10 Natural Ways to Improve Your Sleep

Have you ever had difficulty falling asleep? I normally sleep well every night, but occasionally I will have trouble with sleeping. I’ve compiled a list of natural ways to improve your sleep for my insomniac friends out there as well as those who want to increase their energy with a great night’s rest.

1. Develop a Sleeping Routine

Getting in the habit of falling asleep and arising at the same time everyday fine-tunes your biological clock and makes sleeping easier. It can be tempting to stay out late on the weekends and sleep in a bit on the holidays, but it does mess up your routine.

For me, when I travel across time zones and try to fly red-eye flights, my sleep patterns get messed up. So, whenever possible I stick to a sleep/wake routine.

2. Exercise!

Exercise helps to wear you out and make you tired. Aerobic exercise four times a week has been demonstrated by the Northwestern University’s Department of Neurobiology and Physiology to improve sleep quality. Initially, you will feel a bit more energized after a workout, but when it comes time to fall asleep, you will notice that you get deeper sleep and fall asleep faster on the days that you exercise.

3. Eat Healthy Foods

We have far too many processed foods in our diet that interfere with neurological health and brainwave activity. You should cut out the food and drinks that stimulate your mind specifically caffeine, coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate.

Dinner should be your lightest meal of the day. Skip the spicy and heavy foods that give you heartburn and indigestion.

I’m partial to the GAPS diet and the ketogenic diet principles. However, simply cutting back on processed foods can be helpful for everyone.

4. Stop Smoking

Research done at Johns Hopkins University Department of Epidemiology discovered that smokers are four times more likely to not feel as well after a full night’s sleep. They attribute this to nicotine’s stimulative effect on the brain. The nighttime withdrawal from nicotine can interfere with brainwave patterns as well.

Smoking is known to increase sleep apnea and other breathing disorders. This can make it hard to get restful sleep as well.

5. Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol can disrupt brainwaves and sleep patterns that make you feel refreshed in the morning. While alcohol has been known to help you doze off, once the effect wears off, you are likely to wake up and have difficulty falling asleep again.

6. Avoid the Electronics

According to the National Sleep Foundation, electronics right before bedtime stimulates your brain. This can make it difficult to turn your mind off and fall asleep. The best thing to do is to avoid computers, video games, and cell phones within the last hour before going to bed.

Using electronics before bed delays your body’s internal clock and suppresses the release of the hormone melatonin, which induces sleep. This is mostly due to the short-wavelength, artificial blue light that electronic devices emit.

7. Claim Your Space

People who share their beds with pets or children tend to experience sleep disruption every night. Dogs and kids can hog the bed and push you into an uncomfortable position on your own bed. Therefore, you may want to claim you bed space for yourself and banish the dogs and children to their own beds.

8. A Temperate Room

Warmer temperatures are great when you are enjoying a day at the beach, but when it gets above 75 degrees it can be difficult to fall asleep. The recommended temperature for sleeping is somewhere around 65 degrees Fahrenheit according to the National Sleep Foundation.

When you lie in bed to fall asleep, your body temperature decreases to initiate sleep. A temperature between 60-67 degrees can help to encourage sleep. If your room is cool, it will be easier to shut your eyes for the night.

9. Keep it Dark

Light signals to your brain that it is time to wake up. Keep your room as dark as possible in order to fall asleep. Sometimes even the light from a cell phone or computer can disrupt your body’s production of melatonin and interrupt your sleep.

I’ve never been a fan of night lights and now I know why!

10. Only Sleep in Your Bed

Do not use your bed for relaxing, eating and watching television. Your brain will mentally associate your bed with these activities and as you lay down, you may be thinking about watching television instead of triggering your body to go to sleep.

You can try meditating or reading right before bed to get yourself sleepy.

Sleep is a wonderful way to rejuvenate your body. However, if you aren’t getting enough sleep, you may need to make these simple adjustments to your lifestyle to start feeling refreshed after a night of sleep again.

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The 3 Best Grass Fed Bone Marrow Supplements

Bone marrow is one of the best supplements that you can take if you want to improve you dental health and your immune function. Many alternative health practitioners are recommending bone broth and bone marrow supplements including Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, The Bone Broth Diet, and Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, The Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet.

Taking bone broth or cooking bone marrow and eating it can be somewhat inconvenient. It can be difficult to source bone marrow. That’s where Grass Fed Bone Marrow Supplements can help! These are easy to order and convenient to take on a daily basis.

Here are the top three Bone Marrow Supplements:

1. Ancestral Supplements Bone Marrow

Name: Ancestral Supplements

Website: Available at Amazon.com

Price: $46.00

Owners: Brian Johnson

Overall Rank: 75 out of 100

Ancestral Supplements Bone Marrow, Product Overview

The bone marrow supplement capsules come in bottles of 180. The bone marrow is sourced from New Zealand grass fed cattle. Each capsule is 1/6 of an ounce of bone marrow. It is recommended to take 6 capsules per day.

