Thanks so much for getting back to me on this. TCM interests me so much, yet I know so little about it. This book looks very interesting. Her other books look good also. :)

We'll be traveling to the U.S. soon. Would love some feedback on what type of shoe I should get. Also, should I go to a store like REI or should I order online? Do stores tend to be aggressive in wanting you to buy more pricey shoes? 1. I haven't run in over 5 years. I plan to start slowly once again, and feel more motivated to do so now that I'm reading "Born to Run". 2. I have wide feet. I love New Balance and have always been happy with them. I read some of the reviews in various places regarding their lightweight/minimalist shoes, and everyone says that they run narrow. Small - I can deal with. I would just order the next size up. But narrow, I'm not so sure :confused: ... I hope that the Minimus line coming out next spring caters to wide feet. 3. Where we live, the ground is concrete/asphalt - very hard - not particularly knee-friendly. I don't think the 5-Fingers will work as well on the outdoor concrete with lots of bits and pieces here - bits of gravel, etc. I've seen pictures of how quickly the 5-Fingers get ripped and destroyed. So I'm leaning towards New Balance lightweight/minimalist shoes. I really don't want a shoe that is pricey AND I have to replace really quickly ... :001_huh: 4. Are any of the minimalist shoes designed for wide feet and hard gravelly surfaces? Thanks so much. :)

:iagree: Yep, so glad for homeschooling when it comes to raw garlic. :lol:

You're totally on the right track. :) Magnesium is a mineral that most of us are deficient in. I also notice a major difference with regards to pretty much any pain. Sandra, I have some Epsom Salts sitting around waiting to be used for this very purpose. Two questions: 1. What's "the spectrum"? 2. Is a foot bath as beneficial as a regular bath with Epsom Salts? A foot bath would be more convenient for us. Thanks. For anyone who may be interested, here's some of what I've read about Epsom Salts: Take a hot bath with up to 2 cups of Epsom salts and 1 cup baking soda to help draw impurities out of the body – try to do this once a week! ---- Epsom salt baths are the oldest and cheapest ways of relaxing muscles and settling nerves. Simply add two cups (1 pound, 454 grams, 16 oz., 1 pint, 1/2 liter, 500 ml) to your warm bath water to make a standard Epsom salt bath, and enjoy! To make a strong Epsom salt bath, double to quadruple the amount of Epsom salt. One of the coolest ladies that I know takes one every 5 days, whether she needs it or not, because it is part of her routine for staying well. Even today, Epsom salt is the primary ingredient in nearly all expensive relaxing bath salts. The crystals are 10 percent pure magnesium, and a rounded 1/2 tablespoon (7.2 milliliter) yields 1 gram of magnesium. It is one of the most highly absorbed magnesium compounds known (easily absorbed through the skin or digestive tract). The effect of these baths has not been understood from a neuroscience aspect until recently. These baths can raise blood and tissue levels of magnesium, resulting in the feeling of well being and relaxation, and perhaps sedation in overdose for all the reasons stated in this essay for orally ingested magnesium. The trick to success may be simply finding the correct strength. Should one use a standard or strong Epsom salt bath? I think a VERY strong one is best, when done with modest caution. The main side effect of prolonged strong Epsom salt baths, other than relaxing to the point where one falls asleep, is diarrhea. Taking a VERY strong Epsom salt water bath without someone ready to watch the person is unwise, and could lead to overdose, sleep and drowning. Too long spent in very strong Epsom salt baths will put a person on the commode with diarrhea for at least a half hour. What is too long? I think about 20 minutes of a VERY strong bath is long enough, and 60 minutes may result in diarrhea because of the very strong water-drawing capability of the magnesium ion. How frequently should strong Epsom salt baths be taken to treat depression? Daily? Several times daily? Perhaps. Four to six times daily? Let's not over do it, but maybe for a week or two in the beginning. Epsom salts are routinely used for soothing relief from • Arthritic pain; reducing stiffness, soreness, and tightness of joints • Improving discomfort from muscle aches, pains and tenderness • Soothing painful bruises, sprains and strains • Alleviating pain from over exertion during sport activities • Improving the body's sleeping and resting productivity • Increasing and improving body energy levels • Improving the rate of natural body healing • Soothing away stress • Deep cleaning skin and pores • Taking the sting out of insect bites and drawing out splinters

Some of my favorite books in the past few years have been: The Kite Runner then wait about 6 months (or else it's Afghanistan overkill ;)) before reading his even better book A Thousand Splendid Suns - this one, by far, is amongst one of the best books I have ever read The Help The Five People You Meet in Heaven Tuesdays with Morrie and pretty much any other Mitch Albom book The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende and anything else by her Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg (very sweet, funny, just a nice, light book) Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett The Secret Life of Bees The Book Thief A Respectable Trade by Philippa Gregory Most John Grisham books – more so his older ones Harry Potter books - if you haven't yet read them or seen the movies

Thank you so much. Off to look into all of these. :)

Thank you, both. :) Is Veritas secular? Thanks so much.

