Chicken Liver Crostini and Caprese Salad July 16, 2008

If you love liver and are looking for a new way to eat it, you’ve got to try this recipe.

For the rest of you who just can’t find a way to make yourself eat liver, even though you know you should, you’ve also got to try this recipe.

What makes liver so good for you?

It contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food. In summary, liver provides:

* An excellent source of high-quality protein
* Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
* All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
* One of our best sources of folic acid
* A highly usable form of iron
* Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
* An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
* CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
* A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA.

Source: WAPF

This is the Italian version of French pate: chicken liver crositini. In Italian, that’s crostini di fegato di pollo.

Say it out loud with me. Crostini di fegato di pollo.

Ahh… doesn’t that sound sexy?

This meal is as sexy as the Italian language.

It makes a great fancy appetizer you can make ahead for company — or bring to a potluck or summer barbecue. Add a caprese salad and you’ve got a delicious gourmet summer meal.

Here’s the recipe (which I modified from this one on Becks & Posh):

Chicken Liver Crostini (serves six to eight)

4 tablespoons grass-fed butter (unsalted, raw if possible — I used KerryGold)
4 tablespoons good quality olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
1 large handful of fresh sage leaves (mine came from my garden)
1 lb organic, pastured chicken livers
1/2 cup dry white wine (organic if you can find it — I used Trader Joe’s chenin blanc — I think you could leave this out if you are making the meal for your kids)
1 small jar of capers, drained (organic if possible)
1 loaf of sprouted or sourdough bread (I’m using GAPS almond bread)
More olive oil to grill bread
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Trim the chicken livers of all little pieces of sinew and fat.

2. Melt together 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of olive in a large saute pan or Dutch oven over low to medium heat.

3. Saute the sage and onion in the butter and oil, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until they are soft and translucent. Be careful not to overheat and brown the onions.

4. While that’s going on, take your drained capers and dump them into the food processor. (You can also mince them by hand if you prefer.) Pulse quickly a a number of times (like this, “Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!”) — just until they are roughly chopped.

5. Transfer the onions and sage to a bowl and set aside.

6. Melt the remaining 2 TBS butter and 2 TBS oil. Add the chicken livers and quickly sautee them for 2-3 minutes, just until they are ever-so-slightly browned on the outside. Be VERY careful not to overcook the livers, or they will toughen and have that nasty “livery” taste. They should still be pink in the middle.

7. Add the onions/sage and the 1/4 cup white wine to the chicken livers and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

8. Transfer the liver/onion/sage mixture to the food processor, where your chopped capers are still sitting. Add several pinches of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

9. Pulse sharply only a few times (”Bzt-bzt!”) — you want a VERY coarse — NOT blended — mixture.

10. Transfer the chicken liver mixture to a bowl and stick it in the fridge to cool some — it should be very hot and liquidy — you want it a little cooler in order to properly spread it.

11. Coat bread slices with olive oil and a generous pinch of sea salt.

11. Grill or broil the toasts before topping with the chicken liver mixture and garnishing with flat leaf parsley.

12. While the toasts are broiling, chop up the parsley.

13. Spread the chicken liver mixture on the toasts and sprinkle with the parsley.

On to the salad…

(that’s the first basil of the summer — from my back yard!)

Caprese Salad (serves 2)

2 tomatoes (organic if possible)
1 block of mozzarella cheese around the size of a tennis ball (homemade if possible, or good quality)
Big bunch of fresh basil (rinsed, organic if possible — mine came from my back yard)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Good quality olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

1. Slice the cheese and tomatoes.

2. Layer in an artful way.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

This meal goes especially well with Prosecco, a sparkling Italian wine which is very similar to Champagne. Only much cheaper ($6/bottle at Trader Joe’s) and not quite so dry. I love Prosecco in the summertime. Makes me think of that Marilyn Monroe movie, “The Seven Year Itch” where she’s always drinking Champagne and eating potato chips.

Buon appetito!

Baked Beans for Dinner July 6, 2008

Kate’s dinner: Leftover baked beans mixed with some organic grass-fed beef and beef liver.

