**ApothaCare** For the Love of Honey: Manuka Mania

In the last post, I talked about my love of honey and the various favorites I have. This post, I have to talk about one that I would just love to try:



Manuka honey is a prized type among honey lovers. While I do think it's a very potent honey (as far as its healing benefits), I've learned about other honey types that may be just as good. I'll be talking about those later. For now, on to Manuka and why it's such a big deal.

By the way, there is a bit of Manuka honey in the Antioxidant blend that I mentioned in the previous post, I don't know how much is in the blend, or how "active" it is. And by "active" I mean- Well, just keep reading and it will start to make sense.

The first place I looked for some info on Manuka honey and other types was WebMD, and this is what they had to say in part:

Looks like peanut butter, huh?

"But not all honey is the same. The antibacterial quality of honey depends on the type of honey as well as when and how it's harvested. Some kinds of honey may be 100 times more potent than others." (source)

Basically, it goes on to say that where most honey types are known for being protecting against bacteria and infection, as well as being anti-inflammatory,  Manuka honey (MH) and some other types of honey have multiple components that are beneficial.

As I mentioned in last post, I learned that one of the key components in honey is hydrogen peroxide.

Since I do love honey so much, I really wanted to see if I could find some that I could afford (like maybe in a sample size), and I did find some. One Seller on Amazon lists a reasonably-priced jar of Manuka, but... something about the wording on the label made me hesitate.

When I doubt, read the reviews! I'm really thankful to the other people who take time to review products online (whether "in exchange" for a product or not). When I checked reviews for the brand of Manuka I was thinking of buying, I noticed one that stood out. It was very informative and detailed. I'm not kidding when I say this reviewer did an amazing job of listing some things to look for when buying Manuka honey. I sure hope he/she doesn't mind my copying his comments to share because I love their reviews on the site (my emphasis on certain points).

1. It says UMF, MGO, or OMA clearly on the front of the jar
2. It says “Active” on it
3. It is packed into jars and labelled in New Zealand
4. It’s from a New Zealand company that is licensed to use the name UMF (which is actually a trademarked name), OMA, or MGO
5. It has the UMF, OMA, or MGO licensee’s name on the front label
6. It has at least a rating of UMF or OMA 15+ or more, or if it is MGO, then at least 250+
Apparently 16 is the highest rating that is naturally found. While there are manuka honeys rated above 20, I've heard that some companies artificially reach this lofty rating for marketing purposes, so I’m sticking with 16 and probably wouldn't go lower than that.
0 – 10 is pretty much just normal honey, and while ratings 10 – 15 are less expensive and have some beneficial properties, they don’t have as much as we’d like. I figure that if I’m going to shell out for honey that’s pricier than normal, I may as well go ahead and get the real good stuff!

 Now that is a super helpful review. It sure saved me from possibly adding the wrong item to my Shopping Cart.


You should definitely check out the full article on WebMD if you've been interested in trying (or learning about) Manuka honey. It even explains something else I was wondering about: what's up with the different types of ratings I've been seeing while browsing for Manuka honey. Remember what that reviewer mentioned about the ratings? Well, here's some clarification on that:

• MG =  methylglyoxal  which is an  found in most types of honey, but usually only in small quantities.In manuka honey, MG comes from the conversion of another compound -- dihydroxyacetone -- that is found in high concentration in the nectar of manuka flowers.The higher the concentration of MG, the stronger the antibiotic effect. 
• UMF = "Unique Manuka Factor" . To be considered potent enough to be therapeutic, manuka honey needs a minimum rating of 10 UMF.  (my emphasis)
• "Active" = Honey at or above the 10 UMF level is marketed as "UMF Manuka Honey" or "Active Manuka Honey."

When I checked around. I went back to the best source to explain the grading system for Manuka honey. If you're super-vigilant (or just nosy like me), you can go in and search for one of the many, many papers and reports written by researchers.

Of course, I can look lots of places for the claims about the power of Manuka honey, like here, but I'm still educating myself. I've contacted the UMF org for more information since using their search system for licencees was tricky. I'll keep you posted.

Now that thing is, I was really wanting to try the Manuka honey. Until I saw those Manuka prices at local health food stores and online. Yikes. If that honey really is as healing as is claimed, I'd need it to heal my pocketbook after buying any of it. I saw prices from $49 to $112 for anywhere from 4 to 8 ounces. Whenever I found a jar that was more in my price range (I saw one jar for around $30), I noticed that the rating was low (in the 5+ range).

I will wait until I can find a decent jar of Manuka that doesn't require me to go without any other groceries for a month! Probably, I will go ahead and get the same brand pictured at the start of this post. For one thing, I was able to check that Y.S. is one of the suppliers that is actually licensed and legit. For another thing, the price was decent for the 15+ rated honey.

Next post, I will talk about some of the honeys that might be as potent as Manuka honey. Stay tuned.

Peace
--Free

**ApothaCare** My Love of Honey

I'm going to do a little bit of a series on honey. For this first post, I figure I'll just go over how & why I came to love honey, then I can go into some general information about it. But, first, a little prelude:

When I was still getting used to not being as healthy as I had been pre-illness, I knew I wanted to explore a more natural lifestyle. Growing up, I knew of (or was even related to) people who relied heavily on "natural" medicines and remedies for just about everything health and beauty related.

"Back home", there were people who had a mouthful of healthy teeth well into their elder years (and they'd never used anything but tar or tree branches for dental hygiene); pregnant women ate more of certain foods while avoiding others (to benefit their unborn); women doctored pre-existing cosmetics - or just made up their own (because what they needed didn't exist); and I know that there were many herbs and oils used regularly that we ignore today. (By the way, here is one person's story of the healing power of honey.)

