Andy's Idea Factory

DAY 30 is here! When I tell people I'm doing 30 days without sugar, their response is usually "I could never do that." And I'll admit it's had its challenges. But looking back on 30 days, I can say with ease that there are harder things to let go of, you just have to have the right mindset and be up for the challenge. And read a LOT of labels. First, I must include my disclaimer. Because I'm a loyal customer, distributor, and advocate for the products of the Juice Plus Company  for many health reasons, I have trace amounts of organic cane sugar in my morning (and occasional lunch) smoothies (11g), my protein bars (8g), and the occasional pack of veggie chews (2g). I am mostly vegan, and I wasn't about to give up the protein that's in these products, an all-too easy addition to my diet and a staple part of my routine. Moving on. Other than that, I have put a teaspoon of honey in my tea (6g)(about 3-4 times per week I think), and I weaned myself ...

Healthline launched two programs this year to support people with symptoms of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Healthline's new #pselfie program is a collection of photos from people living with psoriasis. Users can upload a photo on Instragram or Twitter with the hashtag #pselfie or upload a photo directly onto our page. You can view the photos here: http://www.healthline.com/health/psoriasis/selfie/photos-and-quotes For every photo they receive, they will donate $10 to the National Psoriasis Foundation. They've also launched You’ve Got This, a collection of videos submitted by those living with psoriasis giving hope and encouragement to others with the condition. Again, for every video they'll donate $10 to the National Psoriasis Foundation. View the videos here: http://www.healthline.com/health/psoriasis/youve-got-this Last, Words You Should Know for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. All of the terms and definitions were submitted by users from Healthline's ...

Updated: Fall 2019 When I wrote this post in 2014, I had recently joined a new community of health-minded individuals, and after five years with Juice Plus, I went back and updated, shorted, and revised this post so you can all see and hear how powerful a consistent practice can be of adding more plant matter to your body.   Our Story – The Kennedys and Juice Plus In 2007, Craig broke his femur waterskiing. Craig is a T-12 paraplegic, meaning his spinal cord was severed at the Thoracic #12 vertebrae, just above his hips. Craig was injured skiing in March 1996 in Steamboat Springs, 2 years after moving to Colorado, just before his 25 th birthday, and has used a wheelchair ever since. It doesn’t slow him down. It didn’t affect his love for skiing.  And it didn’t affect his soulshine. Craig and I met in 1998, at a bar in Steamboat, and we started dating in August 2000. I fell in love with Craig because of his Can-Do contagious attitude, and immediately we start...

(Continued from Part 1) Henna Gods, I am truly impressed. Granted, my mantra has been, "the Indian women have such beautiful hair..." so the results had to be good.  But even so, my hair looks awesome. A more natural shade of red than the chem dye- slightly lighter than my natural brown tone (is that possible? is that from the chamomile?)- than I've ever had in the four years that my stylist and I have been tampering with tubes of colors like Michelangelo. Not wine red, not Redskins red, not Mahogany-Obsidian red.  I had been shooting for my mother's red. Scottish/Irish red, a dark Ginger. I think I'm finally there, or damn close. So how'd we get there? Here's the last 48 hours: 10pm Monday Large ceramic bowl Mixed 300g of fresh organic Rajasthani Indian Henna powder with 3.5c of warm chamomile tea from distilled water, steeped for 20 minutes and cooled with 6 cubes of ice Covered with plastic wrap, left on counter 9am Tuesday No "red...

Disclaimers A) The topic Henna is clouded by volumes of misinformation, and B) I'm no expert. Background I have been on a quest to go 100% "all natural" (in all aspects) for a decade, and hair color just happens to be my last chem standing. I have been DIYing bathroom and kitchen stuff for inside and outside the body for a very long time... but specifically within the last 4 years I have been doing so to manage- and hopefully remedy- two conditions I have developed, one recently, one a long time ago: psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. I have tried gluten free, grain free, vegetarian, sobriety, urban farming... I have made DIY lotions, washes, cleaners, salves...  and because I believe others could benefit from what I've studied, I have been writing along the way ( arthritis , DIY , gluten free , grain-free, psoriasis , see list on page's bottom left for more). Topic So after a month's worth of extensive research on Henna, here's what I've found...

Having been off coffee since going on the SCD diet, and boosting my existing Scotch-Irish-induced adoration for tea, I've found a new favorite: the naturally sweet and nutty Kukicha tea, also known as bancha twig tea or winter tea (how perfect).  Kukicha comes from the tea tree Camellia sinensis, just as it is the case with green tea, white tea and black tea and is made from roasted and aged twigs, stems and coarse leaves of the tea plant. I was introduced to Kukicha at my last Tea Party by my Ayurvedic Practitioner for cleansing and healing my liver ~ but the benefits of kukicha tea are numerous, it is an important part of the macrobiotic diet (truly taken from Ayurvedic tradition) and it is considered to lead to stable health and longevity.  Sold! Kukicha tea's benefits come from its alkalizing properties and is good for the prevention of numerous diseases by balancing our levels of acidity.  Here's where the SCD diet comes in:  diets containing white flo...

They say the first month is the hardest, so I'm feeling pretty good that the first month wasn't actually that hard.  I won't lie, I went through a bad second-week chocolate withdrawal when my brain let go of that addiction, I had two straight weeks of adrenal fatigue , and getting used to making everything from scratch took some effort that I just barely had during that fatigue.  But coming out of the other end of that feels magnificent and the patches of psoriasis are already practically gone - and going gluten free didn't really affect them really at all - and when I pay close attention to the quality of the nuts I'm eating, and soak them, the arthritis has also been non existent.  I've finally started feeling like not only can I handle this for a short term (my naturopathic doctor said 6-12 months, probably more like 6 for me), I will likely take many of these practices with me far into my future food consumption. Since I have taken the time to do some qua...

After 2.5 years on a strict gluten-free diet and showing only marginal improvement to my skin condition of psoriasis, (although pain free from psoriatic arthritis), my naturopathic doctor has recommended the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). I had grown frustrated with the worsening allergic reactions I was having to several new foods, and went in for a checkup about two months ago, seeing both my naturopath and a new acupuncturist.  For me this reaction is severe joint pain and swelling on my right side, and I am so sensitive to gluten that now anything made in a factory with gluten - as well as all "inflammatory" foods such as soy and the "nightshades" family now - gives me this reaction. Both docs agreed I should go off the nightshades, refined sugars, and soy, and add some acupuncture, Chinese herbs and natural remedies (aloe juice, apple cider vinegar, and more) to my daily rituals to enduce some intestinal healing.  Since then I have seen a 50% reduction i...