Category Archives: diet

Vegetarian diet and heavy metals

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Along my path of change, I was re-examining everything, including eating meat.  I became a vegetarian at about 1997.  My kids thought their mother had lost it.  It’s not easy changing to vegetarian when you’re responsible for cooking for the family.  I had to get everyone’s needs met.  They actually liked a bulgur wheat and lentil burrito I made, plus some other dishes.  But they did not want to convert fully to vegetarian diet, which I understood.

In 2006, I was advised to go back to eating meat due to severe anemia.  I didn’t know at this time that I was heavy metal toxic–that would be another year before my discovery.

I did not want to go back to eating meat, but my body had been craving it, so I knew the advice was sound.  I talked about it with a lady whom had been a vegan, and she too had to go back to eating meat.  Her theory was that some of us are just genetically set up to require meat, while others could do quite well without it.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride said in her book of the GAPS diet, which heals the gut, that she did not recommend vegetarian diets–she saw many in her practice that were not healthy.  She saw a problem with vegetarians eating a lot of soy and grains.  I am guilty of this–I was eating a lot of tofu and pasta.  One of my favorites was eating spaghetti with olive oil and garlic.  Yum.  But eating this is not doable for Celiacs.  (Not to mention non-organic pasta being GMO)

I polled the mercury poisoning group about being vegetarian.  One was a vegetarian all his life until chelation.  He said he felt heavy and sluggish–he felt better and had so much more energy when a vegetarian.  I have to agree to that–I had so much more energy and my skin glowed. It was unfortunate that as I was beginning the vegetarian diet, my body was becoming more toxic from the mercury.

Another group member said it was just too hard on the body and with dietary restrictions, it was impossible to chelate without eating meat.

They were all under the impression that they could not go back to just a vegetarian diet–one said he hoped to go “almost” vegetarian, with eating some meat, but not totally meat-free. 

I don’t know.  Time will tell. 

My environmental journey

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The critics of environmentalists claim that we’re phonies…okay, well, here is my journey…

…my advocating for the environment has been a slow evolving process that includes my experience with mercury poisoning, growing awareness of what we’re doing to the atmosphere, and a spiritual component of realizing everything is connected.

Here are some of the things I do:

–use cloth bags when going to the grocery.  I might use plastic for meat, but I re-use those bags, too, bringing them to the grocery along with the cloth bags.  If you use the cloth bags for meat, be sure to launder them before using again, to avoid contamination.

–avoid plastic packaging. …well, plastic *everything*.   This has been much easier following the GAPS diet because you don’t eat the processed food in packaging, but real food.  If I am given an option, I will buy something in glass packaging before plastic.

—re-use the glass containers for drinking glasses, food storage, plants, etc. I try to avoid ziploc bags when possible.

—don’t purchase synthetic materials like nylon and other materials requiring petroleum.  The list I think is a catch-all, because I think some of the things listed are made with petroleum if plastic or manufactured cloth such as nylon, so some of the products listed could be okay if not using those materials.  Here’s a website on organic cotton, fyi.

–When I had my home, I made a conscious decision not to pave the driveway–it was gravel.  I didn’t spray for weeds, either.  I let my grass grow to 3 inches so that the roots could grow deeply enough to avoid having to water the lawn, especially during the dry time in July–this also helped keep the weeds down. Meanwhile, my neighbors practically shaved the grass off and…wait for it…had to waste precious water to keep the grass from dying in July.    I let a patch of ground that was the former owner’s garden, grow its natural way, without my interference.  Yeah, I was the neighborhood hippie…

—use baking soda, borax, and vinegar for cleaning.  A formula I found in a natural health mag goes like this:  Bathroom cleaner:  6 T vinegar, 2 T borax mixed with a cup– of warm water.  Put this in a 1 qt. spray bottle and fill the rest with water.  Works great, especially if used every day.

—I would like to use non-toxic natural cleaners for laundry, dish washing, etc., but with my finances, this isn’t doable right now. Oh, and fyi, avoid dishwashers–the detergent used in them is highly toxic.

—ride a bike or walk when going somewhere.  This was easier for me when I lived in Fort Wayne, where everything was within walking distance.  I could get to the downtown in 45 minutes to an hour.  There is something to be said for walking or riding–you are much more connected to what is going on around you.  You hear the birds sing.  Feel the breeze.  Hear the ripple of water along the river…driving a vehicle cuts you off from so much, besides polluting.

