Category: Interesting Information

Information I want to share in a non-essay form

Books, Documentaries, Reviews AND Interesting Information: No Time To Cook

Books, Documentaries, Reviews AND Interesting Information:  July 11, 2014

No Time To Cook

 

I’m so enjoying this summer.

In the mornings, I’m getting up early, feeding and releasing the chickens from their coop, feeding the dogs, making a big cup of tea, and sitting on my back deck with a book for at least an hour before really starting my day.

At night, before bed, I read fiction.  In these early morning hours, I am reading mostly nonfiction.  My current book is Michael Pollen’s Cooked, which I’m really enjoying in all kinds of ways.  I love the way Pollen THINKS about his subjects as it’s thinking that is informed by a lot of research of all kinds–to include spending time cooking.

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I’ve waded through the “fire” section–which is all about roasting meat over coals and all the implications of this very male form of cooking.  Think pit barbecue.

I’ve almost finished “water”–which involves stewing, souping, braising–or cooking in a pot with aromatics and liquids.  This “water” section also takes on the fact that we say we have no TIME to cook any more.  If buying food saves us thirty minutes a day, what are we doing with that time?

But wait!  Does buying food really save us thirty minutes?  Does going to a restaurant?

Americans work longer than any other industrial nation, writes Pollen.  Since 1967, we’ve added 167 hours, or the equivalent of a month’s full-time labor, to our work year.  With two parents involved, the amount is more like 400 hours.  Why?

This probably owes to the fact that, historically, the priority of the American labor movement has been to fight for money, whereas the European labor movement has fought harder for time–a shorter workweek, longer vacations.  Not surprisingly, in those countries where people still take home cooking seriously, as they do in much of Europe, they also have more time to devote to it (183).

And these people who cook are thinner, Pollen points out in a number of places in the book:  “the more time a nation devotes to food preparation at home, the lower its rate obesity” (191, 192).

So, we spend more time working.  We spend more time on the car.  We spend more time shopping.  We spend more time in front of screens (35 hours a week on average watching tv), surfing the Web (13 hours), and playing games on our smart phones.

Folks, WE HAVE TIME TO COOK good food.  It’s always already about the choices we are making, isn’t it?

We’re also doing a lot of what is called “secondary eating”–or eating while doing something else:  watching tv, driving, getting dressed, and so on.  We now spend 78 minutes a day in secondary eating and drinking (190).

Pollen and his family try an experiment:  Microwave Night.

He and his son go to the grocery store to pick out a dish for each person–three dishes (the third for his wife) and a dessert.  The total cost was $27.  (Pollen notes that he could have bought grass fed beef and veggies for a stew that would feed the family for two nights for the same amount of money.)  Their first obstacle is to buy food that has recognizable ingredients and isn’t full of hydrolyzed vegetable protein (soy).  Their second is realizing that some of their foods have packages that announce that they need to be cooked in the oven for best results and will take up to 45 minutes.

To make a longer story short, it takes an hour to microwave all the food–and at no time can they sit down together at the table as someone is always checking on the dishes in the microwave or their food isn’t ready yet, or is, but is getting cold.  Dinner time was a disaster in terms of family time.  The food also all tasted “remarkably similar”–no matter how exotically different–and much like what airline food used to taste like.

The next night, they ate a stew, visited over the table, and were relaxed and energized.  The stew had been in the refrigerator since Sunday–when it had been cooked for the week–a practice Pollen has worked into his schedule.

By the time the sweet smells of allspice, juniper, and clove began to fill the house, Isaac and Judith had gravitated to the kitchen; I never had to call them to dinner.  I brought the pot out to the table, and began serving everyone from it (200).

For the first time all day, it felt like we were all on the same page, and though it would be overstating things to credit that feeling entirely to the delicious braise, it would also be wrong to think that eating the same thing from the same pot, this weeknight communion of the casserole, had nothing to do with it, either (201)

So, I’m looking forward to the Air and Earth sections of Cooked.

And I remain certain that I will continue to “occupy my kitchen”–as I have all of my adult life.

