We have loved these and books similar to these. This is how we have studied geography so far and the kids beg for it. This is lovely. Thank you for sharing. :) I would really like to find an engaging and user-friendly geography workbook or program that concentrates on continents, countries, and capital cities. I'm not interested in contour lines, maps, and all the other details that I and some others may find boring, if you KWIM. Is there such a thing? And sorry for hijacking this thread.

:iagree: Couldn't agree more on both counts. Okay. Thanks for sharing this. Not good at all. Just like I steer away from Fox, I'll stay well away from WSJ ... I no longer read Reader's Digest either. They're on the same track apparently.

I guess that's worth a try if we visit the U.S. - it's really hard to return things from there and a complete and total pain. But thanks. At least I know it's there to possibly try later on down the road. Do please keep us updated if you hear anything. Thank you. :)

Substances that interfere with iodine Chlorine – present in most city water supplies – unless you de-chlorinate your water, you are being exposed to thyroid-lowering gases whenever you bathe, shower, or have a drink of water. Fluorine Bromide or Bromine – found in some pesticides – try to eat organic whenever possible Bromide is even used in some asthma drugs Mountain Dew, Fresca, and orange Gatorade all contain bromide in the form of brominated vegetable oils. Drinking beverages with bromide causes low thyroid function in some people. These toxins are in our water, hot tubs, non-organic foods, and some soft drinks. If you don’t have enough iodine, chances are you have too much fluoride and bromide. Sufficient iodine pulls these toxins out of your body. Aspirin, blood thinner meds, and steroids can result in iodine deficiency thyroid problems. If you’re taking these, ask your doctor to check your thyroid function. Chronic fatigue syndrome is not a single illness, but a complex cluster of various symptoms including: Fatigue Muscle Pain Impaired Sleep Depression Brain “fogginess” Headache Anxiety PMS Stiffness Joint Pain Fibroymyalgia and muscle pain are often components of chronic fatigue. We all get tired at times, but the fatigue that is part of CFIDS (chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome) hits suddenly and is deep and debilitating. Along with this fatigue come: • Difficulty concentrating • Headaches • Pain in muscles and joints • Digestive problems • Anxiety • Low-grade fevers • Depression Rest takes care of most types of fatigue, but not if you have CFIDS. It never goes away. The fatigue may let up for a while, but then it returns. If you have extremely sensitive and painful points on various parts of your body, or simply ache constantly, you could have fibromyalgia. Sometimes fibromyalgia begins after a physical trauma, but a hereditary or biochemical imbalance may also cause it. Or it could be connected to another health condition. Unfortunately, NSAIDS like Motrin, Advil, and Naprosyn can only treat the pain, not the underlying cause. And what’s more, they can actually create fibromyalgia by increasing intestinal permeability, also known as “leaky gut syndrome” resulting in additional inflammation. NSAIDs are like a Band-Aid contaminated with bacteria that make your sore worse. Again, sorry for all the jumbled-up info.

