Saturday, May 30, 2009

Drink Aloe Vera for Digestion Health

Do you have digestive issues? A good remedy for those problems is liquid aloe vera. If you have heartburn, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal cramps, ulcers, IBS, Crohn's Disease, celiac disorder, and other related problems, this natural substance is very healing for those types of problems.

Of course, total healing cannot come without good dietary habits. Eat natural, whole, traditional foods to maintain long-term digestion performance such as grass-fed meats, raw dairy products (including cream, milk, cheese, butter, and homemade kefir and butter), pasture-raised poultry and eggs, raw nuts and seeds, healthy fats from extra-virgin coconut oil and olive oil, palm oils, flax oils, and healthy-sourced lard and tallow (from grass-fed animals), organic fruits and vegetables.

Benefits of regular aloe vera consumption:

  • Digestion support
  • Immune system support
  • detoxification
  • regulates weight and energy levels
  • Daily dose of vitamins and minerals - contains A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, E, Folic acid, and Niacin. Also contains calcium, sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper, Zinc, and Chromium.
  • Maintains healthy skin by collagen and elastin repair
  • Reduces body inflammation
  • Good source of amino acids
  • Maintains good dental hygiene
  • Better than supplements because aloe vera is a natural food from a whole food source

Be sure to eliminate the following - most processed foods including packaged grain products, pastas, breads, cereals, milk, soy (tofu, milk, cheese, fake meat products), roasted/salted nuts, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs (over-the-counter, prescription, and illegal).

A great brand of aloe vera which has no bitter taste is George's. Try this wonderful, healing substance with a good change in diet and watch your digestive problems improve dramatically.

For free aloe vera samples, visit Aloe Vera.org.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Alternatives in Cancer Treatment

Cancer is a complex disease that is caused by many different factors in a person's life. Some medical and health care professionals believe that cancer risk can be prevented by our lifestyles alone. The Gerson Institute, a non-profit organization in San Diego, California is dedicated to implementing non-toxic treatment for disease.

The Gerson philosophy conforms to a naturally-based, safe regimen that does not involve the use of pharmaceautical drugs. Developed in the 1920s by Dr. Max Gerson, it uses whole, organic foods, juicing, coffee enemas, detoxification through cleansing, and natural supplements which cause the body to heal itself. Thousands of individuals during the last 60 years have experienced the Gerson Therapy to get well from various “fatal” diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis.

Diseases such as cancer and heart disease can be fatal illnesses which develop in the body over time. By the time a person receives diagnoses, the process has been insitu for some years. Disease is a reaction in the body to certain lifestyle habits (such as environmental exposure to toxins and poor diet) which contribute to inflammation, over-response by the immune system due to an overwhelming amount of stimulus in its presence, toxin overload, and lack of sufficient nutrient supplementation from the diet.

To enable your body to have the best chance of steering clear of harmful and fatal illnesses, you can take steps to stay healthy, reduce inflammation, and absorb nutrients for good health:
  • Eat raw foods
  • Eat organic foods
  • Eliminate processed foods (basically anything you purchase in a store that contains anything other than real, whole foods)
  • Eat nutrient-dense foods such as grass-fed meats, pasture-raised poultry, fermented foods, organic fruits and vegetables
  • Consume healthy fats such as coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, unrefined flax oil, and palm oils
  • Eat raw nuts and seeds
  • Make everything at home from scratch
  • Obtain enough rest
  • Obtain regular, moderate exercise
  • Seek stress-relieving activities such as yoga, pilates, meditation, or martial arts
  • Drink plenty of purified water
  • Eliminate plastic from your home and other living environments - replace with wood, metal, glass, or ceramic
  • Remove toxic chemicals from your home in the form of cleaners, personal care products, laundry and dishwashing detergents, dryer sheets, clothing and bedding from petroleum sources, air fresheners, perfumes, and dyes.
  • Reduce your use of electronic devices as much as possible. Turn off appliances and unplug when not in use.
For more information about The Gerson program and how you can take charge of your health, visit the organization's web site.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

High Fructose Corn Syrup - Do You Think It's Sweet?

