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
Source
Showing posts with label Real Milk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real Milk. Show all posts
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Undeclared Aspartame in milk, yogurt?
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) filed a petition with the FDA on 20 February 2013 to alter the definition of "milk" to secretly include chemical sweeteners like aspartame and chlorine-containing sucralose without them being listed on the label.
The full text of the Petition to Amend the Standard of Identity for Milk and 17 Additional Dairy Products may be found in the Federal Register here. Scroll down to "Food and Drug Administration, Proposed Rules" for the PDF.
The petition requests that FDA similarly amend the standards of identity for 17 other milk and cream products. Those standards (referred to as the “additional dairy standards”) are as follows:
Acidified milk (§ 131.111)
cultured milk (§ 131.112)
sweetened condensed milk (§ 131.120)
nonfat dry milk (§ 131.125)
nonfat dry milk fortified with vitamins A and D (§ 131.127)
evaporated milk (§ 131.130)
dry cream (§ 131.149)
heavy cream (§ 131.150)
light cream (§ 131.155)
light whipping cream (§ 131.157)
sour cream (§ 131.160)
acidified sour cream (§ 131.162)
eggnog (§ 131.170)
half-and-half (§ 131.180)
yogurt (§ 131.200)
lowfat yogurt (§ 131.203)
nonfat yogurt (§ 131.206)
According to Natural News: DFA and NMPF argue that nutrient content claims such as "reduced calorie" are not attractive to children, and maintain that consumers can more easily identify the overall nutritional value of milk products that are flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners if the labels do not include such claims. Further, the petitioners assert that consumers do not recognize milk -- including flavored milk -- as necessarily containing sugar. Accordingly, the petitioners state that milk flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners should be labeled as milk without further claims so that consumers can "more easily identify its overall nutritional value."
This is all being done to "save the children," we're told, because the use of aspartame in milk products would reduce calories.
In other words, hiding aspartame from consumers by not including it on the label actually helps consumers, according to the IDFA and NMPF!
Yep, consumers are best served by keeping them ignorant. If this logic smacks of the same kind of twisted deception practiced by Monsanto, that's because it's identical: the less consumers know, the more they are helped, according to industry. And it's for the children, too, because children are also best served by keeping them poisoned with aspartame.
Consumers have always been kept in the dark about pink slime, meat glue, rBGH and GMOs in their food. And now, if the IDFA gets its way, you'll be able to drink hormone-contaminated milk from an antibiotics-inundated cow fed genetically modified crops and producing milk containing hidden aspartame. And you won't have the right to know about any of this!
The FDA confirms this "secret" status of aspartame, stating, "If the standard of identity for milk is amended as requested by petitioners, milk manufacturers could use non-nutritive sweeteners in flavored milk without a nutrient content claim in its labeling."
The full text of the Petition to Amend the Standard of Identity for Milk and 17 Additional Dairy Products may be found in the Federal Register here. Scroll down to "Food and Drug Administration, Proposed Rules" for the PDF.
The petition requests that FDA similarly amend the standards of identity for 17 other milk and cream products. Those standards (referred to as the “additional dairy standards”) are as follows:
Acidified milk (§ 131.111)
cultured milk (§ 131.112)
sweetened condensed milk (§ 131.120)
nonfat dry milk (§ 131.125)
nonfat dry milk fortified with vitamins A and D (§ 131.127)
evaporated milk (§ 131.130)
dry cream (§ 131.149)
heavy cream (§ 131.150)
light cream (§ 131.155)
light whipping cream (§ 131.157)
sour cream (§ 131.160)
acidified sour cream (§ 131.162)
eggnog (§ 131.170)
half-and-half (§ 131.180)
yogurt (§ 131.200)
lowfat yogurt (§ 131.203)
nonfat yogurt (§ 131.206)
According to Natural News: DFA and NMPF argue that nutrient content claims such as "reduced calorie" are not attractive to children, and maintain that consumers can more easily identify the overall nutritional value of milk products that are flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners if the labels do not include such claims. Further, the petitioners assert that consumers do not recognize milk -- including flavored milk -- as necessarily containing sugar. Accordingly, the petitioners state that milk flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners should be labeled as milk without further claims so that consumers can "more easily identify its overall nutritional value."
This is all being done to "save the children," we're told, because the use of aspartame in milk products would reduce calories.
In other words, hiding aspartame from consumers by not including it on the label actually helps consumers, according to the IDFA and NMPF!
Yep, consumers are best served by keeping them ignorant. If this logic smacks of the same kind of twisted deception practiced by Monsanto, that's because it's identical: the less consumers know, the more they are helped, according to industry. And it's for the children, too, because children are also best served by keeping them poisoned with aspartame.
Consumers have always been kept in the dark about pink slime, meat glue, rBGH and GMOs in their food. And now, if the IDFA gets its way, you'll be able to drink hormone-contaminated milk from an antibiotics-inundated cow fed genetically modified crops and producing milk containing hidden aspartame. And you won't have the right to know about any of this!