IODINE More than 90% of us are low in iodine and fibromyalgia is linked to an iodine deficiency. Today's environment makes it almost impossible to get the amount of iodine you need. 1. There's very little iodine in the soil. So unless you're eating a ton of iodine-rich foods like kelp, seaweed and shellfish, you're not going to get much iodine from your diet. 2. Many salt companies have stopped adding iodine to table salt. 3. Food manufacturers have stopped using iodine in baked goods and are using bromine instead. Bromine (a halogen) competes with iodine to get into your cells. So the more bromine you consume, the less iodine you get. Unfortunately, many foods today (primarily baked goods) are loaded with bromine. 4. Our water supply contains chlorine and fluoride, both of which are halogens. Again, halogens compete with iodine to get into your cells. And you can't avoid chlorine and fluoride simply by drinking filtered water. That's because you get a hefty dose any time you bathe, shower, soak in a hot tub, or swim in a swimming pool. 5. Most conventional doctors never test for iodine deficiency. They figure there's no need to test iodine levels when they can just test your thyroid function instead. The problem with this is that the most widely used thyroid test, the TSH, is wildly inaccurate. Reason: While the TSH measures thyroid hormone, it can't tell the difference between active thyroid hormone with iodine and de-activated thyroid hormone with bromine or chlorine or fluorine. So the test shows you have plenty of thyroid hormone. But most of the thyroid hormone isn't doing its job! BENEFITS OF CORRECTING AN IODINE DEFICIENCY HELPS FIBROMYALGIA Fibromyalgia patients often have high levels of bromide. Iodine removes bromide out of the body, improving fibromyalgia. CORRECTING AN IODINE DEFICIENCY: I think it was Dr. Nan Fuchs who wrote: “I've had women come into my office who look like the poster child for underactive thyroid. They're overweight, they're losing their hair and eyebrows, their skin is dry, and they tell me they feel cold all the time. Yet when their doctor gave them a thyroid test, it came back normal! When I put these women on iodine supplementation, their conditions improve dramatically. Their skin improves, they stop losing their hair, and they finally lose that excess weight — and keep it off.” The RDA for iodine is 150 mcg. This amount was set based on the amount needed to prevent goiter. This amount will prevent goiter but it will not prevent breast cancer or its precurser fibrocystic breast disease or other serious diseases and symptoms listed above. Breast tissue and other reproductive organs require much more iodine than the thyroid gland. Many researchers now believe that you may need 100 to 400 times the RDI. The average consumption of iodine from seaweed by the mainland Japanese is nearly 14 mg. They have some of the lowest incidence of iodine-deficiency diseases like goiter, hypothyroidism, and cancers of the reproductive system (breast, ovaries, and uterus). Increase your intake with mineral-rich sea vegetables (agar, hijiki, kombu, nori, and wakame) at least twice a week. You can eat as much seaweed as you want. Brown seaweeds are highest in iodine. They include all forms of kelp. Fucus, also known as Bladderwrack, is considered to be the best for underactive thyroids. Hijiki and Sargassum are two other forms of brown seaweeds. Red seaweeds include dulse, nori, Irish moss, and Gracillaria. Since toasting doesn’t affect seaweed’s iodine content, you can eat it dried or dried and toasted. Toast some in the oven or in a dry frying pan to see if you prefer that taste. You can also powdered seaweed to your food or add larger pieces of seaweed to soups, grains, or vegetables. Seaweed should be an enjoyable addition to your diet, not an unpleasant experience. If you simply don’t like its taste, you can get it in capsules. Use 5-10 grams of mixed brown and red seaweed for thyroid problems. This is about 1 ½ teaspoons per day. If you’ve been told that your thyroid is borderline-low, eating seaweed makes sense. But remember, you need to eat seaweed every day or take iodine in a different form. Not all seaweeds are safe to eat. Some come from polluted waters. Be more cautious and talk to a naturopath if you’re on thyroid meds and want to try seaweed. Use iodine-rich Seaweed Gomasio to season your food. Instead of using seaweed to boost your iodine levels, you might consider taking an iodine supplement. Iodoral is a very good one. You may need 1 to 4 tablets of Iodoral, a combination of 5 mg of iodine and 7.5 mg of potassium iodide. Additional research finds that vitamin C improves the transport of iodine in the body, so it may be best to take Iodoral with Vitamin C. Studies show that women who weigh about 110 pounds need at least 5 mg of iodine a day for normal breast function. If you’re heavier, you may need more. Start off slowly over a 4 week period. Take 1 pill for 30 days Then 2 pills for 30 days Then maybe 3 for 30 days Then 1 in morning and 1 in evening for 30 days Can then go back to taking 1 or 2 a day to maintain Your body will know....listen to it... One Iodoral tablet provides 12.5 milligrams of iodine/iodide which is about the amount the average Japanese consumed in 1964 in their everyday diet. Iodoral is the best way to get the recommended amount of iodine. When we take 50 mg of iodine/iodide a day, it acts as an adaptogen, regulating various body functions.

