Some months ago a friend served me a concoction of “green stuff” consisting of collards, spinach, a butter lettuce (I think) and carrots.  It was delicious.  She added pears and grapes to the mixture to make it naturally sweet and suggested I should start juicing.  I will admit I felt a boost of energy for the remains of that day and the next but never attributed the good feeling to her juice until much later.

I initially thought her ginormous juicer was some sort of industrial strength ultra-expensive device that was far beyond my means.  I asked around for juicer recommendations and the Breville Juice Fountain Elite kept coming up next to the Jack Lelaine juicer.  After much research I finally bit the bullet and asked my friend what she used and learned that delicious drink was made with the Breville.  Needless to say, my Christmas present to self was the Breville Juice Fountain Elite.

The other day, someone on Twitter asked for a juicer recommendation and of course I recommended this juicer.  It’s a little heavier than most but it’s fast, it does the job and it’s very easy to clean.  I use it to juice both fruits and vegetables.

Unlike other juicers I’ve seen, this one is easy to take apart and clean. I don’t have to worry about unscrewing parts and because of its metal construction, I don’t have to worry about plastic parts breaking.

According to the booklet that came with the juicer, placing a plastic bag in the pulp bin makes for easy clean up. Just pull the bag and toss it in the garbage. Trust me, this is what I’ve been doing.

Yesterday I finally faced a fear I had with placing a huge butternut squash in the juicer. I cut the squash into several small chunks and placed it in the juicer and to my surprise, the thing made quick work of the squash and pulverized it in no time flat.

I’ve been interested in juicing for a long time but it was not until my friend made that delicious cup of “green stuff” that I realized juicing vegetables does not have to mean “icky green stuff.”  It is far easier for me to throw some greens in a juicer than plan a meal hoping not to lose some of the nutrients in the cooking process.

If you’re in the market for a juicer and you want one that will do the job with little or no fuss, this is your juicer. I purchased mine at Bed, Bath & Beyond for about $299.00 and it is worth every penny.

What have I juiced: Collards, watercress, pears, grapes, squash, spinach, garlic, ginger, turnips, yams (sweet potatoes) and carrots. I’m sure I’ll add more to this list.  One note, the pulp is absolutely dry.

Juicer Demonstration

I certainly hope so because the last days of 2008 were a bit hectic.  Why?  I hate accounting but I need to do it so there you have it.

NYE and Parties

So, what did I do New Year’s Eve?  Absolutely nothing.  One, I had to work and that always puts a damper on things.  Two, though I had tickets to a party at Paramount, I chose not to go.  There was an annual party held this year in San Francisco but I didn’t want to fly to San Francisco, stay at an expensive hotel and find myself bored to tears wishing I had stayed home.  A few of my friends chose not to go to San Francisco as well.  However, early reports from those who went were a bit disconcerting.  Apparently, there were a lot of young people there and quite frankly, I did not expect that.

No, parties for me are out and I truly believe this is due in large part to my having partied too much in my young and dumb days.  I have come to that point in my life where I really don’t want to drive far from home, don’t like coming in late, and I have to admit I simply can’t stand some of the music being played.  It is either a sign of getting old or home is where the heart is.  I prefer the latter.

Goodbye iPhone

On the last day of the year I made the decision to drop the iPhone.  Well no, I’m not dropping the iPhone altogether but yes; I did call AT&T and said no mas!!!  Interestingly enough, I was told by the nice lady who took my call that the GoPhone option was not good on the iPhone.  I took that as total bunk because a friend of mine with an iPhone 3G with contract has had the same problems with receiving emails and dropped calls.  The problem is AT&T.

My iPhones (I have two of them) will be used more for creative pursuits like video, photos, Twitter etc. over WiFi.  They will become WiPhones with Skype and VoIP.  I will also use one of them in the gym which will free up my iPod Classic to do what it does best, recording lectures and conversations and off loading photos from my DSLRs.  None of the add-ons purchased for my iPod Classic works on the iPhone or iPod Touch.  Bummer.

New Year’s Resolutions

Well, I really can’t say this is a New Year’s Resolution per se.  Actually, it became more of an end-of-year resolution that extends into the New Year.  I was actually able to keep up with my routine of going to the gym every day.  I only missed one day and quite frankly, I am surprised I maintained that kind of discipline in the middle of year-end chaos.

