Monthly Archives: January 2017

Make Your Own Tomato Soup

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Since we try to eat clean, organic, non-processed foods, there aren’t too many restaurants we frequent in our town that majors on the franchise model. But, I do have a confession: I love Panera Bread’s tomato soup. It’s a little expensive for a bowl, and I don’t eat the bread, but occasionally I indulge myself. Many times I considered trying to match their recipe, but last week, after having a significant molar pulled, I really needed some soup! So I finally attempted it, and was delighted with the result.

For the same price as a bowl of tomato soup from Panera, I can make a huge pot. Not only is it delicious and economical, it is also quick and easy. I encourage you to give it a try. As always with my cooking, I use a great deal of flexibility. I have made it two times and both times were different, but still great.

I added jalapeño and cayenne pepper just because I enjoy hot flavors and they are both really beneficial for healing and the immune system. You can leave them out to have a milder flavour. See notes at the end on optional ingredients to add.

  • 2 Tablespoons oil suitable for heating (avocado, coconut, or butter)
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 4 – 8 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 – 1 jalapeño, chopped (optional)
  • 28 oz can of diced tomatoes ( I used Simple Truth Organic)
  • Either one 25 oz jar of your favorite tomato pasta sauce (I used Simple Truth Organic Tomato Basil) OR another 28 oz can of diced tomatoes.
  • 1 cup chicken stock (the 2nd time I used beef stock)
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 1 Tablespoon dried basil, or 5 leaves fresh
  • 1/2 Tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper
  • cayenne (red) pepper (optional)
  • 1/2 cup (or more) half and half, cream, or milk

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic in your preferred oil until translucent. Add jalapeño, if you like the heat. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the half and half. Bring to a boil. Allow the pot to simmer on low with the top off for about 15 minutes, then add the half and half, milk or cream and allow to heat through. Use an immersion blender or transfer all (or part) to a regular blender. Serve with whatever you enjoy. It’s great plain, but it was also really good sprinkled with cheese!

Optional variations: For an additional nutrition boost, the second time I made it, I added 4 carrots to the above recipe. When it was put through the blender, there was no obvious indication of carrots, except that it may have been a little thicker – and the beta carotene content was boosted!

[Edit: I just made this again on 29 March 2017 and included about 1 1/2 cups of butternut squash cut into cubes, a handful of leafy green beet tops, 1 whole peeled fresh tomato (because it was very ripe and needed a place to be useful) and 3/4 inch of fresh turmeric root! I only added the turmeric at the blending stage, so it wasn’t cooked. Because the butternut is sweet, I omitted the honey. It was great!]

I’m sure it will be easy to freeze and reheat, but I didn’t have enough left over to try!

DSC_0062Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus, seeker of truth and health. Facing a world quite different from the one in which I grew up, I seek to research and understand the very real dangers threatening the health and freedom of today’s parents, providing information to navigate towards joyful family living!  Posted 31 January 2017

 

 

To My Newly Pregnant Friend

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Congratulations! You have been blessed to carry a new life in your body and that brings so much excitement as well as many unknowns. Whether this was a 100% humanly planned event, or somewhat unexpected, every conception is a miracle enacted by God’s design!

Excitement stirred a strong need to write to you – but then when I got going, I had a hard time stopping; the blog became too long. If you are overwhelmed, just know I tried to be brief, but my heart is so full with a desire to share what I have learned during my journey of motherhood! If you get bored, or there is TMI, please, before you leave, scroll down to my three points right at the end!

I remember 34 years ago when I found out we were expecting our first baby. I really didn’t know anything. I had no experience with babies and didn’t have any friends having babies. It was 1982. There was no internet. No social media. No cell phones. We were young but very excited.

I’m not saying you have to be a Christian to seek the very best for your baby, but as a very young Christian, I was eager to seek God’s wisdom, protection, and leading in my new adventure. I believe God specifically led two women into my life during the very first weeks of my pregnancy to help give me direction. Both women strongly recommended breastfeeding. But they were also well aware that even women who desire to breastfeed often have difficulty. They encouraged me to be as well prepared as possible during pregnancy to ensure breastfeeding success. One thing both of these women urged me to do – completely independently of each other – was to attend La Leche League breastfeeding support meetings. They knew I would find support, information, and help to formulate and achieve my personal breastfeeding goals. Both women persuaded me that I needed to attend all four of the different LLL meeting topics prior to baby’s birth.

Since God confirmed this advice through two different women from two vastly different parts of the country, I decided it must be important and found a LLL group meeting locally! There was actually one group that met in the mornings and one group that met in the evenings, so I attended both! I also read every book available in both the LLL library and the Natural Childbirth class library. I was very eager for information that would help me make wise choices and provide a good outcome for birth and baby.

After having five natural births, and breastfeeding each baby for an extended period of time, I am so eager to help other women find the same empowerment I found through these natural processes. As my children grew, I became a LLL Leader so that I could help other women achieve their breastfeeding goals. Now that my children are mostly grown, I seek to offer greater guidance and support in the area of natural childbirth and breastfeeding. I don’t know everything but have learned a lot over the years and have learned so much about supporting women on their journey through 23 years of LLL Leadership. My goal is not to help women achieve my goals, but to think through their options and formulate their own goals.