I modifed the Nourishing Traditions baked beans recipe. I soaked the beans for 48 hours (just because I was busy and didn’t have time to make them sooner). I used chicken fat instead of butter and olive oil — just because that’s what I had on hand. Instead of water, I used homemade chicken stock to make the beans more nutrient dense. And I added ham hocks for extra flavor and nutrition.

She would have loved some sauerkraut with this dish — but I’m fresh out. I have a couple of quarts fermenting in the cupboard. I need to make more pickles soon, too. Kate loves pickles.

My Favorite GAPS Treat July 2, 2008

If you’re doing GAPS, or just trying to avoid sugar and grains, and you miss cookies, I’ve got a solution for you: Jennie’s Coconut Macaroons!

I found them at the health food store (I’ve seen them at Whole Foods in Dallas, and our local Co-Opportunity in Santa Monica). Anytime I see them, I snap them up because they are so good. And totally GAPS legal!

I can even feed them to Kate because they are not made with grains or sugar.

Ingredients: coconut, honey, egg whites.

Just to clarify… Baby Kate is not doing the GAPS diet. I mean not officially. She’s just doing the WAPF baby diet, which turns out is very similar to GAPS. She gets lots of whole raw milk (I still make her the raw milk formula, which is designed to closely simulate breast milk), raw butter and cream and other good fats (duck and chicken fat, beef tallow, and coconut oil). She eats eggs and organ meats almost every day (usually liver, sometimes heart).

And muscle meats: chicken or duck with the skin and the fat, homemade roast beef with bone-broth-based gravy. Oh, and lots of soup made with bone broth. I like to put it in her sippy cup.

She also gets fish a few times a week: pole-caught tuna (with plenty of homemade coconut oil mayonnaise), salmon, shrimp, or soup — Thai lemongrass soup (made from Thai snapper fish stock) or miso soup (made from bonito fish stock). I think I’m also going to start giving her salmon roe. And of course, she gets her daily dose of cod liver oil.

She does eat vegetables and fruits — all organic and usually served with either butter or cream. She also gets lots of lacto-fermented foods (kefir, sauerkraut, yogurt, lacto-fermented ketchup and pickles, etc.)

For something sweet and nourishing, I feed her homemade ice cream (made with raw cream, egg yolks and a little maple syrup). She does not eat white sugar — but she does get maple syrup or honey. In her ice cream or yogurt. And in her macaroons!

I’m not feeding her grains until she is around two years old. I know, it seems odd if you’re not familiar with the Weston A. Price diet, especially the thing about waiting on the grains. But it turns out that babies do not have the enzymes needed to digest grains until they are around two years old. Around the same time they develop the molars needed to crush and grind grains.

Saturday Morning at the Farmer’s Market April 12, 2008

This morning, few of us Los Angeles WAPF moms were lucky enough to get a tour of the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market from Victoria (on left). Victoria is our local Westside Los Angeles WAPF chapter leader. She knows the market like the back of her hand, and greets all the organic farmers by name.

Jungleen is in the middle, with her 6-month-old son Noah in the stroller. On the right is Annie with 11-month-old daughter AJ. Our babies all drink homemade raw milk formula!

Going on a tour with Victoria was so educational. I always learn so much from her. (I’m meeting her back there again next week!)

We bought milk from Organic Pastures Dairy (grass-fed cows), pastured eggs and cow’s liver from Rocky Canyon, organic avocados, organic basil and flat-leaf parsely, and bison tallow from Lindner’s Bison. Victoria also got some chicken feet for chicken stock.

It’s pretty amazing all the wonderful food we can buy from local farmers. I love being able to support them, and knowing that food is not traveling very far. Did you know that food in America travels, on average, 1500 miles from farm to fork? Not when you buy from your local farmer’s market!

I also love the fact that these good souls are raising their animals humanely and producing the food traditionally, the way nature intended. Letting the cows and chickens graze on pasture, not pasteurizing the milk, not spraying pesticides on the fruits and vegetables. I am so very grateful that these farmers continue to provide us with healthy, nourishing food — despite all the challenges they face.

Not only that, but this food is much more nutritious than what you find in supermarkets. And you get the added bonus of getting vitamin D from the sun while you shop.

