Moving Strongly Forward

Blood Work Results - Vitamin D and Cholesterol

Given how my family eats, you would think our blood work would be stellar, but that is hardly the case.

Vitamin D

Take Colson’s Vitamin D level, for instance. Abysmal. This kid has hardly worn sunscreen in his life (he did wear some his first three years in Florida where he was born, but not much.) He has worn it once in five years in North Carolina. He is in the sun every day in the Spring, Summer and Fall, often for hours and especially when we go to the lake. He swims on the swim team. He is tan, tan, tan! He takes fermented cod liver oil, which is high in the natural and supposedly easy to absorb vitamin D. And his vitamin D level? 23. We are “supposed” to be above 30. My vitamin D level (and I am with Colson, out in the sun a lot and I take fermented CLO too) is 22. You can read more about my vitamin D deficiency here (I hope to get tested again soon): More on Vitamin D Deficiency.

My Dr. of Oriental Medicine says that we don’t absorb D for some reason, so we are on a special, emulsified blend of natural D - the brand is Apex Energetics Ultra-D Complex (K-35). We are taking three times the recommended adult dosage for a few weeks. After that we back off to the regular adult dosage. The regular dosage has 500% of the USDA recommended amount of vitamin D, so we are taking 1,500% the dosage. There is no messing around with D when it comes to my doc. It will be interesting to get Colson’s lab results when he tests again.

As an interesting aside, who know how much longer we will be able to get the healthy natural vitamin D we are taking: Betrayal of a Nation: Why U.S. health authorities are keeping you vitamin D deficient and who stands to gain.

Cholesterol

Here is another shocker. Ryan’s cholesterol is out of whack. He is 267 total and his ratios are crazy:

• Triglycerides are high( should be less than 150)

• HDL is low (should be greater than 60)

• LDL is high (should be less than 100)

These results are similar to the results of three years ago. I have been telling him to get off of the damn French press coffee, which is known to severely mess with cholesterol, and he finally has.

Get a load of this quote from Science Daily about cafestol, an ingredient in French ress coffee (How Coffee Raises Cholesterol):

In fact, cafestol is the most potent dietary cholesterol-elevating agent known, said Dr. David Moore, professor of molecular and cellular biology at BCM, and Dr. Marie-Louise Ricketts, a postdoctoral student and first author of the report. Cafetiere, or French press coffee, boiled Scandinavian brew and espresso contain the highest levels of the compound, which is removed by paper filters used in most other brewing processes.

Here is another interesting news report:

But a cholesterol check may be in order for people who use a French press or percolator to make their coffee or who prefer espresso or other varieties of unfiltered coffee, according to Dr. Michael J. Klag, the vice dean for clinical investigation at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

In 2001, Klag and his colleagues reviewed more than a dozen studies that looked at the relationship between coffee consumption and cholesterol levels. They found that drinking an average of six cups of coffee a day was associated with increased total cholesterol and LDL, the harmful type of cholesterol. Nearly all of the rise in cholesterol was linked to unfiltered coffee.

Ryan drank his French press coffee double strength and fits the profile for the raised and out of whack cholesterol it causes. In addition, he continued to hurt the recovery of his adrenal glands, which were fried by his efforts to clear his former ADD brain fog by using stimulants like coffee. All because he likes the taste.

If you want to know about Ryan’s ADD cure, read this post: Husband Blog – ADHD Update.

Here is Ryan’s 2009 journey to get off of coffee: Husband Health Update, Getting off Coffee - Round 2, Day 4, and Husband Blog - Getting off Coffee Final Round. Unfortunately, due to layoff we didn’t have the financial resources to get his cholesterol tested after he kicked coffee to the curb the first time.

Why did Ryan get back on coffee in the summer of 2010? A job. An overly crazed, amped up contract job that he couldn’t refuse in this economy of limited work choices. And once he started coffee again he was hooked…until now.

With 43 years behind him and a super energetic Colson eager for even more physical “Papa” activity, Ryan has finally kicked the coffee habit again, and for good I hope! It will be interesting to see what his blood work reveals in a couple of weeks.

My husband is a great sport for contributing to my blog and putting up with my being so frustrated around his coffee habit. I just want him around and adventuring with me well into our 90s and beyond.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream You Can Buy (and it is comparatively healthy)

I haven’t found an ice cream that meets many of my healthy criteria until now. It is called So Delicious. In the left hand column under Brand scroll over to So Delicious, Frozen, Coconut Based, Frozen Dessert to get a list of flavors. Scrolling over the Purely Decadent variety gives another list of flavors that I would eat, provided they don’t have sugar.

The website and reality in the store are a little confusing, though. For instance, yesterday I bought So Delicious Mint Chip, which the website doesn’t show as a product for So Delicious, but it is a product for Purely Decadent. Further, the ingredients in the So Delicious are different than the ingredients listed on the Purely Decadent website. What really caught my eye in the store in addition to there being no milk (we are avoiding milk for Colson right now and we prefer ours to be raw not pasteurized) is that there is no Agave sweetener, which I avoid like the plague because it is highly manufactured and been likened to High Fructose Corn Syrup.

