Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Food, It's all so confusing now! Lectins.

Food is confusing.  There are so many choices out there, the grocery stores are filled to capacity with processed foods of every conceivable color, variety, flavor, base ingredient, heat level, grain, vegetable and even freeze dried ice cream.  And assailing your senses and your actual credulity at times are the hype and  purported scientific wisdom of various food factions, from the Neolithic, to the Paleolithic proponents to the Gluten-Free diet, to the no carb diet to the Hollywood diet and even the Grapefruit Diet.  And all of us are now pelted with the information from the big agribusinesses that want us to buy the new Genetically Modified foods out there and claiming that they are substantially similar to real food.  Even though they have never tested them.  

Lectins.  These are the big topic now with so many food fad fanatics.  Lectins are basically long chain glycoproteins that have a number of somewhat nasty characteristics.  From agglutinating white blood cells in our bloodstream to binding to the cilia in our intestines and opening the lining to allow intestinal fluid into our bloodstream itself.  Many lectins actually have anti-nutrient properties, blocking the absorption of necessary nutrients.  And the toxin Ricin, which was the big fear we had from terrorists, is a lectin.  It comes from Castor Beans, and anyone can make the stuff. 

Lectins are pretty much in most of the plants that grow in the world.  Lectins are part of a plants natural defense system with the plant producing the lectins so that insects, mold, fungi and people as well, get sick and maybe even die after eating them.  Some have more highly evolved lectin systems in them and are more toxic, case in point, the castor bean.  Soybeans have more toxic lectins in them than most other plants as well.  One of the main reasons soybeans don't need to have pesticides sprayed on them as much is because they contain that natural killer, lectin.  We do know that when a plant, like wheat, is stressed, the wheat plant then produces more lectin as a precaution.  One of the reasons that the lectin content of organic wheat is considerably less than the lectin content of similar strains of commercially raised wheat. 

So we know that if you soak legumes in water overnight and throw that water out, the lectin content of the cooked beans is dramatically less.  The same thing happens with grains, sort of.  If you sprout the grains first, by soaking them, then the resulting malted grain has a considerably lower lectin content.  High heat removes a huge portion of the lectins as well.  And not dry heat, but moist steam heat alters the content, again, dramatically.  One reason to cook beans and grains in a pressure cooker and not in a slow cooker.  But here is the one big thing that NO ONE has figured out yet.  I actually read this on the Cornell University Dept of Ag report about lectin.  That SIGNIFICANTLY more lectin was broken down by heat, steam, and digestive enzymes when in the presence of a base aqueous solution rather than an acidic one. 

So what does that mean, in real world terms?  It means that lectins are in just about everything that you eat.  Yes, my Paleo Food Fad Friends, even in nuts.  Some foods have more lectins than others, and lo and behold, it just seems that naturally those foods are the ones that we cook.  Except soy, those are just really nasty and fermenting is the only way to help them.  Archaeological evidence shows us that humans have in fact been eating wheat for over 115,000 years.  Those grains were crushed, then probably soaked.  Maybe even cooked.  We don't know, we just know that humans ate them.  And now the big one, if cooked in alkaline water, then most of the lectin content is neutralized.  One of the things that we need to look at about modern man over mankind of just 50 years ago is modern food, and how that food is prepared.  Yep, the SAD.  A big part of it all is the Standard American Diet.  One of the things that affects lectins is the REST of your diet.  If your diet is high in acid producing or acidic foods, then by god your naturally occurring lectin neutralization system is being compromised.  If your diet is high in raw vegetables, (which have a few naturally occurring lectins) high in real plain water, high in good fats, little or no meat, then you have a diet that is high in alkaline foods.  Meats, processed anything, chemical additives, soda, alcohol, white flour, white rice, sugars, generally all the crap in most modern diets, then you are no longer able to breakdown lectins naturally and must suffer the effects that all those experts talk about, lectin toxicity.  Yeah, it is a real thing and we bring on to ourselves with our own actions.  Not at all unlike a horrific hangover, it is your own fault, you can't blame anyone but yourself. 

We need to look at how food was processed in ancient times.  Yes, over fifty years ago.  Ancient.  But really, back in the old days, Native Americans found that if they soak their corn in ALKALINE water, that made it digestible.  Oriental cultures found that if they steamed their rice, it made it more digestible.  Ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean area found that if they sprouted grains, then ground them to make bread, it was more digestible.  Eliminating grains, the backbone of civilization will not make your lives better, embracing our ancestry and returning to our roots of how our lives evolved, with a grain diet, and eliminating all the processed toxins and nutrient deficient foods will!  I can't stress enough how important these simple steps are to returning to better health and avoidance of long term degenerative problems.  Cut down on meat, if you eat meat, make it organic.  Seafood must be low end of the predator scale wild caught species.  Never shark, swordfish or blue fin.  Eat organic vegetables, most should be raw or fermented.  Yes, cooked carrots are okay.  ELIMINATE soda of any kind and all artificial sweeteners.  Soak your grains and beans first, then cook in alkalinized water, (add a bit of baking soda) and then when cooked, mix in whatever else you want.  Avoid anything in plastic, plastic kills.  Avoid eating anything that touched aluminum.  Throw out any aluminum cookware you have, it is POISONOUS!  And of course, the big one, NEVER eat GMO foods. 


Monday, April 29, 2013

Because They CAN - Episode 5, How do we stop them?

(Episode 4)  (Episode 3)   (Episode 2)  (Episode 1)

Ouch!

I wish that I could definitively state here and now that it is possible to stop greed, avarice, dishonesty and all the other sins that drive the need and desire for money fame and glory that causes big businesses to make the products for human consumption and include any of the 700 chemicals on the FDA GRAS list that shouldn't be there because they are KNOWN to be Class II Carcinogens.   But I can't.  The fact is that big businesses do in fact use those chemicals to make their products faster, cheaper, more appealing, to have longer shelf lives, to mask the taste of OTHER chemicals, and to make the products addictive.  And they use those chemicals that are chronic toxins because they KNOW that all their competitors use them and that pretty much makes them immune from any lawsuit.  Because they ALL use them. 

Well, almost all of them do.  There is a trend coming.  Fair trade products like coffee are actually growing and performing well.  Organic companies are growing, and the list of products that are "Certified" organic is getting larger every day.  These are some of the companies out there that have taken a stand, and refuse to put the toxins into their products that the BIG agribusiness companies do. 

Equal Exchange
Endangered Species Chocolate
Peaceworks
Nature's Path and Envirokidz
Organic Valley
Annie's
New England Naturals

Perhaps if all of us spend a little more money on some of the products we buy and purchase stuff from these guys, then perhaps all that other crap will just sit on the shelves and have to be tossed.  Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants to big business. 

The small list above certainly isn't all the companies out there that have taken the stand to produce nutritionally sound foods, there are others out there as well.  Along with small farmers and organic growers and producers all across the country that are growing natural foods and selling locally.  What can we do?  Well we can stop spending our food dollars on junk foods and crappy convenience items that are packed with dangerous chemicals that are known to have long term toxic effects on our bodies.  The reason those big businesses make those foods, is because people BUY them.  And the reason that they add toxic chemical additives to those foods is, again, because they can.  If people looked at the ingredients, and when they see chemicals that they cannot pronounce on the list, they should then put it back on the shelf.  Or as I have done and gotten kicked out of Safeway for, smashed them.  If everyone did this, then maybe big business would get the idea that they should change the way they make food.  Other companies make real food. All of them can do the same, there just has to be an incentive for them to do so.  And by incentive, I mean that real food manufacturers sell more product than they do.

