Category Archives: farming

GAPS

by

More from the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride….

p.321

Top Ten Influences which boost immunity:

1.  Fresh animal fats (from meats and dairy) and cholesterol-rich foods (particularly raw egg yolks).  [Dr. Campbell-McBride emphasizes that cholesterol is very beneficial, despite the false promotion of junk science saying otherwise.]

2.  Cold-pressed oils:   olive oil, fish oils, nut and seed oils.

3.  Onions and garlic.

4.  Freshly pressed veggie & fruit juices. [the fresh foods have enzymes that help your body to digest them properly. ]

5.  Regular consumption of greens:  parsley, dill, coriander, spring onion and garlic, etc. [word of caution: coriander has an effect on mercury mobilization, and it’s not been researched so there is no reliable info. on whether it carries it out of the body, too.]

6.  Probiotic supplementation and fermented foods. [She explains that gut flora is seriously compromised in most of the population, and these will help restore normal flora.]

7.  Contact with animals:  horses, dogs, etc.  Having a pet in the family can do a lot for children’s immune status.

8.  Swimming in unpolluted natural waters:  lakes, rivers, sea.**

9.  Physical activity in the fresh air.

10.  Exposure to sunlight and sensible sunbathing.

**These are non-chlorinated swimming pools.  Pretty cool, eh?

…and if you prefer to do it yourself, Mother Earth News has this for you.  They lose me with advocating man-made materials, however, but you’ll get the basics from the article.

~~~~~~~~

Next, Dr. Campbell-McBride has a list of the Top Ten Influences that damage immunity:

1.  Sugar and everything containing it:  sweets, soft drinks, confectionery, ice cream, etc.  [she does, however, allow natural honey…whew]

2.  Processed carbohydrates:  cakes, biscuits, crisps, snacks, breakfast cereals, white bread, and pasta.

3.  Chemically altered and artificial fats:  margarine, cooking and vegetable oils, processed foods with these. [basically, the more they change the structure of the food, the worse it is for you–raw and fermented being the best foods.]

4.  Lack of high quality protein in the diet, from meats, fish eggs, dairy products, nuts and seeds.  [Dr. Campbell-McBride writes quite a bit against the vegetarian diet.  She says that the proteins in the plants are not easily absorbed/digested by our digestive systems.  I was a vegetarian from 1998-ish to 2006, when I was advised to start eating meat because of severe anemia, so I understand what she’s saying, but I had hopes that once I was well again that I could go back to vegetarian, but it doesn’t look promising.]

5.  Exposure to man-made chemicals:  cleaning and washing chemicals, personal care products, paints, fire retardants, petrochemicals, pesticides, etc.

6.  Exposure to man-made radiation:  electronic screens: TV, computer, play stations; mobile phones, high-powered electricity lines, nuclear stations, nuclear waste, anti-cancer medication, anti-viral drugs.

7.  Drugs:  antibiotics, steroids, antidepressants, painkillers, anti-cancer medication, anti-viral drugs.

8.  Lack of fresh air and physical activity.

9.  Lack of exposure to sunlight.

10.  Lack of exposure to common microbes in the environment. […]  Living in too sterilized environment is strongly associated with compromised immunity.

~~~~~~~~

More from the book:

p.71  […]  In an old Textbook of Psychiatry by Henderson and Gillespie, published in 1937, it is clearly stated:  “A thorough physical examination is absolutely essential in every case–schizophrenics are commonly poorly nourished”.  […]  Deficiencies in vitamins (such as niacin, or B3, B6, B12, B1, folic acid, Vitamin C)and many minerals (such as magnesium, zinc, manganese, etc.) are routinely recorded in schizophrenic patients.[…]  U.S. professor Curtis Dohan, M.D., devoted many years to researching what connection digestive abnormalities in schizophrenic patients may have with their psychological state.

…Dr. Dohan found that symptoms of schizophrenia could be dramatically relieved by cutting all grains…

He also found that some cultures in the South Pacific which never consumed grains, had no schizophrenia.  Only when they adopted a Western diet full of grains did they stat getting cases of schizophrenia.  Another good example is Ireland, where people did not consume wheat until the potato famine in 1845.  Before then there were no cases of schizophrenia or coeliac disease recorded in Ireland.