Here are some more photos I snapped… (click on the photos to learn more)

This is Kathy from Lindner Bison:

Healthy Family Farms — they raise pastured chickens and turkeys (I put some chicken feet and chicken livers on order to pick up next week):

I didn’t get the name of this farm (Victoria?). They had an amazing array of organic potatoes:

Another one I didn’t get the name of — organic citrus and avocados:

And Rocky Canyon — really sweet people. They sell beef and pork from humanely raised, grass-fed animals. They also have pastured eggs and some organic produce.

Easy Homemade Chicken Soup March 26, 2008

Seth and I are both under the weather. Sore throats, tired. Not full-blown colds, but just feeling kind of bleh.

Not sure where we picked it up. We have both been working very long hours. Any time you work too much, you are more susceptible to getting sick.

Kate’s fine — although she has had diarrhea for the past two days. So I guess that is how it is manifesting for her.

I was listening to Dr. Phillip Incao, MD from the Weston A. Price Foundation mp3s from the 2007 conference. I haven’t listened to the whole thing yet but it was very interesting. He was saying that if you get a cold, or your child gets a cold, that’s a good thing. It means that his or her body is fighting the illness. It means that toxins are being ejected from the body. Anyway I shouldn’t quote him because I can’t do it justice — I need to listen to the whole lecture first.

Since we’re not feeling well, tonight I made homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. It is so easy to do when you have chicken stock on hand in the freezer. And there is nothing more restorative than real chicken soup.

You just put a little butter or chicken fat in a stock pot, add chopped onion, carrot, and celery and add them to the pot and cook until softened. Then add your frozen chicken stock. Let that come to a boil. If you have leftover chicken from roasting a chicken (we roast one almost every week), throw it in as well. Add pasta (I added rice pasta because it has the least phytates and is the healthiest choice if you’re not making your own pasta. Cook for 5-8 minutes. Add sea salt and freshly ground pepper. And if you have some, add fresh parsley or cilantro. You can use dried parsley if you don’t have fresh.

That’s it! So easy! I think it took me all of 15 — maybe 20 minutes. And so good!

OK, signing off now. Must get some rest. But first, I’m going to pour a glass of kefir and pop some Congaplex.

Michael Pollan on Butter March 21, 2008

Here’s an interesting 10 minute video with Michael Pollan defending real food:

Watch video

I agree with everything he is saying.

Except for when he says that you shouldn’t eat a lot of butter. Sally Fallon says butter is a health food. She said she eats half a stick of butter on her oatmeal every day — 4 full tablespoons. She actually said that she thinks vegetables are just a vehicle for good fats. I love that!

One thing Pollan says in this video is that we should look to history and tradition when making choices about food and nutrition.

Hence, the traditional foods movement — eat real foods that have not been contaminated, adulterated or processed: butter, raw milk, raw milk cheese, grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, naturally leavened breads, fermented foods, soaked and sprouted grains and nuts.

Traditonally, people have been eating butter. For centuries. LOTS of butter. Read any French cookbook from a hundred years ago and the amount of butter and heavy cream will blow your mind. Heck, just read Julia Child’s recipes!

So why does he say we should not eat very much of it? Why does he say it is not a health food? What is his evidence for that claim?

I also disagree with Pollan’s wacky assertion that we should, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

WTF?! Plants? Mostly plants?

Many radically healthy traditional populations lived on animal foods as the bulk of their diet. Traditional Swiss villagers lived almost exclusively on dairy — raw milk, butter, cream, and cheese — with naturally leavened bread and small amounts of meat and vegetables. Other cultures lived mainly on the meat from animals (the native American Indians and many African tribes) and still others lived mainly on fish (Polynesian tribes, Eskimos, Scottish fishermen). All of these people lived on a diet high in saturated animal fats — over 50%. The Eskimos ate about 80% saturated fats.

I can’t think of a single healthy traditional culture that lived on mostly plants. Can you? I challenge you to name one.

I wish Pollan would do his research on traditional diets and the health benefits of saturated animal fats. I agree with Sally Fallon — Pollan is in a position of power and he really should study more about nutrition so he can speak intelligently about it.

Here’s Sally Fallon’s Open Letter to Michael Pollan.