Don't be fooled.  Big businesses are already seeing the writing on the walls and attempting to fool consumers by putting things on their packaging to mislead us.  The big one is the word Natural.  There are no FDA rules applying to the wording on labels regarding "Natural".  NONE!  Bread bakers by far are the worst offenders here, with most of them describing their crap as Natural or LOADED with ALL Natural Goodness and similar lines attempting to keep you from READING THE INGREDIENT LIST!  Bread should contain water, whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, vitamin C, milk or any milk product or milk solids and a fat such as butter, or a good oil like olive, sunflower, safflower or coconut.  NOTHING ELSE!    (Episode 1) Is about Bread.  In it I list some of the more common toxins added to bread.  All of them are cumulative and the bad part is that they are being added to most every processed food now.  With few companies being the exception.  The worst part is that many of the breads available from local bakeries, and from those at farmers markets, are made the same way with many of the same chemical compounds in them.  For the most part, ignorance is the reason.  Most people just have no idea.  They buy "Yeast Nutrients" and "Dough Enhancers" and other additives because they are available, and do in fact make a more APPEALING product.  Lighter, fluffier, airier, more toxic, more everything bad. 

Again, it is up to us as consumers to ask questions, tell bakers, supermarket produce managers and market managers that you are only interested in purchasing wholesome foods for yourself and your family that are free of toxic additives and free from untested Genetically Modified foods.  Be nice about it, don't be like me and raise a stink and get kicked out and banned from Safeways because the manager wouldn't answer the questions about whether or not Safeway would ever carry certified Non-GMO foods after donating three quarters of a million dollars to defeat prop 37 in California.  And why were they hiding it if GMO's really were healthy.  That was just me, and I was upset that the vote did not go the way I had hoped.  Sigh.  Let's hope the rest of the world gets the idea and someday I can write "Episode 6, They could, but now no one wants it!"


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Toxicology and Green Tea

Uh oh, what now.  Green tea is good for us, right?  That is what all the TV doctors, and morning show do-nothings and "experts" all talk about.  And they are correct, green tea is one of those things that have proven to reduce the bad cholesterol in your blood, and has even gotten some great reviews as one of the great antioxidants that really can prevent cancer.  Of course that is as far as the scientific claims for the stuff go, TV, newspapers, magazines and who knows how many ads on the internet for companies out there are claiming that the stuff is the modern miracle of the world at this time and make claims for longevity, weight loss, improved sex lives, larger penises, better everything.  Well, maybe the last bit is an exaggeration.  But there are some pretty enormous claims out there.  Who knows, maybe there is some truth to them.

The problem, fluorine.  Specifically fluoride compounds and free fluoride.  The USDA has a list, (HERE) listing the average findings of free fluorides in many common foods and beverages.  And green tea, as well as black tea.  With instant teas being very high.  And just for anyone that drinks soda, those are scary.  And even bottled waters have free fluorides in them.  And yes, everyone has had the fluoride thing drilled into them since grade school, how fluoride is the BEST way to fight tooth decay.  What a crock, the best way to fight tooth decay is to never drink soda.  Or sports drinks, or juice, or any liquid that is high in fructose, especially High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Carbonation just makes it all the more detrimental to your teeth by acidifyng the liquid you put in your mouth. 

I drink tea myself, usually mint tea sweetened with stevia.  And I put some other stuff in there as well, mullein, rosehips, nutmeg, rosemary.  It's nice, very refreshing.  Lately i have been putting some green tea into the mix, just because of the health benefits that are so predominately hawked on media everywhere.  I think I will stop though, or at least until I can find a definitive listing of fluoride content by brand name.  So far, I have yet to find one.  It costs money to do such testing and I don't have that kind of money, and certainly tea processors don't want that info to be out in the real world and they won't pay for it. 

The fluoride content of tea from what I have read comes from the soils where the tea is grown.  Tea is big business and much of the big tea plantations use fluoride based pesticides to keep their crop safe.  Sigh, another instance of big business doing what they believe is good for them, and not what is good for those that consume their product.  I use the PAN a lot to look up info on toxicity of certain chemicals, you can see the list for fluoride  (HERE)  This is mostly about acute toxicity and doesn't address the problems with high chronic fluoride consumption, which causes brittle bones, aching joints, softening of the teeth in high concentrations and a myriad of other problems, ones that are just the opposite of why they put the stuff in our drinking water to begin with. 

Sigh, what a world we live in.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

More about Modern Meat, again.

People think I am nuts when I tell them I don't eat meat.  All kinds of crap like, "Did you cry when Bambi's father got shot?" or "You sure don't look like a tree hugger, they're always skinny pasty faced little wimps" or "You need a good steak boy, that will change your mind about that life style"  Sheesh, really?  Read a few things about the meat that you are eating, that will change YOUR mind about meat. 

Hey, I love meat, I love good Texas BBQ, sausages, pork carnitas, and the miracles that I can do with chicken in the kitchen make the ladies melt.  I just can't stand MODERN MEAT.  Meat today is not what humans are supposed to eat.  EVER!.  (Modern Meat)  There are so many problems with meat, the Ractopamine usage is probably the worst problem, with the stuff being banned in every other country except the US.  And of course the Ruskies and Chinese a few months back banning any imports of meat from the US because of the ractopamine use here.  There is the high antibiotic content of the meat from feeding the stuff to prevent diseases because they keep them in such horrific unsanitary conditions.  Then there is the feed itself thing, with feeds consisting of, well, let's not go into that here, I just ate breakfast.  There are numerous articles here on my blog about it, and the net is full of stuff as well.  What I wan to talk about is the GOVERNMENT again.  Yaaaaay, the good ol' US government once again taking bribes and kickbacks, oops, sorry, can't say that without proof, once again rescinding their rules about additives for the benefit of meat and chicken producers. 

The Food  Safety Inspection Service, FSIS, a division of the USDA has agreed to the demands of Kraft, Global Inc and Kemin Food Technologies and has rescinded their rules against the use of three toxic chemicals being added to lower quality beef and chicken in order to substantially mask the quality and hide the defects during inspection and to retard bacterial growth from improper storage and processing techniques.  The chemicals are Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Proprionate, and Benzoic Acid.  Each of these chemicals is listed in the PAN as moderately toxic, with no info on chronic toxicity.  No one has done any testing on that aspect of their characteristics; maybe no one thought anyone would be stupid enough to put it on meat so humans would eat the stuff  EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THEIR LIVES and so would need to find out what the chronic effects would be. 

As far as chemical additives go, these are only in the moderate category.  And unfortunately we just don't have enough information to make informed decisions about them to warrant whether or not they should be allowed in meat processing.  The fact is that the USDA had already banned their use.  It is the actions of just another government entity that once again bows to pressure from large businesses with virtually unlimited funds so that those same businesses can use INFERIOR grades of meat and chicken, items that would previously been sent off to make dog food or destroyed, but are now amazingly saved from that fate and restored in appearance enough to be accepted by inspectors and sent out for sale to humans.  All by the addition of only moderately toxic chemicals.  What I want to know is, do the guys that took money from these companies to rescind that rule eat meat, or are they like me and now vegetarian?

Monday, April 22, 2013

I'm the square hole with a round peg in it.

I wanted to make it out to the Renaissance Festival this year, just never seemed to get around to it.  I wanted to go see the Knights at the Round Table, specifically Sir Cumference.  I heard he acquired his extrodinary size from eating too much pi.  But then I was a bit thrown off from going again when the news coverage reported the story about the butcher out there that backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.  But then I can't drive very far anyway, I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out he was an optical Aleutian.  I do want to head to Apache Lake, the news said that a hole was found in the wall to the nudist camp, it was reported that the police have been looking into it.

