Local, Organic, Sustainable Farms like Leras Family Farm
My kids and I had the pleasure to spend a day at the Leras Family Farm in Santa Rosa last Tuesday. We had a total blast! We played with the two baby calves with Zak (intern), fed slop to the Red Waddle pigs, amusingly watched 24 piglets forage and root on their acreage, studied Danielle the intern making cheese, picked basil, berries and grapes, drank their kombucha and chased and played with their beautiful soy-free, free range chickens in two coups.
Thanks for Dave, WAPF chapter leader in Berkeley for helping to set up!
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| Mike Leras with my d Hannah and I |
FARMACY
What's so awesome about the ecology and environment of an organic farm like Michael Leras and his family's (gorgeous wife Jill (former model), 2 sons, doggy Brownie) is not only the inclusive recycling of all the nutrients from produce and leftovers but the completeness of the system: animals + plants. It's a true farmacopeia of happiness nutrients that every brain, gut and body needs.
Michael and his family go to Three Stone Hearth in Berkeley for families to pick up their fresh products like soy-free eggs, pork, grassfed beef, etc every week on Wed night and Saturdays.
Antidepressant Microbes In Soil: How Dirt Makes You Happy
"Soil Microbes and Human Health: Did you know that there’s a natural antidepressant in soil? It’s true. Mycobacterium vaccae is the substance under study and has, indeed, been found to mirror the effect on neurons that drugs like Prozac provide. The bacterium is found in soil and may stimulate serotonin production, which makes you relaxed and happier. Studies were conducted on cancer patients and they reported a better quality of life and less stress.
Serotonin has been linked to such problems as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar problems. The bacterium appears to be a natural antidepressant in soil and has no adverse health effects. These antidepressant microbes in soil may be as easy to use as just playing in the dirt.
Most avid gardeners will tell you that their landscape is their “happy place” and the actual physical act of gardening is a stress reducer and mood lifter. The fact that there is some science behind it adds additional credibility to these garden addicts’ claims. The presence of a soil bacteria antidepressant is not a surprise to many of us who have experienced the phenomenon ourselves. Backing it up with science is fascinating, but not shocking, to the happy gardener.
Mycrobacterium antidepressant microbes in soil are also being investigated for improving cognitive function, Crohn’s disease and even rheumatoid arthritis." Read more HERE. Hat tip: Keith Bell.
Hey Grace! So after reading your little paragraph about M. Vaccae I went to see how much it would cost to buy some.. the only source I could find is selling it for around 300-350 dollars. Are you aware of any other bacterial strains that have exhibited similar effects on the brain in terms of either anxiety or learning behavior?
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteYes -- the soil based and weeding the non-happy strains out (yeasts, pathogens, etc). I hear it often, people are much happier and less anxious. For learning behavior, no. Let me know if you find some!
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteLove your work! I have been following your blog closely and have transitioned from the strict paleo diet(which I'd been following from 3 years strictly, no legumes,grains or nuts)into a diet with properly prepared legumes, beans and rice, organic meat and fats. I gave birth in January and since then I have had severe diarrhea, bloating and cramps. This was after the transition I made in January. The doctors blamed it on my vaginal delivery and gave me suppositories which wasn't helpful. I then took the SBOs you suggested (Prescript Assist, AOR3 and Primal defense Ultra)for a month along with RPS and psyllium husk which healed me tremendously! I have formed stools and painless bowel movements. However, I do pass abnoxious smelling gas when I eat raw onions, garlic.. So my question to you is
1) Do I need to continue taking the same probiotics or do you suggest any new 1s?
2) Is Bobs red Mill Xanthan Gum a safe prebiotic? Since bacterium Xanthomonas campestris which makes it is a gram negative bacteria which causes the rotting of leaves and vegetables. Should I be concerned about the endotoxins it leaves behind in the gum?
Thanks in advance for your answer! You have already been too kind and helpful to me :)
Hey Anon,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment and thoughts! Love your results!! good for ya!
I'm not aware of endotoxins in gum prebiotics -- certainly possible as raw potato starch and raw cassava are not tolerated by the hyper-sensitized (eg decades of gut permeability and immuno reactions).
Despite the 'washing' of raw potato starch, the nightshade intolerances and autoimmunity to what is in potatoes are issues for a distinct group.
Gums however are naturally antimicrobial and less microbes tend to grow I would suspect. For prebiotics, acacia has good studies but I have not reviewed xanthum gum results.