What are the ingredients in our lovely new ice cream?

Organic coconut milk (water, organic coconut cream), gum Arabic, chocolate flake (coconut oil, erythritol, inulin, cocoa processed with alkali, chocolate liquor, vanilla, Reb A (stevia extract)), vegetable glycerin, chicory root extract, erythritol, natural flavors, sea salt, locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, monk fruit extract.

I am not big on the Reb A (stevia) because it is manufactured, but I will bite the bullet on that one. Wish they would use raw honey, though.

So what are some of these other ingredients? It is always an education and the devil is in the details. As I write this post and learn about the other ingredients, I am not as excited about the ice cream, but I think we will eat it every now and then. Click here to find out about the ingredients and their pros and cons:

Erythritol

Inulin  

Vegetable Glycerin

Locust Bean Gum

Guar Gum  

Carrageenan

Gum Arabic

In addition to the links above, you should do some reading on your own. Take Carrageenan for example. Apparently it has been linked to cancer in rats, likened to MSG and a few other negative things.

Clearly, the best choice is to make your own food when you can. Our coconut cream concentrate will be arriving any day now, so I will tinker with it, use some honey to sweeten, and some extracts and fresh fruits to flavor if we want. In lieu of that I will still eat this ice cream here and there. I feel ok about that because we buy almost nothing processed/manufactured. Literally almost nothing. I think we can handle a little carrageenan here and there.

Have Cancer [or Know Someone Who Does]? Get Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez

Dr. Joseph Mercola posted this great interview with Dr. Gonzalez today: The Cancer Treatment So Successful - Traditional Doctors SHUT it Down

I met Dr. Gonzalez in November 2010 at the Weston A. Price conference. I was the room monitor for his six hour session and got to know him a bit over the three day conference. You can read about my experience here: WAP Conference – Nick Gonzalez, MD and Cancer. One of his patients follows my blog, and you can read about her experience here: A Brave Journey – a Patient of Dr. Gonzalez’s.

Take some time and listen to Dr. Mercola’s interview with Dr. Gonzalez. It may save your life or the life of a loved one.

Guest Post – Getting Pregnant Naturally (Thanks GAPS!)

My friend Celia sent me this post. Such an exciting victory for her and so inspirational I had to share. Here we go…

When my husband and I first decided it was time to start a family I really didn’t know what to expect.  My husband, though, did…”oh, honey, we’ll be pregnant in a few months…it will be easy.” 

Six months and still no pregnancy. I started to feel like it wouldn’t be so easy after all and wondered why I’d spent 13 years on birth control pills and was that the cause of our infertility (I did stop taking them a full year before we started officially trying)?  Deciding to get serious I armed myself with a thermometer, charting paper, and more knowledge about cervical mucus than anyone really needs to know. I became very focused. When that didn’t work I consulted an herbalist, the internet, ate maca root (YUCK!!!!!), did acupuncture and finally went to see an infertility doctor.  The infertility doctor tested for blockages; none.  He tested my husband’s swim team; swimming just fine. 

He then did an ultra sound and mentioned something called PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) , which is a common cause of infertility in women.  Not really liking his diagnosis I left the office and did nothing for a few months. Then one day I found myself doubled over in pain so intense that I passed out in the doctor’s office.  Whisked away to the ER I went.  Upon arrival I underwent a series of tests until they found internal bleeding.  I had a ruptured ovarian cyst.  Ah, yes, the PCOS…lucky for us a very nice gynecologist was on call that night and he became our new infertility doctor.  I gave in too.  I accepted the PCOS diagnosis and we went down the road of clomid plus HCG shot and in our second cycle we got pregnant.  A happy ending, right?  Well, yes, our son is fabulous, but I still felt like my body had seriously let me down.  For years I’d followed a nourishing diet based in the Weston A. Price principals.  Why was this happening to us?  What was wrong with my body?

Fast-forward three years and I was still wondering.  My husband and I hadn’t used any birth control since the birth of our son (aside from having a co-sleeping, breastfeeding toddler in our bed;-) and we weren’t pregnant with number 2.   I was also dealing with irritable bowel issues.  A friend, Laura, suggested I try the GAPS diet.  Eager for the promise of no more carb cravings and no more diarrhea I went full steam ahead onto the intro GAPS diet.  WOWZERS, that was tough and I certainly detoxed hard!  But after two weeks on the intro I moved onto the full GAPS diet and felt great.  Two months into the diet we got pregnant!  NATURALLY!  A SURPRISE!  Yes, my body could do it without drugs and doctors!