Lori, I thought I was the Queen of Lists, until I met you. :lol: I LOVE your helpful lists. :) Are any of these secular? Any more details from you or others would be GREATLY appreciated. I don't know what to order. I also have no idea, or not much of an idea, as to which books to study and at what levels. For example, I know that I would love us to do To Kill a Mockingbird, but that will probably wait till 9th or 10th grades.

First, do you use them, or do you plan to? Second, if so, what do you like or dislike? I like user-friendly for me and minimal prep work :) - as in workbook format, if at all possible. I prefer secular. I would love to eventually focus on British Literature as my dc get older - Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, etc. But that's for later, not now. I have been looking at Portals to Literature in Rainbow Resource. I guess I need to spend more time reading up those pages in the catalog. The only reason I ask is that my ordering time is quite limited. Thank you.

Agreeing. BFIAR is the absolute best. I really, really miss those years, those books, and those memories.

I don't know of one that you can download from the net, but we got a lovely one from Rainbow Resource. Their links seldom work. You could do a search. It's a really colorful and nice one. :)

Thanks, Laura. :)

I know you're looking for more recommendations. And I know you probably know this already, but Coldwater Creek has some great sales and even 50% coupons if you're on their email list. I just got some nice things for my mom on sale there. I love their sales and seldom buy their stuff full price.

HOW MUCH TO TAKE Take equal amounts of calcium and magnesium. For most people on a healthy diet, 500 mg of each supplement should be enough. If you have symptoms of magnesium deficiency (see above) – if you’re feeling edgy, have muscle cramps, suffer insomnia, crave chocolate, or notice increased urination, adjust your calcium-magnesium ratio, so that you’re taking at least as much magnesium or—ideally—twice as much magnesium as calcium. 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 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 – and preferably not with calcium 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. Most minerals are best taken as a team with other minerals in a multi-mineral formula. People with kidney disease or severe heart disease should take magnesium only under a doctor's supervision. NATURAL SOURCES Dark Chocolate Sea vegetables (seaweed) Greens Beans Kelp Wheat bran Wheat germ Almonds Buckwheat Brazil nuts Millet Pecans Walnuts Rye Tofu Soy beans 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. REASONS FOR MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY Food processing removes much of the magnesium that's naturally found in certain foods. Many of us eat a diet that contains practically no magnesium -- a highly-processed, refined diet that is based mostly on white flour, meat, and dairy (all of which have no magnesium). Taking antacids (and some other medicines for indigestion) disrupts magnesium absorption. Magnesium and other minerals are depleted by modern farming practices. Nutrient depletion of soils and over-processing of foods robs today’s diet of much of its magnesium content. Medications including common diuretics, birth control pills, insulin, tetracycline and other antibiotics, and cortisone cause the body to waste magnesium. With the food industry pumping supplemental calcium into every possible food and beverage, many of us surely have excess calcium—way out of balance with magnesium and other important minerals. In a calcium-magnesium imbalance, calcium doesn’t get deposited in the bones as it should. Also, unused calcium gets dumped in the arteries, helping to “harden” them and leading to atherosclerosis. To combat this, many heart doctors prescribe calcium-channel blockers (like Procardia) to keep calcium from being absorbed in the heart muscle. It makes much more sense to offer magnesium, a natural calcium channel blocker that dilates arteries—at least when it’s available in sufficient amounts and in balance with calcium.

