Magnesium for Health

The majority of Americans are deficient in magnesium, and that includes me (but not for much longer for me). Both times I have been hospitalized this year, they have given me magnesium through the IV lines and I began to feel better.

Actually it took some digging to make the connection with how I felt and my magnesium levels. When a person isn't well, and is admitted to a hospital, it's easy to believe feeling better is the result of the overall course of treatment rather than focus on a single element (unless it's specific like surgery, setting bones, stopping a blood loss...).

Magnesium is extremely important for good health. Yet for far too many years this vital mineral has been largely overlooked by most doctors. Shockingly, most laboratory blood tests do not even measure magnesium status although magnesium is involved as an essential factor in more aspects of health than any other mineral. Since magnesium status is rarely measured, most doctors don't know when their patients are deficient in magnesium, even though about 80% of us are deficient in this essential mineral.

I did notice that both times after I was released from the hospital, I felt better overall for several days and then went into a slow decline even though the original cause had been "repaired".  It was only in recent soil testing minerals for my garden that I began to make the connection (which I actually knew about several years ago and soon forgot).

My Wish List on Amazon.com has a folder of books I want on health, and I'd had The Magnesium Miracle by Dr. Carolyn Dean listed for a long time... so I finally ordered it 2 weeks ago. Fantastic book for anyone really concerned about health and well-being! I was about halfway through reading it when I had a routine follow-up with my doctor. When they drew blood for some tests, I asked that magnesium be measured. (It is NOT routinely measured.)

Sure enough, the labs showed a magnesium deficiency, and my doctor sent in a prescription to my pharmacy for magnesium oxide (with no calcium), 400mg in the mornings, and another 400mg at night. I'm not convinced this is the best form of magnesium for bioavailability, so more research on my part is needed. For the nonce, it's what I have.

By the way, there is a serious additional benefit from magnesium: it's alkaline. Our American diet is far too acidic when it should be pH neutral, so adding an alkaline food or supplement will help towards a neutral pH balance.

Most OTC magnesium supplements have too much calcium, and the ratio of calcium to magnesium is quite delicate, according to Dr. Dean. Magnesium is necessary to properly metabolize calcium, and it keeps calcium in solution in the body, so it prevents calcifications which are quite common. Calcium causes muscles to contract, while magnesium gives them the ability to relax. (That means no more leg cramps for me!)

Magnesium (Mg) is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Magnesium is at the core of the chlorophyll molecule, and an essential ingredient for healthy plants, and the animals (including humans) that eat those plants. All living organisms depend on magnesium in all types of cells, body tissues and organs for a variety of functions. Magnesium in human and animal bodies is important in regulating muscle and nerve functions. Half the magnesium in humans is found in our bones but only 1% in the blood.

Where can we get magnesium other than in supplements? Foods such as green leafy vegetables, some legumes, nuts, seeds and unrefined grains are good sources. (There is a list below of some good foods for magnesium.) However, if those plants do not get enough magnesium from the soil, neither do we. We know our soils have become depleted in minerals and microminerals over the last hundred years, yet few of us have soil tests done, nor do we add much-needed mineral replacements.

Without enough magnesium, plants often develop some yellowing in their older leaves between the veins. Magnesium is essential for photosynthesis, and helps activate plant enzymes needed for growth. Animals have a need for more magnesium than plants, so a plant magnesium deficiency often shows up first in the animals, especially those that graze or forage.

Magnesium in our soils
Where does magnesium originate? Magnesium is an abundant alkaline element in the earth’s crust, occurring naturally in several minerals like dolomite, vermiculite and clay soils like montmorillonite. It is the third most dissolved element in sea water, and seafoods are among the foods highest in magnesium. Alkaline soils and humus-rich soils generally contain more magnesium that acidic soils. Magnesium found in the form of magnesium ions (Mg2+) in the soil (in solution or bound to soil particles) is the most important for exchangeable magnesium. However, magnesium ions are at risk of leaching along with nitrates and calcium.

Other plant sources for magnesium are organic materials (compost), animal dung and plant material. The more magnesium taken up by the old plant material, the more will be available again for new crops. Cation Exchange Capacity, called CEC, affects the potential for plants to take up magnesium.  Soils with a high CEC tend to hold more magnesium. However, if there are also high levels of N and K (nitrogen and potassium) in the soil, less Mg will be available. 

You can add magnesium with serpentine superphosphate (a slow-release magnesium), dolomite (a calcium-magnesium limestone), and calcinated magnesite. You can also add magnesium by using Epsom salts, which is very water-soluble (thus readily available to plants) and best used as a foliar spray to prevent leaching. 

Epsom salts is a magnesium sulfate, extracted from the mineral Epsomate, and naturally occurs in water. The name Epsom comes from the town in England (Epsom) where water was first boiled to release these minerals. The advantage of magnesium sulfate over other magnesium soil amendments (such as dolomitic lime) is its high solubility.

Some plants, notably tomatoes, potatoes and peppers require a soil high in magnesium. If you grow these, you should have a soil test done to determine magnesium levels, especially available magnesium, and then choose your magnesium amendment(s) carefully for optimal uptake.

Some High Risk Groups for a Magnesium Deficiency
People taking Certain Medications:
 
Proton Pump Inhibitors: 
Prescription PPIs include Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium)
Dexilant (dexlansoprazole)
Prilosec (omeprazole)
Zegerid (omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate)
Prevacid (lansoprazole)
Protonix (pantoprazole sodium)
AcipHex (rabeprazole sodium)
Vimovo, Prilosec OTC (omeprazole)
Zegerid OTC (omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate)
Prevacid 24HR (lansoprazole)36
 
Diuretics: Lasix, Bumex, Edecrin, and hydrochlorothiazide
 
Antibiotics: Gentamicin, and Amphotericin
Anti-neoplastic (Cancer) medication: Cisplatin
Zinc Supplements

People with Gastrointestinal Disorders - Most magnesium is absorbed through the colon so people with gastrointestinal disorders like Crohn's disease are at high risk for a magnesium deficiency.

People with Poor Functioning Kidneys - The kidneys should be able to regulate magnesium in the blood, excreting less when stores are low, however, excessive loss of magnesium through urine can occur to people on specific medications, poorly managed diabetes, and alcoholics.

People Consuming high amounts of Fiber - Eating large amounts of fiber has been shown to interfere with the bodies ability to use magnesium. However, more research needs to be done to confirm how much fiber affects magnesium.

