Dances with DS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7583669.stm

I think he loses the plot. It is not about excuses. It’s about provable reality. Is obesity partly genetic?  In many cases yes, it has a strong genetic component. Is it partly hormone driven? Yes, there is plenty of scientific evidence to back that up too.  Is it partly environmental. Of course. I’ve no doubt that the foods we eat and lack of exercise we get  contributes as trigger factors to obesity. But diet is probably just a trigger for a very much bigger picture. There are plenty of skinny people who eat crappola as much as some obese people do ( yup, not all who are obese eat very unhealthly) - and they may get ill from it too. Just wonder if Mr no-exuses is going to tell them not to make excuses for their illnesses too?

In any event - of course food plays a role  in obesity.  Frikking heck, should we shout that out.   It’s not rocket science.  Few people would deny that. Just like it plays a role in numerous cancers, heart, liver, kidney, infact most mainstream illnesses you can think of. 

It’s just this superficial way of looking at it that ticks me off no end. The snide little implications of greedy lazy pig will eternally haunt me and I smell it bubbling away in this patently un useful attitude.

An environmental factor should be tackled not from the end user point, but at it’s very source.  I wonder just how many manufacturers have reduced trans fats in the food we consume?   I wonder when sugar will be seen for the addictive qualities it has when our ‘food’ is drenched in it?

As for nannying - oh my lordy!  

I don’t think so. I think we are still hugely ostracized and demonised by the likes of  Mr Lansley.

If the Tories get voted in I want to see him put his money where his mouth is and get food manufacturers to stop creating food stuffs that provide enough calories in one serving for the entire day.  He could also push them to quit using all manner of additives in the foods.  Is he going to be so bold? I doubt it. As one can see - already he is nannying the food manufacturers.  Government & the food industry are brothers in arms.

In my DS world I have learned I can live adequately in the main, without additive enriched foods. I’m no saint - the sight of a chocolate pudding in all it’s readymade glory can still move me to put it in my trolley & my mouth,(okay - very rarely but sometimes it does …) but mainly  I am re-attaching to mother natures unadulterated foods. I’m buying more from small food suppliers where ever I can and I try food like yams, sad as that is.

And on that subject - the yam was not such a booger to prepare as I thought it would be. The skin peeled off easily with a sharp knife. I boiled it. When in doubt about cooking something I just boil it.  It smelled like popcorn. It tasted of nothing I can define -but it was not tasteless as some say it is, it did taste of well, I suppose, yam. For what that is worth.  Sorry - I know that is not very useful really.   It was very starchy, glutinous almost and soft and I liked the texture. And it was perfect with my chicken curry.

With curry in place of rice I think it is a good thang. It’s got good nutrition, way above white rice. B6, Vit C, manganese, potassium. It’s going to be an acquired taste kind of veg.

That means trying to eat it more often, but I think it is worth acquiring a taste for.

I’m looking out the window now. SUNSHINE!!!!   I must go before the day turns to grey. I am looking forward to this weekend - Pete is taking time out so we can go and look for floor tiles - I’m tiling my entire bottom floor. Plan is to put in underfloor heating because last year I nearly expired from the cold. Being thin is not compatable with winter.

If the weather holds I will go to the car booty tomorrow.

Zenni needs his skin treatment too - so a busy weekend ahead!

Hope you all enjoy yours too!

Breakfast used to be a cup of coffee and 2 (well, erm or 5 choc digestives) pre op.  I had almost forgotten that.

I never liked breakfast much, but after my DS I realised fast that if I did not include breakfast into my growing list of old habits that needed breaking, I’d not get my 80gms of protein in over the day, let alone 100gms. So I began to insist that I eat breakfast and after several months of effort with some bad lapses,  I found I did better overall if I had breakfast .   I felt healthier, had more energy, got more protein in. I noticed that on the weeks I skipped brekkie my weightloss was less. Big motivation!

Nowadays I find I have to eat breakfast - it’s a compulsion borne out of habit. Without it I am snappy, tired and I eat crappola at around 11.30am like clockwork.