Magnesium is a key mineral that many are deficient in. Anything that is tight, irritable, crampy, and stiff -- whether it is a body part or an even a mood -- is a sign of magnesium deficiency. BENEFITS OF MAGNESIUM BONE HEALTH Bone density and overall bone health Magnesium is key to good bone health, balancing calcium and converting vitamin D for better calcium absorption. Without enough magnesium, the calcium you take will not be absorbed. Unabsorbed calcium that is not excreted (and most isn’t) gets into your joints where it becomes arthritis or in your arteries where it becomes atherosclerosis. Taking more magnesium can prevent your blood vessels from calcifying and developing into atherosclerosis. IMPROVES SLEEP Think of magnesium as the relaxation mineral. Helps maintain healthy melatonin levels Marvelous for just about everything including periodic nocturnal awakenings when it can coax you gently back to sleep HEART HEALTH Magnesium deficiency is common in those with heart disease. Helps muscles, including the heart, relax Lowers total and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, while raising HDL (good) cholesterol Appears to reduce high blood pressure, cutting the risk of heart attack and stroke Lessens the risk of heart arrhythmia and limits the complications of congestive heart failure Magnesium, a natural calcium channel blocker, is an effective treatment for heart attacks and cardiac arrhythmias. An astounding number of studies have documented the effectiveness of IV magnesium in helping prevent cardiac damage and even death following a heart attack. The reason for this is that 40 to 60 percent of sudden deaths from heart attack are the result of spasm in the arteries, not blockage from clots or arrhythmias! Without adequate magnesium, blood vessels constrict and blood pressure increases. Magnesium keeps excessive sodium out of your heart. Sodium attracts water, so a magnesium deficiency can contribute to edema (swelling) in your heart or lungs. KIDNEY STONES Helps prevent formation of those painful kidney stones (calcium oxalate crystals) DETOXIFICATION Helps the liver do its all-important job of detoxification by acting as an escort to toxins—including estrogens—as they leave the body CONSTIPATION Magnesium helps keep bowels regular by maintaining normal bowel muscle function. Milk of magnesia has been used for decades to help constipation. Magnesium helps restore good bowel tone and normal peristalsis – that alternating muscle relaxation and contraction in the intestines. HEADACHES AND MIGRAINES Helps occasional headaches that can come with caffeine withdrawal Magnesium helps eliminate peripheral nerve disturbances that can lead to migraines There’s a strong correlation between migraines and hormonal fluctuations. Estrogen hormones (right before, during, or immediately after your period) can block the body’s absorption of magnesium, leading to low blood levels of this mineral. A number of scientific studies found low levels of magnesium in people with migraines. Many women with monthly migraines have low blood levels of magnesium. Remember that the more calcium you take, the more magnesium you need. Try cutting back on calcium while you increase your magnesium and see how this change affects your migraines. RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME Is a natural muscle and nerve relaxant that calms the involuntary spasms and creepy-crawly sensations of RLS (restless legs syndrome) SKIN HEALTH Keeps skin fresh and moist ANXIETY, PANIC ATTACKS, AND DEPRESSION Magnesium helps keep adrenal stress hormones under control and also helps maintain normal brain function. Crucial for the synthesis of serotonin and other neurotransmitters Magnesium is usually lacking in those with depression. In fact, one study reported “rapid recovery from major depression” after treatment with magnesium, and found that magnesium helped relieve the anxiety and insomnia often associated with depression. Many women have an undiagnosed magnesium deficiency, which can contribute to anxiety ASTHMA Magnesium helps relax the muscles of the bronchioles in the lungs. INFERTILITY Magnesium can relax spasms in fallopian tubes that prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. NERVE PROBLEMS AND MUSCLE SPASMS Magnesium helps eliminate peripheral nerve disturbances that can lead to migraines, leg and foot cramps, gastrointestinal cramps, and other muscle aches and pains. PMS RELIEF AND MENSTRUAL PAIN RELIEF RELIEVES CHRONIC FATIGUE AND FIBROMYALGIA 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. 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. CHOCOLATE CRAVINGS Craving chocolate can be a sign of a calcium/magnesium imbalance. It could mean that you’re getting too much calcium and not enough magnesium. Most women need 500-600 mg a day each of supplemental calcium and magnesium. The rest we get from a healthy diet. But we’re being told to take 1500 mg calcium and half as much magnesium. This isn’t enough magnesium and our chocolate craving tells us so. Magnesium is excreted in higher-than-usual quantities when you’re under stress. This is why so many women crave chocolate before menstruation, a time when magnesium levels are lower from physiological stress. When magnesium is increased, chocolate cravings decrease. HELPS INSULIN RESISTANCE AND DIABETES Low magnesium leads to increased insulin resistance. When this happens, blood sugar levels rise and remain high. This can contribute to diabetes. Magnesium’s role in insulin resistance translates into low energy. Too much or too little glucose in your blood causes fatigue. If low blood sugar is contributing to your fatigue, be sure to eat a diet low in refined sugars and starches. And get plenty of magnesium. CANCER Increasing the amount of magnesium may decrease your risk of cancer. Magnesium helps DNA repair itself, which is crucial for preventing cells from mutating and becoming cancerous

