Toothpaste!

It's Friday!

You will be so glad to know that my posts will slow down.  I have wanted to get you useful info for combatting the current epidemic of flu.  In my coursework I am presently working on emotions and Bach Flower remedies.  I have three lectures and 90 pages of work to get through plus I am working on an evaluation sheet to use in practicing.  So enjoy the slow-down of my posts.

What kind of sad person gets excited about toothpaste, you ask?  I do when I have something to share with you that could be a game changer for your health.  In my FB teaser, I told you I use this mineral toothpaste for 3 things.  Obviously as toothpaste.  Also on my porcelain kitchen sink.  I use bleach to keep it pristine but do not like to use it too often.  This toothpaste gets rid of small stains and keeps it looking white between bleachings.  Now for the best way---as a deodorant.  What??????
Yep, a deodorant.

You already know that our skin is our body's largest organ and one of it's job is to aid in detoxifying us.  Our lymphatic system transports our fluids throughout our body and hopefully the toxins are being gathered and allowed to escape.  Our skin is an exit system.  Our lymph nodes are tasked with the job of collecting toxins.  Exercise and sweating are important in the removal of toxins from our bodies.

Under our arms are some key lymph nodes.  Would it not be wise to allow our body to keep those nodes as clear and healthy as we can?   Antiperspirants obviously are designed to prevent perspiring.
Therefore, they  prevent toxin cleansing and removal from that area.  They also contain ingredients that are known toxins.  Double dose of toxic material in those areas, then.

The great thing about using mineral toothpaste as a deodorant is that the minerals serve in several ways.  First, minerals themselves aid in detoxing our bodies.  Food grade minerals can be ingested or used on foods to rid toxins.  So you can rest assured that topically under your arms they are safe.  The minerals in this particular toothpaste are very gentle and non-irritating.  Secondly, without the properties of antiperspirants that prevent perspiration from occurring, these minerals allow for perspiration which cleanses and rids us of harmful toxins.  Three, while still allowing perspiration, the minerals act as a deodorant not by masking odor but by absorbing odor.  I call that a win!
You will be detoxing but without the fear of being offensive.

Yes, it sounds totally weird.  I get it.  But a cleansed body without toxins is more appealing.  I use a pea-sized amount.  It feels a little sticky going on but dries.  You can research and find your own mineral toothpaste if you like.  Again, I order this from iherb.com but it can be found at health find stores--for more $$$.

So, there you have it.  More strange stuff from me.  But, detoxing and cleansing, and cancer prevention are pretty high on my health list.  If you give this a try--let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend.

Teacher Takes the Test and Passes

Good morning.

Just a personal testimony to the success of addressing things naturally.  Tuesday night I went outside and came back in very cold.  An hour later, I began to chill and ache.  I knew I was down for the count.  I immediately started on elderberry and Oscillococinum flu remedy.  I turned on the diffuser, put some Ravinsara essential on my spine (viruses hide along the spine),  and went to bed.  When I got up around 6:00, I was no longer chilling but still felt tired and achy.
I took Vitamins C and D, colloidal silver, another vial of Oscillococinum pellets and 2 tsp of elderberry.  And of course, I drank, drank, drank to flush the flu virus that was trying to take control.
I was up and around yesterday but didn't do much actual work.  I ran an errand with the girls (stayed in the car), and rested.  This morning, except for a little leftover achiness and a couple of sneezes, I feel very well, considering.

All that to say, without the official diagnosis of a confirmed flu test, I am sure I had the flu come and try to conquer my system.  Add to that, I know without a doubt that the natural things we already had in preparation made the difference in a 36 hour battle (that wasn't even too bad) and a two week siege of misery and exhaustion.  I had all the typical indicators:  sudden onset of chills and aches, a slight sore throat for about 6 hours, some tightness in my chest that never progressed beyond that, and extreme tiredness (for only a few hours).  Ultimately, God is behind all the healings that we experience in life from any kind of disease.  I also know that He has graciously provided for our health and healing by placing into nature many things we need for health.