Of course, I also come from a line of people who didn't have the best diets. People in my family have died of various cancers, complications from high blood pressure, and heart disease. This was a big factor in my wanting to do things differently.

I no longer eat pork like it's a daily dose of nutrition, I stopped indulging my chocolate cravings on a regular basis (bye bye Snickers!), and I gave up soda a long while back in my late thirties. I refuse to give up my beloved java, and a couple of less-than-healthy habits are.... well, that's always going to be a battle.

The biggest health decision I made in the past few years was to work really hard at what I can control while fighting the good fight against tougher bad habits.

Now, what I am good at is learning to like things that are healthy for me. Eating more vegetables and "good" foods is never a struggle for me. Exercising gets easier as I lose more weight. And, of course, I just love some things that can be healthy. This brings me up to my love affair with honey.

Honey is, basically, good for me. In moderation. If it's the good stuff. If I use it right.

I can (and do) regularly use honey as a food, a medicine, and a hair and beauty product. It's usually both affordable and readily available where I live. In addition to the "Desert Honey" I've talked about, here are some of my favorite types of honey:

1 - The Really Raw brand of really raw (seriously) honey is probably my all-time favorite (my "mostest" favorite!) The texture is so beautiful. I joke that it's probably as about as raw as you can get without licking the butt of a bee.

What I really love about this is that there are actually pieces of the honeycomb (and the propolis and pollen) in the jar. The label tells you about chewing these crunchy little "cappings" like gum and that's exactly what I always do! I can never wait to get a new jar home so that I can scrape some of the surface where these pieces rise and settle. Yum.

Another reason I favor this honey is the price. Even for Alaska, it's affordable and reasonable. For the 8oz jar that I usually get, the price is around $12. Not bad, right? Also, because it tastes so good and feels really nutritious, I never use a lot at one time. Some people like to use their honey on toast, but I no longer eat much bread. What I like to do with this one is fight a craving for junk-like food by slowly eating a small bit off the spoon. (Note that I don't use this for my honey-water drinks. Those cappings that taste so good, aren't very appetizing when floating around in water. Plus, it's not as much fun if I can't just chew those pieces!)

Finally (and this is something I never noticed until I was writing this post) the jar is labelled with this info: "Really Raw Honey never spoils, it lasts indefinitely." I do need to start paying more attention to things!


 2 - Y.S. Organic Bee/Eco Bee Farms brand of organic raw honey is my standard fave. When I am super tightly budgeted, I can always get this in one of the various sizes. For the 8oz jar, I pay about $10. I really trust this brand as much as I trust Really Raw.

It might upset some people to know that I'm not a fanatic about things being "organic", but I am a complete maniac for raw honey.

When I was first using a lot of honey, I shopped purely based on prices. I'd go to Walmart and grab the biggest bottle of honey that I could find. I needed to be thrifty because I was using that honey for all my needs - food, face and hair.

Once I learned how unreliable the quality is for most brands of honey, I became a lot more picky. I still use the cheaper stuff for my hair and face, but I prefer saving up and very carefully using the good stuff for my nutritional needs.

This raw honey is really yummy and creamy and just so nice for any kind of food use.

 For folks who do care deeply about things being organic, this qualifies, I think. Mainly, I just really trust the brand and like the taste of this honey. It's the honey that I use in my honey-water when I do my once-a-month liquid fasts (which I outline at end of post).



By the way, for calorie counters, in my opinion, I think honey makes a nice substitute for white (and even some other types of) table sugars. When I eat honey, I think of the calories as being "nutritious calories".


3 - My jar of Tupelo Honey is also from Y.S. Eco Bee.  Despite loving the heck out of the Van Morrison song, I find this honey almost too sweet. That's not a bad thing because I love to put that sweetness to good use. When I am drinking green teas (which I need to drink more of), or doing a honey-water fast, I can add the tiniest bit of Tupelo honey and get all the sweetness I need in that little shot.  (And.  trust me, if you use certain teas in your honey-water fast, you will want some sweetness...) This is probably the best honey ever to sweeten hot cereals with. Just remember that a little bit is all you need!

 4 - This Antioxidant Power Honey is one of the special blends from YS Eco. I like it for 2 main reasons: first, it's raw and, second it's a blend of 4 types of honey that I can't afford to buy separately.

I have never tried Buckwheat or Manuka honey of any type, but I've had various other floral honeys. I get this one especially because it contains Manuka honey. (I will talk a lot about Manuka honey in the next post.)

The next image explains some about the benefits of certain types of honey.

 So, those are my staple honeys. As much as I have used honey for the healthy benefits, it wasn't until recently that I started to look into details. Some of what I have learned was pretty interesting:

• The reason you shouldn't feed honey to infants less than a year old is because it could cause infant botulism. Go ahead, check out the info for yourself.
• One of honey's components is... hydrogen peroxide. To clarify, honey contains an enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide. Still... Wow, Who knew? Not me.
• It is Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-fungal: “All honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide,” said Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.(source) (I will get back to to part of this point in the post on Manuka honey.)
• Honey might possibly help with memory retention. Key word: 'possibly'. (source)
• Helps wounds heal. (I remember my mother and other elders using honey for this when I was young.)
• Is good for hair and skin care.
• Is generally more nutritious than sugar (even though it's usually higher in calories).
• Eating honeycomb is common, but you can cause yourself serious stomach problems if you eat too much of it!

Another thing I learned while researching some of this is that there are many, many more types and varieties of honey than I ever imagined. Right now, I'm pretty thankful that between my local health food store and my Amazon Prime membership, I can surely find whatever kind I want to try.

Since there are so many kinds of honey, it's easier to list where you can do your own research than it is to list the honey. So...

