Going Green With Everything! (Except the Womb)

(Forgive me for posting about this subject again; it is just one of my passions and when I get a certain thought, it burns within me until I write it out and hit “publish”–which is the very reason I initially started this blog so you’ll have to bear with me!)

As many angles as I’ve come at this subject before, I thought of yet another one…

A confused commenter scolded me on this fertility post about “making laws” regarding being fruitful and multiplying.  (I deleted the comment for a number of reasons.) Which confuses me, because I’m not the one that said to “be fruitful”, and I’m not the one that created the fruitful womb, and frankly, I said nothing about “law”; I simply implied that the womb was PART of God’s plan of evangelism (more mouths to share the gospel…)

Anyway, that train of thought got me thinking, yet again, why those who do not use birth control are considered such freaks, even among Christians!  (The commenter told me I was not trusting in God, but myself, by having the children God gave me???  I can’t even fathom that reasoning.)

This post is not about what the Bible says about fertility, as I’ve talked about that many times.  It’s not about whether people should or shouldn’t use birth control, or anything about birth control being bad.

It’s about a bizarre twist of thinking I want you to consider.

Recently, our culture has seen a major “green” shift toward all things natural.  Every product you pick up is vying for your tendency toward what is natural.  The environmentalist groups are picketing for us to leave the earth as it is naturally. 

Don’t cut the trees. 

Leave the animals alone. 

It’s even showing up in the latest trends in landscaping–natural is better.

There’s a move toward natural childbirth, natural skin products, natural (organic) gardening–the buzz word is “LEAVE IT AS IT IS”.

Except in the area of reproduction… 

And ironically, that shift is in the opposite direction, with new drugs that will inhibit a menstrual cycle indefinitely (how unnatural is that?).

And despite all the scientific evidence of the benefits of “going natural” in this area (more pregnancies, less cancer…more periods, greater risk of cancer…) we not only ignore that research, we absolutely ostracize those who are “going natural” with their reproduction, giving no credit to their desire for healthier reproduction choices.  (I can speak of this, I know…I live it.)

It’s the same question I’ve asked for a long time…use birth control if you wish.  But shouldn’t “natural be the norm” by default?  If we artificially altered any other part of the normally functioning body we’d be thought insane.

But with just this one area, I’m considered crazy if I don’t do something that is unnatural and possibly harmful to my body to stop its normal function.  (And even NFP is quite unnatural if you think about the interference of intimacy…”sorry honey, wrong day.”)

Again, this is NOT a debate on why or why not use birth control (I know about all the reasons some people give for using it.)  Nor is it meant to make BC users feel bad.

It’s about what should be considered normal as a starting point, by our very design.  At the very least, if we were thinking clearly on this one, those using birth control should receive the questions…”is there a reason you ‘got broken’ ?”

Do you see my point?

Pregnancy is For Our Health

I can’t help it…I love to post statistics about the health benefits of pregnancy (especially as my large self needs the extra encouragement

• “Say Bye-Bye to Menstrual Cramps–Sooner or later after childbirth, your menstrual cycle will resume. But here’s a welcome side effect: You may have fewer bothersome cramps. Some women even find that menstrual pain ceases altogether after pregnancy and childbirth. This pain reduction is a well-known phenomenon, but no one really knows for sure why it occurs. One possible theory is that childbirth eliminates some of the prostaglandin receptor sites in the uterus. Prostaglandins are hormones with several functions, one of which is to direct the uterus to contract during labor. They also play a role in menstrual pain. The upshot? Fewer pain-receptor sites, fewer cramps.”

Let me testify here…I had never heard of this “phenomenon”, but experienced it and was completely, gleefully amazed. I think it was after my third, maybe fourth child, when suddenly, what used to be pretty bad cramps on the first day of my cycle completely disappeared–and have never returned…well, what few times I’ve had the chance to see

• “Cancer Risk Is Reduced–Recent studies report that pregnancy produces a protective effect against breast and ovarian cancers. The more pregnancies you go through — and the younger you start having babies — the greater the effect; some research has found that breastfeeding for more than three months can also lower the risk of certain cancers.”

