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Meet Spanky

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Meet Spanky…. when he was younger, I’m pretty sure he thought his name might be “No, Spanky” 😉.

Spanky isn’t a teenager anymore, but his antics (and his genetics) still land him in trouble on occasion. He is a fence jumper, and a digger…. and he loves to utilize his herding genes to keep the cows and horses all in line when he thinks we aren’t watching even tho he knows we prefer he not unless asked. #cattledogsskills

His failure to heed our attempts to keep him from getting into trouble has given him a snaggle tooth and a few hard earned life lessons.

So I wasn’t entirely surprised when Spanky went from running like the wind, to favoring his back paw last week. I was pretty confident he had gotten stepped on when he was in the midst of shenanigans. Nothing appeared to be broken…. just a sensitive paw. A couple of days passed, and instead of getting better, it seemed like it was getting worse… swollen in fact. So, before making a vet appt, I did a thorough assessment again, and this time, found what appeared to be a scab on one of the pads of his paw…. but a suspicious scab🤔. I grabbed a pair of tweezers and gently worked at the scab…. only it wasn’t a scab….. It was the mother of all thorns 😱. Poor baby! I felt terrible that I hadn’t found it sooner😥….. the good news is that, his relief was almost instantaneous, and after washing his wound thoroughly with colloidal silver and a couple of other natural healing agents, and starting him on Inner Defense to boost his immune system…. swelling is now negligible and he is back to bossing cows around when he thinks I’m not looking.

Being prepared isn’t a season…. it’s a life skill and it’s on the daily around here… ie: business as usual on the farm. We know how to care for our own, but we also know when we are in over our heads. I’ve got to make a vet appt this afternoon for something that’s beyond my skillset, and that’s ok…. that’s why we love our vets!….. But it surely is nice (and economical) to be able manage many health concerns from home!

Have a beautiful day friends!

xoxo~ liz
#hesmylittlebuddyandmyrighthanddogranchhand
#knowbetterdobetter
#everydayprepper
#ThanksYL
#wellstockedyearroundforhealthandwellness
#everyoneshouldkeepInnerDefenseonhandd

#5 Corona Virus

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Post #5 Corona Virus 101….. What we Know to be True about Viruses (aka… the care and feeding of a virus).

What?!? You don’t want to care and feed a virus of any sort?

Well, then….. let’s set the stage for what it might look like to create an inhospitable environment should a virus want to step foot into your personal space. 😉

Rest assured, we are NOT sitting ducks and there is much we can do…. beyond buying excess toilet paper! #dothethings

Plan of Action #1: Girl (or guy!), wash your hands. It is a well established fact that 20 seconds of a good full on hand washing (esp palms and fingers) does a stellar job of keeping you healthy. I (personally) follow that with a dab of the Thieves hand sanitizer. I was working at the pharmacy yesterday, and all the hand sanitizer is out of stock (we were discussing gluing the bottle we have at the pharmacy down so someone doesn’t steal it 😳). Young Living’s Thieves hand sanitizer is also currently out of stock …. but more should be available soon. In the meantime, here is a recipe you can make for yourself:

2/3 cup Everclear (the potent alcohol you’ll need to get at the liquor store)
1/3 cup Aloe vera gel
8-10 drops of Thieves Essential oil ( please refer to Post #1 in this series and refer to the part about paper plates and turkey dinners…. only Young Living essential oils for me)
Mix all together thoroughly… use a small funnel and pour into a small bottle (reuse one you have or find a travel sized one at the store)

It’s a well established fact that viruses don’t like healthy habits!

Plan of Action #2: Viruses (frankly pretty much all illnesses!) thrive in low frequency environments. For some of you…. this will mean a great deal, but for others…. the concept of frequency will make no sense. Let me explain in simple science…. it’s all about electricity/ physics and biology. We humans (actually everything!) operates on electricity…. we are electrically charged.

Frequency is a term used when referring to electrical energy. Even if you are not a science aficionado, follow me for the next 10 seconds here (’cause this ain’t ‘woo woo’ stuff)……
*Frequency is the measure of the rate of the oscillation (of electrical current) and is measured in the number of changes per second – it’s also called hertz (Hz).

Everything has a frequency…. even we humans. The health of the human body is determined by where we are electrically. Certain parts of our body are even measured medically….. (think EEG’s and EKG’s). Overall, it is generally established that our body needs to be at a variable frequency between 62-72 to be healthy.