• This lists 22 types of honey along with medicinal properties
• A list of 55 types/varieties explained (reload to get rid of annoying popup)
• Another list with photos of the plants
• Benefits listed by type. Very easy to read.
• This older post talks about differences that matter to the layman. (Warning: raw language!)

If you are interested in honey, I hope this was a good start to the series. Next up will be

Peace
--Free



P.S.: About my honey-water-tea fasting

Honey-water fasting is something I find really easy and simple to do about once every other a month. I need to work up to doing it more often and for longer periods of time, but... baby steps... 

For 1 or 2 days, I will attempt to go without solid food. I'll just sip on honey-water with maybe a tea bag thrown in the mix. If I am just super hungry, I'll drink a little warm chicken broth until the craving for something heavier passes. I know that some people do this for weight-loss reasons. For me, it's just a nice and (pretty much) easy way to let my body rest from the inside. Surprisingly, I never even thought of these days as fasting days. I always just thought that I was making myself depend on the nutrition of the honey and hydration of the water and teas to beat fatigue. Maybe because honey tends to be one of those "whole foods", I don't usually feel hungry enough to break the fast for anywhere from 12 to 30 hours. Having the broth helps because it has so much flavor after hours and hours of nothing but honey, tea and water! 

The best thing about this is that, for a day or two, I can let my body sort of clean itself out. It's great when I've been hitting the fast food or a lot of meat (okay, pork) for mealtimes. I guess because I don't set such strict guidelines for doing it, I never feel as if I'm suffering. Like I said, if I do get hungry, I can eat something really light and healthy. I will usually eat a little bit of honey (the Really Raw kind)  off of a spoon. Now if I could only do my fasting for prayer and meditation so well!

Don't Call Me "Senior"!

In 2 months and 12 days, I will be hitting a milestone birthday.

His smile keeps me young

I'm still in a state of semi-disbelief (which means I do believe it but don't want to believe it) that I will be 55 years old.

But I liked 51...

I have just 73 days to come to terms with the fact that I am no longer close to 50, just past 50, or able to convincingly lie about being 45. Just a couple of years ago, I could actually get away with lying about being 35. Those days are gone, my friend.

As this birthday creeps up on me, I'm keeping my sense of humor. Hell, it's just about all I have left.

I accept that I am about to be 55 years old. I accept that:

• Young people consider me to be ancient. Some of them consider me a miracle. I've had little kids give me the awe and respect they would give a unicorn.
• At family gatherings, I'm going to sometimes be the person everyone turns to for answers about presidents before Nixon. But, first, they are going to ask me which presidents came before Bush, Reagan, Carter, and Ford. The subject will only come up after the kids have seen some documentary about the Civil Rights movement or have been studying the American slave trade.
• Dating looks semi-ridiculous for someone my age. How the hell can I look dignified asking for help with signing up for Match.com? And, if I do win the mystical lottery of love, how do I introduce the lucky fella to people without using the silly-sounding title of "boyfriend"?
• I will no longer be able to proudly proclaim my love for cats without either gaining the wrong kind of sympathy or hearing stifled snickering.
• Somehow, someway, I am going to be the subject of a meme or Pinterest board, or viral video. Probably when I get in a defiant mood and decide to start wearing loud colors and dying my hair in Kool-Aid color of crazy.
• Speaking of hair, mine will no longer be so much as convincingly Dark Brown, Muted Auburn or Natural Black as it will be Suspiciously Not Grey.
• No matter how great I look, I'm never again going to have that 20-ish  single gal vibe of being the dessert every guys is drooling over. Being single at 55, society will make me feel like the left-overs guys either take out of desperation or just toss in favor of some fast food.
• As far as being single and looking, the guys my age have choices I don't. They can, after all, change their minds about wanting kids. Dudes can "daddy up" when they should have their old behinds showing women their own age what old and sexy is about. Meanwhile, I didn't want kids when my eggs were willing, and still don't now that my eggs have atrophied.
• If I go "cougar" in my maturity, I better find the one young dude that a) doesn't want bio kids; b) already has kids; c) won't change his mind about kids five years down the road and; most importantly d) won't hate me for wanting no part of full-time kids unless those kids live in some imaginary world where I have the patience, time and perseverance to deal with kids full-time.
• I have all the best friends I'll most likely ever have. That's fine with me. Anyone else coming along at this point better come as an in-law, out-law, or someone who can adjust to me very quickly as if we've known each other for a lifetime. I have no time for new drama, new heartache, or sharing my clothes, advice and a lifetime of wisdom with new people. 

That all sounds dire, but there are some really good things about hitting the milestone of 55:

                                                       Some days, the process is rough &
                                                               the going gets tough!!!

• If I have lived the best of my life, then I've most likely also lived the worst of it. Even if life starts to suck now worse than it ever has, I have lots of experience with surviving it. Also, I know what is and is not worth going to jail over. The not worth it list has grown over time.
• I'm way more comfortable with all that is good and all that is not-so-good in life. When you've been indescribably happy (as I have sometimes been), being sad is just another day that gives you a chance to hope for something better. It's like sex. If you know how good it can be, you're all right waiting for it to be that good again. If you don't know, you don't miss it. I'm fortunate enough to still be waiting for the next time.
• My mother always said I was an "old soul". Now my age fits my soul a little better!
• I don't care as much. I really don't. When I was 20, 30, and even 40, I cared way too much about things. I cared who looked like they were living a better life, I cared about who looked better than I did, I cared too much about people who didn't care enough about me. Now? Now, I can give a crap for about 10 minutes. Two craps for about 20 minutes if I ever thought you were a better person. And, then, in spite of you (or whoever), in the words of Louie Armstrong, I think to myself, What a wonderful world...
• At this age, because I know what real sadness and regret is, I also know what real joy and peace is. If I'm never going to taste another fine wine or travel somewhere amazing, I'm okay with that. Give me a really good cup of coffee and half an hour of quiet to think my own thoughts, and I'm happy enough.
• When it comes to regrets, I've finally realized that they only have power if I dwell on them. So I don't. They cross my mind every now and then, but I no longer let them park and take up space.
• I look at young people the way my mother must have looked at me, and it makes me smile. Or laugh really loud. They don't think that I have ever felt they way they feel. They don't think that I have ever had secrets, deep sadness, amazing joy, wild and crazy sex, or done things that made me later wonder how I could possibly be alive to remember. I look at them and think, "Oh, you just wait for your later years".