While on the GAPS diet (and through some cheating) I learned that I am sensitive to eggs, tomatoes, gluten, and canola oil.  I’ve slowly come off the diet; though still eat in a very GAPS-ish way.  Today I’m 16 weeks pregnant!  I truly believe GAPS is the reason we were able to get pregnant naturally.  It allowed me to identify foods that my body can’t handle and helped me detox so my body was ready for a health pregnancy.

Love Affair with the Farmers Market

I love going to the farmers market. It makes me feel more in tune with the earth and the seasons. Each season brings an incredible abundance of nourishing food. I so enjoy talking with the farmers and hearing about how their planting and harvests are coming and getting to know them personally. They share useful tips regarding preparing the food they grow, they give me the occasional gift of a food that I haven’t tried, and our beekeeper/honey provider always gives honey sticks to Colson and his friends (we meet lots of friends at the market).

I am fortunate to be in North Carolina, because we have four growing seasons. After a longer than usual winter, when we still enjoyed delicious greens, Brussels sprouts and locally and sustainably raised meats and eggs from the farmers market, Spring is here! I love all of the seasons, but Spring may be my favorite because of the explosion of food that it brings: the lettuces are amazing, tomatoes are back, along with broccoli, herbs, and STRAWBERRIES! Finally, strawberries. As spring progresses, more foods will become available, and then on to summer with its amazing squashes, peppers, watermelons, corn and more. The earth just keeps on giving.

An Unexpected Benefit Caused by Eating Local

Almost three years ago, my family removed all processed foods from our diet. We now purchase approximately 75 percent of our food (and sometimes more) from the farmers market or directly from local farms. So many surprises have come from our switch from the stores to the farmers market. Perhaps the most unexpected was how our waste production was affected. Both our landfill waste and our recycling waste dramatically declined. Why? Because cracker boxes, pasta boxes, yogurt cups, juice boxes, egg cartons, cereal boxes, cookie boxes, jars of various sauces and more are banished from our waste stream. If we don’t consume it, we can’t recycle it or bury it.

What do I do with the egg cartons that hold the eggs that I purchase directly from the farmer every week? I return them so that the farmer can reuse them. And the community supported agriculture (CSA) box? Return it to the farmer for reuse. How about the jars that hold the honey I purchase? I either use them to store the broth that I make from the chicken and beef bones, or I return them to the honey farmer so that he can reuse them.

Health Benefits

I make about 98 percent of our food, and the benefits are far reaching. Our health has soared because of eating locally grown, mostly organic, nourishing food. Seasonal allergies, ADHD, and the aches and pains that people associate with being over 40 have been greatly reduced or almost eliminated. In fact, the older we get the better we feel. Obviously there is a lot to undo in terms of the bad health effects caused by eating industrially raised and processed “foods.” By choosing the farmers market, our local farmers are supported, which is critical to prevent even greater control of our food stream by industrial farms.

Personal Economic Benefits

I have many personal stories to share regarding the economic benefits of eating locally and sustainably raised foods, and I have settled on this one. Ryan, my husband, was laid off for the second time in two years. We were three months into that one, and the company gave no notice or severance. The first layoff lasted six months and was economically devastating. We had to pay the mortgage for our former home in Florida that we were trying to sell, our rent in North Carolina, and later I was laid off too. “Financial cushion” was not part of our vocabulary, and clearly a second layoff was stressful.

Many people say that they can’t afford the “healthy” food, but believe me it is possible if you just use your meat bones to make broth and turn the broth into a lentil or bean and rice soup. One chicken can go a long way – into 12 or 14 meals even.

We made it on our own financially by piecing work together. Even so, people were so generous to us. Our veggie CSA farmer put extra into our box and told us to ask for whatever we need. Our beef farmer regularly asked how Ryan’s job search was coming, and he tried and give us beef, which I refused because we were committed to making it on our own. Regardless of our efforts, we were supposed to ask if we needed meat because they knew what it is like to go through tough times and they wanted to help. Eventually they just forced it on us and we were immensely grateful.

How is that for community? Farmers are just kind-hearted.

Must Have Information if You are New to the Farmers Market

If you want to buy healthy food affordably, visit your local farmers market and ask, ask, ask your questions so that you really get what you want. I believe that 99% of farmers are honest. They will tell you the truth regarding whether or not they use insecticides, fungicides, other chemicals, and in the case of animals, hormones and/or antibiotics. They will knowingly give up your sale by telling you the truth about their use of chemicals, for example.

I know from personal experience, however, that there is the very rare farmer that isn’t truthful, so you want to ask and ask again. Here are a few questions to ensure that you are purchasing healthy food:

• Is your food genetically modified? Read List of Genetically Modified Foods for more information.

• Is your food organic? If it isn’t certified organic, is it grown in organic conditions anyway? Certification is expensive and many small farmers do not seek it even though they grow organically.

• Are pesticides used?