As stated before, there is no judgement here among friends in this class.  But I do have to ask, "Is it not a better thing to have on hand and utilize these natural things?"  You are probably already reading the reports of adverse reactions to Tamiflu, particularly in children.  In the reports of flu deaths, I would love to know how many of those patients were given Tamiflu.  I would also be curious to know how many people had taken their flu shot, had their immune system weakened by that and consequently contracted flu.

One of the things we always taught our children was that what's "good" is often the enemy of what's "best".  I believe in the case of flu and many others things, to settle for taking what seems to be good, really is the enemy of what is best.

Here is my arsenal:

 I am praying that my family and all of you stay well.  If we find ourselves ill, we know what has proven to work effectively and work safely.  Thanks for reading this.  In addition, I need to amend the website for Dr. Dean (in previous post),  The one I go to was the one given.  The one I receive info from is drcarolyndean.com.  She also has a post on flu today that  she put on Facebook.  I haven't read it yet but I know it is good. 

Magnesium: Your Life Depends on It--Literally!

Hello and I hope everyone is staying warm.  I cannot tell you how many prayers of thankfulness for a warm house I have prayed lately.

I will spare you the details of my magnesium story, but believe me I have one and it is a 'doozy'.  I love to hear other people's stories of their successful road to health but I don't think mine is that interesting, and you know I can get long-winded anyway so consider yourself blessed that I won't tell you mine.  What I will tell you is that my situation educated me in a very short time and also convinced me of the need all of us have for magnesium supplementation.

I am not a supplement kind of person but they do serve important purposes and sometimes for only a short window of time are they needed.  There are special circumstances, however, that require some supplementation.  Is that hypocritical?  I don't think so.  When we are experiencing very good health, our need is not so great.  When certain areas of health are being addressed, supplements can enhance and, I believe, save life.

80% of Americans are magnesium deficient.  That includes children and young adults.  Magnesium is REQUIRED in about 300 functions of the body.  Some experts estimate that to be 600-700.  100 years ago, soil was richer in nutrients.  People did not suffer the deficits in diet that we do today.  Today is a different story.  The long and short of it is:  we need magnesium supplementation.  Even if our diets were perfect, the nutrient level of the soil our foods are grown in would still leave it lacking.

Magnesium deficiency is manifested in many areas but let's just address one today--cardiovascular disease.  I stress-- many conditions have mag deficiency as it's cause but since heart disease is the #1 cause of death, let's just talk magnesium and cardiovascular health.

Dr. Carolyn Dean is a leading expert in magnesium and its function in our bodies.  She is recognized and admired by many in the health field.  Others love to discredit her work because she is, let me say this nicely--a threat to the $$$$$$$ that cardiovascular disease brings to doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.  Even more reason to regard her work highly.  Her website is carolyndeanmd.com.  She has many articles and books but her best, most informative  one is Magnesium Miracle.  If you want a good read and great info, check it out.  If you want to save time, let me do your research for you and just pass along helpful info.

She has a product, ReMag, that acts exactly like IV magnesium because it is absorbed at the cellular level rather through the gut that other mag products are.  That means better magnesium absorprtion  without the laxative effect others have.  Her product is pricey and she knows it, so if ReMag is not a good option for you, she recommends Natural Calm powder.  We take both.  Lynn and I do the ReMag and our girls do the powder.  Mainly because Lynn and I need the extra absorption and the girls do not care for the taste of ReMag.  It isn't bad and you develop a taste for it, but it is kind of a strong metallic taste.  However, when life and health depend on it, you do it.

A recommended dose of the powder is 2 tsp a day to get 325 mg of mag.  2 half-teaspoons of ReMag get you 300 mg.  I believe we all need more than that.

Don't let a dr lead you to believe a normal blood serum level indicates you are okay in the magnesium department.  Serum levels of mag are misleading.  Magnesium is needed to balance the uptake of calcium.  If magnesium is lacking, calcium ends up in our soft tissues and blood vessels and not in our bones and teeth where God intended it to be.  Ever hear of a heart patient taking a calcium channel blocker?  That is because cardiologists know calcium blocks vessels.  That is one of the few things they get right. Did I just say that?  Yes, I did and with confidence, not with malice. So you take an Rx for blocking calcium and get all the side-effects that go with that medication.  Or....you can take magnesium and know for sure you are keeping your blood vessels clean and clear.  Magnesium will also stop a-fib because it is needed to regulate heart beat.