Viruses and bacteria hate this by the way…. it makes it very difficult for them to set up camp……Viruses start pitching their tents when your body’s frequency drops to 57-60 MHz.

So…… what can you and I do to raise our body’s frequency and/or keep it functioning in a healthy manner?
Positive thoughts and positive emotions. There are thousands of studies showing how simply thinking and reacting can affect your immune system (ie: causing a dip in your frequency if these things are negative)
💪 Exercise…. not only does it raise your body’s frequency, it also helps repair your mitochondria and lengthen telomeres (an important part to health and aging with grace and ease).
🍎 LIVING foods…. ditch the processed foods and drinks and reach for foods that actually have an electrical charge to them. Processed foods are dead. They may have calories, but they are not sustaining long term.
🌳 A clean green lifestyle. If you’ve hung around me for any length of time, you know this is a cornerstone to my life. You don’t have to be a farmgirl to have this kind of life either…… Ditch the common chemicals in your life that drop your frequency faster than a 20lb kettleball hits the floor, and begin using clean green household cleaners, body care products, and makeup. I personally only use Young Living because it’s one stop shopping for all these things and I trust them and their ingredients 100%. This is one of the fastest ways to begin reversing low frequency bodies.
🌅 Unplug, disconnect, and get out into nature regularly. I spoke in a previous post about 5G (and will speak more about that later), but electromagnetic frequency does a big (negative) number on our own body’s electricity. If you want to bring your body’s health to a grinding halt, surround yourself with EMF 24/7. Again folks…. this ain’t woo woo stuff… this is physics and biology all wrapped up in one.

Nature provides us with a way to rebalance our frequency/electricity. Trees, plants, the magnetism of the earth… it’s one of the reasons you feel so good after a day outside or at the beach. Your body’s frequency has had a rebound towards health.

Another advantage to having Young Living in your life are the life giving essential oils. Not all oils are the same ya’ll…. if you are using ones from Wally World, I guarantee they are polluted… which nullifies their positive effects on body frequency.
My go to YLEO’s when I feel the need to raise my frequency?
🌟 Joy and Forgiveness (both essential oil blends with a high frequency rating)
🌟 Rose oil actually has the highest frequency of all essential oils. (it’s terribly expensive if you are using the real stuff…. but it should be…. it takes over 200lbs of rose petals to get a bottle of the pure stuff). Thankfully, it is found in many Young Living blends (including Joy and Forgiveness)
🌟 Helichrysum (it’s a must have oil for many health reasons). It can be found in Panaway and other blends too.
🌟 Ravensara (this oil is not often thought of)…. but interestingly, if you do a little research, you’ll find that viruses are particularly not fond of this oil 😉. This oil too is found in many YL blends.

Young Living has been very thoughtful in their blend formulations and as a pharmacist, that is strikingly important to me. #noflimsypaperplates

Here is but one pubmed article for your quick viewing if you’re interested in learning a bit more about the effects of frequency, EMF, and our bodies:

pubmed article on frequency

More Action Steps to unpack later…. I’m off to the pharmacy again today… maskless, but well oiled. 😉

Shoot me a message if you’d like a personal health coaching session with me.

xoxo ~ liz

#knowbetterdobetter
#ThanksYL.

#itsnevertoolatetobeginlivingahealthierlife
#Thievesonthebottomofmyfeeteveryday

Plenty of Ways to Avoid the Flu

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I spent all day yesterday working at the pharmacy, and I’m not going to lie…… I filled more antibiotics, antivirals, antinausea and (gallons!) of cough syrup than I have in a very long time. People are sick and the flu is kickin’ butt and taking names.

Surrounding that hectic day was the constant mention of the coronavirus in China that’s making the news everywhere you look.

Can we chat for a minute and put this into perspective? I bring the following information to the table not to minimize the current illness state of affairs, but to truly wonder at the power of the media……

😷The coronavirus (as of yesterday) has a current mortality rate of 2.3% of those 4520 affected.

😷 This year’s flu strain (the most recent stat I could find) has a current mortality rate of 0.049% of the estimated 9.7 million affected.