The bone marrow is freeze-dried from whole bone extract. Each capsule contains 500 mg. The whole bone extract includes grass fed bone matrix, grass fed bone marrow and grass fed cartilage.

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

Great way to get bone marrow when you are in a rush and don’t have time to cook bone broth.
High quality, grass-fed bone marrow.
Great customer service with Brian Johnson. He will respond to questions regarding health conditions and concerns with the product. Refunds and replacements are sent for defective products to ensure customer satisfaction.
This product has 92% of people giving it five stars and over 1,000 reviews.

The Bad:

My first order with Ancestral Supplements got lost.
Orders are slow and take longer than the Amazon Prime 2 days.

2. CodeAge Bone Marrow Supplement Review

Name: Code Age Bone Marrow

Website: Codeage.com

Price: $32.29

Owners: Code Age

Overall Rank: 80 out of 100

Bone Marrow Capsules, Product Overview

Bone marrow capsules that are 100% additive free. There are no stearates, lubricants, fillers or flow agents. These bone marrow capsules are from pasture raised cattle in Argentina. The cattle are grass fed and grass finished.

The capsules are 100% frees dried and non-defatted. They are hormone and GMO free.

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

Competitively priced. While not the most expensive, it is also not the least expensive.
Customers report improved hair and nail growth.
Overall customers’ satisfaction – 83% give it a five star rating.

The Bad:

Some customers’ complained about the cost. You can purchase 7lbs of bone marrow for the cost of the bottle of dehydrated bone marrow. However, you will need to prepare it.
15% of customers’ gave it a 1 star rating citing that Ancestral Supplements had a superior product. One person reported no effects from taking the product and another one reported getting diarrhea from the product.

3. Peak Performance Grass Fed Bone Marrow Supplement Review

Name: Grass Fed Bone Marrow Capsules

Website: PeakPerformance.com – also available on Amazon

Price: $21.95

Owners: Peak Performance

Overall Rank: 90 out of 100

Peak Performance Bone Marrow, Product Overview

Peak Performance Bone Marrow Extract Capsules feature nutrient dense bone marrow from Grass Fed beef that is dedicated to preserve the heat sensitive nutrients found within the cartilage and bones. It is made with the bone matrix, bone marrow and the bone cartilage.

This supplement is free of hormones and GMO. It has no fillers or flow agents.

100% Happiness guarantee. you can get a fast, prompt refund if you don’t love the product.

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

The price. This is the lowest priced grass fed bone marrow supplement on the market.
The marketing is very similar to the higher priced bone marrow supplements on the market.
86% of customers’ give it a five star rating.
SAVE 10% PLUS FREE SHIPPING WHEN YOU BUY 2 BOTTLES OF ANY PEAK PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS ❤️ Enter code PEAKSAVE10 at checkout.

The Bad:

1. Doesn’t list where the grass fed beef is sourced like the other products. It could come from a variety of different grass fed sources which have different quality standards.
2. For each bottle you purchase, they will donate to Nonprofit vitamin angels and supply vitamins to a child at risk of malnutrition. This makes me wonder how they can survive at this price point and whether the quality is very high. However, I have been pleased taking this product so far. It seems to have improved my own health.

Who should supplement with bone marrow?

Grass Fed bone marrow is excellent for improving joint function, increasing skin health and decreasing inflammation. The GAPS diet is a high proponent of incorporating bone marrow into your diet. People following the ketogenic diet often focus on getting higher fat soluble vitamins through bone marrow. Those individuals following a Paleo diet will also want to incorporate bone marrow into their diet due to the rich amount of vitamins and minerals in the diet.

For people who are following the concept of “like supports like” consuming bone marrow theoretically will improve their bone and teeth health. It may also improve the immune function as the major function of bone marrow is to generate blood cells.

My Final Opinion

I love taking bone marrow. It seems to be improving the overall sensitivity of my teeth. It gives me the peace of mind that I am improving my immune system and function by consistently getting some bone marrow in every day. When I first tried the GAPS diet, I discovered that I didn’t like drinking bone broth every day. Taking a bone marrow supplement is a good way to get the bone marrow nutrients in when I can cook up a pot of bone broth.

I love how the bone marrow supplements also fit into a ketogenic diet. They provide plenty of essential B vitamins and minerals without spiking blood sugar levels with carbohydrates.

My Recommendation:

I personally recommend the Peak Performance brand. It is the least expensive and based on the marketing, it is comparable to the other brands. They all claim to be from Grass Fed animals, they all have about the same amount of bone marrow per capsule. Each brand recommends about 6 capsules or the equivalent of one ounce of bone marrow supplement per day.

Peak Performance does support a charity that helps to provide vitamins to impoverished children, which is a nice goal. I’m hopeful that they aren’t providing poor quality vitamins to these children. This wasn’t a factor in my purchase, but it is a nice bonus for charity-minded individuals.

The Pros and Cons of Grass Fed Collagen Supplements

Collagen is a popular supplement in the alternative health community. Some people are taking it to prevent wrinkles, others are taking it to strengthen nails and hair. While there are some great benefits of taking Grass Fed Collagen supplements, there are some downsides to taking it as well.

