Raw Milk is Real Milk

Calcification of the arteries, the joints, and the pineal gland may be due to the excessive intake of fractionated milk, i.e., skim or lowfat milk. On the advice of physicians, millions of people have switched to lowfat milk under the mistaken belief that avoiding the milk fat will enable them to avoid hardening of the arteries. Drinking fractionated milk may cause exactly the opposite effect!

Many other millions are drinking lowfat milk to avoid weight gain...Do you know how some farmers fatten their hogs? They feed them skim milk.

- William Campbell Douglas, MD

Children's Health

Between 1984-1991, our science editor Mary Enig served as an expert witness in several suits involving two brands of chloride-deficient soy formula, Neo-Mul-Soy and CHOFree, produced by a company called Syntex. The plaintiffs argued that by removing chloride (in the form of sodium chloride) from the formula, their children did not achieve their full intellectual potential. Mary testified that chloride was essential for the growth and development of the brain. Syntex went out of the infant formula business because of adverse publicity about their products. A news article appearing after the trial quoted a juror who worked for a pet food company. "There is more quality control for pet food," she said, "than for infant formula." At no time is quality control more important than during infancy, when the body is built, the endocrine system activated, and the brain and nervous system being formed. Yet our medical system assures us that the diet of a nursing mother does not affect the quality of her milk, and the formula makers warn us that only they can put a sanitary and scientific formula together for our babies. Most practitioners are horrified at the thought of mothers making formula for their babies, citing the possibility of mistakes and contamination. But any mother who cares enough to make a whole foods baby formula will do so with far more care than the most reputable formula maker. Today's cost-cutting measures and black market in formula put babies more at risk than ever. There is no better example of the callousness of the formula industry than their promotion of soy-based formula, which is totally unsuitable for babies. In fact, during the Neo-Mul-Soy case, the defendants insisted that the Neo-Mul-Soy-fed babies be compared only with other soy-fed babies. They knew that a comparison with babies fed milk-based formula would make the whole soy product line look bad. In the aftermath of the tragedy of September 11, Americans are reexamining their values. What better place to start than to take a clear-eyed look at the way we feed our young. Perhaps our new sensibilities will help parents realize that unhealthy foods and the desire for convenience place a terrible burden of poor health on the next generation. If we are to make the world a better place in which to live, we will need a generation of healthy, clear-thinking individuals. This can only be accomplished by quality control in our diets from the very beginning-before conception, during pregnancy, while breastfeeding and in the food choices we make for our children as they mature and grow. -taken from www.westonaprice.org (children's health link)

How to Get Sick

Take lots of medications

Every med has a side effect. While I do agree there is a time and place for medications, most of the prescription activity in the U.S. perpetuates health problems by treating symptoms instead of promoting healing. Things like anti-biotics, oral contraceptives, and corticosteroids can cause major problems with the gastrointestinal terrain, damage the immune system, cause liver problems, and mess with enzyme function. Taking a baby aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks is dangerous. "Aspirin can cause bleeding in the intestinal track and can be toxic to the liver." You can get similar health benefits by consuming foods like "cold-water fish, fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, and certain botanicals that naturally reduce the Cox-2 enzyme and provide other anti-inflammatory benefits."

-The Maker's Diet

Eat To Live

What did God intend for us to eat?

1. When God calls an item food:

God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." (Gen. 1:29)

"You will eat the plants of the field." (Gen. 3:18)

"These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep." (Deut. 14: 4-5)

2. When God brings items to His people as gifts:

"Also the food I provided for you - the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat." (Ezek. 16:19)

3. If Jesus ate or served an item:

"He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people." (Matt. 15:36)

While fresh fruits, farm-grown veggies and protein-rich meat are readily available in our land, the genuis of man has figured out how to prepare, manufacture, cook, microwave, and market mass-produced foods in ways not very healthy for us...."Like sheep following the next one off a cliff, we are passing through checkout lines with shopping carts filled with processed foods missing many of the nutrients God intended us to receive."

The foods God intended for us to eat contain no refined or processed carbs, no altered or damaged fats, and no artificial sweeteners.

"Eat foods that God created and in a form that is healthy for the body."

-The Great Physician's Rx

January...the month of soups!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 2 cups frozen, mixed vegetables (organic)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 cups tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes (organic, preferably home canned)
• 3 cups chicken stock (organic or homemade)
• 1 pound ground venison
• 1/2 cup grated cheese, Parmigiano or Romano or whatever you have on hand (preferably organic or hormone/antibiotic-free)
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
• 1/2 pound Jerusalem Artichoke organic whole wheat Angel Hair
• 1 cup basil leaves, torn or shredded (optional)
• 1 loaf Italian crusty bread, for dunking (optional)
• extra shredded cheese for topping

Directions

Preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan,then mixed veggies and garlic and saute 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce/tomatoes and stock and cover pot. Turn up heat and bring to a fast boil.