Navigating through the complexities of modern medical care during pregnancy and raising children can be a minefield; some might say a crapshoot. We daily hear stories of awful health outcomes in babies and children: SIDS, neurological diagnosis in 1 of 6 children in the USA today, rampant allergies, attention difficulties, etc. The reality is that every second child in the USA is suffering from a chronic health condition. Additionally, in recent years, powerful psychotropic drugs are routinely given to children and even babies, despite the lack of knowledge of how these drugs will impact the child’s long term life and health. Loving, caring parents may find the advice from medical experts very confusing. We all want what is best for our baby, but how do we achieve that?

I recently heard a sermon which stated that “Love is caring enough for others to do something to help them. Seeing them rush towards harm, but not warning them is not loving.” In the same sermon, we were urged to ask “What can I do in the world around me? What breaks my heart?” The thing that breaks my heart is when babies and mothers are not given all the help and support they need to navigate a healthy birth and achieve breastfeeding. What breaks my heart is babies harmed and the breastfeeding relationship sabotaged through modern medical care! I’m not saying this is happening intentionally, but many times what works for a hospital or their staff, or their routines, is not always the thing that achieves the best outcome for mom and baby. Sometimes  hospital policy can disturb an optimal breastfeeding relationship.

My desire is to love young parents enough to help them navigate their journey to a safe healthy outcome for themselves and their baby. I especially have a heart to help Christian couples navigate this journey. As Christians we often put a lot of trust in others. This can sometimes lead to our blindly following cultural norms without research or understanding what is good for us and our baby, what is best for the ‘medical or business model,’ and what is outright deception.

While every expert will agree that babies live and thrive on breastmilk from mother’s breast alone until around the middle of their first year, the truth is, in the USA, statistics indicate that only 22.3% of babies were exclusively breasted (EBF) until 6 months in 2016. That means the majority of moms struggle to navigate through the birth experience, and the early weeks and months of breastfeeding, long enough to find the simplicity and joy of nourishing her baby exclusively through the mechanism designed by our Designer to sustain human life. This intricate fabulous design provides wonderful life enhancing nuances that will benefit baby for their entire lifetime. A baby deprived of breast milk, as well as a baby who is not exclusively breastfed, is at a disadvantage throughout life. Any substance passing through a baby’s lips that is not mom’s breast disadvantages the infant gut, known as the microbiome. Additionally, the infant gut is also disadvantaged through surgical birth rather than natural birth.

Our number one goal throughout pregnancy should not be just to have ‘a healthy baby’, but to set ourselves up for the best possible chance of EBF with our healthy baby. We need support from those who understand how to help us navigate birth and the early weeks to ensure successful exclusive breastfeeding. This is NOT a nice bonus, or ‘good for those who can manage it.’ EBF is an absolutely essential component of lifelong health and well being. Any routine medical procedure that causes even a minor impediment to successful EBF should be evaluated and perhaps postponed or denied.

Holding an absolute standard is difficult but imperative.

My goal is not to criticize others or cause others to feel guilt or discouragement. What has happened in the past can be instructive and inspirational. My first birth did not happen according to my expectations and hopes. During every succeeding birth I learned more about my body and the process of birth. I certainly didn’t do everything perfectly or even achieve all my own goals, but the process of having natural births and exclusively nourishing my babies from my breasts alone is probably the most empowering act I have ever managed to achieve in my life. I believe God gave me information, support, and dedication to achieve this and I am eager to help others have the same feelings of empowerment. Additionally, I have been privileged to see mothers whose first attempt at a natural birth and EBF did not turn out as they desired, but they persevered with subsequent pregnancies. Watching them achieve their goals after experiencing disappointment is inspiring because these women display great determination. When they succeed their empowerment extends to all areas of their life.

Living for the glory of God means I cannot ignore people rushing ignorantly toward harm. Deception in the USA medical system abounds in the area of pregnancy, childbirth, and babies. Many parents have no idea how the birth industry operates, the pressure they will face from lack of sleep, emotional and physical exhaustion in the weeks after the birth, and how it will all impact their baby’s opportunity for lifelong health. Additionally, most parents have no idea that our society is full of sick children and the critical importance of navigating the early parenting years in order to achieve a robustly healthy child.

It is well known that babies deprived of exclusive breastfeeding have a greater risk of obesity, allergies, cancer, diabetes, learning difficulties, ADHD, etc.

As a starting point, I highly recommend parents to read a short book called The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labor. While short and simple, this book contains some profound truths that can give every women great confidence when facing the mystery of childbirth for the first time.