I have to be careful what I write here, especially after my blog about religion.  People seem to be confused about my beliefs, however much I tell them that Atheism is a non-prophet organization, they seem to get the wrong idea about me.  But I try to stay away from religion, my advice to everyone is don't join dangerous cults: practice safe sects.  I'm not without knowledge of the subject, not like the cannibals that ate the missionary and got their first taste of religion.  My views here on this blog tend to drift toward politics.  I like to remind everyone about our system of government is rather imperfect, but still in democracy it's your vote that counts, in feudalism it's your Count that votes.

I do seem to write a lot, and friends tell me that anyone can be successful at it if they think differently.  They cite the old axiom that a backward poet writes inverse.  I did read the news this morning about the short fortune teller that escaped from prison, she's a small medium at large.  I do like to look at the bright side of things in life, and often contemplate the chicken that crossed the road, it was poultry in motion.  In my life I have found that there are two theories on how to argue with a woman, neither one works.  One thing I do know with absolute certainty is that everyone seems normal until you get to know them.  And in my personal experience I have found that if I lend someone 20 bucks and I never hear or see them again, I'm better off and it was worth it.  Something else I found and really applied more toward my ex than me and that is that if you tell no lies, you don't have to keep track of a lot of crap.  Speaking of her, I have found this to be very prophetic, experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.  She did teach me one good thing, never miss a chance to just shut up, a closed mouth gathers no foot.  The sad part about that marriage was that I learned too late that because I'm a man I'm automatically at fault.  But then again, hey, if I knew everything, I would be a woman, a really ugly woman.  

I keep introducing my son to women I meet and tell them he is not married.  He doesn't care too much for it when I do that.  Sigh, I would love to have a grandchild, remembering the things that made life simple back in the old days and how fun it would be to experience all that again through their eyes, just think about when -
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo."
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whomever was the banker in "Monopoly."
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old, referred to anyone over 20.
The net on a tennis court was the perfect height to play volleyball and rules didn't matter.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties
It was unbelievable that dodge ball wasn't an Olympic event.
Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot.
Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people"  rides at the amusement park.
Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare."
Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute ads for action figures.
No shopping trip was complete, unless a new toy was in hand.
"Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense.
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
War was a card game.
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.
Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.
Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin.
Ice cream was considered a basic food group.
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.

Sigh, just for fun today.  

Because They CAN! Episode 4, yes, but why?

(Episode 3)   (Episode 2)  (Episode 1)

We all know about the drive for money that possesses some people, that lust, that absolute NEED to make money, to garner power, to be BETTER than everyone else around them.  And all to the exclusion of propriety, honesty, or lawfulness.  Maybe you knew some people like that in your youth, back in high school or college.  People that cheated on tests, cut in front of you in lines, drove fast just to be in front, and told lies about those around them they felt were "lesser" people.  People like that usually went on in life to be lawyers, probably the most dishonest honest profession out there.  And some, go on to be CEOs of multinational agribusinesses, food manufacturers and drug companies.  But even past their youthful naivete their absolute NEED to be better, make more, and become top dog still drives them.  And is the driving force behind the companies that they control.

I have talked about it before, how food, drug and agribusinesses all use toxic chemicals in their manufacturing processes because they can.  Their reasoning being that since toxic additives are legal to use, make their products more palatable, more addictive, more toxic, have longer shelf lives, and all at less cost with greater potential for profit; they use those additives.  And because MOST of the processed food world uses those additives, the possibility of any one person, group of people, or in fact, any class actions against any particular manufacturer for using toxic additives becomes impossible as there is no possible way to pinpoint their particular actions out of the actions of ALL food manufacturers.  So they do it, because they can.

But the question is, WHY?

I'm pretty certain that the leaders of those businesses are fully aware that the products they are manufacturing are not wholesome, healthy, packed with nutrition and cause long term chronic health problems and degenerative problems.  In fact I'm pretty certain that most heads of big businesses do the same thing the nation's leaders do, and that is to only eat organic.  But the real question is why do they do all this?  The birth rate in the US is the lowest it has ever been.  And the majority of the new births in this country now are in the immigrant population, those that have had the shortest exposure to AmeriKan food products.  More people are spending HUGE amounts of money at fertility clinics in an effort to do what the rest of the world population is able to do because they don't consume the foods laced with chronic degenerative toxins that are added to our foods in AmeriKa.  Long term degenerative diseases are commonplace now, with the numbers of people with THREE or more long term diseases increasing 700% since 1980!  Our birth rate has dropped, infant mortality is higher than many third world countries, our death rate is skyrocketing, and the numbers of people disabled AND in prison, are the highest on the planet.

Is the need to make more money, to be better than everyone else, so ingrained into their personalities that they are unable to see the BIG picture?  Apparently. 

Why?

Oh man, I wish I had that answer.  How do you take the blinders off people and allow, (or maybe force) them to see the BIG picture?  That is something that has stymied cognizant thinking people everywhere for decades.  In today's world it is more important than ever as the actions of one corporation are not to blame for our troubles, it is the actions of MOST of the corporations that are to blame.  And the reasoning behind their actions is really quite simple, because they can.

When I was with my second wife, she loved to play board games.  And I do to, they are fun, challenging, absorbing.  However, my ex, wouldn't play the games if she didn't win.  After a couple of years of marriage, she knew which games she had a chance of winning, and so we only played those.  Never the games I always beat her at.  If I came close to winning, then the game would end.  Sometimes violently.  It was a pretty abusive relationship, one that I am very glad I am out of.  But I mention this as an example of the kind of thinking going on with those with better education and opportunity than my ex.  CEOs of major food manufacturing corporations.  The concept is the same, you do the things you can do to achieve the goals you desire, because you can.  Screw the world, you're making money, and making stockholders happy.

It only takes one person to change the world.  To change the paradigm concept within our industrialized world would create a fallout that could quite possibly alter the world in which we live forever in positive ways.  It only takes one person to do it.  It would be simple, and astounding, and earth shattering.  If one CEO of a major food producing corporation were to just come out publicly and announce that he (or she) is going to change the way that they manufacture food, and to eliminate all toxins and only produce healthy and wholesome foods, that stockholders would have to suffer in the short term as costs would go up somewhat but that the benefits for the country IN THE LONG TERM would far outweigh the short term losses.  And to announce that the price of the stock itself DOES NOT IN REALITY MATTER AT ALL, and that these changes would take place no matter what the price of the stock fell to because if the stock price fell from a hundred dollars a share to one dollar, the company would still go on, would still make food, only it would be better, and healthier than ever before.  And the world would be better, and people would flock to the stores to buy the products.  And wall street do nothings would be the ones to lose money.  It only takes one person and the conviction of that one person to do WHAT IS RIGHT to alter the world.

Unfortunately the real world is filled with leaders that took cuts in line in grade school, pushed the littler kids and made them drop their lunches just to laugh, and generally were pains in the butt in school and yet now run the business world with the same ethics that they expressed as children.

Pretty scary!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

To those that are innocent, except in AmeriKa

Weird times in the good ol' USA today.  Innocence is a transient thing, and it is lost to those with true innocence.  That poor guy that was car jacked by the Boston Bombers, let's just say he is a terrorist.  And the man that owned the boat that suspect number 2 was hiding in, he's a terrorist as well. 

Not really, but if we apply the same reasoning to them that the justice system in AmeriKa does to farmers now, then they would be tried and jailed for their participation in the horrific act of terrorism that happened on April 15.

Now that seems extreme, but it is true.  And please don't think that I feel that way, it is just to make a point.  Farmers here in AmeriKa are treated as guilty and the law of the land, the courts here in big agribusiness controlled AmeriKa, uphold lawsuits that do EXACTLY that. 