First, let’s dive into the benefits of taking collagen supplements.

Improves the Skin Health

Collagen is one of the essential elements in the formation of skin. It plays a role in its hydration and elasticity. As we age, our bodies produce less collagen and wrinkles form.

Some studies have demonstrated that taking additional collagen may slow down the appearance of aging skin with a reduction in wrinkles and dryness.

In a study published in Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, women who took a collagen supplement of 2.5-5 grams for eight weeks experienced less skin dryness and an increase in elasticity compared to those who didn’t.

The reduced wrinkle effect of collagen has been attributed to the ability to stimulate your body to produce its own collagen.

The additional collagen in your system may also promote the production of other proteins that can structure your skin, including fibrillin and elastin.

Reduces Joint Pain

Collagen has been known to help reduce joint pain. Your risk of developing degenerative joint disorders, such as osteoarthritis, increases as the collagen in your body decreases.

Some studies have demonstrated that supplementing with collagen may help to improve the symptoms of osteoarthritis.

One study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, examined adults who took 2 grams of collagen for 70 days. Those who supplemented with collagen had a significant reduction in joint pain and were able to engage in physical activity.

Collagen Strengthens Bones

Bones mostly consist of collagen. This gives them structure and keeps them strong.

As we age, the collagen in the body decreases. The bone mass does as well. This leads to osteoporosis, along with a loss of bone density and a higher risk of fractures.

Supplementing with collagen may inhibit the bone breakdown that leads to osteoporosis.

Post-menopausal women with osteopenia were studied. The women either took calcium combined with 5 grams of collagen or a calcium supplement without collagen. At the end of 12 months, the women taking the calcium and collagen had lower blood levels of the protein that promotes bone breakdown.

While these results are promising, more studies are needed to confirm the benefit of collagen on bone strength.

Collagen Helps Hair and Nails

Anecdotal evidence supports the theory that collagen supplements can help to increase the strength of your nails by preventing brittleness. It may also stimulate your hair to grow longer according to a study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

Improves Gut Health

While there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that collagen supports gut health, medical doctors such as Dr. Kellyann Petrucci and Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride are recommending the use of collagen to treat intestinal permeability, or leaky gut syndrome.

It is a core component of the Bone Broth Diet that Dr. Kellyann recommends and the GAPS diet that Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride created. These diets have reportedly helped people overcome intestinal permeability and heal from numerous diseases.

Collagen Promotes Brain Health

The link between collagen and brain health isn’t supported by scientific studies. However, many people have reported improved mood and a reduction in anxiety while taking collagen.

The GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet focuses in on getting more gelatin and collagen in the diet. Proponents of this diet claim improvement in autism symptoms, neurological health, and mood stability.

The Cons of Taking Collagen

While there are numerous reported benefits of taking collagen, one may overlook some downsides to taking a grass fed collagen supplement. One thing to seriously consider is that collagen is not a whole food. It is a processed food.

With all processed foods, there is incomplete nutrition. The ratio and balance of amino acids, fats and proteins is off when you are taking this type of supplement.

It is unlikely to cause a lot of damage, but it isn’t a nutritionally complete food. For that reason, you may want to consider spending your money on the higher quality grass fed bones or whole chickens to make the bone broth and meat stock yourself. This method will contain all the nutrients that your body needs.

My Conclusion on Collagen Supplementation

As someone who loosely follows the GAPS diet and has read up on the Bone Broth Diet, I supplement with grass fed collagen a little. This is mostly when I don’t have the time to make a bone broth or meat stock. I may take supplement a bit when traveling as well.

The BioOptimal grass fed collagen supplement is economical and high quality. You can find it on Amazon.com.

The Grass Fed Bone Broth Benefits Are Overstated

Bone broth has been quite trendy in the alternative medicine circles. If you listen to the “experts,” you may come to the conclusion that it can heal everything from depression to diphtheria. But I am going to say it, the benefits are overstated.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there are some great things going on with bone broth. It is cheap and easy to incorporate into your eating plan. However, it isn’t the miracle superfood that Dr. Kellyanne or Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride tout.

Let’s examine the diets and analyze the factors that may be working or not working.

Dr. Kellyann Petrucci’s Bone Broth Diet

Dr. Kellyann has a whole line of supplements and foods surrounding the idea that bone broth will heal just about anything. Her diet focuses in on having 1-2 cups of bone broth per day. She also recommends intermittent fasting two times per week.

She claims that you will heal within 21 days on this diet. Her claims center around the idea that cells have a 21-day life cycle and you’ll have a whole new gut lining in 21 days. Therefore, you should be healed of your autoimmune conditions or at least see some improvement in three weeks.

I did her bone broth experiment for 21 days and can’t say that my psoriasis was much better at all. It was still there. I neglected to do her intermittent fasting though. I’m not a fan of that, but I did omit common allergens from my diet like wheat, dairy, sugar, nuts and nightshades.

There may have been a tiny bit of improvement, but sometimes I would see improvement when I didn’t do anything, so I’m questioning that result.