OTHER TIPS SLEEP - Get enough sleep. Your body needs a full night of quality sleep to fight pain. Sniffing lavender oil before sleep can help you. CHIROPRACTIC/MASSAGE – both help immensely with pain Be aware that you should wait for any inflammation to subside before starting either. EXERCISE – Begin with a daily 10-minute walk, take up a gentle yoga class, or try the slow movement of Tai Chi. Water aerobics and swimming help also. LOOK INTO FOLLOWING TREATMENTS Acupuncture helps with all sorts of pain, especially fibromyalgia Electrotherapy has been proven to help with low back pain Hydrotherapy has been proven to help with arthritis. No medicine on the market can rival the physiological effects of water. Warm to hot water eases joint pain by reducing swelling and increasing blood flow to fight inflammation. BOOK “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia” by R. Paul St. Armand Follow a diet designed to reduce phosphates – avoid soda

5 grams of the sugar D-ribose twice daily will stimulate the production of ATP, the fuel that powers your body’s tissues and muscles. People who suffer from excessive joint and muscle pain and fibromyalgia (widespread muscle pain) often have low levels of ribose. Eat cherries as often as possible. Consuming 20 a day (about 2000 mg of cherry fruit extract) has been proven to provide more pain relief than aspirin and other painkillers. OTC remedy – Guaifenesin (Muxinex) – helps rid the body of phosphates Limit or avoid: Nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, some spices, and tobacco) may aggravate inflammatory conditions like fibromyalgia. 74-90% of people with ache from any cause have a nightshade sensitivity. Temporarily avoid all foods with any amount of nightshades. Read labels carefully. Spend a day or two getting ready for this experiment. Then eliminate all nightshades entirely – 100% - for 2 full weeks. Did your pain subside or disappear during this time? If so, nightshades are a problem for you. At the end of 2 weeks, eat one food from the nightshade family by itself – like a tomato or bell pepper, and watch for any reactions. You may feel tired, agitated, your heart may race, you could have more pain, or you could have other undesirable side effects. If you react, continue to avoid the entire nightshade family for 3 months or more. If not, bring them back into your diet. Some people with fibromyalgia who have a nightshade sensitivity can eventually add small amounts of them back into their diet – like the amount found in salad dressing. Others can’t. But if they trigger your pain, you’ll need to avoid them completely for at least 2-3 months. Even tiny quantities of nightshades hidden in other foods can contribute to excruciating arthritis pain, and nightshades are everywhere. Potato starch is disguised in many frozen and processed foods in the form of modified food starch, modified vegetable protein, modified vegetable starch, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. Look for it meatballs, mock crab, sausages, and deep-fried foods that have been cooked in the same vegetable oils as French fried potatoes. Some Rx and OTC medications use potato starch as their fillers. You need to find out. Tomatoes are an ingredient in brown meat sauces like Worcestershire sauce and steak sauce, as well as salad dressings, some luncheon meats, gravies, and baked beans, so read labels carefully. Green olives may be stuffed with pimentos, a sweet red pepper, and dried pepper flakes are often sprinkled over pasta dishes. Avoid sauces, especially Thai, barbecue, Cajun, Mexican, Southern, and Jamaican dishes, as well as Tabasco sauce, prepared mustards, and Cayenne pepper. Safe foods you might think are unsafe include sweet potatoes, yams, and black pepper. You may not react to vegetables in the nightshade family, but if you do, you need to stop eating them. You can test yourself at home.

Malic acid is an acid found in apples and other fruits. It reduces fibromyalgia pain. When you add malic acid to magnesium, you have a powerful supplement that can reduce fatigue in a few weeks, and reduce your pain in a few days. If magnesium and malic acid are not enough, it’s time to look at other reasons for your chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. These include taking probiotics to regulate your intestines, candida and parasites, intestinal permeability, and inflammation. Your chronic health problems could also be caused by Lyme disease. ”Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Lyme Disease” by Burton Goldberg and Larry Trivieri Corvalen Energy Dietary Supplement – http://www.corvalen.com – Take 5 grams in water or juice 3 times a day for 3 weeks, then twice daily thereafter Carlson’s Fish Oil – 1000 to 8000 mg daily Vitamin D3 – 5000 IU daily SAM-e – 400 to 1500 mg Curcumin – 500 mg 3-4 times daily Fibromyalgia sufferers produce less serotonin – try GABA Calm, 5-HTP, and even some dark chocolate More calcium Make sure you get rhodiola rosea, not any other species. The herb can help just about anyone suffering from low energy. Rhodiola might be particularly helpful for people with more serious forms of fatigue such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and seasonal affective disorder. How to use it: Look for a pure root extract, standardized to contain at least 3 percent rosavins and .08 to 1 percent salidrosides. For most people, a dose of 200 to 400 mg per day will bring benefits. Start small and work up to a full dose over several days. Since no research has been done on doses over 400 mg per day, don’t exceed this without seeing an herbalist or doctor familiar with the herb. And while rhodiola has been used safely for years in its native regions, no human trials have verified its safety for longer than four months, so some experts recommend a one- to two-week break after four months’ use. Side Effects: Some people have reported irritability and insomnia at very high doses (1,000 mg a day or above), but most side effects disappear when the dose is adjusted. People with bipolar disorder should be closely supervised by a doctor, as it may induce mania. A daily dose of B complex (50 mg) will restore spent energy