When a small farmer is growing their crops, let's say corn, and a neighbor, or a big agribusiness conglomerate farm nearby plants A Genetically Modified crop nearby, the pollen WILL contaminate the first farmer's crop.  It is a given, it cant NOT happen.  Monsanto and other GM seed companies go into the farmer's fields, TRESPASSING, and take samples of the crop that are now infected with GM pollen and growing GM corn; they can test the corn for those GM genes.  And then sue the farmer for patent infringement.  Monsanto has filed suits against over 400 farmers for this very thing.  And they win. 

What does that say about justice in AmeriKa today?  Not much.  It is a sad thing when money rules, and innocence is lost. 

Friday, April 19, 2013

A national bill requiring labeling of GM foods

There is a bill coming, it will require labeling of Genetically Modified foods.  You, everyone, needs to contact your representatives and senators and tell them you support the bill.  Do it (here)

Is it important?  Do we need it?

Duh!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

The "Gluten-Free" myth explained, (Or my attempt anyway)

First, let me say that there are indeed people out there that have a genetic disorder that when they eat foods with gluten and the two base constituent proteins of gluten, it damages the cilia of their small intestines.  It's called Celiac Disease, and it is a real problem, and this article is not in any way shape or form meant to disparage the plight that they must endure in the world today.  The basis of this article, is all about the "Gluten-Free" hype that is growing in America.  This fad is being perpetuated by TV doctors, online doctors and food and health blogs everywhere.  I hear things like these all the time, wheat is not good for humans, humans did not develop eating grains, modern wheat is totally unlike ancient wheat and today's wheat is toxic, and the big one, all grains are BAD for humans to eat.  What a bunch of crap.

Let's look at the numbers, if you go to the Celiac.com website and read their information, you will see how the numbers of people that have Celiac have risen dramatically over the past thirty years.  From what was diagnosed to be 1 in over 500 to now being 1 in 133 people having Celiac.  That is quite a few.  But where are they getting those numbers, as every other website has differing numbers.  And it is true that the incidence of Celiac in those of Northern European descent may be that high, but in the general population, it is about 1 in 2,500.  (Scienceblog)  There seems to be a discrepancy in numbers here.  Part of it is the method of measurement.  The Celiac people use the blood test for Tissue transglutimase antibody to determine if a person has Celiac.  The truth is that presence of the ttg antibody does not in fact mean a person has Celiac.  The only positive way to determine if a person has it is to perform a tissue biopsy of the small intestine to see if there is damage.  Ttg antibody shows a person to have a propensity for Celiac, not the actual disease itself.  (Testing)   The Celiac people use the propensity for having a disease is a lot like saying I can get a woman pregnant, therefore all pregnant women have been impregnated by me.  Simple reasoning, but not necessarily true, or for someone my age, even possible.

So why the high numbers for Celiac?  Funding.  Pretty simple.

Why do so many doctors and professionals in the industry project the common statements that grains, especially wheat, are bad for us?  I have no idea.  Really.  There have been some studies done showing the nutrient content of modern wheat and how it is pretty much empty of the vitamins and minerals and amino acids that were measured back in the fifties when that technology was developed.  And I would have to say that is probably true, commercial wheat is grown using fossil fuel based fertilizers, doused with herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and grown on land that is exhausted, and treated like an unending lifeless inexhaustible commodity, which it isn't.  Soil is alive, and needs to be treated with respect, rest, and given nourishment in order to reap the rewards of healthy plants grown in it.  Modern farming methods used by agribusinesses denude the soil of any health giving benefits.  And the grains grown in it are the result.  I believe that good organically grown wheat and other grains are life sustaining and unlike the common commercial product in ways that are ASTOUNDING.

It is a fact that 70% of the population of the planet eats rice everyday.  Rice is a grain.  Another 10% of the population eats a diet based on some other grain, everyday.  Archaeological evidence shows that humans have been eating grains for over one hundred and fifteen thousand years.  Back then, it is believed that the grains were ground or just crushed, then soaked in water.  Then who knows, eaten, cooked, or fermented.  But we have the evidence, we know humans have eaten grains for some time.  Humans for the most part, eat grains all over the planet.  Some people, can't eat grains.  NOT THE ENTIRE POPULATION.

So why do doctors tell us to avoid grains and especially wheat.  Maybe because some, like good ol Dr. Mercola, sell supplements.  Maybe some are just jumping on the bandwagon and promoting gluten free to get more funding for research from private sources, and the government.  Or who knows, but they are.  Promoting it I mean.  I have a differing view of why people go with the fad.  It seems that it is possible that when people eat foods that have gluten in them, they may indeed have intestinal distress as so many claim.  Then, it is a pyramid effect, they tell their friends, the media says wheat is bad, everyone perpetuates the concept.  Back when I had the cooking store in Austin and when customers came in and we would discuss nutrition, gluten frequently came up.  And questions to me came up about my gluten free classes.  My first question that would come up when I was told that this person had stomach distress was always, "What did you eat?"  Wheat, was always the answer.  Details, that's always what I wanted, details.  Sandwich?  Rolls?  White crap from fast food or store bought bread products, or donuts?  When questioned, that was usually what happened.

My advice, look to what you ate other than the wheat.  And look at what kind of wheat it was.  White flour breads with toxic dough conditioners and preservatives are not conducive to good health.

Most of the people that I counseled about gluten free diet seemed to have no problems when they ate breads baked at my store.  Real organic whole wheat, and no chemicals, and no modern meat or toxic crap.  It makes a difference.

Gluten free has its place in the world, there really are people with problems.  Granted they are a very small percentage, but they need the stuff.  Most people shouldn't go in for modern food, we know with pretty definite certainty that the crap in processed food is bad for you. If most people start to replace wheat bread products with white rice flour based bread products it's not a great choice nutrition wise.  Real organic whole wheat products aren't necessarily bad for the majority of the population.  If you choose well, good organic wheat products with no chemicals, then that is ALWAYS going to be better for you than white rice flour that has little or no nutritive value and NO fiber.  Nor are any other real whole grain products, they form a great non-meat based diet. (Info)



Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Flavor today, SciFi

It seems to me that the flavor of the food that I eat on a regular basis, tastes pretty good.  I bake my own bread, and have for nearly 40 years now.  In fact, I grind wheat into flour, fresh, just before I bake that bread.  It tastes like, well, whole wheat bread.  I use a bit of honey, a little salt, some plain yogurt, and yeast.  I have not ever thought I needed to add mystery chemical concoctions to mask the flavor of the whole grain.  If you buy your bread at the store, and if it is made by a national chain bakery, they do.  There is a huge new branch of food technology out in the country today, and they are using techniques and methodology that is more reminiscent of science fiction than food manufacturing.

The research is in the field of flavor masking.  Companies like Wixon, Synomes, Symrise, all are doing research in techniques to isolate specific flavor components in foods, and develop chemicals to enhance, or to mask certain flavors.  Some of the technology that they use is mind boggling.  Synemex has an artificial tongue, sort of.  They have taken individual human embryonic liver cells and attached them to a device that nourishes them, and allows them to measure specific electrical responses when the cells react to specific components of taste that the company programs them for.  A fake mechanical tongue with the taste sense of the finest vinophiles in the world. 

Scifi, the real world scares me at times.