Interesting Information: “Water Fluoridation Lowers IQ: Medication Without Consent”

Interesting Information:  July 10, 2014

“Water Fluoridation Lowers IQ:  Medication Without Consent”

 

Here’s a quote from this little sidebar article in the July/August 2014 issue of Well Being Journal (10, 12):

At present, 37 out of 43 studies, conducted in China, India, Iran, and Mexico, show water fluoridation lowers IQ in children.  Even the lowest level of fluoride assessed in these studies–1.8 part per million–lowered IQ.

So why is fluoride still being added to our water???

I’ve written at least three Mainely Tipping Points Essays on the high points of the issues involved in water fluoridation–using information from scientists with the credentials to evaluate this issue.  You can click on the Mainely Tipping Points Essays OR use the search button on the right side bar.

Interesting Information: Magnificent Magnesium Rescues The Heart

Interesting Information:  June 9, 2014

Magnificent Magnesium Rescues The Heart

 

So many people I know are taking blood pressure medicines.

And many of them are having additional problems as well.

I am wondering if the additional problems are connected to the BP med and/or to the other meds that seem to accompany the decision to take the BP med?

 

I ran across an article in the July/August 2014 issue of Well Being Journal that offers some interesting information about my question:  “Magnesium Balances Calcium and Rescues the Heart” by Scott E. Miners.

Basically, the article is a review of Carolyn Dean, M.D.’s book THE MAGNESIUM MIRACLE.

I googled Dean and discovered that she is both an MD and a Naturopath Doctor–so she sits astride the chasm that often lies between allopathic (mainstream medicine) and alternative medicine.   In addition, she worked with magnesium expert Mildred Seelig, MD.

 

Disclaimer:      Since posting this review, with the help of PhD nutritionist Judith Valentine, I did more research on Carolyn Dean.  (See judithvalentine.com)  Dean is really riding the coat tails of Mildred Seelig’s very valid and published work on magnesium.  Take a look at Selig’s publishing record:  http://www.mgwater.com/seelig.shtml.  It turns out that Dean lost her Canadian MD license.  Yes, she is operating out of the medical norm and is critical of today’s doctors and that’s always a problem for the medical police, but having said that, there is just too much “off” about Dean herself.  I ordered Dean’s picometer magnesium, for sale on her web site.  Maybe it’s ok.  She owns the company, which is now based in Hawaii.  (It’s unclear if California has also revoked her medical license.)  I have to tell you that Dean’s liquid magnesium tastes TERRIBLE.  My body just hates it, for whatever that’s worth.  For also whatever it’s worth, I’ve had no more leg cramps and none of the diarrhea that  some forms of magnesium that hang around in the gut can cause.  I think there is enough evidence that what Dean is saying about magnesium deficiency in Americans and the tremendous downsides to getting caught up in three to five medicines is probably accurate–so I am leaving the post here–but putting in this disclaimer.  And I have no idea about the quality of her magnesium product.  I also think WELL BEING JOURNAL needs to review their info on Dean’s work.

Dean thinks that about 80 percent of Americans are magnesium deficient.

Magnesium is the mineral that “activates” nerves and muscles, “including,” writes Miners, “the muscle cells in the heart.”  Further, “magnesium is important for maintaining optimal heart rhythm, blood pressure, muscle and nerve function, blood sugar regulation, and brain health.”  Signs of magnesium deficiency are “constipation and other digestive problems, irregularities in menstrual flow and reproductive health, muscle spasms, nocturnal leg cramps, and migraine headaches.”  And “loss of appetite, fatigue, numbness or tingling, and nausea.”

One idea I walked away with was the notion that blood tests don’t show magnesium deficiency because the body robs magnesium from other sites in the body to keep the blood level at about 1% magnesium.

Another idea was that one has to eat significant amounts of foods containing magnesium to get enough–and even then, the amount of magnesium in the foods can depend upon the soils in which the food grew.  With commercial farming, soil depletion is increasingly a problem.  The magnesium food list is seaweeds, leafy dark green vegetables like chard and kale, legumes, green beans, almonds, cashews, filberts, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds.