YET…. poor diet is killing people in the United States faster than both viruses combined. An estimated 11 Million people a year die in the USA as a result of a poor diet… that’s 1 in 5 people, people. THAT bothers me. A LOT.

Maybe people would pay more attention to healthy living if the media poured this type of information into us instead of the fear based stuff we’re getting.

And oh… by the way, there are plenty of ways to avoid both the flu and the coronavirus, and they 100% depend on a healthy diet especially containing natural and supplemental sources of the right kinds of magnesium, Vitamin D, C, & E, selenium, and iodine, an adequate pH in the body leaning towards a mild alkalinity, and keeping known toxins out of the body. All of these basic steps will actually go a long way towards healing what ails ya too 😘.

hugs and much love~ liz

#knowbetterdobettergetbetterstaywell
#stayawayfromthesugarespeciallywhenyouaresick
#Godgaveusallweneedifonlywedothethings
#fearmongeringreallybothersme
#ThanksYL

Guilty or Innocent? Weighing in on Cholesterol

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Cholesterol has been heavy on my heart for the last month… haha! No pun intended there… my cholesterol is actually fine….. but I tend to root for the the misunderstood and the underdog when given a choice. (That’s probably why our farm tends to be a haven for rescue dogs and cats…. but I digress!) 

Did you know that approximately 80% of people with acute cornary syndrome….(ie: reduced blood flow to the heart… often leading to heart attack) have NORMAL cholesterol values? What’s up with that? 

Cholesterol is one of those underdogs. Bless its sticky little heart….. it’s given a bad rap more so than nearly any other body produced compound. What would we do without cholesterol?  That’s a good question…. I’m not entirely sure any of us would be around to discuss it if we lacked it in our bodies! It is a major component of cell membranes and is a necessary building block for hormones, fat soluble vitamin D, and bile salts (aiding in the digestion of fats and fat soluble nutrients). Cholesterol is also extremely important to the function of our nervous system. Without it, we’d be bumbling malfunctioning idiots….especially considering that our brains are roughly comprised of 50% cholesterol. So why all the hate?

Our bodies are efficient producers of cholesterol…. producing about 80% of what is in our bodies (the other 20% comes from dietary sources). Cholesterol should not be confused with Triglycerides (perhaps the real bad boys), or the obscure thug that likes to hang on to its buddy LDL….. lipoprotein(a).

Unpacking Cholesterol: The cholesterol in our vascular system is a mixed bag of good and bad. HDL (the good guys) has the job of bouncer…. and it escorts out the shadier gang members, LDL, from our bloodstream. LDL comes in a variety of sizes…. and the smaller sizes (subunits 3 & 4) are really bad news. The bigger ones (subunits 1 &2) are fluffier and are actually pretty helpful. Because they (subunits 3&4) are small, they can easily work their way into the lining of our arteries where the bouncer (HDL) can’t reach them. In a whopping 20% of the population (1 in 5) there is something called Lipoprotein(a) that makes LDL ‘extra sticky’….. if you carry this genetic characteristic, it is best to know about it early on in life, as it dramatically increases your risk for clogged arteries and  blood clots leading to strokes and heart attacks. It is a serious health risk, and frankly…. should be tested for at least once in everyone’s life.
While managing total cholesterol with careful eating habits (avoid processed and ‘fast’ foods) is important, …. the real culprits we should be monitoring are inflammation, triglycerides, and lipoprotein(a).

Triglycerides are produced predominately by the liver. When we eat, the body stores any excess calories as triglycerides in our fat cells. It is particularly fond of doing this with carbs. Later…. between meals…. hormones will signal a need for more energy, and those triglycerides will be released. Herein lies the rub tho….. if you eat more than you exert energy, triglycerides begin building up and you end up with hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), and THAT my friends, is cause for alarm. Even if someone has verified genetic HTG, management can be achieved with responsible ownership of the vessel you reside in:

  • Daily physical activity
  • Conscious consuming of healthy fats… avoiding processed foods and other sources of “bad fats”
  • no smoking
  • Optimizing body weight
  • Limit processed sugar intake to no more than the equivalent of 6 teaspoons of sugar per day. (The average North American consumes about 200gms or 48 teaspoons of processed sugar in their diet daily)
  • Work towards optimal triglyceride lab values of <100 and a triglyceride to HDL ratio of 1:1 to 2:1. 

