In response to a question about stress

A reader asked if I have any food and natural remedy suggestions to help in coping with stress. Here are my recommendations:

1) First of all, on a daily basis try to take some time away from the source of stress -- this is harder for us marrieds-with-children when the source of stress is something like a teething child or a tired spouse, but if you can at all get some downtime just for you, be sure to make it a priority.
2) Take high-vitamin cod liver oil. See my other posts about this and just start doing it. When we are under stress our bodies become depleted of vitamin A, and CLO is the best backup source that we can take as a daily supplement. Vitamin A is needed to convert cholesterol into our hormones, and hormones will help keep us calm and on an even keel. Also, the high levels of vitamin D in CLO will support the immune system. Vitamins A and D work synergistically and really do help keep us well even in difficult circumstances or in the face of fatigue, stress, germ exposure, and cold weather.
3) Avoid stimulants as much as you can. These include things like sugar, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods (which contain many additives), and white flour -- easier said than done around the holidays when we are constantly eating cookies, drinking hot chocolate, and having drinks at parties! These foods put stress on the body, deplete us of important nutrients and minerals, and have the effect of jolting the adrenal glands to make them produce extra energy. This can end up making us feel even more stressed out because our adrenaline response is constantly activated. Think of it this way: each time you stimulate your adrenal glands, they continue firing for a full 24 hours. So if you have coffee every morning, guess what? your adrenal glands never get a day off. This spells big trouble when you come under additional stress, because your adrenals are likely fatigued and you will be tempted to stimulate them even more than usual to keep yourself going.
4) Fats from animals raised on grass are an important source of the cholesterol mentioned above which helps our bodies make the appropriate hormones. These fats are also great sources of the all-important vitamins A and D (also mentioned above). Focus on foods like butter, cream, egg yolks, lard, chicken fat (think chicken skin & roasting drippings!), and other meat fats. Fat from oily fish is wonderful as well. [When it comes to dairy, choose raw if you have the option, but if not always get organic, grass-fed & unhomogenized if you can, and never ever ultra-pasteurized.]
5) Treat yourself to something relaxing...like a special caffeine-free tea (try to get something that has only herbs, flowers, and fruits in it -- no natural flavors or other additives), a warm bath, or a massage. If you have a favorite way of relaxing, such as meditation, yoga, stretching, playing an instrument, or taking a walk in the woods, by all means make time for it! We all know that doing these things are important, but it's so easy to do everything else first...and then never have time for relaxation.

These days, we can work through anything!

Have you seen the new commercial for Delsym cough medicine? It shows people struggling to live their lives with the misery of an awful cold -- then they pour down some syrup and suddenly they are filled with energy and relief and are doing things like running marathons, playing in the snow, and cooking dinner for 20. Okay, so maybe I exaggerate a little...but you get the idea. It struck me as funny this time because it was suddenly so apparent how the message about illness is always the same: do whatever it takes to mask the symptoms for a few hours so you can carry on at your usual pace, or perhaps at an even faster rate since now you're all hopped up on medicine! To quote the Electrolux commercial out of context, we must always "be even more amazing" (clearly I watch too much television now!). What about a commercial that shows sick people staying in bed? drinking teas and bone broth? keeping warm? staying away from excessive stimulation and just resting? Even if they still have to be depicted taking some chemical cocktail with a chaser of high-fructose corn syrup and red dye number 3, at least they could be resting at the same time! But no! we must work no matter what happens, no matter how crappy we feel, no matter how sick we are.

