Same here. I have fond memories going to Target to buy my first set of pots and they were all the copper-bottomed Revere Ware. That was around 1990 and they've held up very well, even surviving the times I burned things to a crisp (luckily, not my house!). My problem is finding a good non-stick pan for eggs. I have a smallish Lodge pan but eggs still stick. We use a non-stick but I hate thinking about all the chemicals we're probably ingesting as well. Any good non-sticks out there?

Mine from Target are too long on the sides and peek out under the quilt. I have to hem them. Or maybe I need a thicker mattress!

Have you tried spraying CLR on it and then letting it do its magic? I've never seen CLR in a spray bottle but you could pour it in one and then use it as necessary. You'd have to rinse it off. Are the streaks in the toilet reddish-brownish? Could it be a lot of iron in your water? I think there are products for that, too, that are safe for plumbing.

Our last cat was an older rescue whose former owner had her declawed but not spayed. The kitty was found outside the animal shelter pregnant and beaten up. Part of her ear was missing and her nose was damaged. Nevertheless, she recovered well and chose us to be her new family and lived out the rest of her life with us. She was such a sweetie. My advice would be to adopt an older cat who is already declawed. Many people want kittens but the older ones have usually settled down and don't need as much play time -- usually. Kittens often like to play and then they konk out. Sort of like they're on and then off. Cats seem to love boxes -- "if I fits, I sits" -- baskets and cozy spots like windows with sunshine where they can watch the fun going on outside. If you do get a cat, you could set up some spots for kitty to hang out. To help keep your husband's allergies at bay, you could try the Burt's Bees wipes. They're not perfect but might help. You might also ask about returning the cat if your husband's allergies get to be too much. My son, who is mildly allergic to cats, recently adopted an adorable Russian Blue kitten. So far, ds's allergies have been occasional and mild. Nothing bad at all. Russian Blues are better for people who have allergies. They are also smart and act a lot like dogs. We've been teaching the little guy how to fetch. He also comes to us when we call his name. They tend not to like any mess in the litter box -- as my son is finding out -- and do not like to be ignored at all. Russian Blues will literally climb up you to be held! My husband and I cat sit if our son can't be with him. They are not the kind of cat who is okay with being left alone. So if you were to look for one to adopt, you might want to find someone who will watch him while you're gone. Good luck!

The gut no doubt plays a huge role in our weight. A recent study showed that giving prebiotics to overweight and obese children helped prevent further excessive weight gain over a four-month period and the results were quite good. Prebiotics feed the beneficial bacteria and help them flourish. This may be one way to help becasue it's relatively easy to take a daily spoonful of oligofructose-enriched inulin mixed in with water (what the study used). The circadian rhythms of digestion/metabolism play an important role in health, including weight. The period of time you spend eating and the time eating begins both affect how your body metabolizes food. The time period should be about 9 hours long to maybe 12. The clock starts when the liver receives signals that something needs to be metabolized and this can include even black coffee. Our bodies are more insulin sensitive earlier than later in the day, so eating earlier would be better. At the very least, stopping eating around 5-7 pm would be best. Eating later causes our bodies to produce more C-reactive protein which leads to inflammation. This begins around 5:00 pm. If you want to learn more about this, it's Satchin Panda's work at the Panda Lab (?) at the Salk Institute, and it's his work on time-restricted eating (TRE) which is not the same as intermittent fasting, btw. If you're interested, you can sign up as a research participant to learn more about your circadian rhythms. It's all free, I believe. https://mycircadianclock.org Another problem is the chemical stew that we're all exposed to. Bisphenol A was recently studied and shown to make people more insulin resistant. It can be sweated out through sauna and hot baths, though. Other chemicals by themselves or synergistically with others may be wreaking havoc as well. I do think a lot more medical personnel are trying to learn more about the causes of excess weight gain which is a step in the right direction.

There's a seaweed pill called Seanol that some people take. It's kind of pricey, though. Seanol is Ecklonia Cava, a brown seaweed found deep in the ocean around Japan and Korea. Among the anti-oxidants, it's considered one of the best because of its molecular structure of 8 interconnected rings. The rings capture the damaging, rogue electrons and neutralize free radicals. Eight rings is a lot. Green tea catechins have four. Seanol also is about 40% fat soluble whereas virtually all other anti-oxidants you'd find on land -- polyphenols -- are water soluble. Water soluble have a hard time getting through the blood-brain barrier whereas fat soluble has an easier time. Fat soluble can penetrate the membranes of all your cells more easily than water which would give them more anti-oxidant protection. Fat soluble anti-oxidants also are active for a longer time in your body -- as much as 12 hours -- whereas water soluble antioxidants get peed out in less than an hour or so. I don't take Seanol myself or eat the seaweed. Probably should. I have read that radioactivity could be a problem but that a Geiger counter could be used to check the pills. LOL. I suppose. Me too! ? My understanding is that Dupey's always starts with a nodule and the thickened cord follows. Sometimes people only get the nodules or the cord doesn't thicken until many years later. Do you have a thickened cord in your palm that seems to be causing the contracture? If it is a thickened cord in the palm that's causing the contracture, I would go for prolozone without hesitation as well as use the Bernard's solution. A lot of Dupey people with contractions are beginning to use prolozone with success. Doesn't get rid of the nodules, though, and it can take multiple shots spaced apart.

The beneficial bacteria convert undigested fiber (more accurately, microbiota-accessible carbs) to short-chain fatty acids which nourish the intestinal wall.

