I tend to be on the cautious side of everything that is man made.
In food that is.
One of the biggest things that I’m afraid of is multivitamins. Little brightly coloured pills that we happily pop because we believe that they are good for us. So many people are focused on taking their vitamin c pill or their mineral tablet that they are missing one of the biggest problems that is quite literally right in front of them.
Why are we taking man made multivitamins and supplements?
The main part is because of commercial agriculture practices the soil is so depleted that there are considerably less vitamins or minerals left in them. This means that the food that we eat isn’t full of the vitamins that we need. Therefore we need a chemically engineered pill to make up for what we are missing. And no one bats an eye.
People, vitamin C does not come in the shape of a Flintstone and taste like orange lollipops. I’m just sayin’.
If you have a bottle of chemically engineered multivitamins in your cupboard read the label and see what is in it. There will be an entire section of non-medical ingredients, and some of them are very scary – such as aluminium and glucose syrup (found these listed on a popular brand of adult multivitamins).
There are also sooo many different brands and types. This one is for men, this one for women. This one is for when you hit 50, this one is for seniors, this one for kids, this one is for teens, this one for preteens. This one is chewable, this one “natural”, this one contains iron, this one doesn’t. Like holy crow! How am I to know what one to take?
And whatever you do, make sure you’re taking it as directed or my gosh you could overdose. Um, what?
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In this house we are very alternative with our health. I will admit that I avoid the doctor like the plague. Now that doesn’t mean I hate the doctor. If girlfriend ends up in a car accident, heck yes I want them to stitch me back together. But if I have a sniffle, or a boo boo I’m not running to the emergency room. I’ll take a herb, or use an essential oil, or take a look at my diet and try to increase foods that are healing.
One of the biggest things you can do for your health is have a healthy diet. A traditional diet. Low fat foods, processed foods, and food that comes from the freezer section already portioned and all you have to do is microwave it, is – hear me now – not. real. food.
A traditional diet is free range chicken, pastured pork, grass fed beef, raw milk, natural fats, water instead of soda, fresh eggs from free range hens, fresh vegetables and fruits, grains and legumes that are prepared the old fashioned way with soaking so our body can digest them better, bone broths and stocks, fermented vegetables, yogurt, kombucha, kefir. Doesn’t that sounds delicious?! If you say it really slow, by the time you get to the end it sounds like you’re speaking some really fancy delicious language. Yo-gurt, kom-buch-a, ke-fir. Damn.
If you have a healthy diet, then natural supplements are just an added bonus, and if you are obtaining them through natural sources, you will have a really hard time overdosing on them. Your body can take what it needs and send the rest packing. Because of this in our house we take very few supplements.
My “medicine” cabinet consists of herbs, essential oils, and a few diet additions that I suppose you could call supplements.
Our favourite “supplement” is bee pollen.
Bee pollen is the food of the young bee and it is approximately 40% protein. It is considered one of nature’s most completely nourishing foods. It contains nearly all nutrients required by humans. About half of its protein is in the form of free amino acids that are ready to be used directly by the body.
We consider bee pollen our multivitamin. It can correct nutritional deficiencies in the body, increase energy, help with cancer prevention, help with allergy prevention, improve fertility, support the cardiovascular system, support the immune system, and detoxify the liver. Hippocrates called bee pollen the fountain of youth, and Russian researchers have found that bee pollen is the richest source of vitamins found in nature in a single food.
Dang man! I just love bees.
Because honey bees are in a bit of trouble these days, be sure to find a supplier who sustainably harvests the pollen.
You want to take bee pollen raw. No cooking. To be honest most days I just dump a teaspoon full into my mouth and chase it with water. I don’t really like the taste of it – it seems chalky to me – but Hubby really likes it and will suck on them. I have also been known to sprinkle it on sliced fruit (such as a pear or apple) and eat it that way.
Either way you do it, don’t cook it. Provide your body with it and your bod will do the rest of the work. 1 teaspoon is the adult dose, or a few kernal (like a pinch) for kids.
So here’s to more energy, and less weirdly coloured pills. Health shouldn’t be complicated. It should be as easy as eating the right foods, and getting enough exercise. Which I personally hate. I’d rather just eat. Life is so unfair.
Eat your bee pollen.
And amen.
(For more on bee pollen read here, or here, or here)
I am not a doctor, a wizard, or anyone special. Do your own research for your own health, and proceed at your own risk.