—use flannel cloths instead of toilet paper and re-wash them.  I know, I know, some of you are going “ick” right now.  No. 1 is fine…No. 2 still requires paper. So there.

—cloth pads instead of chemically manufactured pads.

—use less.  I just use less.  This was part of the learning process of being poor–you just learn how to manage on less.  Not easy, for sure.  I became much more adept at planning meals and using food up before it went to waste.  I didn’t buy as much at the grocery until I needed it.  This is easier if the grocery is within walking distance….which is becoming harder as the independents are being forced out while big box stores are situated out in no-man’s-land, forcing people to drive there.

—garden organically, using compost from kitchen waste, and if you’re really adventurous, pee and poo.   This is not for sissies…so come with your brain in active mode and your determination to get away from petroleum and chemicals.  You will succeed, but you can’t give up when challenged.  Nature does challenge you, but also gives such splendid rewards. 😉

This is an ongoing process, for sure.  I didn’t just wake up one day and start doing all of this.  It was a gradual endeavor with every new discovery of my own contribution to pollution.

So…there you have it…my efforts towards helping instead of hurting the environment.

I think if we all took those first steps, and built on that, we would greatly reduce our dependency on petroleum.  Everything helps and every bit matters.

 

 

 

Another Reason for the Honeybee collapse

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Here’s a report that states high-fructose corn syrup may be behind the honeybee colony collapse.  The commercial honey growers will take ALL of the honey and replace their food with high fructose corn syrup.

Since high fructose corn syrup contains mercury…it stands to reason that it could be one of the culprits behind the collapse.   I say “one” because there is also the pesticide connection.

Again, it’s taking everything and being greedy.  That greed eventually comes back on you.

Back

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Okay, back from a bout of the flu.  Gah, it’s been at least six years and probably ten years since I’ve had the flu.  Seriously. The last time I felt this bad, I had it in the lungs (probably walking pneumonia) and it was one of the times I woke up gasping for breath.

Mercury interferes with your immune system so much that even though we know we are exposed to viruses, we don’t “get sick”.

The theory is that the virus is there, but the immune system cannot muster the usual attack response that shows up as vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, fever, headache.  I think it’s another wonderful testament that my immune system is healing and starting to respond to viruses.  I don’t know if this particular virus was dormant…but I’m kind of leaning that way because it usually takes three days to incubate before symptoms show up…at least that was how it was with my kids and I when they were young.  With this flu, I was only in the public the day before, which would have been the best time to be exposed.  My sis could have brought the virus home, I suppose, but nobody else got sick.

Anyway, I’m actually happy that I had the flu….and I lived to tell about it!  I should alert the CDC.  /just a little snarky

I think the fact that I had a quick recovery is testament to eating good organic non-gluten food….the best medicine, along with proper herbs (dandelion and rose hips tea).

 

No Confirmed Link with Pig Feed and virus

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Okay….I’ve been casually reading on this story and find it reeeaaally hard to believe they “can’t find” a link between the dreaded virus in the feed and the pigs contracting the virus.  It just seems a no brainer that if the virus is in the feed…and the pigs come down with the virus…yeah, it’s the feed…and here we have the evidence that the virus can survive not only in feed, but feces and water.

From the article:

While dry ground feed only allowed PEDV to survive for seven days, wet ground feed provided a more hospitable environment, allowing PEDV to survive at least 28 days. Again, the duration could be longer, but Goyal’s study ended. Storing infected feed at room temperature for two weeks should kill the virus.

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The next question is why is blood plasma in the feed to begin with?  Can you say unhealthy, inhumane factory farms?  I knew that you could.

Let’s Move…? **edited

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Really?  In ties and hard shoes instead of workout clothes and good sports shoes?  Once a week?

I mean, really, if you’re going to be an example, you might try to act the part. And it is recommended that 30-45 min. at least three times a week for exercise benefits health.

As I posted in the Grain Brain blog, aerobic exercise is best because it not only benefits the body, but the brain, as well.

My favorite tape to workout is by the National Aerobic Champions (NAC) Interval Challenge.  It has been one of the most thorough workouts that I enjoyed doing over and over.  It takes a few workouts before getting coordinated, but then you get in the groove.

They have two instructors on the left of the screen for low impact or you can do the more intense, which is pretty much jumping through all the moves.  Here’s another website review.