Some Magnesium Rich Foods:
Fish - Halibut and Yellow Fin Tuna
Seafood - Oysters, Shrimp, and Scallops
Chocolate - Chocolate Nibs, Dark Chocolate, Cocoa Powder and Milk Chocolate
Beans - Black Beans, White Beans, Kidney Beans, Black Beans, Lima Beans, Navy Beans, Pinto Beans
Nuts & Seeds - Pumpkin Seeds, Almonds, Pine Nuts, Brazil Nuts, Macadamia Nuts, Cashews
Dairy - Cheese from Grass Fed Cows, Chocolate Milk, and Organic Raw Milk
Meats - Grass Fed Meats, Pastured Poultry & Eggs, and Bison Meat
Leafy Greens - Spinach, Kale, Dandelion Greens, and Beet Greens
Vegetables - Artichokes, Pumpkin, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Okra, Squash, and Parsnips
Sea Vegetables - Kelp and Seaweed
Fruit - Dried Figs, Dried Apricots, Prune Juice, Bananas, Avocados and Raisins
Culinary Herbs - Basil, Cilantro, Tarragon, Chives, Spearmint, Sage, Dill, Savory, dried coriander
Legumes - Peanuts, Chickpeas or Garbanzo, Cowpeas, Black-Eyed Peas, and Lentils
Grains - Buckwheat, Oat Bran, Brown Rice, Millet, Cornmeal, Spelt Grain, Barley, Quinoa and Whole Wheat
Tomato Products - Tomato Paste and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Blue Green Algaes - Spirulina, Chlorella, and Klamath Lake Blue Green Algae

A good substitute for refined sugar in cakes and breads, molasses is also a great source of magnesium. Molasses provides 242mg (61% DV) per 100 gram serving, 816mg (204% DV) per cup, and 48mg (12% DV) per tablespoon.
Source
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Institutional Food, Again

After being MIA for about 2 weeks, I'm starting to think about food and health again.

Recently I started throwing up blood (which I hadn't done for 6 years), and my sister called 911 for an ambulance. They took me to the local hospital (where they don't have an endoscopy team) so they transferred me to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC, about a 2-1/2 hour drive. There they put me on a ventilator in order to do an EGD to stop the bleeding without possibly obstructing my airway, and I NEVER want to be on a ventilator again. To awaken and find my wrists and ankles tied down, and a balloon-feeling thing in my throat was frightening.

They repaired a Mallory-Weiss Tear (usually caused by forceful or long-term vomiting or coughing) and a small adjacent arterial bleeder in my stomach. I spent 2 days in ICU, and almost a week in a regular room. I have enough punctures from IV's and blood draws and blood sugar finger pricks that I look like I was fighting with a porcupine and lost. Both arms are black and blue from the armpit to my fingers. 

For 4 days I was only allowed a plain liquid diet, and that was unpleasant. Most liquid things available were high in HFCS or sugars, and high in sodium.
 
Institutional Food, BLECK! This hospital, part of a medical school, was better than most I've seen, and they even have a gluten-free section on the menu. That encourages me to think not ALL institutions are destined to serve swill.

I did have a decent slice of grilled salmon with a baked potato and broccoli once I was allowed solid food. 

When they discharged me, the hospital sent me back to Virginia via Greyhound, to the bus station downtown last night. Fortunately my neighbor had the day off and drove into town to fetch me. We have a foot of snow on the ground, and it was 10º here yesterday early in the morning, whereas it was a balmy 45º when I left Winston-Salem in the afternoon. I'm glad to be home, though.

They discovered I have a small aneurysm on the aortic arch, which we will watch and probably repair in 3 months unless it gets worse sooner.

In the meantime, my doctors said my recuperation will be slow. All the UTI-kidney problems I had back in November and December are part of the overall trauma that led up to this. I have zero energy, and I'm sleeping 15-20 hours a day. Some of that is due to the medications, which will not continue for very long (I hope). 

I go back in 2 days for a hospital follow-up, more blood work, and a full pulmonary function test. Then I have some appointments booked in March, and in May we may do the surgical repair of the aneurysm if I have healed enough. Thankfully, it's half the distance I was driving for medical care at UVA medical school and I really liked the medical team approach at Wake Forest. I'm cancelling the appointments already scheduled next week at UVa since the Wake Forest appointments are for the same things.

UVa and Wake Forest are ranked almost the same in Medical School Rankings. Of course, I worked many years for the #1 ranked medical school, Johns Hopkins, so I have a bias... but Hopkins is too far away for me to seek treatment there.

I have to draft and print a copy of the dietary protocol I follow for my digestive health doctor, and it may prove to be fodder for a post here. My docs spent a lot of time trying to get my electrolytes balanced, and my hemaglobin up. They seem to think the imbalance was from extended body trauma and not my diet, from what I could tell them I eat. This is the first time I've seen Residents, Fellows, and Doctors willing to discuss food/diet that's NOT the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet). Of course that wasn't ALL of them, but quite a few.

Liver Disease and Nutrition

Six and a half years ago, I was diagnosed with Liver Disease, and referred to the University of Virginia to see some liver specialists. The first thing they did was to refer me to the Transplant Program, where I underwent a battery of tests over several months to determine if the rest of my body was healthy enough to withstand the rigors of a liver transplant.

At the time, I was also having the same intermittent low thyroid symptoms I'd had for most of my life. I show all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, yet the thyroid tests always come back in the normal range. This time, the endocrinologist talked to me about foods that adversely affect the thyroid, most notably cruciferous vegetables and soy products. They are goitrogens, meaning they suppresses thyroid function and the uptake of iodine needed by the thyroid.

Cruciferous vegetables lose a lot of the goitrogens when cooked, but soy does not. I thought I had pretty much eliminated soy from my diet years ago... that is, until I discovered soy masquerades under 40 or more names as food additives. The first thing to eliminate from my diet was any food that came in a package with a long list of chemical ingredients on the label, many of which are soy-based (and from GMO soy).

The next thing to eliminate was sugars, high fructose corn syrup in particular. Fructose damages the liver and causes mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunction in the same way as any other toxin.

Sucrose (table sugar) is 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is anywhere from 42 to 55 percent fructose depending on which type is used. Glucose is the form of energy our bodies are designed to run on. Every cell in our body uses glucose for energy, and it's metabolized in every organ of our body; only about 20 percent of glucose is actually metabolized in our liver. Fructose, on the other hand, can only be metabolized by the liver, because the liver is the only organ that has the transporter for it. 

Since all fructose gets shuttled to the liver, when we eat a typical Western-style diet, we consume high amounts of it, so fructose ends up taxing and damaging the liver in the same way other toxins (including alcohol) do. In fact, fructose is virtually identical to alcohol with regards to the metabolic havoc it wreaks. 

