The Fish Problem

Rarely does a week go by that I don't hear someone speaking of the health benefits of fish. It's nutrients and amino acids are great for the brain, heart, and hormones. But how has our financially motivated culture interfered with the benefits of this wholesome food?

Common Sense

This is going to make sense when you hear it, but it's possible you've never thought of it before. The nutritional value of the animals you eat is directly effected by the nutritional value of what THEY eat. This concept goes as far back as the Old Testament. The Hebrew laws on "clean" and "unclean" meats are based on what the animal consumes. Marine life that are considered "bottom feeders" are unclean, because they consume waste. Cows are clean because they have four stomachs and digest their food so thoroughly that toxins do not linger in the meaty tissue that we eat. Modern science has proven that the biblically unclean animals pass more toxin on to their consumers that do the clean animals. So this concept applies to fish.

Fish Farming

Remember the Food Chain? Here is an example: Algae and other small sea plants are consumed by small fish. Then these small, oily fish are consumed by larger fish. Then we consume the larger fish.

The amino acids in these oils originate in the algae, as do TONS of other nutrients. Algae is considered a "super food" and you can even buy it in supliment form at the health food store. But before we had the technology for this, we got these nutrients from eating fish. Fish farming, however, has gotten in the way of nature's food chain. Fish in these farms are given diets that are not normal for them. Salmon get their pink color from the krill that they eat, but farmed salmon does not have the same diet so they are grey in color. But don't fear, the industry has started feeding salmon a synthetic pigment so that they will develop their pink color and fool all us consumers. Fish farmers are even experimenting with the use of corn as fish food. Like we need more modified corn in our lives!

My point is, man has gotten in the way of nature's plan. God's plan. And as usual, it is at a price. You will not recieve the same benefits from most fish that you once might have. Farmed fish makes up 30% of fish sold in the United States, and that is mostly going to be in the non-coastal regions. So if you are buying fish, read the labels carefully. (As you should with all food) Buy fish that was not farm raised, AND buy fish that are considered "clean." This is not just a biblical perspective, but a health perspective. I have provided a list below of the kinds of fish you should look for in order to limit your intake of toxins.

Clean Fish

Anchovy Barracuda Bass Black pomfret (or monchong) Bluefish Bluegill Carp Cod Crappie Drum Flounder Grouper Grunt Haddock Hake Halibut Hardhead Herring (or alewife) Kingfish Mackerel(or corbia) Mahimahi (or dorado, dolphinfish[not to be confused with the mammal dolphin])

Minnow Mullet Perch (or bream) Pike (or pickerel or jack) Pollack (or pollock or Boston bluefish) Rockfish Salmon Sardine (or pilchard) Shad Silver hake (or whiting) Smelt (or frost fish or ice fish) Snapper (or ebu, jobfish, lehi, onaga, opakapaka or uku) Sole Steelhead Sucker Sunfish Tarpon Trout (or weakfish) Tuna (or ahi, aku, albacore, bonito or tombo) Turbot (except European turbot) Whitefish

Breastfeeding: Taking It Personally

Five years ago when I got pregnant I started planning. I planned the theme of the nursery, the location of the birth, and I read lots of pregnancy magazines. One thing I was going to have to consider was whether or not I would breastfeed. I was only 19 and had not yet started a career as a birth professional or natural health advocate. I knew about as much about breastfeeding as the average 19-year-old. One of my aunts encouraged me to breastfeed, as did my best friend, Lucy. But I was still undecided. I knew of the commonly known benefits but didn't consider them important enough to be the decision maker. After all, what if I had saggy breasts afterward? What if it hurt? What if I can't buy those cute plastic bottles with Whinnie the Pooh on them? (I shudder at the thought of plastic bottles now.) And after all, I wasn't breastfed and I turned out alright.

Breastfeeding is said to increase IQ, but I considered myself pretty intelligent with good genes. It also can prevent allergies, but I have lived with seasonal allergies all of my life and it wasn't unbearable. Breastfeeding was not a large part of the culture I had been exposed to. Most of the babies I had interacted with were bottle fed and that seemed normal. Breastfeeding was exotic and risque to me.