• Do you use hormones or antibiotics when raising your animals? Note that only lamb and beef are legally permitted to receive hormones, and poultry receives only antibiotics. Ideally you want to purchase from a farmer who uses neither of these and makes the correct claims in their advertising and labeling. For example, a farmer who makes the claim that the chickens are added hormone-free is making misleading claim to try to pump up their reputation. Chickens can’t receive hormones, so the claim is meaningless. I avoid those farmers.

• Does the farmer’s verbal advertising match his written advertising. If not, that is a great big red flag. There are laws governing written advertising. If a farmer won’t write the claim down, then it probably isn’t true.

• Are animals raised free range on pasture as opposed to “free range” and cooped up in a barn?

• Does the farmer supplement his food production with purchases from another farm? If so, what is the name of the farm and do they use sustainable practices? If you want to purchase the product, be sure to ask the second farm the questions in this article.

• Will the farmer let you visit the farm with very little notice? If a farmer finds excuse after excuse to keep you from visiting, avoid purchasing from her. You don’t even have to go to the farm, although that is always helpful for understanding your food. Just knowing that you can visit with little notice is reassuring because it signals that the farmer is an honest farmer who doesn’t need to hide things he doesn’t want you to see.

How to Find Farmers Markets and Farms

If you don’t know how to find local food resources, visit Local Harvest to start your search. A Google search will bring helpful information too.

With Every Bite You Eat…

You determine how you will live. Local, sustainable farmers are critical to helping you and your family thrive. If you want to reject the American paradigm of falling apart as you age and lead a vibrant life instead, your local farmers will be a key. In addition to eating great food, you will also make some tremendous friends. Farmers are wonderful, caring, supportive, uplifting, wise people. Who wouldn’t benefit from knowing them?

Great Big FUN Reminder!

Ryan, Colson and I are just back from the Rugged Maniac race in Asheboro, NC. This was an absolutely incredible experience that I recommend for anyone who wants to shake up their life a little and who can walk. There are a lot of really ripped, in shape people there, but there are a lot of regular people and pretty out of shape people too. And they all had great big goofy grins by the end.

Grownups take life so seriously. We think we have fun, but most of us don’t know how to really unwind and let it all hang out. We don’t know how to live in the present moment, either. Rugged Maniac will take care of all of that and more.

A guy from our Buddhist center had just finished the race when we saw him (we hadn’t raced yet). I looked at him, covered from head to foot in total mud and thought – what a surprise to see him and I am not going to give that muddy mess of a human a hug! He was dirty! YUCK!

Then it was Ryan’s and my turn, along with four of our friends. The Maniac does a great job getting you pumped up as you wait for the starting gun, stomach quivering with anticipation and a little fear. Off we ran into mud so deep that it was over our ankles, Black Eyed Peas blasting in the background. Two steps in I was over getting dirty and wished I had hugged the guy from the Buddhist center. Then we dove into a mud/water wallow, with a little cow manure thrown in and rocks covering the bottom. It smelled. It was a cold and overcast day (55°) and the water was cold, but you didn’t feel it. You did feel the rocks on the bottom, though, and I have the cut knees and seriously bruised shins to prove it. Even so, you just kept thinking about moving ahead.

Out of the water and into more over-the-ankle mud, followed by the forest run with walls and tire obstacles. We hit these low walls and the group queued up. I looked down at my burning knees and saw blood dripping. Then I looked at everyone else’s knees, and most of them were bleeding too. I said “Hey, look!” and pointed at their knees. It kind of snapped them all back out of their heads and into engagement with the crowd. They just looked around too. It was a really weird kind of bonding moment.

Black Eyed peas cranking through my head, I eventually ran ahead of Ryan (he was sick the past week with a bad lung thing, but he still rocked it!). Fluid as can be and lungs burning, I passed lots of people, many younger than I and many of them male. Hah!

The mud was everywhere. Occasionally through the forest a tree was needed for support, but the trunk was so muddy from all the other dirty runners before us that it wasn’t much good. I hit the cargo net (probably 12 feet tall we estimate), climbed it like a monkey and then launched off the other end into the cushy stuff below. Didn’t land on my butt (like I was supposed to) but on my feet instead and seriously tweaked my knee. Thought I might not finish the race, but I kept going and the pain disappeared. I think I should thank my stabilizer muscles, as the thousands of squats and lunges I have done probably saved me.

There were two really tall walls. Really, really tall. Even if I used the little 2x4 piece of wood to help leap myself, I couldn’t have gotten over. Lots of women were hoisted over by men, but that wall was so muddy and so slick with no landing pad on the other side that I bowed out of those two walls, even though Ryan’s buddy was there to help. I helped catch some women on the other side, though.

Then we were off to the flames. It was a double fire pit, and it was serious. You had to take it at a run and you had to take it hard. I leaped the first and the second with room to spare. That was my big concern and it was no problem at all, but I did feel the heat.

Kept on hauling and made it to the final obstacle – a gigantic water slide. I waited for Ryan and my friends. Three went on ahead and three of us finished together. This slide was freakin’ huge! I climbed up, and down I went, screaming all the way. It was insane! Into crazy muddy water with these floating obstacles – five I think. My glasses were still intact and on my face, so that was a victory in and of itself. And the water felt good, even though it was so gross!