The FDA confirms this "secret" status of aspartame, stating, "If the standard of identity for milk is amended as requested by petitioners, milk manufacturers could use non-nutritive sweeteners in flavored milk without a nutrient content claim in its labeling."
The FDA is requesting public comments until May 25, 2013 on this dangerous proposed rule. Click here for instructions.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
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.)
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.
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.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
The War on American Soil
Yes, there really IS a war on American soil, and it's about our Rights to real food... and being force-fed adulterated and nutritionally unhealthy foods instead. This war on our right to control what we eat could grow into a major conflict, and the Feds have already brandished guns on food raids.
I ended up being admitted to my local hospital 2 weeks ago, with what they thought were cardiac problems. Immediately they put me on a "heart-healthy, low-sodium diet", and if I had been there long enough I might have starved. It wasn't the lack of salt on the foods, but that most of the foods were inferior to the point of absurdity. In fact, one meal had canned green beans (commercially canned) that were so full of sodium I couldn't eat them. So much for a low-sodium diet. The only exception was a cup of fresh sliced apples with a few grapes for contrast. The other cooked fruit dishes (and juice cups) were so high in sugar (or some kind of sweetener) I gagged. No wonder we have an obesity epidemic, and skyrocketing diabetes.
The "butter" for my hospital wonderbread toast was Promise®, which is 60% GMO vegetable oils, water, whey from milk, with some chemicals and chemical vitamins added. How healthy is that? They gave me a list of foods to avoid, like processed cheese and hot dogs. Hell, I already avoid all those foods, and most intelligent people know they are not "real food".
I've been thinking
about the control the government is trying to take on all of our foods.
What started as a "war on drugs" 40 years ago has mushroomed into the
government believing it has the authority to control everything we put
into our bodies. (They only control alcoholic beverages and cigarettes
to collect tax on it, not how much anyone consumes.) The war on drugs
isn't being won either, and they are putting more pressure on controlling foods and supplements.
Their propaganda machine (the CDC, Center for Disease Control,
government owned and operated) has been working overtime, to the extent
that almost everyone "buys" it, even doctors. "If the CDC says it's so, then it must be."
I do understand the need for some controls for food safety, like imported supplements of unknown safety, and particularly those foods that come from factory farms like milk, beef, pork, eggs and chicken. Some of those facilities are so foul that I won't eat anything from there no matter how safe they try to make it.
No milk comes from a factory farm that isn't pasteurized by law (cooked to destroy all pathogens but the cooking also destroys healthy nutrients like essential fatty-acids, enzymes and vitamins). The CDC says raw milk is unhealthy, but their own data from 1993-2006 shows on average 76,000,000 food-borne illnesses per year and only 116 of those were from raw milk.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Admiring a Man for Standing Up
 |
| Photos from The Bovine |
Y'know, regardless of where you stand, or even if you have no opinion on the matter, there's something admiral to be said for a man who stands firmly on his beliefs, and in the case of Ontario dairy farmer Michael Schmidt, his belief in food rights.
Although found guilty on appeal, fined over $9,000 and placed on a year's probation, he argues raw milk has greater health benefits than pasteurized milk, and
that consumers should have a right to decide what to put in their
bodies. The judge at his hearing told the court, “(Mr. Schmidt) is a man of principle. He’s
willing to fight for his principles. There’s a lot to admire about Mr.
Schmidt.”
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
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 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.)
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.)
¹ http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/history/biographies/louis_pasteur.htm
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Join Me in the Uncheese Party
The FDA is trying very hard to kill our nation’s local Real Food supply. This is the time for us, the people who grow and/or consume wholesome real foods to stand up and say ‘Enough!!".
If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know I promote and back Real Food 100%. I eat as much Real Food as the Government allows in my state, which isn't as much as I'd prefer to eat. I would prefer to buy and use nutritionally superior raw milk, and raw milk products, from a dairy (hopefully local, with good sanitation) but the government says I have no right to make that choice.
The Uncheese Party is running a campaign to raise the amount of money the family is losing, to help them from also losing the dairy. A contribution of $5 will 'buy' one pound of 'uncheese'... not actual cheese of course, but compensation for one pound of cheese. As broke as I always am at the end of the month, I still managed just now to 'purchase' some Uncheese. Won't you do the same?
I've been following the increasing number of FDA food raids in the recent months, knowing I am helpless to do anything except to rail against the PTB (Powers That Be), and Vote. Now, I can actually DO a small part to help a family the government has chosen to ruin, the family who owns Morningland Dairy.
Morningland Dairy (in Missouri) has been making raw milk cheese for 30 years, with not one person becoming ill from their products. Now the government has mandated the destruction of 50,000 pounds of their cheese without any actual testing of the cheese. If you are not familiar with the situation, read here.
