Coconut Oil Deodorant

Many have written of the benefits of coconut oil for hair, skin, and internally, as it moisturizes, contains lauric acid which kills harmful microorganisms, and smells and tastes delicious. I have been making my own toothpaste and deodorant for over a year now, and the results have been great. Coconut oil works as a great antibacterial, moisturizing base for deodorant.

To fill a 2 oz. jar (leftover from when I bought natural deodorant), I combine 3-4 tbsp. unrefined coconut oil, 2-4 tbsp. baking soda, 2-4 tbsp. arrowroot powder (you can also use cornstarch), and 5-10 drops of essential oil of your choice. I used camphor and cedarwood for a woodsy fragrance. You can also add a couple tablespoons of shea butter for a thicker consistency. I choose not to because I have limited means and want to save my shea butter for other uses. I have loosely based this recipe on Wellness Mama's. 

Since last year, Wellness Mama has been my number one favorite website for all things crunchy and natural. Anyway, as to the kind of coconut oil, because of my budget I use whatever Grocery Outlet has available, but if I had my way I would purchase Dr. Bronner's organic virgin coconut oil every single time. Luckily for me, this week Grocery Outlet had a huge jar of it available. With Grocery Outlet, you never know what you're going to get! It's definitely a grab bag. Any organic, virgin coconut oil is your best bet. 

Arrowroot powder is usually available at health food stores and natural grocery stores. Its consistency is that of cornstarch, so of course you can substitute cornstarch for it, but I just happened to have arrowroot powder on hand instead. Use what you have. I'm all for saving money, so I say, don't go out on a limb if you don't have to.

The baking soda I used to be fussy about, because I read that your average baking soda contains aluminum, which is the main ingredient in deodorant which we are trying to avoid. But I recently read that it was a simple mix-up, like a game of telephone, that led to everyone being up in arms over the supposedly aluminum-laden baking soda. It's baking POWDER, not baking soda, which commonly contains aluminum. So your biscuits may be endangered, but not your armpits. Unless you swap the baking soda for baking powder in this recipe. Which I don't recommend doing. Thanks to Crunchy Betty for clearing this up for us.

In any event, I am pleased to make clean, fresh-scented deodorant for my husband, who, frankly, doesn't naturally smell too bad anyhow. In order to save, he is the only one who uses the d-i-y deodorant currently because I still have a liquid Jason deodorant that I use; I found it in the back of our bathroom cabinet. I don't get as stinky as he does, so for awhile I just dabbed a bit of baking soda under my arms while he uses the homemade concoction. 

I use an old Schmidt's jar (Schmidt's is a similar product, similar to Primal Pit Paste) which still has the little plastic scoop so you don't have to get your fingers messy, but some may find it easier to use the deodorant in stick form. If you want to fill an old stick deodorant container, I recommend adding the shea butter to the recipe for firmness. You could also melt a couple tablespoons of beeswax and add it to the coconut oil. I have beeswax, but I prefer to save it for making sunblock; besides, I don't have any old stick containers lying around to be used. Schmidt's it is.

So many have written about this brilliant recipe, I just had to add my two cents. I love it and enjoy making bath and body products at home. I have yet to make my own shampoo and conditioner, though. That's just daunting. I used to wash only with hot water and scrubbing, and condition with diluted apple cider vinegar, but my hair changed after using certain medications and I'm back on regular shampoo and conditioner. If anyone has any suggestions for natural shampoo, let me know!

On Trend...ing

I have just about had it with reverse gerunds. There's no official term for them, of course, but that's what I call them. Another blogger, Judson Knight, wrote about reverse gerunds 13 years ago, and the problem has only grown. Some people call it "verbing," which is itself a gerund that perhaps shouldn't be.

Now the new word "trending" is actually a gerund. Some nouns should never become verbs, and "trend" is one of them. As my choir director always said, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." But the larger scope of the problem with today's language is the reverse. At least with gerunds, the suffix "-ing" is added to make it clear that this is now a verb. In the case of reverse gerunds, no attempt is made to alter the word, it's just used as is. "To office," "to gift," and so on. It's terribly trendy. I can't think of any other examples at the moment, but it's everywhere.

Another new term really gets my goat: "invite." Invite is now being used in place of invitation. The verb is "to invite," and there is already a perfectly good word for the noun. Invitation! I invite all gentle readers to reclaim the use of "invitation." Use it as often as you can, bring it back!