According to Dr. Lustig (an endocrinologist at the Univ. of California), fructose is a "chronic, dose-dependent liver toxin." And just like alcohol, fructose is metabolized directly into fat—not cellular energy, like glucose. So when eating fructose, it just gets stored in our fat cells, which leads to mitochondrial malfunction. 

The liver is the major site for converting excess carbohydrates and proteins into fatty acids and triglycerides, which are then exported and stored in adipose (fat) tissue.  I was advised to cut my carb intake to 50 grams a day until my system got clean, and then keep the intake to under 100 grams a day. 

The last thing to eliminate was any meat and eggs from animals that may have been fed the same soy and grain I was to avoid, as well as avoiding all fresh produce grown in a chemical cloud. That meant local free-range eggs, grass-fed beef, lamb, pastured pork, free-range chickens, and the Farmer's Market for veggies I don't grow.

Well, let me tell you, for 2-3 weeks I thought I would starve to death! Giving up the obvious addictive sugars was hard enough, but giving up bread and pasta was even worse. That's when I really started to delve into Real Foods, and things started to turn around.

Within a month, my energy levels and mental outlook began to increase, and my liver enzymes improved enough in 3-4 months that my liver docs took me off all meds.

I also began to lose a little weight. I learned to always carry a wholesome snack when I was away from home, usually a hard-boiled farm egg, or a piece of raw milk cheese (for the enzymes not found in pasteurized cheese). (Do not believe raw milk cheese might harbor pathogens. By Law, they must be aged at least 60 days before they can be sold, and if there were pathogens, the cheese would be rotten before the 60 days were up.)

Unfortunately, I have fallen partially off the "good diet" wagon over the last 12 months, mostly due to the increased cost of food and utilities versus my income (just a monthly social security check) and partly due to laziness. Eating right requires planning ahead and making time to prepare nutritious foods. In the last 3 weeks, I've had 3 sodas because I was experiencing low blood sugar while away from the house. That's 3 more than I've had in 5-6 years.

It's time to climb fully back up on that healthy food wagon no matter what else I have to give up. (Or continue a downward spiral in my health.)

There are many, many good things I can make from cheap cuts of meat and bones. Slow cooking a crockpot full of bones produces an incredibly nutritious broth/stock that's like jello when cooled.  Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals.  Bone broth also supports joints, hair, skin and nails due to its high collagen content. In fact, some even suggest that it helps eliminate cellulite as it supports smooth connective tissue.

Cooked long and slow, bone broth also contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons, stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.

The "odd bits" like heart, liver, kidneys, sweetbreads, etc. contain so much more nutrition than the muscle meats, and they are much cheaper to purchase. I just received a Christmas gift of the book Terrine, plus I found a used copy of Terrines, Påtes and Galantines on ebay for under $4 earlier this year. (If you are not familiar with terrines, think meatloaf... and a galantine is just a meaty loaf encased in a pastry shell.)

What else did I eat when I felt so great?? Bacon, eggs, sausage, homemade yogurt, salads dressed with fresh lemon juice and a drizzle of EVOO, cheese, real butter, real cream in my coffee (not UP), fresh veggies, olive oil and coconut oil, sardines, not much fruit because of the sugar content, no legumes, no grains, and grass-fed meats daily. My one daily treat was a half-inch square of an 85% cacao bar at bedtime, and it was enough.

Eating those foods also brought the ratio of my Omega-6 to Omega-3 back into a better balance (about 4:1) than the SAD (Standard American Diet) which is as much as 40:1. 

All the meat and dairy provided the essential amino acids necessary to build proteins (essential because our bodies cannot produce them internally). The failure to obtain enough of even 1 of the 10 essential amino acids has serious health implications and can result in degradation of the body's proteins. Muscle and other protein structures may be dismantled to obtain the one amino acid that is needed. "Unlike fat and starch, the human body does not store excess amino acids for later use; the amino acids must be in the food every day.

I bought some wonton wrappers yesterday and intend to make and freeze some wontons (they contain just 4 grams of carbs per wrapper). A lunch of a wonton or two added to some home canned stock is quick, easy, and nutritious. 

It's a start. Salads will be scarce over the winter because I'm leery of bagged greens, even organic ones. Thankfully I froze lots of green veggies from my summer garden.

Nutrient loss in Our Vegetables

A good friend recently sent me a note that there is a story in the current Mother Earth News concerning the serious decline of nutrients in vegetables. Loss of nutrients in vegetables isn't news to me because I have been long aware of the published (and hard to find) data by the USDA on the declining nutrients in crops since the 1950's/1960's. (I used to have the USDA chart on my computer, but I lost it when the last hard drive died, and now it is not easy to find.)

Several "causes" have been cited in the research literature, ranging from overall loss in our soil nutrients, to the specific varieties chosen to plant. It certainly appears true that veggies remove micronutrients from the soil which are never replaced by the additions of just the popular NPK.

However, the loss of nutrients by the "choice" of planted varieties has me stumped. From what I read, some varieties that are chosen to grow quickly with a minimum of amendments to the soil might indeed result in a great crop of pretty and marketable produce, but lacking on the nutrition scale. Personally I am more inclined to believe the soil deficiency idea.

In 2008 I wrote a post on DavesGarden called "red tennis balls" which listed some USDA stats on nutrient decline in tomatoes. Here's an excerpt:

Taking statistics from the USDA comparing a tomato in 1963 to a tomato now (2008) shows that 100 grams of 'fresh' tomato has:

30.7% LESS Vitamin A

16.9% LESS Vitamin C

61.5% LESS Calcium

11.1% LESS Phosphorus

9% LESS Potassium

9% LESS Niacin (B3)

10% LESS Iron

1% LESS Thiamine (B1)

65% MORE Lipids (fats)

200% MORE Sodium

Vitamins E and K are not measured, nor are essential micronutrients like molybdenum and selenium.

Broccoli has lost 45% Vitamin C.

80% of the tomatoes grown in Florida now comprise just 5 varieties, and one of those 5 counts  by itself for 35.9% of all tomatoes (the variety is Fla. 47).

In the last 50 years, the Canadian potato has lost 100% Vitamin A, and 57% Calcium, 50% Iron, 50% Riboflavin (B2) and 18% Thiamin.

So, its not just Red Tennis Balls that are nutritionally deficient...

I've been working on increasing nutrient density (measurements aka Brix, and also taste in the veggies... the better the taste, the higher the nutritional value) in my own garden for 4+ years now and I still don't have a good handle on it, although my results are getting better. I DO believe that sufficient micro-minerals, good compost and an excellant microbial population are a big part of the equation. I hope to have some increased positive reports this coming gardening season.