The truly scary part about all this, is that there is a need for it.  When I bake my bread, like I said, it tastes pretty good.  But then I don't put chemicals into it that are toxic.  Chemicals like Azodicarbomide, Potassium Bromate, Ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, calcium steryl lactalate and calcium propionate.  All are pretty much standard ingredients in modern bread.  (Because they can)  And I'm sure that they are pretty nasty tasting.  But then that may be why there is so much honey, or in most cases, High Fructose Corn Syrup, added to bread, to help hide those metallic chemical tastes.  But this new technology is giving new life to manufacturers by developing new chemical compounds that mask those flavors.  These new products are already in our foods, they mask any bitterness in products using mint and menthol.  Companies that use Stevia use new chemicals that mask any flavor other than the sweet.  And also whole grain baked goods use new chemicals to mask the flavor of the whole grain.

Yep.

The problem is, we don't know what they are.  And we don't know if we are eating them.  Food manufacturers don't have to put anything on the label that they are using less than 1% of the total amount of ingredients by weight.  So it seems that these things are being approved by the FDA after very short periods of time after application, and going into food without our knowledge.  And I have been unable to find any info about what they are.  They are secrets.  Well, at least I am not able to interpret what they are. (Patent)
The patent application reads like scifi, and is pretty scary.  Although there is a great deal of description of the invention in the patent application, there is nothing that actually tells us what it is.  In fact the whole application is filled with wording like this -" For example, the T1Rs belong to a GPCR sub-family that is characterized by large, approximately 600 amino acid, extracellular N-terminal segments. These N-terminal segments are thought to form the ligand-binding domains, and are therefore useful in biochemical assays to identify GPCR agonists and antagonists. It is possible that the ligand-binding domain may be formed by additional...."   Which all this crap means is that these guys are not one hundred percent sure what is going on with their so called "invention", they just know that it makes things taste better.

But what's in it?

They don't say, Not really, just a lot of stuff about polypeptide chains GPCR and of certain sequences.  But not what it is made of, nor if it is toxic.  That is the part that I have a hard time with, is it toxic.  We all know that the great and powerful FDA does not regulate chronic toxins anymore.  It's true, they don't.  Again, read other entries here and get an idea of how the FDA has chosen to mandate its actions toward lesser evils like companies that package salad and manufacturers of vitamin supplements instead of actually regulating what food manufacturers use to make the food we eat.  A few paragraphs above this are listed some of the common chemicals put into BREAD, all of which are classed as Class II Carcinogens by the Feds themselves.  Yet the good ol FDA allows all of us to eat the crap everyday.  And the worst part is, at least those chronic toxins are listed on the label, this new crap is so powerful, so strong, and so little is needed to alter the way that humans perceive the flavors of the chemicals in the food that is MANUFACTURED that it DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LISTED ON THE LABEL! 

If it doesn't scare you, it should.

The FDA has a very long track record of approving chemicals for use in food manufacturing with absolutely NO LONG TERM TESTING.  Case in point, Aspartame.  Oh what the heck, let's throw in GMO foods as well.  I'm pretty sure that most everyone that has an IQ above 49 knows that the research into Aspartame has shown a definitive link to just how toxic the stuff becomes in the human system.  And even with all the research proving this, it is still the number one "non-nutritive" sweetener on the market.  In fact the Dairy people are trying to get the FEDS to allow them to add aspartame to 17 dairy products without having to put it on the labels just so that they can make tons more money by getting people addicted to the sweeter taste of dairy.  Genetically Modified Foods were approved for human consumption in '96, and have all been approved with absolutely NO long term feeding studies being done.  And of course recent research is showing how bad these are for us.  Certainly not toxic in the same sense as Aspartame, but the concept is the exact same thing, approve new products for food manufacturers to make tons of money on without checking to see if the stuff causes long term problems.  Again, I think it all has to do with the fact that the last four presidents have been gung ho for allowing more and more crap into our food supply and yet they themselves distanced themselves from the food the commoners eat by only consuming organic food.  (What the residents of the White House Eat) and I would bet big money on whether or not the leaders of big agribusinesses also don't consume the crap they make for the rest of the world, but instead only eat organic as well.

So, what do we do?

Buyer beware!  That's what we do.  Again, make your own food as much as possible.  Avoid corn, soy, canola, zucchini, papaya and whatever new GM foods come out.  NEVER consume any dairy unless it is certified rBGH free or organic.  Read labels.  Urge everyone you know to do the same.  And urge anyone you know to vote for proper GM labeling laws in the states where these proposed laws are going to be voted on this year.  If we don't buy the foods that contain harmful chemicals in them, then maybe the big guys won't have to put other chemicals in our food to mask the flavor. 

Monday, April 15, 2013

The Holistic Approach to Cancer Survival A Guest Blogger Comments

What follows is a column written by fellow blogger David Haas, who asked me to publish this info on my blog to get the concept out there.  I like it, so here it is.
And check out David at his blog (Here)


The Holistic Approach to Cancer Survival


Living and eating organically has become a national focus since cancer is at an all time high. For those who suffer from diseases like mesothelioma and many others, a holistic approach to eating and other lifestyle choices may help to heal the body and mind. Many studies have shown the healing effects of organic foods on cancer. For example, organic corn, strawberries and marionberries contain cancer-fighting antioxidants as published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. Holistic diets take into account everything that you put into your body and how it leaves. The goal of a holistic approach is to ensure that your body is toxin-free and digesting properly.

Getting Started with a Holistic Lifestyle
What many advertisement proclaim as healthy or natural is in fact processed, preserved, modified or other harmful to the human body. Many "non-fat" or "fat-free" items actually contain high levels of high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, aspartame, genetically modified ingredients and other chemicals that simply become toxins in the body. For this reason, holistic diets focus on eating a mostly organic, vegetable and fruit diet. However, meat is not necessarily the enemy, so long as you are picking the right meat. Organic dairy products and protein sources contain less hormones and genetically modified material, but the best sources of meat are lean and less fatty.

Planning a Holistic Approach
Everyone's diet with holistic philosophy is different. The key is to clean out the digestive tract and start allowing the body to heal itself. For that reason, drinking purified water and eating multiple detoxifying foods helps the human body begin this process. Some of these detoxifying foods include beets, broccoli sprouts, ginger, lemon, apple, flaxseed, celery and dandelions. It's important to eat as many organic types of this food throughout a holistic diet because it leads to nutrient-rich meals with better benefits for your digestive tract and liver, allowing toxins to be absorbed and flushed from your system. As long as you add these ingredients into your diet, you can begin to detoxify and also remove unhealthier types of food.

Balancing Healthy and Unhealthy
At first, many people go through a withdrawal when trying to give up the food that they love so much. However, if you can push through not eating junk food, processed food and other unhealthy ingredients, you'll begin to feel more energy in the body, your skin will become clearer and a natural glow will overtake you. If you don't believe it, just try watching some of the documentaries on juicing. "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" looks at the things going into the human body that lead to cancer, heart disease, obesity and many other chronic illnesses and how they can be cured through vitamin-rich and nutrient-rich detox juicing diet.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The mandate of the FDA

I got to thinking about that the other day and started to try and find out.  And I spent hours, I mean literally, hours here, looking.  I didn't find out much.  This is what the FDA website gives me when asked.....

What does FDA do

FDA is responsible for
  • Protecting the public health by assuring that foods are safe, wholesome, sanitary and properly labeled; human and veterinary drugs, and vaccines and other biological products and medical devices intended for human use are safe and effective
  • Protecting the public from electronic product radiation
  • Assuring cosmetics and dietary supplements are safe and properly labeled
  • Regulating tobacco products
  • Advancing the public health by helping to speed product innovations
  • Helping the public get the accurate science-based information they need to use medicines, devices, and foods to improve their health
FDA’s responsibilities extend to the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and other U.S. territories and possessions.