Today's post is brought to you by gunpowder green tea. Delicious and uplifting. Nothing cheers the heart quite like a cup of tea. Note that I am only using verbs as verbs here. Tame the reverse gerund! Bring back the verbs. 

Autumn calling

That's it. Summer, I've had it with you. The kids have already returned to school, so why are you still sticking around? It's time for autumn! In the parks up in the hills, many leaves cover the ground so I can make-believe that autumn has arrived, but the temperature is still too warm to really imagine it.

I don't care for Halloween, but I do love autumn. It's calling me by name. Every year about this time I start to get fidgety for autumn to come. The chill in the air, the pumpkin spice, the misty mornings, the scarves! Oh, how I love everything about autumn. I've always been an autumn person. Sure, I used to say spring was my favorite season, but that's because my birthday is the first day of spring. In reality, while beautiful, I like spring less because it means summer is coming. Bleh. Summer. Never liked it.

To me, summer was a depressing string of endlessly sunny, hot, boring days. I grew up in California's Central Valley, home to the most oppressive heat one can conjure. It wasn't a clean, dry heat so much like Arizona desert heat, although it is desert of a kind. It was a dirty, smoggy heat; the particles of pollution would expand in the heat and Spare the Air days would become Don't Go Outside days.

 By contrast, we had fog delays in winter, which were just wonderful for us school children, not having to go to school until 10 a.m. But autumn still was the best. It meant a return from the doldrums of summer to the vitality of school and regular life. I loved getting my school supplies, sometimes new shoes, and just knowing that the heat was about to end was a thrill.

These days, autumn is marred by wildfires up and down the state. It saddens me that climate change has done this to us. Well, we have done this to ourselves, seeing as climate change is human-made. Less autumn rain means fire danger. Even our winters have been relatively dry. I hear there are fewer fog delays in the valley nowadays. Still, autumn is better than summer, if nothing else but for the shorter days. I've always been a fan of an early sunset.

I really, really, don't care for Halloween. I had a traumatic psychotic experience last year on Halloween, and the holiday can go to heck for all I care. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving at our house, but sometimes we visit family on Thanksgiving. The giving of thanks isn't what we oppose, but the historical basis of the holiday, during which European settlers were saved (so the story goes) by the very peoples they would nearly wipe out. I am all for renaming Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day. It is already so named in various parts of California, including where I live.

I cheer on the end of summer, and pray that we get a good, rainy, chilly autumn this year. Amen.

Musings on Tea and G.K. Chesterton

I am trying a new technique for steeping a stronger cup of white tea today; more leaves, instead of steeping for a longer period of time. It's good to be generous with your tea, rather than leaving it to grow bitter in the cup. 

Some websites recommend 2 tablespoons of tea per 6 ounce cup; I find that to be a bit excessive, so I used 1 tablespoon for 8 ounces. I am poor and can't readily afford to replenish my tea stocks, so it's best that I am generous with tea but not foolhardy.

I'm reading G.K. Chesterton again, for the first time since I was a little girl. Perhaps I was reading his poetry when I was younger, because I certainly don't remember this book that I currently have, All Things Considered. I wonder if the title inspired the NPR show. 

What I don't remember from reading him as a child is his wit. Maybe I was too young to grasp it, but I don't think so. I must have been reading another of his works. This particular collection of essays showcases his lightheartedness, even on difficult subjects. Although "Running After One's Hat" isn't exactly heavy reading. He is most definitely a good Christian writer, though thus far into the book he's only touched on religion a tiny bit. He seems to be well-read in other religions as well, but clearly he favors Christianity.

It's a luxury to be sitting here, drinking Himalayan white tea and reading Chesterton. I'm grateful that I can do so. This tea has floral notes on top, with a strong, full body. Much like Chesterton, I'd say. Light and airy on the surface, but if you dig in deeper, you'll find a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. Chesterton is writing in post-Victorian England, and has a lot to say about politics. He seems to have been a journalist. I only wish our journalists today had his depth and refinement.

That Time of the Month

Yes, it's that time of the month. I normally wouldn't be so public about such a private matter, but it may be of interest to you gentle readers to know that a common food may increase unwanted symptoms of "that time." 

Certain dairy products may cause inflammation in the body, worsening or outright causing menstrual symptoms. According to Dr. Lara Briden, a naturopath and self-proclaimed expert on "that time," there is a protein in dairy from Holstein cows called A1 casein, which is inflammatory.

This protein, in some people (thankfully not all!), "cleaves in the digestive tract to form a potent opiate-type molecule (called casomorphin or BCM7) that stimulates histamine and inflammatory cytokines." I don't particularly know what cytokines are, but whatever they are, they cause inflammation.