Being so close to 55 makes me think not just about the life I've lived, but the death that's surely coming. Being older makes me more thankful for things I never would have noticed when I was younger. This is not "old" age, it's just another age. It's also another mood, another taste of life, another freedom and prison. This age is just another step on a journey that is life. 

Someone asked me a while back what I wanted for this birthday. Don't ever ask me that kind of question unless you are really ready for a list! LOL

Actually, most of this is just a re-hash of what I was taught. Trying to pass it on to other people. If any of it applies, own it and don't let it own or define you. So. For my birthday, I wish more people would work on the following:

• Give the courtesy of acknowledging or responding when someone is talking to you.
• Saying "Good morning", "Please", and "Thank you" would be great. 
• Drive as if other people have a right to be on the road. Really. 
• Moving out of the way when someone is trying to pass would be nice. What are you, the planet that all the rest of of must orbit around???
• Like music? Great. I do, too. I might not like yours so try to keep that down when I'm sitting in the car next to yours at the traffic light.
• Being considerate to others. Realizing that their time and their need for "a moment" is just  as vital as yours is. Everything is reciprocal.
• Don't take advantage of people's time and patience. That goes for being late, never being ready, and just plain old bad manners that say your time is more important than everyone else's time.
• Actually making eye contact when someone is talking with you - not looking at your phone or TV or anything else as if all that is way more important. 
• Or, just don't talk. Don't start a conversation that you don't have the time, patience or courtesy for.
• Does something frustrate you? Guess what? Whatever you find frustrating, others might also find frustrating. Practice that whole "Do unto others" thing, please.
• Again: Don't do to others the same kinds of things that you find so very annoying when done to you. (That might require putting thought into the things you do.)
• Don't believe that no one notices (or probably comments on) some of the negative things you do. Don't. Believe, That. Ever.
• Smile more, It doesn't hurt (and, if it does, get that checked). Don't wait until life is perfect or you're in the best mood. Just smile. It really does activate something chemical that causes joy in other people.
• If you hate control freaks, don't be a control freak. (I have a theory that control freaks are actually out of control of something in their lives.)
• Treat people as if they are able to do something for you. One day, they might be.
• Talk to adults like they are adults - not your kid, your servant, or someone inferior to you.
• Do what adults teach children as far as not interrupting, not butting in, and using your "inside" voice. Talking into the middle of someone's phone conversation is a really bad habit that says, "Screw you and your need for boundaries and respect." Yeah.
• Laugh more. Dance more. Sing for no reason. Be a little silly. Be happy.

That's my fantasy list. I ain't ever getting most of that stuff. But I will take any of this stuff:

That hoodie in any of those colors. The Yellow one if I lose weight!

This would make me SO happy

This or something like it

This is even cuter:

Get it here

Yaaaassss

But, yeah, I'm not picky. I'll just be glad to start getting some of the senior citizen discounts! Hahahaha

Here's my favorite song when I think of aging. Wish the video were better, but I had to find one with the lyrics. I do want young people to take a look at those lyrics! LOL

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Magnesium Oil Spray (UPDATED)

(UPDATE: I have to say that I now believe the claims about this helping the body work better with other vitamins and minerals. I say that only because I can feel the difference in how my daily vitamins - through food - boost me. Also, I am down 2 pounds in the 5 to 6 days that I have been using this. When I sleep, I rest better. When I eat nutritiously, I can tell in how I feel. I have an appointment coming up with my doctor and I can't wait to ask him what he thinks of this. As always, I will try to come back and update this post as things progress.)

Never even heard of this before, but I am so glad I got to try this:

That is Magnesium Oil Spray from Natural Products.

First off, let me say that not all of the products that I get via the "influenser" type programs are completely free. Sometimes, I'm just getting a discount. In the case of this product, I paid just under just half the price. Yeah, so for those folks who think that bloggers like me only give their rave reviews because of the freebies, that's not true. Not even for the products I get free. You guys should know by now that I try to be super honest when I review things. (In the case of a negative review, I will try to be nice, but I  never lie. Sometimes, I even have to get a little, er, blunt.)

Anyway.

Like I said, I'd never heard of magnesium spray. I barely remembered that magnesium was a mineral. (I've been out of school a loooong time!) This product is specifically a magnesium chloride hexahydrate and water solution. Those are the only 2 ingredients listed on the label. (If you care, at the end of this review, I'll share some more technical info - or I'll at least share what I tried to find out.)

From the Seller's description, these are the positives of their spray:

• All Natural
• Improves Sleep
• Relieves Joint Pain
• Aids with Muscle Recovery
• Fights Magnesium Deficiency

They also include this bit of info:

"Many people suffer from magnesium deficiency and Natural Products Pure Magnesium Oil is a great way to naturally improve the bodies magnesium intake. Natural Products Magnesium oil comes from the bottom of the Ancient Zechstein Sea in the Netherlands and can be used to nourish and moisturize skin among many other benefits such as: improve sleep, relieve joint pain, natural deodorant and aid with muscle recovery."