Do you eat food products containing high fructose corn syrup? HFCS is a product that is manufactured from corn, and it is not a whole, natural food. It is broken down chemically in a laboratory and then reassembled as HFCS. Most HFCS is produced from genetically-modified corn. Here are some products containing this artificially produced sweetener:

  • ketchup
  • candy
  • jam
  • soft drinks
  • juice
  • breads
  • most processed food products

Here is a short list of fast food restaurants using HFCS in their products:

  • Arby's
  • Blimpie
  • Burger King
  • Chick-fil-a
  • Dairy Queen
  • Jack in the Box
  • KFC, McDonald's
  • Subway
  • Taco Bell
  • Whataburger
Here are some of the dangers associated from consuming HFCS*:
  • The effects of consuming HFCS translate to metabolic syndrome, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and and increase in triglycerides and LDL or bad cholesterol levels. Because it wreaks such havoc on the digestive system, it also causes liver disease.
  • HFCS is devoid of nutrients and will actually strip nutrients from the body.
  • HFCS contains unbound fructose in massive quantities, and this prevents the cardiovascular system's use of magnesium, copper, and chromium - essential minerals for heart function.
(*source, Weston A. Price Foundation)

The American Corn Refiner's Association maintains an elaborate web site extoling the virtues of HFCS as a natural sweetner, and why not? Besides manufacturing "natural sweeteners", they are a multi-billion dollar corporation and leaders in the industries producing biotechnology, ethanol, starch, corn oil, and feed products. They have leading medical and health experts and "research" backing their claims that HFCS is an important component in the human diet, and continue to tell the public that this substance does not cause obesity, heart disease, nor diabetes. It is no wonder it is so pervasive in our food supply and people are so convinced it is a harmless substance for consumption. It is important to remember that when you are looking for answers, always check to find out who is funding the research and what the entity providing said funding has to gain from such activity.

Be aware that HFCS is toxic to the body and is found in many processed foods. To avoid this dangerous substance, eat natural, traditional, organic foods. You will find that your health will fluorish and you will avoid many health issues.




Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Save Money on Organic Food

Who says organic isn't affordable? Would you like to save money on organic products you buy? There are various merchants who provide online coupons for these healthy foods. Here are just a few:

Organic Valley
Stonyfield Farm
Organic Coupons - variety of merchants who sell organic food and household items
Brown Cow Farm
Earthbound Farm
Imagine Foods
Seventh Generation
Eat Better America - has various coupons for organic food merchants such as Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen Organic

Here are some other ways to save money on organic:
  • Look for store brands featuring organic items. Many stores are now featuring an in-house brand or off-brands which are more economical such as Whole Foods 365 line, S&W,
  • Shop locally and seasonally as well. These foods are always cheaper, fresher, and more nutritious. Check this list of fruits and vegetables that are in season, month-by-month.
  • Don't buy processed foods; buy fresh, whole food ingredients
  • Keep your eye open for sales
  • Be willing to substitute one thing for another if the item is cheaper (don't skimp on quality though)
  • Join a co-op or CSA. These groups provide benefits and extras to their members.
  • Grow your own in a home or community garden.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Colon Cleansing - Vital to Health

Colon cleansing is one of the most powerful steps you can take in your health. Cleansing the colon is an effective way to eliminate embedded toxins and waste that have accumulated over time. These substances, when left in the colon, form pockets and deposits. They misshape the colon tract and reduce its effectiveness in cleaning out the body.

Benefits of colon cleansing include: overall improvement in all body processes and health; when toxins and waste are removed from the body, it improves all functions and valuable nutrients are more easy to absorbed from the food you eat. You will also have more energy, greater mental clarity, find that you become sick less often, and have greater digestive performance and experience less of the following: constipation, diarrhea, bloating, abdominal cramping, gas, and indigestion.

Although a high percentage of people who conduct colon cleansing lose weight, weight loss should not be the number one goal of cleansing. Cleansing should be done to improve overall health, and as a natural by-product of this act your body will drop weight. This is due to the release of accumulated waste (fecal matter) as well as the resulting improvement in absorbing nutrients in the body. This also causes a reduction in appetite and subsequently, frequent hunger pains associated with eating and not absorbing nutrients in food.

Find a qualified practitioner who can guide you through the process of colon cleansing. There are different methods of accomplishing colon cleansing - through diet and through actual mechanical and physical evacuation of toxic matter. In most cases, if you are considering a colon cleanse, you will need to run the gamut of activities - and likely multiple times, to remove enough matter from your colon to positively affect your health. A colonic is an excellent way to get your colon cleansing program off to a good start. A knowledgeable colon hydrotherapist can help. Home enemas are also a good idea, and are a more economical way to maintain colon health continuously.