(I can’t find it now, but I had seen a link a while back where Germans also suffer from gluten intolerance.  They observed that schizophrenia went down dramatically during WWII, when grains were scarce.  So, yeah, I have both German/Irish genes, so I’m pretty much SOL in the gluten department.)

~~~~~~~~~~~

I know this diet is spot on–but it’s not easy.  Dr. Campbell-McBride has a list of allowed foods and non-allowed foods.  She eliminates ALL grains, so I was correct in my thinking that I couldn’t eat rice nor potatoes (carbs).

On the non-allowed foods, I got to…chocolate.  Read it again to make sure that I hadn’t misread it….

Chocolate?  She wants me to give up chocolate?  Was she freaking crazy?  I didn’t think I could do it….*anything* but chocolate…

…so I ate a bunch of chocolate…

…and felt so awful that I thought I’d have to at least give it a shot.

I’m at day five…and holding my own.  I have a fear that closer to *that* time of the month, however, I’ll be craving it like crazy and will lose the battle…

On the more positive side, I have lost fifteen pounds since March.  And my gut is less swollen.  It’s freaking amazing. 🙂

Protests against chemicals

by

The stroller brigade went to DC to protest the non-transparency of chemicals on our health and the environment. Link to info here.

Glad to see it.  I am dumbfounded on a daily basis at the apathy by those around me to the onslaught of toxins and how much damage they are doing not only to us but the environment.

People will tell me they’re taking x amount of prescription drugs, while drinking cokes, eating junk food, etc., while their bodies are already being assaulted.    One resident of the building  came outside, saying he wanted to “get some fresh air”….while dragging on a cigarette…

…I had to stifle myself to keep from cracking up laughing…

It’s just mindboggling how they don’t see any connection between how poorly they feel and the chemical soup we’re in.

I’ve noticed a change in people’s behavior when they saturate the skies with chemtrails…is anybody investigating that?

Here is a link exploring that.  There aren’t a lot of credible sources out there on this issue–but just from my personal observation, I think they are affecting people’s health.  Mercury poisoning makes one much, much more sensitive to toxins–car exhaust, perfumes, chemical cleaners, electro-magnetic fields (at one point, I couldn’t talk on a cell phone without getting a migraine the next day)etc.–and when they spray this junk in the air, I have a reaction to it.

One link I read said that the chemtrails contain aluminum and barium–those two metals are hazardous to one’s health–so I went looking for more info on it and found this.

I’m afraid that it will be like the onslaught of diseases after  introduction of chemicals–mainly cancer that takes many years to manifest.  I can say, as a canary in the coal mine, my reaction is a warning of how it is affecting folks who are not mercury toxic…

 

Farm bill 2012

by

Environmental Working Group’s take on Farm Bill 2012. (hat tip to organic consumers)

Instead, legislators created an expensive new entitlement program (called “shallow loss”) that guarantees nearly 90 percent of the income of farm businesses already enjoying record profits. It also leaves untouched a bloated $9-billion-a-year crop insurance program that pays about 60 percent of farmers’ crop insurance premiums, no matter how large the farm, and sends billions to crop insurance companies and their agents.

Most of the benefits of these proposed programs would flow to the big five commodity crops (corn, soy, cotton, rice and wheat) that provide feed for livestock, raw material for processed food and corn ethanol fuel for our cars. Not only would these proposals be highly inequitable and wasteful, but the new revenue guarantees, combined with unlimited insurance subsidies and high crop prices, will create powerful new incentives for growers to plow up fragile wetlands and grasslands and erase many of farming’s recent environmental gains.

 

I like that it at least adds monies for food stamp recipients to purchase locally grown food at farmer’s markets.  Great idea.  I actually made the suggestion to our housing authority folks to help us get some land to plant our own vegetables to raise organically.  *crickets*

 

Link to Craig Cox, of Environmental Working Group’s statement on it here.

Scenes from small towns…

by

I’m driving along a two-lane highway along the country to the town my sister is in…these are the scenes along the way:

…a house standing alone surrounded by farm fields now has weeds growing up around it.  It appears to have been abandoned.

…an old brick farm house with a row of trees lining the drive now has a “for sale” sign out front.  It used to have fresh produce and a ‘fresh eggs’ sign out front.

…I pass by another farm house where an Amish father is walking out from the house to the barn.  Following him are three young ones… lined up just like ducks following their mother.

…wide open fields with farmers plowing, dust blowing huge clouds into the skies.  It’s hard to describe the serenity of the scene.  No noise.  Nothing but space to expand.  Nothing but you and your thoughts.

…A serene lake with Canadian geese and ducks paddling along…one of the geese comes towards me as I stand out on a pier.  Geese never do that, and he came just close enough to eyeball me, but no closer.  I wonder if someone has been feeding them?  Meanwhile, a crane flies overhead…and redwing blackbirds sing their song from nearby reeds.

…a young lady who cuts and styles the nursing home resident’s hair speaks of family who have taken in family members–grandkids, sons/daughters, and their friends because of the times we live in–she herself works four jobs.  She has the full time job of cutting hair, but also manages a weekly newspaper, and works a retail job, too.  I forget what the fourth one is.  She has a five month old son, and an ex who doesn’t appear to be helping much.  She’s a sweet person who is very caring towards the residents who should be able to stay home with her son, but doesn’t get that luxury.

…seen at an antique shop:  a refrigerator magnet with “I’ll believe corporations are people when the State of Texas executes one.”  Heh.