When I read this, all I saw was "can be used to nourish and moisturize skin". So I signed up to get the bottle for reviewing. While I was awaiting the deliver, I checked some more info out online. Mostly, I saw the following claims made about this oil:

• Hydrates n the skin
• Helps with hair loss
• Can dissolve calcium deposits in hair (from hard water)
• Is a natural deodorant
• Good for bone & tooth health
• Helps the immune system
• Helps boost energy levels
• Alleviates constipation
• Helps with stress and anxiety
• Helps with muscle cramping
• Soothes menstrual pains
• Lower blood pressure

And, the biggie - one that I saw almost everywhere I looked for the benefits - is that this encourages relaxation and better sleep. That, and the blood pressure claims, really won me.

So, what did I actually experience from about a week of regular use? I have a list:

1. Sleep was the first thing that I saw a change in. This really does induce a sense of calm. Not sure how that works, but I am careful not to use too much during the day. First night I used it, I slept so well! I didn't feel drugged or groggy. Mostly, I felt really loose and relaxed. When I dozed off, I didn't do the usual toss-turn-wake-up thing every few hours, I pretty much, nodded off and slept well throughout the whole night.
2. Energy. That probably came from just sleeping so well. Like I've mentioned, I have night time insomnia and daytime fatigue. That leads me into another benefit...
3. ... Anxiety relief. Again, not sure how or why this is, but I do get some soothing of my general nerves. I tend to be a constant worrier and I stress over every-thing. (I have lots to stress over!) With this, I noticed more relief after the second or third day. Not that I don't have stuff to stress over, but I just felt more generally relaxed. (Could that be a placebo effect? I don't know. Does it matter much? I don't know.)
4. I haven't noticed a change in my blood pressure. Matter of fact, I skipped a whole week of my regular meds (just because if I don't set up my weekly pill box, I get forgetful and lazy about it) and, when I went in for my infusion, the nurses were a bit alarmed. I will monitor this aspect again when I've gone a week with my meds.
5. As a deodorant, this is awesome! I initially tested this on days when I spent time at the gym and sweating like a criminal on their first day in lockup. Now, I like using this for everyday hygiene. I figure, if I'm going to be using it for all the other trans-dermal benefits, might as well spray it on the pits.
6. Skin benefits were tricky to monitor. I've not yet used this on my face so I can't say. When I put this on my body (chest area, legs, feet, arms and hands) I did like the way the spray felt. This is in no way oily. In NO WAY. That surprised me. This feels like water being sprayed onto the skin. When I rub it in, it still feels like water, but they hydration is longer lasting and more noticeable. (I'm working up the nerve to spray this on my face as I type this! I'll probably add a little bit of coconut or other oil to the mix when I do this.) One thing I'll warn you about: don't get this in your mouth unless you want to make the same face as when you get alum in your mouth. Ick! (By the way, another thing I noticed - before I actually tasted this - is that after spraying it on the first time, I got a metallic/alum-y taste in my mouth and throat. That was very weird. The sensation has not been as noticeable since that first day. 
7. I did spray this on my hair because... Well, I figured why not? I also saw somewhere that this helps keep the gray away. (I'm already using my blackstrap molasses daily and have less problems with graying. That, by the way, is made to ingest. LOL) What I noticed is that this hydrated my scalp but made my hair feel a little rougher once it dried. I'm going to keep using it on my hair and scalp but I've mixed some in a separate sprayer with a tiny bit of conditioner. I want to see if there is a change in my hair after a couple of weeks. 
8. As far as this oil helping the immune system, I can't say. Maybe it does, but that's going to be a tricky one to verify. I have immune system problems, so I'll be asking my doc about these claims when I go for my next checkup. Will update the post then.

So, yes, I do like this and will be getting more in the future. It's basically going to be a staple product for me. I will decide which brand/manufacturer to buy from once I get the information about the concentration levels. That's supposed to be important so that a user can determine how much to be applying daily. From what I've heard, it's difficult but not impossible to get too much of this stuff into your system. Isn't that true of everything? You can even get too much water, so why not?

One thing I couldn't find was a site for the Natural Products brand. I don't like that.

That's my review part of the post. If you're interested in questions I have and further info, keep reading...

Since I want to keep using magnesium now that I've tried it, I wondered if there was an easier or cheaper way to get hold of it. Apparently, you can make your own. (Of course. These are the days of Pinterest and YouTube tutorials. Pretty soon, I might be able to build my own car.)

My next question was: Is there a difference between magnesium and the labeled "magnesium chloride hexahydrate"?

The answer is... Not easy to figure out. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to get the answer online. I'm saving articles to Pocket for later reading as I try to figure this out. Here is one article, here is another and then, of course, there's always Wikipedia.

Next question had to do with what concentration of the active ingredient was in this particular product? I have submitted that one to the Seller. Like I said a minute ago, that's something a user would want to know. (And did I just say "user" like I'm discussing narcotics?!)

If anyone else has used this oil, please let me in on your results or opinions. I will update this as I learn or experience more.

Peace
---Free




DISCLOSURE:
In exchange for providing my fair and honest review, I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free or at a discount using AMZ Review Trader. Regardless, I only review products that I have personally used and can give an opinion of.

**REVIEW** Darjeeling Loose Leaf Masala Chai Tea

This product is a detox tea that is a chai

1. It smells SO good, and
2. It isn't like any chai I've ever had.

I don't guess I've ever had a "real" chai before, and I hadn't ever heard of "Masala chai" until now. Maybe that's the thing. I'm pretty sure that when Western commerce jumped on the chai wagon, they didn't stay true to the original version(s). The only chai I've had have been from Starbucks or from one of the shelf brands at the local grocery stores.

