My Children's Struggle With Eating

Let me start by saying that my twin boys were born "full" term at 37 weeks via scheduled C section on the day after Christmas. I was prepared and making a valiant effort to breastfeed both of them immedaitely after they came into this world. I bought a hospital grade pump and I nursed as much as possible. It seemed as though Cole had the better latch at first and was actually getting the hang of things. I noticed right away that he had a tongue tie and wondered if this was making it hard for him to suck. But the lactation consultant assured me that his latch was perfect. Now we just had to get Jake more comfortable with it. A couple of days after I arrived home, Cole suddenly stopped wanting to nurse and Jake finally got the hang of it. So I pumped milk for Cole and nursed Jake. This became very tedious and time consuming. Nursing, pumping and bottle feeding for 2 kids. Ridiculous if you ask me. So I went back to our pediatrician and asked if Cole's tongue tie was causing the issue with latching. They assured me that wasn't the case. But they left me feeling stressed about his lack of weight gain and encouraged me to add formula to his diet. I was reluctant because I wanted to succeed so badly at breastfeeding my twin boys. We kept on like this for 2 months. Pumping, nursing, bottle feeding, pumping, nursing bottle feeding 16 times a day. I must have blocked most of these memories out because they seem so hazy to me now. Put it this way, it was freaking rough. Around the 2 month mark, Cole started refusing the breast milk that I was pumping for him. He was arching his back and screaming out in pain. I took him to the pediatrician again (who was closely monitoring his weight gain and thus made me very paranoid that he wasn't drinking enough) and he diagnosed him with reflux. This was based on nothing. Seriously, he just made a guess because its pretty common but had no hard evidence that his refusal to drink was due to reflux. I asked about the tongue tie once again because it looked pretty tight at the front of his tongue. It even seemed like he was having a hard time moving his tongue at all. But the pediatrician assured me the tonuge was nothing. They don't cut frenulums these days anyway. There is no proven pathology related to eating, so he said. He suggested I put Cole on hypoallergenic formula ($9 per 32 oz = insanity) and prescribed him some zantac. Nice, now my 2 month old son is on medication. Obviously this was all prior to me reading The Hundred Year Lie. So I followed the Dr.'s advice and put Cole on Alimentum and zantac. Didn't work. In fact, it got worse. We wound up in the hospital at 3 months for fear that Cole would dehydrate because he refused to drink anything. They ran all sorts of tests, a barium swallow and an endoscopy, everything turned up negative but they still diagnosed it as reflux?? They prescribed a proton pump inhibitor called prevacid which was supposed to stop all acid production in his stomach. But he still wouldn't drink!! After 5 miserable days we took Cole home on an NG tube. I call this the dark period in our lives. 7 times a day I would have to pour Cole's formula in an IV bag, hook it up to a pump that was attached to the tube that ran up his nose and down his throat. I was also trained to remove and re insert the tube. HORRIBLE experience. I need not say more. That poor baby must have endured hell to keep this intrusive plastic tube in his esophagus 24/7 for three months. The feedings took 45 minutes to pump all the formula into his stomach and if I moved him from his bouncy chair too soon he would vomit it all up. Nightmare. I cried everyday from this experience. Somedays though, I found that if Cole was sleeping and I slipped a bottle in his mouth he would drink and not have a problem. So I tried to feed him most of his bottles when he was sleeping just to avoid that horrendous pump. We enrolled him into a feeding therapy clinic as soon as we could. It took about 2 months from when we were released from the hospital. To my surprise, the first thing they recommended was to get his tongue tie clipped (frenulectomy). I was upset that my pediatrician disagreed when these therapists said they had seen cases like this where the child refuses to eat because he can't move his tongue to the back of his mouth to swallow. I could understand this, it made perfect sense. So I made an apopintment with an ENT and went for an eval. He was hesitant to cut the frenulum but since Cole was already on an NG tube he felt my pain and wanted to test it out. The surgery was scheduled for July 19 which was exactly 3.5 months after the hospital stay where Cole got the NG tube. He was sedated under general anesthesia and the procedure took 5 minutes total. The ENT brought my little Cole back to me all out of it, but when I stuck a pacifier in his mouth he immediately sucked it!! He hadn't sucked a paci in 3.5 months. I started to cry. We then gave him some pedialyte in a bottle and he sucked it down. The ENT was in disbelief but he did tell me that Cole's frenulum was very long and very thick once he was cutting into it. Apparently he couldn't tell how long and thick it was just by looking at it, he needed to cut into it. We took Cole home and for 2 days he drank his bottles. I was overjoyed and felt a weight taken off my shoulders. I could finally breathe again. I stopped the reflux meds, took the tube out and never looked back.