Salatin: “Folks This Ain't Normal”

A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and A Better World

Joel Salatin is the owner of Polyface Farms and author of Folks This Ain't Normal. He is hailed by The New York Times as "Virginia's most multifaceted agrarian since Thomas Jefferson [and] the high priest of the pasture" and is a leading spokesperson for local, sustainable food systems.

In Folks This Ain't Normal, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is, and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact. He understands what food should be: wholesome, seasonal, raised naturally, procured locally, prepared lovingly, and eaten with a profound reverence for the circle of life.

From reading the first chapter (link to download it is on the page linked above), I'd say he's right on target about how our general food supply isn't normal (or healthy) anymore.

Cover Crop and Fixing Nitrogen

After reading some of the books and papers on Biodynamic Agriculture, this year I am planting a leguminous cover crop of Australian Winter Peas, Psium arvense, in the current vegetable garden areas.

Usually I have the fall/winter garden area fully planted in mid-October for next year's garlic and shallots, and then I mulch in late fall after they have sent out a few leaves. This year I plan a much smaller amount of garlic and shallots, so the remaining area will get the peas to fix nitrogen. (I have a fence line where I grew spring peas 2 years ago, and I noticed an increase in healthy production there last year, which I attribute to the nitrogen-fixing abilities of the earlier peas.)

I have also been researching temperate climate perennial shrubs and trees that fix nitrogen. Most of the trees that fix nitrogen are tropical, but there actually are a few temperate zone trees I've come across that fix nitrogen. Fortunately the shrub list is longer! It will be a lengthy process of time and money to get some of each planted over the next several years, but it's do-able.

After seeing the success with inter-planting vegetables in the flower beds this year, I'm definitely moving away from "rows" or "plots" of annual vegetables and into mixed bed areas that combine perennials like herbs, bulbs, flowers and fruit/nut trees/bushes with my annual vegetables.

I did notice that as productive as the veggies in the flower beds were, the Brix (nutrient density) in the tomatoes was below par. I don't think I have amended the flower beds since I first built them 4 years ago although the flowers have been lush, but clearly the soil is deficient in some minerals or at least mineral balance. Planting some nitrogen fixers (maybe peas next year?) in those beds will help the soil fertility in general, and I'll add some minerals before this winter sets in, and some organic fertilizer (5-4-3).

The bigger challenge is to move my mindset away from "only vegetables" in a specific area, and get my mindset onto areas that are mixed with a variety of perennial and annual plants that support each other in many ways. With some careful planning over the winter, I hope to get started next spring with mixing up my vegetable and flower garden areas. It will take several years to fruition I'm sure, although no garden area is ever static.

I just got the book Gaia's Garden yesterday via inter-library loan, and it will help point me in the right direction(s), esp. when mixed with my own research. The library book is the original edition but I do have the newer 2nd edition on my Wish List. From just the few pages I read last night, it is well worth the money!

Rock Dust and Japanese Beetles

By stevendepolo

The Japanese beetles are having a field day munching on the leaves of my fruit and nut bushes, and so I've come fully back around to where I started years ago, learning about the benefits of rock dust (apparently having forgotten a lot of it in the interim!).

Three years ago I wrote a piece for DavesGarden.com about rock dust in the garden. There are many things rock dust will do in addition to the overview I wrote (which I will not duplicate here), including a spray application that will keep Japanese beetles from eating all the leaves. I believe we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg of knowing and understanding the benefits of remineralization of our soils with rock dust, the most important of which to me is nutrient density... and thus better health from real/better foods.

My introduction to the necessity and wonders of rock dust was Julius Hensel's book, Bread from Stones, which I read perhaps 15 years ago. It took years of  "Gardening 101" for it to even make any sense to me, and apparently the information didn't stick long enough, although I never completely forgot about it.

Then just a few days ago a friend sent me a link to a farmer who found a simple application of rock dust over his plants made them resistant to aphids and Japanese beetles. Duh! I knew that, but somehow the idea got lost... perhaps by the same mechanism that makes most of us reject ideas like paramagnetism in the soil affecting plant growth? 

Actually I think I got caught up in just increasing Brix by soil remineralization, forgetting that the process takes time, and without aiding the plant portion above ground with rock dust is a good interim step. (Really healthy plants do not attract pests... pests are Nature's Clean-Up Crew for unhealthy plants. If our plants attract pests, the plant nutrition is lacking something.)

I have been posting bits here and there about possible nuclear radiation on our foods, and yesterday came across an article I had just read several weeks ago about food crops after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I actually read that the foods grown and milk from cows raised on remineralized soils in the afflicted area were tested and shown to measure NO radioactivity. Now, why didn't that data connect in my head??? 

There is evidence that a supplement made from rock dust works against radioactivity in the human body, as well as evidence of rock dust counteracting radioactivity in the soil. Austrian Robert Schindele produced Schindele's Minerals (stone meal, aka rock dust) and was used in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird explain in their 1989 book Secrets of the Soil that when “the University of Vienna found that Schindele’s product worked against radioactivity–a claim confirmed by a Soviet institute for atomic physics in the Ukraine, the Soviets sent a truck to pick up two thousand kilograms of his Gesteinsmehl. Analysis under a micropolariscope revealed an alteration in the molecular and atomic lattice, which had an effect on ionized radioactive particles taken into the body.”

I also know that nutrient density is a result of high Brix in the plants that produce our foods (and thus in the foods themselves), and also a result of having a high Brix in the feed, hay/grass for our meat animals, and that high Brix depends on a complete mineral profile not generally available in our mostly depleted soils. We can fix that by adding rock dust!

There is a lot I could write about remineralization with rock dust, enough stuff to be worthy of a PhD dissertation... but boring for a blog. (That doesn't mean I won't post more on the essentials of rock dust!)

For those who care to learn more, here are some links:

Rock Dust Primer

Why Remineralize?

Rock Dust Sources

Fresh (Raw) Milk!

Photo by dybarber

I use FRESH milk, and I choose not to call it RAW, which implies it needs treatment to consume. It does NOT. Fresh milk is far healthier than the CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) milk sold in stores. Fresh milk is nutritious, and safe as long as you find a scrupulously clean dairy; hygiene starts in the dairy.  Local milk is the best because you can actually visit the farm, inspect the operation, and get to know the farmer!

People have been drinking fresh milk for many centuries, usually from their own cow, sheep, and goat, but sometimes from camel, yak, or water buffalo depending on the animals they kept. They knew to keep everything clean, just as local dairymen do today.

