat: Retrieving a Sacred Sexuality. Marking Territory: the Boundaries of Rage and Forgiveness. Battle Scars: Membership in the Scar Clan. La Selva Subterranea: Initiation in the Underground Forest. Shadowing: Canto Hondo, the Deep Song.

Estes writes in a casual, lively style, full of good humor. This is not a dry, analytical, passionless discussion, and you will not find one ounce of psychobabble anywhere. As one friend of mine exclaimed, "This woman talks like me!" As I read, I found myself laughing, crying, and nodding my head in agreement. It sparked such a sense of longing I felt my heart would burst at times--something deep in my bones woke up, stretched and sniffed the breeze. I remembered what it was like to be alive in this way, and I saw how "civilized" I had become. Just as pictures can tell a thousand words, I'd like to quote a little tale Estes learned from her late Uncle Vilmos which will clearly show what happens in this civilization process:


"A man came to a szabo, tailor, and tried on a suit. As he stood before the mirror, he noticed the vest was a little uneven at the bottom.

'Oh,' said the tailor, 'don't worry about that. Just hold the shorter end down with your left hand and no one will ever notice.'

While the customer proceeded to do this, he noticed that the lapel of the jacket curled up instead of lying flat.

'Oh that?' said the tailor. 'That's nothing. Just turn your head a little and hold it down with your chin.'

The customer complied, and as he did, he noticed that the inseam of the pants was a little short and he felt that the rise was a bit too tight.

'Oh, don't worry about that,' said the tailor. 'Just pull the inseam down with your right hand, and everything will be perfect.' The customer agreed and purchased the suit.

The next day he wore his new suit with all the accompanying hand and chin 'alterations.' As he limped through the park with his chin holding down his lapel, one hand tugging at the vest, the other hand grasping his crotch, two old men stopped playing checkers to watch him stagger by.

'M'Isten, oh, my God!' said the first man. 'Look at that poor crippled man!'

The second man reflected for a moment, then murmured, 'Igen, yes, the crippling is too bad, but you know I wonder...where did he get such a nice suit?'"

Just like the man with the new suit, we often develop personas that display to everyone how good, caring, nice, etc., we are. To the outside world everything is perfect, but inside our true natures are crippled. Women often get so much support for these pleasing personas, we loose touch with how much they narrow our choices, cut us off from life, and bring us unnecessary pain. Women Who Run with the Wolves helps us see that we have become like the tailor's gullible customer. Perhaps we have been hobbling around in our fancy suits for so long we have forgotten we weren't always a cripple.

Estes' book will show you where you have lost touch with your heart, your guts, your creativity, your wildness--your life! The stories she presents, and her insightful analysis of those stories, will gently lead you back to yourself. Even if you are unmoved by this review, I would ask you to run to the nearest bookstore and read the introduction. Let Estes' own words touch you. This is one of those powerful books that, if you are ready for it, it will call you. If, at the next full moon, I hear howling at midnight, I'll know someone out there heard the call.

Both of these books are available in my Primitive Diva Amazon Store. The bookstore supports this blog and my research for the upcoming book on living primitive in a modern world....So, if you enjoy-please shop!

http://astore.amazon.com/healliviwithm-20

Much Love and Many Blessings,
Melissa
"The Primitive Diva"