In my cultural ignorance, I wondered if Masala chai was different from the chai I've had previously. That's funny to me now that I realize just how ignorant I truly was on the subject. And just how ignorant was I?

"Chai" is simply the word for "tea" in India, and "masala" means spices. So masala tea or masala chai is tea that is made usually with milk, mint, cardamom and sometimes a couple of other spices. (source)

Um, Okay.

The other thing I learned when I first brewed this up was I can be such a guy. I never follow instructions. Instead of brewing a teaspoon of the tea in about 7 ounces of water, I had to go and use two teaspoons in about 10 ounces of water. I did follow the steeping time of the 3 to 5 minute range, but... the other instructions were more important. My first cup was so strong it could have moved mountains. My bad.

When made correctly, this is really good. Actually, it wasn't bad strong, but...

Like I said, I love the smell of this, but the taste did throw me. I've been whoring out my tastebuds to the sugary stuff that I get packaged and with a chain logo on it. I wasn't ready for the real thing. Also, I was trying to drink it "as is". When I added cream to the hot brew, the taste love went way up. Strangely enough, I can drink the cold brew without cream. I do need honey for drinking it hot or cold, but the cream really does something for the hot version.

Maybe because I drink most of my teas cold, I prefer this one cold. I like to put it in my carry-bottle, add some honey, then sip off of it for a few hours. Keep in mind how strong I tend to make it.

It's going to take me a few days (or more) before I can update you on how this makes me feel, but the ingredients are all things that I have been adding to my diet lately. It makes sense that if those ingredients are all good for you, the tea will be good for you. The best thing is, I can get the tea into my body on a regular basis. I do cook more lately with a variety of spices, but this way, I can get the clove and cinnamon in my system.

Here's the big surprise to me: there is black pepper in this. Only just recently have I been adding pepper to my diet. I've always been a weakling when it comes to "hot" food. I've been slowly adding cayenne and black pepper to my dishes. What threw me with this tea is that I couldn't even taste the pepper.

Second kind of surprising thing: this was more refreshing than the chai I've had in the past. Maybe because I can drink it cold and without a lot of heavy creams and other dairy products? It's got a cooling effect on warm days. I didn't expect that. Also, I just like drinking it cold.

Last of all, even though I got this bag for free, I was wondering if the price was a good one. Now that I find I like this, I realize that, because it doesn't take but a teaspoon (follow those directions!) to make a cup (or more, I guess, depending on how strong you like it), this is very reasonable as it's currently priced.

Peace
--Free



DISCLOSURE:
In exchange for providing my fair and honest review, I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free or at a discount using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only review products that I have personally used and can give an opinion of.

Summer Blues

The world and it's scars. People and their issues. Everything gets very heavy to carry around sometimes. Makes my heart very, very tired. Some days, the only way to express it is with music

Thank God it's summer. The sunlight is a healing thing.


Peace
--Free

Big Mama, Big Food, Big Love

I'm taking a couple days' break from reviews. I've received so many EOs for cleansing and moisturizing, I need to let my body (and skin, and hair) rest! I've washed my hair so much that I've rid myself of future dirt.

Today, I want to talk about memories. I've been in that mood. I was telling my niece the other night about the times I used to spend around Big Mama. My memory sucks so I probably tossed in memories that were handed down from my older brothers and sister.

We talked about how Big Mama would fix these huge and amazing breakfasts. When I say that breakfast at Big Mama's was an experience, I mean that even my mother (the Texan) was impressed. There were no simple, egg-and-bacon deals at Big Mama's. There's not a fast food chain around that could emulate these meals without adding a buffet line.

The first time I had a Big Mama breakfast, I thought I'd migrated in my sleep and woken up in the planet of No Freaking Way.

First there was the food: slices of ham, fried pork chops, pan-fried potatoes, thick slabs of bacon, grits  with salt and pepper, and biscuits that so huge and buttery-good that I think they are what the Israelites called manna. There were also eggs - scrambled eggs, sunny-side up, boiled and sliced - but who the heck could think about eggs with all that other food? One of my brothers used to joke that just two of those biscuits could feed half of a small continent.

When I say there was a lot of food, I mean, there wasn't just a dib of this and a dab of that. I mean, there was a lot of food. That was the first amazement.

Then there was the fact that there were so many people at the table. Family that lived two and three blocks away showed up for breakfast at Big Mama's. Talk about getting a start to the day, right? It was like a daily family reunion before folks went off to school or work or back to their own homes for the day.

The most impressive thing to me about those breakfasts - the thing that I never got over, even after I was used to all the food and family - was that they happened while dawn hadn't even thought about breaking. Seriously.

For a time, when my father moved our family there while he went overseas, we had to look for temporary housing. In the meantime, my mother, my siblings and I stayed in Big Mama's house. I'd feel like I'd just gone into REM sleep when I'd hear Big Mama walking around doing her morning wake-up calls.

"Rise and shine, everybody. The Lord has blessed us all to see another day!"

I'd just be wishing that the Lord would bless us to sleep another couple of hours. But, in Big Mama's house, no one was aloud to lay around in bed unless they were sick. Big Mama believed in that early-to-bed and early-to-rise thing. Super early. Crazy early. Early to bed like a narcoleptic wino, and early to rise like a rooster with anxiety issues.

Still, I loved being around my Big Mama. Miz Minnie Lee to a lot of people, but always Big Mama to me. She had her ways though...

Big Mama had in common with a lot of people of her generation when it came to how you raised and treated children. I always think of this image when I think of my Big Mama:

After she fed us all to stuffing before the crack of dawn, Big Mama made us face the day with prowess. During the school year, Big Mama could get 30 kids out of the house - on time, nourished, clean, looking good and feeling like there was nothing they couldn't do. She was like a fierce wind that pushed you out that door and into the world like all your dreams were just waiting for you to collect them. Even with all that freaking food in you.