I eventually had a 2nd trimester miscarriage, so as it turns out I never had to make the decision. I would like to tell myself that since I had already planned to hire a Doula she would have eventually educated me enough to decide to breastfeed and birth naturally, but we'll never know. When I was 21 I went to the presentation of Lucy's senior project. It was on breastfeeding. After listening to her half hour presentation I was convinced that I would breastfeed in the future. It suddenly made total sense and seemed the only logical choice. Since then I have become a Doula myself and have immersed myself in the Natural Birth/Natural Parenting community. I am grateful to be much better equipped for pregnancy and parenting than I was when I was 19 and I cringe to think of all the choices I made and would have made back then.

But now I want to talk to you about breastfeeding from the perspective of a daughter who was not breastfed. This is to any parent or future parent who wants to do what is best for their child and has this decision to make. I am angry that my mother did not breastfeed me.

Throughout my life I have been afflicted with a wide array of minor, but inconvenient health problems. There is nothing wrong with me that is crippling or life threatening. The only exception to that might be my depression. However, these little irritations and ailments sometimes pile up so much that I become extremely frustrated. There is no magic pill I can take to fix them all, and to fix just one sometimes requires constant effort. Here is a summary of the things that may have been prevented with breastfeeding:

TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder) - Basically, my jaw pops and gets sore. I can't chew gum or anything chewy. Sometimes even a slice of pizza will cause my jaw to stiffen and ache. Sometimes I even get a horrible jaw/head ache that requires prescription-strength pain killers. There's really no cure for it, but chiropractors can adjust it and dentists will occasionally prescribe a bite-guard. When a baby suckles from a bottle or breast, this effects the development of their jaw. A breastfed baby's jaw develops properly while a bottle-fed baby's jaw might not.

Allergies - For a long time my allergies were so bad that my eyes would become red and itch painfully and I would sneeze a dozen times in a matter of minutes. I eventually had to take allergy medications every morning, which made me drowsy during the first couple hours of school. Sometimes I would even doze off during first period. Breastfeeding greatly reduces your child's chance of having seasonal and other allergies.

Multiple Sclerosis - Lack of breastfeeding is associated with MS later in life. Are you kidding me?!?! My father died of MS. There is a genetic trend of MS on that side of my family. I don't have it, but I'm not thrilled that my risk has been increased.

Mental Health - Breastfed babies seem to have better mental health when they are older. Less anxiety and depression. My depression has been a huge hurdle in my life. I have failed classes and lost jobs because of it. It has put great strains on relationships. I have had to take antidepressants for years just to function. Thankfully, I am managing it pretty well these days. I have God to thank for this.

Bonding - It is no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am not particularly "close" to my mother. I don't feel much of an emotional bond with her, and I don't see her as my primary "nurturer." I sometimes wonder if this would have been different if I was breastfed.


For a long time I saw my mother's decision not to breastfeed as selfish and uncaring. I didn't take to the breast right away, but I knew that breastfeeding takes lots of time and practice and can be frustrating. Why did my mother not cope with a little of that frustration for my benefit? Now I realize that she probably knew about as much about breastfeeding as the average 21-year-old (her age when I was born). If I wasn't in the career that I am in now, I may have made the same decision. She isn't to blame and I have forgiven her.

But I implore all of you who still have that decision ahead of you to PLEASE breastfeed. On behalf of babies everywhere, it IS what is best! Breastmilk is made of real food. Formula is not. Why would we give humans synthetic food? It doesn't make sense. Formula fed babies are far more likely to spit up. Why does it make sense to feed a baby something that makes them throw up? It doesn't! Their tiny little bellies can't handle formula. It makes them spit up and gassy, which makes them fussy. If you breastfeed, I promise that after the initial frustration passes you will find it easier than bottles, and much more rewarding. Satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back.

