New Study Links Pesticides to ADHD

Photo by Terry Langhorn

This week the American Academy of Pediatrics disclosed a study that linked pesticide ingestion to ADHD. In studying 1139 children ages 8 to 15 years old, the children with higher urinary levels of organophosphate metabolites (found in common pesticides) were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD

Here are the 10 worst offenders. Write them down and carry the list with you to the store. Ignorance doesn’t equal safety (as said so well on the foodnews.org website).

• Grapes (Imported)
• Potatoes
• Cherries
• Kale/Collard Greens
• Spinach
• Sweet Bell Peppers
• Nectarines
• Blueberries
• Apples
• Strawberries
• Peaches
• Celery

Here are your top 10 with the least amount of pesticides:

• Onions
• Avocado
• Sweet Corn (frozen)
• Pineapples
• Mango
• Sweet Peas (frozen)
• Asparagus
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant

For the full list, click here.

Where have you been young lady?

So, dear readers, I have to apologize for my absence. I was not on vacation. I was not taking some week-long yoga training. I was wallowing in my own misery a bit.

I will refrain from whining and  boring you with the details… but I was not feeling well. Nothing serious. A cough that kept on coughing. It’s going on 5 weeks and I am STILL coughing. So, as I said, I will not whine further. I see the light at the end of the tunnel though the tunnel has been ridiculously long.

I decided to break this inertia with a small list of things that I am grateful for:

1) Delicious and healthy cookie recipes. I was reminded by Mandi, the author of the blog Trainermomma, of a chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses chick peas. I had read it in the Deceptively Delicious cookbook, but never tried them until this week. They are amazing and guilt free! Whole wheat flour, applesauce, oats, chickpeas and dark chocolate. You can eat these for breakfast and feel like you’ve done yourself a favor.

2) Trail running with good friends and our beloved dogs. After being sick for 4 weeks and stuck to my couch, I realized that the majority of my social life revolves around being active with people who I adore. I am lucky to have joined a great running/fitness group called Moms in Motion. These inspiring ladies are motivating, fun, supportive and so generous. I started as a 4 mile neighborhood runner to running half and full marathons in different cities. I started to swim and bike again after a 15 year lapse and began participating in triathlon. I started exploring local parks—hitting those trails for running and snowshoeing. I am blessed to have such an amazing network of women in my life.

3) Some of my down time these last couple of weeks has been spent online. I found myself hitting the Sunrose Yoga blog for some yoga inspiration. I pulled some muscles internally from all of my coughing and have had to curtail my regular power vinyasa classes. Kelly at Sunrose had a 30 day yoga video challenge that I have been following. I find her yoga style and her perspective very uplifting.

3) Vegetables to plant in the garden. I am attempting to grow vegetables this year in containers around my patio. We had to chop down my husbands favorite pine tree last year to build our patio and now have much more sunlight. I am ambitious and hope to grow herbs, tomatoes, peppers… and corn. I know… I think I may be crazy. It is corn heaven here so I thought why not try a few stalks.

4) My dog Daisy. Even while I was feeling my most miserable, my lab got me up and out the door for a daily walk. Her visits with her neighborhood dog friends always make me smile. Seeing her run and chase and tackle her friends with such joy makes me happy. She also started to lie on me while I relaxed on the couch. She was a giant breathing buddy. Her breath, though faster than my own, created in me comfort and her heavy head resting on my chest helped me to relax and to calm down my cough. While everyone else was avoiding me—afraid that I’d contaminate and spread my misery —Daisy stayed by my side.

That’s all for now friends. I hope this will catapult me into a writing frenzy. I have been getting out finally to run with friends again this week. There is hope and sunshine and so much for which to be grateful.

Remedies for a Cough

Photo By Jerry Cooke

I was so looking forward to spring break. The Tuesday before break I remember feeling exhausted. I actually blew off my run for a nap… and then had another quick nap before the bus dropped off the kids in the afternoon. Usually one nap in a day is unheard of for me! The next day I ran 13 miles in preparation for the 1/2 marathon that was this past Sunday.