So sorry about all that you've been going through. :grouphug: Sorry that my info here is a bit unorganized. Haven't had time to get it together the way I normally like. SUPPLEMENTS AND NUTRITION Magnesium – 500 to 1000 mg Some people with chronic fatigue have diets that are very high in calcium and low in magnesium. Once they increase their magnesium (beans, whole grains, green vegetables) and eliminate dairy products (worth trying for at least 2 weeks), their symptoms are greatly lessened. You may very well need more magnesium. Magnesium is one of the best nutrients – if not, the best – both for energy production and pain control. Everyone who has CFIDS or fibromyalgia – or even general fatigue – should try increasing their magnesium before turning to more expensive remedies. While magnesium won’t eliminate fibromyalgia completely, it often plays a major role in improving energy, reducing pain, and lessening other symptoms. Sometimes muscles hurt because they don’t contain enough potassium. One of magnesium’s many important functions is to maintain a sodium and potassium balance. If your muscles lack potassium, taking more magnesium can raise your level better than taking more potassium. If you need both, try a potassium-magnesium aspartate combination. Aspartic acid carries both potassium and magnesium into the cells more quickly and efficiently. 400-1200 mg daily of Magnesium is helpful but use according to bowel tolerance. Your body knows how much magnesium you can tolerate from bowel tolerance – take as much magnesium as your bowels can tolerate If you can, add 100 mg of magnesium to your nutritional supplements, and increase it by 100 mg every few days until your stools are soft, but not uncomfortably loose. Take in divided doses and with meals to ensure optimal absorption – preferably more at night Some say to not take magnesium with calcium - I think that that is preferable. Calcium, magnesium, and many other minerals are best absorbed when they are bound to an acidic carrier such as citrate, aspartate, picolinate, or amino acid chelate. Minerals need an acidic base to break down and get used. The most absorbable forms are magnesium citrate, glycinate taurate, or aspartate, although magnesium bound to Kreb cycle chelates (malate, succinate, fumarate) are also good. Avoid magnesium carbonate, oxide, sulfate, and gluconate. They are poorly absorbed (and the cheapest and most common forms found in supplements). Side effects from too much magnesium include diarrhea, which can be avoided if you switch to magnesium glycinate. People with kidney disease or severe heart disease should take magnesium only under a doctor's supervision. NATURAL SOURCES Dark Chocolate Sea vegetables (seaweed and kelp – but make sure they come from non-polluted waters and are high-quality) Greens Beans Kelp Wheat bran Wheat germ Almonds Buckwheat Brazil nuts Millet Pecans Walnuts Rye Brown rice Figs Dates Collard greens Shrimp Avocado Parsley Barley Dandelion greens Garlic Kelp Whole Grains Molasses EPSOM SALTS BATH Taking a hot bath with Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) is a good way to absorb and get much needed magnesium.

Leanna, you're very sweet. :grouphug: I'll let you know if I do. Thank you for your very kind words. Yvette, thank you also. You ladies are embarrassing me ... it's funny because I don't have much confidence in the whole thing. Dh thinks I should just go for it. He's been telling me that for the longest while. I'm no health expert by any means ... just a research nut. I'm not the type to blog too much about our kids or anything. More likely to focus mostly on nutrition, books I read, etc. I don't consider myself much of a writer, more of a research person. I'm also very highly opinionated, which can cause problems at times ... :lol: Thanks so much everyone. :grouphug: You've gotten me thinking.

