yard sales and discounts stores....

so if you don't go to yard sales, you are just missing out. now i am not going to lie and say i totally love going. and if you had been with us last weekend when we went, i would have sworn that i would never go back. but, you have to take the good w/ the bad- and when it is bad, it's REAL bad (last week happen to fall in this category). but i am constantly reminded why it is good. for example, this awesome Pottery Barn puppet theater/ lemonade stand. this is something i would have never bought for full price but when GiGi spied it at a yard sale, it was a must have... especially w/ the price tag of $10. i cannot tell you how much fun taylor and my mom have had putting on puppet shows....which brings me to my next subject: discount stores. we all go to TJ and Marshalls but when was the last time you went to Big Lots (i have no idea the last time i was there)...but my parents were wasting time while their dog was getting groomed and stopped in. and guess who they ran into....Martha. now do you think martha stewart is dying knowing that her line is now at a discount store? well, they scored these adorable puppets for $2. i happen to be on the phone w/ mom while she was there and i asked if they had the tissue pom poms and they did....again $2. i want to put them over taylor's bed (a quick, inexpensive way to add something interesting to her room). so think yard sales and discount stores the next time your child is bored....you just never know what you are going to score!!

*oh and i couldn't help but include a pic of taylor playing at the computer last night....notice anything missing...her mullet! i got her haircut for the first time last week...major improvement :)

Malocclusion: Disease of Civilization

In his epic work Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Weston Price documented the abnormal dental development and susceptibility to tooth decay that accompanied the adoption of modern foods in a number of different cultures throughout the world. Although he quantified changes in cavity prevalence (sometimes finding increases as large as 1,000-fold), all we have are Price's anecdotes describing the crooked teeth, narrow arches and "dished" faces these cultures developed as they modernized.

Price published the first edition of his book in 1939. Fortunately, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration wasn't the last word on the matter. Anthropologists and archaeologists have been extending Price's findings throughout the 20th century. My favorite is Dr. Robert S. Corruccini, currently a professor of anthropology at Southern Illinois University. He published a landmark paper in 1984 titled "An Epidemiologic Transition in Dental Occlusion in World Populations" that will be our starting point for a discussion of how diet and lifestyle factors affect the development of the teeth, skull and jaw (Am J. Orthod. 86(5):419)*.

First, some background. The word occlusion refers to the manner in which the top and bottom sets of teeth come together, determined in part by the alignment between the upper jaw (maxilla) and lower jaw (mandible). There are three general categories:

• Class I occlusion: considered "ideal". The bottom incisors (front teeth) fit just behind the top incisors.
• Class II occlusion: "overbite." The bottom incisors are too far behind the top incisors. The mandible may appear small.
  
• Class III occlusion: "underbite." The bottom incisors are beyond the top incisors. The mandible protrudes.
  

Malocclusion means the teeth do not come together in a way that's considered ideal. The term "class I malocclusion" is sometimes used to describe crowded incisors when the jaws are aligning properly.

Over the course of the next several posts, I'll give an overview of the extensive literature showing that hunter-gatherers past and present have excellent occlusion, subsistence agriculturalists generally have good occlusion, and the adoption of modern foodways directly causes the crooked teeth, narrow arches and/or crowded third molars (wisdom teeth) that affect the majority of people in industrialized nations. I believe this process also affects the development of the rest of the skull, including the face and sinuses.

In his 1984 paper, Dr. Corruccini reviewed data from a number of cultures whose occlusion has been studied in detail. Most of these cultures were observed by Dr. Corruccini personally. He compared two sets of cultures: those that adhere to a traditional style of life and those that have adopted industrial foodways. For several of the cultures he studied, he compared it to another that was genetically similar. For example, the older generation of Pima indians vs. the younger generation, and rural vs. urban Punjabis. He also included data from archaeological sites and nonhuman primates. Wild animals, including nonhuman primates, almost invariably show perfect occlusion.

