As the winter months approach, many of us get out our bottles of cod liver oil and start taking preventive doses to ward off flu viruses and keep the winter blues from setting in. The vitamin D content of cod liver oil tends to get most of the credit for the above benefits (and rightly so), but there are actually a couple of other factors at work to make cod liver oil a fantastic cool-weather supplement:

• Cod liver oil supplies a natural form of activated vitamin A. Vitamin A is necessary for immunity (white blood cells actually require vitamin A in order to mature properly) and a deficiency in vitamin A can be related to fatigue. Most of the negative press surrounding vitamin A has been related to synthetic forms, such as those found in acne medications. However, excessive intake of natural forms that require conversion and activation by the body, such as beta carotene which requires zinc for activation, can cause problems. People with altered vitamin A metabolism (such as alcoholics) should still be careful to watch total vitamin A intake.
• Cod liver oil is a balanced source of highly absorbable omega-3 fatty acids. Some of the signs of inadequate omega-3 intake include depression, lowered immunity, weakness, fatigue, lethargy, dry skin, dry hair, dry eyes, frequent infection, and irritability. Foods that are richest in omega 3 fats include cold-water fish, egg yolks from pastured hens, flax seed and flax oil, and walnuts.

For more detailed information on cod liver oil, see the article Cod Liver Oil: The Number One Superfood which is available on the Weston Price Foundation website, www.westonaprice.org.

In honor of Chronic Fatigue awareness month, I wanted to share a few fun facts about magnesium and fatigue with you. Enjoy!

• Magnesium acts as a spark plug for mitochondria, the energy producing parts of cells.
• Magnesium is a key ingredient in over 300 enzyme systems in the body, including production of energy. This is especially important for people who are under significant amounts of stress, since magnesium is involved in adrenal hormone production.
• Chocolate craving (especially if it is associated with PMS for women) may signify a need for magnesium, since chocolate contains magnesium.
• The recommended daily dosage for the average person who is experiencing fatigue is about 400 mg. One heaping scoop of Essential Calm supplies approximately this amount.
• Magnesium is best absorbed at night, and may help to create a restful night’s sleep.
• Foods rich in magnesium include leafy green vegetables, kelp, almonds, sesame seeds, peas, beans, brown rice, and oats.

NOTE: This blog is not intended to replace the advice of a qualified healthcare practitioner. If you are on prescription medication or are under the care of a physician for a specific medical problem, please consult with them prior to adding magnesium or any other nutritional supplement to your routine.

March is Chronic Fatigue awareness month. While Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is an actual medical disorder, many of us suffer from varying levels of fatigue on a daily basis. Here are five natural ways to help fight fatigue.

1. Stay hydrated. Mild dehydration can be a major factor in fatigue, especially fatigue that occurs in the afternoon. The basic rule is that a person should drink the amount of water in ounces that is equal to their body weight in pounds divided by two. This means that a person who is 150 pounds needs around 75 ounces of water daily. This number may change based on individual needs and activity level.

2. Eat enough protein. Protein is the building block for muscle, as well as for many of the hormones involved in keeping energy levels balanced throughout the day. Protein also helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, which prevents the fatigue associated with low blood sugar. An easy way to calculate the minimum amount of grams of protein that you should aim for is to divide your body weight by 2.75 (use your ideal body weight in this calculation if you are significantly over or under weight). For example, a 150 pound person needs about 55 grams of protein to maintain that weight. Athletes, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and people who are healing or are under stress usually need more protein.

3. Eat every two to three hours. Skipping meals or leaving too much time between meals can lead to low blood sugar which may create a drop in energy levels. Eating regular, balanced meals and snacks has the added benefit of helping your body to conserve hard earned muscle tissue. If you need help, try incorporating one of our Essential Meal products as a meal or snack replacement up to twice daily. Each serving of Essential Meal provides 15 grams of protein as well as a balanced profile of other necessary nutrients.

4. Exercise. Exercise in any form helps the body to detoxify and builds muscle tissue—both of which help to keep energy levels up. If you don’t exercise regularly, it’s best to start with gentle forms of exercise such as walking or mild yoga and gradually build your way up to a more challenging workout. Overexertion during exercise can actually contribute to fatigue!