Thanks so much, Julie. :)

Thanks for sharing. 2 quick questions: 1. Amazon says it's for young adults. My dd likes the author's other books - Guardians of Ga'hoole. Do you think this would appeal to young adults/teens OR is it more of a book for adults? 2. The book is secular, correct? Just asking ... ;) Thanks. :)

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I like to read them by publication date. I researched this a few years ago. Our preferred order is as follows: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Prince Caspian The Voyage of the Dawn Treader The Silver Chair The Horse and His Boy The Magician's Nephew The Last Battle I read this somewhere a while back: “If you're a new reader of The Chronicles of Narnia, many Narnian experts recommend the traditional order — by publication date. Here are three reasons for reading the books in this order: * The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the book that sets the tone and focus for the entire Narnian series. Because Lewis wrote this book first, it's the most natural introduction to Aslan and the world of Narnia. * Prince Caspian is a more natural follow-up to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe than The Horse and His Boy because it picks up again with the four Pevensie children in England just a year after you leave them at the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. * The Magician's Nephew, which deals with the origins of Narnia, is far more exciting and interesting when read as a flashback story following The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. By the time you get to The Magician's Nephew, you deeply care about the background information of Narnia and how it came to be. Perhaps the most revealing argument for approaching the books in the traditional order is that the makers of the upcoming Narnia film series chose The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when deciding which book to transfer to the screen first”.

I've often heard variations of what my parents have been going on about lately - about when to eat fruit. They received an email that has been circulating - about how fruit should be eaten on an empty stomach and not after meals. Peela, you know how much I always trust and respect what you have to say :grouphug:. Please share if you have time. Is there truth to this? Snopes says it's false. But with Snopes, what else is new? I don't always trust snopes either. I'm far too much into alternative approaches for their liking ;). To me, Snopes says pretty much everything except mainstream med is false ... So who's right? :confused: I do know that dh was eating far too much fruit and late at night. A herbalist naturopath Rastafarian here gave him the best advice ever to relieve his GERD - to not eat too much fruit (he used to have far too much) and to only eat fruit between 11 AM and 5 PM. That, believe it or not, really helped dh more than most of the advice that's out there. Although sometimes (more recently), eating 2 bananas right before bed helps him also ... Peela, finally, I wish, wish, wish you had a blog or were on FB. I would so love to just immerse myself in your wisdom and knowledge. When are you going to write your book? :D

:lol: Yes, as a fluent Farsi speaker, I can attest to that. Persians/Iranians live and die for their families and blood, etc. Sometimes/oftentimes, it's just way tooooo much for dh and I. ;) I remember in once speech communication class in my undergrad years, our professor told us that any language has many words for whatever they deem to be important. Eskimos, for example, have 20-something words for snow. Iranians have a different word for pretty much every single relative. And well, Iranians (like most Middle Easterners unfortunately) do not particularly care for dogs or most pets. They don't have different names for different breeds. They're all just called "dog". :lol: Our family is not that way, btw. We're Iranian, but we're also very international. :)

:iagree: I just read what I can and do what I can (which, in my case, is often very little). :lol: :grouphug:

We love the Logic Liftoff series. Didn't care that much for Mind Benders. I wish we knew what to use after the Logic Liftoff. I wish there were more in the same series or something similar.

Thank you Julie and Sue. :)

Thank you Kristine and Donna. This is helpful. :)

:iagree: Although I love the occasional red meat, etc, I agree with Peela. Goes along with one of my favorite books Eat foods. Mostly plants. Not too much. When he says "food", he means "real" food, as in not processed, etc.

Several online friends have suggested that I should start blogging. I've never taken it very seriously. It's only that I'm just beginning to think about it. Just thinking, mind you :lol:. First reason: Until now, I thought that no one would be particularly interested in what I have to say anyway. Second reason: who has the time? I certainly don't ... So, if you do blog and you have a few moments: Can you tell me what you like or don't like about blogging? Tips/resources? Any other suggestions? Did any of you start blogging and then stop, because of it being a total and complete pain - time-wise or whatever? Thanks so much. :)

:iagree: Having watched lots of episodes of What Not to Wear, although, I haven't seen it (or much TV at all, for that matter) in the longest while. Seems like these boards (and others) have taken over. ;) Now, that I'm close to 43, I'm much more aware of what would look good on me. I love this book and highly recommend it.

Bumping and sorry to ask this. Are any of these programs secular? Thanks.

Is this it? I would love to find something to use after the wonderful Logic Liftoff series that's secular.