Additionally, since I don’t have time to cover every aspect of breastfeeding in this short article, my strong encouragement is

  • Immediate skin to skin contact with mother and baby. This skin to skin should not be interrupted for any reason and should be extensive. If mom is medically unable, skin to skin should be done with dad, or alternative family member. Ideally, baby should not be separated from mom during the entire time after birth, except in the most urgent situations.
  • Delay cord clamping (until the cord stops pulsating or for one hour after birth). This allows all the baby’s own blood to nourish baby’s body. The cord blood is replete with stem cells which miraculously travel through the entire body and perform healing.
  • No routine medical procedures – even vaccines – should be performed on baby until breastfeeding is well established (minimum of 8 weeks). All procedures have the potential to interfere with the establishment of breastfeeding and impede the bonding process. Some routine procedures used in most hospitals: prophylactic antibiotic ointment on babies’ eyes (to protect from potential infection if the mother is infected with chlamydia or gonorrhoea)[1], injection of vitamin K, a bath which removes important oils and vernix from baby, Hepatits B vaccine (a disease which is spread through sexual contact or shared needles) is recommended to all babies regardless of the mother’s Hepatitis B status, circumcision (a very traumatic procedure for baby which is not medically or religiously indicated, and has risks often not shared with parents).

I pray for pregnant women to become well prepared to welcome their babies so that they can experience the wonderful empowerment of childbirth and nourishing their baby from their own body. I would value the opportunity of discussing any of these points further with you.

If you are interested in learning more about the complicated topic of vaccines for babies and children, I wrote this especially for you. Also, there is a lot of pressure for pregnant women to inject themselves with the flu shot and the TDaP (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and acellular Pertussis) vaccines during pregnancy. Please research the concept of injecting yourself while pregnant in depth before agreeing.

Wanting nothing but the best for you,

Becky

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth. As a breastfeeding counsellor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky frequently writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety.

[1] http://evidencebasedbirth.com/is-erythromycin-eye-ointment-always-necessary-for-newborns/

 

Vaccine Truth Prevails

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The tide is turning. Thinking people are waking up to the reality of the harm that can be caused by vaccines.

Christians, atheists, church leaders, medical professionals, scientists, and random people are beginning to understand that there truly is no scientific basis for injecting our babies with 36 vaccines against 14 different infections, delivered via 24 needles, and containing 91 different antigens before they are TWO YEARS OLD!

Parents, doctors, and nurses are learning that health does not come through a needle, and that the immune system is an intricate design that can provide protection and health when supported with appropriate nutrition.

More and more people understand that giving vaccines to your child actually provides no benefit to the population at large – the myth of ‘herd immunity.’

Recognizing that there are harmful and questionable ingredients in the vaccines and that the manufacturing process will never be able to guarantee safety, more parents are refusing to accept the mantra “vaccines are safe and effective” pushed by the medical system and the media.

Significantly, many Pro-Life advocates are learning about the use of aborted human fetal cells as a basis of vaccines, the existence of human DNA fragments in all vaccines, and the serious consequences of these fragments on the life, health, and brains of our children.

Christians, nurses, doctors, scientists, and people from all walks of life are waking up to the reality that injecting a newborn infant with a Hepatitis B vaccine makes no logical sense since the vaccine is only claimed to provide ‘protection’ for around five years for a disease transmitted through sexual contact or intravenous drug use.

People are waking up to the fact that while the CDC claims to safeguard our health, they have been the object of many Congressional studies, accused by Whistleblowers of conducting themselves in a fraudulent manner, cherry picking data, designing studies to get the outcome they desire, and changing study protocols in the middle of studies. Additionally, they promote scientific studies and even sponsored further studies from a former scientist, Poul Thorsen, a fugitive from the FBI for allegedly stealing $1M from the CDC. In April 2011, Thorsen was indicted on 22 counts of Wire Fraud and Money Laundering. https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/fugitives/profiles.asp

People are waking up to the fact that doctors have not been trained to understand the complexities in the vaccination discussion, yet are pushing their patients to get the vaccines recommended by the CDC. They know any doctor promoting vaccines has probably not read a complete vaccine package insert, investigated the safety studies of giving ALL (six to eight vaccines at one time) the recommended shots in one visit or the studies showing the entire recommended schedule is “safe and effective” (because there are none), and probably derive financial benefit from promoting vaccines.

People finally understand that children are having more and more adverse reactions to vaccines; they are far more common than has ever been admitted. They are also understanding that when a reaction occurs, or when life-long damage, or even death occurs, there is no liability or recourse for the parents. The manufacturers, doctors, and CDC are all protected and indemnified from any and all adverse events following the administration of vaccines (and some only occur gradually over time). The only recourse possible is through suing – or applying to sue – the Federal Government in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and you can expect a long, hard fight with a small chance of success as you battle the government’s legal team. For instance, over 5000 cases in the Autism Omnibus were dismissed from this court and those families were not even able to present their case.

People are waking up to the reality that in many cases, when identified early enough, it is possible to reverse some of the impact from the vaccines, including autism. Children with severe neurological impairment due to vaccine damage are experiencing amazing recovery.