The last graph in the paper is the most telling. He compiled all the occlusion data into a single number called the "treatment priority index" (TPI). This is a number that represents the overall need for orthodontic treatment. A TPI of 4 or greater indicates malocclusion (the cutoff point is subjective and depends somewhat on aesthetic considerations). Here's the graph: Every single urban/industrial culture has an average TPI of greater than 4, while all the non-industrial or less industrial cultures have an average TPI below 4. This means that in industrial cultures, the average person requires orthodontic treatment to achieve good occlusion, whereas most people in more traditionally-living cultures naturally have good occlusion.

The best occlusion was in the New Britain sample, a precontact Melanesian hunter-gatherer group studied from archaeological remains. The next best occlusion was in the Libben and Dickson groups, who were early Native American agriculturalists. The Pima represent the older generation of Native Americans that was raised on a somewhat traditional agricultural diet, vs. the younger generation raised on processed reservation foods. The Chinese samples are immigrants and their descendants in Liverpool. The Punjabis represent urban vs. rural youths in Northern India. The Kentucky samples represent a traditionally-living Appalachian community, older generation vs. processed food-eating offspring. The "early black" and "black youths" samples represent older and younger generations of African-Americans in the Cleveland and St. Louis area. The "white parents/youths" sample represents different generations of American Caucasians.

The point is clear: there's something about industrialization that causes malocclusion. It's not genetic; it's a result of changes in diet and/or lifestyle. A "disease of civilization". I use that phrase loosely, because malocclusion isn't really a disease, and some cultures that qualify as civilizations retain traditional foodways and relatively good teeth. Nevertheless, it's a time-honored phrase that encompasses the wide array of health problems that occur when humans stray too far from their ecological niche. I'm going to let Dr. Corruccini wrap this post up for me:

I assert that these results serve to modify two widespread generalizations: that imperfect occlusion is not necessarily abnormal, and that prevalence of malocclusion is genetically controlled so that preventive therapy in the strict sense is not possible. Cross-cultural data dispel the notion that considerable occlusal variation [malocclusion] is inevitable or normal. Rather, it is an aberrancy of modern urbanized populations. Furthermore, the transition from predominantly good to predominantly bad occlusion repeatedly occurs within one or two generations' time in these (and other) populations, weakening arguments that explain high malocclusion prevalence genetically.

* This paper is worth reading if you get the chance. It should have been a seminal paper in the field of preventive orthodontics, which could have largely replaced conventional orthodontics by now. Dr. Corruccini is the clearest thinker on this subject I've encountered so far.

carefree...

these pictures make me want to be a kid again! i love the yellow thrown in there w/ pink...

speaking of kids- please keep your fingers crossed that mine doesn't get kicked out of school today....i have so much i need to do!! have a fabulous tuesday.

* images courtesy of ciao tay, maree homer, glam lamb

Diabetics on a Low-carbohydrate Diet, Part II

I just found another very interesting study performed in Japan by Dr. Hajime Haimoto and colleagues (free full text). They took severe diabetics with an HbA1c of 10.9% and put them on a low-carbohydrate diet:

The main principle of the CRD [carbohydrate-restricted diet] was to eliminate carbohydrate-rich food twice a day at breakfast and dinner, or eliminate it three times a day at breakfast, lunch and dinner... There were no other restrictions. Patients on the CRD were permitted to eat as much protein and fat as they wanted, including saturated fat.

What happened to their blood lipids after eating all that fat for 6 months, and increasing their saturated fat intake to that of the average American? LDL decreased and HDL increased, both statistically significant. Oops. But that's water under the bridge. What we really care about here is glucose control. The patients' HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin; a measure of average blood glucose over the past several weeks) declined from 10.9 to 7.4%.

Here's a graph showing the improvement in HbA1c. Each line represents one individual:

Every single patient improved, except the "dropout" who stopped following the diet advice after 3 months (the one line that shoots back up at 6 months). And now, an inspirational anecdote from the paper:

One female patient had an increased physical activity level during the study period in spite of our instructions. However, her increase in physical activity was no more than one hour of walking per day, four days a week. She had implemented an 11% carbohydrate diet without any antidiabetic drug, and her HbA1c level decreased from 14.4% at baseline to 6.1% after 3 months and had been maintained at 5.5% after 6 months.