All that sounds rather noble, doesn't it.  So what happened?  The GRAS list contains over 700 chemicals that are listed as Class 2 Carcinogens and are cumulative toxins.  (EAFUS)  And the FDA allows food processors to use as ingredients in the food you eat.  Let's go back a few decades, and see what the FDA itself says about how it got its power.....
1938

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FDC) Act of 1938 is passed by Congress, containing new provisions:
  • Extending control to cosmetics and therapeutic devices.
  • Requiring new drugs to be shown safe before marketing-starting a new system of drug regulation.
  • Eliminating the Sherley Amendment requirement to prove intent to defraud in drug misbranding cases.
  • Providing that safe tolerances be set for unavoidable poisonous substances.
  • Authorizing standards of identity, quality, and fill-of-container for foods.
  • Authorizing factory inspections.
  • Adding the remedy of court injunctions to the previous penalties of seizures and prosecutions.
See the red line, this is what they say NOW!  "unavoidable"?  Where does that come in to play.  I understand arsenic in apple juice, if you grind up apples, it releases arsenic into the juice as it occurs naturally in apple seeds.  Put unavoidable has nothing to do with purposely ADDING toxic chemicals to processed foods.  I sort of remember it a whole lot differently.  Well, I wasn't there for the passage of that act, but I went to school in the sixties.  We all had those wonderful Civics, American History, Health and other classes that most of us were bored to death taking.  I read those books, and remember specifically Health, and my fourth grade textbook telling me the wonders of the FDA and how their mandate was to protect Americans from poisons and toxins in our food supply and the spread of disease from unsanitary food processors.  All complete with yucky pictures.  The GRAS list was new, having just been implemented so that the then director could get cyclamates added to it, thus insuring a high paying job with Searle when he retired.  Right afterwards.  Then there are the textbooks from the seventies, of which my sister has still, and they tell us that the mandate of the FDA was to monitor the safety of food additives.  That was right after cyclamates were removed from the GRAS list and banned from being used in food here.  Oh, and let's not forget, cyclamates are the only food additive to ever be removed.  Even though most of the big 700 are far far far worse for the human body than cyclamates ever were found to be. 

Oh - MY - GOD--- look at the last two slides of this pdf of the FDA view of itself (FDA)

I thought that my ex has a very high view of herself, you know, blaming me for rain and all, but the FDA, wow, they are the MORAL keepers of the welfare of our actual lives.

Now, this is what the FDA wants Congress to give them money for (113th Congress)  this 34 page document details how the FDA defines their need for funding so that they can protect Americans.  Protection for Americans means to the FDA .....
  • Harassing supplement manufacturers that label ANY supplement as having health benefits.  
    • These actions are designed to protected big pharma
  • Allow the use of over 700 chemical additives to foods, even though each of those chemicals are listed by the Federal Government in toxicology tables as Class II Carcinogens and each and every one has alternatives that are safer, just slightly more expensive
    • These actions are designed to save big processors money
  • Even though labeling of ingredients and claims for a specific product are controlled by the FDA, they have refused to make ANY rules for the use of the term "NATURAL" and instead allow manufacturers of a whole host of chemical laced toxic products to sell them as Natural.
  • Criminy, who am I kidding, what have they done right lately to protect Americans
    • GMO foods are PROVEN to cause sterility in mammals after 2nd generation
    • GMO foods are PROVEN to allow the mutated genes to transfer to gut bacteria
    • GMO foods are PROVEN to have higher residual levels of glyphosate and pesticides
    • GMO foods comprising just 11% of diet in rats caused tumor growth in ALL (that is every single one) of the test subjects after a one year feeding trial
    • The Eurycic Acid content of CANOLA oil is a cummulative toxin and destroys your Central Nervous System, pancreas and Heart tissue.  It is not a HEALTHY fat in any world.
    • Allows huge amounts of antibiotics in animal feed to combat infections caused by overcrowding ans unsanitary conditions in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) which is the primary cause of antibiotic resistant bacteria
    • Allows American manufacturers of Beef, Turkey and Sheep to inject Ractopamine into animals up to THE DAY BEFORE THEY ARE SLAUGHTERED as a cheap way for the animals to put on weight.  Ractopamne is BANNED in every country in the world except the US,
    • Ractopamine causes Central Nervous System disruption and animals given the chemical generally are unable to walk on their own, thus mimicking such serious diseases as MAD COW DISEASE, never the less, those animals are allowed to be slaughtered and the carcasses used for human consumption.
    • Sheesh, I couldn't sleep, it's early Sunday morning and I have a terrible headache, my sinus infection with MRSA (thank you FDA) is back with a vengeance after a brief reprieve and i couldn't sleep.  But now am tired so will print this and nap
I think most readers get the picture, the FDA is looking after the needs of big business, all to the expense of American consumers.  Their mandate has changed, they no longer care about the use of chronic toxins in our food, and barely look toward the acute ones, instead focusing on things like the producers of salad greens.

 In America the old adage of "Buyer Beware" certainly means more today than ever before.  Educate yourself, be cautious when buying ANY processed foods.   You carry the ultimate responsibility for the food you choose to eat, and pay the ultimate price for those choices.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Truth in Labeling costs could amount to hundreds of BILLIONS of Dollars

I have talked here before about the magazines that I get all the time.  Food business industry rags, all about trends, what's hot, what's makin' money for big biz.  The latest issue came last week and I read this article about the USDA new regulations that are designed to bring the US into compliance with World Trade Organization rules.  Specifically about the labeling of beef is required to have on the retail label, the country of origin and country where slaughtered and processed.  Big agribusiness is fighting this reg with tooth and nail.  They DON'T want the public to know where the meat they are selling to stores for you to consume, comes from.  The big problem that the meat packers are saying is that "It will add significant costs at the retail level to the product."  Maybe I'm stupid, but why?

It seems that this is the big buzz expression that big business uses when they are trying to keep BAD news from consumers.  Remember Prop 37 in California?  Monsanto and big biz ad campaign was based largely on telling consumers that the price of adding a line of ink to labels would increase the cost of the food a family buys each year by horrendous amounts.  And of course, with no actual explanation of why those costs would be increasing.  We are just supposed to accept the word of big biz, who want desperately to buy things as cheap as possible, and sell them to you at high markups and hope you believe that it is all good for you and unadulterated.  Not always the case though now is it.  The big thing with the beef guys right now is that so much of the cheap beef at the markets is coming from, yep, MEXICO.  And we know how careful they are about cleanliness.  And feeding the beef good healthy feed.

So the real cost of labeling food in America is not the cost of printing the info on the label, it is going to be the cost of all the meat, GMO tainted foods and other crap that has to be taken to landfills and tossed because MOST AmeriKans are smart enough to realize that the crap that is coming into stores for us to eat, is CRAP.  I wouldn't want to eat Mexican beef.  Already I don't eat anything from China, and I avoid all the GM big ones, grocery store zucchini, all Corn, all Soy, all CANOLA.  Of course I don't eat beef, ever.  But if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't want Mexican beef.  Noting against Mexican people, hey, I married one once, but let's be real, some scary stories coming out about stuff processed down there.

It is after all my life, my health, and consequences are mine to deal with for poor decisions.  The Feds may allow companies to put chronic toxins into our food supply so that big businesses can make lots of money, but so far they CAN'T require me to eat it.  It is still my decision.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

A new world, fiction by me

Every once in a while, I put one of my fiction stories here.  So, I thought another was appropriate.