Welcome to the world of feeding aversions. Because of all the pain and suffering Cole endured with his tongue and the tube, he was not a big fan of eating at all. I struggled to get him to drink 20oz of formula a day. By now he was 7 months old and maybe 15lbs? We were starting solids and that helped a ton because it was delivered via spoon and not bottle. He would sample a little carrot and a little squash here and there but was starting to reduce the amount of formula he was drinking per day. On a good day we got in 20oz normally it was about 15oz and not enough for him to gain any weight. That is when I learned about Coconut oil.

Coconut oil has been used to cook with for centuries. Many asian cultures use coconut oil as their main cooking oil (instead of olive or vegetable). The wonderful thing about coconut oil is that it is a medium chain fatty acid which does not contribute to high cholesterol or plaque build-up in the arteries. It also contains lauric acid which is found in breast milk. Most astonishing to me was the detoxifying properties that coconut oil has. Taken over time it can reduce the build up of heavy metals and other toxins in the body and since all reflux meds contain aluminum, I was concerned that Cole had too many heavy metals already in his short lifetime. So I started adding a teaspoon of coconut oil to his bottles 3 times a day. This was a tablespoon in total and gave him an extra 140 calories per day. We finally started to see some weight gain.

Taken from organics.net, these are some of the health benefits of coconut oil: "hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. These benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, soothing, etc."
I am so happy I found this wonderful oil. I cook with it in most of my recipes (unless olive oil is specifically called for) and I occasionally use it as butter. I take coconut oil capsules everyday to strengthen my immunity and add it to my kid's purees. The eating aversion has not completely gone away yet but we're working around it by adding superfoods such as the coconut oil as well as other things I will discuss in future posts.

Why Its So Important To Detox

By now you must be seeing the trend in my story. Its about toxins found in our environment and in the products we consume. These toxins build up in our body. They have a cumulative effect on our entire organic system. We all walk around with a "toxic burden" of synthetic chemicals, heavy metals and carcinogens that we have ingested either by eating, drinking, inhaling or absorbing. Its virtually impossible in the modern world to isolate ourselves from toxins but we can take steps to minimize our intake going forward. Our liver, that wonderful organ that some of us have abused without knowing its true importance, does the job of filtering out these toxins so that we can regenerate new and healthy cells in our body. As great as it is, the liver can't do it all. Many of the toxins that the liver misses are layered deep in our cells. The most common way to rid ourselves of our toxic burden is to cleanse. There are MANY ways of cleansing out there, from a simple antioxidant drink to an all out 2 week fast. I will highlight some of the drinks and cleanses that I know of and 3 of them that I have actually done.

First and foremost, there is nothing better than wheatgrass. Since we don't have rumens, its not possible for humans to digest grass but the antioxidant properties in wheatgreass are immeasurable. That is why we juice it! At first it tastes nasty but then the taste grows on you and can actually seem sweet. I take a 2oz shot of wheatgrass as often as I can. I also plan to purchase a wheatgrass juicer and grow my own to save money because the shots are pricey. Growing your own wheatgrass is simple and worth it. I will dedicate a future post to my experience with growing wheatgrass so stay tuned. Another potent antioxidant drink is NingXia Red. This is a proprietary drink formulated by Young Living. You can try to compare it to some of the Acai berry drinks out on the market but there really is no comparison. NingXia Red contains the gogi berry (wolfberry) grown in the NingXia provence in China. It also contains essential oils from the orange and lemon. Orange essential oil contains something called D limonene. This compound has proven cancer fighting and prevention properties. Drinking 1oz of NingXia Red per day can help detox your body as well as prevent illness. I have experinced anti inflammatory results from drinking NingXia Red and whenever I feel run down or sick, I drink more than 1oz (up to 6oz) per day and I am completely rejuvinated. The stuff is just amazing. You can find it on www.youngliving.com. I have also recently completed a 5 day nutritive cleanse also created by the Young Living company. This is a fibre cleanse designed to flush out your system without feeling starved for a week. I drank the fibre shake (Balance Complete) three times a day (in replacement of all meals) and followed that up with 2oz of NingXia Red three times daily. By the end of the 5 days I had increased energy, clearer skin and less irritability. In fact, I had no cravings for "real" food even when the cleanse was over. I still replace my least nutritious meal with this shake every now and then because it tastes so good. The best part is that I am detoxing while I drink it!