Once I was onto 3 meals a day, I tried for traditional types of breakfast with eggs coming in as a good choice. I had months of 3 scrambled eggs plus ham, cheese or bacon.  I still like to eat eggs a lot. In less than a few minutes I can knock up scrambled egg and enjoy it with some lycopene rich tomato sauce.  Sometimes I have it just like that. Other days I fry up onions and fresh tomatoes, sometimes mushrooms to ring the changes. In winter I usually add shiitake mushrooms to try to ward off any colds - I don’t know why really as since my DS colds and flu are very rare for me! But they do taste delicious with scrambled egg especially with a hefty grating of good cheddar cheese and they are quite ‘meaty’ mushrooms.

I’m not fixated on ‘breakfast food’, but I confess it took me some time to shake myself of the mindset of a fry up or a bowl of cereal. Nowadays I’ll not think twice about eating anything really - I’ve learned a even a sparerib can make a fine breakfast.When I was a baby DSer I used to eat those mini bottles of meat paste for breakfast and I think I learned then that anything nutritious can do the job.

Scallops have saved my breakfasty backside many a time - during appetiteless times they are light to eat & pack a punch of protein.  I fry them in butter and squeeze lemon on them. With prawns they are one of my firm favourites in the quick ‘light ‘ breakfast department.

I like liver too. Preferably calves if I can find it - with sage butter. Just as is.  Sometimes I settle for chicken liver with bacon bits & onions.

Other breakfasts I have consumed over the past years:

Yogurt, fruit & nuts

Avocado pear on toast with bacon bits or ham plus cheese on top

Cheesy beans on toast is an old one that I love too - just heat low sugar baked beans in tomato sauce, stir in loads of grated cheese - eat & go!

Cod in cheese sauce, haddock & mash have passed my DS lips many a time.  In fact I have developed  a liking of fish for breakfast.  I have  fishcakes often as well as fishfingers.

Ready made pineapple cottage cheese with added chopped mangoes and papaya

Raw grated carrots, apples grated with skin on, tinned pineapple, sultana raisins, plenty of walnuts, quark - ( a kind of ’sweet’ breakfast salad)

Peanut butter thickly spread (and pref coarse cos I like the crunch factor) & honey on Burgens toast

Crispy bacon rashers dipped into a pot of hummous.

Chicken stir fry left overs in a thin egg wrap (which is a very thin omelette really, quickly made.)

Admittedly my breakfasts are an odd affair but I don’t see it written anywhere that one can’t actually eat just about anything for breakfast.

I avoid most cereals except for the odd bowl of muesli, homemade granola or Oats porridge plumped to the hilt with marvel. Occasionally I have Kelloggs special K which has a not too bad protein rating for a carb based food. But  I find most of the packaged cereals very sweet and sometimes I swear I get a synthetic aftertaste.

Recently I was waffling around Mr Atif’s superstore.  Half the time I don’t know what the heck I am buying, much less how to cook it but it’s all part of the fun.  Sometimes I ask the Indian people in the store to explain to me how to use & cook certain things and I learn a lot. Other times I go home and experiment.  Mr Atif’s store is my food jewel shop. I love the shelves lined with all manner of exotic foodie wares.  About 30 chutneys at least line his shelves.  There are things like giant butterbeans, bags of green & rose pistachio nuts,  the best mangoes in the whole world which we buy by the box. Guava’s, fresh coconut and yams.  I have never eaten yam before so I bought a HUGE yam.  I have got to say I hope it tastes better than it looks .  It’s got unappealing brown skin on it and tbh I am not sure about it but it’s in my kitchen for dinner tonight. I suspect there may be some moans from the clan about this strange new alien in their diet but I’m going to try it anyway.

I also bought Raw Red Matta rice flakes.  Again cluelessly. But with these I am enjoying a whole different breakfast experience right now.  The rice is flaked but all the good bits are there.  It has plenty of fibre which is a huge plus for us WLS patients who often don’t get near enough. I think the flakes cook a lot quicker than the whole rice which I read on the internet can take up to 60minutes to boil. I find the flakes are done in around 10 minutes or so. I think if one soaked them in milk overnight this process might go even faster.

Here’s my Red Matta rice breakfast recipe which is not unlike a rice pudding - only better for yer!

(and it won’t make you parp like weetabix may do, if you are a DSer! )

RED MATTA RICE & WALNUT BREAKFAST

Rinse the flakes several times (if you don’t you might get grit).

In a pot put a cup of milk plus as much marvel as you think you can digest to plump up your protein good & proper.