What’s for Dinner? March 17, 2008

I’m making:

Lasagna (made with organic grass-fed beef, tomato sauce, rice pasta, and freshly grated ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese)
Garden Cress, Tomato, and Fennel Salad (with oil and vinegar dressing)
Chocolate Ice Cream (made with Organic Pastures chocolate colostrum milk and raw pastured egg yolks)

I’m fairly new to this traditional foods way of eating. It’s much more time-intensive than packaged foods. But I feel so much better knowing that I am feeding my family real foods without preservatives and sugar and other additives.

Pasta is a quandary with traditional eating. The thing is, the Weston A. Price Foundation recommends that you soak all your grains. This is the way it was done in traditional cultures. The reason the grains are soaked is twofold: (1) it aids digestion and (2) it removes the anti-nutrients (phytates).

A diet high in unsoaked grains will cause nutrients to be blocked. It will also make digestion difficult — which also produces less absorption of nutrients.

According to “Nourishing Tradtions”, it is not absolutely necessary to soak rice because it is lower in phytates. It is better to soak, but if you don’t, it is not as bad for you.

So, rice pasta is acceptable! Sure, it would be better to soak the flour and make your own pasta — but if you can’t get around to that, use rice pasta instead of wheat. It’s better for you.

If you need a quick meal and haven’t soaked beans or other grains overnight, and have nothing in the freezer, you can always do rice pasta.

Sadly, there is a little sugar in this meal. The Organic Pastures chocolate colostrum is sweetened with sugar unfortunately. And the organic tomato sauce I bought has sugar in it. Why they need to add sugar, I have no clue. I’ll have to make my own from now on (I don’t know why I didn’t — it’s not hard at all).

I’m Hypothyroid! March 14, 2008

It appears that I have an iodine deficiency and hence hypothyroid, which means I have a low-functioning thyroid gland.

This morning I woke up and the patch on the inside of my arm had faded about 80-90%. It’s almost completely gone now!

From all the reading I’ve been doing, this is very common after pregnancy. There are many other causes including chloride and fluoride in the water, depleted iodine in the soil, and excess consumption of soy. Think you are not eating soy? If you are eating out in restaurants (any restaurants — not just fast food) or eating processed foods, you are taking in a lot of soy. This is due to all the soy oil they add to everything and cook everything with. This also explains the diabetes and obesity epidemics in this country.

I also think the mercury crown I had put in last year is also part of the cause. I’ll be having all the metal in my mouth removed in the next few months by our WAPF dentist, Dr. Raymond Silkman.

Here is what Dr. Cowan recommends for people with hypothyroidism — iodine, Standard Process Cataplex F, and Standard Process Thyrotropin:

I use organic iodine (1 tablet, two times per day) to supply extra iodine to the thyroid gland. Along with this I use Cataplex F tablets (1-2, three times per day). Cataplex F contains extracts of the 2 essential fatty acids (linolenic and linoleic acids) plus arachidonic acid and other polyunsaturated fatty acids that are often low in people with hypothyroidism. The effect of these fats is to help transport the blood calcium (and probably other blood minerals) into the tissues, where it can be used to fuel metabolic and enzymatic processes. The source of these fats are flax seed oil, beef liver lipids and testicular extract. The third medicine I use is Standard Process Thyrotrophin, the thyroid protomorphogen. I recommend 1-2 tablets, three times per day. Protomorphogens are specially prepared extracts of the nuclear material of the source gland, in this case bovine thyroid gland. Protomorphogens bind with and neutralize antibodies that can destroy our tissues and organs. In the case of hypothyroidism, often Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is involved, which is an autoimmune disorder of the thyroid gland. Neutralizing these attacking antibodies gives the gland a chance to rebuild itself by sheltering it from the attacking antibodies.

With this treatment, most patients report increased energy and, within a few months, the loss of about ten pounds. In six months your TSH should be back under 5. The treatment should be continued for two years or more.

This treatment is less effective when the TSH reading is over 8.0, in which case thyroid hormone may be required. Most doctors use the synthetic hormone Synthroid, but natural thyroid hormone is available. Such treatment must be carried out under the supervision of a licensed health care professional.

Ask the Doctor About Hypothyroidism

I’m going to call Dr. Cowan and set up a phone consultation. And today I’m going over to the Apothecary to get the supplements he recommends. They also have a couple of good books on thyroid function and thyroid disease.