Dean says most magnesium supplements , especially magnesium oxide, are poorly absorbed.  Up to 96 percent stays in the digestive system, where it acts as a laxative, rather than getting to the cells where it is desperately needed.  Dean recommends picometer-sized forms of magnesium as that form can be totally absorbed at the cellular level.  Epsom salt soaking (magnesium sulfate) is another excellent way to get more magnesium into your system.  [And, more sulfur–see other blog posts on sulfur deficiency.]

DRUGS DEPLETE MAGNESIUM, says Dean–based on Seelig’s laboratory work with drugs and her own work since working with Seelig.  (Seelig tried to tell her drug company bosses that their drugs were depleting magnesium in bodies, but they “weren’t interested.”)

Dean details the following situation:   you are stressed when you see your doctor, so your BP might be high at that moment.  The doctor might put you on a diuretic–which drains your magnesium and potassium, which makes your blood pressure truly higher.  So now the doc will “worry that your calcium levels are going to rise, and will prescribe a calcium channel blocker.  Most doctors don’t know that magnesium is a natural calcium channel blocker.”  And, they’ll put you on a third drug, an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor.  So now you’re on three drugs.

But the tale continues:

After two or three months, you come back and have blood taken to make sure the drugs aren’t hurting your liver….But all of a sudden your cholesterol is elevated; your blood sugar is elevated….The doctor says, “Oh, we caught your cholesterol.  We just caught your blood sugar.  We can put you on medications.”  Dean goes on to say that they didn’t catch these conditions; they caused them.  The more you reduce your magnesium, the more your cholesterol will go out of control.  She notes magnesium is important to balance an enzyme used in the manufacture of cholesterol in the body; magnesium helps to stabilize cholesterol.

Further, Dean notes that Statin drugs destroy an enzyme that magnesium needs.   And, that a sign of diabetes is low magnesium.

Miners notes that Dean writes that “doctors only recognize drug side effects 4 percent of the time because they do not want to believe they are harming their patients via their prescriptions.  More, drug intake also causes inflammation.”

And, isn’t this situation the HUGE elephant in the medical room these days?  Doctors are caught in what I’ve been calling a “kool-aid loop” of information crafted by the drug industry AND by the “standards of care” they are expected to follow.  It’s the rare doctor these days who is researching this information for themselves and trying to understand what is really happening in bodies.  Dean appears to be one of the rare ones.

Here’s what Dean says to do:  keep taking magnesium:

Take it in the various sources:  the picometer-sized magnesium, Epsom salts, and so on.  Take an oxide if you’re constipated…you may need the magnesium oxide, but take the others as well.

I would note that magnesium and calcium are “paired”–one effects the other.  Too much magnesium can block calcium.  But, my thinking is that if you are eating dairy products (cheese, yogurt, milk), nuts, seeds, homemade bone broth, and dark leafy vegetables, adding a quality source of magnesium to protect your heart might be a good idea.  I’m going to do it.

 

SO WHAT’S A GOOD BP TO HAVE?

I don’t have high blood pressure.  But I had always heard that 100 plus your age–over 90–was a reasonable BP, especially as you age.   Sherry A. Rogers, MD, an environmental doctor who has been a fairly prolific writer, has a book called THE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE HOAX.  She quite seriously supports the more modern BP figure of 120 over 70.  BUT she advocates trying to figure out why the BP is high and counsels treating with diet and other lifestyle changes.  You can read a Weston A. Price book review at the following url if you want more information on this subject of BP measurements.

High Blood Pressure Hoax by Sherry A. Rogers

Interesting Information: Charcoal for White Teeth

Interesting Information:  June 29, 2014

Charcoal for White Teeth

 

Some months back, niece Nancy Howser Gardner posted an article about using charcoal to whiten teeth.

Here’s what I bought.  The bottle is full of capsules.  You break one open (into a glass or mug), dip in your toothbrush, and lightly brush.

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I was SHOCKED at how black, black, black my toothbrush got, and my teeth, and everywhere I dripped–which is why I’m suggesting a glass or mug from the get-go.  My goodness, I thought, what have I done.

And then I rinsed.

I was SHOCKED again at how WHITE MY TEETH WERE.

The plus here is that the charcoal is highly absorbent, but takes away tea tannins, coffee stains, and the like–not the minerals from your teeth or the enzymes from your mouth.

No questionable chemicals here.  Just plain old charcoal.