The GAPS Diet and Bone Broth

The GAPS diet is the brain child of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. She claims to have healed her son from autism with it. It centers around the principles of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and incorporates a ton of bone broth.

One of the reasons that she utilizes so much bone broth is that it is unlikely to trigger many autoimmune reactions. It is an animal product and water essentially.

The problem that I find with the GAPS diet is the recommended amount of time required to be on it. She recommends 2 years to heal from a condition. While many people see results within a few weeks or months, that wasn’t the case with me.

It is highly discouraging to be making bone broth and eliminating your favorite foods and not see any improvement in your autoimmune condition. Even worse, when I tried doing the extreme introductory diet, I actually had a seizure. I believe that any extreme diet will trigger a seizure for me now. I have tested it out and that seems to be the case.

The GAPS diet is suppose to heal people from seizures and neurological issues, but I think the stress of quick detoxification that comes with the introductory diet for me is just a seizure trigger that I need to avoid.

Why does her diet work?

Her diet is a long term elimination diet. If you can stick with it for 2 years, you are likely to see improvement. You will eliminate all the common toxins in the beginning and gradually add back in foods and test which ones are okay for you.

Eliminating toxins and beginning to eat nutrient-dense foods will help any body function properly.

Bone broth is the base of the diet because it is considered a “safe” food. It also has a lot of collagen in it, which is supposed to promote healing.

What is Bone Broth Missing?

Bone broth does contain protein and collagen. However, it doesn’t have the wealth of vitamins that organ meat, such as beef liver has. You won’t get a lot of vitamin E, K, D, A and B from bone broth. These fat soluble vitamins are the foundation of our health. They are essential nutrients for every body.

The carnivore dieters will emphasize that there are more nutrients in the organ meats. They downplay the importance of collagen and don’t seem to think that bone broth is all that important unless you like it.

Many carnivore dieters do not include bone broth in their diets and have seen their chronic conditions improve with only meat.

What is in Bone Broth?

Bone broth contains essential amino acids such as arginine, glutamine and cystine. These have shown to boost immunity and reduce inflammation. L-gultamine has been known to specifically reduce gut inflammation, which is why it is so important to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet.

Bone broth does contain some bone-forming minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin D, potassium, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, and iron. Consistently drinking bone broth can strengthen your bones and teeth.

Bone broth can help to hydrate your body. It is mostly water, but it also has electrolytes (minerals) and carbohydrates. It has been shown that liquids with electrolytes can rehydrate your body better than water alone.

My Conclusion

Bone broth is a great addition to your diet, but don’t expect too much from it. The majority of your healing will come from eliminating unhealthy processed foods and incorporating nutrient dense foods, such as organ meats.

As the weather gets cooler, bone broth rich soups are great for preventing colds or helping you heal quickly from them. However, I wouldn’t expect it to heal a long term illness within a few weeks.

Sometimes when we expect too much from a “superfood” it is easy to get discouraged and completely negate everything that we have heard about it.

It should be noted that if you are eating bone broth and still consuming toxic foods, it is likely that you won’t notice any improvement in your health. Half the reason that these diets work is due to other factors like intermittent fasting and eliminating problematic foods.

Should You Take Grass Fed Beef Liver Capsules?

Grass fed liver is all the rage in the ketogenic and carnivore community. Even the GAPS dieters will confirm that grass fed liver has a plethora of vitamins and minerals that you want to give your body.

But should you buy desiccated grass fed beef liver capsules?

I decided to give them a whirl when my local grass fed beef guy told me he’d be away for two whole weeks. I can’t get liver from the local supermarket. I need to either order it online or purchase it from a specialty market. Even our local Whole Foods didn’t seem to have liver.

The Convenience!

The first thing that I noticed when taking the beef liver capsules was that it was incredibly convenient. I didn’t have to thaw out frozen beef liver. I didn’t have to cut up a pound of beef liver. There were no dark juices dripping all over my counter top.

It was super easy. Just pop open the top and gulp down a couple capsules with water. I had been doing that with anti-convulsants since the age of 13.

I can see myself purchasing this product again for when I want to go on vacation and still get my dose of beef liver in my diet.

The Cost

Here’s where the local farmers beat out the desiccated beef liver capsules. I found bottles of grass fed beef liver supplements on Amazon from prices ranging from $10 for 180 capsules to $40 for the same amount.

As you read on the bottle, it says that 6 capsules is the equivalent of one ounce of beef liver. That gives us a good way to figure out approximately how much nutrition we are getting.

When we compare it to fresh beef liver, the capsules will lose every time. I can get sixteen ounces (1lb.) of fresh beef liver for $5 from my local grassfed butcher. This could be a discount because he is local. If I ordered it from U.S. Wellness Meats, I would be paying $10 per pound of beef liver.

I chose the most cost-effective supplement – Flyby. At $10, it was the closest in cost to fresh beef liver. They have since done some math and raised their prices.

I don’t know how they were making a profit when their bottles were only $10, but at $15 their prices are still reasonable.