They offered this tape in combination with two others —Body Parts, another good toning workout, and Measured Intensity, which personally I found ho-hum and too mild.  I bought them in the 90s, way back in the old days of VHS …so I went to see if they had a DVD out–unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they transferred it to DVD.  Oy.  Tough luck when the VCR eventually breaks (thanks for cheap plastic crap,  Milton Friedman!! /snark)

I found more reviews here...one of them is from a 66 year old woman *still* doing them. Woot!! Go grey hairs! :p

**edited to add:  I wanted to note that as I got sicker with mercury poisoning, it became more difficult to exercise.  I grew tired more easily. I got migraines after exercising.  I also started yawning during exercise–this is a warning sign that you’re not getting enough oxygen, which is what mercury does–deprive your body of oxygen.

Starving in America **edited

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Politicker has this up on Jerry Nadler speaking out on the republican plan of decreasing the surplus population–through even more cuts to food stamps..in a  Depression…oh, wait, we’re not supposed to call it a Depression…my bad.

I’ve debated back and forth whether to write about my situation with the state.  Like so many people on food stamps, it’s humiliating to have to beg for food.  It’s humiliating to go to job interviews and not get that call, even though the interviewers seem to like you….then you are called lazy and unmotivated by these republican (and some Democrats) jackasses….so they’re going to “help you” not be lazy and unmotivated…

Briefly, I did get them reinstated…BUT the state pulled a number out of its arse that isn’t even reflecting of what I am bringing home.

Gah, this is hard talking about, but here goes:  I made a total of $520.00 since September.  The average of those months is $130.00 per month…before taxes.  The state has done some fuzzy math and now deemed me making $260.00 + what my son gives me.  I told them that he only helps me out if I don’t make enough to cover my supplements and vitamins (which keep me healthy until I can get this horrible poison out) and my gas and the basics like laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, etc.   I really hate having to ask him for money, so if he does help out, it’s never over $100, unless the car needs work or some emergency comes up.  He signed a paper stating such.

So…they decided that he helps me out *every* month, regardless, which is a lie.

Even with all the false money that I don’t have coming in, the total they have assigned is…$360.00 per month.

And they cut my food stamps because apparently I’m living high on the hog at their false total of $360. Yep.

This does not take into account taxes taken out, gas to get back and forth to work, and the weather, which has impaired my ability to work.  They don’t take into account that the car needs tires, a transmission fluid change, and other maintenance just so I can make it to work.  Doesn’t matter to them.

According to them, I’m making $360, with no taxes to pay and no other expenditures.

$143 is all they will give me for an entire month’s worth of groceries.  And now they want to cut that even more.  They spend more than that on a month’s worth of coffee.

Oh, and what was that about the automatic pay raises of Congress?  You can’t “make it” on $100,000 per year?

Mitt Romney and his cronies, gutting jobs while raking in the cash….and looking the other way while people go hungry.

My post on being lazy and unmotivated here.

My other posts on food stamps  here, here, and here.

My piece on the media slamming the poor ..I should note that I also saw the South Bend station doing the exact.same.thing within months after this piece aired.

So…you can’t find a job, you’ve got food stamps that don’t last a month, and you’re not supposed to beg for money…vicious, heartless, and punitive.

And when the sociopaths talk about wanting to cut food stamps because of fraud, they neglect to mention  the program is one of the best run with only a 3% error rate!

Meanwhile, they look the other way at rampant fraud with the Dept. of Defense….and the welfare queens of McDonald’s and Walmart.

 

**edited to add:  I just want to make it plain that this is not a pity post.  Like I said in the previous post, we don’t want your stinking charity.  We want jobs with livable wages.

Grain Brain

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A discussion was started on the mercury support group about a member getting her mother to move in with her and get the horrible amalgams out of her mouth so she could detox.

I was happy for her and her mother.  I related to her that my mother suffered from Alzheimer’ s that I am almost positive she was a Celiac and mercury toxic. But unfortunately, my own self diagnosis came too late to help her. I tried to convince my siblings that she was Celiac. This was about six months before she passed. They were saying she was too far gone at that point, and I am still questioning that–hell it was worth a try.

The nurse at her doctor’s office practically laughed at me when I called to request the doctor investigate a possible Celiac diagnosis. I tried to explain to the nurse about the neurological connection to Celiac and mercury poisoning… she politely listened, but I could tell she thought I was a nut.