The most intensive cleanse that I have heard of is called the Master Cleanse. I have not personally embarked on this type of cleansing and to be honest, I dont' know if I have the willpower to complete it. Its a 2 week cleanse where essentially all food is removed from your diet. There is a special drink that one uses to replace all meals and to keep hydrated. The idea is to shock your cells from lack of nourishment into releasing the toxins that they have stored up. I have heard incredible stories of the matter that comes out of the human body when taking this cleanse. Its pretty gross to think about all the garbage that our body is holding on to. I aspire to one day complete a master cleanse but for now fasting for 24 hours once a month if you can is another good way to detox on a small scale. It also frees your mind to do other things besides waiting and thinking about the next meal. Its a very liberating experience. The last cleanse I will mention is also something I would LOVE to do. Its actually way more than just a cleanse, its a complete change in lifesyle. I have spoken about it with my friend and we have made a pact to save up the $10K that it costs and once we are all done having kids go down to FL and detox! The place is called the Hippocrates Health Institute www.hippocratesinst.org. For about $10K or so they offer The Life Change Program. You can go for as little as one week but the full program is 3 weeks. They put you on an enzyme rich diet of living foods which includes daily wheatgrass and teach you lessons on how to live a health filled life. There are stories of people struggling with cancer who have done this program and have eradicated the disease from their body. I do not know any of these people but ther testimonials are on the website. Just reading it now makes me want to go today! Willpower is half the battle with detoxing, a lifestyle change is also necessary and place like Hippocrates can give you the tools as well as the motivation to do so.

My Introduction to Young Living Essential Oils

At this point I have explained why I have gotten rid of all my old personal care and household care products that contained synthetic and toxic chemicals. I have explained why I stopped buying processed food and conventionally grown produce as well as grocery store meat. Now I will explain how I am able to avoid antibiotics and western medicine in general through preventative measure. I am not saying that doctors are bad. In fact, I think western medicine has its place and can be very important, especially in cases of emergency. I would have died in child birth if it weren't for western medicine and the C section. Both of my boys were breech and were not going to naturally emerge from me. So I am thankful that we have the access to such advanced techniques and medicines for cases of dire need. However, I believe deeply in prevention. I think antibiotics are over prescribed and can cause digestive and immune problems if taken too liberally. Once again I must give credit to these wonderful friends that I have who share their knowledge with me on a daily basis. They introduced me to Young Living. Young Living's core products are pure therapeutic grade essential oils but they also sell nutritional supplements and natural personal care products. The majority of their products contain essential oils and that's what makes them so potent. I know, you are thinking patchouli and hippies and rain dances. But actually there are thousands of essential oils and essential oil blends that each have their own specific effect on the human body. I started out with the basic set of oils that can be used to relieve winter time discomforts. Everytime my boys even had the slightest symptom of stuffy nose, cough or low grade fever, I would put RC on their chest and Raven on their back and with in a day or two they would be back to normal. I just saved the $40 copay at the doctor's office!! I use the Thieves blend which contains cinnamon (a strong antibacterial) on my boy's feet to boost their immune systems and I give them cod liver oil every night before bed. To date, my 17 month old twin boys have had 1 bacterial infection in their entire lifetime. And other than a dog bite which needed antibiotcs, have never had any antibiotcs. I consider this success even if its only been 17 months. I have heard of kids who are on antibiotics every other month. Granted, my boys are at home and aren't exposed to day care and all the germs that go with it. But we have play dates with kids who are in day care and get out as much as any other family does. To me, the immune boosting poswer of the essential oils have helped keep my boys resistant to many of the illnesses they could have gotten. As for me, I take a regimen of 5 different oils once a day to lift my spirits since I suffered from post pardum depression. Before Young Living, I was prescribed an SSRI wich I was reluctant to take. I decided to stick with the oil blends and have had fantastic results. I am calmer when I put them on and more motivated to get my day moving. I won't lie and say I don't have my days. But at least those days are fewer are further between. I am still learning about all the things Young Living has to offer. This post is meant to just scratch the surface of what my experience has been. I plan to add details to some really outstanding products that I have used from their company. Products that are life giving, life extending and life preserving. If you are interested in learning more about Young Living, I happen to be a distributor for the company and you can contact me for more info. www.youngliving.com