Fiber in the diet naturally helps fight disease by binding to waste and cholesterol and carrying it out of your body. Diets rich in fiber help prevent the development of colon cancer and heart disease.Make sure you are getting plenty of fiber in your diet from whole foods. Good sources include broccoli, sugar snap peas, brussels sprouts, coconuts, carrots, bananas, nuts, plums, pears, apples, and potatoes (with skin), greens, raisins, sprouted & soaked whole grains, and sprouted and soaked legumes (beans). If you are not obtaining enough, take a good quality fiber supplement. Good brands include Colon Plus by Biotics Research, Genesis Today's 4Fiber A Dietary Fiber Supplement.

Fiber in the diet naturally helps fight disease by binding to waste and cholesterol and carrying it out of your body. Diets rich in fiber help prevent the development of colon cancer and heart disease.

Take care of yourself at all times - before, during, and after colon cleansing activities. Support your body with good nutrition. Eat foods that are easy to digest - steamed (cooked) vegetables, healthy, grass-fed meats and safe-source fish, and meat and bone broths from organic, grass-fed sources. Raw foods are actually more difficult to digest, so during colon cleansing, stick to as many cooked items as possible.

Many experts will say the best tool in prevention of colon cancer is regular colon screenings (colonoscopy). This costly procedure which can also have dangerous health risks. There is a way to avoid colon screenings - change your diet and perform regular colon cleansing activities. The best way to avoid colon cancer is through PREVENTION. Many practitioners and health experts will not tell you this. Eating a superior diet and getting enough exercise are two key factors, as well as your personal colon cleansing protocol which you can design with assistance from a knowledgeable practitioner such as nutritional therapist, naturopath, or colon hydrotherapist.

For more information about detoxification and cleansing, read How Cleansing Positively Affects Your Health on Agriculture Society.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Geriatric and Mental Health Care Centers - Promoting Health, or Death?

Do you have a loved one who lives in an assisted care center? If so, you may think the choice you have made was the best available for your family. In some cases, it becomes very difficult to deal with caring for an invalid elderly relative - especially when you must earn a living and take care of younger family members such as children. Assisted care living is, at best, an artificial environment and often fails to address the problems at hand. Most clients receive regular administration of drugs and sometimes other costly and useless medical procedures - yet little attention is paid to nutrition and diet.

In truth, these types of facilities are really just symptoms of much larger problems in our society - by the time a person reaches a condition where he or she must be admitted to a care center, many things have escalated to cause the decline in health. Both mental and physical degeneration are due to poor lifestyle habits, and greatly diminish the chances of a person maintaining good health in younger years and reaching old age in good health.

Studies show that psychiatric problems can often be caused by lack of nutritional support in the body. According to The Mental Health Foundation, there are firmly established connections between the consumption of junk food to ADD and ADHD, Alzheimer's disease, depression, and schizophrenia due to the absence of key nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and essential fats. The highly-processed and increasingly industrialized diet maintained by a majority of British citizens and Americans - as well as other people living in industrialized countries - has contributed to a rapid decline in the overall health state.

It is certainly true that mental illness is caused by a combination of social, psychological, biological, and environmental factors, but to properly address health issues, we must also consider financial cost of that maintenance. Chief Executive of The Mental Health Foundation, Andrew McCulloch, admits both cost and healthy food are critical factors:"It costs £1,000 a week to keep someone in a psychiatric hospital. How much does good food cost? We need mentally healthy school meals, and mentally healthy hospital foods," he said.

In Britain, studies conducted by Sustain, an activist organization working toward education about better diets, has prepared the publication 'Changing Diets, Changing Minds'. The purpose of this publication is to sound the alarm that national health care services' mental illness costs will continue to rise unless the government takes an active role in focusing on the connection between diet and mental function with regard to food, farming, education, and environment policies.

"Food can have an immediate and lasting effect on mental health and behaviour because of the way it affects the structure and function of the brain," the report reads. Tim Lang, chairman of the organization said: "Mental health has been completely neglected by those working on food policy. If we don’t address it and change the way we farm and fish, we may lose the means to prevent much diet-related ill health."

