- As determined men and women of yesteryear made their
way west to make for a better life, pioneer women often kept journals
of their life on the great prairies or sent letters home to their sisters
back East. In those letters they described the silence as the most unwelcome
guest. These brave women wrote about being left for weeks on end alone,
lost in an endless sea of grass with only the wind for company while the
men hunted or went for supplies. In some cases the quiet was so severe
that it became unbearable and the women developed mental problems. One
young mother in 1853 wrote, "Silence is an evil creature, it stalks
you by day, watching, waiting, ever vigilant. By the dark of the moon
it strangles your thoughts and slips away with your sanity."
-
- Imagine now, that we are about six weeks into a societal
collapse. You are sure you have prepared yourself fairly well. You've
made all the plans and stocked all that needs to be stocked and you feel
pretty confident that you and yours can weather whatever comes, right?
After all, you have given lots of time and energy to making sure that
you have everything that you need. You have provided for your physical
well being, but have you taken the time to consider what happens to the
family's emotional stability when life as we know it suddenly takes a
turn south?
-
- In all the preparedness information out there, there
seems to be an expectation that ones emotional response to real world
stressors are somehow less important than the physical. Or maybe people
are not wanting to deal with that which is yet unknown and frankly, just
too scary for most of us to comprehend. What happens to the emotional
intellect when forced to shoot another human being for the first time
or watch helplessly while a loved one dies of an illness or a massive
wound. How about dealing with feral pigs, dogs and any other typically
domesticated animals? Can you let your children out of your sight to play
in the yard or do you live with constant fear they may become a meal for
a once beloved family pet or the zoo animal that hasn't eaten in a week?
These are real life situations that need to be discussed along with beans,
bullets and band aids. Even Tom Brown, "The Tracker", writes
of feral dogs of his youth while living in New Jersey.
-
- Now that the stores are not being stocked you have used
up all that was in the cupboard and freezer and have broken into your
stored rice and beans. Everyone in your household has been about four
weeks without McDonald's, potato chips, Spaghetti-Os, wine, beer and
cigarettes. The family complains of being gassy and bloated and by now
the cravings are so bad that even the neighbors lawn ornament is beginning
to look good. Tempers are just one spark away from ignition within the
family unit. Depression sets in as Sissy hysterically cries, "I'm
never ever going to use a flush toilet ever again!" It becomes apparent
that holding this unit together is going to be a real challenge. Isn't
it is amazing how a change in diet can trash the family dynamics?
-
- My field of study for the past 25 years has been in Holistic
Nutritional Sciences. This field is centered around the whole body and
everything that goes into it, air, water, plants, the soil plants are
grown in and the health of animals that are used for food. Current research
indicates there are definite changes in body chemistry when one gets off
the processed and junk food hamster wheel. As chemicals, heavy metals
and other toxic particles leave the body there is what has been described
as a healing crisis and it can be all too real for the ones that suffer
through it. Think for a moment, you have suddenly been forced to do without
coffee or cigarettes, a real nightmare for some. What will you feel like
in a few days? Your children have been forced to do without their favorite
French fries or soft drinks. What will be their mood in a week or so?
If you have ever been witness to a loved ones kicking of the habit you
will appreciate that it is not always a pleasant happening. These are
a few of the more obvious, lets take a look at some lesser known problems
with our modern situation.
-
- Currently, there are about 3,000 substances added to
food that are on the FDA's generally regarded as safe (GRAS) list but
the GRAS can not guarantee that an additive is 100% safe for every human
because not every human has the same biochemistry. Food colors seem to
be most problematic for young children in that they can be toxic to the
nervous system, kidneys or liver. And don't get me started on genetically
modified foodstuffs, it makes me screaming mad. I can't say anything good
about altering the perfection of the natural world. The fact that this
brand new life form was not studied long term and released into the unsuspecting
publics food supply makes me nuts. Were humans really meant to eat a corn
plant with say, a petunia's DNA? Of course, that's a much simplified
version but I believe there are some things that we just weren't meant
to ingest. Genetically modified ingredients in infant formula being number
one on my list to scream about. My list to scream about on the subject
of GMOs just scratches the surface here ,but that rant is for another
day. ( hint: get as many open pollinated seeds as you can ASAP. That means
yesterday. If you don't have a garden get open pollinated vegetable seeds
anyway, they will make great barter in the near future. Most seeds are
viable between 2 and 5 years.)