That patient began with the highest HbA1c and ended with the lowest. Complete glucose control using only diet and exercise. It may not work for everyone, but it's effective in some cases. The study's conclusion:

...the 30%-carbohydrate diet over 6 months led to a remarkable reduction in HbA1c levels, even among outpatients with severe type 2 diabetes, without any insulin therapy, hospital care or increase in sulfonylureas. The effectiveness of the diet may be comparable to that of insulin therapy.

Diabetics on a Low-carbohydrate Diet
The Tokelau Island Migrant Study: Diabetes

emerson made.

hello...i am officially obsessed with emerson made. have you seen her blog? not only is she adorable but she makes the coolest flowers to add onto any outfit or wedding dress...i want all of them. so here are some inspirations, inspire by her beautiful creations.....

*images courtesy of emerson made, meg braff, emerson made , hannah maple, emerson made, domino

DAUN JATI BELANDA, Potensi Kontrol Kolesterol

August 9, 2008 by hioedeyoga (http://hioedeyoga.wordpress.com/)

CUKUP DISEDUH

Meramu daun jati belanda relatif mudah.Daun yang sudah di keringkan cukup
di seduh dengan air panas, seperti halnya membuat teh. Sering juga daun ini
di buat ekstrak atau serbuk.

Berikut beberapa contoh ramuan yang bisa di buat dari daun jati belanda :

1. Peluruh Kolesterol, ambil beberapa lembar daun jati belanda kering
kemudian seduh dengan air panas secukupnya seperti membuat teh.
Saring sebelum diminum Agar tidak hambar tambahkan 1 sendok
madu atau gula batu

2. Pereda Diare, Daun jati belanda kering di giling dan di jadikan serbuk
ambil 20gr serbuk ini dan seduh dengan air panas. kemudian saring
dan minum 2x sehari. Jika suka, bisa di campur kencur dan madu
secukupnya, tetapi untuk di perhatikan : Orang yang bermasalah
dengan Ginjal sebaiknya menghindarai ramuan ini


3. Pelangsing, ambil 7 lembar daun jati belanda segar lalu cuci bersih
tambahkan sepotong rimpang bangle, temulawak atau kunyit putih.
Rebus dengan1,5 gelas air bersih sampai tersisa 1 gelas.
Setelah dingin saring dan minum, saat meramunya harus bersamaan
dengan temulawak atau kunyit putih guna mengurangi efek
iritasi lambung. Selama mengkonsumsi ramuan ini teteplah minum
banyak air putih.

Selamat mencobaaaa………………

Ramuan ttg daun jati belanda ini telah melewati uji penilitian di laboratorium
Biokimia Institut Pertanian Bogor guna mengetahui pengaruhnya baik dalam
bentuk ekstrak air, estrak etanol dan fraksi aktif streroid) terhadap kadar
lipid darah (TPC,trigliserida. LDL dan HDLatau high density lioprotein) oleh
Yosie Andirani H.S, penelitiannya dengan menggunakan kelinci sebagai hewan
percobaan pada empat kelompok perlakuan masing2 kelompok terdiri atas 5 ekor
dari penelitian ini dapat di simpulkan bahwa daun jati belanda terbukti mampu
menurunkan kadar lipid darah dan berarti bisa di jadikan obat alternatif
antihiperlipidemia.

Berhubung melambungnya harga obat2an yang sangat mahal tidak ada salahnya
kan kita coba dengan yang alami dan tidak begitu mahal harganya…..

Telah di muat pula artikel ttg daun jati belanda di tabloid Gaya Hidup Sehat
edisi no 470/18-24 Juli 2008

Jati Belanda Si Pelangsing Pengusir Kaki Gajah
Desember 25, 2007

INDONESIA sebagai salah satu negara yang kaya akan sumber daya alam, merupakan negara yang sangat potensial dalam bahan baku obat. Ribuan jenis tumbuhan yang diduga berkhasiat obat, sudah sejak lama secara turun-temurun dimanfaatkan oleh masyarakat kita. Biasanya, selain untuk pengobatan juga dimanfaatkan sebagai pencegahan dan pemulihan stamina serta kosmetika.