Oh my goodness…

The remains in my toothbrush continued to clean, too.  And I’m thinking that the more one uses the charcoal, the more absorption of dark things takes place.

 

 

Interesting Information: Dr. Oz and Weight Loss Scams

Interesting Information:  June 25, 2014

Dr. Oz Promotes Weight-Loss Scams

 

I’ll bet I got 20 to 30 emails or questions about Pure Green Coffee, raspberry ketone, and Garcinia Cambogia over the past few years.  Many from people who should either know better or were just sharing.

I kept responding that there was no science behind these claims.

None.

Zero.

And I repeated that I didn’t care what Dr. Oz was saying because he had clearly sold out in some fundamental way.

I’d like to follow the money with regard to Oz’s (let’s remove the title “Doctor” from his name please as he’s an entertainer) claims about these fake weight-loss product, and I’ll bet someone will discover  that Oz is personally benefitting from these fake products.  Why else would he behave in this shabby way?

I’ll go further and tell you that I think and have said to many that Oz is a megalomanic who is only interested in himself.  I watched the program one day as Dr. Kaayla Daniel was a guest speaker meant to discuss soy issues.  Oz allowed her one or two sentences TOTAL and ended that segment by passing out soy plants to the audience.  I thought then that he had sold out in some way to the soy industry.  Dr. Daniel is a recognized authority on humans eating soy and published an impeccably researched book on all the ins and outs of soy and the soy industry.

Dr. Joseph Mercola’s post today discusses this Oz issue.  Here’s part of what he wrote, and I hope you go to the url below and read the rest as false advertising is ILLEGAL.

 

Senate Hearing Puts Dr. Oz in the Hot Seat

The hearing featured testimony from Dr. Mehmet Oz, who ended up getting grilled over his role in promoting what amounts to fantasy.2 According to Senator Claire McCaskill’s website:

“Last month the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is suing the Florida-based company, Pure Green Coffee, alleging that it capitalized on the green coffee bean diet fad by using bogus weight-loss claims and fake news websites to market its dietary supplement.

The FTC claimed that weeks after green coffee was promoted on the Dr. Oz Show, Pure Green Coffee began selling their Pure Green Coffee extract, charging $50 for a one-month supply.”

Senator McCaskill read off a number of statements Dr. Oz has made on his show, such as:

“You may think magic is make-believe, but this little bean has scientists saying they’ve found the magic weight loss cure for every body type: It’s green coffee extract.”

“I’ve got the number-one miracle in a bottle, to burn your fat: It’s raspberry ketone.” “Garcinia cambogia: It may be the simple solution you’ve been looking for to bust your body fat for good.”

“I don’t know why you need to say this stuff,” McCaskill said, “because you know it’s not true.” Indeed, Dr. Oz is quite knowledgeable and we agree on many things. Unfortunately, I think he may have fallen into the ratings game when it comes to pushing “magic” weight loss pills.

I personally disagree with his stance on hyping up weight loss supplements. I’m particularly against the idea that a pill would be able to take the place of eating right and exercising, and this is something Dr. Oz is likely encouraged to promote due to successful ratings.

In a November 2012 show, he stated: “Thanks to brand new scientific research, I can tell you about a revolutionary fat buster. It’s called Garcinia cambogia.” Meanwhile, the words “No exercise. No Diet. No Effort” were emblazoned on the screen behind him. Most recently, Dr. Oz featured a product he referred to as “my Rapid Belly Melt.”3 Part of the show involved audience members photographing their stomachs. The photos were then photoshopped into a slimmer version. This, supposedly, was the result you could glean from this “insta belly melt” product.

It’s quite clear to me that these kinds of products, and especially these kinds of fantasy-based promotions, devalue the supplement industry as a whole. This is tragic, considering the fact that nutritional supplements serve a critical function by helping to correct specific nutritional imbalances or deficiencies.

Weight Loss Supplements: Are They Worth the Potential Risks?.

 

Here, too, is John Oliver in a 14-minute clip completely destroying what Oz has done–if you want to see for yourself the claims Oz was making.

Watch John Oliver Verbally Pants Dr. Oz Over Dietary Supplements.