Side note here about my aunties: I have the best aunties in this world. One of my aunties was a lunch lady at the elementary school. Who always got a fresh cinnamon roll for school breakfast? And who never had to worry that all the chocolate milk was gone? Me, that's who! (And I want to find that lost cinnamon roll recipe because I have never had one like those since childhood.)

One of my other aunties was our lioness. She'd run off bullies with a broom (true story), chaperon teen socials, carpool kids all over the neighborhood after the weekend get-togethers, and make sure that any stray kid was looked after. 

Big Mama raised those aunties of mine. No surprise that they are all women to be reckoned with.

I guess I'm just glad that I have so many good memories of my Big Mama. I wish that so many of the younger people I know could have experienced that kind of love.

Today, people like to call my Big Mama's kind of love "tough love". It wasn't tough, it was just love.

Peace
--Free

The Extended Fasting Plan

I've lost about 14 pounds in the past 3 months. Six of those pounds came back for a visit recently. I backslid in my gym and eating habits.

So.

I'm getting ready to double down on the 8 pound loss.  And I even have a plan. (Yes, another of my plans!)


(The photos you're seeing will make sense as you read the post...)

First off, I have to get back to the gym. That's going to be much easier now that warmer and sunnier is finally showing up around here. Finally. Second, I am going to have to eat better - and that doesn't mean skipping one of my many cups of daily coffee with extra creamer.

I'm going to be using a modified fasting plan to both lose some weight and up my prayer life. Just as much as I've been ignoring my health, I've been slacking on reading my daily Bible reading and meditations. They might even go hand in hand.

Whatever.

The other week, a friend and I were talking about an article she'd read about losing weight "while you sleep". Yeah. Ri-iiight. Of course, that part was just to get readers to pay attention to the whole eating plan. It's simple (like my friend and I) so it's something I can do with a little bit of discipline. All I have is a little discipline, so it's really perfect.

The basic idea is that we fast while we sleep (which is why the first meal of the day is a breaking of the fast, or breakfast), so we could extend that fasting period. Of course, what we do eat for meals is a big part of the weight loss. That's it. Simple.

My friend (I'll call her "Daisy") has been doing this extended daily fasting for about three weeks. She's lost over 12 pounds. She jokes that she thinks that initial weight loss is just from dumping toxins. Apparently, because of what she is eating during the day, her body is in total cleanse mode. Here's an outline of her plan:

• No food after 6:30pm. She drinks a few 4-ounce glasses of water (some infused with lemon or with honey added). She generally goes to bed by 9:30pm.
• She's generally up at 5:30am. She immediately drinks warm water with lemon first. When she is ready for breakfast, she has her coffee with cream & tries to limit it to an 8ounce coffee with around 2tbl of her Coffeemate plain liquid creamer/no sugar. For food, she eats a piece of toast or a bagel with cream cheese.
• Throughout the day, she avoids any heavy food. She eats several small "snack-sized" meals (she likes a handful of trail mix; a cup of yogurt; etc.). She tries to empty her 16-oz water bottle at least 3 times. This is a struggle for her.
• About an hour before her fasting starts, she has a 'real' meal. She usually does turkey meat or a chicken breast with veggies on the side. 
• Once a week, she allows herself to enjoy a handful of chips or a couple of small cookies. She has a sweet/salty tooth and doesn't want to deny herself.
• She is not a gym-goer, but tags along with friends sometimes. She is walking her neighborhood "a few times a week" in the evenings, parking further away from entrances when she is out, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Daisy is only looking to lose around another 10 pounds or so. Like me, she isn't looking to be her 30-year old self, but she does want to be in better shape and get into the clothes at the back of her closet. She's almost there.

She had me almost laying on the floor in a fit of giggles when she talked about her first couple of days on this fasting thing. She said she was so gung-ho about the idea of something as simple of not eating after a certain point in the day that she got carried away. First day in, she said she went to at least 2 fast food places and oinked out like crazy. And was SO proud when she didn't "cheat" after 6:30. When she got serious about eating better, she overloaded on water (not her favorite thing) and lost at least 1 pound just running to the Ladies'. I'm really proud of her though.

My eating plan is a little different. For one thing, I realize that this is almost more about eating better than it is about eating less. I don't plan to eat much different than I already am, but that daily cut-off point is going to curb my worst habit: late-day/late-night eating. Also, the water thing. Ugh. (I'd gotten better about drinking water, but haven't really lived up to that gallon-a-day thing for a while now...)

Here's my plan:

• Start the fast at 6pm. I'll only drink water - plain, with cucumber slices, or infused with either vanilla extract and honey, lemon and honey, or orange oil and honey*. My sleep time varies from 9:30 to 11:30, depending on how well I am resting. Insomnia.
• I'm generally up by 6 or 9 (again, depending on how well I feel). I plan to not eat before 9am, no matter when I'm up. I'll start with water and, to break my fast, some raw veggies or a 4-ounce cup blackstrap and vanilla soy. I'm not a breakfast eater. Of course, I will have to have my coffee, but I'm going to be better and limit myself to 1 8-ounce morning serving (with 2tbls of my sweetened and flavored creamer). 
• At around 11, I will have veggies with chicken or turkey sauteed with olive oil or palm oil and non-salt seasonings**.
• Around 1pm, I will have soup (which is salted, but I love it and it's only 260 calories for the Teriyaki Chow Mein that I love or 290 calories for the Maruchan Chicken flavored Instant Lunch that okay but cheap.
• At around 3pm, I will have either a spinach/kale salad with some chicken or turkey meat or just skip it. Depends on how hungry I am.
• About an hour before my fast, I will have a serving of sauteed veggies on naan bread.
• I'm going to try really hard to empty at least half a gallon of water during the day, but I'm bad with water. Being hungry after I start the fast might help! 
• I'm going to attempt to make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. At the very least, I am going to copy Daisy and try to walk around the neighborhood. Just walking a couple of times from one end of our street the other is not a bad stretch. I will have to trip it on the pedometer and update this post.