Lipoprotein(a) is no joke. 73 million people in the USA are estimated to be living with this ‘sticky’ situation. It is extremely dangerous because the molecule itself is so small, sticky, and it difficult to manage. What makes it even more dangerous is this: most insurance companies refuse to pay for the test that determines if you have it….. and many doctors don’t even mention the test to patients because insurance doesn’t pay. I have not been able to wrap my brain around the logic of NOT paying for a potentially life saving test…. but there you have it. It’s just one more reason to take charge of your own health and ask for the test and pay for it out of pocket, ESPECIALLY if you have family history of heart disease. Nothing….. no vacation, no daily coffee, no new phone…. should be more valuable to you than knowing this information about yourself. Once you know, you have the power to act…. and that can change the trajectory of your life. If you do carry this genetic trait, you will want to have your children tested. They need to learn healthy habits early in life. It’s never too young to become a CEO of oneself!

IF you have inherited lipoprotein(a), you’ll want to pay very close attention to what you CAN do, because it’s time to take your health seriously. Some people do not get a warning, and find themselves diagnosed at the same time their mortality is realized. Lp(a) requires close attention and monitoring. Tools to help in management include: 

  • Daily baby aspirin
  • High quality Omega3 fish oil…. lots of it… has been found to lower Lp(a)LDL by approximately 10%. (Poor quality Omega 3’s become oxidized and can actually do more damage than taking nothing at all. Know your supplement company…not just their name, but how they do business. This is especially important with Omega 3’s.) Omegagize3 from Young Living!
  • High doses of Niacin (1-3 gms/day) … the flushing kind (ex: Slo-Niacin)… have been found to lower Lp(a)LDL by up to 30%
  • Maintain a fasting blood glucose of <100
  • Vitamin C @ 3000mg/day
  • L-lysine, L-proline & L-carnitine in high doses (L-carnitine helps make lp(a) less sticky)
  • Test for and maintain hs-CRP (high sensitivity c reactive protein) at <1. This measures inflammation in the body and high levels are a risk factor for heart attack.
  • Control blood pressure ideally at 120/70.
  • Consistent exercise
  • Abstain from smoking
  • Get (regularly) an Advanced Lipid Panel every 6 months w/ the following goals:
  1. LDL< 60
  2. Triglycerides < 60
  3. LDL particle # < 700

I realize this has been kind of a heavy post. I’m sorry about that. It’s a heavy topic tho. Most people (even healthcare professionals) don’t have a clear understanding of exactly what causes the real problems in our vascular system. Hopefully, you can see that cholesterol itself is not the real monster….. it’s actually pretty awesome stuff. Too much of a good thing is bad tho…. no matter what it is. Although I only barely touched on inflammation in this post, it’s HUGELY important to this topic too. Sticky Lp(a)LDL is especially fond of a chronically inflamed vascular system.

It is my hope and blessing that this helps someone better manage their own health, and to prompt personal responsibility one’s own health. I am not a doctor. Information here is for recommendation purposes only, and not intended to substitute for specific medical advice. Please do use this information as a starting point for your own research, and use as discussion points with your personal healthcare provider.

Love and hugs,  Liz

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Goin’ Down the Gopher Hole

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Have you ever begun researching or looking for information on something, and it leads to more research ad infinitum? Well, that has happened to me over the course of the last six weeks. It’s all good stuff and I’m super excited to begin sharing it with you all, but first I have to get it unpacked properly from my brain.  I love learning and uncovering new information…. it makes my heart go pitter patter, even if it does at some point begin to give me blurry vision and in need of a map as I return from the warren of learning I’m being steeped in. 

The gopher hole (yes, I know the cuties above are actually prairie dogs!) I went down began with a simple question that had been ping ponging about in my brain for several months. I am a holistically minded pharmacist as you may well know, and I LOVE to help people realize feasible ways prevent dis-ease, restore function, and become optimally healthy. In a word: Not just surviving, but thriving! 

There ARE times when medication is necessary and Western medicine needs to work its magic thru intervention, but really….. this needs to be reserved for emergent care, when holistic measures have failed, or when genetics simply deal us a challenging hand.