 

Meanwhile, note that the only way to weight loss and good health is eating clean, nutrient-dense foods that are, hopefully, locally sourced so you are eating them in season and at the height of their powers.

There are no magic bullets to undo that which we have done.

Interesting Information and Turkey Tracks: Weed/lawn Chemicals

Interesting Information and Turkey Tracks:  June 1, 2014

Weed/lawn Chemicals

 

Here’s a really lovely column from my neighbor Marina Schauffler on using lawn chemicals and weed killers.  This column appeared in the Maine Sunday Telegram today.

http://www.pressherald.com/life/Sea_change__Create_a_thriving_backyard_community_.html

 

Here’s an attempt to paste the column–not always easy with the ipad…

 

Sea Change: Create a thriving backyard community
See your yard as habitat, not lawn.
By Marina Schauffler

Landscape planners encourage us to visualize the area around our homes in terms of rooms that act as external living spaces. If we extend this idea, going beyond visions of upscale patios with grill stations, we can see our yards as habitats that help supply what we need to thrive: food, water, community and beauty.

Consider starting with “edible landscaping” – plants that provide fruits, blooms, roots and greens to enjoy through the growing season. Foraging opportunities include plants that typically have only decorative use – like daylilies and wild beach rose. Ample guidance exists for those seeking to create edible yards, thanks to the tireless efforts of Scarborough’s Roger Doiron, founder of Kitchen Gardeners International (kgi.org), and book authors like Rosalind Creasy and Lee Reich.

To generate abundant food, your backyard habitat will need consistent water. Gutters and rain barrels can capture downpours and help redirect water to plants during dry spells. Mulching with materials like shredded leaves or composted wood chips can help the soil hold moisture, and reduce the number of uninvited plants that take up residence. Mulching also helps feed the staggering number of microorganisms that share in the habitat underfoot: one square yard of healthy soil can contain more than a billion bacteria, fungi, nematodes, earthworms and other creatures reliant on organic matter. To keep them happy, factor a “compost room” into your yard design if you can, or sign up for a service like Garbage to Garden that takes away food scraps and delivers finished compost.

Many species that live within backyard habitats contribute to the health of the whole in ways we’re only beginning to understand. It helps, therefore, to approach yard management with humility – striving to observe carefully, learn continually and consider the essential needs of other creatures. In her book “Suburban Safari,” South Portland writer Hannah Holmes characterizes this as a move from “biological boss” to “benevolent dictator.”

In an increasingly developed and polluted world, our yards need to be a safe haven. Consider, for example, a pair of warblers that takes up residence in a nearby bush. They’ve migrated thousands of miles, possibly from wintering grounds compromised by deforestation. That journey, made more challenging by light pollution, may have been through areas of drought where food and water were scarce. Their grassy nest is interwoven with ubiquitous plastic trash. Will the yard they rely on for insects be doused with toxic lawn-care  products?

If we take a communal view of our yards and acknowledge the needs of all the resident creatures, applying pesticides becomes a short-sighted and untenable choice. By definition, habitats are places that foster life, so deliberately introducing a far-reaching agent of death produces a fundamental conflict. E.B. White described this paradox in his 1949 poem “Pasture Management” (see sidebar) about the herbicide 2,4-D. Still a common ingredient in lawn-care products (with more than 40 million pounds applied annually in the US), 2, 4-D is linked in numerous studies to groundwater contamination, wildlife die-offs and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

As White demonstrates, taking a more benevolent view of our fellow species moves us beyond the spray-bottle illusion that we can eliminate unwanted “pests.” When we see ourselves as part of an interdependent community of organisms, we gain confidence that imbalances will rectify themselves if we foster the health and resilience of the whole. That principle applies in our yards, and in our watersheds – where our backyard actions have impacts far downstream.

 

PASTURE MANAGEMENT

E. B. White

Down below the pasture pond,
O’er the lovely lea,
I went spraying bushes
With 2,4-D.

(For young, susceptible annual weeds,
apply one to two pints per acre.)

I had read my bulletins,
I was in the know
The two young heifers
Came and watched the show.

(Along ditches and fence rows, use 2,4-D when weeds
are in a succulent stage. Won’t harm livestock.)

