Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil

In recent years we've all heard about the health benefits of coconut oil. But honestly, I tried several different brands and just couldn't stomach the taste. So when I heard about Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil , I was skeptical. But I decided to try it out and share my findings with you. Here's what I discovered:

1. It tastes good! You can literally eat it by the spoonful. It doesn't have that strong taste I've experienced in other well-known health food store brands.

2. It liquefies when it gets over 76 degrees, so you can use it as a solid or as a liquid oil.

3. It has tons of uses. Here are some things I used it for...

-To grease pans for baking
-In place of "vegetable oil" in recipes
-For severe dry skin after a sunburn
-As a scalp and hair conditioner
-To cure dry, cracked heels
-For chapped lips
-In some of my favorite recipes like Snack Bars and Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
-In some of Tropical Traditions recipes like Coconut Cream Hot Chocolate and Quick Chocolate Coconut Fudge, which were both delicious

I noticed that my dogs would go crazy when I opened the jar, so when I read that coconut oil is very good for pets too, I also bought the Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil for Pets. I put a spoonful on my dogs' and cats' food, and they LOVE it!

Bottom line: You already know coconut oil is good for you, so why not use the highest-quality, best-tasting coconut oil available? Visit the Tropical Traditions website to buy your Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil and many other great coconut products!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil free from Tropical Traditions as part of their product review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

You're Fired!

Two minutes into my appointment my narcolepsy specialist basically pulls a Donald Trump and tells me he no longer wants to be my doctor. Why? Because he just found out I'm taking hydrocortisone for severe adrenal fatigue. He tells me there's no such thing as adrenal fatigue and that I'm getting "bad information" from my doctor. He said, "You do NOT have adrenal disease. Have you ever SEEN what a person looks like who ACTUALLY has adrenal disease"? To which I reply, "Yep. Every time I look in the mirror." I also told him that I was not asking his advice on hormone-related issues, just as I don't ask my hormone specialist to treat or advise on my narcolepsy.

I've butted heads with this doctor before over my holistic and integrated approach to medical treatment. But he's used to "knowing everything" and having patients just blindly accept his advice. The problem is, the drugs he had me on caused me to gain 70 pounds, made my depression worse, gave me kidney stones, atrial flutter, stomach ulcers, tooth enamel damage, etc. At one point, I had to decide that the pharmaceutical cocktails were only making me worse. He's had a bee in his bonnet ever since.

Ordinarily, I would have already said "sayonara" to a doctor with such an obvious god complex. I mean, I don't drive ten hours round-trip to see this guy because he's so warm and fuzzy. The problem is, he's the only doctor I've found that is knowledgeable about narcolepsy with cataplexy and is willing and able to prescribe Xyrem, the medicine I take that helps me to get restorative sleep. It's the ONLY narcolepsy-related pharmaceutical that I take, and I have found NOTHING else that comes to close to working well for me. In addition, I'm smack-dab in the middle of my Social Security Disability case, and he's the main doctor that is providing documentation of my disability.

So three minutes into my appointment, I go into a full cataplexy attack. Meanwhile, he's telling my husband that 5-htp, which I'm taking instead of antidepressants to help treat catapexy, killed a bunch of people several years ago. Total lie. And that it comes from China. Total misinformation. I don't know if he learned his scare tactics from the democratic party or what. There was a tainted batch of L-tryptophan that killed some people many years ago. But 5-htp is NOT L-tryptophan. And the company that makes it does not get their ingredients from China.

Two cataplexy attacks later, I leave with the answer to only ONE of the narcolepsy-related questions I needed addressed at this semi-annual visit. So he did at least decrease my Xyrem dose to address the sleep eating problem. Apparently this is common when your dose is too high. Who knew? I've gained about 15 pounds since I started sleep eating, so at least one positive thing came out of the visit. But now I have start all over with a new doctor, after I had to fight my HMO to get special permission to go outside my service area to see THIS winner. If anyone knows of a narcolepsy specialist in the Northeast Florida area that doesn't have H.U.B. Disease, AND is knowledgeable about Xyrem, please let me know!

The Canary List

By Sigmund Brouwer
A Book Review and GIVEAWAY!

Who do you turn to when darkness and evil are hunting you? When 12-year-old troubled foster child Jaimie turns to her teacher Crockett Grey for help, she has no idea how much his life will be turned upside-down. Soon Crockett is accused of unspeakable crimes and wrapped up in a tangled web involving hackers, exorcists, psychologists, and the Roman Catholic church. While fighting to clear his name, Grey discovers the plot to smear him is a means to insure a cover-up of corruption in the Church and protect Jaime's unique abilities to sense evil. But who can he trust? And is this evil real or just part of a religious-political agenda?