I made it to the end, happy as can be, hoisted myself out, and lost my shorts. Gave a great big moon to lots of cheers. I was so over everything that I am quite proud of myself for not getting embarrassed. I dropped back into the water tighten things up, and then I gracefully got out. Wonder how many moons were given that day?

Ryan, Jessica and I finished the race together, smiling as big as can be. It was an awesome day, an awesome experience, and I hope I can keep that feeling of freedom, fun and playfulness. When I see A.R. at the Buddhist center tomorrow I am going to give him that hug!

Rugged Maniac Tomorrow (Saturday)!

Well, it is almost here. I have been so engrossed in fighting Senate Bill 31 that I have neglected to open my race packet. Ryan tells me to strap in, so here I go.

Here is the first paragraph - this is going to be funny:

Congratulations! If you are receiving this e-mail, you are a confirmed registrant for the Rugged Maniac 5K - Greensboro, North Carolina! This race is going to be held on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at the Zoo City Motor Sports Park in Asheboro, North Carolina. We've just completed the course construction and we won't hold it against you if it reduces you to tears. 

Here is a part of the instructions:

• “Run like crazy and try not to die! Celebrate your glory!”

• Ummm… instruction 15. Obstacles

“This course is going to bury you!  It really is no joke. You may circumvent an obstacle that you feel is too difficult - however, if you do so, you are not eligible to win the race and qualify for a prize based on time.

“The fire obstacle WILL BE HAPPENING!”

If only I ran this race yesterday when we finished off Senate Bill 13 and I was pumped with adrenalin. I had more energy yesterday than I knew what to do with. Fire obstacle? – WHATEVER! would have been yesterday’s response. Today, though, a fire obstacle seems…l am not going to think about it anymore, other than it wouldn’t be part of the course if it was really dangerous.

• After the race sounds good from my geek food perspective – check this out!

Finish line fare will be flax-seed energy bars from Leo's Bakery (gluten-free)…

• Ok, Ryan can do the after race log rolling contest…he is amazing on his feet:

“And the ruggedness doesn’t stop after the race is over - afterwards, we offer some truly rugged amusements in our after-party area: a log rolling contest and a hammer tossing contest. “

So how has the training been going? For me great. I was stuck in Vibram/hurt ankle hell combined with running shoe achy knee heck. I have never had achy knees, but I worked my body out of running shoes thanks to the Vibrams, but the Vibrams obviously were not good for me either, so it was back to running shoes and achy knees because of an unaccustomed body. Now all my joints seem to be working fine. I will take some preemptive homeopathic Arnica before the race and quickly follow up with some after the race just to be sure the joints are fine.

Our new dog, Nelly, has been a great training partner. She always ups the pace on our three mile morning jaunts. Ryan came down with a lung sickness, so I have been taking Nelly on her morning outings for the last six days. Yesterday was the final test and I passed – running fluid and strong with no ankle or knee pain up and down some pretty big hills.

Ryan, on the other hand, has been down for the last six days because of his wacky lung sickness. Thank goodness for our Dr. of Oriental Medicine – his herbs quickly curbed it and saved me as well when I began to feel it. Ryan will go out with Nelly this morning and see how he does.

Overall, Ryan and I are stronger and fitter. We have both dropped some unneeded weight, and working out with Nelly is a big part of that.

We shall see what we shall see tomorrow. I do know one thing. I haven’t pushed myself physically in new ways since naturally giving birth to Colson. That is eight years of physical stagnation (actually five of those were physical decline if you have been reading my blog for awhile). I am glad that my body is moving so well. Now I just need to wrap my mind around mud, obstacles and fire.

North Carolina CAM Practitioners Safe For Now - Thank You and How We Did It

Yesterday was an amazing day. For me it was a precedent-setting day of accomplishment because a virtual flash mob of upset citizens stormed the capitol over the past week and turned around a very bad bill, which I wrote about here: North Carolina Trying to Make Complementary Practitioners Felons – Please TAKE ACTION! While I orchestrated the effort and had critical help from several people, including one Holistic Mom who made very strong, energetic, fantastic efforts (I am not including her name because she prefers a low profile), those on the receiving end had no idea what hit them. I think that a spur of the moment, frantic, organic grassroots effort with no identifiable leadership may have produced a highly effective way of dealing with a bad government problem. It was a method that I wouldn’t have dreamed up, but circumstance dictated it. Thanks to lack of time, being unknown on the NC political scene, and a frantic need to stop a “done deal” a powerful helter-skelter citizen response resulted.

This was extremely not “By the Book.” Non-profit grassroots efforts are very formulaic and follow the same pattern/playbook a non-profit:

• Identifies a problem

• Creates an Action Alert/Take Action call to its membership

• The membership responds

• The target then usually approaches the non-profit to find out what is wrong and how they might fix it

• The target decides what, if anything, it might do in response.