That Sunday the tickle began. I was able to teach my classes without a problem, but by the evening the tickle became incessant and the coughing soon followed. Feeling responsible for my kids “fun” over break, I found myself mountain biking Monday morning followed by a nap. Then a walk to the park was called for followed by some rest. This on and off activity lasted most of the break… as did my cough. Here it is 9 days from the start of the cough and I am feeling only marginally better.

I have tried many things to stop this cough and I thought I’d share my experiences. I have been desperate for relief and have tried many traditional and some less traditional remedies:

1) Vics vapor rub slathered on my feet covered by socks. This remedy I found online. Many people swear by it. It did nothing for me.

2) An over the counter cough suppressant/expectorant. These meds have been getting a bad rap but I still find that they sometimes take the edge off a cough to allow me to sleep. No luck. I also found that taking these did make my chest feel tight afterward.

3) Honey with lemon and water. This was soothing on my now sore throat but did not suppress the cough. I did not make the concoction as the link describes and will try boiling the whole lemon tonight!

4) Yogi tea “Breathe Deep”. This also was soothing and did seem to open my sinuses up but my cough was persistent.

5) Naturopatch of Vermont Eucalyptus Cough and Cold Relief didn’t seem to do anything except make me smell like an old coat covered in camphor.

6) Pear juice did help suppress my cough and made me feel better for a little while. My brother, a Chinese medicine doctor, mentioned it to me as it nourishes the lungs. I liked the consistency of the juice.

7) Cayenne pepper mixed with ginger, apple cider vinegar, honey and water. My husband found this remedy online after feeling sorry for my pathetic state. This actually helped stop this cough. This remedy is not tasty but it did work… for a bit.

8) A restful yoga pose that helps a cough is Reclining Bound Angle pose which encourages the chest to open by placing a bolster vertically along the spine while resting in Bound Angle with the feet touching and knees spread.

9) Using a neti pot is not my favorite activity, however, it helped tremendously to cut down on the tickle. My husband has been surrounded by this cough which started with one child, then the other and now me. He is holding strong and uses a saline spray daily. I can only think that the daily rinse has helped him stay healthy.

As with all viruses, they must run their course. Rest and fluids is on top of the list of needs when one falls ill. Try some of these remedies next time you find yourself under the weather and let me know how they work for you or leave a post of other remedies that you find effective. I’m off to drink my new favorite pear elixir and them I’m headed to bed. Good night my friends.

Food Issues

Photo by Joel Dinda

I have food issues. It started yesterday. I have been watching 30 minute snippets of the movie Food Inc. while on the treadmill and am just appalled by what I am learning about food in our country. This idea that our food comes from idyllic farms with cows and chickens grazing on green pastures is all an illusion. Our farms have turned factories and these factories are created to make a product at a profit. The health of the animals and the people that eat them and the safety of the farmers that tend to them are not as high on the priority list as making a cheap product. How the food that we eat and rely on for our nutrition and health has become an engineered product is frightening.

I will not go into the details of the film or book. I encourage people to investigate on their own. Personally, I will be making some lifestyle choices for myself and my family including making vegetables and fruit the focus of the meal with proteins as the side. The protein I use will be farm raised, free-ranged, organic and local (if possible). I will not be eating meat out at restaurants unless I know it is grown locally or free-range and organic.

My biggest frustration is that there is so much junk in school cafeterias. We see a rise in childhood obesity and allergies and yet still provide school cafeterias with Tyson brand chicken products, sugared up Intense Milk, and other equally unhealthy options. Tyson chicken might claim to be baked but it doesn’t get to the bottom of why this type of chicken isn’t good for us. Tyson is one of a few chicken “manufacturers” in the country. The power these companies yield is ridiculous. Again, investigate more about how these chickens (and the farmers that raise them) are treated. I don’t want to disgust anyone reading this so I will just send out the idea that it is worth looking into. More over, it is even more worthwhile to pack your kids lunches and take back control of what is feeding their brains and bodies. I don’t see an end to this injustice until the consumer makes a stand. Stop buying school lunches. Demand healthy and nutritious food in schools.

Being a runner and yoga teacher, I know first hand that what you put into your body and mind affects performance. Take a stand and have a food issue. It might just be what the doctor orders.