This 'n That · 6 days ago

An alternate title for this section might be, “Forgive us, Lord, we know not what we do……”………

Toxic Food Borne Illness

These include the usual culprits – mushrooms picked with little studying or knowledge, touching poison plants like poison ivy or poison oak; or eating poisoned or spoiled shellfish. Those don’t bother me, as much as the “heavy metal such as antimony, zinc, lead and copper can find their way into the food chain from the way in which we store food items. Foods, especially high acid foods e.g. fruit juices, can react with metal containers such as cans, after they are opened. The metal from the containers then enters the food and can be consumed.” Or worse…

Lead and Arsenic – Sometimes lead and arsenic is used to spray vegetables. This may cause these foods to become poisonous. Be sure all fresh fruits and vegetables are thoroughly washed before you cook them, or before they are eaten raw. Lead poisoning may also result from the ingestion of food or water that has been in contact with lead pipes, lead-plated equipment, and lead-soldered pots and pans. A programme of replacing lead pipes in old housing has been undertaken for many years, however if you live in an old house you should always run the water in the tap before you use it, first thing of a morning. Lead is a cumulative poison, meaning the accumulation of small doses in the body will eventually cause chronic lead poisoning.

Cadmium poisoning may take place if chilled acid foods or drinks are allowed to stand in cadmium-plated metal containers before they are served. Foods such as Lemonades, tomatoes, and tea containing lemon juice can be contaminated by cadmium. Ice trays and metal pitchers plated with cadmium can cause poisoning when filled with cold acid foods.

Cyanide poisoning may result if silverware has not been thoroughly rinsed after detarnishing.

Zinc poisoning in food is rare. It may occur when acid foods are cooked in galvanised iron kettles. Outbreaks have occurred when apples have been cooked in this type of kettle.

You must always transfer food into ceramic, glass or food grade plastic containers for storage, and never store food in cans. Symptoms of metal poisoning can be bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. There is often a metallic taste in the victims mouth.

Iodine Deficiency For ADD and ADHD

Maybe it is time people stopped to think what has changed in our environment or nutrition that ADD and ADHD have reached epidemic levels, with children paying the price by being drugged, placed in chemical straightjackets which do nothing to ‘cure’. Iodine deficiencies are a real possibility, beginning with testing birth mothers and their children. But hurry – because studies show that supplementing iodine after age 3 might be worthless.”

Iodine Deficiency Leads to Poor Mental Development in Babies

Pregnant women are putting the mental development of their children at risk by failing to take sufficient amounts of iodine, according to a recent study by British scientists.

(Another) New Reason for Bee Hive Collapse

ScienceDaily (May 6, 2008) — The quality of pollen a plant produces is closely tied to its sexual habits, ecologists have discovered. As well as helping explain the evolution of such intimate relationships between plants and pollinators, the study — one of the first of its kind and published online in the British Ecological Society’s journal Functional Ecology — also helps explain the recent dramatic decline in certain bumblebee species found in the shrinking areas of species-rich chalk grasslands and hay meadows across Northern Europe.

Bisphenol A in your body – How it got there
and Plastic Chemical Found in Foods

This is why I dehydrate as many vegetables as I can during the growing season, and don’t buy canned goods. Bisphenol A is a hormon disruptor – a chemical that we all should avoid.

Historical use of lead arsenate (LA) insecticides, resulting soil contamination and implications for soil remediation

?Ever wonder why lead is a pervasive toxin which we can’t seem to conquer? Children making mud pies after a fresh rain turns their yard, once an agricultural field, into a malleable source of clay, are struck down with lead poisoning. Why? Because we were fools and we knew not what we were doing………..

Papayas – A Powerhouse of Digestive Enzyme Nutrition

??For a little change of toxic pace, eat papayas! No, wait. Most of them are toxic because, no thanks to Monsanto, the majority ar now GMO, functioning differently at a cellular level than the Originals Created by God. But, IF you do happen to have access to a local source (must be tree-ripened in order to provide the full benefit of vitamins), then you’ve got it made…

Brined & Roasted or Grilled Whole Turkey · 10 days ago

It’s mid-July and already, my mind is planning Thanksgiving, looking forward to eating juicy, succulent turkey, adjectives rarely used to describe turkeys of most holiday meals. No matter the techniques – roasting bags, butter rubs, tenting with foil, or using roasters – the meat was the least favorite part of the meal. Then we discovered organic pastured turkeys – turkeys raised the way turkeys were meant to be raised. Unlike factory-farmed counterparts, pastured turkeys have a good life – running free in fields filled with sunshine, plenty of juicy insects and nutrient-dense grass from which they can forage. There’s no doubt part of their great flavor is psychological. It’s a relief to know we’re eating meat that isn’t loaded with chemicals, preservatives, antibiotics, and growth
stimulants like arsenic.

