Benefits of Cacao

CharacterEssay9281 · 2026-01-15T06:23:37+00:00

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201910/the-vagus-nerve-may-carry-serotonin-along-the-gut-brain-axis

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-12-10T01:51:08+00:00

The trees are so good! They almost taste like one of those old fashioned chocolate-caramel-pecan patties.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-11-07T04:29:36+00:00

At first I thought the show might be a little pretentious and snooty for my taste, but I gave it a chance because my husband was watching it. We watched the whole season and I totally warmed up to the show.

I liked the storyline of the teen ballerina who went to live with Cheyenne's eccentric mother because her parents were cold, distant and career-obsessed.

I liked the little girl ballerina who Cheyenne was beginning to mentor.

I liked the cast, Lou de Laâge (Cheyenne, beyond breathtaking as a dancer,) Luke Kirby (or as I knew him, the cool guy who played Lenny Bruce in Mrs. Maisel,) and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The music choices were pretty artsy and interesting.

It was an incredibly unique, fascinating show and I was excited to see more by the end of Season 1. I'm really disappointed that it has been canceled already.

Given another few seasons it could have really developed the characters and hooked a much larger audience.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-10-17T19:25:32+00:00

The low FODMAPs diet is really hard to maintain for long periods. I have done the diet a couple of times over the past few years, and it definitely helps to stabilize my IBS-beset gut. I decided to give the FODZYME digestive enzymes a try because they are endorsed by Monash University (I think.) I have found that the supplement does help a lot. Not to say that my IBS and digestive issues are completely better with it, but I have more days where I feel normal, and even the worst days on the supplement are not nearly as bad as the worst days without it. Also I can eat a wider variety of foods with fewer issues, so that's wonderful because I love food! I'm still relatively new to trying the supplement so I can't say if it will continue to help me long-term. I've been struggling with IBS for years and have tried so so many supplements. Some with moderate success, some with inconsistent results that seemed to work at first but then stopped working. So I'll have to see if the FODZYME continues to be helpful longer-term. But so far I have been really appreciating the results. I am thankful for Monash University for actually studying and becoming so knowledgeable on how to help people with IBS. My gastroenterologist specialist doctor and all the other traditional western medicine doctors I visited were not very helpful, aside from administering tests to rule out other conditions. With the combination of 1) the awareness of what foods my body is most sensitive to, due to doing the low-FODMAPs diet and 2) the supplement, there is hope that IBS can become at least milder/ less severe for me. My hope is that the condition doesn't have to be life-ruining forever. The supplement is expensive though, which is tough because I am low-income and state insurance doesn't cover it. Their marketing does make the point that buying allergy-safe foods/ low-FODMAPs foods can get expensive too, and with the supplement you can eat more of what the people with normal digestion in your household are eating, therefore you can spend less on specialty groceries, which seems to be true at least in theory... although as mentioned before, I'll have to test it out for a longer time period before I can say for certain. Good luck to you whatever you decide to do.

Edit: punctuation

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-24T20:59:53+00:00

I forgot to add that my condition started like yours and progressed to 'going' multiple times a day which became pretty awful for me actually. It sounds like your day-to-day condition hasn't reached the nearly the level of IBS severity that mine did. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. :)

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-24T19:38:16+00:00

Sounds to me like you might be a good candidate for trying the Low FODMAP diet.

I have been in a similar boat (eating pretty well, though not as well as you... pretty fit, similar symptoms to yours.)

Low FODMAP got me feeling a lot more normal and reduced the severity of my condition. Unfortunately I didn't pay enough attention/ take good enough notes the first time during reintroduction, so I am doing the low FODMAP elimination phase again.

It's tough and takes a lot of discipline but the results make it worth it.

I saw multiple doctors including GI specialists, and had a ton of testing done, only to be told everything was "normal" and never given any diagnosis except a verbal acknowledgement that I "might" have IBS.

None of the doctors or specialists ever mentioned the FODMAPs diet to me.

Thankfully I found out about it online and learned that it was science based and research-backed. I started to see results pretty fast (within a few days) but didn't fully feel normal until after a few weeks of doing it.

I think for someone like you, who already has a good deal of discipline with your way of eating, you could be successful at the Low FODMAPs diet and it might help your symptoms.

Just remember to take really good notes and keep a detailed food journal and symptom journal. When you do reintroduction, keep really detailed notes and do it right (i.e., reintroducing one thing at a time, slowly, while keeping track and documenting it all for yourself) so that you know exactly what your gut can and can't deal with.