Mental health care professionals are beginning to understand the connection between a lack of nutrients such as Vitamin D and illnesses like depression, personality disorders, and post-traumatic stress syndrome. An October 2008 report published in the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that in a study of over 50 psychiatric patients, nearly 60 percent were experiencing a critical Vitamin D deficiency, while 11 percent were found to be moderately deficient.

It is essential to get proper nutritional support in the diet to maintain good health, and mental health is no exception. By taking steps now to prevent degenerative disease and immobility, you can avoid needing medications, surgeries, and assisted care now and into your later years.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Trans-Fat Free...Does This Mean it's Healthy?

Do you look for labels on foods to buy that say "trans-fat free"? If so, you could be falling into a hole of believing the food manufacturer telling you that a food is healthy when it is actually not. Many products containing unhealthy oils are lurking in the grocery store - crackers, breads, pretzels, chips, rice cakes, cookies, desserts, sauces, salad dressings, and broths, and soups just to name a few. These products often contain canola, soybean, cottonseed, or some other type of vegetable oil that becomes a trans-fat simply by the way it is processed. Most people assume that if something does not specifically read "hydrogenated", it is healthy. The best oils to consume are:
  • cold pressed, extra-virgin olive oil (can be used on lower heat)
  • cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil (can be used on high heat)
  • fish-oil from safe-source fish (do not heat this oil)
  • cold-pressed flax-seed oil (do not heat this oil)
Only on occasion should you consume the following: organic non-GMO (genetically modified) oils that are cold-processed such as grapeseed, sunflower, and safflower. These oils are polyunsaturated and contain higher levels of Omega 6 essential fatty acids. While we do need these in our diets, the Western diet typically contains a too-high ratio of Omega 6s to Omega 3s. Concentrate on getting the Omega 3 levels up and Omega 6 levels down.

When you go shopping, remember the best foods are always whole, real foods. Oils such as canola, soybean, cottonseed and others are engineered foods that contribute to health problems when consumed such as heart disease, weight gain, high blood pressure, malabsorption of nutrients, and other issues. Trans fats can hide in a variety of products. When in doubt, make foods from scratch - especially foods like salad dressings. You can mix your own oils at home with different types of vinegars, spices, fruits, salt, pepper, and garlic for fantastic flavor and health at the same cost as bottled dressings.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Try Homemade Mayonnaise

Do you eat mayonnaise? Over the years have you heard from various sources how unhealthy it is to eat mayonnaise? The reason why most mayonnaise is so unhealthy to consume is because of the ingredients - pick up an average container of mayonnaise and you will find one of the main ingredients is some type of polylunsaturated, high-content Omega 6 vegetable oil such as canola, soybean, cottonseed, or safflower. Many of these oils are also genetically-modified, which you will definitely want to steer away from.

So what's the solution? There are a few good brands made by companies - here is the list:

Use caution, there are a variety of brands which use olive oil but who also use the other unhealthy oils - such as Spectrum, Best Foods, and Hellman's. There are also a variety of other unhealthy ingredients in these products.

Here is a good homemade recipe courtesy Dr. Ben Kim:

Ingredients:

1 whole egg, at room temperature
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4-1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

Directions:

  1. Use your food processor to blend egg, egg yolk, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and salt for around 30 seconds.
  2. With the food processor running, add the olive oil slowly, a few drops at a time until desired consistency is reached.
  3. This homemade mayonnaise will stay fresh for about 2 weeks in an air tight jar in the refrigerator.
Add into a food processor or blender or food processor eggs, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper until well mixed. Pour olive oil in slowly and steadily while the device is on. Allow to mix until thick and creamy. For a variety of dishes, you can add items like garlic or finely mined onions, and different herbs and spices (such as cumin, chili powder, or dill depending on the dish you are making).

For tartar sauce, add 1/2 cup of the mayo mixture to the following:
  • 1/3 cup of organic pickle relish - add more if desired
  • 1 pinch of pepper
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix ingredients in a bowl. Eat immediately or chill and serve for later use.