So, here are the two products we take.  ReMag has to be ordered from Dr. Dean.  Natural Calm can be found at health food stores.

Thanks for sticking with me through a long post.  I could say much more about magnesium, but I could never say enough about it's importance.  I do not say this lightly, "Magnesium has saved many many lives".  It is a God created, God given supplement for our health.  We are serious lacking in it and it is so easy to fix.  Why would you not use it?  For extra knowledge about this, seriously check out Dr. Dean's info.  You'll be glad you did.  Thanks for reading.  Drink up.  Magnesium, that is. 

Homeopathic Remedies

Hello!  I have made a list of some basic homeopathic remedies that are must-haves for anyone who wants relief from anything.  That means all of us, right?

Here are what mine look like in my little remedy drawer. 
You can get them at a health food store or (again) online from iherb.com.  Sorry, I know I repeat that a lot but it is a great place.  I believe they are $6.99 each there.  A little more at the health food store, but not much.  You twist the cap until you see 5 in the lid, pop the lid off, and put them in your mouth to dissolve.  It's that easy.  They work much faster if you start them  at the onset of something.  You can take them every 10 minutes for 30-40 minutes until you see improvement.  Then every 3-4 hours.  Stop when you are better.  Remedies are very specific but if you don't have THE VERY ONE you need, one that is in the general area of your need will do.  Here are just a few with the symptoms they address:

Arnica (everyone needs)  trauma, muscle pain and stiffness, swelling from injuries and bruising
Oscillococcinum-flu symptoms
Arsenicum album--symptoms of food poisoning (but will work with any nausea or intestinal thing
Belladonna--high fever with sudden onset and perspiration (I told you they are specific)  Belladonna also works for headaches
Coffee cruda--sleeplessness with mental hyperactivity
Dulcamara--joint pain triggered and worsened by damp weather
Galphimia glauca--hay fever
Hepar sulphuris calcareum--painful and hoarse dry cough worsened by cold weather
Ignatia amara--nervousness and hypersensitivity due to everyday stress
Ipecacuanha--nausea and vomiting with hypersalivation
Kali iodatum--colds with frontal sinus
Mercurius solubilis--sore throat with offensive breath and excessive salivation (we have used this for strep)
Phosphorus--dizziness with headache
Pulsatilla--colds with thick, yellow nasal discharge  (good general cold remedy)
Rumex crispus--dry cough worsened by breathing cold air
Ruta graveolens--eye strain due to computer use or artificial light
Silicea--fatigue and irritability due to overwork
Spongia tosta--croupy cough (absolutely needed for parents of young children)
Sulphur--skin rash worsened by heat and water (usually eczema)
Sulphur iodatum--nasal discharge during cold and flu convalescence
Tabacum--motion sickness with cold sweat and improved by fresh air


These are just a few and I don't have all of these.  We were addressing a broken bone a while back and so we have a couple for bone trauma and bone healing.  I do keep pulsatilla, spongia tosta,
sulphur, some of the nausea ones for food poisoning, mercurius,  belladonna, and a few others that are specific for needs we have had.  Again, get a few basic ones to keep on hand.  They are easy, expensive, and very very effective. I know this was long but thanks for hanging in there. 

A Redo

Last year when I wrote that I was redoing the blog, I asked for ideas from readers telling me what they'd like to see.  I got many answers (thank you), and will address all of them, and one was suggesting redos, remodels, restoring, etc.  So here we go....


When my grandmother built her dream house in 1950, she purchased a dining room set from
Tell City Chair Company.  That company first began in 1859.  It was well known for building furniture that would last "forever".  In 1962 when Jacqueline Kennedy was redecorating the White House, she commissioned the company to make 425 chairs after seeing a Tell City chair in Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.

All of our family's holiday dinners were celebrated around that drop-leaf table that, when the
leaves were put in, was several feet long.

I now possess that table and chairs.  The table is in storage until it can be repaired but the chairs
are still strong and sturdy.  Last year, I just cleaned one up with Dawn dish soap, water, and white vinegar.  That mixture along with elbow grease removed 60+ years of furniture polish.  The chairs are beautiful.  I recovered the seat and here it is.