I’m very relieved actually. Now I know why I’m so exhausted all the time, so moody, and why my baby weight won’t come off. And this explains my recent anxiety attacks. I have never had those before in my life!

It’s very important for me to improve my thyroid before I get ready to conceive again in the next year. I want to replenish all the vitamins and minerals my body needs to function properly so the next baby gets everything he needs.

It’s interesting because from what have been reading, most blood tests the doctors give you will not show a problem with the thyroid. My friend Sarah has many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, but she always gets “normal” thyroid results. From what I’m learning, those tests don’t really work.

And apparently synthetic thyroid drugs are not effective either. They work for a while, but then they don’t work.

This site explains why: Stop the Thyroid Madness

Weston Price Smile March 9, 2008

This is Yensi, our wonderful nanny, smiling her beautiful smile.

Look at those perfectly straight, white teeth! She never wore braces and has never had a cavity.

And look at her gorgeous bone structure. High cheekbones and a wide palate.

Yensi moved here from Guatemala when she was seven years old. As a child, she was fed raw milk from grass-fed cows, liver, egg yolks, bone broth, and cod liver oil. They made their own bread and tortillas and the grains and beans were always soaked. Yensi said they soaked the grains for their bread for two weeks. They also drank kefir (which they call bulgaros) and a fermented drink similar to kombucha (called chicha).

And no, it’s not just genetic. It’s the food! Her younger brothers have grown up on modern American food and have crooked teeth and lots of cavities.

Compare these two photos of Seminole Indians, taken by Weston Price (published in his book, “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration”):

The “primitive” Seminole girl (left) has a wide face with plenty of room for dental arches. The “modernized” Seminole girl (right), born to parents who had abandoned their traditional diets, has a narrowed face, crowded teeth, and a reduced immunity to disease.

Guatemalan Kefir and Cod Liver Oil March 7, 2008

I had a very interesting conversation this morning with our nanny, Yensi.

She told me that her husband asked why our daughter Kate is so much bigger than their daughter, Julianna. He had watched the videos of the two girls on YouTube.

Julianna is 15 months and Kate is only 10 months. Julianna is only 20 pounds. Kate is at least 24, maybe 25 pounds.

I told Yensi, “I think it’s all the liver and raw milk we feed her.”

She said, “I think you are right. We started giving Julianna the raw milk two weeks ago. We’re also giving her the chicken liver. In two weeks, she has gained two pounds.”

I gave Yensi the Weston A. Price brochure this morning. I printed off the Spanish version from the website. She was stunned when she read about “aceite de hígado de bacalao”. That’s Spanish for cod liver oil. She has been feeding Kate cod liver oil for weeks now. But she never knew what it was. When she saw the words “aceite de hígado de bacalao” she realized what it was. “My mother fed us this!” she said.

She bought a bottle of my cod liver oil — I always buy it in bulk to get a 15% discount. She is going to start giving it to Julianna.

She said her mother also fed them liver and egg yolks and they always drank raw milk. No wonder she has such perfect teeth! She has a very wide palette, perfectly straight white teeth. Never had a single cavity. Never had braces.

Her husband has a narrower palette. He snores, she said. She asked me how he could have a narrower palette when he was eating the same things she was as a child in Guatemala?

I asked her how old he was when he came to the US. She said he was only 4. She was 7 when she came. Makes sense — her jaw and palette were a lot more formed when she came.

It’s sad because now her younger brothers are having a lot of health problems. They all have cavities and crooked teeth. Yensi, too, started having chronic headaches only 5 years after she came to America. Her sister-in-law started having very bad digestion problems.

Meanwhile she and her parents and her grandparents never needed braces, never had a cavity. She said her ancestors all live to over 100 years old. It’s only the ones who have come here to this country who have started to experience health problems.

Coincidence? Or could it be nutritional deficiencies?

She also told me that the kombucha we drink tasted like the chicha they have in their country. We looked it up online and found that chicha is a name for a fermented beverage in South American countries. Then she told me that they make a drink like kefir. They call it bulgaros. It makes sense — the word bulgaros comes from Bulgaria or Bulgarian, and kefir comes Bulgaria. She said her sister-in-law had just gotten some bulgaros grains and they were using the raw milk to make the drink.