Rarely have I been so completely enthralled in a novel! This plot will keep you guessing and re-guessing until the very last page. And with the topic of religious corruption and references to the cover-up of sexual abuse and demonic activity in the Catholic church, it's amazing how true-to-life the story feels. This is my first book by Brouwer, but it certainly will not be my last!

Click here to download the first chapter of The Canary List, and you will be hooked. Want to win my Advanced Reading Copy? See below for details.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

TO WIN A FREE COPY OF THE CANARY LIST:

Each of the following is worth one entry into the drawing. Please leave a comment for each action, including your email address.

1. Follow "A Fragile Faith" on Networked Blogs for Facebook.
2. Subscribe to "A Fragile Faith" via email.
3. Follow @M1ssDiagnosis on Twitter and Tweet about the book giveaway
4. Share this book review on Twitter, FB, etc.
5. Follow "A Fragile Faith" with Google Friend Connect (top right corner of blog).

Winner will be notified by email on Wednesday, July 13.

Hearing Voices

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." -2 Corinthians 10:5

I spent two hours this morning listening to The Voices. Don't call the men in the white coats! It happens to all of us sometimes: we hear the replays of something hurtful that was said - something that cut us to our very soul. We feel rejected, ashamed, worthless. But then I heard another Voice speaking Truth and Love into my heart...

"I CAN'T BE FRIENDS WITH YOU FOR AWHILE."
"I will never leave you or forsake you." -Hebrews 13:5

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO TALK TO YOU OR BE YOUR FRIEND BECAUSE YOU'RE SO NEGATIVE."
"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." -Psalm 56:8

"SOME OF US DON'T GET TO SLEEP IN UNTIL 10AM EVERY DAY OR LIE DOWN AND REST WHENEVER WE WANT."
"...for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust." -Psalm 103:14

"I'M TIRED AND DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW."
"You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You perceive my thoughts from afar. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely." -Psalm 139:1-4

"NOW'S NOT REALLY A GOOD TIME TO VISIT; THERE'S JUST A LOT GOING ON."
"Whoever comes to me I will never drive away."
-John 6:37

"YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING ALL DAY. YOU DON'T CONTRIBUTE."
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

"IT WAS NICE TALKING TO YOU, BUT I WANT TO GO SAY 'HELLO' TO SOMEONE [more interesting]."
"The Lord your God...will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." -Zephaniah 3:17

"EVERYONE'S BAILING ON YOU RIGHT NOW, AREN'T THEY?"
"I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God." -Isaiah 41:9-10

"OH? YOU HAVEN'T BEEN HERE IN SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR 5 WEEKS?"
"You know when I sit and when I rise. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" -Psalm 139:2,7

"Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will learn to listen and believe the Voice of Truth." -Casting Crowns

These Four Walls

I'm only 34 years old, so people probably don't think of me as a "shut-in." When I was growing up, that's what we used to call old people who couldn't get out of the house. But that pretty much describes me. I can't drive and can't leave the house, even for a walk, without having someone with me. Want to know what it's like? In a word, lonely.

It puts a real damper on your social life when you can't just pick up the phone and call a girlfriend to meet you for lunch. To be honest, I'm afraid to make new friends because I've been rejected so many times by people who don't want to deal with the high-maintenance friend that requires a wheelchair, medication, and an instruction manual to go anywhere. So my friends are people I talk to on the phone or chat with online. Virtual people, really.

I try to stay in touch with the world through the internet, books, and TV. And the highlight of my day is when my husband comes home from work because I get to see a real live human being. Sometimes I even get to have a conversation with him if he's not too tired from being among Real People all day. Once in a while he'll call me on the way home and ask if I want to go out to dinner. If it's a pretty good day I'll take a shower, put on clothing one would wear in public, and do my hair and makeup. Then I get to pretend for about an hour that I'm a normal person doing normal things.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like the world has forgotten about me. That I don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. So I look for little ways that I can make a difference from inside my four walls. Things like writing this blog, sharing info on social networking sites, and singing once a week in my church choir with all my heart and voice. The rest of the time I fight those feelings of loneliness and desperation by listening closely for the voice of the One who knows me best and loves me most. I am His Treasure, and I am precious in His eyes.