Adalah Guazuma ulmifolia Lamk atau yang dikenal di Indonesia dengan nama jati belanda, merupakan tanaman yang tumbuh baik di iklim tropis seperti negara kita ini. Tanaman dari kelas Dicotyledonae ini termasuk dalam famili Sterculiaceae, dan diduga berasal dari negara Amerika yang beriklim tropis. Tanaman ini tumbuh di dataran rendah sampai dengan ketinggian 800 mdpl. Jati belanda biasanya ditanam sebagai pohon peneduh, tanaman pekarangan atau tumbuh liar begitu saja.

Jati belanda atau jati londo dalam bahasa Jawa, dan dikenal dengan nama bastard cadar dalam bahasa Inggris, merupakan pohon yang berbatang keras bercabang, berkayu bulat dengan permukaan batang yang kasar, dan berwarna coklat kehijauan. Daunnya berbentuk bulat telur berwarna hijau dengan pinggiran bergerigi, permukaan kasar, ujung rucing, pangkal berlekuk, pertulangan menyirip berseling, dan berukuran panjang 10-16 cm serta lebar 3-6 cm. Bunganya, berwarna kuning, berbau wangi serta memiliki titik merah di bagian tengah, berbentuk mayang dan muncul di ketiak daun. Buah dari tanaman ini berbentuk bulat, keras, memiliki lima ruang, permukaan tidak rata berwarna hijau ketika muda dan berubah menjadi cokelat kehitaman setelah tua.

Tanaman ini biasanya diperbanyak dengan biji, cara memperbanyak dengan cangkok masih sulit dilakukan dengan tingkat keberhasilan 50 persen. Ditambah lagi, cara setek dengan perlakuan khusus sekalipun belum banyak membantu. Daun Jati belanda akan siap dipanen ketika pohon sudah berumur 2-3 tahun dan akan berbuah setelah berumur kurang lebih 5-6 tahun. 

Khasiat daun

Saat ini, jati belanda masih jarang dibudidayakan secara intensif. Selain itu, bibit tanaman juga masih jarang ditemukan dalam jumlah besar. Jika ada, harganya pun relatif mahal, yaitu sekira Rp 5.000,00 per bibit dengan ukuran tinggi pohon 0,5 meter. Hal ini bisa dimaklum karena pengadaan bibit jati belanda tak semudah pengadaan bibit tanaman lain. Namun, jika dilihat dari khasiat dan kegunaan dari tanaman ini, harga tersebut menjadi tak berarti.

Daun, buah, biji, dan kulit kayu bagian dalam merupakan bagian tanaman yang bisa dipergunakan sebagai obat. Secara umum, zat utama yang terkandung dari seluruh bagian tanaman adalah tanin dan musilago. Kandungan lainnya yaitu resin, flavonoid, karotenoid, asam fenolat, zat pahit, karbohidrat, kafein, terpen, juga senyawa – senyawa lain seperti sterol, beta-sitosterol, friedelin-3-alfa-asetat, friedelin -3-beta-ol,alkoloida serta karbohidrat dan minyak lemak.
Tanin yang banyak terkandung di bagian daun, mampu mengurangi penyerapan makanan dengan cara mengendapkan mukosa protein yang ada dalam permukaan usus. Sementara itu, musilago yang berbentuk lendir bersifat sebagai pelicin. Dengan adanya musilago, absorbsi usus terhadap makanan dapat dikurangi. Hal ini yang yang menjadi alasan banyaknya daun jati belanda yang dimanfaatkan sebagai obat susut perut dan pelangsing. Dalam perkembangannya, daun jati belanda juga banyak dimanfaatkan untuk mengatasi penyakit kolesterol dan rematik gout.