Add just over half a cup of matta flakes

half teaspoon of cinnamon ( I do cinnamon generously for the fibre so add less if you are not keen on it.)

honey, splenda or sugar to taste

Topping: chopped walnuts

Bring to the boil & boil on lowest heat around 10 minutes stirring frequently & taking care not to burn the milk.  Let the rice swell and thicken to a rice pud consistancy.  Top with chopped walnuts - or use brazil nuts to get a nice selenium boost.

This rice has a gorgeous nutty flavour. From a health point of view this breakfast will give you lot’s of good fibre, thiamine and other B vits, manganese &  potassium. Walnuts will give you omega 3 oils, tryptophan, more fibre, manganese and copper. If you put a brazil nut or a few in as well it will give you a nice dose of selenium. Cinnamon is a brilliant blood sugar leveller plus it is the best food in the world for fibre.

Very yum with chopped banana’s or mangoes in it also.:-)

I’m thinking of making a fast mild & spicy chicken curry to eat with the yam. Here’s my fav one which is based on a malay recipe from South Africa:

1 part chutney (Mrs Balls is best but any will do) to 1 part cream or plain yogurt if you can’t eat cream

Curry powder - as much or little as you like

Mix together until it thickens - spread over chicken thighs and bake in the oven 180 degrees for 35 -40 mins until the chicken is golden brown.

Simple as that, but the best mild curry in the world imo.

I’ll let you know what it tastes like with yam!

I give this subject a great deal of thought a lot of the time.  Probably because as a Dser I rely a lot on my vitamin/mineral supplements - so it’s ever on my mind and close to my heart.  I also try to maximise my nutrient intake & over the years I have found herbs and spices a neat compact way to do this. Many culinary herbs have medicinal benefits too.  However supplements (talking herbs/spices here - not the type of supplementation we WLS patients DO need daily) can’t do the work of a good healthy varied appropriate diet and as such should form part of such a diet. Personally I get alarmed when I read of herbs/supplements being advocated as miracle cures and advised for use in hefty doses daily.  With this sort of  hard sell you’ll notice loads of positive personal stories coupled with an air of great generalization. Not all herbs or supplements are tolerated well by everyone. It’s possible to have a reaction. It’s very individual. Never fly into  high doses to start with. Start gently. Start small. Eat with your food as a condiment or flavouring wherever possible. Give it time to notice if you are benefiting or not. Herbal/vitamin therapies take time to kick in. If using purely medicinal herbs use as one would a medicine, until there is recovery. Then keep going with a nutritious diet. Research possible side effects before you take anything medicinally be it herb or drug!  If a side effect is noticed stop taking whatever you are herbally & don’t start thinking you might be imagining it! When it comes to drugs, consult with your doctor about stopping them…but you know all this stuff anyway and I am just waffling on!

I’m for herbal/vitamin supplements otherwise I would not use them and given the option of side effects from conventional meds or herbal therapy I think I would go for supplements a lot of the time.( But not always!  ;-)) . It’s a weighing up of benefits vs risks both ways. For example I know I would take Vit E to thin my blood if I was predisposed to clots anyday over aspirin. Supplements both herbal,vitamin & other, can work very effectively, but at all times it’s worth being cautious, doing the research regarding side effects, and using good old common sense. In desperation people can resort to trying things that could cause big trouble - thinking now of cases of renal failure associated with certain chinese herbs a while back. I think it’s a cautionary tale, that is very tragic really,  worth musing about.

However, the problem is of course the anti supplement brigade jump on these stories and it gives all supplementation a bad name. Bit like when we see a WLS go badly wrong and the media has a field day - they forget just how many people have been dramatically helped.  Plus drugs companies can be incredibly anti herbal supplements - they don’t want threats to their economic wealth. It’s a minefield of contexts to think through.  On the flip side are herbalists and some nutritionists that would never have a conventional drug pass their lips.

Then there is my dogchild Zen. Using herbs with dogs is not straight forward. Many things that are human safe can be very toxic to dogs. Thinking here of things like onions, grapes and chocolate.  I stay with herbs I know are used for vetenary purposes only.  I’ve seen first hand the benefits to Zens coat and skin, but the heart might be another matter. Right now I don’t see improvement  but I am staying with it as it’s still early days. I know it’s unlikely his heart can heal, but if I can stave it off from getting worse I will be pleased.  If not I might have to resort to conventional meds and face up to the effects of those vs the benefits in the context of Zenni’s age & condition.