In the case of SB 31, none of that occurred. One of my complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners made me aware of the problem, a day later I delved into it, another practitioner/friend brought me up to speed quickly as I did my research, and then I was off and running. I was shouting out to a core group of people from my Holistic Moms Network local chapter that we needed to get moving and stop this. Note that Holistic Moms Network itself takes no political positions, and they did not participate as an organization in the SB 31 effort.

I frantically wrote a take action with some talking points. It was far from my best work, and it drove me nuts. I updated it with more talking points thanks to ideas thrown out by another Holistic Mom (thanks Beth!) and sent it again, which is a foul in the non-profit playbook – try to never, ever send two actions alerts within an hour. I know how a campaign should be run because I was a lobbyist and grassroots organizer before moving to North Carolina and becoming a full-time homeschooling mom. I know how this is supposed to work, darn it, and there just wasn’t enough time to get it “right”, but we had to roll with it.

The bill was a done deal in the House, or so I thought, so I directed a veto campaign to at Governor Perdue the day before the final House vote. That is not in the usual non-profit playbook either. Amazingly, the effort must have done something because the House delayed the vote, and they were not the target of the effort – the Governor was.

I started to think that maybe we should contact the representatives, so I produced another action alert/talking points and I send it to a larger audience. I contacted Natural News for help (going to a larger organization for help is in the non-profit playbook), but it took them a few days to catch up and dive in, so we were still on our own.

My Holistic Mom friend who is low profile is now cranked up and she is on a tear to network the latest call to action, which was great because I had to largely drop the effort for two days. She worked like crazy. Come Monday the vote was delayed again and we got wind of a possible amendment. We worked even harder to grow the opposition to the bill.

Natural News has now entered the fray and I contacted the Speaker of the House on Tuesday to let his relatively non-responsive and unconcerned aide know that there is now national coverage via Natural News and the outrage over SB 31 has gone national. In addition, I let her know that an effort is under way to get The Daily Show involved. That had the aide’s attention more than ever. The fear of national coverage and The Daily Show is immense in the state government world.

The legislators were blindsided by the outpouring of opposition.

We kept networking the issue and growing the opposition, with all of our efforts being electronic. I now really get the power of social networking.

With Natural News on board, our opposition to SB 31now has an identifiable talking head. Natural News did an amazing job creating an even greater fury around SB 31, resulting in more calls and emails of opposition from around the United States. Mike Adams, the editor, has a wicked way with cutting to the heart of the matter and growing the opposition via his national/international audience. The legislators are now talking to him and his editorial staff about the bill and how to actually amend it in order to remove the language that would make felons out of most CAM practitioners. They amended and we won.

It was so sweet to hear the House floor discussion yesterday, with my Representative leading the charge to amend the bill. A number of Reps talked about the outpouring of emails and phone calls in opposition to the original bill. We created a storm in a week, caught the legislators sleeping, and created critical change. They actually listened to the constituents, which was huge given that the licensed (acupuncturists and chiropractors) and hoping to be licensed parts of the CAM community were silent (midwives) or fighting to undermine our efforts (naturopaths). Those are the communities the legislature had been talking to. To get blindsided by a force out of nowhere was a shock and definitely not in the non-profit/lobby or legislature playbooks.

Would we have been successful without Natural News? I think so. Our statewide grassroots effort was huge with the help of my Holistic Mom friend and others. The word spread and spread and I can trace my original alerts many generations as they were forwarded.

I am going to write a white paper on the SB 31 effort, as it is outside of my professional experience and I don’t have any associates that I know of who have done anything similar. Maybe an unidentifiable, out of nowhere, last minute uprising is more effective than the usual stuff that I and everyone else in the non-profit world knows to do.

Finally, here is the celebration email that I sent out yesterday afternoon. I most sincerely thank all of my readers who took action:

We did it!! Today Representative Jennifer Weiss amended the terrible Senate Bill 31 and excluded Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners from being felons. It passed the House on second reading 111 to 5 and then third reading by majority voice vote!  Now it goes back to the Senate for approval and then to the Governor’s desk for approval. SB 31 will now only make felons out of people who wrongfully claim to be licensed for medical practice and actually practice medicine.

I anticipate that the Senate will easily pass the amended bill, as Senator Mansfield, the bill’s sponsor, coordinated with Representative Weiss on the amendment. A number of Reps stood up in support of Senator Weiss’ amendment, and they all talked about the many, many emails and calls they received.

All the herbalists, homeopaths, naturopaths, midwives Ayurvedic healers and others can breathe a sigh of relief for now. The most they can do is still charge you with a misdemeanor.

The House and Senate intend to come back at some point and tinker with the laws to address CAM more in depth, and we need to be alert and wary, but at least we can celebrate for now.