Parents, doctors and young people are waking up enough to investigate the reality of the devastation caused by the Gardasil (Merck) and Cervarix (GSK) vaccines that are promoted as a way to prevent cancer connected with HPV. They are taking the time to investigate the serious reactions around the world after receiving this vaccine that contains high levels of aluminum, yet was not safety tested using a true placebo.

So, if you know the reality of vaccine injury and the truth behind the ‘vaccine science’ you can be even more BOLD and BRAVE. The truth is on our side. We seek to protect future babies, children and families from suffering life-long disability, death, or chronic illness due to vaccines.

The tide is turning.

The truth is making a difference.

Be brave.

DSC_0062Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus, seeker of truth and health. Facing a world quite different from the one in which I grew up, I seek to research and understand the very real dangers threatening the health and freedom of today’s parents, providing information to navigate towards joyful family living!  Posted 30 January 2017

Crazy?

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No longer in the stage of life of having small children – with all the joys and tasks they create – I now have the blessing of grandchildren! This allows me time to think about the significance of motherhood and seek to encourage moms in the most important role they could every have. Seeking wisdom through the Bible daily, God sheds light in my heart and I desire to share this light with others.

Peter speaks directly to leaders in chapter five of his first letter, “Shepherd God’s flock. Not for the money, but eagerly.” These words powerfully impacted my heart one morning. Who are these words directed to? Leaders. Who is a leader? Parents are leaders. We are entrusted with the leadership of our children.

What does it mean to shepherd a flock? I’m no expert in sheep, but my guess is the obvious things – take care of them. Make sure they have safe food, a safe place to eat and protect them from forces that might attack and harm them. David is a great example of a committed shepherd. He tells us that he actively protected his sheep by killing a lion and a bear. He didn’t abandon his sheep. He didn’t expect anyone else to come in and do his work for him. He was ready. He was alert. He was practiced. He attacked the enemies that sought to attack his flock.

We also read many of David’s psalms and we know God asserted that David was “a man after God’s own heart.” David was certainly not perfect. He committed adultery and murder and sought to cover it up. He married many wives and didn’t have a great track record as a father. However, God continues to affirm that David’s heart was directed toward God. I believe part of this comes from his occupation during the boredom of looking after his sheep. Let’s face it, when you are looking after sheep, there are times of boredom – when everything seems to be going well. David used this time to exalt in God. He wrote down praises to God and he memorized them. He used his down time to extol God and bask in who God is.

As leaders we are to be prepared to actively protect our flock. We can also use the times of boredom to dig deeper into knowing God, knowing His word, memorizing His word and exalting God in our lives.

In 2017 we need to know exactly what dangers our sheep are facing. We need to have an awareness of the very real dangers in our world so that we can expose them and help our sheep avoid being consumed by the enemies they will encounter. I don’t believe we are called to push for a better world, or even hope that there will be a political solution to the evil we see around us. But, as a vigilant shepherd, we should seek to protect the sheep God has entrusted in our care and warn them of danger. An alert shepherd will investigate the potential of danger before advancing to a new area. Shepherds should be able to understand, point out, and explain the reason a particular path holds danger.

For me personally, as someone who has been blessed to get support and information that enabled me to have natural births and breastfeed the five children I was blessed by God to bear, the world of childbirth and early parenting are close to my heart. Knowing how empowering the act of giving birth naturally was for me, knowing how empowering the act of nurturing a baby exclusively at the breast is, and watching with delight as baby grows and thrives on breast milk alone is an unparalleled experience.

I believe the enemy wants to rob women of this empowering experience. Further, the enemy seeks to sow discord in the hearts of children and break the bonding process experienced easily through natural birth and breastfeeding. I am not trying to criticize anyone who has had a different experience, but the reality is, bonding is more difficult when there are complications in childbirth and when early breastfeeding is a struggle. These are not insurmountable challenges, but require much more effort and determination to get through. As a breastfeeding counselor for 23+ years I have seen women overcome incredible challenges to successfully breastfeed, but my heart aches to watch completely unnecessary complications develop because of lack of support, or poor recommendations to unsuspecting women.

I believe the medical establishment has so medicalized the childbirth experience that most women are deprived of the support necessary to watch their body give birth. For truly a woman was designed to give birth and her body is the most amazing part of the process. Our modern medical practices often unnecessarily complicate the process and serve to DIS-empower women of their biological strength. Again, this is not meant as a criticism to specific women, who generally do the best with the situation they face, but to the system. Medicalized births often lead to some trauma to both mom and baby and can make breastfeeding more difficult. Additionally, standard hospital practices and the advice given by staff can cause harm. Advice from medical personnel who are ignorant of breastfeeding creates many obstacles for a brand new mother trying to get breastfeeding off to a good start.

As a breastfeeding counselor nothing hurts my heart more than watching innocent, but ignorant, parents, blindly follow medical or cultural advice and end up actually harming their own child. They do not intend harm to their precious baby, but the system has ensnared them into decisions that are not in their baby’s best interests for lifelong health.