My way is as usual to try to walk the middle path and not become fixated or rigid about either supplements or drugs - for either humans or pets. There are times and circumstances that dictate smart use of either of these. And sometimes they can be complimentary too.  Just my thoughts.

On other notes, I had a good car booty day yesterday. If you read my blogs you’ll know I collect and sometimes sell orientalia, and Sundays I take myself to the local car boot where I get plenty of exercise and find some fantastic bargains.  I have given up with shops in the main. Why? Because , I confess to being addicted to the hunt for a bargain, the people contact, the banter.  For the £20 I can spend in a shop I get treble my moneys worth at a car boot!

Car boots can yield nothing or one can have a good day - it’s all part of the unexpected. Yesterday was good. I found a beautiful old mother of pearl inlaid eastern occasional table, intricately carved for £18.00.   On ebay one is lucky to find one this old for under 70pound and that’s being conservative, so I was well pleased. The seller kindly gave me a gorgeous old satsuma pot a gift. It was badly cracked but cracks don’t phase me. I’m not always after good condition. I am happy to live with a good well restored piece of unusual china. Must have been my day for being gifted as at another table I bought a little carved Anglo indian plant stand for a quid and the bloke insisted I take a jewellery box with some pieces of nice stone jewellery in it as a gift - bless.

I also ate another dodgy burger. I don’t know why I do this and each week three bites in I ask why I bought it in the first place and what the heck is wrong with me!!!  I need to stop that and take some protein snacks next time! Prob is I usually leave the house on Sunday in a blurry hurry having not gotten up early enough because part of me wants to just lie in my bed late & lazily.

Later after much walking about I found an interesting 18th century framed Chinese portrait silk of a much loved general Kwando - or some name to that effect. The seller knew her stuff and as we share similar taste it was nice to chat with her about her items. As usual I learned much.

More interesting bits and pieces turned up on tables laden with bric brac.  I found a piece of smooth carved jade that once belonged on a lantern with a central bat motif and 2 quite amazing solid 20’s lamps with huge coiling dragons curling around them.  I love them - think they could hold their own in any top London interior shop specialising in vintage…but they are not for mainstream tastes, that’s for sure!    Happily for me I have two perfect Lamphades for them at home - so I am spending time this evening putting them together.

My highlight of the day  find was a pair of incredible papua new guinea hair decorations. These are made of bone and tightly woven grass and bright feathers. I turned them over several times to admire the delicate weaving skills and thought on how even in some jungle with nothing but natural materials a craftsman took the time to create something astonishingly refined out of only natural materials. These items had such spirit embued in them I felt quite moved.  I know - I am a little strange to get moved by an object. But I value such things so much because in a world of plastic fabrications and mass production they shine for me.  I could feel the care in these little pieces, the time given to  making them.  The chap had a superb necklace made of porcupine quills too - but there comes a time the bigger spending is over and only a few pounds are left!  With these I  bought two cement garden buddhas painted fire engine red - a bit of fun kitsch tat but my lawd they weighed a ton  ! Oh and a Harrods wool jumper for a pound and a delicious homemade chocolate cake for the kids, that lasted no more than a couple of hours on my return home!  I had to stagger across an open field my knees about to wonk out under me, lugging these large and heavy finds back to the car. To add insult to my ungainly lugging,  I kept getting an out of body perspective and could see myself staggering along as if I had too much tipple.  I had to laugh at myself in the end - talk about determination-  but only once I had nearly collapsed with my booty at the car! I can’t describe the muscular relief of putting it all down!

I stood on Mr P’s scales yesterday & weighed in at 54.4 kilo’s fully clothed. That’s in the 8 stone range.  I don’t think I am managing to win the gaining weight battle - but that’s hardly surprising given how  much I am physical just in everyday life. I have the proverbial ants in pants syndrome. I like to move. I like to push my body and feel it alive and working.

My ’special’ eating days have not diminished. I still have the big eat days when I eat as if there was no end in a bid to put on a little bit. It works well for me. I can’t be bothered to do more than protein & veg most days so it pushes me to expand my food choices.   I think it is possibly making me healthier (except for the jam tarts I have been devouring, clearly to no avail! )  but it’s not denting my weight. For two weeks I have been pastry baking - mainly because I discovered those zooty little rolls of ready made dough in Tesco’s. I tolerate pastry well, particularly puff pastry. I think it’s the high fat content as it glides through my digestive system without as much bloat factor as other doughs.  As I recently had a full house here of 7 hungry folk,  I thought it best to try to knock up some stand by pies made with quality meat & veg not the filler type of crap that inhabits most shop bought numbers. I was very sanctimonious but then my mind got dodgy. This happens to me rather often nowadays.  I think it is a forty-something thing.