Although it does take extra time to make your own mayonnaise, it can make a big difference in your health - especially if you eat it often. Making your own mayonnaise can help eliminate unhealthy oils from your diet which contribute to disease and inflammation, and that makes good health sense!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

KFC Craze Deceiving Consumers

If someone handed you a package of chemicals, hormones, MSG, denatured fats, and other toxic garbage, would you eat it? Millions of Americans were ready and willing last week when a story featured on the Oprah Winfrey show offered a promotional coupon to Kentucky Fried Chicken for their grilled chicken with two sides meal. This meal was promoted as being a "healthier" alternative to the fried counterparts typically offered by the food chain. But if you examine just what ingredients are found in this chicken, you might change your mind about how "healthy" it is:
Fresh Chicken Marinated with: Salt, Sodium Phosphate, and Monosodium Glutamate Seasoned with: Maltodextrin, Salt, Bleached Wheat Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Spices, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Chicken Fat, Chicken Broth, Autolyzed Yeast, Beef Powder, Rendered Beef Fat, Extractives of Turmeric, Dehydrated Carrot, Onion Powder, and Not More Than 2% Each of Calcium Silicate and Silicon Dioxide Added as Anticaking Agents. Contains Wheat and Soy.
Here are the main issues with this food:
  • MSG - an excitotoxin which disables and destroys neurotransmitters in the brain
  • Partially hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil - trans fats and unhealthy vegetable oils that are treated with pesticides, genetically modified, and inflammatory substances with too high levels of Omega 6s
  • Autolyzed Yeast - salt added to yeast, which effectively kills yeast by causing those digestive enzymes to eat itself. Like MSB, it is a flavor enhancer and falls under the category of an excitotoxin as well.
  • Calcium silicate and silicon dioxide - altered chemicals added for consistency and preservatives
  • Bleached white flour - processed and rancid flour with zero nutritional content
  • Chicken meat/broth/fat and beef fat - what is the source of this meat? You can bet it's not pasture-raised or free from chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics. If the merchant is not advertising it's meat has these qualities, it's usually from a factory farm. If you knew what type of conditions existed at these operations, you'd never eat factory meat again.
Ironically, some customers were unhappy after they tried to redeem their coupons and were turned away because KFC ran out of the grilled chicken entree. KFC responded by saying they would continue to honor coupons after a kitchen resupply of the advertised product. What is truly amazing is the overwhelming response had by this offer, and the fact that so many millions of people were deceived into believing that not only was this offer too good to pass up, but that this alternative was in any way shape or form a healthier alternative to the fried choices typically offered by KFC in the past. This occurrence is indeed proof that marketing and advertising works, no matter how untrue are the claims made by the company.

The unfortunate truth is, most of the time when you go to a restaurant, a grocery store (or even a friend's house, for that matter), what you are getting when you purchase meat is the most abhorrent quality available - that is, meat produced from animals in feedlots who are pumped full of chemicals and antibiotics.

The lesson here is - do your research! Don't automatically believe that because an ad or company tells you on television or a label that their products are healthy, that it means they really are healthy. Corporations, media, and marketers have learned that certain words they use translate to the consumer mind as something they want to buy - in this case, "grilled", in other cases "all-natural", "low-fat", "no sugar", or even "organic" can trick consumers into purchasing something that is completely unhealthy and eating it. When you consume something, remember the possible hidden cost of eating it, and you may think twice the next time you are deciding about what to eat for lunch.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Critical Elements for Health Through Nutrition

What type of diet do you eat? There are some critical components that must be included each day in order to keep health optimal. Do you make certain you have these key elements in your everyday diet?
  • Digestion and elimination
  • Hydration
  • Essential Fatty Acids
  • Mineral Balance
  • Blood sugar balance
  • Balance of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates
  • Probiotics
  • Fiber
According to the tenets of Certified Nutritional Therapy practice and The Weston A. Price Foundation, these components are essential for controlling disorders such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses and diseases that are particular to modern life. In order to maintain this balance with these components, it is important to eat a nutrient-dense diet including the following:
  • grass-fed meats and game
  • pasture-raised eggs
  • grass-fed dairy products
  • organic fruits and vegetables
  • fermented foods such as homemade yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut (for live culture and probiotic delivery)
  • healthy fats such as coconut oil, fish oil from a healthy source and/or cod liver oil, real butter from grass-fed animals, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, lard from healthy sources (grass-fed meats), beef and chicken tallow
  • raw nuts and seeds
If your digestion is bogged down by processed and refined foods, it will affect your entire body and health. Because of this, the functions of digestion are the very foundations of good health. When you keep all the components of health in balance with proper foods, your body can keep itself free of degenerative disease and illness. Through many years of abuse, many people have damaged their digestion and health to the extent that it is necessary to take drastic measures of detoxification, alteration of diet and lifestyle, and heavy supplementation with whole-foods based, organically-sourced dietary supplements to bring health back to normal.