Thank you for taking the time to write and call. What is truly amazing about this experience is that an organic grassroots movement not associated with any organization quickly took shape and stormed the capitol. In a week we were able to completely turn around a bad bill. Not in all my years working on government/political issues have I seen anything like that. In fact I became so jaded that government was not responsive to the people that I pretty much lost hope. Now I have it back. We yelled and they listened.

Next on my docket…maybe a Constitutional Amendment for health care choice in NC. I need to decide if I am going to carve out a niche for myself and try to bring some unity to the CAM community and represent them. The Naturopaths hung the others out to dry and the Acupuncturists and Chiropractors did not alert the others to this bill (which did not concern them because they are exempt). The CAM community needs to work together and have very open lines of communication. But then…we were so powerful on the spur of the moment that maybe it should stay that way. It certainly was a new approach and it shocked the legislature.

Thanks everyone!

GREAT BIG SMILES!

Laura

We Did It! NC Bill Amended

Don't have much time to write now, but after a week of working my butt off, the bill to make CAM practitioners felons was amended to exempt them from felony! Thanks to all who responded to the calls to action and contacted their legsilators!!!

It truly is amazing that in this day and age a true, unorganized grassroots movement can influence what the legislature does!!

Naturopaths throw NC CAM under the bus!

This is a time when North Carolina needs to be united in fighting the horrible legislative bill SB 31, which would make homeopaths, naturopaths, herbalists, aromatherapists and so many others felons. Instead, the Natuorpaths have thrown all the others under the bus. In the past day I have learned that the sponsor of SB 31 contacted the Naturopaths about his bill very early on, and, according to the sponsor, they didn't object. The sponsor was shocked when he started getting calls and emails last week opposing his bill when it was so far down the road to approval.

Well, guess what. My efforts and the efforts of others to fight this bill have paid off. The NC House will have one if not two amendments offered today that will fix the problem and prevent the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners from being charged with a felony. Victory is at hand, right?

Oh, not so fast! The Naturopaths have not only thrown everyone else under the bus by not sharing the information on the bill when they first learned about it...they are backing the bus up to do it again. Naturopaths are mobilizing their clients to support the bill and make all the other practitioners felons. Why you ask, incredulously? They say it is because the legislature has stated that they do not intend for the legislation to affect the CAM practitioners. Further, the Naturopaths claim, the bill sponsor claims to have a letter from the North Carolina Medical Board promising that they will not punish CAM practitioners.

Really!?!? Really, really, really?!?! Naturopaths believe promises and would rather have promises than a law that relieves them and others of felony charges? Are they that DUMB? NAIVE? Or did they cut a deal? Did they promise not to oppose SB 31 in exchange for the licensure that they are seeking legislative approval for this legislative session. You see, if Naturopaths get licensure, then they are exempt from SB 31. I haven't been able to confirm this scenario, but it is the only one that makes sense. 

Meanwhile, they are in force trying to get people to stop opposing SB 31, even as I write this. 

I tell you what. So many of us organized to fight this bill, and we could have been good allies to the Naturopaths as they tried to get licensure. It is hard to support someone, though, when they are running the bus over you again. 

North Carolina Trying to Make Complementary Practitioners Felons – Please TAKE ACTION!

NOTE THAT ON ARIL 7 THE BAD BILL DISCUSSED BELOW WAS SUCCESSFULLY AMENDED AND THE BILL IS NO LONGER A THREAT

What have I been doing for the past week? Trying to stop the North Carolina legislature from making felons out of homeopaths, naturopaths, herbalists, aromatherapists, some midwives and others. Just a small little task. IF ONLY!

I didn’t find out about Senate Bill 31 (SB 31), which clarifies the penalty for the practice of unauthorized medicine, until it was fully approved by the NC Senate and scheduled for its one and only NC House of Representatives committee stop.

I was a lobbyist. I know how bills are supposed to work. A legislator files a bill (usually with loads of co-sponsors if it is far-reaching like this one). The bill gets sent to three or four committees in the House and Senate. Public testimony is taken at committee meetings. If it makes it out of committee and onto the full House and Senate floors and it is ultimately approved, then it goes to the Governor for signature or veto.

What has happened with SB 31? There is one bill author and no sponsors other than the author. One committee meeting in the Senate and one in the House. The public at large (aka me) didn’t find out about it until the Senate passed it and the House was poised to approve it at its one committee meeting. NO PUBLIC TESTIMONY WAS TAKEN at the House committee meeting. This meeting was the only one that occurred when the public was finally starting to learn about the bill. The meeting was moved at the last moment without notice and you would think that would derail public attendance. Still, the room was packed and no public comment received. With some debate it was passed unanimously and scheduled for the full House to consider it, and then on to the Governor for approval.

By now I am fully out of political retirement, which I have enjoyed for five years. I worked for three days to derail this thing. The vote was delayed on Friday and again on Monday (April 4). Another Holistic Mom stepped up in a huge way and helped spread the word. And I mean in a huge way. This relatively shy person found her voice – and the NC legislature is paying.