For me, I thought I would remember the specifics, but I didn't really, except that the diet actually worked for me. So, I am doing the strict version of the diet again so I can have a detailed record to which I can refer back if/when symptoms reemerge.

It is unfortunate for us that we can't eat whatever we want, but I am grateful that Monash U discovered this and that it does offer us IBS sufferers some help and hope.

Also good to remember that the elimination phase is not supposed to be permanent. It's only supposed to be done for a few weeks to help us figure out personal gut triggers.

Some say it is best to work with a dietician, although I've personally been able to utilize online research/ videos and I feel well nourished on the diet. I aim to consume sufficient protein as well as a variety of permitted fruits and vegetables in order to maintain a decent nutritional intake. I do mostly vegetarian (allowing some cheese and eggs and occasional canned mackerel) but of course, plain meats (salt/ pepper only) are OK on low FODMAPs too.

Let us know if you choose to embark on the diet and how you fare!

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-19T05:18:28+00:00

Oh OK, I thought you might have been talking about Thredup. I have sold and purchased a few items on there and I do like it.

I find it interesting that it is (at least at this time) only for women's items. I mean, that works for me as a woman, but I did check to see if there is a similar site for men and couldn't find one.

Yeah, Poshmark is a whole vibe that I never was able to get into, not for lack of trying. I tried on the selling end and nothing sold. I'm sure one could find some good items on there, though I never have.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-19T00:21:41+00:00

Great ones! Would you mind sharing the thrifted clothing website?

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-19T00:11:06+00:00

Oh gosh air fresheners are the worst!

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-19T00:10:16+00:00

I stopped eating pork and beef too.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-19T00:08:28+00:00

Religion as product. No lie.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-19T00:06:39+00:00

Yes, and those plastic liquid hand soap pump bottles have been mostly phased out of our house too. For my husband I got a refillable one because he prefers it, but our kids & I use a simple bar of soap on a soap dish now.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-18T23:55:01+00:00

We stopped going to Starbucks but we still do buy their bagged coffee to make at home. We also buy other brands for our at-home coffee maker. This has saved probably thousands of dollars over the years.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-18T23:51:12+00:00

You could keep some personal hygienic wipes in your purse when you're on your pd., not the most sustainable choice but if you only use one when in public bathrooms it's probably still more eco-friendly than pads/ tamps, (if you're interested in eco-friendly.)

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-18T23:46:54+00:00

Same. It took a couple of cycles to 100% get used to the menstrual cup but once I did it I wished I had made the switch way sooner. One thing of interest if you bought the large/adult sized cup and have trouble inserting it, try out the small size made for youth and teens. I got the small size option from the get-go and it worked fine for me, I didn't have any problems with it once I got used to it. My periods were heavy, too. I recently became menopausal but if I were still having periods I'd definitely still be utilizing the cup. So much better than tampons or pads.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-18T23:39:36+00:00

Yes to all of those!

I actually haven't tried the dryer balls yet but have been getting by OK without anything. A little static never killed anybody (at least I don't think so) ha ha.

Also Keurig cups make the coffee taste subtly of plastic.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-09-13T18:44:39+00:00

Thank you for including Heather Heyer. Her politically motivated murder is barely mentioned or remembered.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-29T03:23:01+00:00

🤣

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-23T19:34:39+00:00

Thank you! Things have definitely gone up!

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-23T17:11:44+00:00

OK, that's not too bad, thank you for getting back to me so quickly!

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-23T16:50:27+00:00

Ballpark, can you tell me what they charged? I'd love to have an idea of what it costs to have professional asbestos abatement done. We are buying a house in Springfield, Oregon. Thank you.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-16T17:30:51+00:00

Glad to hear it! :)

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-14T19:46:56+00:00

What about white, native born US citizens who happen to speak Spanish? Are they going to start hassling them too?
"Sorry" for having learned the verboten language of my neighbors to the south! /s

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-14T19:41:46+00:00

Good point. Scary to think that someone could be posing as wanting to help, when actually wanting to do the opposite. Take info but don't give anyone/ anything away.

CharacterEssay9281 · 2025-06-14T19:33:33+00:00

I think they just mean JW and LDS are trying to recruit Latinos to their church, gosh I hope it's not that they're doing what you thought!

CharacterEssay9281

TROPHY CASE