Have you had antibiotics? Consider fermented foods as probiotics -- kraut, kombucha, etc. Are you doing any smoothies with organic, dirty root veggies from farms that you've visited/trust -- raw beets, dirty carrots, etc?
How is your digestion of cooked RS3? RS3 feeds the superbugs in the gut which may have been missing at some point, hence diarrhea/bloat/cramp.
http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2014/06/contupdate-2-rs2-and-rs3-are-not.html
Garlic and onions are great sources of sulfur based antioxidants. Sounds like the gut is having a hard time degrading completely. It may take 2-4 mos for gut rehab, so give some time perhaps. Your gut has made significant strides since the birth. Your baby is so lucky to have you as a mom!
L reuteri and L rham keep babies healthy even years later. The criticial window for immuno conditioning training may be before age 3-4 yrs old.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23594506
Yes! I have been on antibiotics my entire life. My parents are under the impression that antibiotics is a panacea for everything so I was doused with every kind my entire life! I grew up in a metropolitan city so no exposure to good dirt.
ReplyDeleteMy mom has been on low fat diets, mostly fruits diet her entire life and suffers from depression. So I have no belief I got any friendly critters from her :(
My husband is more receptive and loves your ideas too!! I dont have access to farms right now so does organic store bought unwashed carrots good? Yes I do tolerate cooked and cooled rice and beans pretty well. So should I continue taking prescript assist and L reuteri for couple more months? So how do I know the ideal state is reached? Is it when I produce no gas when I consume fiber or is odourless gas a good indication?
I am also planning on taking activated charcoal and bentonite clay. The edible earth you prescribe is out of stock so is there any other brand you suggest?
Thanks
Hey Anon,
ReplyDeleteWhen you're gut is 100% healed, any modern conditions may be reversed or decreased considerably. It doesn't cure everything when hormones, inflammation and modern toxins are involved (which they always are now -- not the case 10-20 yrs ago). Stools should be Bristol 4.
I think your path is great and an excellent start! Have you considered version B of the super bionic fiber combo?
You sound like me -- urbanite carpet-bombed with pharmaceutical grade antibiotics! Actually I had them also injected into a third degree burn as well.
Probiotics like L plantarum and kefir are now being used in burn wound therapy! What a change and FINALLY the medical tide is shifting. Faster in Euro than obviously Big Pharma nations.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=burn%20skin%20probiotic
Even surgical suites may some day ban antibiotics and bacteridical chemicals to employ instead bacteria. What a thought...
"Perhaps we should be thinking about using probiotics and even dipping our hands after thorough washing into a solution which contains harmless bacteria, which could then colonise our skin and prevent pathogenic bacteria from settling on it.
"It must be remembered that after almost 40 years, MRSA has not become widespread except in hospitals where we use the most advanced antibiotics and most rigorous antiseptic measures. Why is this? More of the same does not seem to be working -- new antibiotics and antibacterial soaps have not stopped MRSA.
"The idea may sound absurd, but I believe that a probiotic cleaning procedure is an avenue worth exploring. To overcome the current epidemic of MRSA and other bacteria, we should aim to set up a handful of hospitals where the use of antibiotics would be banned, and any patients who needed them would be transferred to an antibiotic-using hospital. Doctors from these hospitals would not be allowed to enter hospitals which use antibiotics.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051031132130.htm
Love your idea! Here is something I read..
ReplyDelete"The custom in India, of using cow-dung for smearing floors and walls, is practised by all sects as well as Hindus, as the most cool and cleanly appliance. Cow-dung is plastered over the cooking-place before the meal of a person of a high class is cooked; in camps, or on journeys, a space of 10 or 12 square feet is so purified, but is easily polluted by the approach of impure persons or things, in-which vexatiouB case the food becomes unclean."
Guess all traditional cultures used probiotics as natural anti-microbials :)
How come no one's thought of using healthy grass fed cows' poop to extract SBOs?? or have they? I'm sure they have loads of beneficial SBOs
ReplyDeleteWOW didn't know that! Hindu's are so smart and evolutionary. My car is full of cow dung. Maybe I'll smear into my kitchen ;)
ReplyDeleteAnon,
Not sure if commercialized yet but youre brilliant. One of Natren's best-selling lactobacilli probiotics is harvested from healthy vagina. Luv that!!! The channel of all life.
Call it true turd
ReplyDeleteLol, give True Blood a run for their money
ReplyDelete