Photo by chrisada

Fresh milk is full of healthy enzymes our body needs, plus lots of vitamins and minerals, and even beneficial bacteria for our large intestines. Fresh milk is Alive... until they kill everything good in it with pasteurization. "Dr Lanctôt (The Medical Mafia) points out that germs that bring us typhoid, coli bacillus [e.coli], and tuberculosis are not killed by the temperatures used for pasteurization, and there have been a good number of salmonella epidemics traced to pasteurized milk.

The heating process injures the milk. Dr Lanctôt points out that pasteurization destroys milk’s intrinsic germicidal properties, not to mention healthy enzymes. She goes on to state that 50% of milks’ calcium is unusable [the body cannot assimilate it] after pasteurization. So much for all those milk commercials!" ¹

The internet abounds with stories of people with improved lipid profiles (cholesterol levels) just months after switching to fresh milk, and lactose intolerance is vanishing among both children and adults consuming fresh milk.

The CDC data since 1973 says 442,000 people were sickened from PASTEURIZED milk, and 1,100 from fresh milk... with 22 deaths from pasteurized milk, and none from fresh milk. (Sorry, I lost the CDC source link.)

ANY product can become contaminated after harvesting, milking, packaging, or whatever... even after we get them home, if we neglect sanitation, or refrigeration where necessary. (Note: there were 2 deaths in 1998 from Mexican bathtub "queso fresco cheese" attributed by the CDC to fluid raw milk although it was from unsanitary conditions in making the cheese, not the milk.)

There was a big outbreak in the early 1970's in California from fresh milk that resulted in a few deaths of already seriously ill cancer patients, but the milk was ALL FROM ONE CAFO dairy with 8,000 confined cows. I won't even drink pasteurized milk (or buy beef) from a confined dairy/cattle operation, much less fresh milk!

The Battle for Our Right to Choose our Own Healthy Foods is heating up, with the fresh milk issue right at the top. Last week (late May, 2011) in Kentucky, a Food Buying Club had their fresh (raw) milk quarantined by local "health" officials... and NOT FOR ANY SAFETY or contamination concerns, but just because it was fresh milk.

That scenario is going on all around the country as public officials bow down to the lobbying influence the dairy industry (follow the money) has over the USDA and the FDA as they try to fill us with FEAR of fresh milk. Some prime examples are Vernon Herschberger in Wisconsin; the Rawesome Food Club in Venice, CA; a Buying Club in Georgia in 2009... and 2 months ago, Dan Allgyer in Pennsylvania, who was supplying fresh milk under contract to a Maryland Buying Club.

I have endorsed fresh milk from the beginning of this blog, out of the deep belief that it is my Right to Choose. Now that I am learning to make cheese, and studying a LOT about fresh milk vs pasteurized milk in the final cheese, I'm really coming to know what pasteurization robs from our milk... and I don't like it one bit. Cheese from pasteurized milk lacks the enzymes present in fresh milk that give real cheese that exceptional flavor. I even have to add calcium to pasteurized milk to make curds! So much for the "drink milk, the calcium is good for strong bones and teeth" hype still in the ads about pasteurized milk... plus the amount of Vitamin D added is so faint as to be a joke.

The good news is that we CAN stop this unwarranted government harassment if we take a stand at the grassroots level, ALL of us. (The bad news is that most people either believe the "authorities", or don't care enough, or know enough about their health, to get involved and take a stand.)

As for me, I will continue to drink fresh milk and use fresh cream in my coffee, and make ice cream, butter and all kinds of cheese from fresh milk... even if I must build a bedroom attached to my house for a milk animal!

¹ http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/history/biographies/louis_pasteur.htm

Another cookbook?

I vowed 2-3 years ago NOT to acquire more cookbooks, and in fact have given away a substantial number of them in the last 2 years. However recently I ordered not just one, but 2 used cookbooks, each under $4. Old cookbooks to be sure, and cheap, but I think they will be useful now, and in the times ahead.

Both are from the Time-Life Series The Good Cook Techniques and Recipes published in the 1970's. The first one is Terrines, Pates and Gallantines. Think meatloaf advanced to high school or college level... a fine way to make delicious entrées out of less expensive cuts of meat.

The second one is Variety Meats: how to cook those meat cuts our grandmothers cooked... and we never buy, like sweetbreads, heart, kidneys, tails, and even pigs feet.

While I have tried some of the cuts labeled "Offal" in the past year, I really have not made a dedicated effort much past one recipe each. That's to my shame because everything I read about the nutritional values of those cuts says they far outshine the nutritional value of steaks and chops. It's time to get serious and try to make tasty meals, and make peace with my preconceived notions.

Paying the Piper

I haven't posted on my Weight Log in almost 7 weeks, partly because I haven't dared get on the scales to weigh myself, and partly because I've been veering off my food protocol with empty calories and know I have gained weight. So I screwed my courage to the sticking post and weighed myself this morning: up 7 pounds. I don't really mind the weight gain too much, although I'd prefer NOT to have it at all. What's really annoying, though, is how I feel.

My energy level has been falling noticeably for several weeks, and for the last week or two I have been experiencing the painful acid reflux and indigestion I had 8-9 months ago before I changed what I eat. I haven't checked my blood pressure, but I feel as if it's inching up as well. I did see my endocrinologist and my liver doctors at the beginning of November and received good reports from both, pending results of blood work. (BP Nov. 2 was 120/60.)

However, I hadn't strayed much from my food protocol at that time, either. My birthday was during the trip to see my docs, and I made the mistake of celebrating by buying a slice of cake from the bakery section at Whole Foods (not Real Food!). That led to a box of soft peppermint sticks for quick energy on the road (more empty calories)... and it has been all downhill from there! Off and on during the first part of November, I ate more added-sugar things like candy, which only increased a desire for sweet rolls, then cakes and bread. (And not even home-made with good ingredients, either!)

Chicken or the egg? My real downfall, I think, has been the re-introduction of grains into my diet but that's a toss-up with sugar. I merely re-joined all the people who fail to put a control over cravings for mouth watering foods! I accuse the grains for the digestive problems, but I have to admit the sugars started me down that path. Once added sugars were back in my diet, I was without any resistance at all. The natural sugars in fruits didn't seem to trigger that craving, thankfully.

I also noticed that when I added grain products back to my diet, my intake of good fats dropped. All I wanted to eat was bread, rolls, cake, cookies... seldom a meal of meat or eggs and vegetables without desserts. 

The body only makes energy from 2 sources: fats and sugars. Of course, extra sugars (including those from vegetable carbs) are stored as fat tissue and the body likes to hang onto them, preferring a fresh (and frequent) intake.