If I can stick with that discipline and extend it to my diet, I will do just fine.  Unfortunately, smells do me in as I have found myself looking for ways to recreate these scents in a low sodium, low protein way.  Staying away from members of the nightshade group – potatoes and tomatoes – has been difficult at best and they have gotten me into plenty trouble.

With that, my New Year’s Resolution is “discipline,” which will help me in all aspects of my life.  I have been so undisciplined for so long – not to mention being a pouty little baby as well – it would benefit 360 degrees of my life.  So, gird up the loins woman – me talking to myself – it’s time to get this show on the road.

I became a fan of Malcolm Gladwell after reading his book, The Tipping Point.  Since then I’ve purchased other books by him, unfortunately, I’ve not had the time to delve into them.  I hope to soon.

The following video is not just about spaghetti sauce, it is about the power of choice and in true Gladwell style, he makes the story interesting by giving us a history lesson on spaghetti sauce and little about the food industry.  What was more important to me about this talk was how, by stringing all of these points together, demonstrates how polls and surveys don’t work.  We tend to stay stuck in the world of universals and not human variability.  I wish more would consider how we are all unique and not the cookie cutter person.

Older adults at risk of dangerous drug interactions — At least 2.2 million older adults in the United States take medications in combinations that could trigger potentially dangerous drug interactions and cause gastrointestinal bleeding, breakdown of muscles, disruption of heart rhythm and other serious medical problems, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center.  Half of the drug interactions involved over-the-counter medications like aspirin or dietary supplements.  [Read More]

Food poisoning can sometimes lead to chronic illness — Campylobacter, a bacterium associated with raw chicken, is now recognized as a leading cause of the sudden acute paralysis known as Guillain-Barre syndrome. Certain strains of salmonella, the bacterium involved in the recent outbreak in Mexican raw jalapeno and serrano peppers, can cause arthritis. And E. coli O157:H7, a strain of an otherwise harmless bacterium that lives in animal intestines, can release toxins that cause hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a kidney disorder that in 25 to 50 percent of cases leads to kidney failure, high blood pressure and other problems as much as 10 years later, including the risk of birth defects.  [Read More]

Scientists: Cell Phones cause Kidney Failures — Now scientists sat exposure to the phones’ low-level radiation causes red blood cells to leak haemoglobin. The build-up of haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around the body, can lead to heart disease and kidney stones.  The findings will heighten alarm over the safety of mobile phones which are used by more than 13 million people in Britain. In the latest research, scientists exposed samples of blood to varying degrees of microwave radiation for periods between ten to 60 hours.  [Read More]

Sugary Soft Drinks Linked to Kidney Disease - People who drink two or more soda drinks per day increase their risk of kidney damage that could lead to kidney disease; the strongest risk was associated with lower-weight women and with drinking non-cola sodas, according to data published in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.  A link between HFCS and kidney disease is of interest among health officers and nutritionists. Kidney disease, along with diabetes and obesity, has been increasing in the United States since manufacturers switched to HFCS as a soft drink sweetener more than three decades ago.  [Read More]

I saw my doctors recently, the Rheumatologist and the Nephrologist, and soon I will see my GP for even more fun with specialists.  It seems, according to her, I’m at that age where I need to have eye spy take a look up the . . . well, I’ll leave that one alone.  Bottom line, there are more doctors in my future.

I asked both doctors about the fruit juices again and this time neither one seemed too concerned about my drinking so much juice.  Both said these juices will boost the medication, not impede it.  This makes sense to me because that is certainly what grapefruit juice did with one of my blood pressure meds but, is it possible the increase of the medication in my bloodstream could possibly do damage elsewhere?  Like my liver?  That is the question.

I can only assume that in their minds, my problem with water retention and the great protein spill has nothing to do with fruit juice and now a biopsy has been thrown on the table, that and possibly placing me on more “toxic chemicals.”  Of course I do not like the sound of that because there have been no new drugs for lupus since the year of my birth, 1958.  What doctors are using today, Cellcept, Cyclosporine and others, are drugs originally designed and prescribed for organ transplants.

From where I sit, the practice of medicine is just that, the practice of medicine.  They really don’t know what to do because nothing has been developed specifically for lupus in 50 years.

Since Lasix and other diuretics don’t work for me sans causing me horrible indigestion and discomfort, I decided to sweat out the excess fluid by sitting in the sauna and steam room.  I even purchased a sauna/thermal suit and used it in the sauna last week to maximize the sweat.  It worked.  A lot of pressure was taken off my kidneys and they are really happy.  I knew the doctors could not help or offer any suggestion other than some form of diuretic taken orally or intravenously which, on some level, got me to where I am currently.

