How I lowered my cholesterol

What on earth does this have to do with encaustic? Well nothing much, except that if you don't have your health, you can't do encaustic, or anything else. Funny, it does have a small connection to encaustic. I met Lily at an encaustic class I was teaching last year. She did beautifully stunning work. Her art was related to natural forms, seed pods and sewing. It was right up my aesthetic alley. When we had lunch, she was eating really interesting things, like buffalo with cilantro, parsley and keroway seeds, and talked about the nutritional "profile" of her food, etc. I asked her what she did, and she told me she was an herbalist or nutritionist, or something of that sort. She looked great, fit and had wonderful skin. She must be doing a lot right, I thought. I confessed that my doctor had now given me the this is it talk. "You're going on the statins, I've let you diet and exercise for 5 years now, and it's time." I finally said OK, and was set to go in and get my Rx for Lipitor, or its equivalent. I told Lily about it. She said, "Go and ask your doctor for just three months, and send me your blood test results. I need to see your numbers." Ok, so I went to my doctor, who is 12. Well, really she is 40, but she looks 12. She literally rolled her eyes and said, "OK, but only 3 months." Lily emailed me back a list of what to take, how much and when to take the supplements. Her recommendations for my blood test results were:

 Lily's recommended supplements from Pharmacopia in Santa Rosa

Red Yeast Rice, Super EPA, Milk Thistle, Policosanol, CoQ10,  and I asked her about Hawthorn, as there is high blood pressure in our family, and she said that would be good for me also. I added it. I didn't change my diet at all. Those of you that know me, know that I do love the forbidden food of my people. Kim says, "I've never heard anybody talk about hot dogs as if they were a gourmet food, except you." Yes, my favorite food is the ubiquitous hot dog! My memory of the very best one of my life, was the one I bit in 1957 at the Santa Anita Race Track, with my Dad (may he rest in peace). It had this crunch to it, bit you back, just a little, and need I say, the perfect balance of spices?

Anyway, I went on the supplements, and had a standing oder for a blood test. I had one at 6 weeks, and without any diet change, my cholesterol dropped 40 points. This is without making any dietary changes. Kim and I went to Australia, Italy and Germany. We ate, drank and were merry in our travels. We had amazing meals and lots of fun. My cholesterol dropped a total of 73 points.  A few months ago, we heard Dr. Mark Hyman on Public TV talking about blood sugar and Ultra Simple Diet, which Lily had also recommended. We decided to give it a try for a week.

We've been on it now for 3 months, and have both lost weight, gained muscle, and my cholesterol has gone from 270 to 161. We are both off wheat dairy and sugar. We feel super fine, and there is so much we can eat! We are sold, and we are hooked!

I have recommended Lily to a number of friends, who have had success with her. If you are interested, she is at Farmacopia in Santa Rosa.