Rank grew the pasture weeds,
The thistle and the bay;
A quiet, still morning,
A good time to spray.

(Control weeds the easy way with Agricultural Weed-No-More –
not by chemical burn but by hormone action.)

Suddenly I looked and saw
What my spray had found:
The wild, shy strawberry
Was everywhere around.

(An alkyl ester of 2,4-D is produced by
reacting alcohol with the raw 2,4-D acid.
The result is an oily liquid that sticks to weed leaves.)

What sort of madness
Little man is this?
What sort of answer to
The wild berry’s kiss?

(Any 3- or 4-gallon garden pump-up sprayer
can be used, after the standard nozzle
has been replaced with a new precision nozzle.)

It seemed to me incredible
That I’d begun the day
By rendering inedible
A meal that came my way.
All across the pasture in
The strip I’d completed
Lay wild, ripe berries
With hormones treated.

(The booklet gives you the complete story.)

I stared at the heifers,
An idiot child;
I stared at the berries
That I had defiled
I stared at the lambkill,
The juniper and bay.
I walked home slowly
And put my pump away.
Weed-no-more, my lady,
O weed no more today.
(Available in quarts, l-gallon and 5-gallon cans, and 55-gallon drums).

— E.B. White, “Poems & Sketches of E.B. White”

A BETTER BACKYARD HABITAT

1. Learn more about ecological practices to foster healthy lawns and gardens at sites like
http://www.yardscaping.org
and
http://www.cascobay.org/bayscaping
Visit the yardscaping demonstration garden along the Back Cove in Portland.
2. Think soil health before lawn care. Take a soil sample – kits are available through county Cooperative Extension offices – and build organic matter (leave grass clippings on the lawn and top-dress each season with a quarter-inch of fine compost).
3. Avoid a summer buzz cut: Mow at a height of 3 inches since taller grass withstands drought better and helps shade weed seeds.
4. Create diversity: Consider replacing some of your turf with native plants, flowering shrubs and groundcovers.
5. Go native: Avoid botanical thugs like purple loosestrife, burning bush and Asiatic bittersweet. Read “Gardening to Conserve Maine’s Native Landscape” at http://www.umaine.edu/publications/2500e/
6. Look online to find the Material Safety Data Sheet for any substance you (or your lawn-care firm) might apply. For reference, read “The Organic Lawn Care Manual” by former Maine resident and Safe Lawns founder Paul Tukey.

Marina Schauffler, Ph.D., is a writer and environmental consultant who runs Natural Choices (naturalchoices.com). She is also a volunteer Master Gardener.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting Information: Jello…is Toxic!

Interesting Information:  May 24, 2014

 

Jello is Toxic!

 

Last summer when the kiddos were here, one had severe stomach upset and diarrhea.

We tried all the good cures:  applesauce, bone broths, banana.   Not much was working.  Jello, we thought.  That might help.

We went to the store and bought several packages of fruity jello.

Then we got home, read the labels–which we should have done in the store–and threw out the packages.

There was NO WAY we were feeding this jello to anyone.

And it’s not just a matter of A LOT of sugar…

The ingredients are…scary.

Slide13

 

Niece Nancy Howser Gardner sent me this post from the Food Babe blog–where the writer goes into much more detail about why these ingredients are extremely problematic.

http://foodbabe.com/2014/05/21/this-childhood-favorite-has-a-warning-label-in-europe-why-not-here/

***

Gelatin from healthy animals is laden with minerals and nutrient-dense fats and lots of other ingredients.  This gelatin is what makes a good broth…into jello.

Apparently it’s easy to make delicious gelatin desserts by using a safe, clean source of gelatin.  It’s something I’m going to try this summer.

I’ll keep you posted if a really good recipe develops.

 

 

 

Interesting Information: “Ingredients” Documentary Looks at the American Food System

Interesting  Information:  May 24, 2014

 

INGREDIENTS

A New Documentary

Dr. Joseph Mercola posted a blog on the new documentary Ingredients recently.