Very interesting thread and one that I've been thinking about a lot lately. Our bones need more than just calcium. The way we eat – along with our lifestyle choices and stress levels – can actually contribute to bone depletion, no matter how many calcium supplements we take or glasses of milk we drink. Calcium is an essential mineral necessary for good health [a calcium deficiency can exacerbate migraine symptoms, for example]; but bone health doesn’t depend on taking lots of calcium. PROBLEMS WITH TOO MUCH CALCIUM While for years doctors have been recommending dietary calcium as the best way to ward off osteoporosis, many studies cast doubt on this idea. For example, a 2003 Harvard study looked at diet and hip fractures among 72,337 older women for 18 years and concluded that "Neither milk nor a high-calcium diet appears to reduce (fracture) risk." A more recent Harvard study, this one from 2007, analyzed seven trials that followed a total of 170,991 women for several years and found no association between total calcium intake and hip fracture risk. The truth is that calcium isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to bone health. After all, in Africa and Asia, where people generally don't take calcium supplements and they consume little or no dairy (except for breastfed infants), fracture rates are 50 to 70 percent lower than they are in the US. Statistics show that most industrially advanced countries have the highest fracture rates, although they consume more dairy products than other countries. Excessive amounts of calcium from supplementation and/or dairy intake can suppress the thyroid gland. Without enough magnesium, the calcium you take will not be absorbed. Unabsorbed calcium that is not excreted (and most isn’t) gets into your joints where it becomes arthritis or in your arteries where it becomes atherosclerosis. Taking more magnesium can prevent your blood vessels from calcifying and developing into atherosclerosis. More illnesses are caused by a need for magnesium than for calcium. Arthritis and joint pain are caused by excessive calcium and insufficient magnesium. Too much calcium and not enough magnesium contributes to arthritis. It causes stiffness, because calcium causes muscles to contract. Magnesium, on the other hand, causes muscles to relax. Most supplements already contain more calcium than magnesium. When you take additional calcium supplementation, you upset the calcium/magnesium balance even more. This causes more contraction than relaxation. Magnesium helps calcium get into your bones. Unabsorbed calcium doesn’t just “go away. “ It gets stores in joints and becomes arthritis, or in arteries where it contributes to atherosclerosis. If you have arthritis, don’t overdo calcium either in supplements or in your diet. 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. RIGHT KIND OF CALCIUM – DIETARY SOURCES Your body does need calcium, but you must supply it with the right kind of calcium – which does not come from dairy products – along with plenty of other vitamins and minerals. With the exception of yogurt and unpasteurized milk, dairy products are acid-forming in the body and may therefore cause alkaline calcium to be leached out of bones, in order to "buffer" the acid in the blood. The calcium in milk is also not particularly well absorbed by the body. The calcium in yogurt and cheese is more available to the body, due the actions of bacteria used to ferment these products. Alternative sources of calcium are: Green vegetables like romaine lettuce, and kale Kelp Fish with soft bones (salmon, sardines) Nuts Tofu Kelp Molasses Various fruits like strawberries Yogurt is one of the most easily assimilated sources of calcium. It’s easily digested, less likely to cause allergic reactions than other dairy foods, and rich in probiotics, beneficial bacteria vital to healthy digestive and immune systems. Yogurt is also an unexpected source of iodine, helping to promote better thyroid function. My favorite is creamy Greek-style yogurt. Unpasteurized Milk Cheese, particularly goat cheese These should be eaten with sources of vitamin D : Eggs Liver Moderate amounts of sunlight and magnesium Kelp Whole grains Nuts Molasses in order for the calcium to be absorbed into the bones Building Bone Vitality: a Revolutionary Diet Plan to Prevent Bone Loss and Reverse Osteoporosis (McGraw-Hill, 2009) by Amy Lanou and Michael Castleman In this book, of the 136 trials they found that examined the effects of dietary calcium on osteoporotic fracture risk, two-thirds of them showed that a high calcium intake does not reduce the number of fractures--even in those who took calcium (with vitamin D) during childhood. They also found that eating fruits and vegetables improved bone density in a whopping 85 percent of studies that looked at the effects of such foods. The key to preventing osteoporosis, they determined, is eating a low-acid diet. The bottom line: For healthy bones, your blood needs to maintain a slightly alkaline pH level (a measure of relative acidity or alkalinity), which you can achieve by eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables for every one serving of red meat, chicken or fish. Another good idea is to eat vegan--no meat or dairy--one day a week, which is very easy given the wide availability of beans, tofu and other protein these days. CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTATION – ALONG WITH MAGNESIUM Calcium carbonate (also found in coral calcium) is the hardest calcium compound for the human body to break down and absorb. More calcium is absorbed from 500 mg of calcium citrate (an acidic form) than from 2,000 mg of calcium carbonate. 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. Calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide are the poorest absorbed forms of those two minerals. You’ll find them in a lot of supplements because they’re inexpensive. Balancing calcium with magnesium is very important. Magnesium has been found to suppress bone turnover. Take at least equal amounts or twice as much magnesium as calcium. Use bowel tolerance to find your own balance. A diet low in magnesium, the norm for the standard American diet, and relatively high in calcium actually contributes to osteoporosis. Though blood levels of magnesium are often normal, this is misleading. A more accurate test is red blood cell magnesium, which is often low in cases of depression and fatigue. Overconsumption of processed food is usually the culprit in magnesium deficiency. This nutrient is found in organically grown vegetables, whole grains, sea vegetables and meats such as turkey. Most women need a magnesium supplement daily at a dose of 400 to 800 mg per day, depending upon the quality of diet. 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. Magnesium oxide is the poorest absorbed forms of this mineral. You’ll find them in a lot of supplements because they’re inexpensive.