Beef Short Ribs · 21 days ago

There are favorite foods from my childhood, such as Swedish Pancakes, that I hope my children will continue to make, passing along the recipe for generations yet to come.

There are other foods, like beef short ribs, that I decided would end with me. My mother was a good cook. Her marinara sauce, which gently simmered for hours to perfection, is not something I’ve successfully replicated. She made a veal “hotdish” (Midwestern roots are showing) that earned praises and cheers. But when it came to pork chops or beef short ribs, they were, at best, tedious to eat, always dry, leathery and tough. My father always graciously excused them, saying to my mother, “That’s just the nature of short ribs. Good sauce, honey!”

Microbes & The Days of Creation · 26 days ago

Without microbes, life itself would be impossible. But say the words “bacteria” or “virus”, and most people rush for the antibacterial soaps or sanitizers in a desire to kill off “germs” they believe might hurt them. In reality, as the following article points out, Only about 5–10% of all bacteria are pathogenic.

Turning those numbers around, we could say that, ….about 90-95% of all bacteria are beneficial. That’s a dramatically different perspective which can change the way we look at the world around us, including the food that we eat and how it is cared for and processed.

Kimchi Goes to Space.... · 27 days ago

For hundreds of generations, Koreans have long known their beloved fermented Kimchi was a rich resource of what food scientists today call, “functional properties”. Not only does Kimchi offer antioxidant, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic benefits, but also healthy doses of ascorbic acid (anti-scurvy used by ancient sailors), carotene and B-complex vitamins as well as calcium, iron and potassium. It’s all possible because bacteria and fungus, thriving on all fresh fruits and vegetables, breaks down components of the foods through complex biological processes, the most important being a lactic acid producing bacteria, Lactobacillus. Lactic acid gives kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, kefir, sourdough bread and yogurt their sour taste.

Sofrito Paella · 28 days ago

I discovered two keys to a really good Paella – a really good Sofrito – a rich tomato foundation fondly called “the secret sauce” by Sofrito aficionados – and choosing the right kind of rice.

There are as many Sofritos, common to Puerto Rican, Spanish and Caribbean cuisine, as there are possibilities for incorporating their taste-tingling goodness into stews, soups or bean-based dishes, or, a Paella. All Sofritos begin with the same basic ingredients – onions, tomatoes, garlic and some form of peppers. From there, spices vary, reflecting individual cultures and tastes. Traditionally, Sofritos are prepared fresh weekly and kept on hand, used throughout the week, or in this case, prepared for one main dish.

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Cancer · 34 days ago

I could have posted individual blog entries, but I think it is more important that all of the following information is kept in one convenient “archive”, if you will. The following is of vital importance to babies, pregnant women, men, children, in other words, every single person. Many of us are deficient in Vitamin D. One would think given the number of processed foods and pasteurized milk additive of Vitamin D that we’d have more than enough. But research from many leading institutions is showing just the opposite, that despite our food industry supplementing synthetic forms of Vitamin D, we are still a deficient people. And that puts us at risk for a huge range of diseases – everything from arthritis to cancer, and possibly even be yet another “cause” of Autism. The moral of this story is:

“The high rate of natural production of vitamin D3 cholecalciferol in the skin is the single most important fact every person should know about vitamin D because it has such profound implications for the natural human condition.” – NEJM

SO…..

Cancel The Account.... · 47 days ago

Once Upon A Time in a business environment far, far away, customers were considered to be an essential, vital, necessary, mandatory components which could make or break a company’s reputation. Way back then, companies were actually concerned, as difficult as it to imagine, about Word-of-Mouth – what was said about them between neighbors talking over backyard fences or hedges, or positive and negative experiences shared by families or friends at social gatherings was considered to be extremely important. “The Customer Is Always Right” has devolved into “The Customer Is Always Wrong”.

When I was experiencing my nightmare with Sears and their Never-Intended-To-Give-Customers-Their-Rebate Non-Program, I wish I had had the creativity of Vinny Ferrarri who had his fill of AOL’s Customer Non-Service. Ferrarri recorded his conversation with AOL’s call center rep who, I have to say, does a tremendous job representing all there is to despise about today’s corporate America.