What They Said :: My Fire Your Thyroid Series

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Aug 22, 2011

I recently completed leading my very first teleseminar series, Fire Your Thyroid. Yes, thyroid (and adrenal) health is the focus of my health coaching practice, but creating this series was particularly weighty and meaningful to me because it’s so personal, and because I had three classes (yes, it could have been more, but it is summer, after all) in which to share the best of the best of my knowledge and teach people how I came into unmedicated remission from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Chronic Inflammation: The Silent Health Bandit

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Aug 21, 2011

Degenerative diseases, including heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s (including other forms of dementia), and diabetes, as well their kissing cousin, obesity, expend the majority of our health care resources in this country and possess a powerful inflammatory component. The onset of autoimmune disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and Hashimoto’s, are, according to Dr. Sears, “clear-cut examples of out-of-control inflammation.” Think of chronic inflammation as an army of pistol-packing outlaws roaming our bodies and robbing us of our health.

My day on the farm :: Week 10

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Aug 18, 2011

Didja think I got fired from the farm? I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath to hear what bugs bit me, what we harvested, and what twang I listened to to and fro. In case you’re wondering why the two-week pause, I didn’t get ‘round to writing a Week 8 post and was out of town last week. And yes, I missed the farm!

So yesterday. Up before dawn (not easy for this girl). Mellow drive. Beautiful, dewy morning. Chilly. (I’m still in denial that fall is soon upon us, even though it’s my favorite time of year.)  

Week 7 :: In Honor of the Rhinestone Cowboy

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Jul 28, 2011

We’re losing another one of the last of the real country troubadours. This post is in honor of the Rhinestone Cowboy, one of twelve children born in Arkansas to a sharecropper father.

I don’t have much to say about the farm today, other than picking green beans is kinda hard work. They’re low and hidden by fat leaves exactly the same color as the beans. So you need something to sit on. 

My day on the farm :: Week 6

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Jul 21, 2011

I got some new bug spray (the natural stuff, of course) and nary a mosquito came near me today. Finally, some relief. Li’l bastards.

There was plenty of sunshine and just the right amount of heat today, nothing like the sweltering, Amazon-ish, bizarro weather we’ve had these last few days. Want an ag-based perspective on our sweaty summer? Go grassfed to keep that dewpoint down! 

My day on the farm :: Week 5

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Jul 14, 2011

We made quick work at the farm today. Lettuce is getting a break for a couple of weeks or so and it was too wet to harvest basil. The chard is still gorgeous, the green onions are plump as all get out, and the kohlrabi look like purple and green balloons about to burst. But they’re still delicious…not woody. 

My day on the farm :: Week 4

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Jul 08, 2011

I’ll keep this short and sweet. The mosquitoes were vicious yesterday. Even with bug spray. I hate to say it, but the natural stuff doesn’t work as well as Off. I’ll just have to suffer, as I ain’t sprayin’ Off on my skin.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again. It’s amazing how the fields change in a week. Last week, no broccoli or cauliflower flower heads. This week, broccoli and cauliflower went into the CSA boxes. Joey gave me a whole extra bag of broccoli and I came home, roasted it, and ate it all. 

My day on the farm :: Week 3

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Jul 01, 2011

It was a hot one on the farm yesterday – quite the antithesis of last week. And I loved it. Hot blazing sun? Bring it. (A nice breeze doesn’t hurt.)

Because of the forecast for a heat index of 107, we got started early and the greens were the first to get harvested, bathed, and into the coolers. Talk about some dense, hearty heads of lettuce. Oh my gosh, gorgeous. And I was excited about adding a new kind of kale to the bouquets going into the CSA boxes. It was a fatter, wider leaf with a very purple spine. 

Thyroid Self-Test

Posted by Jill McLaughlin (Grunewald) on Jun 26, 2011

One way to test for potential hypothyroidism is to do a basal body temperature (BBT) test at home. According to Dr. John Douillard, “Before blood tests were available, the thyroid was evaluated by basal body temperature and the signs and symptoms presented by the patient. Today, these traditional tests have been replaced by modern blood tests. It has now become clear that these blood tests alone are not accurate enough.”