Tak hanya sampai di situ, dewasa ini daun jati Belanda juga dapat digunakan sebagai obat elephantiasis atau penyakit kaki gajah. Gejala khas yang timbul dari penyakit ini adalah adanya pembengkakan yang sangat besar pada jaringan – jaringan pengikat dan pembuluh getah bening yang. Penyakit ini disebabkan oleh aktivitas sejenis cacing yang menyumbat aliran getah bening.

Cara meramu

Sebagian sumber berpendapat, bagian tanaman yang dapat digunakan untuk mengatasi penyakit kaki gajah adalah bagian kulit kayu sebelah dalam. Namun, ada sumber lain yang menyebutkan bahwa daunnya pun apalagi jika dicampur dengan ramuan lain maka dapat pula dimanfaatkan sebagai obat untuk menyembuhkan penyakit tersebut.

Untuk mengobati kaki gajah, daun yang akan digunakan sebagai ramuan dipilih daun yang segar dan berwarna hijau tua. Daun diambil secukupnya, dikeringkan dengan cara diangin – anginkan, tetapi harus dihindarkan dari cahaya matahari langsung karena dapat mengubah warna daun menjadi cokelat kehitaman. Pengeringan yang tidak benar akan mengurangi khasiat zat aktif yang dikandungnya.
Selanjutnya, daun yang sudah kering digiling sampai menjadi serbuk. Serbuk diambil kira – kira sebanyak 20 gram serbuk, kemudian seduh dengan air panas, disaring, dan air saringannya diminum sehari 2 kali. Selain itu, untuk menambah efek farmakologi dari ramuan ini, bisa juga dengan cara menambahkan rimpang bangle atau panglai (bahasa Sunda). Caranya, ambil tujuh lembar daun jati belanda dan sebesar jari rimpang bangle. Bahan – bahan dicuci hingga bersih kemudian direbus dengan satu setengah gelas air hingga tersisa kira – kira satu gelas lagi. Setelah dingin disaring, dan dibagi menjadi 2 untuk diminum pagi dan sore hari.

Harus diakui, bahwa cara kerja dan efek farmakologi dari daun jati belanda sebagai obat kaki gajah belum diteliti secara nyata. Namun, tidak ada salahnya apabila kita mencoba menggunakan tanaman ini sebagai salah satu pengobatan alternatif dalam mengatasi penyakit kaki gajah.***PR-9-3-2006
Joni Hendri, Am.A.K.
Alumnus Analis Kesehatan, Poltekkes Bandung dan Teknisi Litkayasa di Loka Litbang P2B2 Ciamis, Balitbang Kesehatan RI.

oh hey.

fancy meeting you here. see my day hasn't turned out the way i planned....

i woke up feeling awful, i drive tay to school, visualizing getting back in bed...*ring, ring- hello, we have an agent who wants to show your house today at lunch time {insert cuss word here}...seriously, my house is a disaster. i race home to clean and call mom (for some reason, it is easier to clean if i am talking on the phone), i get a beep, i continue to talk for another ummm 30 min....i hang up the phone. i check my messages...hi this is taylor's teacher, please come and pick her up, she is sick. my kid got kicked out of school. so i did what any mom would do in an ackward situation, i made warren go and get her :) i didn't want the wrath. i meet up w/ warren (i was sitting on a park bench sweating b/c my oil was being changed) and head to lunch...tay and i sit and stare at our food. neither of us are excited about what is in front of us. we finish lunch- still have 30 min to kill until the people who are looking at our house leave. drive in circles and stop at one of my stores- score an alabaster lamp. finally, we make it home (of course tay falls asleep in the car right when we are pulling into the neighborhood). i thought i could pick my child up and she would go effortlessly back to sleep once we were in the house...i attempt this.