For more information your diet and disease, read this informative article on Agriculture Society.

For more information on dietary guidelines, visit The Weston A. Price Foundation for a wealth of great nutritional information that will transform your health.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

What's the Word on Safe Seafood Choices?

Do you pay attention to making safe seafood choices in your diet? If not, you should be aware that a great deal of seafood contains certain toxins and heavy metals which are harmful to your health. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a list of safe seafood choices which are updated every six months. Because of overfishing and careless fishing practices, our oceans, sealife and environment have been put in danger of being not only contaminated but considerably damaged by the greed and overpopulation of humans.

Seafood provide an important source of Omega 3s, protein, and other nutrients vital to health. But there are definitely healthier and safer choices to make, as opposed to many that are not as healthy. Knowing which of these are superior is important. The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides a list for all regions in the United States, including Hawaii. For more information on these important choices, visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium web site.

For more information about safe seafood choices, visit the Organic Consumers Association.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Food and Soda Companies Returning to Sugar in Their Products

Do you drink carbonated sodas and pop? One of the biggest soda companies has plans to revert their soda beverages and pops back to sugar in an attempt to convince consumers that their drinks will now be healthier than their previous versions with artificial sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and saccharine. PepsiCo will shortly be releasing what it calls a "Throwback" line of drinks in an attempt to recapture their image with a younger, more hip demographic. Pepsi has already released similar products in other countries - Pepsi Raw in the United Kingdom and Pepsi Retro in Mexico.

In a similar effort, Log Cabin, manufacturer of "maple syrups" is also replacing their previously containing HFCS products with sugar. Because high fructose corn syrup has been under the radar for so many years as a dangerous substance that causes myriad health issues, the now less-demonized sugar is once again taking its rightful seat on the throne in processed foods.

The fact is, sugar is just as unhealthy to consume as HFCS. The other matter is that our culture has become so accustomed to having foods and drinks sweetened and filled with artificial flavors and chemicals, we cannot possibly fathom the idea of something standing alone on its own flavor. Bottled waters are now commonly filled with various kinds of sweeteners - from sucralose to dextrose to fructose - and high fructose corn syrup. Essentially, all of these sweeteners are not safe to consume - just like sugar. All have high glycemic indexes and raise the blood sugar significantly and quickly, and allow it to drop down just as rapidly. And in the meantime, when you are eating sugar, your body ceases to burn fat. Is it any wonder obesity is so rampant?

Folks, don't be fooled by this severe marketing tactic! Once again, these companies couldn't care less about your health - it's all about the profit margin. Don't fall victim to their schemes and attempts to reel you back in if you've abandoned their products. Stick to real, traditional foods for everything you eat. Most mainstream companies that sell packaged foods don't sell healthy food; they are simply trying to deceive the consumer in order to get you hooked on something else you'll become addicted to and can't live without - and your health is the thing that will suffer - but certainly not their pocketbooks. Remember that besides being bad for your health, processed and packaged foods are also expensive, which translates into being bad for your pocketbook as well.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Protect the Rights of Consumers and Farmers - Stop The USDA's plan for NAIS

Are you familiar with the NAIS (National Animal Identification System)? If you aren't, you soon will be. If you currently own livestock, are planning to own livestock, or eat meat, dairy, or meat-by products, you will be affected by this measure.

In the midst of supposed "pandemics" such as the Swine Flu, plans to make this measure mandatory (currently it is a voluntary choice) have been in the works for some time (since 2005), and we are headed toward yet another bill soon to become a law which will strip citizens of their rights. According to Mary Zanoni, PhD., (Executive Director of Farm for Life) this plan, headed up by Secretary of State Tom Vilsack who has been working with Big Agribusiness giants such as Monsanto, National Pork Producers, and Cargill Meats will "drive small producers out of the market, will make people abandon raising animals for their own food, will invade Americans’ personal privacy to a degree never before tolerated, will violate the religious freedom of Americans whose beliefs make it impossible for them to comply, and will erase the last vestiges of animal welfare from the production of animal foods".