How? The list is long. Giving pregnant women vaccines which are known to harm the developing baby, repeated ultrasounds in pregnancy, routine birth practices designed with the doctor or hospital in mind but which put baby at greater risk of harm, vaccines given to baby, circumcision, allergy shots for children, Tylenol, screen time for babies and children (more addictive and damaging than some drugs), GMO food, processed foods, blindly trusting public schools or curriculum, Disney movies, etc.

I was once in darkness about most of these things. I didn’t know how harmful some of these things were. But, having researched and now understanding the danger, I can no longer blindly continue these harmful practices for myself. As an “older women” I can no longer stand idly by and watch younger women get sucked into very dangerous fields where the enemy stands ready to devour both them and their young lambs.

So, I must speak out and warn others, despite the risk of being dismissed as crazy, or ridiculed by what I point out. I am encouraged by Paul’s admission of craziness, “For if we are out of our mind (super crazy), it is for God, and if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels, us because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all that those who live, no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sake, died, and was raised.” 2 Corinthians 5:13-14

Peter warns us that we need to “Be serious. Be alert. Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him and be firm in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8-9

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth. As a breastfeeding counsellor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety.

The Biggest Deception

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Society has been sanitized.
Cleansed from vital information.
Our culture contrives to conceal
Two critically important facts:
Our Creator and our enemy.
The King of glory,
Creator, Designer, and ruler of all,
In whom justice and mercy
Perfectly balance,
Full of grace and truth,
Seeks to restore, heal, empower, and guide
Every individual who surrenders.
Yet at every point the enemy seeks
To twist, distort, hide, and ignore
The reality of our Creator
And His absolute love for us.
The enemy tempts with counterfeit pleasures.
Feed our appetites;
Feed our desires.
Seeks to obliterate knowledge of God,
Through lies and deception,
Starting with the very young.
The enemy leads us to follow
Our own lusts and passions;
Distractions abound;
Desensitization to his methods
From earliest childhood.
By any and all means,
The enemy of our souls
Seeks to keep us disconnected
From our Creator.
He may lure with wealth, success, satisfaction
Yet hates us with a
Malignant malevolent furious contempt.
Don’t be fooled.
He is a deceiver.
Correctly understanding these
Two essential foundational realities
Changes everything.
Reframes our reality
In its true context.
My life, for the glory of God alone.

I reflect on these things with thankfulness knowing that through Jesus, I have been “rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom I have redemption the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth. As a breastfeeding counsellor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety.

Helpful Tips for Treating Chicken Pox

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[This is an excerpt from a previous blog in which I wrote about our family’s experience with chicken pox.]

If your children do develop chicken pox, here are some tips:

  • Give high doses of vitamin C (powdered sodium ascorbate). A good guideline is 1 gram per year of child’s age per day, spread throughout the day, up to the age of 10 years (thus a 2 year old would get 2 grams). Over the age of ten years, 10 grams per day, increased up to 20 grams when experiencing an active infections or any symptoms.
  • Avoid scratching. You can put mittens or socks on baby’s hands to prevent scratching. Older children could also wear socks on their hands at night when they may be prone to scratching. Clip fingernails.
  • Avoid ibuprofen as it has been implicated in causing a more severe reaction in chicken pox and may increase risk of necrotizing fasciitis, a serious skin infection.
  • Avoid Tylenol. Tylenol depletes glutathione levels in the body. Glutathione is very necessary in helping the body rid itself of foreign substances.
  • Avoid aspirin which is know to be implicated in Reye Syndrome.
  • I never used any essential oils to treat my own children when they had chicken pox, but if I was treating a child with chicken pox today I would research which ones to use. Lavender Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Naouli Oil, Roman Chamomile Oil, Clove Oil, Rosemary Oil have all been suggested.
  • Oatmeal baths, baking soda, Epsom salts, brown vinegar, honey (applied topically), aloe vera, basil, ginger have all been suggested as useful ways to reduce itching and aid healing.

This is an excellent article about chicken pox and a long list of helpful home remedies, but I highly disagree with their statement “The best way to prevent chickenpox is to get vaccinated.” http://homeremediesforlife.com/chickenpox/

There are more risks in getting the chicken pox vaccine than are admitted by those promoting this shot. “Reported complications from chickenpox vaccine include shock, seizures, brain inflammation (encephalitis), thrombocytopenia (blood disorder), Guillian Barre syndrome, death and infection with vaccine strain chickenpox or transmission of vaccine strain chickenpox to others;” (see more at http://www.nvic.org/Vaccines-and-Diseases/Chickenpox.aspx)

Chicken pox vaccine is manufactured by Merck and is supplied in a frozen or refrigerated form either on its own, or in the ProQuad, which is a combination shot that includes MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines). You can read the complete information from Merck on these vaccines from the FDA website. I encourage you to especially read section 11 which always contains the detailed description. In the case of the varicella vaccine (chicken pox) the most troubling fact is that “the Oka/Merck strain of varicella-zoster virus propagated in MRC-5 cells.” MRC-5 cells were derived from aborted human fetal cells.