The Quality

With grass fed beef liver supplements, you have to go by what is on the bottle. Unless, of course, you know the manufacturer and can visit the place where they source the product.

I did a lot of online comparison and didn’t find much difference in the marketing of beef liver supplements. Many of them touted New Zealand or Argentina beef as the best grass fed beef in the world.

I can’t confirm or deny that. The best I can do is try it out and see if it works for me.

In the week and a half since I have started taking the grass fed beef liver supplements, I haven’t seen massive improvements in my health, but I’ll keep you posted.

Beef Liver Benefits

Beef liver is one of the most nutrient dense organs. The vitamins and minerals within beef liver have been known to promote healthy teeth, gums, skin and hair. It is said to support energy, mood, metabolism and methylation.

Beef liver supports the heart, brain and liver health. There is a theory that “like supports like” where if you eat a liver, your liver health will improve. That may not necessarily be the case, but psychologically you may feel more confident in your liver health by taking the liver capsules.

My Final Conclusion

Beef liver capsules are a bit pricey, but worth having on hand when you can’t get fresh beef liver into your diet. They are perfect for traveling and emergencies where you know that your diet will be poor but don’t have the time or convenience to source some great grass fed beef liver.

I’m absolutely sold on the nutrient density of beef liver after reading George Minot’s study on curing pernicious anemia with high doses of beef liver. Pernicious anemia is an autoimmune condition and while my autoimmune condition is a bit different, I am hoping that my body reacts positively to the beef liver in a few short weeks as the study participants in 1926 did.

Should You Do The GAPS Diet for Psoriasis?

The GAPS Diet focuses in on healing and sealing the gut lining. So, what does that have to do with the Psoriasis on my skin?

The theory behind the GAPS diet is that it will heal and seal the gut lining. This will prevent any toxins from leaking into the blood stream and attacking the normal cells and their regular function.

What is Psoriasis?

Psoriasis is an autoimmune condition that triggers rapid buildup of skin cells on the surface. This build up of skin cells can cause redness, scaling and inflammation. Often psoriasis is itchy.

The typical psoriatic scales appear whitish or silver and develop in thick patches with a redness around them.

What Causes Psoriasis?

Like most autoimmune diseases, the cause is unknown to the medical community. They simply state that it is the body’s T-cells attacking the skin cells, but don’t give a good reason why.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride theorizes that the cause of all autoimmune diseases is due to a leaky gut and depleted nutrition. Psoriasis is very likely due to leaky gut with a chance of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO).

Foods To Avoid

On the GAPS diet, you will work to heal and seal the gut. Therefore, you will want to avoid the foods that are difficult to digest and cause irritation in the gut. The most common irritants for people with autoimmune disease are the following:

Nuts and seeds
Nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers)
Grains (rice, corn, etc.)
Legumes (beans, peas)
Starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes)

Foods To Eat to Heal Psoriasis

With those categories of foods to avoid, you may feel like you can’t eat ANYTHING! That is close to correct. Actually, you’ll discover that you can enjoy meats and low carbohydrate veggies in many ways.

seafood
beef
chicken
pork
eggs
cabbage
sauerkraut
squash

On the GAPS diet, it is recommended to go through an introduction phase where you eliminate EVERYTHING and only drink meat stock for a few days. This is rather intense. If you are coming from a traditional Western diet, I recommend starting with the full GAPS diet and then eliminating the GAPS approved foods until you are doing meat stock for a couple days. This will allow you to test each food and determine if you have any reaction to the foods.

This will feel very restrictive for the first few days. You can always Google GAPS diet recipes or order a cookbook for some healing recipes.

Detox Baths

Part of the GAPS protocol is to do detoxification baths every day. The first time I attempted GAPS, I didn’t see much healing from it. I suspect it is because I didn’t continue with the detoxification baths.

However, after reading the Magnesium Miracle, by Dr. Carolyn Dean, I realize how important magnesium is in our detoxification and healing processes.

One easy way to incorporate detox baths into your routine is to simply stop up the shower and put some Epsom salts in the bottom of the tub. This way you will have a foot bath while you shower. You can sit down in the tub for a few minutes at the end to get more of your body immersed.

How Long Before You See Results

I started the GAPS protocol about 2 weeks ago. I am just now starting to see the redness of my Inverse Psoriasis reduce and the scales decrease in size. (I’d post pictures, but the psoriasis is between the butt cheeks. Not something I want to post!)

Finding My Alopecia Universalis Cure: Take 22

Alopecia universalis is a tricky one. No, really. There are people online who tell you that their GAPS diet, AIP diet, carnivore diet, and nutrition response testing will cure autoimmune conditions.

Well, maybe.

Maybe I just didn’t stick with the diets long enough. I will mention that some of these diets dehydrate me and leave me lacking minerals which will trigger seizures in me.

Nutrition Response Testing

This concept sounded so promising. Your body would tell you which nutrients and supplements that you needed. Your muscles would go weak if you needed the supplements that you were holding. It was a weird phenomenon.