While soup comes to a boil, mix the ground meat with cheese, bread crumbs, egg and parsley. Roll into 1 1/2 to 2-inch balls.

Remove lid from soup and slide balls into soup. Bring back to a boil then stir in spaghetti. Reduce the heat and simmer soup 10 minutes more, until pasta is tender and balls have cooked through. Stir in basil and remove from the stove. Serve soup with homemade crusty bread and cheese.

Based on Rachel Ray's "Spaghetti and Meatball Stoup"

January...the month of soups!

If you're anything like me, there's nothing better than a big bowl of hearty and delicious soup to warm up after a cold January day. So I've decided that this month will be the month of soups at my house and I'd like to share some of them with you. I've already posted a couple that we've really enjoyed and whenever I post a new one, I'll try to put it under this same heading.

Venison Stuffed Cabbage Soup (adapted from Rachel Ray's "Stuffed Cabbage Soup)

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 cup uncooked organic brown rice or whatever you have on hand
• 1 quart plus 2 cups chicken stock, divided (organic)
• 1 1/2 pounds ground venison or beef (organic)
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler into strips then finely chopped (optional)
• 1/2-3/4 head Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes (organic and from a jar if possible; try to stay away from canned tomatoes)
• 1 cup tomato sauce (same thing here)
• Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
• 3 tablespoons dill, finely chopped (optional)

Directions

Heat a sauce pot over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons. Add the rice and toss to coat in oil. Add 2 cups of chicken stock, bring up to a simmer, cover and cook for 16 to 18 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Heat a deep pot over medium high heat. Add the remaining extra-virgin olive oil, once hot add meat and begin to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Season the meat with allspice, coriander, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Add bay leaf, onions, garlic and carrots. Cook veggies 2 to 3 minutes to begin to soften them, then add cabbage and wilt it down a bit. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and remaining stock and cover the pot. Raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Once the rice is cooked, add to the soup and continue to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in parsley and dill, adjust salt and pepper to your taste, and serve

Raw Milk is Real Milk

I've talked before about what's being done to milk these days that makes it so unhealthy, nutritionally void, and even dangerous for us to consume. Let's consider again that one of the first things we Moms do so our families can be "healthy" is buy 2% or skim milk in place of whole milk. The dieticians blaming the saturated fats in whole milk for the spectacular rise in child obesity have encouraged consumers to shop for reduced-fat or fat-free milk.

Interestingly enough, I've never heard of a milking cow who produced 2% or skim milk! The reality is that by removing the fat the milk is less nutritious, less digestible, and can cause allergies. The homogenization of milk alters the fats and makes them more likely to damage arteries and possibly harm the body.

"When cow's milk was bottled for sale and consumption, globules of butterfat separated from the milk and floated to the top of the bottle, which is where we received the expression: The cream always rises to the top. Milk producers thought that milk with the cream separated was unappetizing for consumers. Auguste Gaulin, a Frenchman, patented a nifty machine in 1899 that shot milk through a fine nozzle to break up the fat globules so that the butterfat would not rise to the top." Homogenization, as it was called, didn't become popular until the 1930's.

"What researchers have learned is that the homogenization process creates an enzyme called xanthine oxidase, or "XO" which contributes to heart disease by damaging the arteries and building up arterial plaque." The milk industry claims that pasteurization kills XO...but that's debatable and we know that pasteurization also alters important amino acids, which reduces a child's ability to access the proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals in milk.

"Heating the milk during pasteurization turns the milk sugar lactose into beta-lactose, which is more rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream and raises blood sugar levels." The sudden rise and fall of blood sugar levels induces hunger and leads to obesity.

Lots of Moms are concerned because they're convinced they're children are lactose-intolerant However, children are rarely born with this intolerance and most likely their son or daughter has an allergy to processed, pasteurized cow's milk. Unfortunately, most parents are advised to try soy-based infant formula. I've often talked about the dangers of soy - and most often children aren't allergic to lactose, they are sensitive to the processed protein in the formula. I would really encourage you to look into the benefits of a natural, organic infant formula at your local health food store. I have also included below a homemade formula that Dr. Jordan Rubin made for his own son, Joshua. While you may consider some of the ingredients to be quite unusual, please take a closer look at their beneficial properties before turning up your nose!