The Farms I have Come to Love

With the help of wonderful friends I was able to do research and find local farms that I felt comfortable with and then started purchasing their food. I also went out to visit one of the farms to see the milking operation. Talk about sanitary. The cows are treated well, they are happy and content. During milking, they are given a little bit of grain (the only grain they get). The milk is pumped through stainless steel equipment that is cleaned with hot steam, bottled immediately, kept at 35 degrees Farenheight and sold with in a couple of days. The cows are continuously evaluated for their health. I feel like I "know" the cow that our milk comes from. How many people that buy pasturized milk can say that? I take my boys to the farmers market in the next town every Wednesday morning to pick up our orders. I am now friends with Chad (the son) and he keeps me updated on new items that the farm may be selling. He is a caring man and answers all questions that I may have regarding his products or farming practices. For example, one week the egg yolks from his free range eggs didn't look as orange as they usually do. He told me that his yolks will be most orange during the spring and summer months when he can get the most betacarotene (through certain veggies) in the chicken feed. I had no idea! Chad's farm is called Carlton Farm located in Rockmart GA. Their website is www.Carltonfarm.com. Every Wednesday I meet people who have been buying his milk and eggs for years. Its become a little community for us now. We chat about our lives and whats new since we last saw eachother.

The other farm that I purchase meat from is located in TN. Its called West Wind Farms and is run by a sweet couple named Kimberlie and Ralph Cole. We have yet to visit them but plan on doing so one day this summer. They send us a list of their meat and cheese selections once a month. Its not just large cuts either. We can get seasoned roast beef, bacon, sausages and bones for stock. They deliver to a host house in my town and I have now become good friends with her. I actually bring her a gallon of raw milk from Carlton Farms once a week because she can't get to the farmers market. She is a keeper for honeybees and harvests honey from them once a year. Its an amazing sight to see but a little scary as well!! My point is that we are a community of people who are opting out of the processed food machine. We are choosing to go back to nature and support local sustainable farms. These farms cultivate the land and improve the environment instead of using up our natural resources. I feel safe when I eat their food. My body feels good knowing its all grass fed without harmful chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics or vaccines. The website for West Wind Farms is www.westwindfarms.com. I am now on the search for raw butter in bulk. These farms need A LOT of cream in order to churn butter and they rarely sell it. I have made it before on my own but it spoils easily. If I can find a farm that sells raw butter, I would be their first customer!

The Quest for Raw Milk

Now armed with the knowledge that what I have been eating for practically my entire life has been made of corn in some form or another and has most likely contributed to future health problems, I felt empowered. I decided that I would seek out food from other sources. Food that didn't make its way down the traditional supply chain. Food that was not advertised on TV, not marketed through vehicles such as coupons or displays in the grocery aisle. I wanted to get back to the way our ancestors ate food because for what its worth, these new diseases and disorders were unheard of back then. Yes they were plagued with other diseases and illnesses that were just as fatal but in my opinion, I don't think it was as a result of their diet. So I was told about the Weston A. Price Foundation. This foundation was started by a dentist believe it or not. He thought that many of the diseases we see today are directly related to the modern diet. The whole premise is that any farm that joins the foundation should adhere to the beliefs of traditional farming. This means pastured animals. Cows that eat only grass. Free range chickens and pigs and most importantly unpasturized dairy. This really spoke to me as my boys were about to turn 1 and would be transitioning to cows milk soon. I learned that milk from grass fed Jersey cows (not Holsteins which are breeded to be able to digest corn better than other breeds and can grow to enourmous size) has important enzymes that can help with autoimmune issues such as asthma, rosacea and excema. Once heated, these enzymes are killed off and the milk is left inert. The main reason for pasturization in this country is to protect our milk from harmful bacteria that can be passed on from the cow or the unsanitary farm hand. Well, this issue tends to be most prevalent in the monolithic dairy farms that feed their Holsteins corn. These cows get sick from the corn and the living conditions that they are subjected to. Their milk becomes pussy and infected and MUST go through a pasturization process. The milk is transported to a heating facility that raises the temps to kill off all bacteria (good and bad) that may be living in the milk. The milk is then transported back to be packaged in large metal trucks that have been cleaned on the inside with toxic chemicals. Sound tasty? I think not. Raw milk is intended to be a smaller operation. A local family farm. Raw milk is not shipped nationally and does not have large networks. Its found through word of mouth or through the Weston A. Price Foundation. In most states its illegal to purchase raw milk for human consumption. I think this is a shame because we as free citizens have a right to choose what we consume but instead we are being limited under the guise of "protection". The government likes to scare us into believeing that if our milk isn't pasturized, we will surely get sick!! This couldn't be further from the truth but the government has done a great job at promoting this lie because everyone I have spoken to about raw milk has warned me that I will get sick if I am not careful. Hmmmm, I have been drinking it and so have my boys for almost a year now and we are all thriving!! So there! I was able to find a local GA farm through the Weston Price website http://www.westonaprice.org/ and drive to a local pickup weekly to get my raw milk, free range eggs and various other organic locally grown produce. As for meat, I was also able to locate a regional farm in TN that raises all pastured (grass fed) beef, chicken and pigs. They deliver to a host house in my town and I pick up my order monthly. You can tell the difference in these products by first sight. For example, the milk has about an 8 inch layer of pure cream on top. Its absolutely delicious. The meat isn't marbled (not much fat)and the chicken is some of the freshest I have ever eaten. My boys are doing so well on the milk. I will go into their eating issues in another post but I truly believe that raw milk has helped them gain weight and boost their immune systems. Along with the foundation, there is also an amazing cookbook that helps cooks make everyday meals out of their farm fresh products and teaches them the invaluable prepatory skills needed to get the most nutrition out of the foods we eat. The book is called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and I highly recommend it!