The New World

By

Roy Marshall




Sheltered in the hulking shell of a car, the old man was quietly warming himself by the heat given off the burning tire.  It takes a great deal of effort to get a tire to catch fire and burn, and he was relaxing after the ordeal.  Crunching and scuffing sounds came from behind him in the dark.  A young face looked over the front of the wreck and stared at the old man.  After a moment, he spoke to the haggard youth, “If you would like to share my fire, you’re welcome.”
 At the sound of the invitation, the young man held up a revolver and pointed it.  “Don’t try anything funny, I’ll shoot you old man, I will.”
“Hey, I’m just sitting here in the warmth of the fire.  I have no gun, I won’t try anything.”
The youth scrambled over the rubble and sat across the fire from the old man.  “How did you get a tire to burn?  I’ve never seen that.”
“It takes a bit of effort.”  Was all the old man said. 
The kid lowered the gun a little, and asked, “Can you show me how to do it?  I mean it gets pretty cold out here at night and I sure could use a fire at night.  Could you?”
“Sure, my name is Jacob, friends call me Jake.  What’s your name?”
“Mu parents call me Denny.  Hey, you find any food around here?  I haven’t eaten for a few days.  I found a buried store a ways from here and there was some canned stuff still left.  But not much.”
Jake looked at the boy and asked him, “Denny, let me ask you a question.  And it is important so I need you to think about it.  But I am a scientist, I’m not sure if you know what that is, but I, and a group of others, are trying to reverse what has happened to the world.  And I need your help.”
 “I think I know what you are.  My parents talked about how scientists are what destroyed the world.  You look pretty old, ate you one of the ones that ruined everything?”
A sad look came over the face of Jake and he continued, “No Denny, sorry.  There were a lot of scientists a long time ago.  Many of them thought that they were helping the world, trying to save it.  They created something that would forever change the world.  And not for good either.  But I am not one of them.  My friends and I have been living in a sealed cave some distance from here.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So what happened to cause all this?”
“Did your parents teach you anything about the world?”
“Not much.  A few things, about how there used to be plants and stuff around.  Things used to grow out of the ground and we could eat them.  Sounds pretty cool.”
“Cool indeed Denny, cool indeed.  About 60 years ago there was a crisis in the world.  At that time we, humans, used what were called fossil fuels to power our world.  The problem was that those fossil fuels were themselves destructive.  And they were becoming scarce.    So some scientists came up with a unique way to solve the energy problem.  They did what's called gene splicing and they took some ordinary bacteria and spliced into them some genes that would allow the bacteria to eat cellulose.  And they converted that to alcohol and methane.  Two things we could use for fuel.”
Denny brightened at the term gene splicing.  He began, “My mom said that years ago there was some gene splicing and they made fish that grew really big and really fast.  Those got loose and the bears ate them and soon they got really big too.”
“That’s right Denny, that did happen.  At the time, the scientists thought that the genes they splice into organisms could not possibly migrate into animals that ate them.  They were wrong, and the bears were one of the first indicators that there was a problem with the technology.  Bears ate a lot of those big fish and soon, they began to grow as well as the growth genes in the fish became part of the bears.  Soon bears were growing to 15 to 20 feet tall and they grew like crazy and in a short time were killing people wherever they were found.”
“Yeah man, my mom told me she saw some of them.  They must have been pretty wicked.”
"Denny, that was only a small part of the problem.  The gene splicing technology was soon found to cause sterility if people ate the food products over a long enough period of time.  That's why when all these problems started most people were unable to have any more children anymore.  You are just one lucky kid, there probably aren't many other people left around are there?"
Denny looked at Jake for a few minutes before he spoke, "No, none that I have seen. I was raised in a colony of people by a big lake.  But everyone died a long time ago.  I went out looking for other people, you're the second one I found.  Not many out anymore I guess."
“Sorry about your mom.  I'm sure there are still people out there, we just have to find them.  Well anyway, the bacteria that were built to consume cellulose were let loose into the environment and they did what bacteria are designed to do.  They ate cellulose.  Of course our world is based on cellulose.  Plants have cellulose in them, and soon the bacteria consumed all the living plant life everywhere along with everything else in the world, wood, paper, just the very foundation of the world around us.”
‘So that’s why all the plants died?”
“They didn’t die Denny, they were eaten by bacteria.  And that’s why I’m here.  I am looking for plants that might have adapted to this plague and have begun to grow again.  That’s why I need your help.”
“Me, what can I do man, I don’t know nothin’ about what you’re talkin’ about.”
“I know, but still, you can help.  I just need to know if you have ever seen any patches of green anywhere.  Green lichens, or moss, or algae growing on rocks or anywhere around.”
“Why?”
“Green stuff growing would indicate some growth of moss or some other plants.  What that would mean is that the lowest forms of plant life on the planet have begun to adapt and have developed resistance to the bacteria.  My friends and I have worked in seclusion in our little bubble world in a sealed cave for almost sixty years now and we have not as of yet come close to developing any form of plants that will withstand the onslaught of the bacteria.  I'm about the last one of my friends left, certainly the only one capable of making this journey.  If we find native moss, fungi or algae, or well, anything, we may be able to isolate the characteristics of their changes and adapt them to higher forms of plants.  Trees, food crops, everything.”
Denny looked at the older man.  “Awe man, I don’t know if I believe you.  My mom told me that you scientists are what destroyed the world.  What you are talking about sounds pretty weird.”  And with that he raised the revolver and shot Jake. 

The end
Of everything.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Blue Light, simple, yet it beats modern medicine's best efforts

I read a while back about how there have been some serious medical studies done on the effects of plain blue light from LEDs and the effects on MRSA bacteria.  Yeah, blue light.  It seemed to good to be true, but I read a whole bunch of articles, all giving specific wave lengths of the light used and the percentage of the bacteria that were immobilized or even killed by short exposures to the light.  Lots of in depth detailed experimental data.  I mean we all know that UV light kills a lot of bacteria, but visible blue light, from LED flashlights, hard to imagine.

I have been troubled with MRSA for nearly three years now.  When in the apartment in Austin with the black mold, my sinuses became impacted with crud, a lot of mold spores, but it also became a prime site for bacterial growth.  And when in the hospital for my hip replacement, I contracted MRSA bacterial infection of the upper sinuses.  THOUSANDS of dollars in out of pocket expenses for me for treatments to get rid of this antibiotic resistant bacteria have all failed.  And it is a vicious cycle, when the conditions are right, my sinuses become inflamed, such as when living with dogs that I am allergic to.  Then the nasal sinuses react and mucus forms, and then the bacteria bloom, when I sleep, the crud drips into my lungs and they get inflamed and then my asthma becomes life threatening.  Antibiotics help, but the problem never goes away.  It blooms about every other month.  And now, I have no insurance, so.....

Well I was at the dollar store last week and saw a small LED penlight.  For a buck, I bought it.  I blew my nose on Friday night, and the usual bloom of green blobs of crud came out.  I stuck the penlight in there and left it on for twenty minutes on each side.  I have done this morning and night now for 5 days.  I no longer have green crud in my nose.  I have a lot of mucus, but that is probably from this late winter storm coming in with the fifty mile an hour winds and the billowing dust everywhere that is causing some sinus problems.  But no green crud.

Am I crazy, but a simple blue LED penlight that I paid a buck for, plus tax, is kicking the shit out of the modern medical community and all of their fancy and unbelievably expensive treatment options that claim to be the miracle life saving panacea for all humans on planet earth?  Really, I contracted this MRSA while a patient in the hospital, while getting treatment for side effects from treatment for exposure to black mold.  While trying anything to help my sinus problems at that time, I was also seeing an allergy specialist who decided that I had low testosterone and prescribed  T creme, which caused me to have blood clots in my lungs which nearly killed me.  When in the hospital the second time for blood clots in my lungs another doctor prescribed two antibiotics that when taken together cause pancreatitis.  Seems like most of my health problems have come from the medical practices that have been applied to me to cure something that, well, they could not cure.