I did notice my muscles weaker when holding certain supplements and stronger for others. However, after a year and a half of that nonsense and no results, I ditched the program. A year of my hard earned dollars and no new hairs. My seizure control wasn’t any better or worse. (Very good, but under too much stress I was still prone to have one.)

The Carnivore Diet – Why I Quit

I loved the theory of the carnivore diet. You eliminate all toxins and only eat nutrients. The life force that you consume is all you need to survive.

Some people are healing on this one. Sadly, there is some adjustment phase where your body pees out all the minerals and leaves you depleted. I started to feel like the water I was drinking wasn’t hydrating me. That triggered a seizure. Once I realized that I was dehydrated, I could predict the seizure. As long as I don’t get dehydrated, I tend to be fine.

I contacted Zsofia Clemens of the Paleomedicina group to ask for some guidance. She had me do some blood tests, which indicated high cholesterol, low vitamin D levels and slightly elevated TSH. Basically, my month and a half on the carnivore diet had increased my cholesterol and hadn’t improved my hypothyroid issue at all.

Not good, carnivore diet. Not good!

Do I think the carnivore diet can be done correctly and heal people? Most likely! However, I needed more minerals and to stay hydrated. That was something that I hadn’t been warned about.

GAPS and AIP Diets

I will admit, I don’t think I gave these diets a fair shot. I spent about 3 months on each of them. However, they are very complex and difficult follow.

The GAPS diet has an introductory phase that I skipped over. It was basically all meat stock, all of the time. Really? How am I supposed to adjust to that? I did discover that I could do all meat all of the time on carnivore, and its not that difficult.

The problem?

I’m not seeing any new hair growth. It is SO incredibly difficult to stick with these complex diets without seeing any results. I don’t have weight that I need to drop. In fact, I look a bit emaciated if I lose any weight, so I’d prefer to stay the same size.

Another difficulty that I had in following this diet was that you reintroduce foods and “test” out intolerances. I didn’t feel like my digestion was bad. I could eat junk and it wouldn’t impact my digestion. I wouldn’t see diarrhea. Maybe the inflammation in the hair follicles would return and it was so minute that I couldn’t see it. Testing when hair fall out is your main symptom is very tricky.

What’s Next?

I’ve concocted a combination approach that takes a bit of the highlights from each of these. From the Magnesium Miracle, I’m supplementing with Carolyn Dean’s ReMag and ReMyte.

Taking an epsom salt bath each week.
Bone marrow supplements – 1 ounce per day (6 capsules). Since the GAPS diet was so difficult and making bone broth daily was not happening in our Virginia summer heat, this is going to be a great way to get some consistency with the nutrients in bone broth/bone marrow. I’m excited to test my TSH levels at the end of a month. I read a customer was able to lower her levels in only 5 weeks. It would be amazing if I could do that!
Grain free, sugar free and dairy free. This seems to be a theme among the “healing” diets and alternative communities. So, I’ll cut out sugar for the next month. This will have to start after my trip to Seattle this weekend.

Will it Work? Stay Tuned!

I’m really not sure. I know that my tooth sensitivity seems to go away when I omit sugars and breads. I indulged in them a few weeks ago and now everything cold is bothering me when I eat it. Time to eat healthier. I know that it improves my tooth health. Growing back hair may be another story.

I’ll keep you posted as I progress. It has been years of experiments with no real results. However, I’m combining the wisdom of Dr. Carolyn Dean’s Magnesium Miracle with some of the more nutrient dense components of the autoimmune diets. I’m very optimistic!

Wish me luck as I test out Collagen peptides and Bone Marrow supplements this month!

The Magnesium Miracle Audiobook Review – Is Magnesium at the Root of All Health Issues?

Magnesium Miracle Audiobook Review[easyazon_image align=”right” cart=”n” height=”500″ identifier=”B078C8WXCN” locale=”US” src=”https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51stWOpzfGL.jpg” tag=”mcurle08-20″ width=”500″]

Name: The Magnesium Miracle

Website: Amazon.com

Price: $14.95

Owners: Dr. Carolyn Dean

Overall Rank: 80 out of 100

The Magnesium Miracle Audiobook, Product Overview

This is an audio recording of Carolyn Dean’s book on Magnesium.

Magnesium plays a vital role in our health. It is one of the most needed minerals and one that is being depleted from our diet. Carolyn Dean estimates that all Americans are magnesium deficient due to our modern farming practices and agricultural based diet.

Dr. Dean is well-researched and has great credentials. She has selected a number of common health complaints and linked them to magnesium deficiency. In her book, she discusses how magnesium deficiency can contribute to anxiety, seizures, heart palpitations, cramps, tension, headaches, weight gain, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and more.

Carolyn Dean also delves into the ways that you can increase your magnesium levels, vitamins and minerals that work with magnesium to address health conditions and how certain diets can actually lead to magnesium deficiency.

The Magnesium Miracle is a good resource on the mineral magnesium and how it impacts your health. If you have been stuck in a health rut, magnesium deficiency may be at the core of your health problems. This book will give you some insight into how adding magnesium to your daily routine can improve your health.