In the past couple of months I have had two colds (the 2nd occurred after eating a cupcake, go figure - this is why I eat sugar about twice a year now instead of daily) and I have at last concluded that mainly it's from stress. After a certain point, my body somehow knows that the only way it's going to get me to rest and stop running like a hamster in a wheel is to break down for a little while. I am pretty sure that without these forced rest-holidays I would go full-tilt for years on end. Before the first cold in late October I hadn't been sick in a year, and I was definitely due for some lying-in time. I believe in taking something when you need it (like cough syrup if your cough won't let you sleep), but aside from that I think it's generally best to let your body work things out for itself, with the help of some nourishing bone broths, lots of fluids, and lots of rest. And maybe a break from the cupcakes. :)

Colorful stock

I am boiling our weekly bone broth for 24 hours this time, rather than the usual 6-8; we will see how it turns out! It certainly looked beautiful going into the pot, with the tops from a bunch of carrots and an onion, plus extra purple onion skins (after all, why let all that good stuff go into the compost? there's still a lot to be had from the leaves and skins of veggies). I always add 2 tbsp. raw vinegar to the water and let everything sit for about half an hour before turning on the heat to begin pulling minerals from the bones, cartilage, and veggies. You will see from the picture that we are still using an old unclaimed pot I snitched from my grad school apartment that has some sort of evil black coating on it (ugh). Any sponsors out there who want to send us a test pot? :)

*Note added later: This broth turned out oddly -- it tasted quite bad actually, somewhere between bitter and burned. I can only figure it was the carrot tops, though I have seen recipes that include carrot tops... the other possibility is that our horrible pot has at last bitten the proverbial dust, so maybe that was the problem. For my next batch I will stick with the conventional aromatic veggies and chicken - nothing else.

Food diary

In case you have ever felt curious to know exactly what I might eat in any given day, I am going to share my food diary with you today (not that I actually keep a food diary, I am just writing everything down here for once). I didn't really cook much today, just did a fair amount of snacking on little bits of things here and there, making meals out of what I had on hand. Here is the rundown (now you will see how weird I really am!):

oatmeal w/butter, coconut oil, maple syrup & milk
kombucha (b/c my stomach felt slightly unsettled)
chicken liver pate and butter on crackers (was out of ww. sourdough)
chicken broth
leftover stuffed pepper w/brown rice & ground beef w/organs
pinto beans refried in lard, w/salsa, sour cream & blue corn chips
beef tongue (from a friend -- delicious!)
jalapeno sauerkraut
raw milk w/raw egg yolk and 1/2 tsp. maple syrup
homemade apple muffin w/butter & salame rosa (Italian cured salami)
high-vitamin cod liver oil

Most of these things were very small portions, just a few bites in some cases. I am quite amazed at the variety here! If you were to look in our refrigerator you wouldn't think there was much of anything there, and the pantry only has things like dry beans, but somehow there was enough to eat.

Oliver had:

raw milk & cod liver oil
cheddar cheese
chicken liver pate (he kept eating more and more! I couldn't hold him back)
pumpkin custard (home-cooked pumpkin w/eggs, milk, maple syrup & spices)
refried black beans w/salsa and sour cream
beef tongue
scrambled egg
boiled carrots w/butter

There is truth in color...

...if only you pay attention!



After running out of our unbelievably fabulous truly yellow raw butter (this picture does not do it justice -- it is really a sunny bright yellow color) from cows on grass, I was forced to pick up the next best from Whole Foods: Natural by Nature grass-fed high-CLA butter. Not only did this prove to be a big compromise on flavor, but the COLOR--! Or, I should say, the utter LACK of color, even from a butter purported to be from cows on grass, was shocking. This butter should be yellow, which shows the high levels of vitamin A from the cows eating green grass but alas! it looks pale and pasty in comparison. And at $4.99 for 8 oz. of the whipped variety, it is not exactly a bargain. (We pay $9 for a whole pound of the good stuff, plus a 15% delivery fee -- definitely a better deal.)

It just reminded me yet again of how what's available even in the best stores is sub-par. I would have been better off buying Kerry Gold butter from Ireland I suppose, but the carbon footprint on that product is ridiculous and definitely doesn't justify buying it on a regular basis. I should add that I have been very happy with the special "summer" pastured butter from Organic Valley; it is actually quite delicious and has a fairly good yellow color. At Whole Foods it is $3.69, so definitely not cheap, but if you are looking for something good, have a great selection to choose from, and don't have access to local butter, this is what I would recommend.