This blog post of mine is not included under “Books, Documentaries, Reviews” because I have not yet seen this film

Here’s part of what Dr. Mercola’s blog says.  There is more, of course.  I put the url at the bottom of this entry.  Do pay attention to the real costs incurred in “cheap” food.  And note that on average Americans pay less than 7% of their income for their food weekly–yet what you put into your body about three times a day has real and important connections to your well being and health.  Poor health, as is noted below, is expensive.

 

 

The American food system is nearing a state of crisis. Ingredients is a documentary that explores the failings of the industrial food model, and how the local food movement is gaining momentum as a far better alternative. The film presents a refreshing look at food from the standpoint of sustainability, safety, flavor, nutrition, culture, and community.

This documentary takes us across the US from the urban food deserts of Harlem to the biodynamic farms of the Hudson River and Willamette Valleys, and into the kitchens of several celebrated chefs—culinary game-changers who are teaching us all how to eat better.

The current system, focused on cheap convenience foods, is costing Americans dearly. Most Westerners have lost their primal connection to food. Mealtimes used to be savored and shared with others.

Food preparation is now typically viewed as a chore that interferes with other “more important” activities. This detachment from food represents a cultural “disconnect” between humans and the earth, to the detriment of both. It’s time for radical changes to our modern food paradigm, which is the subject of this uplifting documentary.

The Exorbitant Cost of ‘Cheap Food’

Americans have become dependent on cheap convenience foods that can be “prepared” in five minutes or less—or without taking both hands off the steering wheel. More than 17,000 new processed food products are introduced each year. Bright, catchy packaging conceals foods laden with chemicals, unhealthful fats, and high fructose corn syrup, all of which contribute to today’s skyrocketing rates of obesity and illness, especially among our youth.

Americans spend less on food than any other industrialized nation—an average of $151 per week, which amounts to less than seven percent of their income. How can such a low value be placed on something so important for your health and longevity?

The US beef industry has managed to cut its prices in half since 1960. Unfortunately, cheap food contains cheap and toxic ingredients… and you get what you pay for. Food imports have increased four-fold over the past decade, overwhelming the FDA with inspections. Of the 200,000 shipments from China in 2006, less than two percent were sampled for quality and safety.

“Cheap food” isn’t cheap when you consider all of the hidden costs associated with it. You make your first payment at the grocery store—just consider this your down payment, because you may be paying for it FIVE more times!

  1. Subsidies: At tax time, you pay for “cheap food” a second time with your contribution to agricultural subsidies. Processed food is mostly corn, canola, soy, rice, wheat, and sugar. These products (along with cotton) account for 98 percent of subsidies.
  2. Foodborne Illnesses: You may pay for cheap food a third time if you visit your doctor as a result of foodborne illnesses. CDC estimates that foodborne illnesses such as E. coli and salmonella cause 5,200 deaths each year in the US. Mass scale operations are riddled with quality control problems, leading to outbreaks of illness and food recalls.
  3. Chronic Disease: You pay for it a fourth time if you return to your doctor later for a chronic illness—heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, and cancer—consider these “foodborne” illnesses that just take a little longer to manifest. According to CDC, one in three children born in the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes.
  4. Environment: As soon as the factory farmer files for bankruptcy and leaves, you pay for your food a fifth time. This is what often happens when they are asked to clean up their land—a monumental expense that often results in bankruptcy, sticking the rest of us with the tab.
  5. Energy: The sixth time is when you pay your fuel bill. Processed foods and imported foods have an extremely large energy footprint. One-fifth of US fossil fuel consumption goes to the growing, packaging, and transporting of food.

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/19/ingredients-documentary-american-food.aspx

 

 

 

 

Interesting Information: Importance of Microbial Diversity in Gut Health and Disease

Interesting Information:  May 16, 2014

Importance of Microbial Diversity in Gut Health and Disease

Mercola posted an important article on the importance of microbial diversity for human health this past week.

Here’s how the article begins:

Our gastrointestinal tract is now considered one of the most complex microbial ecosystems on Earth. You may have a basic awareness that the microbes in your gut affect your digestion. But their influence extends far beyond that to your brain, heart, skin, mood, weight… and the list goes on and on.

Here’s the url:  Importance of Microbial Diversity in Gut Health and Disease.

Did you know that in addition gut flora and fauna, we also carry a load of viruses that work to keep us healthy?