It is important to note that milk from Jersey cows does not contain A1 casein, but also most milk in the U.S. comes from Holstein cows. Dr. Briden notes that certain dairy products like heavy cream and butter do not contain this protein. Thank goodness; I could not live without butter!

I wish I'd read this article before I poured the milk in my tea, but c'est la vie. As an interesting side note, Google recognizes my French words, but not casomorphin. In any event, my cycle came early this month and so I was quite unprepared. Thankfully I hadn't left the house by the time I realized my time had come. And now I don't plan to leave the house.

This is a time to take it easy and take care of one's self. All women should be allowed one or two days a month off from work for this time, especially as the first day or two leaves one in considerable physical pain. I am lucky in that I do not work, but when I did, it was difficult to concentrate during this time. I am blessed that I can stay home and take care.

L-Theanine in Tea

So I've long been a fan of tea, as you may well already know, but now I've found more of a reason to love it, or at least I've found the very reason I love it, besides the taste. It's l-theanine. L-Theanine is an amino acid which is said to help with anxiety by increasing dopamine and GABA in the brain, and is also a powerful antioxidant, as a bonus. 

I've been suffering from anxiety since I was about 16 years old. Prayer and meditation have always helped, but low-level anxiety remains. I think a cup or two of tea a day isn't enough to get the recommended amount of l-theanine (200 mg) dosage, so I've been drinking about four cups of tea per day. I'm fast going through my stash.

Black tea is said to have the greatest amount of l-theanine, while green tea is said to have the least. I can't drink four cups of black tea a day, or the caffeine would outperform the l-theanine in my system and reverse the effects. So I drink two cups of black tea (mine is Assam; I simply prefer its taste) and either two cups of green tea or one cup of green tea and one cup of oolong. Oolong I don't believe has as much caffeine in it as black tea.

Black tea is said to have roughly 24.2 mg of l-theanine, while green tea has about 7.9, give or take a few mg here and there. So I'm not getting 200 mg of l-theanine per day, but a little over 64 mg. It's better than nothing. I would have to drink twelve cups of tea per day in order to get 200mg. No thanks.

I say, every little bit helps. I also don't know if I'm getting the same amount of l-theanine in each cup, because I'm re-steeping the tea leaves. Sometimes I add milk or honey to the tea, and I don't know if that has an effect on the chemical makeup of the tea. Black tea just tastes better with milk. The British have it right. 

So on this uncharacteristically cloudy summer day (thank goodness), I am enjoying my second cup of black tea. With milk. There's just nothing like it. I have to be careful not to take tea with a meal, because the tannins in tea reduce iron absorption (binds to iron). With meals, I drink milk, sometimes water. But never tea. After-dinner tea must wait until I've digested. I've read that adding milk to tea can reduce the effects of the antioxidants, but I don't know its effect on l-theanine specifically. I can't imagine it would be too detrimental, but it may have some effect.

All in all, the point is, drink tea! As much as you can handle. It's good for you, and it's a calming ritual as anything. I also bring tea with me in a thermos when going hiking on a cool day. Even on a hot day. People in warm to hot climates drink hot tea, as it is said to assist in producing perspiration, so as to actually cool the body down. Same idea as the fact that lots of people in cold climates eat ice cream. The body's reaction is to warm itself up. Anyway... tea. It does a body good.

Chamomile for Illness

I find myself feeling under the weather (though the actual weather is sunny and mild) today, and have consulted my good friend Google about the best ways to heal quickly. I have a slight fever, body aches and chills. And a bit of a stuffy nose. My goal is to prevent whatever-this-is from worsening, so I need to boost my immune system. I don't have much in the way of conventional medicines in the house, but I do have plenty of chamomile.

So I searched "chamomile tea for sickness" and found on the news-medical.net site that it indeed does possess chemicals that boost immune system functioning and fight infections. The two primaries are called hippurate and glycine, respectively. The former is a "breakdown product of certain plant-based compounds called phenolics" which has anti-bacterial properties. The latter is an amino acid which functions as a nerve relaxant that calms muscle spasms as well. 

According to Healthline, studies have shown that chamomile tea also improves sleep quality, which is essential to healing. I haven't yet been able to go back to sleep (hence why I'm still writing), but I've only just finished my first cup. I don't anticipate that I will sleep; the only time in my life I've been able to really nap is when I was pregnant, and I know for a fact that I'm not!