I will try to keep you all in the loop. If I make it at least three weeks like Daisy, I'll be lucky. She claims that it gets much easier after the first week. I'll wait and see...

Peace

Free

P.S. I ** a couple of thing to remind myself to share my delicious and simple recipes.

The water infusions are my favorite. I do them all the time, no matter what the rest of my diet is like! You can use either plain or a seltzer type water. You know, of course, about adding slices of lemon or cucumber to water for flavor. Another think I like is to pick up a little bottle of flavored oil or extract (generally used for baking/cooking) and add just the tiniest drop to waters. You can jazz up lemon and cucumber water by adding a bit of honey. (NOTE: Here in Anchorage, I have to either order my flavored oils or buy them from local health food and specialty stores. New Sagaya and Natural Pantry are stores that carry them in town.)

My veggie dishes are what I came up with a long while ago. I get on these kicks where I just want lots of fresh and colorful food. I love to sautee veggies in olive oil or palm oil (or both) and add as many seasonings as I can without too much sodium. My fave combo includes sweet orange, yellow and red peppers, mushrooms (any kind!), garlic. I'll sometimes leave the spinach and kale uncooked so that I can serve the other veggies and oil over the greens. If I'm feeling really hungry, I'll add a little tomato and avocado to the top.Okay. I usually add tomato and avocado!And maybe some crumbled bits of leftover bacon...  LOL

A variation of this is to sautee all the veggies (greens included) and then serve them over some warmed Naan bread. I love that bread. 

You can freeze the bread and then warm it later. I like to get the small single-serve pieces, but can't always find those. If you get the large pieces, you can slice them up to use small pieces at a time. To warm them, I like to lay them in a pan and use low or medium heat for a few minutes. The bread can also be toasted, but I like to keep the inside really soft.

For seasonings, I like to use tumeric, onion powder, a little cayenne, basil or Italian seasoning. This is one dish that I actually can enjoy Mrs. Dash with.

What I like about this is that, even if I don't use bread, it's filling and so, so flavorful. The best thing about this "eating plan" is that it's fairly cheap. You can use whatever vegetables that you catch on sale. The thing is to vary the seasonings for the food and make sure to flavor up all that water!

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Roman Chamomile Essential Oil

I'd never tried this essential oil before now. I'd never even heard of it:

I mostly applied to get this EO from First Botany.at a discount (yes, in exchange for an Amazon review) because I hadn't heard of it, but found from researching that one of the main benefits is a "calming of the mind" (source). Lord knows, with the start of the year I've had, I need as much calming as I can get. Also, it's probably safer for anyone I have to be around!

It doesn't hurt that I read in more than one place that Roman Chamomile (R.C.) is also supposed to help support a healthy immune system. I'm all about that.

Apparently, there are 2 different types of chamomile: Roman and German. I found source for explaining the difference, but I''ll just let you check this link for some clarification and get on with the review of this particular brand of Roman Chamomile essential oil.

From reading the product info page on Amazon, in addition to general info I found online, I learned what really interested me about this EO;

Few drops of Roman chamomile Oil can be added to your favorite moisturizer or lotion to promote youthful looking skin or can be added to shampoo or conditioner for beautiful glowing hair. 

That's what I'm talking about!

The page also mentioned something about using the EO in a diffuser (or what I call my "humi-diffuser") for getting a restful sleep. I can get down with that too. But back to the skin and hair issue...

As you know, I have done another "big chop" on my hair. It's looking and feeling great because I have a bunch of new EOs and oils to baby it. Until I get another chance to do a wash or condition, I won't be able to tell you much about the hair part. Still, I couldn't' wait to see if this R.C. could do something special for my skin.

The R.C. EO has a very pleasant smell. I wasn't expecting that from the name. I could only expect it to smell like chamomile tea ~shrug~. The scent of the EO reminds me a little bit of Myrrh oil, but sweeter. It's woody and, well, sweet.

Instead of adding it to one of my other skin and hair oils (coconut, kukui, jojoba or emu) because I thought that would defeat the purpose of seeing how well this worked, I added it to some regular lotion.

I like my purse-sized tube of Jergen's hand lotion, but it can fade after a while and it sometimes feels a little tacky on the skin. When I added the R.C., I couldn't really tell anything at first. I noticed later that (and I hope this isn't just my imagination) my skin  hadn't lost any of the initial softening/moisturizing from about and hour and a half before. I'm sorry but I didn't pay a great deal of attention to the times.

Another thing I can tell you about this is that is really is soothing when I use it in the humi-diffuser. Of course, I was dog tired the night I tried it, but it seems like I fell off to sleep with less tossing and turning. I do know that I slept all through the night, which is unusual for me.

Next week, I'm going to be working at blending some of the various EOs I've collected. I can''t wait to try this in a blend (maybe with some Ginger or Ylang Ylang), and I'll have to get back to you guys on that. Also, I will let you know when I do the hair treatments using this one.

This particular EO is from First Botany. I think I've gotten 2 EOs from them recently. So far, I really like the quality. The price for this one is up there, but I think that it could be because of quality since I noticed the same range of pricing for the same EO from my preferred brands. This one is backed by a 100% refund guarantee.

Peace
--Free




DISCLOSURE:
In exchange for providing my fair and honest review, I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free or at a discount using AMZ Review Trader. Regardless, I only review products that I have personally used and can give an opinion of.