We Are What We Eat = CORN

After I finished reading The Hundred Year Lie, I moved on to the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I encouraged many of my friends to read this amazing book but most did not want to know the truth. I found this very discouraging but realized that maybe they just needed a "taste" of what the book was trying to explain. So this is what I intend to do here. I can not re-write the book but I can break it down into the basics to make it more understandable and easier to digest (no pun intended :)

Corn is cheap. Corn is a commodity. It wasn't always this way either. Before the Nixon administration, US farms were paid not to produce certain crops in order to keep prices stable on the domestic and international markets. But in came Earl Butz (Secy of Agriculture under the Nixon Administration) in the 1970's and everything changed forever. He believed in the consumption model. More is better. So he instituted a policy of govt. subsidies that encouraged farmers to produce as much corn as they possibly could and the government would pay for what they couldn't sell. In search of "unlimited" profits, these farms began to steer away from the diversity model of sustainable farming and chose to become large monoculture farms just growing corn. The more corn they grew, the more money they would make "in theory". New hybrid seeds were developed that increase yields. Fertilizer (made with fossil fuel) took the place of the sun to speed up the harvest and growing season. Yields were being achieved that had never been seen before. However, these monoculture farms were also unknowingly destroying the fertility of the land. Even more directly, as this commodity corn flooded the market, the price began to fall. Now there was a huge corn surplus and no one to buy the corn. That didn't last for long. With a cheap ingredient on the market, market forces took hold and news ways of using this cheap ingredient emerged. Corn became the main ingredient in animal feed and the rise of the CAFO (conentrated Animal Feeding Operation) came to be. I won't go into details of the horrible conditions on the CAFO but lets just say that cows, pigs and chickens were not really meant to consume all this corn. To begin with, the corn isn't even edible as it is. Its commodity corn which needs to be processed in order to be digested. But cows still can't properly digest it. They have rumens which are meant to digest grass. The corn just fattens them up (marbleing) and gets them sick (the need for antibiotics and vaccines). This is the majority of the meat that we consume in our diets today. Its the meat in restaurants and the meat in your grocery store. The bigger, the better, the more marbeling, the choicer the cut. Its insane but that is how the market was directed. We all believed it was good for us.

The corn that wasn't going to CAFO's went to the big processing plants that make all the basic sweeteners, thickeners, viscosity agents and shelf stabilizers found in most processed foods. I am talking about fructose, dextrose, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, gum arabic and most ubiquitously high fructose corn syrup. There are thousands of these "ingredients" in processed foods and most of them have over 25 letters in their name and can not even be pronounced. Look on your labels, I am sure you will see at least three or more of the ingredients I listed in all of the foods in your pantry. High fructose corn syrup, a highly concentrated sugar is found in almost all soda, cookies, candy, cake, bread, and most products found on the shelves of your local grocery store. These products are cheap because their ingredients are cheap. But sadly, this processed corn is a major contributing factor to the rise in Diabetes in today's society. Its no secret that Diabetes runs more rampant in socioeconomically poor communites. They can not afford to buy organic and thus are perfect prey for these mass marketed products. What's scary is that there is more corn than meat or bread in a happy meal at McDonalds. We are essentially walking ears of corn. But it all goes back to that cunsumption model of "more is better". Consume more and we will make more. We will make it bigger and cheaper and faster and "better" all so you can continue to purchase it on more occasions and consume it in a plethera of ways. This is not good for humans or the environment.
All those monoculture farms are running off the toxic chemicals from the fetilizer and it's getting into our streams and rivers, polluting wild life and creating a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The soil on these farms won't be usable in a couple of decades and then what will we do? Farms will begin to disappear and what was once a staple in the American economic system will cease to exist. Farms are already disappearing because their once profitable corn crop is now so unbelievably cheap that even the govt. subsidy can't cover the cost to grow it. Small farms are being bought up for their land and only the few and most profitable farms will survive. The story is heartbreaking.