My mother continued to eat breads, cakes, and cookies.  My siblings were of the opinion that it was the one pleasure she had left in life…but my thinking was that pleasure was surely causing her illness.

Another member brought up the book, Grain Brain by neurologist David Perlmutter.  I haven’t read the book yet, but I did catch him on PBS yesterday.

What he said stunned me–that a *cough* scientific “fact” has been disproven:   That your brain does not regenerate brain cells.  It does.

Stunning–we have been taught that our brains cannot regenerate, but Dr. Perlmutter states that aerobic exercise turns on the genes responsible for brain cell regeneration.  He stated that DHA (fish oil) also does the same thing.    I had experienced this myself, prior to mercury poisoning–I noticed about six months after beginning aerobic exercise how much better I felt and how much better my brain functioned.  I started after the birth of my first child, and it was the only exercise that I enjoyed  (I always disliked sit ups, push ups, etc. …b-o-r-i-n-g.  And I disliked the competitive nature of gym class.  We had a teacher once that punished the side that lost–since one side always had to lose, it was a ridiculous punitive action that made me hate gym class.)

Anyway, Dr. Perlmutter was basically stating everything I had learned from Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride on the GAPS diet…grains are bad for you. Period.  I think Perlmutter goes into more detail about specific amounts of carbs to have…I’m just not comfortable with the mindset that one-size-fits-all.  I think we are too individualistic and medicine still does not recognize that.  They like to have us pigeonholed into neat little scientific packages when it has been shown, over and over again, that our bodies are unique and respond differently….as in the case of mercury poisoning…there are few symptoms that are alike for merc poisoning.  That is why it is so difficult for them to diagnose–they can’t seem to wrap their brains around many different symptoms–some physical, some neurological–coming from toxin exposure.

 

Occupy Monsanto protests

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Occupy Monsanto is organizing  a protest on January 28th in Missouri — at their annual shareholders meeting:

NEWS ADVISORY
January 15, 2014

CONTACT: Mark Bohnert – 314-265-5140, markbstl@gmail.com
Lacy MacAuley – 202-445-4692, lacymacauley@gmail.com
Adam Eidinger – 202-744-2671, GCU@Occupy-Monsanto.com

Protests Over GMO Food Labeling Come to Monsanto Annual Shareholder Meeting January 28

Monsanto Shareholders to Vote on GMO Food Labeling for the First Time
Activist Efforts Force Meeting to Be Broadcast LIVE Via Internet

CREVE COEUR, MISSOURI – Every January the shareholders of Monsanto Company come from all over the world to Creve Coeur, Missouri, in order to attend the company’s annual shareholder meeting. For the first time a shareholder has introduced a “GMO Food Labeling” resolution that will be voted on at the meeting. Unlike previous years the annual shareholder meeting will not be conducted completely behind closed doors, instead members of the media and public will be able to listen online. Activists have repeatedly asked for the video of the shareholder meeting to be streamed online but Monsanto has only met activists half way and will stream only the audio of the meeting. Outside of the shareholder meeting safe food activists will gather along Olive Blvd to urge shareholders to support the shareholder resolution.

WHO: Adam Eidinger, Monsanto Activist Shareholder, GMO Free Midwest Coalition, “Are We Eating Fishy Food?” GMO Art Cars, and Concerned Citizens

WHAT: Protest at Monsanto Annual Shareholder Meeting to Support Vote on “GMO Food Labeling”

WHEN: Noon to 3pm, January 28, 2014

WHERE: Olive Blvd at Monsanto’s East Campus Entrance, Creve Coeur, MO

If the shareholder resolution passes, Monsanto will be required to work with the Food and Drug Administration to label genetically engineered foods nationally. Monsanto’s executives oppose the resolution, but shareholders, many of whom are represented by faceless mutual funds, will have the final say on the chemical giant’s GMO labeling position.

You can read the text of the “GMO Food Labeling” shareholder resolution:
http://occupy-monsanto.com/new-monsanto-shareholder-resolution-supports-gmo-labeling/

Another shareholder resolution to be voted on at the company’s annual meeting is sponsored by activist investor John Harrington and deals with Monsanto’s potential liability to organic farmers. The protests at Monsanto will be the first since last October when more than 500 activists descended on the company’s headquarters for the March Against Monsanto.

For more information: www.occupy-monsanto.com

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