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

Well researched and informative. It is clear that Dr. Dean has done her homework on magnesium and how it impacts health.
Easy to understand. Dr. Carolyn Dean lays out the information in laymen terms. You don’t need a medical degree to understand how magnesium will help you.
Actionable steps to increasing magnesium levels. She doesn’t leave you hanging. She provides easy to take steps that will increase your magnesium levels as well as your health. Whether you prefer an Epsom salt bath or a magnesium supplement, there are tips to improve your health with magnesium.

The Bad:

The book can leave you with the impression that all health problems are due to magnesium deficiency. This may have some people neglecting healthy eating for taking a supplement.
The book can come across as a promotion for her magnesium supplement.

Who is The Magnesium Miracle For?

The Magnesium Miracle audio book is great for people who listen to health books in their car or on the go. That isn’t always me, but I wanted to try out audible.

One of the nice things about this book on audible is that you can listen at double the speed and get through the material twice as fast without missing information. You do need to pay attention a bit more when you do something like this!
The Magnesium Miracle Tools & Training

Some of the important take aways from The Magnesium Miracle

Take an Epsom Salt Bath on a regular basis. When starting out 2-3 times per week.
Magnesium will calm your nerves and eliminate cramps. A supplemental dosage of about 400 mg per day is needed for most people.

The Magnesium Miracle Price
The book is priced on Amazon at $14.95. However, if you are testing out an audio book service, such as Audible, you may be able to get it as one of the free introductory books like I did.

The paperback book is definitely worth $14.95, but I don’t place as much value on audio books because you can’t easily reference them. I feel like they are worth a bit less, so I do think the book is a bit overpriced in the audio format.

My Final Opinion of The Magnesium Miracle

This book was definitely written with the bias that magnesium deficiency is at the root cause of every disease. There is research that Dr. Dean has done to back up her statements and that is helpful. However, I remain a bit of a skeptic. After testing out many elimination diets and supplements (even hers!), without regrowing my alopecia universalis. I think that sometimes there are many factors involved.

It is nice to pinpoint a deficiency and correct it. It is great that she has recommendations for increasing your magnesium levels and monitoring them. But, some people may not experience relief from her recommendations.

I’ve actually been using her magnesium supplement for the last six months. While I feel great, I’m not really noticing a huge shift in my health. She does give you a time frame for correcting the magnesium deficiency of six months to a year, which is a pretty long time. Most people want to see immediate results.

The Magnesium Miracle Audiobook at a Glance…

Name: Magnesium Miracle

Website: http://rnareset.com

Owners: Dr. Carolyn Dean

Price: $14.95

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Overall Scam Rank: 80 out of 100

VERDICT: LEGIT – I do recommend this book because it provides an alternative way of viewing common health conditions. I love tips and tricks for improving my health that do not require me to visit a doctor. My experience is that most doctors only have a temporary quick-fix to your health problems. This is more of a long term approach to correcting a deficiency that is causing health complaints.

Marijuana and Keto

Although cannabis and Ketogenic (Keto) are currently two booming niches in “natural” medicine, there is very little information about the synergy between them. Keto diets have been found extremely useful for weight loss and reducing levels of inflammation and epilepsy. Marijuana has proven helpful in treating similar ailments such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer, chronic pain, and even drug abuse.

But what happens when you combine these two natural solutions? How do they help each other in alleviating health issues? This article explains what you need to know about combining Keto diets with marijuana.

What is Keto

As you already know, our body generally needs glucose (sugar) as fuel to function properly, but with a keto diet, the body is forced to use fat as an energy source instead of glucose. This is because keto limits sugar consumption and encourages higher fat intake.

This diet keeps your body in a ketosis state. Ketosis is not a sickness, nor is it an abnormality. It is merely a metabolic state in which the liver turns fat to ketones (fatty acid) to provide energy for the body. You can’t ordinarily stay in a ketosis state, except during pregnancy or when you engage in heavy workout sessions such as CrossFit.

Aside from weight loss and inflammation, keto is known to possess properties that help to improve fight cancer, diabetics, and Autoimmune endocrine diseases. However, although keto diets are very safe for most people, some individuals need to speak with their doctors before taking such diets.

Keto Foods that Help Cannabis Absorption

Nuts

Although nuts are healthy, low-carb food, not every nut is keto-friendly. So it’s vital to understand which nuts are suitable for keto before adding them to your diet. Some of the top keto nuts include pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, Macadamia, Walnuts, Peanuts, almonds, and hazelnuts.

Berries

Unlike most fruits, berries are extremely low in carbs. Aside from having high fiber, they also have antioxidant properties that can help to reduce inflammation and protect the body against chronic diseases. Some of the best berries are Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries.

Fat Balls

This keto diet is popularly called fat bombs. They are small snacks that require no baking, and they are perfect for dessert. Fat balls recipes mostly consist of healthy fats, little or no protein, and natural sweeteners. Some of the ingredients include nut butter, cream cheese, cocoa powder, and coconut oil.