I am also re-steeping last night's tea, which is a blend of Himalayan white tea and holy basil. Holy basil, also known as tulsi, is an Indian herb said to be an adaptogen, which is any compound that helps the body adapt to stress. I will go so far as to say it helps the mind in this regard as well. Ashwagandha is also in this category, and I take it daily in capsule form. I added the white tea to the blend just for flavor and a little caffeine boost.

In any event, I will be drinking chamomile throughout the day. I am cold-steeping some hibiscus, which is said to contain loads of vitamin C, which we all know is good for the immune system.
Although I recently heard that vitamin C's cold-busting properties are a myth. I'll have to do some research about that. I for one still cling to the hope that it helps.

I don't know if the old adage is "feed a cold, starve a fever" or "feed a fever, starve a cold," but I think it's the first one. In any event, I don't have an appetite so I'll just keep up with the liquids. Good thing I made a pot of soup yesterday.

Fun fact: Louis Armstrong was born on this day in 1901. Thank you to KCSM Jazz 91.1, the Bay Area's jazz station, for that tidbit!

Why Identity Politics?

I find myself stepping back from society to look at the absolute mess that it is. What is the big deal about having a label? Everyone seems to feel that they must fit into a box to be seen, heard, and valued. I find that this isn't necessary, and causes more divisions than solidarity. I have decided to forgo social labels for myself. The boxes are not neatly stacked along the side of the road as people might think. They're littering the streets and minds of people.

I know what I am not- I am not a feminist, a Republican, or a Democrat. But what then, am I? I am a person. A woman. Do I need any further labeling? I am a member of the Green party. Does that define me? Goodness gracious, I hope not. I am neither liberal nor conservative, because I agree with each side about different topics, and don't fall neatly into either category.

I agree with "liberals" that we need universal health care, free education and immigration reform that opens our borders. I agree with those who want a dismantling of U.S. militarization across the globe. But I don't agree with "liberals" about abortion, gay marriage, birth control, or the type of sex education being taught in public schools. Basically, anything to do with "reproductive health," I don't believe is actual health care. It's just not. 

Supposedly the Green Party is "liberal," but I don't have to define myself as liberal to be a member. The Green Party's platform is pro-LGBT, but I don't have to agree. It would be abnormal for no-one within any given political party to not have some dissenters within its ranks. I agree with the Green platform on a majority of issues. I don't have to agree with it all in order to vote Green.

Environmentalism, anti-racism, anti-war, participatory and grassroots democracy, social justice, food justice, immigration justice, are all part of the Green Party's objectives. The only points I disagree with are those concerning sexuality. That's not enough for me to disavow my party. There is no perfect political party. Not for me, anyway. I used to let my politics define me. No longer. Because I have realized for some time now that I don't fit into a neat and tidy box. Not having a box doesn't bother me.

Identity politics wasn't always so much in the forefront of the national scene; nowadays you can't escape it. Well, I didn't always pay that much attention to the news and political forums, so perhaps this national identity crisis isn't that new. But it does seem to have reached a very aggressive point. If you don't have an affinity group, go home and beat your head against the wall until you come up with one. That seems to be the message.

Typing in "neither liberal nor conservative" brings up forums on which there are people asking "what am I?" Is it so vital to your existence that you are made up of nothing but the content of your political views? I wonder if our society as a whole is suffering from some sort of spiritual emptiness and technological overload. I say technological overload, because it is social media in particular that has enabled identity politics to mushroom. 

I recently attended an adoption camp for families who have adopted children of color. We were invited to the camp because we placed our daughter with an adoptive family, and my husband was asked to speak. At each dinner, there were special tables set aside for "affinity groups," also known there as "oppressed groups." I felt odd about that; are we so fragile in our sense of being and character that we must sit with only people who share our experience in this particular area of our lives? Do we really need that kind of victimhood? We aren't "oppressed" because we are birthparents, just because birthparents happen to be in the minority.

I agree that race is important to talk about, because racism is very real. But other forms of identity, particularly sexuality, are superfluous to my mind. To identify oneself first by one's sexuality in my opinion is inappropriate to say the least. But I would be accused of sex-shaming in this "body-positive" society we live in. Sexuality should be a private matter, but the LGBT community and other liberals plaster the proverbial walls with it. And if you don't like it, you can leave, say they. Sounds an awful lot like the conservatives who say to those of us who criticize the government, if you don't like it, you can leave. 

I dream of the day when people are just people, and all these labels are set aside in favor of peace and harmony as citizens of the world.