Whether it's gluten intolerance or not, I really don't know or care. I have proven to myself that my body loves grain products (which contain the protein called gluten), but they make me feel lousy and gain weight. So that means no more grain products... and to keep that craving at bay, no more added sugars either.

Unfortunately for my diet, I concocted a recipe for the best dressing for Thanksgiving that I've made in a long time, and most of it is now in the freezer in small portions. It contains bread of course, but also 2 kinds of sausage, plus apples and vegetables. I cannot promise I won't eat that sausage dressing over time, nor promise I will not make the fresh pumpkin pie with a pastry crust made with my own rendered lard, maybe for Christmas. I do know my food protocol has to change, and I doubt it will be any easier than it was in March.

I cannot speak to eating legumes at this point, though, as it is still an unknown. I have only had beans once in 8-9 months, and that was a pint of home-canned vegetable bean soup about 3 weeks ago. All it did was give me gas, but not the desire to have more. However, I won't even think about trying to add any legumes back to my food list until I have the sugar/grain thing under control again.

This time of the year is tough for finding vegetables that are low on the glycemic index. What is available is generally grown in another country and shipped thousands of miles... or else more local starchy carbs like potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. Even salad greens are shipped in from elsewhere. This strengthens my resolve to build a cold frame next year to extend my own growing season.

Eating Lacto-Fermented Vegetables

I will be posting a series on lacto-fermentation all week, beginning here with health benefits.

Lacto-fermented vegetables are intended to be eaten in small amounts with each meal, both as a digestive aid and as a nutrient-booster, although some people like a full serving on their plate. It's a matter of choice, but just a few tablespoons daily will improve your health. Put some pickle slices or kraut on a sandwich at lunchtime... and add a tablespoon or two of fermented carrots, broccoli or cauliflower on a dinner salad.

When I was out of high school and dating, my boyfriend always took me to one of the wonderful open-24-hour delicatessens for late-night dessert treat after a movie or a play. I remember there was always a 'relish' tray with perhaps 5-6 small dishes of pickles, kraut, beets, and several other items; Howie said they were to help with digestion. (They didn't go with my cake and ice cream, though.)

I didn't really understand that concept back then, since my family didn't make lacto-ferments and I had not grown up with eating them. It was only in recent years I understood my grandparents couldn't make them anymore due to the year-round warm weather they found in South Florida after moving from the dust bowl during the Depression. Much later, my mother moved to the NC mountains, and she started making sauerkraut and garlic dills for my step-father, who was born in Holland.

I doubt my mother knew the added nutritional benefits of ferments; she made them because they tasted great and my step-father loved them. Once any vegetable ferment has finished over the first 2-4 weeks, all of the ferments will taste great. However, the growth of added nutrients has just begun, and the taste just keeps getting better. The longer they mellow, the smoother the taste and the greater the nutrients (within a reasonable time, which is a variable of months to 2-3 years).

Lactic acid fermentation is a biological process by which sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose, are converted into cellular energy and the metabolic byproduct lactate. (Probiotics) The term probiotics refers to bacteria and yeast found in food that are good for our bodies. Our skin and intestinal tract are completely covered in bacteria and the idea is that inviting the right kind of bacteria into our systems has health benefits. 

The human gut can contain over 2 lbs of intestinal microflora (beneficial bacteria) and they do some pretty important work there. They help digest food and create vitamins, they make it hard for bad bacteria to live there, and they stimulate the part of our immune system (70%) that is in our digestive system. In fact, there is more and more evidence that everything from acute intestinal upset to allergies to autism can be helped by normalizing gut bacteria and using probiotics.

Yogurt, kefir and buttermilk are all very common probiotic foods. These are all fermented dairy products that are eaten while the bacteria are still alive. Vegetables and fruit can also be cultured into probiotic foods through a process called lacto-fermentation. The Old-Timers merely called it 'pickling'.

The lacto-fermenting of vegetables is basically just covering vegetables with a salty brine and letting the bacteria do its work. The brine serves as a protection against the growth of putrefying microorganisms, and allows the growth of the desired of bacteria, Lactobacilli. Fermentation breaks nutrients down into more easily digestible forms. 

Lactobacilli transform lactose into easier-to-digest lactic acid. These cultures then create new nutrients: B vitamins, including folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, and biotin. Lactobacilli create omega-3 fatty acids, essential for cell membrane and immune system function. Some ferments have been shown to function as antioxidants, scavenging cancer precursors (free radicals) from the cells of the body. 

Sally Fallon says, "The proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented vegetables enhances their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. These beneficial organisms produce numerous helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anti-carcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic acid, not only keeps vegetables and fruits in a state of perfect preservation [for a varying amount of time] but also promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine."

The bottom line is this: Fermentation is tasty, and makes food more nutritious.

Do you make Jerky? Pemmican?

I've been looking into making jerky, which I don't even like. Well, at least not the convenience-store pressed version containing soy sauce, sugar, artificial smoke flavoring, chemicals and preservatives. I have never tasted the real thing, which is just dried raw meat seasoned with salt and pepper, and maybe a bit of powdered onion, garlic or crushed red pepper flakes.

I'm interested to hear if you make jerky or pemmican, and how you do it. How do you use it? Apparently jerky-makers are almost fanatical about their jerky, and they must be abundant because there are all sorts of jerky tools for sale across the internet. (I'm away from home until later in the week so I probably won't be able to 'moderate' comments until then.)

Actually what I want to do is make some real pemmican that I can store in my emergency food stash, because it is the most nutrient-dense food I can fit (store) in a small area, and if made properly, it lasts for years.

Properly made jerky is a good place to start in making pemmican, and commercial jerky won't suffice because of government regulations in the high temperatures required for drying, too much salt, and all the additives. (Remember how salty the dried chipped beef in a jar is, for making creamed chipped beef on toast... aka SOS?)  I'm aiming for nutrition, not salty shoe leather.

Making jerky for pemmican is easy, although this method below would not be approved by the USDA because the meat is not cooked, just thoroughly dried as it was done for centuries either in the sun, or near a fire. Most sites practice CYA and recommend heating to 145ºF for at least 10 minutes to kill any salmonella and E.coli, and lots of salt. (I won't make mine that way.) Use your own discretion and faith in your butcher, but I suggest you avoid using store-bought CAFO beef for all the potential dangers and nutritional deficits.

I'll run through the process here, and again later with pictures when I make some. (Right now I'm waiting for the next butchering so I can get enough beef leaf fat make more tallow.) Get some very lean grass-fed beef (like eye round) and trim it completely. Slice thinner than 1/4 inch, which is easier done if the beef is partially frozen.