I didn’t.  That’s a new one for me to learn.

And the state of our individual guts has a lot to do with how we respond to cancer.  Or, not–in that if our gut is balanced, our immune system is strong, and we stay healthy.

Here’s another quote:

All these intestinal microflora are part of your immune system and about 80 percent of it originates in your gut. Researchers have discovered that microbes of all kinds play instrumental roles in the functioning of your body. For example, beneficial bacteria, also known as probiotics, have been shown to:

For all of these reasons, and more, I recommend a diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods along with cultured or fermented foods. If, for whatever reason you are not consuming fermented foods at least a few times a week, it’s wise to consider supplementation.

Mercola’s recommendations for promoting gut health:

All of this information should really drive home the point that optimizing your gut flora is of critical importance for disease prevention, including cancer prevention. Reseeding your gut with beneficial bacteria is essential for maintaining proper balance here. As mentioned, beneficial bacteria help keep pathogenic microbes and fungi in check; preventing them from taking over. In light of this, here are my recommendations for optimizing your gut bacteria.

      • Fermented foods are the best route to optimal digestive health, as long as you eat the traditionally made, unpasteurized versions. Healthy choices include lassi (an Indian yoghurt drink, traditionally enjoyed before dinner), fermented grass-fed organic milk such as kefir, various pickled fermentations of cabbage, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash, and carrots, and natto (fermented soy). Some of the beneficial bacteria found in fermented foods are also excellent chelators of heavy metals and pesticides, which will also have a beneficial health effect by reducing your toxic load.
      • Fermented vegetables are an excellent way to supply beneficial bacteria back into our gut. And, unlike some other fermented foods, they tend to be palatable, if not downright delicious, to most people. As an added bonus, they can also a great source of vitamin K2 if you ferment your own using the proper starter culture. We had samples of high-quality, fermented organic vegetables made with our specific starter culture tested, and a typical serving (about two to three ounces) contained not only 10 trillion beneficial bacteria, but it also had 500 mcg of vitamin K2, which we now know is a vital co-nutrient to both vitamin D and calcium. Most high-quality probiotics supplements will only supply you with a fraction of the beneficial bacteria found in such homemade fermented veggies, so it’s your most economical route to optimal gut health as well.
    • Probiotic supplement. Although I’m not a major proponent of taking many supplements (as I believe the majority of your nutrients need to come from food), probiotics is an exception if you don’t eat fermented foods on a regular basis.

In addition to knowing what to add to your diet and lifestyle, it’s equally important to know what to avoid, and these include:

Antibiotics, unless absolutely necessary (and when you do, make sure to reseed your gut with fermented foods and/or a probiotic supplement)

Conventionally-raised meats and other animal products, as CAFO animals are routinely fed low-dose antibiotics, plus genetically engineered grains, which have also been implicated in the destruction of gut flora

Processed foods (as the excessive sugars, along with otherwise “dead” nutrients, feed pathogenic bacteria)

Chlorinated and/or fluoridated water

Antibacterial soap

Agricultural chemicals, glyphosate (Roundup) in particular
Do take a moment and read the entire article.  It’s an important one.

 

Interesting Information: Adequate Fat-soluble Vitamins (A, D, and K) Intake Is A Challenge Today

Interesting Information:  May 2, 2014

Adequate Fat-Soluble Vitamins (A, D, and K) Intake Is A Challenge Today

 

Here’s a sidebar entitled “The Challenge” from the Winter 2013 issue of the journal of The Weston A. Price Foundation’s journal, Wise Traditions (39):

 

Weston Price found that indigenous people consumed over 12,000 IU of fat-soluble vitamin A and over 1500 MG calcium in their diets on a daily basis.  In our experience these are amongst the most difficult elements to get enough of in an industrial diet, as well as in a non-industrial whole foods diet.

Some groups of people he studied ate little or no meat, but large quantities of raw or fermented milk and cream; others ate beans and grain and small amounts of animal products, including insects and dried shrimp and fish.

But no matter what the particulars of the diet, all had high levels of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K, as well as calcium.  Obtaining these from either the industrial diet or a small garden is the challenge of the modern age.

Food for thought…