It looked like there was no way to stop House approval, so we focused our efforts on alerting the Governor and going for the veto (we have only 11 days after House approval – if they approve it). Amazingly, the House deferred and we then realized we should contact our representatives and urge them to vote NO! The bill was deferred again until today (Tuesday). Now we are targeting the House Speaker. The email that I sent to him is below.

In addition to all of our local grassroots efforts, I contacted Mike Adams, the Health Ranger of the Natural News to ask for help and he was listening! His group put out a great alert: NC bill threatens to criminalize naturopaths, homeopaths, herbalists, midwives, aromatherapists as felons. With him on our side, I next contacted the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Here’s hoping they take on the issue as well.

Finally, here is the email I sent to the House speaker. If you want to make your voice heard and prevent a bad bill that could bleed over to other states, please make the calls using the contact information provided in the natural news article NC bill threatens to criminalize naturopaths, homeopaths, herbalists, midwives, aromatherapists as felons. If you want to email the Speaker, you can reach him here: Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net.

Dear Speaker Tillis,

I am glad that the NC House has again delayed the vote on SB 31. I remain adamantly opposed to this bad bill. So opposed, in fact, that I contacted Mike Adams of the internationally known Natural News (www.naturalnews.com). He has posted an action alert and emailed interested citizens http://www.naturalnews.com/031953_medical_practice_licensing.html. He is committed to fighting this bill and I will be coordinating with him and others if this bill makes it to the Governor’s desk. In addition, I have contacted The Daily Show and requested that they monitor what the House does with this bill and requested that they make commentary if the House passes it. The irony is unbelievable - Big Pharma and western medicine can injure and kill people regularly (the diabetes drug Avandia, statins, etc.) without penalty, yet alternative practitioners can be charged as felons even though they do not perform the same functions as those responsible for injuring and killing so many people in America and around the world.

Here are just a few statistics about the deaths that America’s mainstream medical system is legally immune from (http://www.cancure.org/medical_errors.htm), and this is certainly an underreporting of events and doesn’t include injuries:

The JOURNAL of the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA) Vol 284, No 4, July 26th 2000 article written by Dr Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, shows that medical errors may be the third leading cause of death in the United States.

The report apparently shows there are 2,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery; 7000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals; 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals; 80,000 deaths/year from infections in hospitals; 106,000 deaths/year from non-error, adverse effects of medications - these total up to 225,000 deaths per year in the US from iatrogenic causes which ranks these deaths as the # 3 killer. Iatrogenic is a term used when a patient dies as a direct result of treatments by a physician, whether it is from misdiagnosis of the ailment or from adverse drug reactions used to treat the illness. (drug reactions are the most common cause).

Clearly, there is a much bigger problem out there that must be addressed, and creating a felony charge for alternative practitioners does not even remotely take care of it.

Additional specific reasons for my opposition are as follows:

SB 31 flew under the radar until the last few days and the ease with which it went through the legislature, with only one committee stop in each house is staggering. I was appalled that there was no testimony taken during a packed House Judiciary Sub-committee meeting the other day. Now concerned citizens, and their numbers are growing as awareness spreads, are pretty much left with urging the Governor to veto this bad bill.

This bill has many consequences, the biggest of which is to make legitimate practitioners, including naturopaths, homeopaths, herbalists, Ayurvedic healers, aromatherapists, some midwives and others subject to felony charges. This will have a very chilling effect on a segment of health care that many of us rely strongly upon. There is no basis for subjecting these practitioners to the possibility of felony charges and it will certainly drive many out of practice for fear of losing many of the benefits of U.S. citizenship that comes along with being convicted of a felony. It is highly ironic that the makers of Avandia, the killer diabetes drug, and statins, which benefit no one, face no possible criminal charges, yet people who use food, herbs, and other methods do.

If SB31 becomes law, it will increase healthcare costs for everybody because it will shut down the option consumers currently have to seek care from alternative healthcare providers whose services are paid for out of pocket. Most alternative care providers are not covered by insurance policies, and consumers who would proactively choose to pay for healthcare services out of pocket, will suddenly be forced to find MD's and make use of their insurance thereby raising costs for all. Alternative health care consumers actually provide a much needed pressure release on the rising costs of healthcare in NC. Shutting down their access to alternative choices in care will increase health care costs in NC, and this is bad for everybody.

Finally, there are already laws on the books to handle any injury caused by someone impersonating a medical professional. This bill is unnecessary and grows the government bureaucracy at a time when fiscal resources are already too thin.

I wish this email was not so harsh, but with my alternative practitioners in trouble and with little time to act, I had to get straight to the point. They have been critical to my family’s health and I want to ensure that they will be here for years to follow – not snuffed out by a bad piece of legislation.

Thank you for your consideration of these points. Please vote NO on Tuesday.

Sincerely,

Laura Combs