Unfortunately, we have become an immediate gratification society, and the ‘grab and go’ healthcare system has capitalized on that. It’s much easier to take a pill for a symptom than it is to identify the root cause and work towards fixing what’s actually ‘broken’…..but taking a pill (or having an elective surgery) will ALWAYS have a consequence, and frequently, it may have more than one consequence. Often, the consequence will simply replace the original symptom (dysfunction), but occasionally, it can open a can of worms that was bigger than the first problem. I’ve seen this scenario happen too many times to count in my career.

“We” (ie: our current worldview) tend to discount risk versus immediate benefit in lieu of the desire for an immediate ‘fix’. When the immediate need is resolved, the focus of our attention is removed from the problem (or dysfunction)…. we’ve moved on to the next thing. Meanwhile, the risk may have slowly and quietly slipped thru the cracked door, and we fail to notice the correlation….. benign neglect, innocent ignorance of our own bodies, willingly handing over the ‘care and feeding of us’ to a Third Party who has little or no vested interest in our optimal health….. regardless of the reason(s)….. secondary dysfunction has crept in on padded feet. 

Here is but one example:
Statins are one of the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States for high cholesterol. Nearly 30% of adults over 40 are on them. Impressive stat for Big Pharma, right? 

But let’s go over another set of stats on the statins. Statins work by blocking a VIP enzyme called HMG-CoA. When this enzyme is blocked…. it blocks the production of cholesterol, but it also blocks the production of a nutrient called CoQ10. (Blocking the production of cholesterol is a post unto itself, that I will tackle next week and unpack for you…. cholesterol has been demonized when in actuality, it is an absolutely vital component to our well being)CoQ10 is critically important, and it can be supplemented to offset potential problems. Unfortunately, in my experience, most doctors never tell their patients this when they hand them a statin prescription. The doctor ‘might’ tell them to let them know if they have unusual soreness or cramping in their legs (a warning sign of something called rhabdomyolysis). This is a common ‘side effect’ of statin use…. but the reality is that it’s a sign of a secondary deficiency that crept thru the door that statin use opened. Other signs of CoQ10 deficiency include:

  • cardiac arrhythmia or palpitations, which could land you on medication. (Low CoQ10 is found in nearly all patients with heart failure. Read into that what you will…..) 
  • depression or memory loss (meds for this too)
  • fatigue (you may live with this, or begin self medicating with caffeine or other stimulants)
  • Impotence or decreased libido (ugh!)
  • High blood sugar (setting you up for diabetes OR making your current diabetic state harder to manage or regulate….. don’t even get me started!)​In 2014, the American Diabetes Association actually made the recommendation that all adults over the age of 40 take statins. (I’ll speak more to this when I write that cholesterol post)

Does this worry you? It should. And this is but one class of medications that causes a deficiency of CoQ10. 

Now, I’m not a doctor, and please….. do not take my words (or anyone’s words) as gospel.  I am all about self study and whole truth… which is not always easy to come by in the healthcare industry. (Remember, there are billions of dollars at stake here.) I encourage all of you to become the best advocate of you that you can be. Nobody knows you better than you, right? Self study can be a little confusing if you aren’t used to it. Talk to your healthcare provider. Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions….. and above all, be armed with knowledge that you yourself have found. Do not be afraid to shake the dust off your shoes and move on if your doctor doesn’t take full consideration of your concerns.

If this post has rattled your cage a little, so be it. That is my job as a pharmacist…. to point out some things that are important for a body to stay healthy, and it’s your choice whether to keep your head in the sand or be on the lookout for danger. We (pharmacists) are trained to counsel on side effects, but we need to be taking it a step further …..counseling on the causes of those side effects as well as potential ways to mitigate them, and to teach our tribe how to not just avoid deficiency, but to have optimal health in the process. ​

This is but one of the reasons I believe proper supplementation is so absolutely critical to living well, but especially if you are one of the millions who are on (and may need to remain on) a medication. Because statin use is also now being linked to probable Vitamin D deficiency, I recommend both MindWise and OmegaGize3 as being stellar products in the supplement industry… for everyone. Don’t wait for a deficiency to actually happen. It’s much harder to fix than it is to prevent, right? 

If these products are new to you, I encourage you to learn more about Young Living and why I’ve chosen them as my supplement company of choice. You can learn more about the company and how to receive discounted pricing by returning to my home page, or if you’d like to chat, please reach out to me. That’s why I’m here.

Be well, and have a glorious day! 
Hugs and Love, Liz
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