Anyway I started thinking of figs and walnuts and I made a huge kind of latticed figgy jammy walnut tart one night for dessert. We ate it hot with thick clotted cream and it was so good that I was inspired.   I made jam tarts the next day in a creative flourish and with deep nostalgia borne of childhood memories. I can still see my ouma(nana) making delicious confectionaries her kitchen bursting with the smell of spices and homemade jam.  I  ate not one jam tart, but three in fast succession!     At least the walnuts (protein) on the figgy number could be a little justified in DS world.

I find myself thinking just a kilo or two on, preferably on the bum, would be nice on some days.  I’m not fretting as I once did and maybe that’s not a good thing. I don’t know. In the end we have to find our own comfort zones in our bodies be that size 18 or size 8. My ball parks move with my moods. Some days I feel light on my feet, slim & dynamic. I pull on my skinny pants and I feel relief that I am not struggling to find something I like to wear as I did all the time at size 28. Then other days I fear that I look like a stick insect with a lolly head. Or I get a kind of weird frail feeling.   Still other days I morph into sizes too big for me - still reaching for size 12/14 jeans in the shops .  I don’t know where I am heading because in many ways this has been going on for 6 years. My body acceptance is much better than last year though I don’t think about it too much as most of the time I am in whatever day I am in, if that makes any sense. I also know it’s roundabouts and skittles because I could gain or lose weight in the years to come. Although admittedly if I plot my trend over the last three years, theres no doubt if I draw straws between a gain & loss, loss is more likely. Still, the DS works in strange ways and I might yet gain some weight.     However,  I have decided to only panic if I hit 53 kilo’s and at that point will embark on serious action and meds to push the weight up.

For now, I have bones and sag it must be said but I also have energy. I am relatively healthy despite the odd dips in my minerals but am very much healthier than I was at 120 kilo’s odd.  It was what I wanted when I started on this wls malarky all those years back. I know & accept that the trade off is going to be deficiencies from time to time and I feel I can deal with this very much better than I could with impending diabetes, asthma, joint pain, constant hunger etc.  From this perspective I am very happy with my outcome.In fact from most perspectives I am happy with my DS.

It’s been a busy week as usual - the Japanese style garden is happening inbetween bursts of rain, but not fast enough for my satisfaction. I decided to have a moss garden as a kind of base for the collection of maples I have in pots.  I’m thinking to work with Englands natural dampness rather than against it.  I hauled huge old half rotted oak planks into place and covered them in a messy mix of moss & yogurt. I cheated a little too and bought some moss from the garden center to get the effect going. It looks pretty good so far.  I also planted rosemary - I love that herb. It is delicious with chicken, med veggies and of course no slow cooked lamb roast tastes right without it. I’m hoping by next year it will be big enough for me to bottle up Zennis apple cider & rosemary hair rinse. At the moment I have to rely on precut rosemary from tesco’s to do the job which is not exactly cheap as chips - and this to rinse a dogs hair with!

My mum had a setback. She called me describing symptoms not unlike a very severe bacterial overgrowth. We agreed a trip to the GP was in order for antibiotics asap.  I can’t describe how panicked I feel not being able to be with my mum when I can hear all is not well.  Times like these I hate the brokenupness of my scattered family. It’s not right that I can’t just nip around the corner to see how my mum is and to help her through these wobbly steps of first year setbacks after major surgery. The GP says she thinks it is diverticulitis all over again. Omg - imagine that tbh I feel a bit beside myself & of course my mum is taking it hard too.  To go through so many surgeries and end up half a bowel later and still have not got it out of the body….it’s just not a good thought.

I am no medic but I want solid concrete tests to be done - it worries me that such a diagnoses is made off the cuff with no investigation into the physical facts. My poor mum. 

Now, I’m not saying the GP is not spot on, but if so, we need to know exactly the extent of this so that we can work on it appropriately. But I am praying it is just a bowel overgrowth caused by lack of motility or something like that.  Maybe I am just in denial but until she is properly examined via endoscopy or other means we won’t know for sure.