“Each 0.5-mL dose of the vaccine nominally contains 20 mg of sucrose, 11 mg of hydrolyzed gelatin, 2.5 mg of urea; 2.3 mg of sodium chloride, 16 mg of sorbitol, 0.38 mg of monosodium L-glutamate, 1.4 mg of sodium phosphate, 0.25 mg of recombinant human albumin, 0.13 mg of sodium bicarbonate, 94 mcg of potassium phosphate, 58 mcg of potassium chloride; residual components of MRC-5 cells including DNA and protein; 5 mcg of neomycin, bovine serum albumin (0.5 mcg), and other buffer and media ingredients. The product contains no preservative.”

Notice that the vaccine contains residual components of MRC-5 cells including DNA and protein. That means, when we inject this vaccine, we are injecting human DNA from an aborted male baby. The Rubella vaccine contains residual DNA from a female aborted human baby. There has been no scientific exploration of what the consequence of injecting our babies with both male and female DNA. The package insert of all of these vaccines clearly states in section 13:

proquad-vpi-jpg

That means we do not know if this vaccine could be implicated in future cancers, DNA mutation or teratogenic (relating to, or causing developmental malformations), or to the impact on your child’s future fertility. This same statement is found on nearly every vaccine package insert I have investigated.

Vaccines are a huge gamble. Chicken pox is a brief inconvenience.

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth. As a breastfeeding counsellor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety.

Chicken Pox

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chicken-poxShould I give my child a vaccine to prevent this mild inconvenient infectious illness?

Should I purposefully expose my child to someone with an active case of chicken pox in the hope of them gaining natural immunity?

Opinions on chicken pox, caused by the Varicella Virus, abound.

I do not claim to be an expert on chicken pox, but this is a recount of my own experience and the opinions I have formed about this well known childhood infectious illness.

When my fifth baby was 10 months old her next two older siblings, age 7 and 11, were dropped off at a very good friend’s child’s birthday party where they spent about two hours. There was another child there who soon afterwards developed chicken pox.

Approximately two weeks later my two children developed spots and a mild case of chicken pox. Their illness was not particularly noteworthy and didn’t cause too much stress, other than reminding them NOT to scratch. I may have encouraged them to have more frequent baths and put oatmeal in the water.

Meanwhile, they really loved their baby sister and continued all the normal contact – kissing and cuddling – as usual.

leah-cp-small-versionAbout two weeks later baby was miserable and started developing spots. Her spots kept coming and coming. She developed two extremely large spots (a virologist said they are known as a “herald”) on her face and hip. Her bum and diaper area were covered. She had a slight fever. Fortunately she was still breastfeeding and we continued breastfeeding even more frequently. In addition, she had more frequent baths with oatmeal added, and we did all the usual methods of trying to comfort a sick baby without drugs. Having older siblings was helpful because there are more people to take turns holding or entertaining a miserable baby. It took a few days for her to return to her happy self and a few weeks for all the spots to heal.

At the same time, one of my older sons also came down with chicken pox. He was fifteen at the time and had a fever, lots of spots and was pretty miserable. He basically went to bed for a few days.

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Baby with her older brother five years later. Both had CP at the same time.

Everyone ended up healing. We never needed any medical appointments. I did not use high doses of vitamin C, in the form of sodium ascorbate, at that time because I didn’t know about how effective it is in reducing both severity and duration of all viral illnesses.

An interesting aspect of this story is that my oldest son, 17 at the time, never came down with a rash or fever, despite the same exposure as his 15 year old brother. When he was a toddler he had been exposed to a child with chicken pox, but he never came down with an obvious case himself. His experience is similar to my own. I was exposed at close proximity as a child when my three siblings came down with chicken pox, but I never got sick. When my four children had chicken pox I never got sick. My conclusion is that my oldest son and I somehow developed natural immunity without ever having had an active case of infection. We have never had our titers tested, but I would guess that we have antibodies.

My conclusion? Chicken pox is not that big of a deal, but could possibly be of concern if a pregnant women were to become infected.

I personally would never risk the dangerous ingredients in the vaccine for any reason ever.

If you want to expose your children to chicken pox by visiting someone who is sick, that is your choice. I would not go so far as to rub active blisters on my child. Most of the time the infection can be passed before a child is feeling ill. There is an infectious period prior to the spots forming.

If you do choose to expose your child to someone who is ill with chicken pox, I would limit the time. My second set of children both had a higher exposure dose because of being around their siblings constantly in the infectious state, and thus had worse symptoms than the two children who had very brief, limited exposure.

It has been stated that many children develop chicken pox despite having been vaccinated against it, so the vaccine is not 100% effective. Also, a non vaccinated child may become infected with chicken pox by exposure to a child who has been recently vaccinated, whether the vaccinated child experiences illness or not. The vaccine strain of the chicken pox is known to be different from wild strains.

Breastfeeding provides protection from every illness and is always highly recommended! All my children were breastfed for well over two years. The baby was ten months old and breastfeeding when she developed chicken pox. Sometimes breastfeeding babies do not develop an infection, but mine did.