Isn't it beautiful?  The style is Duncan-Phyfe Roseback Mahogany.

Last week, I decided to tackle another chair.  I wanted to paint one, and yet I couldn't
bring myself to paint it.  I would decided to paint, then change my mind.  Back and forth.
The chair was sturdy, but not in the condition of the chair above.  The stain was rubbing off in places and if I redo the table and use it someday as dining room furniture, all the chairs will be stripped and redone to the original stain.  So paint I did.

I cleaned it up and spray painted.  I am very happy with the results. Now for the recovering.

I kept the original padding because it is in great shape.  When I was 7 or 8, I helped my grandmother recover these chairs.  She changed them to a cranberry velvet to match a cranberry chandelier she had

bought to put over the table in her dining room. That was 52 years ago!

I kept the original thumb tacks we used.  They held for 50 years so I figure they are good for a few more.  Besides, I am sentimental.  Funny to think, this package of tacks probably cost around $0.49 back in 1963.

I trimmed off a piece of the cranberry velvet and tacked it onto the underside of the seat.  I wanted to preserve good memories.  

I even reused all the hardware.  These nails are long and sturdy.  I don't think I would have found any this size and strength today.

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me.  I hope you have family pieces that you are using.

It is so important to preserve the past.  I know all these things are just earthly possessions and have no eternal value, but if we make our homes places where we point our families to the Lord, maybe some of our things will someday be just a small part of a Godly legacy we leave with them.

2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "Therefore, we make it our aim (purpose)...to be well-pleasing to Him."

Let's "purposefully" make our homes a place where those we love get a glimpse of the divine. 

Water Sources

Water repost from September so I can categorize it.

Okay--I am sure all of you are ready to wrap this up. I think I have overloaded you all with info. All you probably wanted to know was how much water to drink and what kind is best. You probably weren't looking for the specifics. I forget that not everyone is a nerdy health nut like me. So let's finish with some info on the best water sources.
I was surprised to learn that spring water and distilled water are the purest water we can drink. For many years I have filtered our water for drinking via carbon filters either on a pitcher or through the filter on our fridge. I did not buy water in plastic bottles or jugs because of the concerns with plastic. After the course on water and some further research, I realized that spring and distilled water are the most pure. If your bottled water says enhanced with minerals, don't drink. Those 'minerals' are actually inorganic minerals laboratory made. Your tap water is polluted with fluoride, chlorine, and floculants. The fluoride added to municipal water is a byproduct of aluminum manufacturing. Your carbon filter only filters taste and a few things like nickel. After study, I have chosen Ozarka spring water. I researched and found that their 20 ounce bottles and their gallon jugs are in BPA free plastic and soon all their sizes will be. Sam's Club has a pack of 6 gallons for $5.88 so now Sam's pickup has my business. They will load it for you and you don't have to carry gallons of water. I am sure they have pure distilled water, also. Oh, and the expensive alkaline water bottles? Save your money. No where on earth does God supply alkaline water. And think about it--if the ph level in our stomachs is 2-3 due to being highly acidic to digest food, alkaline water drunk with your meal will neutralize stomach acid. Just pure water in its purest form is best. So, all this to say--1/2 your body weight in the purest water form will produce a well hydrated body. One step closer to optimum health.

Water 101

Another repost so I can categorize it.


Water 101
Session #3
The well hydrated body:
Teeth will be 10% water
Muscle tissue will be 75% water
Blood 90.7% water
Lymph 94%
Brain 80.5%
This is not all but just a few.
Some thoughts--our lymphatic system transports throughout our body and carries away wastes. You can see how much of it should be water to function optimally. Most of us fall below normal. We have 15 billion brain cells. I really really need all I can possibly have and I need them to be hydrated, don't you? Our kidneys receive and filter then return back to the body our entire blood supply 15 times PER HOUR. They obviously need proper hydration. And remember from lesson one that we cannot recreate healthy cells when dehydrated. And creating unhealthy cells are trouble.