Its hard to change this system now that the wheels are in motion and the train is rolling at 100mph. However, it is reversible but it will take a lot. The meat lobbyists are a powerful group in Washington and they are out to protect their own. Cargill (the owners of almost ALL of the CAFO's and corn elevators) pay large sums of money to the govt. to keep the corn cheap. Its a vicious cycle and no one is watching out for us guinea pigs or the poor helpless environment.
So I read this book and was disgusted. I wanted to go "off the grid" for my groceries and looked for ways to do it. Thats when I found the Weston A. Price Foundation.

The Book That Changed It All

The Hundred Year Lie. A must read. My friend from undergrad needs to take the credit for setting me off on my journey. We would talk on the phone for hours about our children, vaccinations, autism and antibiotics. She is a mother of 4 boys all under the age of 6 (which is just amazing and something I could NEVER do). I agreed with mostly everything she was saying and felt compelled to learn more. She suggested that I read The Hundred Year Lie. So I did. What I learned was frightening to say the least. Frightening and uncanny. The three main categories of toxins that are ingested in humans on a daily basis come from the following categories: Household and personal care products, processed food and pharmaceuticals. Sound familiar? Those are the three companies I spent my career working tirelessly for! The very companies that taught me everythnig I know about marketing. The companies that produced products I had a passion for and tried to influence consumers to buy more of!

In isolation, these products have been proven safe for human use by the FDA and various other governing bodies, however, in combination, the synergy of the synthetic chemicals found in these products and absorbed into our bodies can produce serious side effects ranging from toxicity to neurological damage and disease. Currently there are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals on the market and found in everyday products that we consume today. It would be completely impossible for anyone to test the endless combinations and permutations of these chemicals to see what type of damage they can do to the human body. That leaves us in a precarious position. Essentially we are all guinea pigs ingesting the multitude of product varieties and offerings that are supposed to make our lives easier and designed to keep us "healthy".

So what have we seen so far?? Well, in the past 100 years we have seen the rise of these synthetic chemicals in the marketplace as well as a corresponding rise in autoimmune, neurological diseases and cancer. Is there a link? None that has been proven as of yet, but the evidence is glaring. What we do know is that boys have a more difficult time processing toxins found in the body. There also seems to be a "tipping point" with the amount of toxic burden a human body can withstand before incurring neurological damage. This information was enough to scare me as well as empower me. I have two boys. They are too young to make their own decisions and I want to protect them from what can possibly harm them. The Hundred Year Lie was the catalyst that set me on my journey to become "green". I cleaned out my pantry, I cleaned out my closets and under my sink. I cleaned out my bathroom and filled garbage bags with all the products that contained synthetic chemicals. I threw it all away...... and then I began to start over.

Lets Start At The Beginning

To put it bluntly, having twin boys drastically changed my life in many ways: Sleepless nights, reflux, feeding issues, dirty diapers times two. But what changed most profoundly was the way I wanted to live my life and raise my boys. Back in my previous life, I was a marketer for 3 big consumer packaged goods companies (a large personal, oral and household care company, a processed foods company and a Pharmaceutical company). I had wonderful experiences working at these companies and learned immensley about the way products are marketed in our consumption based world today. I focused on getting into the mind of the target consumer, lowering costs, raising revenues and thus increasing profit. I was good at it because I had passion for every product I marketed. However, my life for the past year and a half has been as a stay at home mom raising my precious twin boys. My passion has been refocused and directed towards creating a healthy lifestyle for me, my husband and my children. What is most astonishing to me is that along the way, I realized that my lifestyle changes have a direct effect not only on my health and the health of my family but on the health of the environment as well. My passion is now to spread the knowledge of what I've learned and what I am still learning to everyone who is willing to listen.