If your children do develop chicken pox, here are some tips:

  • Give high doses of vitamin C (powdered sodium ascorbate). A good guideline is 1 gram per year of child’s age per day, spread throughout the day, up to the age of 10 years (thus a 2 year old would get 2 grams). Over the age of ten years, 10 grams per day, increased up to 20 grams when experiencing an active infections or any symptoms.
  • Avoid scratching. You can put mittens or socks on baby’s hands to prevent scratching. Older children could also wear socks on their hands at night when they may be prone to scratching. Clip fingernails.
  • Avoid ibuprofen as it has been implicated in causing a more severe reaction in chicken pox and may increase risk of necrotizing fasciitis, a serious skin infection.
  • Avoid Tylenol. Tylenol depletes glutathione levels in the body. Glutathione is very necessary in helping the body rid itself of foreign substances.
  • Avoid aspirin which is know to be implicated in Reye Syndrome.
  • I never used any essential oils to treat my own children when they had chicken pox, but if I was treating a child with chicken pox today I would research which ones to use. Lavender Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Naouli Oil, Roman Chamomile Oil, Clove Oil, Rosemary Oil have all been suggested.
  • Oatmeal baths, baking soda, Epsom salts, brown vinegar, honey (applied topically), aloe vera, basil, ginger have all been suggested as useful ways to reduce itching and aid healing.

This is an excellent article about chicken pox and a long list of helpful home remedies, but I highly disagree with their statement “The best way to prevent chickenpox is to get vaccinated.” http://homeremediesforlife.com/chickenpox/

There are more risks in getting the chicken pox vaccine than are admitted by those promoting this shot. “Reported complications from chickenpox vaccine include shock, seizures, brain inflammation (encephalitis), thrombocytopenia (blood disorder), Guillian Barre syndrome, death and infection with vaccine strain chickenpox or transmission of vaccine strain chickenpox to others;” (see more at http://www.nvic.org/Vaccines-and-Diseases/Chickenpox.aspx)

Chicken pox vaccine is manufactured by Merck and is supplied in a frozen or refrigerated form either on its own, or in the ProQuad, which is a combination shot that includes MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines). You can read the complete information from Merck on these vaccines from the FDA website. I encourage you to especially read section 11 which always contains the detailed description. In the case of the varicella vaccine (chicken pox) the most troubling fact is that “the Oka/Merck strain of varicella-zoster virus propagated in MRC-5 cells.” MRC-5 cells were derived from aborted human fetal cells.

“Each 0.5-mL dose of the vaccine nominally contains 20 mg of sucrose, 11 mg of hydrolyzed gelatin, 2.5 mg of urea; 2.3 mg of sodium chloride, 16 mg of sorbitol, 0.38 mg of monosodium L-glutamate, 1.4 mg of sodium phosphate, 0.25 mg of recombinant human albumin, 0.13 mg of sodium bicarbonate, 94 mcg of potassium phosphate, 58 mcg of potassium chloride; residual components of MRC-5 cells including DNA and protein; 5 mcg of neomycin, bovine serum albumin (0.5 mcg), and other buffer and media ingredients. The product contains no preservative.”

Notice that the vaccine contains residual components of MRC-5 cells including DNA and protein. That means, when we inject this vaccine, we are injecting human DNA from an aborted male baby. The Rubella vaccine contains residual DNA from a female aborted human baby. There has been no scientific exploration of what the consequence of injecting our babies with both male and female DNA. The package insert of all of these vaccines clearly states in section 13:

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That means we do not know if this vaccine could be implicated in future cancers, DNA mutation or teratogenic (relating to, or causing developmental malformations), or to the impact on your child’s future fertility. This same statement is found on nearly every vaccine package insert I have investigated.

Vaccines are a huge gamble. Chicken pox is a brief inconvenience.

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth. As a breastfeeding counsellor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety.

 

Avoiding Infectious Illness

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microbiome

Hundreds of scientists representing 80 different institutions, as part of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) Consortium, have spent many years discovering what makes up our body.

This information is radically different from all assumptions that had previously been held about the human body, and should cause every scientist specializing in infectious illnesses and every doctor recommending vaccines as an effective method to avoid infection, to totally re-think their approach. Just as the 15th century explorers were able to draw new maps as they discovered new territory, the new information gained through the HMP lays the foundation for a completely new understanding of health, infectious illness, and how to prevent them. Anyone adhering to the simple vaccine paradigm is preferring to remain in the dark ages when the world has been given the gift of electricity and light.

