things that make me happy.
- Paige Icardi
- Dec 13, 2017
- 5 min read
Even before I got sick I've been searching for new outlets and products that will help my body become the healthiest it can be.
About a year and a half ago that took the form of yoga. And when my back got really bad, that's when my love for it grew even deeper. It's been the most healing medicine for me thus far, compared to all of the supplements and herbs I have been experimenting with. I am self-taught, and practice at home. This allows me to practice at the pace I want and not have to be around others (I'm outwardly an introvert). That's not to say that I don't take classes. I love to use Codyapp which allows me to advance my practice with actual teachers, classes and specific types of yoga. It's been a long, slow, and patience-testing journey, but I love it and couldn't imagine my life without stretching every single damn day.
There are also tangible things I've discovered this past year that I have grown to love in the form of food and herbal supplements. This is everything I take pretty much on a regular basis, unless I happen to forget for some strange reason. I am merely writing about these things because they have helped me in some way or another through this journey of getting better and just wanted to continue to share what my process has been.
Side note: I'm not including all of the many herbs and supplements that I've been prescribed to take for this parasite (other than the DE that I've previously mentioned). That would be an entirely different blog post in and of itself.
TRIPHALA
I have been taking Triphala on and off for probably the past 7 or so years. When I started to learn about Ayurveda and the body this was one of the herb combinations that kept popping up for all of its amazing benefits. It's truly bitter and probably disgusting to most (including myself at first), but over time I've learned to not only tolerate it, but even like it.
There are many uses for it, but I've only started to take it more frequently in the last year because of it's amazing purpose for aiding digestion. It's like all of those yogurt commercials that made the claim to "keep you regular". Think of Triphala like that, but stronger and better.
I honestly can't say enough great things about this. I'm secretly stoked that it's an up and coming - maybe even trendy - herb because it really is that incredible and people should know about it. Out of everything I've been taking consistently, this is definitely my favorite. (I literally just got back from the co-op to pick some more up).
ANIMA MUNDI apothecary
I recently just discovered these products and have maybe been taking them regularly for the last 2-4 months (depending on the product). I love what they are accomplishing as a small business and their honest beliefs and integrity. I know that I'm getting a really unique and pure product from them and something that's actually going to work. And after trying what I have, I can tell it's doing just what they've intended. No lie, I just placed an order for some new items this morning.
COLLAGEN
After taking a bunch of animal derived collagen, I wanted to try a vegan source - if one even existed. To my surprise Anima Mundi creates an herbal Collagen blend derived only from plants that helps the body generate collagen on its own, pretty close enough! This was the first product I invested in from them and even though I'm not entirely sure if I can feel the difference (I still take some animal collagen as well), I'm not that sore anymore, and that's all I care about. I do some sort of movement every day and sometimes a lot of that is strength-based exercises that are really pulling on my muscles hard. I wanted to figure out a way to speed up the recovery time so I can practice more often without straining my muscles more.
I'm sure there are plenty of creative and tasty ways to incorporate this into my diet, but honestly I really don't mind the taste and will either make a tea out of it by itself, or - if my tastes buds are feeling resilient - with some triphala.
CHANCA PIEDRA
This is the herb that I've had the most success with. I was immediately drawn to it when I saw that it was for cleansing the liver and gallbladder. While my liver is fine and intact, I've always had issues with my gallbladder and bile production. Chanca Piedra apparently has many many benefits, but one being that it helps the body rid itself of gall stones (something that I battles with about 7 years ago) and kidney stones. I can easily say that I feel the results from this almost immediately.
I use this similarly to the collagen and put 1 tbsp warm water and lemon and sip on it all day, and I can practically feel my digestion start to move! I will say that it doesn't go down as easy as the collagen - it is a very hydrophobic substance and will absolutely not dissolve!
AMARGO BITTERS
Somewhat of a derivative of the Chanca Piedra but with more additions and benefits. Either way they had me at bitters. For the past 4 months or so I've been taking 4 different kinds of Chinese bitters, which I love, but was wanting to try something new. The Chinese herbs are SUPER intense and strong and I came to find that the Anima Mundi version was much more mild and bearable. I was drawn to the Quassia, Milk Thistle and Dandelion Root, which I've known to also help stimulate bile production and overall aid in moving the digestion along a little more. And they do just that! I will say that I take way much more that intended just because I'm used to bitters that are, well, more bitter, and it takes a higher dose for me to reach the results I'm looking for.
FOUR SIGMATIC
Definitely was just a brand that I was experimenting with just for the fun of it until it turned into more of a necessity. Every since my hippy grocery store days at Earthbeam Natural Foods, I've always known and been told how wonderful the world of mushrooms is and what they can do for our health. This brand makes it easy to navigate which mushrooms are good for what, and make it super accessible and delicious to consume said 'shrooms.
LION'S MANE & CHAGA COFFEE MIX
At first I was just using the mushroom coffee on my days off as a replacement for regular coffee, just because I wanted to see if there would be any profound differences. Honestly, I felt almost the same and a little more uplifted. I still drank regular coffee because of it's strength and that I was almost dependent on it's ability to help stimulate my stomach to get moving in the morning. It was only until a few weeks ago that I was figuring out that the coffee was just a little too strong for me. Even though it was working it was leaving my stomach more cramping and bloated than before. As soon as I switched to the 'shroom coffee those symptoms disappeared.
My absolute favorite way to enjoy this is to make a "latte" of sorts with it. I put 1 packet in the vitamix with 1 tsp maca powder, 1 tbsp agave syrup, and either 1 tbsp coconut butter or ghee. Add boiling water and blend for literally 5 seconds. It tastes fantastic and is super rich and creamy. My favorite treat of the day.
SUPERFOOD BLENDS
I like this one because it blends 10 mushrooms. Why wouldn't I like this one? It's like covering all of you bases in 1 tsp. Doesn't get any easier. And it tastes like mushroom broth. Boom.
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