-
- An application of malefic hydrazide is routinely sprayed
on potatoes and onions to keep them from sprouting but did you know that
this potentially toxic chemical is sprayed on tobacco products in the
U.S., and some chemicals such as propylene glycol, glycerin, or sorbitol
are not always listed on a label. Aspartame as in Nutrasweet and Equal
has been shown to be a precursor to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
What happens to the body when it doesn't get it's daily dose of acrylamide
(a carcinogenic chemical created when potatoes and corn chips are baked
or fried at high temperatures) or when the body is deprived of high fructose
corn syrup from soft drinks? For some people they can have the same painful
withdrawal symptoms as from coffee, cigarettes or drugs. I have seen people
become depressed, angry, foggy in the head, sluggish and almost manic
when taken off processed foods. Raw foods do an excellent job of cleaning
out lots of toxins that accumulate in our fat. (See Power Foods by Stephanie
Beling, M.D. and Rawsome by Brigitte Mars)
-
- More and more young people are becoming diabetic, something
very rare at the turn of the century. My neighbors eight year old child
has to be monitored for high cholesterol, it's just shocking.
- Students are under much more stress these days than ever
before which can result in emotional eating and behavioral problems. More
cravings with less food available could be overwhelming to children who
aren't understanding why they can't have a second helping. Even my own
grandchildren are such fussy eaters, what happens when they no longer
have access to their junk foods and are forced to eat "real food"?
And by the way, their idea of what real food ( pull it out of the freezer
and pop it into the microwave) is and my knowledge of whole real food
doesn't line up. Where as there lies the problem. When at Grams house
you need to adapt or go without. (wink, wink, I have been know to bend
just a little, sometimes.) Also, eating a constant diet of freeze dried
storable foods and garden produce can have an undesirable set of problems
all it's own. Much more water needs to be taken in or the system seems
to get painfully backed up.
-
- What about those pioneer women? They didn't have GMOs
or cell phones. They certainly didn't need a good detox diet but many
did keep journals to help insure some sanity. Writing stuff down is almost
like talking to a friend. If our world does the "Patriots"?
thing, we all will be pioneers in our own right. Picture a world of teens
without their cell phones, blackberries, computers, music or anything
else that makes them tick. The withdrawal symptoms from the "NEED"
to communicate alone surely should scare even the hardiest amongst us.
Taking care of the emotional person is very personal and challenging.
Learn what you can about the food you have been eating and the world around
your retreat and take charge now. The mental health you save may be your
own!
-
- A note to Grandparents: You are hereby requested to help
keep our history alive. Talk to your Grandchildren about your history,
our country's history and how we got to this point in the world. Write
it down if needed. Teach them all the skills that they will need in their
future. Plant the seed early, grandchildren seen to respond to grandparents
easily. Their world will be inherently different than the one we lived
in. Teaching them how to garden, fix a roof, sew a shirt, harvest and
save seeds, cook a stew, etc., everything that you know. What you don't
already know how it do, learn it together. They are going to need all
the advantages that we can give them.
-
- Favorites from my library...
-
- Cookin' with Home Storage? by Vicki Tate (Excellent)
[JWR Adds: Tate's book is also one of our favorites.]
-
- Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Elson M. Haas, M.D.
There is a section in this book about detoxification and fasting. (Excellent)
This one is my all time favorite, it is so worn. 1,141 pages
-
- Never Be Sick Again by Raymond Francis, M.Sc. He tells
why disease happens and how to avoid it.
-
- Nutrition and Mental Illness by Carl C. Pfeiffer, Ph.D.,
M.D. Written in layman language, very interesting, surprising causes of
some symptoms.
-
- The Ultimate Nutrition Guide for Women by Leslie Beck,
R.D. (Very Good) She tells women why they have health problems and how
to deal with them.
|