Did you know,

“The human body contains trillions of microorganisms — outnumbering human cells by 10 to 1. Because of their small size, however, microorganisms make up only about 1 to 3 percent of the body’s mass (in a 200-pound adult, that’s 2 to 6 pounds of bacteria), but play a vital role in human health.”[1]

Vaccine promoters completely ignore the information discovered in the last ten years, through genome sequencing, on the composition of the human microbiome. The technology of sequencing virus and bacteria that live in harmony on our bodies should cause us to pursue a new understanding of why we sometimes succumb to an infectious illness, when we have been continuously exposed to the infectious agents. Early proponents of vaccines did not understand how the body and immune system function. They had no idea that we lived in harmony with trillions of microorganisms. Continued adherence to an outdated understanding of health, viral infections and the microbiome, is causing significant harm to those who are injected with vaccines.
 
“Microbes inhabit just about every part of the human body, living on the skin, in the gut, and up the nose. Sometimes they cause sickness, but most of the time, microorganisms live in harmony with their human hosts, providing vital functions essential for human survival. For the first time, a consortium of researchers organized by the National Institutes of Health has mapped the normal microbial makeup of healthy humans, producing numerous insights and even a few surprises.
 
Researchers found, for example, that nearly everyone routinely carries pathogens, microorganisms known to cause illnesses. In healthy individuals, however, pathogens cause no disease; they simply coexist with their host and the rest of the human microbiome, the collection of all microorganisms living in the human body. Researchers must now figure out why some pathogens turn deadly and under what conditions, likely revising current concepts of how microorganisms cause disease.”[1]
 
Thoroughly research the ingredients and mechanism of action of any vaccine, or medical procedure that you are encouraged to accept for yourself or your children. Outdated science has always been a source of harm. Blood-letting, not washing hands in between patients, and many other common practices in history, were abandoned when enough doctors began to understand the harm they were causing. In the same way, doctors today are beginning to understand the actual risk of harm that is inherent in the process of injecting foreign viral, bacterial, and protein ingredients that are in vaccines into a healthy baby. Blindly following outdated medical advice can result in harm.
I’m convinced there is an awesome amazing Designer behind this symbiotic relationship between humans and microbes. We were designed to have a high functioning immune system. Injecting foreign proteins causes serious consequences because it is a violation of our basic design. Relying on any growth mediums that utilize aborted human fetal tissue should be repugnant to all who respect our Designer.

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth. As a breastfeeding counsellor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety.

[1] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-human-microbiome-project-defines-normal-bacterial-makeup-body

GF Banana Bread

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img_3536In August 2012 I decided to do a 21 day sugar fast. I’d been doing various similar fasts for a couple of years. Sometimes I would fast from sugar AND coffee (tough). This time I added bread/wheat to my fast. It was remarkable how after about 2 days of eating no wheat products how much better I felt. I never thought I had a problem or any sensitivity to wheat, but cutting it out left my gut/digestion feeling so good and I had so much energy, that even after 21 days I decided I could live without wheat forever! If you had told me that I would make this decision, I wouldn’t have believed you because I really enjoy baked items. But that short fast cured my addiction and I no longer felt compelled to devour bread, doughnuts or cake!

I admit I have had the occasional cookie or cinnamon roll when my daughter has made them. But by and large I have avoided most wheat containing foods since August 2012. I didn’t immediately rush to find gluten-free flours and replacement recipes. I just stopped eating muffins, cake, bread, etc. I truly feel so much better that it is easy to find other food choices that satisfy.

However, recently I have been hankering for banana bread. Maybe it’s because of the Christmas season. Maybe because I had a lot of ripe bananas. So after nearly 4 1/2 years of gluten-free living I have experimented with baking my first GF banana bread!

I reduced the sugar to 1/3 of a cup, so it’s not exactly sugar-free – but it is LOW sugar! I usually write my recipes in steps so that it is really easy to follow – that is the way I wrote them for my children to learn to cook. I like to use Bob’s Red Mill because they have a great ethos and are employee owned, but other than the GF flour, you could probably substitute other brands. Also, if you don’t have the Arrowroot, you could just try  cups of Bob’s GF Flour.

GF Banana Bread

In a bowl combine together:

  • 1 and  ¾ cups Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour
  • ¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot Flour
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar (organic)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda (Bob’s)
  • ½ tsp Himalayan salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½-1 cup pecans from my friends Al & Mary at Pearson Farm (I used whole pecans, but it makes it challenging to cut into slices, so next time I will probably chop them).

I combined the following in my Vita-Mix, but if you don’t have a blender, or food processor, just use what you have to mash the bananas and mix with the other ‘wet’ ingredients.

  • 2 eggs (organic)
  • 3 very large ripe bananas (organic)
  • ½ cup butter melted (organic)
  • 3 Tbl milk kefir (or milk, or water)
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined with a wooden spoon. Lightly grease a loaf pan with butter (I used glass), pour batter in. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes then remove from the pan.

Seriously, I have probably made hundreds of regular banana breads in my 34+ career as a mother of five children. This GF loaf came out of the pan better than anything I’ve ever made. It was so good I had to take a picture of the bottom!

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This is my second GF recipe. My first is GF SF waffles. They are light and fluffy and really easy to make. I don’t indulge in them often, but enjoy making them for children and grandchildren.

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth. As a breastfeeding counsellor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety. As a diversion, she sometimes posts recipes!