I have dread of diverticulosis because I have seen first hand the sort of crisis it can lead to.  Pete was recently diagnosed with it as well and I felt quite ill on hearing this. He also had H. Pylori, which had caused an ulcer. I wonder if diverticulosis is not also caused by some errant bacteria as yet unnamed.I wonder how many pylori sufferers have it as well. And why is it not common practice to test for pylori in people?  I just find it so strange that this is not a routinely done thing every few years. Sometimes when a Dser is struggling with bowel issues I think checking out they are pylori free should be first port of call.

Just seems to me not enough research is going on into diverticulosis, because it is so common in the over 60’s. Does this mean we just sit back & let the darned thing take it’s miserable course?  Why is it so common?  Have we been underprescribed the importance of veggies. Because my little layman feeling is that 10 servings of veg a day is about right for the human being.  I carp on about it endlessly in my own home as well as here.

I carp, because the benefits are too great to ignore. For both Dsers & non Dsers. I worry that WLS patients might be at higher risk for it down the line. High protein diets are highly acid forming in the body…and I think this can potentially lead to problems.  Now I don’t know if the acid/alkaline theorists are correct or if it is just shubunkin, but I do think it merits a good look over. I know what we eat directly impacts our health and my feeling is that a good part of the food should be alkaline in nature to counter the high acid forming effects of a high protein diet. I think we would see some nice effects, less UTI problems, less diahorrea/constipation, less longerterm risk of diverticulitis. And as I have said before for WLS patients eating veggies in targeted high amounts will prevent big regains. They are key.

In my Pete’s case it is is mild at this point and hopefully we can prevent the sort of scenario my mum has had to go through.  I’m trying to encourage him to eat the same amount of veggies I do and lot’s of the old green veg which he absolutely  hates!  It’ll be a challenge for him I know, but hopefully worth it. I keep thinking how long it took me to get a grip on the fact that my food is more than just good taste. It is medicine for me. I learned to eat purposefully in a bid to support my rerouted guts. But it took me a good two years to move towards this and to learn to enjoy what I eat and choose foods that would take me the golden mile with my DS.  It took me even longer to truly love this type of grub.  It’s hard to try to impart that idea to the people I love and care about. Maybe one can’t. Maybe this is a way of life that each person finds out for themselves as they face pending health issues. Maybe the body pushes the changes?    I can see my lesson…to be gentler and to remember forcing the issue only creates stress and trying to hide broccolli and spinach in sauces is not going to do the trick! .

So on with it. I had to laugh (else I would cry) but this week I am adding a new box to the burgeoning supplement shelves in my kitchen. Yup - it is sad - I have a row of shelves lined with plastic boxes that house all the supplements. The new addition is Pete’s box. We have my boxes:  Vita4Life, Calcium, Vit D high dose, Vit K2, Vit A high dose, Magnesium, Solvazinc, Iron Caps, Fish oil, Coenzyme10, Lutien, Vit C, coconut oil. My daughter Kate’s box for her skin prob which is now resolving beautifully, so hopefully this box has done it’s work and can go on hold: Msm, tissue salts, magnesium.   Zen’s boxes: Heart herbs, Fish oils, Kidney herbs, Kelp supplement, doggie multivit, doggie calcium, Cod liver oil, cayenne, Tissue salts, Topical Skin oils and herbs. Now Pete’s box (in formation): L-glutamine,  CoenzymeQ10, Magnesium, Vit C,fish oils, Slippery elm, cayenne, Vit K2  and it’s just the start….   It’s a veritable apocathary !

A little note about the above, don’t take supplements or herbs if you are on other meds without consulting your GP.  Don’t underestimate the fact that supplements while generally safer than drugs can & do have side effects. Certain herbs interact with regular medication and within their own genre too.   Also - remember that it’s not just a case of supplementing willy nilly - any supplement program must be evolved against an evaluation of the individuals diet and individual requirements.   Supplements may not be forever…aside from my box which is daily standard, the other boxes will no doubt be changed/discarded as required. Zen for example, does not receive all these supplements in one day - he has a basic rotine and then I work according to his symptoms and aim that his intake is varied over the week. Kate’s skin issues seem 99% resolved so we will now start to dramatically lower her doses and see if her body can perpetuate the balance now.

I can’t believe it is Saturday already.  The weeks fly past and sometimes I think I am dropping off the planet.  So much to do & so little time!