Some hydration facts:
With just 4% water depletion, our muscle endurance suffers and we begin to suffer dizziness.
At 5%, headaches begin along with drowsiness, along with a compromise in concentration.
Our heart begins to race at 6% water depletion.
7% water depletion brings the risk of collapse.
This ran a little long so next post we'll talk about the healthiest kinds of water. Thanks again for reading.

Water repost

Here we go on H2O!
We cannot create new healthy cells if our existing cells are dehydrated.
Functions of water in the body:
(Not a complete list)
Gives equilibrium--anybody ever dizzy?
Regulates our temperature.
Lubricates our tissues, joints, bones, and muscles-are you ever achy?
The obvious ones--cleanses, moisturizes our skin--dry skin anyone?, flushes wastes and toxins.
Last fact of this post--we need one half of our body's weight in water every day (in ounces of course). So if we all had our dream body and weighed 135 lbs then we would need 67 ounces of water. For years I heard this but now I know the importance and hopefully, when our Water 101 class is done, you will, too.
Know this for our test 😊.
ONLY WATER IS WATER. ONLY WATER IS WATER. ONLY WATER IS WATER. And more on that later. Thanks for reading.nother repost from earlier on water.  Posting so I can categorize it.

This is a repost I am putting here so I can categorize it.  It will be under 'natural health basics' and 'water'.  It is from September, I believe.

Water 101 second session.
ONLY ____ IS ______?
Very good. Only water is water.
Your Starbucks Pumpkin Spice isn't water.
My coffee with salted caramel syrup and half and half for my early morning Bible study isn't water.
Everyone's Sonic happy hour isn't water.
Only what we drink in water counts as our water. (See previous post).
Here's more sadness for you:
If we drink our 12 ounce coffee or 12 ounce tea with supper, or our medium Dr. Pepper at Sonic--those are caffeinated and caffeine acts as a diuretic. So.... if/when we drink those, we have to drink that much in water to MAKE UP FOR what we just consumed. And we can't count that as water intake. That just gets us back to even 😪.
Anybody ready to drop the class? For those who stay, it only gets better or worse depending on how you look at it. Here's a happy note to end this post on. It is a scientific fact that water flushes viruses and bacteria from our body. So water is a good defense for fighting all the germs we will encounter this winter. Next post we'll look at how much water should be in the different organs in a well hydrated body. And we'll also talk about the best source for water. Thanks for reading.

Frequency and Homeopathy

Welcome to the blog.  A few years ago when we had the store, I has two decorating blogs to showcase some of the products.  One is named Divinely Designed, which is where you are now.  I changed it from decor to natural health but kept the name partly so I wouldn't have to design a new blog but also because the name fits.  See the sidebar for the purpose of this blog.

Now, back to health.  We talked about frequency and basically all we need to know without getting a physics degree, is that it is important to maintain healthy frequency in our bodies.  But life happens and we get out of frequency.  Think radio waves--if you tune it to the right frequency, you pick up the station you want.  If you go just below or just above the frequency, you can no longer pick up the station.  Much the same with us.

The purpose of homepathy is to utilize homepathic remedies to get our bodies back into frequency.  Remember that everything has a frequency.  Homeopathy is a science that uses plants, minerals, etc., to realign our body's frequency by matching remedy to disease and frequency (of the remedy) to frequency (of the body).

If you research 'homeopathy' you will probably get articles that say it is useless, a pseudoscience (ouch!), total quackery, a sham--you get the idea.  So---don't research.   In Europe, it is considered an important science and a method of treatment.  The royal family of England has a homeopathy practitioner that stays wherever the Queen is.  He carries his little black bag of remedies and administers them as needed.  Her mother, the Queen Mother, who lived to be 101 was a major financial supporter of British homeopathic hospitals.  Her father, George VI, I believe, credited it for saving his life from pneumonia.

Just a bit more and then tonight or tomorrow I will put up some homeopathic remedies and what they address so you can add them to your arsenal.  In 1918 when the flu was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide, the mortality rate in America for flu patients in hospitals was 30%.  At the time, the United States still had homeopathic hospitals.  In those hospitals the mortality of patients was 1.05% and one American hospital had 0 patient deaths from the flu.  How about that? 

Okay, tomorrow, we'll get serious.  Until then, stay warm and well.