We cannot do anything about that particular batch of cheese, but we can help the family to overcome the financial loss in the hopes that sane minds might somehow prevail, and the family can once again make and sell healthy raw milk cheese.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Real Milk and Local Dairies
Since Colorado passed legislation that allows their citizens the right to seek out and enjoy the healthy benefits of real milk, they have gone from 1 to 50 raw milk dairies in just a couple of years. These dairies can't keep up with the demand!
When you consider the idea that in Wyoming it is (technically, by their legal definition) illegal to consume food made in your own kitchen, maybe it doesn't seem so far out to grasp the fact that it is currently illegal to buy fresh, whole milk from your neighbor, or even drive to purchase it in one of the surrounding states and serve it to your family?
Maybe it doesn't seem so crazy that someone who owns a cow or a pig can butcher it themselves, or take it to the local custom meat processor and have it cut up for their own use... this is considered perfectly safe by the USDA, but the minute you might sell a pound of hamburger to anyone else, that same meat becomes absolutely illegal and unsafe? What? If the meat is safe for the person who owns the animal, why is it not safe for someone else? If all home butchered or custom meat is unsafe, why don't laws prohibit us from eating animals we own?
The point is that these laws and regulations have absolutely nothing to do with food safety, and everything to do with protecting big business from competition from local producers.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
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.)
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.)
Monday, March 22, 2010
'Black or Brown' A1/A2 Cow Milk Controversy
Photo from Vicky Frank's photostreamYes, there IS a controversy over milk from black cows versus milk from brown cows, but actually it's the A1 milk vs the A2 milk. Color matters.
HUH??
For several years now scientific testing of milk has been turning up some interesting facts that vary the healthfulness of milk from certain cows. Milk contains casein, which is a protein... more specifically, beta-casein. Beta casein contains an amino acid called BCM-7, a powerful opiate linked to negative health effects such as Type 1 Diabetes, heart disease, neurological impairment including autistic and schizophrenic changes and auto-immune disease.
Beta casein from older breeds of cows (like the brown & white Jersey and Guernsey cows) contains an amino acid called proline. (There will not be a test, so don't worry!) These cows typically produce A2 milk where the proline bonds to the BCM-7, which keeps it OUT of the milk.
In newer breeds of cows like the black & white Holstein cows, the amino acid proline has mutated to one named histadine. Histadine does not bond to BCM-7, so BCM-7 gets INTO the milk; that's called A1 milk and it is typically produced by Holsteins.
Why haven't we heard any of this? It's Easy. Follow the Money... The predominant cow for dairy products in the US is the Holstein cow. No one outside the dairy industry has any interest in paying for milk research, and the dairy industry likely won't pay for the research because it would be financially devastating regarding their herds.
Nonetheless, I understand many American and Canadian breeders are routinely testing herds for A2 genetics and breeding accordingly. There is still much research needed in order to be fully conclusive about A1 or A2 milk and disease.
I'd also like to see some conclusive evidence that grain-fed, pasteurized CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) milk is dangerous. Let us drink healthy raw milk if we so choose!
Because dead milk is dead milk, whether the cow is brown or black, I'll just find someone who sells raw milk from a brown cow and buy half the cow.
For more information: The Bovine; Real Milk.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Milk, and Making Cheese
Photo from NickPiggott's photostreamOnce again I am looking at the possibility of making cheese on a very small scale, which has brought up the subject of milk. Real Milk.
What is Real Milk? It's certainly not what is available to buy in most stores, and it's difficult to make good cheese from store milk.
Many years ago, Americans could buy fresh raw whole milk, real clabber and buttermilk, luscious naturally yellow butter, fresh farm cheeses and cream in various colors and thicknesses. Today's milk is accused of causing everything from allergies to heart disease to cancer, but when Americans could buy Real Milk, these diseases were rare. In fact, a supply of high-quality dairy products was considered vital to American security and the economic well being of the nation.
What's needed today is a return to humane, non-toxic, pasture-based dairying and small-scale traditional processing, in short . . . A Campaign for Real Milk. The Weston A Price Foundation is waging a Campaign for Real Milk across the country and their website explains all about milk much better than I can.
The consumption of raw milk is legal in every State, yet its sale is currently illegal in about half the States. Want to know the laws in your state? Click here.
Cow shares are legal in Virginia (where I live) and last summer I made a half-hearted attempt to find a local place to buy one share and did indeed find one. In the end, I did not buy it because it would have given me far more milk once per week than I could use, a 75 mile round-trip to fetch it, and a price I considered too high since the share required an initial investment as well.
Now that time has passed and I am continuing to learn more and more about health from real foods, it is time once again to look for a source of reliable, healthy raw milk. This year I might actually try my hand at making cheese if I can find real milk!
To that end, I'm looking at the possibility of joining a Weston A Price Foundation Local Chapter. They can help find local milk products, butter, eggs, organic and biodynamic local produce, as well as grass-fed chicken and meat.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)