All the details of this costly, imposing, and limiting system can be read at Poultry Press. Basically, if you own even one animal - horse, cow, pig, sheep, chicken, or any type of livestock, you must adhere to a very strict plan to manage the animal by registering it with the USDA and tracking it according to their requirements including the following:
  • each animal is assigned a 15-digit number in the form of a tag or microchip
  • could include collecting DNA from each individual animal
  • owner will be required to report the following for each animal: date of birth, each time animal enters or exits the property, application of every animal's I.D. tag, each time tags are lost or replaced, when animals die or go missing(must be reported within 24 hours)
Third "parties" such as veterinarians are required identify animals they treat or "sight" which are not tagged and report them to the USDA. This applies whether you are raising the animals for food to sell or only for your own self and family. There will be no exceptions. If you do not comply, the USDA will exercise "enforcement" against you (St., p. 7; Plan, p. 17).

The costs associated with implementating NAIS protocols are incidental for CAFOs and smaller factory farms. These facilities currently use computer technology for systems monitoring purposes. Smaller farms will be hardest hit as each individual animal will be required to have a tag. It is estimated that tracking one animal through a small farming environment will be equal to the cost of monitoring a thousand animals on the premises of a factory farm. This is because in the factory environment, all animals moving through a chain of production at once can be issued a single number - whereas on a smaller farm, each animal must be counted as one and issued a separate number entirely.

Does this feel a bit like Nazi Germany? It should!

This system is supposed to keep animal disease under control, but in reality, this is just another government program that will cost taxpayers more money, erode personal rights, and essentially wipe small, sustainable farmers and individual farmers off the map. Such impositions upon small business owners and individual citizens will prove too costly and difficult to maintain, and the USDA is counting on this as a way to "eliminate disease and illness" from the world of farming and agriculture. Of course, the real enemies in all of this are the factory farms working hand in hand with the government and USDA, who refuse to make mandatory passing necessary legislation about raising animals in sanitary and sustainable conditions.

When innoculatory vaccinations were issued in 1976, people paid the price after various individuals became paralyzed and experienced other permanent side-effects. This is yet one more thinly-veiled execution of "controlling" disease and is another method of supporting Big Ag and Big Pharma. These entities don't really intend to keep citizens from getting sick, and if you believe that, you are just being deceived. Where are the discussions about prevention? You won't hear them from the mainstream news media or the CDC because too much power and money is at stake. If you believe these events to be the big hoaxes they are, please visit Agriculture Society and read our open letter to the President and Congress about the necessity for prevention and real nutrition for proper maintenance of both our health care systems and our health.

Make no mistake, these new regulations will move toward effectively removing all sustainable and small farming operations, and seek to take away our rights to healthy, safe food.

Please, consumers, farmers, and anyone who cares about health and agriculture: PLEASE,
AS urges you to take action and raise your voice about this important issue - the future of our ability to procure healthy food for ourselves and our families is at serious stake!

To sign a petition against this measure, visit Petition2Congress.

For more information about this system, visit the Organic Consumer's Association .

For more information about taking action on this critical issue, visit Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

For more information, visit Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.

To see what the USDA is planning for this measure, visit the USDA site.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Frequently Made Mistakes About Nutrition

Are you guilty of making these mistakes when judging whether something you want to eat is healthy? Find out - here's our list:
  • Do you eat low-fat or non-fat foods?
  • Do you count calories?
  • Do you believe lean meats are healthy to eat, while red meat is not?
  • Believe saturated fats and cholesterol are bad for your heart?
  • Eat soy products to improve your health?
  • Maintain a vegan diet?
  • Eat boxed cereals because the labels read "low-fat", or "high-fiber" or "all-natural"?
  • Believe eggs and butter are bad for your health?
  • Choose vegetable oils because you have been told they are healthy to consume (canola, cottonseed, soybean, corn, safflower oils)?
  • Take synthetic vitamin/mineral/dietary supplements to "fill in the gaps"?
  • Pay no attention to organic produce because conventional is "cheaper" and it doesn't really make a difference?
  • Eat processed foods such as enriched breads, crackers, cereals, bagels, English Muffins, pretzels, rice cakes, tortillas, croissants because you believe they are low-fat and healthy?
  • Eat highly-processed lunch meats, sausages, hot dogs and other similar items?
  • Eat products containing hydrolyzed proteins or protein powder?
  • Buy "food" and "protein" bars because you believe they are an acceptable substitute for a real, balanced meal?
  • Buy factory-produced eggs and industrially-produced meat from your local chain grocery store?
Consider each of these and think about how you respond nutritionally to each. Check back tomorrow for a discussion of the answers you came up with.