Infant Formula

24 oz. spring water

12 oz. goat's milk (raw or pasteurized)

1/2 tsp. children's probiotic powder

1/2 tsp. acerola cherry powder (17 % Vitamin C)

2 tsp. whey protein concentrate (defensenutrition.com)

2 tsp. nutritional yeast

3 capsules buffalo liver or 3 capsules of clostrum

8 tblsp. mineral whey powder

1 tsp. cod liver oil

1 tsp. butter oil

1 tsp. sunflower oil

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. extra virgin coconut oil

* Of course Dr. Rubin's disclaimer recommends that parents seek their doctor's advice before starting a nutritional program for their children. I would encourage you to seek the advice of a naturopathic or other like-minded doctor. Otherwise, just be prepared to listen to the average, no-nothing-about-nutrition pediatric doctor tell you that you should be supplementing your breast-fed infant with some commercially produced toxic formula. The VERY BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR INFANT is to take advantage of God's perfect design for breastfeeding.

Are you killing your kids?

So, I've been reading a fantastic book by Jordan Rubin and Dr. Fiona Blair: The Great Physician's Rx for children's health. Some of the ideas he shares in the book are likely to come across as "radical." Others will be very common sense. "But if you're looking for a plan to help your children finish the race that God intended for their lives, why not take a presciption from the Great Physician, the One who knew your children while they were still in the womb, the One who has plans to prosper them and not to harm them, to give them a great future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Teach your children to "Eat to Live"

"The rise of convenience foods" Food manufacturers have come up with great ways to save time in the kitchen. Sadly enough, it usually results in more time spent at the doctor's office or perousing the cough and cold isle. Store-bought meals are loaded with preservatives, processed ingredients, artificial flavors, synthetic colors, and trans fats. Unfortunately, it's not what's being peeled, chopped, or grilled that's for dinner, it's what's heating up in the microwave. "Anytime your food has been produced by assembly-line workers in white lab coats and hairnets and radiated with ions, it won't be as healthy for you as fresh organic meats, vegetables, and fruits."

What's For Dinner?

Chicken Rice Soup

2 quarts chicken stock (organic or all natural; homemade would be great)

1 cup rice, preferably soaked for 7 hours (makes it easier to digest)

1 cup finely diced, cooked chicken meat (breast, tenders, liver or heart)

1 1/2 cups finely diced veggies (I used frozen organic mixed vegetables)

sea salt

Bring stock and rice to boil and skim off any foam on top. Reduce heat and cook, covered, about 45 minutes until rice is tender. Add the veggies and meat, season to taste and cook 10-20 more minutes or until veggies are as done as you like.

Serve with crusty bread and salad.

Enjoy!

Whole Food Supplementation...What's missing from your diet?

"Our ancestors consumed 30 to 65 percent of their daily calories (and up to 100 grams of fiber a day) from a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. That's why, long before the discovery of vitamins, people who had access to healthy foods lived extremely long lives without vitamin deficiencies or major illnesses. Their protein needs were met by consuming pasture-fed animals, wild game, and fish that were rich in highly beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. These fats protected our ancestors against diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease - and they can do the same for us as well."

We must strive to consume at least 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Of course, if you keep track of what you eat/feed your family every day, you'll soon see that you generally fall short of this goal. My family chose to supplement our diet with Juice Plus+ A whole food based nutritional that I've talked about before. We like Juice Plus+ for many reasons, but mainly because it's just that...fresh fruits and vegetables in powdered form...no additives, preservatives or other "nasties" we don't want in our bodies. It does help fill in the gap between the amount of fruits and veggies we should eat and the amount we actually do eat. Check it out on my website: www.genatruejuiceplus.com Please consider making this positive investment in your health this year!

Motion Is Life

Have you started the year 2010 off with a "resolution?" Oh boy, we know how those usually go! The pattern begins: You resolve to "get into shape this year" but break that promise by Martin Luther King's birthday. Then you see an infomercial for a high-tech workout contraption or program and you say "I've got to do something!" Hopefully you do, but more than likely your fancy treadmill or bowflex becomes a clothes hanger.

"The body was meant to move: God designed us to lift, haul, stride, step, boost, drag, march, tread, run, kick, and heave with our limbs. Unfortunately, there isn't much manual labor involved in answering emails, making phone calls, writing reports, studying figures, or sitting in meetings."

Problems with sitting down: the sitting position prompts a whole range of physical problems. As the shoulders slump, undue pressure is placed on the heart, and lung capacity diminishes. The back muscles tense to compensate for the imbalanced posture. Sitting for long periods of time creates chronic back pain, initiates headaches, and predisposes one to even more fatitue. The sitting position can also cause the stomach muscles to become slack and weak from underuse, and the internal organs are displaced downward, impairing their function. Knee and ankle joints become stiff, and muscles lose their tone.

(Resource: The Great Physician's RX)

MOTION IS LIFE!!!

Name that Food

Okay, the "holidays" are officially over and you've no doubt seen this food multiple times during the course of feasts: Did you guess already made pie crusts?

There are many good homemade pie crust recipes; I always choose those containing butter, not Crisco or other shortening. There are also great no flour crust options; those made with nuts and honey are excellent alternatives.