Topical. I just place a few drops on it morning and night and voila! they've begun to disappear. Dupey's nodes are incredibly difficult to make be gone. lol But there you go! The one drawback is that the iodide makes the skin sloughy in a weird way. I just use a pumice stone after a shower now and then and that makes the skin smoother. If my nodes were to progress to contracture, where my fingers curved in, I would 100% get prolozone shots. But the topical iodide is working great so far. Terrific it helped your cysts!

Undigested fiber feeds the microbiota in the gut and their byproducts and messages help to prevent all kinds of health problems. Here's an article. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/science/food-fiber-microbiome-inflammation.html Ironically, fasting also increases the diversity of beneficial bacteria (!) probably because during a fast, the body converts stored fat to ketones to use as fuel which the beneficial bacteria also seem to like. A really good book to understand more of this, is Erica and Justin Sonnenburg's The Good Gut. They are two scientists who run a lab at Stanford where they study the microbiome.

I see. I don’t follow Abraham but he would be worth reading about. And for ovarian cysts or fibrocystic breasts, iodine might be better than iodide. So Lugol’s solution? I’m using iodide (Bernard’s solution) to treat my Dupuytren’s nodules in my hands. So far, one nodule is gone and the other is becoming smaller. Takes awhile but I’m a believer!

The doctor who prescribes iodine is probably Jonathan Wright. It is super saturated potassium iodide or SSKI, which is an old-timey treatment that has been used for many ailments including ovarian cysts. Wright’s own daughter used it to clear up ovarian cysts. Bernard’s Solution is what Wright sells but you might be able to find other similar solutions. Eating earlier in the day, as soon as possible after waking, then eating 2-3 meals with no grazing in between and within a shorter window of time would probably be very helpful for you. The time you take in your first food influences how your hormones will behave for the remaining day. So, eating 2-3 meals between 7 am and 3 pm (8 hour window) will have a different effect on your hormones than eating between 11 am and 7 pm. This is Satchin Panda’s research on human circadian clocks. Super interesting. It is also very important for the first meal to not be high glycemic foods. Protein and healthy fat with vegetable fiber would be good. So, eggs, cheese, greens, butter, avocado, nuts — something along those lines. Blood glucose and insulin levels caused by your first meal can elevate certain hormones that help pack on pounds. Those hormones also can contribute to anxiety. The first meal sets this up and does not “reset” until the next morning.

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https://wellnessmama.com/4738/spirulina-benefits/ If you don't have any contraindications, you might want to keep at least some for yourself.

Rhonda Patrick, researcher who has studied vitamin D and autism, has given her own baby (now a toddler) vitamin D drops, iirc. She might discuss this in depth on one of her Found My Fitness sites. Monitoring your son's levels is a good idea.

Sooo, did you manage to get your kids to the beach, umsami? ?

It looks like you all do have Russian Blues -- the fur, dark noses, green eyes, clinginess. My son's kitten -- I call him Q-bert -- has been sleeping with ds and then waking him at 6 am. The gall! Now ds is trying to figure out how to keep Q-bert quiet for a few more hours so he can sleep. That might not be possible me thinks. Has anyone successfully dealt with a kitten who wants to play early? Our former cat was an extremely complacent and lovable orange tabby who never bothered anyone until we woke up. Q-bert will have none of that. On the other hand, it does get my son up earlier. ? Here is Q-bert lying in one of those felt IKEA containers (I thought it was his litter box initially!)

He’s a little cutie. Do you think there might be a litter nearby?

The ringworm does not sound fun. I’m going to have to read about that now, just to make sure the kitty is okay. And my son, too! Are your two clingy? My son’s kitty is ridiculously cuddly to the point he’ll scamper up ds’s jeans and T-shirt to get a hug. This is the first I’ve heard of this breed. Such cuties. We’re hoping ds’s allergies remain at bay otherwise he might become mine. Not that I’d mind. ?

Gorgeous!

Cute cat content! Beware! If you or someone you know owns a Russian Blue cat, do you find them to be less likely to trigger cat allergies? My 21-year-old just got one, a very adorable kitten, from a cat fair and so far, ds’s allergies have been minimal. Any experience?

She does have long legs! What a cutie.

Horrible. Tell her your son cannot help. Period. She doesn’t need to know any reasons.

The researcher Rhonda Patrick offers excellent, free online information to anyone interested in learning more about health issues. She is by far my favorite resource. For example, in regard to losing weight and preventing certain diseases, when and how often you eat is just as important as what you eat. Rhonda has two interviews with Satchin Panda (Circadian rhythms researcher) that are worth checking out. Another person I like is William Li and his work on combining foods for antiangiogenesis.

You could also have a nerve signaling problem. The biochemicals in your gut (mouth on down) communicate with your nerves which send signals to your brain. Vagus nerve signaling devices are going to trial for people with slow motility problems. The device is worn behind the earlobe, IIRC. For some, it may be that they just need to condition their body so that the signal is “heard.” Do you eat leafy greens on a daily basis as well? Cooked spinach, kale? Eating a variety of fruits and veggies, including raw, fermented foods like sauerkraut, might help as well. Walnuts and other nuts as well (the skins of nuts are especially nutritious).

Plant fiber is “eaten” by the microbes in your large intestines. Without the fiber, their populations dwindle and even die out which is not ideal. Your body is probably adjusting to the fiber which is not at all unusual. Might take a few weeks to adjust.