Season lightly with salt and pepper (you can add a bit of onion powder or garlic powder, and/or powdered red pepper along with the salt and pepper, but don't overdo it) and put it in your dehydrator at about 100º-110ºF. The object is to dry the meat, not cook it, and temps over 120ºF will cook it. (The salt and lack of moisture are what inhibits bacterial growth.) Turn the strips over several times during the drying process to insure uniform drying. How long it takes depends on thickness of the meat strips. When properly dry, it should bend but not snap, and not feel damp or have soft spots. Too dry is better than too damp because it can spoil if it's not dry enough.

If you don't have a dehydrator, here's a link to download plans to build a very efficient dryer for under $20, using a cleverly designed cardboard box and a 100 watt incandescent bulb. It will dry up to 10 pounds of raw meat.

Once the meat is fully dry, you can use it as is for jerky snacks, or grind it for pemmican.

Why use only grass-fed beef?

Grass-fed beef:

1. Higher in beta-carotene
2. Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
3. Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin (B1) and riboflavin (B2)
4. Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
5. Higher in total omega-3s
6. A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
7. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
8. Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
9. Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease

What is Pemmican?
"Pemmican was a nutritionally-dense staple of the American Plains Indians, made in the summer from dried lean buffalo meat and rendered fat (tallow) as a way to preserve and store meat for winter, and traveling. When the frontiersmen, mostly early trappers and explorers, discovered it, pemmican became a commodity the Indians sold or traded to them.

The Hudson Bay Company bought tons of it every year to satisfy the demand. The basic unit of trade was an animal hide filled with pemmican, sealed with pure rendered fat on the seams, and weighed about 90 pounds. As long as it was kept away from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight, it would last for many years with no refrigeration or other method of preservation."
(Source: Lex Rooker)

Calories and Nutrition

When made correctly, pemmican from grass-fed beef is a complete food, and eating only pemmican for extended periods induces no nutritional deficiencies. (Think Eskimo diet.) One half-pound of pemmican will provide about 1500 calories.

Not all sites agree about the inclusion of dried berries in pemmican; some think it may have been just to please the 'white eyes'. After reading many sites and explanations, I have decided not to add dried berries to mine. If the berries are not 100% dry, they can spoil the pemmican. I'd rather dry my berries separately and just have them available.

Traditionally, Native Americans pounded the dried meat into a powder; fortunately we have blenders, meat grinders and food processors. Properly dried beef will be about 1/3 or so of the weight before drying, and needs to be ground to a chunky powder with some meat fibers remaining.

Once you have the meat ground to a slightly chunky powder, carefully weigh equal amounts of meat and rendered beef tallow. Then the tallow needs to be heated enough to be liquid so you can mix them; the mix will appear slightly wet, but the tallow/fat should all be absorbed by the meat with no excess fat pooling in the bottom of the dish.

Press the mixture into a mold (mini-loaf pans, cupcake tins lined with cupcake papers, pressed flat in plastic sandwich bags, etc.) and allow to harden at room temperatures. To store, wrap in butcher's paper, or aluminum foil (or both) to keep out any light and moisture. Store in a cool, dry place. I will put my wrapped pemmican in a heavy-duty zippered plastic bag or most likely vacuum-seal it, then into a food grade plastic container with a tight lid.

Some No-No's: 
Do not use butter or vegetable oils. Rendered pork or lamb fat could be used, but not recommended because of a lower melting point (like carrying it in a backpack, or on a shelf in in storage). Do not add anything that is not 100% DRY.

Modern Hunter-Gatherer, Part 3: Fruits and Vegetables

My Pocket Refractometer

Part 1; Part 2

This is probably an unnecessary post, given that most folks know you can buy better quality fruits and vegetables at local Farmer’s Markets. Of course, better than buying from farmer's markets is home-grown, even if you only have room for a single pot of tomatoes on your balcony.

While I eat (and grow) organically raised fruits and vegetables, I am not a stickler it be “certified organic”. Organic standards legally govern what farmers may NOT put on their crops/fields or feed to animals (pesticides, herbicides), but they do not govern what IS used to increase the nutrient values. (I have eaten a lot of 'certified organic' foods over the years that were nutritionally poor, before I knew how to tell the difference.) The government regulations for becoming organically certified are long and costly, so many small farmers have switched to saying, “No Chemicals”.

Far more important to me is the nutrient-density of fruits and vegetables, which can be easily detected by taste and measured with a pocket refractometer by placing one drop of the juice on the lens and looking at the scale through the viewfinder. There are free downloadable charts on the internet which list the Brix (nutrient-density) for common fruits and vegetables. The charts will show the Brix numbers by kind in columns for Poor, Average (the best you might be lucky to find in a supermarket), Good, and Excellent. (There is an excellent video explaining how to measure Brix here.)

Three years ago I grew my first tomatoes at this new place, doing everything to insure a healthy organic crop. Well, it was healthy, but to my dismay the Brix barely measured between Poor and Average. Why? Poor existing soil nutrition. On the other hand, my green beans 50 feet away tested Excellent... and so was their taste!

Plants, just like people, need well-balanced nutrition for the best health and productivity. In plants, that is not as simple as just adding NPK willy-nilly. Soils need testing, and the correct nutrients applied accordingly. Additionally, even soils with a great balance of amendments will not produce high Brix fruits and vegetables without sufficient microbial activity in the soil.

Every time you use Round-up, Preen, or any other chemical on or near your garden, you are killing microbes in the soil. Watering and rain readily spread the chemicals, even if you are careful to keep them distant from your food gardens.

If the food you eat is low in Brix, your body will not get all the nutrients those foods should supply. The USDA has data going back to the 1960’s showing significant decrease in nutritional values of common foods over the intervening years, because plants take nutrients (esp. micronutrients) out of the soil and NPK does not put them back. Tomatoes have lost something like 50% of their nutritional value in 50 years.

Today's commercial tomatoes are grown for uniformity in looks, and their ability to be shipped across the country or imported without noticeable damage. Taste is unimportant, and out of over a thousand or more tomato varieties, fewer than half a dozen are grown commercially.

Just because a fruit or vegetable is fresh, locally-grown and chemical-free does not mean it is nutritious. Your taste buds will tell you, and so will a refractometer. I will say that you can bet the local food is safe, though. I cannot remember ever reading about someone getting ill from produce from a well-managed farmer’s market. My local market absolutely forbids anything not grown by the vendor.

Roadside stands could be a different matter, so ask for their sources for the stand owner may not be the grower. There is a produce stand on the old highway near my house, and more than half of what he sells, he did not grow; most is bought by the case just like the grocery stores do, and it could even come from the other coast or be imported.