5. Sleep. This may seem like a really obvious way to fight fatigue, but many of us tend to push sleep to the bottom of the priority list. This is especially true when we are under stress, which is unfortunate since times of stress are when the body needs the most rest! If you are fatigued, make it a priority to get eight uninterrupted hours of sleep each night (starting before 10 p.m., if possible). If your schedule allows, also give yourself at least 10 or 15 minutes in the afternoon to lie down and rest even if you don’t actually fall asleep. This practice is healing and restorative to the adrenal glands, which are responsible for your stress response. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, consider adding a daily dose of a magnesium supplement such as our Essential Calm to your evening routine.

If you’ve found other ways to help fight fatigue, please share them in the comments section of this blog!

Last Saturday’s webinar on weight management had a big emphasis on blood sugar control as a key to keeping weight in check. You don’t have to have diabetes or hypoglycemia to care about blood sugar! When blood sugar is out of control (too high or too low), you may be prone to mood swings, fatigue, body fat gain, and loss of muscle. We covered several key points during the webinar to help keep blood sugar levels stable. If you missed it, contact us at info@marilynfarms.com for information on how you can purchase and download the webinar complete with handouts. Here are a couple of easy ways to support stable blood sugar levels that we didn’t discuss in the webinar:

• Eat cinnamon! Cinnamon exhibits effects similar to insulin in its ability to reduce high blood sugar levels. A study done earlier this month in the journal Phytomedicine (title of the study is “Cinnamon extract regulates glucose transporter and insulin-signaling gene expression in mouse adipocytes”) showed that cinnamon may even work on a genetic level to keep expression of genes in a balance to improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin and decrease the likelihood of excess blood sugar being used as fat. Most studies recommend one to two teaspoons, per day of ground cinnamon sprinkled over food or try Marilyn Farms tasty Cinnamon Extract.
• Use vinegar in cooking and on salads! In fact, a study in the January 2010 issue of the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism found that just two teaspoons of vinegar consumed with a meal were found to effectively lower blood sugar levels after the meal. Other studies found that regular intake of vinegar produced a modest (but still significant) decrease in HbA1c levels (this test gives a window into the level of a person’s blood sugar over the past three months), and that people who consumed a tablespoon of vinegar with lunch and dinner lost an average of 2 pounds over 4 weeks! For more info see the article A Spoonful of Vinegar Makes the Blood Sugar Go Down? which can be located at www.dlife.com.

I have heard a lot of people saying that lately they are more tired than usual.  This could be due to many factors – school starting, winter approaching, and heading into the time of year when there is less sun.  I did a little bit of research on fatigue and found this interesting (and short) article on using your diet to reverse fatigue. 

http://www.westonaprice.org/askdoctor/chronicfatigue.html

In it, the author discusses the role that eating too many simple carbohydrates plays in creating fatigue.  When simple carbohydrates are replaced with more nutrient-dense foods such as meat, dairy, and vegetables then many people find relief from fatigue. 

Please note that the author emphasizes the intake of raw dairy products which are wonderful (if obtained from a healthy cow raised by a farmer with reliable farming practices) but may be illegal in your state.  I know that raw milk is illegal in Iowa and Hawaii but is legal in California – if you live in a state other than those three you may want to do some research. 

Most states will allow raw cheese and butter to be sold, since they are cultured.  If you prefer to drink milk, then look for non-homogenized, low-temp pasteurized milk which is much easier for most people to digest than the homogenized, ultra-pasteurized milk that is sold in most grocery stores.

Below is a testimonial written by Wendy, one of our favorite customers here at Marilyn Farms!  She recently discovered the Master Cleanse (also known as the lemonade diet) and was kind enough to share her experience with us.  Thanks Wendy!

The first time that I heard about The Master Cleanse was years ago when my sister used to do it. I thought that she was crazy!!! The next time I heard about it was last fall on a visit to Maryland. I spoke at length with someone who had done it for 21 days and it sparked my interest. I went and bought the book (The Master Cleanse by Stanley Burroughs), read about it, and it took 6 months of thinking and wrestling and praying about it and then one day I decided that it was time to stop thinking about it and just do it.

It had become quite apparent to me that I needed to do something rather drastic as I had not been feeling well for some time, my eating was out of control, and I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life. Much to my dismay I discovered that after menopause my metabolism did not work quite the same way to drop extra pounds!! So began my experience with doing the Master Cleanse. I chose the time period and followed the instructions in the book very carefully.