*heavy sigh* peace and quite at last. i change clothes (a vintage sorority shirt...i mean do y'all still have those...this one's bid day 1998, it's HOT). i pull out the cupcake that my sweet husband brought me home and sit down to eat it. i am excited about the cupcake and my new lamp...

oh wait, fancy meeting you here: hey taylor, ohhhh you don't want to take a nap. GREAT. ohhhh you want some jello. hummmmm, sounds perfect. sweet, is that jello you are rubbing all over my leg. nice. oh and barron, would you lick that red jello off of the seagrass rug. thanks- that would be great.

you know, my day isn't working out the way i planned it. but hey, i hope yours is terrific.....

common denominator.

it became very clear when searching through my pictures, that i have a thing for zigzag's right now. i think they are fabulous and are a much needed addition to my home....i am thinking that zigzag rug (it was painted over seagrass...a DIY)! or maybe i should keep this....

*images courtesy of apartment therapy, lindsey harper, bellasugar, cottage living, brilliant asylum, windsor smith/ house beautiful, brown button

lots of windows please.

ever since i saw a post that things that inspire did on bringing the outside in, i have become obsessed with the idea of windows taking the place of upper cabinets in a kitchen. it is just amazing how beautiful it looks to have all of that space open. i am a huge fan of not using upper cabinets and this allows so much light into a space. then i saw this picture of the shower enclosed with window panes and i think it is just genius! so if you are building think windows...and lots of them!

*images courtesy of things that inspire, southern accents, things that inspire, delight by design, meyer davis studio, searching for style

back...

i'm back from a long wedding weekend....we had lots of fun, lots of rain, and lots of good friends to hang with....now i have LOTS of work to do (and a sick child to take care of)....happy monday.

* images courtesy of flickr, where the sidewalk begins

wedding weekend.

we are off to a wedding for our great friends lee and keri...their first date was our rehearsal dinner a little over 5 yrs ago...(wow, we have been married for a long time warren). lee and keri live an exotic life in costa rica and have for many years....so they decided to bring the wedding stateside...we are excited to see them (although going back to costa rica would have been a lot of fun too). have a wonderful weekend :)

*images courtesy of a cup of joe and v.

Diabetics on a Low-carbohydrate Diet

Diabetes is a disorder of glucose intolerance. What happens when a diabetic eats a low-carbohydrate diet? Here's a graph of blood glucose over a 24 hour period, in type II diabetics on their usual diet (blue and grey triangles), and after 5 weeks on a 55% carbohydrate (yellow circles) or 20% carbohydrate (blue circles) diet:


The study in question describes these volunteers as having "mild, untreated diabetes." If 270 mg/dL of blood glucose is mild diabetes, I'd hate to see severe diabetes! In any case, the low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet brought blood glucose down to an acceptable level without requiring medication.

It's interesting to note in the graph above that fasting blood glucose (18-24 hours) also fell dramatically. This could reflect improved insulin sensitivity in the liver. The liver pumps glucose into the bloodstream when it's necessary, and insulin suppresses this. When the liver is insulin resistant, it doesn't respond to the normal signal that there's already sufficient glucose, so it releases more and increases fasting blood glucose. When other tissues are insulin resistant, they don't take up the extra glucose, also contributing to the problem.

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), a measure of average blood glucose concentration over the preceding few weeks, also reflected a profound improvement in blood glucose levels in the low-carbohydrate group:

At 5 weeks, the low-carbohydrate group was still improving and headed toward normal HbA1c, while the high-carbohydrate group remained at a dangerously high level. Total cholesterol, LDL and HDL remained unchanged in both groups, while triglycerides fell dramatically in the low-carbohydrate group.

When glucose is poison, it's better to eat fat.

Graph #1 was reproduced from Volek et al. (2005), which re-plotted data from Gannon et al. (2004). Graph #2 was drawn directly from Gannon et al.

rustic...

these pics are preparing me for my weekend in the mountains....hopefully, that won't be the only way to shower....although, it is quite cute...i'm just more of an indoor shower kind of girl :)

*images courtesy of absolutely beautiful things, my home ideas, atlanta home, and decor pad

soooo pretty.

sometimes a picture stops me dead in my tracks....hence the beautiful stairwell with that amazing soft blue wall....it was the inspiration for this post and one of my favorite color palettes. i think all of these pics combined would make one heck of a house....i'd move right in.

*images courtesy of aimee herring, lime in the coconut, just beachy, tori golub interior design, ada and darcy