I’d much rather taste fresh foods before I buy them, and most vendors at the farmer’s markets will let you, especially if it’s something like a green bean or lettuce leaf. In fact, they may be very interested in what a refractometer shows! If it’s tomatoes or melons, they may want you to buy one to test, unless they offer a plate of samples. Still, it’s better to buy just one tomato that may test poor, than a whole sack full before you find out back at home!

Rex Harrill, one of the Brix guru's, said the food quality in grocery stores won't change until a million housewives descend on produce sections armed with refractometers, testing and demanding the 'junk' be returned.

Here are some links to more in-depth articles on obtaining higher nutritional values of fruits and vegetables:
What makes good Brix? Good soil!
The Importance of Microbes in Soil
Understanding Soil Testing
Rock Dust… (mineral amendments)

There are also some articles I wrote on individual plant nutrients and their interactions here. (Scroll down on that page to see the list of articles.)

The bottom line is that I can easily hunt and gather nutritious fruits and vegetables locally if I avoid the grocery stores, taste or measure fruit and vegetables for nutrient density, and grow what I can. There are several fruits and veggies which can be stored in my root cellar over the winter, assuring some fresh items all year. Plus, I have plans to build a cold-frame and have fresh salad greens in winter, a la Eliot Coleman.

Longevity and Diet

For the past year I have concentrated heavily on my family genealogy, and now have over 20,000 names in my database going back to before 1700. One of the things I have repeatedly noticed is the longevity, and how it changed over 300 years.

During the 1700's, my family members routinely lived well into their 90's and even a few over 100. The exceptions were men killed in battle or hunting accidents, women in childbirth, and the occasional accidental death of a child. This trend persisted through folks born in the early 1800's up to about 1830. Those born after 1830 began to show somewhat shorter lifespans, maybe only into their mid 80's, and those born after 1880 seldom lived much past their mid 70's.

There were exceptions, of course. But the majority followed that pattern and I always wondered why.

My research into the historic diets of humans indicates a strong correlation to shorter lifespans as processed foods came into our diets, and that is supported in my own family history. Family members who were Pennsylvania Dutch ate a high animal fat diet (meat, butter, milk, eggs) along with their garden vegetables, and put up many gallons of fermented vegetables for the winter. They lived the longest.

Sugar was seldom part of the diets much before the Civil War (it was available, just expensive) except for fruits, berries and occasionally honey. Cereal grains were a portion of their diets, but generally in the form of fermented (sourdough) breads (or fermented as beer and whiskey), and slow-cooked cereals, although grains were not nearly as high a percentage of diet as after 1900.

I suspect the vegetables they ate were considerably higher in nutrient density solely because the soils back then were not abused and depleted of vital minerals. Because they depended on the land to support them, I believe they were good stewards. Their water was clean, clear potable water; the air was clean, and the soil healthy. There were no grocery stores full of junk foods and food additives. They ate Real Food.

(Some of my family were coal and zinc miners. I do not include them here as they lived in a horrid environment and lifespans were often curtailed by the mines.)

As more of my family moved to cities for work, their diets changed. My mother was born in 1921. My grandparents stopped owning a cow by the time my mother was 5 or so... farms in the dust belt were becoming non-productive and my family moved away. However, I can remember as a child about 1946 going across a field to an aunt's house to fetch a jug of milk from the ice cold water in her spring house in Kansas.

Many of my mother's generation lived into their 80's (including my mother) but they were not necessarily 'healthy' and drugs kept them going. How many folks do you know over 80 who do not take a handful of meds every day? In earlier generations there was almost no heart disease, no cancer, diabetes... they died of old age, not dis-ease.

The current interest of some of us to get back to healthy nutrition gives me a glimmer of hope for the sustainability of mankind.

ps... I found an interesting chart of US Presidents, longevity, death, and diet here. The doctor who wrote it makes the same correlation between longevity and diet as I do. (Scroll down a bit on the page, the chart stands out.)

Bones for my Bones

Photo from joyosity's photostream

Broths made from bones are highly nutritious, and the base for classic gourmet and traditional foods the world over. Did you know if you make it right, broth provides a wealth of minerals in a form our bodies can readily use? Minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and trace minerals are easily absorbed from good stock or broth used in soups, stews and sauces.

Research studies have shown that the gelatin in well-made broths help build strong bones and cartilage. It also helps the digestive system, our muscles and skin tone. By the way, MSG is added to most commercial stocks (and canned soups and sauces) to get the taste of real meat or chicken... and it's toxic to the nervous system. The name is often disguised, but it's there.

Part of my personal nutrition program has to be geared around what I can chew, since I have mostly "removable teeth" that do not fit well. That means I can elect to put hard foods in a blender, eat yucky baby foods, or occasionally cook up some really nutritious soups and stews from homemade stocks. I think I prefer to make stocks! (Actually I do make stocks, just have not in a long time, nor with a tad of vinegar to dissolve the minerals in the bones. I once always used vinegar, don't remember why I forgot.)
 
Good stocks also contain chondroiton sulfates and glucosamine, broken down from the cartilage and tendons in the carcasses and/or bones we cook down for broths. I've been paying over $30 a month for those joint supplements and see very little difference except to my pocketbook. (According to Dr. Kaayla Daniel¹, connective tissue regenerates slowly, so don't expect overnight miracles.)

I will write more about recipes for stocks later, but basically you cover bones with water and a little vinegar for a couple of hours, then bring to a boil, skim any scum, and simmer several hours. I'll do the simmer part overnight in my crock pot.

You can add any veggies and/or herbs you choose, but strongly-flavored ones will impart their taste on the stock. I have a freezer container of carrot pulp from making juice, and some odds and ends of cooked vegetable water to add. Some bones, like beef and lamb, benefit from slow oven roasting before soaking and simmering, giving up a more flavorful broth.

For more information, see Sally Fallon, and ¹ Dr. Kaayla Daniel

Brix, Food and Cannabis

Photo from Oilbac's photostream

I belong to a discussion group about improving soil for better Brix, and lately there have been some amusing comments I thought I'd share.

The moderator commented that he said many years ago agriculture would not be revolutionized until a million housewives/mothers showed up at the grocery stores, brixmeter (refractometer) in hand, and screaming, "take this junk back and get us some real food". If that happened, farmers can and would do the right things to the soil for higher Brix... whether organic, or conventional farmers.

Then someone posted that there is some excited discussion on the Cannagraphic Magazine Forums about raising the quality of pot using refractometers to measure Brix.

The moderator replied that it's amazing that we live in a world where you can buy better quality dope than food!