How Cannabis and Keto Help Each Other

Keto and marijuana are a great match. They can help each other in different ways. Although some people like to smoke or use herbal vape pens, others like to eat edibles. Although many people don’t know, there are a lot of Keto recipes you can use to make edibles.

Inflammation

Inflammation helps to heal and protect our bodies against illness and harmful substances through the release of chemicals from the white blood cells into the tissues and blood. While this sounds cool, too much inflammation can do more harm than good. People with excess inflammation face the risk of having chronic and autoimmune diseases that tend to make them very weak.

Five classic symptoms of inflammation include joint pain, heat, joint redness, swollen joints and loss of joint function.

Anti-inflammatory substances and foods can help reduce the level of inflammation in the body. Keto diet and cannabis possess significant anti-inflammatory properties, which makes them very beneficial for those suffering battling with health conditions caused by inflammation.

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is basically the primary reason why the ketogenic diet was developed in the 1920s. Epileptic patients who were placed on keto diets responded very well, and they experienced a reduction in seizures.

Children with cases of epilepsy are now expected to stay a few days without food before starting a keto diet as part of their therapy, as revealed by a 2008 study. Similarly, a 2016 study published in the Journal Seizure showed that medical cannabis with a high amount of CBD was effective in treating Intractable epileptic seizures.

Cancer

Cancer is simply one of many diseases that is caused by an abnormal growth in the cell, which spreads uncontrollably to other parts of the body. Cancerous cells evade and destroy the healthy body tissues as they flood the blood, forming solid tumors.

Although there is currently no true cure for cancer, treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy have always been a conventional way of managing the disease. However, recent studies suggest that both ketogenic diets and cannabis, when combined with special drugs and procedures, are therapeutically effective in combating cancerous tumor growth, which can lead to remission.

Essentially Based Magnesium Oil Review

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Name: Magnesium Oil

Website: Available at Amazon.com

Price: $10.42

Owners: Essentially Based

Overall Rank: 90 out of 100

Magnesium Oil, Product Overview

Magnesium deficiencies can create many problems within your body. It could be the cause of restless legs that keep you up all night. A magnesium deficiency can contribute to migraines and menstrual cramps. Magnesium is not found in abundance in modern foods and therefore many people have a deficiency in their diet.

There is a more efficient way to get your magnesium. You can now use a transdermal application of magnesium chloride oil. The Essentially Based 100% Pure Magnesium oil spray allows you to soak the magnesium into your body through the skin. This allows it to quickly absorb into your cells. The magnesium oil has been mined in an ionic state, which means that the body won’t have to work at all to process it. This is the best way to get additional magnesium into the body.

Magnesium oil will support the health of your hair, skin, nails, teeth, gums and vital organs. It can also act as a sleep aid to relax the body and mind prior to bed.

The Essentially Based Magnesium oil has 3575 milligrams per ounce. Each spray will deliver a powerful punch, but it is safe for daily use. You will reap all the benefits of magnesium oil while providing the body with an essential mineral.

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

PRO #1: Inexpensive. The cost per ounce of the magnesium oil is only $1.30.

PRO #2: Very easy to dispense and apply. The spray delivery system allows you to quickly and easily administer the magnesium oil to your skin.

PRO #3:

The Bad:

CON #1: This will not correct the underlying cause of your magnesium deficiency.

CON #2: Daily application and continued use is necessary to correct your deficiency.

Who is Essentially Based Magnesium Oil For?

This is a great product for individuals who want to correct the magnesium deficiency that may be contributing to health problems such as insomnia, migraines, and restless leg syndrome.

Essentially Based Magnesium Oil Support

Unfortunately, there is no community or website for the Essentially Based products. However, if you have a question regarding the product, you can ask it on the Amazon page. It is likely that other consumers will answer your question.

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Essentially Based Magnesium Oil Price

Essentially Based Magnesium Oil is sold in 8 ounce bottles for $10.97. However, if you want to sign up for a monthly subscription and have a bottle sent to you each month, you can save 5% and up to 15% on future deliveries. This is a nice option because it is a product that you will be consuming and may forget to reorder.

My Final Opinion of Essentially Based Magnesium Oil

I ordered this product because I was starting to have some sleepless nights and experienced a seizure. (I have a history of seizures, which could be due in part to magnesium deficiency. So, when I have one out of the blue, I always suspect the magnesium levels.) I received my order this week and I love the ease of use of Essentially Based Magnesium oil. It is simple enough to spray on my hands, feet, arms and legs after I get out of the shower.

I find the Essentially Based Magnesium oil has a light feel to it. It dries quickly and easily on your skin. In my opinion, it is an affordable supplement that helps bring the body back into balance. I don’t have leg cramps while taking this supplement.

Essentially Based Magnesium Oil at a Glance…

Name: Magnesium Oil

Website: Available at Amazon.com

Owners: Essentially Based

Price: $10.42

Overall Scam Rank: 90 out of 100

VERDICT: LEGIT – This is a great product that most people probably should be using due to a lack of magnesium in most foods today. This is due to poor farming practices and processed foods.

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