For 3 days I ate less and only fruits and vegetables and cut down on the coffee that I drank. The first 5 days of the cleanse were a bit rough.  I had a very bad headache that left me feeling nauseated and not a great amount of energy. It was still possible to do everything that I had to and I was not hungry. A lot of the headache was likely due to coffee withdrawal and also the tension in my neck. On the 5th day I received a neck massage which greatly helped in getting rid of the headache and then throughout the rest of the cleanse I did an infared sauna and an ionic footbath 3 times and that made a big difference with how I felt.

The next 5 days I had more energy and felt pretty good. One of the things that you do during the 10 days is a salt water cleanse in the morning.  I only did it 3 times the first time and 4 times the second time and that is something that you can be more flexible about. If you don’t do that you need to make sure that you take an herbal laxative tea or a colon cleanse capsule of some sort that does not have too much fiber in it.

I followed the book’s instructions on how to break the cleanse and come off of it gradually and allow my system to accept food again. I have to tell you that on the evening of the second day of breaking the cleanse the vegetable soup that I made tasted like heaven and I savored every mouthful.  This cleanse for me was an answer.  I have tried to do cleanses before, but because my system is very sensitive to many medications, herbs and vitamins I have always reacted badly and not been able to continue. This one being only fresh lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup was simple and my system could handle all those things.

The most amazing thing that it did for me, was that it took away all the food cravings that I was struggling with before I began. Also as an added benefit I was able to lose 14lbs that I did not put back on after I was finished. The weight loss was not my primary purpose for doing it, but I was happy with what happened. If you don’t want to lose weight or if you need to gain weight then you can adjust the amount of the maple syrup to accomplish whatever you need to do.

This cleanse gave me the kick start that I needed to begin a healthier lifestyle. I have just finished doing it for the second time and during this one felt much better throughout it than I did the first time. There were some different things that I experienced throughout the 10 days, but nothing that stopped me from doing all the things that I had to. Also I did the ionic footbath and infared sauna 4 times during the 10 days and that was a big help.

In total I have lost 20 lbs since the first cleanse and have been able to keep my eating in check and do not feel deprived. People have told me that my skin looks really good and that my whole being just looks different. I can eat pretty much anything, but just much much less of it, especially sweets and junk food. Also, I am trying to eat as little wheat as possible.

For me this was an answer and something that was pretty easy to do both time wise for the preparation and cost and not feeling deprived of food. If anyone is thinking of doing it, I would strongly encourage you to follow the instructions very closely for going into it, while you are on it, and also coming off of it.

Last week I attended a 4-day conference in Chicago on nutrition and chronic disease.  The conference itself was fantastic, but I’m writing this blog to tell you of my 4-day love affair with the free samples of magnesium glycinate (the same form of magnesium found in our very own Mag Calm and Essential Calm) that were provided at the conference.  You see, the conference was sponsored by a supplement company that wanted to make sure the practitioners in attendance knew all about the wonders of their supplements so they had open bottles of their entire product line for us to sample.

Magnesium is commonly used for the nutritional treatment of a diversity of issues including osteoporosis, pre-menstrual syndrome, fatigue, fibromyalgia, arthritis, insomnia, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arrhythmia, and diabetes.  I personally experience none of the above but since an estimated 80% of the US population doesn’t get enough magnesium in their daily diet I thought I’d take advantage of the free samples.

After just one day of taking about 400 milligrams of magnesium I found myself sleeping better, waking up easier, and just generally feeling relaxed and refreshed – which is not usually how I feel when sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day listening to scientific lectures.  The dosage I took is slightly above the RDA of 310 mg/day for women but magnesium is hard to overdose on when taken orally – if you get too much your body will eliminate the extra via the bowels (translation: if you find yourself running to the bathroom, you took too much).  The only exception to this would be if you have inadequate kidney function or are on medications that alter your metabolism of magnesium.

As I write this blog I’m staring at my own bottle of Mag Calm, which I keep by my computer to remind me to keep up the experiment I started at the conference.  It’s been a week and I’m still feeling energetic and waking up refreshed and happy in the morning which is highly unusual for me when it starts getting cold outside!

Magnesium has so many amazing qualities that I couldn’t do it justice in one blog so I wanted to also provide you with a link to one of my favorite reference websites on nutrition – the Linus Pauling Institute.  Here is the link to their page on magnesium.  Enjoy!
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/magnesium/