To that small percentage or parents who truly cannot breastfeed: Don't take this personally. I praise God that we have formula that will sustain our babies. In the old days babies died from lack of nourishment if their mother couldn't breastfeed and weren't rich enough to afford a nurse-maid. I have my frustrations, but I'm alive and well and thanks to other natural health methods have found some relief from my symptoms.

Hannahs Migrain Cure - OSB

This week my aunt, grandmother, and I were going through some old Christmas cards and letters the Grannie had saved. I found one that was very interesting and related to natural health. Here are the first two paragraphs:


Hello from the Brown family! Our year has been very eventful and we are grateful to the God of all creation for the lessons learned. Most encouraging is Hannah's improvement with her migraines. She has pursued help for years through a highly respected migraine neurologist. She has also tried hypnosis, chiropractic help, Botox injections, acupuncture, herbal products, cranio-sacral therapy, biofeedback, chemical therapy, free emotive therapy, relaxation techniques, and therapeutic massage.

After 3 1/2 years of incapacitating migraines, approximately 15 hospitalizations, many more ER visits, 7 PICC lines and more chemicals in her veins than we want to remember, Hannah finally found some remarkable help. On April 3rd Hannah was introduced to Oral Systemic Balance, a therapy developed by Dr. Farrand Robsin of Tacoma, WA. Without IVs, drugs, or any intrusive measures Hannah is basically pain free and weaning off most of her medications. She wears individually designed oral appliances day and night that trigger the autonomic nervous system of the body to "balance" what was wrong. We know it seems bizarre but it takes her pain go away. Hannah is down to experiencing about one migraine per week--all less intense and all usually respond to adjustments to her appliances.


So, naturally, I was curious about this therapy that I had never heard of before. I did some research online and here is some of what I found:


Established by Dr. Farrand Robsin, OSB^® is about putting the body in natural balance so that it can function optimally with particular emphasis on free breathing and spinal alignment. This is achieved by allowing the relationship between tongue, jaw, throat, and spine to balance. The impact on the autonomic and sensory nervous system is dramatic enough to change your overall sense of health and well-being.

These goals are accomplished by creating customized orthotics to allow the tongue, jaw, and throat to come into a more natural balance so that swallowing speaking and most importantly breathing is optimized. The resulting impact on the nervous system is close to profound.

Dr. Farrand Robson realized that the tongue and its relationship to the other structures of the mouth played a far more important role within the body than orginially thought. It's like the rudder of a ship guiding and directing the rest of the boat. The customized orthotic (similar to an bite guard or Invisalign) aids in allowing the tongue to move forward to open up the throat allowing higher levels of oxygen intake. Individuals with an obstructed throat oftentimes have compromised oxygen levels caused mostly by the tongue. As a result, the body is essentially deprived of valuable oxygen similar to choking. Once our intake of air is limited, our body switches to the 'fight or flight' system of the autonomic system to adjust. Our body increases the level of adrenaline to compensate for our body’s natural needs. However, high levels of adrenaline and low levels of oxygen leads to many problematic symptom sets that compromise our wellness.

Symptoms include but are not limited to:

• Forward head or slouching posture
• Muscle aches and pains of the head
• Racing thoughts and/or jitteriness
• Anxiety/panic attacks
• Constant clearing of throat
• Snoring, sleep apnea, restless nights
• Sensitivity to smells, sounds, food, and certain situations or stimuli

I find this information extremely useful and relevant. I have frequent headaches, forward head, slouch, muscle aches, anxiety, snoring, restless nights, and sensitivity to certain stimuli. My naturopathic physician, as well as my nutritionist, have diagnosed me with adrenal fatigue. I have been seeing a Chiropractor for the musculoskeletal issues, but didn't realize that the other could be related. Another interesting thing is that in a Hypnobirthing meditation I have used the narrator says to place the tip of your tongue just behind your front upper teeth and allow your tongue to relax and your jaw to recede. I have often used this in my Yoga classes because I find that it allows better flow of air and less jaw tension. It seems that this could have more significance than I realized, by correcting the placement of the tongue and jaw. Perhaps I will try to practice this more often until I can afford to look into OSB.