Medicine Mom 101–Your Home Remedies Wanted!

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health–Day 5

This will be a hodge podge of tips to keep our health series from dragging on for 10 more days!

Once again, baby steps are good. We all compromise our health by the things we eat. The more health we can add to our diets, the better off we’ll be.

These are just some random thoughts, with a few substitutes at the end. I’ve really enjoyed hearing all your suggestions too!

• Eat more salad. Iceberg lettuce is pretty useless, so try to incorporate Romaine, Red leaf and other varieties. I try to mix ours with spinach leaves too. Spinach is high in…well everything good, and it’s the only way I can eat it. (Raw is better anyway.) Also, add almonds, sunflower seeds, cilantro, parsley or whatever “green stuff” you can think of. To avoid most dressings which contain MSG, try making your own. I love an olive oil/vinegar blend with chopped onions and mandarin orange juice.

• Drink more water. We forget this one, don’t we? Water flushes out your body’s cells and helps to rid it of the toxins we consume. Filtered water is best.

• Make your mixes. Pancakes, biscuits, pizza crust–there are lots of easy homemade recipes for these items. Homemade is always better than packaged–and usually cheaper too. Start with one thing if you feel overwhelmed by cooking from scratch.

• Soak in the sun. Sun is is the body’s best source of vitamin D. I heard a report that children often have a deficiency of Vitamin D because of the heavy use of sunscreen.

• Eat more often in “snacky” portions.

• Get your children in the habit of drinking water with their meals. If you are not accustomed to it, it’s hard to get used to. But it’s easy to build good eating habits when you’re young.

• Buy all-natural peanut butter instead of the kind with hydrolyzed oil.

Substitutes:

1. Instead of potato chips, try brushing tortillas with olive oil, sprinkling with spices, and baking for a few minutes until crispy, Cut with pizza cutter and serve with pasta or sandwiches.

2. For a more exciting drink but avoiding the soft drinks, mix juice with ginger ale or sparkling water.

3. Stevia is a natural sugar substitute. Honey is a great natural sugar substitute. Raw sugar is better than refined.

4. Use dark chocolate for baking instead of milk chocolate. Dark contains healthy antioxidants.

5. Use olive or coconut oil instead of other oils.

Feel free to share more of your random tips!

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health–Day 4

5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health-Day 3

Fruit smoothies/slushies are one our favorite snacks. All you need is a blender. Not only are they versatile, but provide a great way to consume a lot of nutrients at one time. Although it’s not the cheapest snack, if we cut out buying most other cakes/cookies, etc., the health benefits make up the few extra dollars.

Here is some of what we put in ours:

• Frozen strawberries (I have read that frozen fruit/vegetables contain more nutrients than “fresh” at the store because they are frozen as soon as they are picked and that preserves them.)

—The average strawberry has 200 tiny black seeds. Each of these tiny black seeds contain Omega 3 fatty acid.

• Bananas–sweetens the smoothie.

—Bananas are one of the world’s finest foods for supplying fuel energy

• Apples–put the seeds in there too! Fruit seeds contain high amounts of the vitamin B-17 which is known for preventing/curing cancer. Apricot seeds contain the highest.

—A medium sized apple contains 5 grams of fiber, 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance.

• Frozen blueberries–named one of the world’s super foods for its antioxidants.

—Berries are brimming with vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

• Kiwi is great too, but we don’t have it on hand as often. Peaches would be good too.

• Pomegrantes pack a powerful, nutritional punch.

  —The antioxidant levels in the pomegranate juice stands higher than other fruit juices.

  

• Nuts if you wish.

• Flax seed–no taste, just extra omega oils.

• Yogurt–great for your stomach, full of probiotics. It also makes the smoothie smooth!

• Liquid vitamins–if they don’t taste bad, they usually add to the flavor.

• Orange juice–just a little makes the smoothie blend and freeze better.

• Raw coconut oil is an excellent nutrient to add in.

We eat is as is, make Popsicles, or stick it in the freezer and make “ice cream”.

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