Scary.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Something fancy to make



Feta, Goat cheese, spinach and quail egg ravioli-  I know, this is a complex recipe, but very elegant and fantastic.  Take 1.5 cups durum wheat flour in a food processor.  AP flour works, almost as well.  Add an egg and about 4 tablespoons white wine.  Whiz in processor until a ball forms, adding a bit more wine if needed.  Set aside to rest.  Take a half packet of Garlic and Herb Dip Mix and put into a saucepan with a half cup white wine.  Bring to a boil and reduce to syrup, remove from heat and add 4 cups baby spinach.  Turn a few times, then cover and allow to wilt for 4 minutes.  Toss.  Set aside.  After 15 minutes and then mix in a half cup of crumbled Bulgarian Sheep’s milk Feta.  (my favorite) or any feta.  Roll out the dough into sheets.  Place first sheet onto ravioli press.  Make the dimples into the press, then brush with a beaten egg wash.  Place a teaspoon or so of the spinach mixture into the dimples and press against the sides leaving a small depression.  Crack a quail egg into the depression, then cover with second sheet of pasta and roll to press.  Continue with another set, this should make about 24 ravioli.  Sauce to serve over them, take two large shallots and peel and slice thinly.  Saute in large skillet with 2 tablespoons butter.  When translucent, add the second half of the dip mix, and a half cup of white wine.  Bring to a boil and reduce to syrup, then add a cup and a half of half and half, bring to light boil, and reduce a third.  Cook the ravioli in boiling water for 3 minutes, then place on plate, and top with sauce.  Garnish with chopped almonds, parsley and a few lemon slices. 

Monday, April 8, 2013

Mercury, available everywhere, make sure your kids are developmentally impaired today!

Let's never talk about religion again.  (SEE MY FACEBOOK FOR WHY) 
Okay, I just don't understand the FDA.  Really, how did their mandate go from protect the AmeriKan public health by monitoring the production of foods and drugs to what it is today.  Today, the FDA has changed their mandate to seek out and control ACUTE toxins, and to look the other way when big agribusinesses and big pharma companies manufacture and use CHRONIC toxins.  Acute toxins will kill you with one, or just a few doses, chronic toxins will accumulate in your body and cause cancer, destruction of your internal organs, retard the mental development of children and babies in utero, and a whole host of lesser, but often debilitating problems.  When did that become the standard for which protection of the populace allows chronic toxins into our food supply.  Well, I know when, and I know who did it, but the question is why.  I believe that the answer to that is of course, money.  As long as big business pours money into the coffers of politicians, hires directors and department heads from government agencies at outrageous salaries and not require them to do anything; then our health will be at risk from chronic toxins. 

I guess that the problem is with mercury.  Mercury is unbelievably toxic.  It destroys brain cells.  The real travesty here though is that all of what I am going to tell you about could have been prevented.  The FDA was made aware of the mercury contamination years ago, and did nothing.  The opportunity was given to the Federal agency to DO WHAT IS MANDATED TO DO!  Stop production of HFCS, recall all products made with the contaminated product, and keep the American public from exposure and consumption of Mercury.  The USDA, the EPA and Dept of Energy, all list Mercury as a Class 1 neurotoxin, one that is cumulative, and unfortunately, widespread.  And yes, the great and all powerful FDA also categorize Mercury the same way.  They give advisories to limit consumption of fish that may contain Mercury.  The FDA however, chose not to say one single word about the Mercury contamination POSITIVELY found in the manufacturing processes in making High Fructose Corn Syrup.  In 2005  a very public study was published identifying not only Mercury in HFCS but also in 45% of the products plucked from store shelves.  Source  The study found levels of Mercury in HFCS to be as high as .57 micrograms PER GRAM.  The FDA sets the LIMIT of acceptable levels of Mercury to be 0.1 micrograms per 2.2 pounds of body weight.  That means that a normal 120 pound woman that drinks 5 sugar sweetened soda beverages a day, one sports drink, eaten two slices bread, with jelly and most brands of peanut butter, had a quarter cup of ketchup with her fries, ate some ice cream and then had a pop tart before bed has consumed TWELVE TIMES THE LIMIT for Mercury set by the FDA.  Could be a little higher if she had sushi. 

Mercury poisoning is not something to trivialize.  It is VERY serious.  The fact that the stuff is cumulative makes it even more serious.  Anyone that consumes large amounts fish like Blue Fin Tuna, Shark, whales, Swordfish etc, are at higher risk of degenerative CNS problems.  Now, innocuous everyday foodstuffs and drinks are tainted with Mercury.  It is no longer a problem of a few upper class people that are able to afford to eat the fish species most at risk; it is now a problem for every person in America.  Some of the problems associated with cumulative Mercury poisoning are:


  • irritability
  • anxiety/nervousness, often with difficulty in breathing
  • restlessness
  • exaggerated response to stimulation
  • fearfulness
  • emotional instability
    -lack of self control
    -fits of anger, with violent, irrational behavior
  • loss of self confidence
  • indecision
  • shyness or timidity, being easily embarrassed
  • inability to concentrate
  • lethargy/drowsiness
  • insomnia
  • mental depression, despondency
  • withdrawal
  • suicidal tendencies
  • manic depression
  •  
  • Unless I am mistaken, these are many of the symptoms that teachers complain that they deal with daily in their jobs teaching American youths.  Let's remember that Mercury poisoning is cumulative.  What you take in today, is always there, along with you take in tomorrow, and the day after and the day after that.  Anyone drinking soft drinks made with HFCS, eating processed foods made with HFCS, sports drinks, poptarts, jelly, cookies, Twinkies, some canned soups, candies, cakes, ice creams, well, just about every processed food out there.  They are getting tiny doses of Mercury.  And that stuff stays in your brain, and the stuff you ate yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.   All from drinking coke, pepsi, mountain dew, and eating foods that the FDA could have saved you from, yet didn't.

    Tragically food is not the only source of Mercury for our children in AmeriKa today.  A huge amount of the toxic element is delivered intentionally through the vaccination program mandated by the AmeriKan government.  Most vaccines manufactured today STILL use Thimerosal, a preservative that is 49% Mercury.  Private insurance companies, who never lose money, write their policies now that pay for loss of life except in the instance of Acts of God, nuclear war, nuclear power plant disasters, and vaccinations.  Don't believe that, take out your policy and read the exclusions. 

    Each state has school vaccination laws that require children of appropriate age to be vaccinated for several communicable diseases. State vaccination laws mandate that children be vaccinated prior to being allowed to attend public or private schools. Failure to vaccinate children can not only result in children being prohibited from attending school, but their parents or guardians can receive civil fines and criminal penalties. Schools don’t usually tell parents is that in every state, an exemption exists allowing parents to legally refuse vaccines while still allowing their children to attend school.  The medical industry advocates vaccines, often demanding that parents vaccinate their children in order to remain under their doctor’s care. A sizable portion of a pediatrician’s income is derived from insurance reimbursement for vaccinations. The ever-expanding vaccination schedule that includes increasingly more expensive vaccines has been a source of increased revenues for vaccinating doctors.  I just wrote about this very thing last week, (Hepatitis B vaccine) where one of the vaccines being given to NEWBORN babies right after birth is the Hep B vaccine.  There is a ZERO  probability of an infant contracting the disease, yet it is mandated by the CDC.  

    So what can you do?  Nothing.  You can do nothing, let yourself, your children and everyone you know and love, (and some you hate) die a long slow death filled with slowly degenerating mental capacities and developmental problems and if you are capable of remembering what you read here, sigh and say oh well.  OR, you can prepare yourself, guard against crap in your food supply, refuse to let your children be vaccinated and learn what real good healthy food tastes like and change your lifestyle to include it.  

    Is that so hard?