Bumping ...

I think that I already mentioned that this is one of our favorite books, by our favorite classic author. :) Our 2nd favorite is Jane Austen. :lol: :lol: :lol: I just started Codex 632 and really don't know if I like it yet or not. So far, I've read just over 10%, which usually means that I won't be giving up on it so fast. We'll see ... Sort of like The Da Vinci Code, but about Christopher Columbus, I guess.

Thank you, all. :grouphug: This is so incredibly helpful. I love learning new things every day. Do you mind if I ask where you got or get your info? I love reading up on health-related stuff and am always looking out for good resources. I will look into the Tea Tree product you recommended. Very interesting about the kidneys. She doesn't drink enough water and she loves salt. :glare: Ds, loves sugar, and he tends to break out on his nose. This is incredibly accurate. :) Terri, I had thought of that, but she barely speaks on the phone. What you say has worked for me in the past. At one point, I had to change my pillowcase daily, since I'm a side sleeper and kept breaking out on that side of my face. The hydration part is much easier to do. The fiber part - although I do it for myself - is really hard to get dd to eat as much fiber as she should. She eats whole wheat bread, quite a bit of fruit, some veggies - but not nearly enough. I need to work on this with her. She doesn't do this. I never see her hold her chin or anything.

Great suggestions here. Some of our favorites and both true stories: If you like Curious George Escape from Warsaw

Dd (age 12) has, for the past few years, occasionally broken out on her chin. It's mostly due to sugar, I know. But it's hard to get children to eat as healthy as they should (never mind ourselves ;)). Nature's Cure helps somewhat. What else can anyone recommend? I love Paula's Choice skin care products, but I don't think that she necessarily needs to go all-out and start a whole regimen, if you KWIM. I'd rather just get something to zap the occasional "cluster" zits, which really is the best description. Thanks.

Merry, or anyone else who might be able to answer this ... is the Teacher's Manual necessary? Thank you. :)

My dd would read all day if she could. I'm happy that she loves reading. I'm the same way. I read these rules once, and I try to keep to them. No reading while walking outside or up and down stairs. You may read over breakfast, but then not again until your morning chores and schoolwork are done. You must play outside every day – for at least 30 minutes. Reading outside does not count as outside play. The last one ... I'm not very good at enforcing.

Almost every night. To them, the biggest injustice (and my dh thinks it's very funny) is for me to not read to them. We don't read "bedtime stories". We read chapter books. But I guess that's what you mean. I haven't read all the replies yet.

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: I've never been able to go beyond Level 2. I like that it's a very quick and yet very effective workout. I don't like that I injured my ankle from doing it over a year ago and that it took months to heal. Nonetheless, I do hope to go back on it. Not daily. Every few days eventually. I don't particularly care for Jillian herself. But it's a good workout.