Yes, I took measures into my own hands – and I want to emphasize this was my decision – and opted for sauna sitting to get the fluid off.  It worked for me, I feel better for having done it, and it made me feel better overall.

I want to also emphasize I’m 50 and anything over 50 for me is gravy.  I’ve been suffering with this all of my life before I knew what it was and in keeping with my being a bit of a hard head – I chose to stop taking my heart medication back in my 20s – I decided to sit in the sauna knowing I have a bottle of serious potassium at home.  If I did not have a prescription for potassium I probably would have asked my doctor for one.

What’s with the potassium?  When you lose that much fluid you have to replenish the potassium or feel your heart go pitter patter and your blood pressure just may elevate to a dangerous level and the vicious cycle begins – your blood pressure elevates, it cooks your kidneys and the whole mess begins again.  That’s right folks; don’t try this one at home.

I know some would say “you’re crazy” but what have I to lose.  Lupus has acted like a bowling ball in my body as it has knocked over organs like pins in a bowling alley.  Since doctors could never make a diagnosis, I had to do what I needed to do to make me feel good.  At times that meant eating a bland diet of squished peas and veggies without seasoning, or going completely vegetarian for months, or dropping red meat, basically whatever I had to do to feel good is what I did and often it meant a change in diet.

I will grant you in the last few years I have been consumed with other people’s problems and as a result my diet has been poor at best.  I’m working to correct that now.  However, throughout my life, I found changing my diet and getting in good exercise was always a benefit.  It was not until I relocated to California and discovered apartments with full gyms and saunas that I realized the benefit of saunas and steam rooms.  In fact, I discovered a lot of my ailments disappeared when I took time to indulge myself by sitting and looking stupid in a sauna for 30 minutes or more.

When I moved into this house in 1996, the only sauna access I had was Christine’s personal sauna in her home.  That helped.  However, in 2001 when she got sick I was not thinking about a sauna and my stress level was at an all time high.  Christine wanted me to take over her house and the sauna and steam were desirable but the structural design flaws of her house were not.  I would have had to soak way too much money into her house and as it was, her house was worth more than the neighborhood could bear.  Forgoing that burden, I considered putting a sauna in this house but soon realized I needed to do some upgrades before making that a reality.

From 2001 until the completion of the local Magic Johnson Sport, I had absolutely no access to a sauna or steam room.  Putting 2 and 2 together, I now understand why I had no health issues after relocating to California.  I’m thinking the kids and I have always had a problem and I just never knew it.  Of course, I now have a thermal suit and all I need do is a little house work and I will work up a good sweat.

Now I can move on to my next plan of action and that is diet.  Since I’m not getting any younger, I have to consider a drastic change in diet.  What that means is I probably won’t be able to get away with poor diet decisions now.  A few months ago my doctor told me I was anemic and I chose to eat red meat.  I somehow believe this is where I went wrong.  I probably should have just returned to taking Ferrous Sulfate twice a day.  I’m beginning to believe what I eat today may not show up as harmful for two, three, or perhaps four weeks later.  I am now keeping a daily food journal which chronicles what I eat, every snack, medication, exercise and gym days and how I feel.  I’m hoping this journal will help track what I do wrong and when I did it.

In terms of supplements, I have added B and Omega 3 vitamins to my list of dailies and so far, this has been a big bonus and I believe what I’m really feeling is the Omega 3.  I can’t prove that, it’s just what I feel.

So, all of that said, since no one has done anything in the field of lupus since 1958, I’m taking matters into my own hands.  Oh I will continue to listen to my doctors but I now realize they don’t know anything more than toxic chemicals and experimentation.  I’m not trying to live forever, trust me, but I do believe I need to put a foot in this too.  If they are going to practice medicine, I’m going to practice survival.  Hopefully, together we will find an answer that could benefit others as well.

Lupus affects the brain very early in the disease — Results of a brain imaging study suggest that the brain may be affected very early in the course of lupus, even before the disease is diagnosed.  Among a group of 97 patients with newly diagnosed SLE, 25 percent had brain abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers found. All of the patients were within 9 months of being diagnosed with SLE.  [Read More]

Attention to bones important in women with lupus — Among premenopausal women taking steroids for lupus, various treatments preserve bone mineral density and “should be considered” for preventing the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, advise researchers in a report published this month.  [Read More]