We were talking about the importance of soaking grains, nuts, beans and seeds before you eat them. In Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions” she says that eating grains, nuts, seeds or beans that are unsoaked or unfermented is not good for you. They are too hard to digest so your body can’t break them down, and hence, can’t absorb the nutrients. Furthermore, grains, nuts, seeds and beans have phytates or anti-nutrients. These phytates actually block absorption of the good nutrients!

So if you are going to eat any nuts, grains, beans or seeds, they need to be soaked in warm filtered water with either whey or kefir or yogurt. You can also use lemon juice or vinegar if you are allergic to dairy. They need to be soaked for a minimum of several hours and can be soaked up to several days. If you eat a diet rich in unsoaked/unfermented grains (what the USDA food pyramid currently recommends), all the vitamins and minerals you eat from other foods are being blocked and are not being absorbed.

I asked Yensi if they soak their grains in Guatemala. She said, “We never bought bread. We always made our own. And we always soaked it for two weeks.”

Today we’re going to bottle the kombucha. I’m going to give her some of my SCOBYs.

I will also ask Yensi if she will let me take a picture of her smile. You’ve got to see how gorgeous her teeth are!

What We Can Learn From Saving Trash February 15, 2008

I can’t stop thinking about the guy who saved his trash for a year.

I read about him a while back but it didn’t really gel with me until now. I guess because all of this stuff is cumulative. You do one thing and it leads to another and another. It’s actually become a hobby for me now. Okay, not just a hobby. An obsession. (But it’s a good obsession!)

I want to respond to his post on what he learned from saving his trash for a year:

1. The vast vast vast majority of trash comes from food packaging. Packaged food is less nutritious, on the whole, than fresh food. Packaged food, ounce for ounce, is often more expensive than fresh food. I’ve learned that making less trash, by consuming less packaged food actually makes me healthier and wealthier. I’m in the best shape of my life right now and I can see first hand that it is related to changes in my diet that have come from this project.

I have noticed that we have a lot less trash since I have been cooking traditional foods. We stopped eating most packaged foods thanks to Sally Fallon and the WAPF — for health reasons. Avoiding packaged foods also helps the environment.

Some examples:

I used to buy yogurt. Now I make filmjolk and kefir. Just add milk and leave it on the counter. No more plastic yogurt containers.

I used to buy iced tea and soda. Now I make kombucha and beet kvass. No more cans and bottles. I’m also starting to make kefir soda pop (more on that in a future post).

I used to buy most of our vegetables from the grocery store. Now I buy most of it at the farmer’s market. They fill a plastic bin, which I carry home with me and then bring it back the following week. There are no plastic bags on any of the produce.

I’ve been making pickles, sauerkraut, and mayonnaise from scratch, reusing glass jars. I am going to learn how to make ketchup, salsa, naturally fermented soy sauce, and mustard. (By the way, ALL of these recipes are in Sally Fallon’s cookbook, “Nourishing Traditions”.)

Seth still likes fancy Italian mineral water. I’m looking into buying one of those seltzer makers. However, he is drinking a lot less since we started drinking kombucha.

We are also still buying distiled water. Soon we will buy a water filtration system and eliminate the need for this.

I still have to buy milk in plastic jugs. That is the way they come from Organic Pastures. It would be nice if they could someday go to a delivery service with reusable glass containers. Maybe I will write a letter to them to ask about the feasibility of this.

We are using less paper towels. A cloth rag works fine.

2. When I ask people to put prepared food in my own containers it disrupts their flow and makes them think. Some people like this. They enjoy the momentary distraction from monotony and the novelty of the experience. Others get pissed off. It makes they have to pay attention, it takes more energy. I don’t know what to do with this information yet I just know I’ve learned this.

I have noticed this, too, when I bring my cloth bags to stores like Target. I usually get a whiff of frustration. I’ve noticed it even when I don’t have a cloth bag and just tell them I don’t need a bag. They usually look at me like I’m crazy and try to foist a bag on me anyway.

I had to actually INSIST that I did not want a bag recently at Office Max. The guy REALLY wanted me to have that bag — even though I kept telling him I didn’t want one. “I’m trying to save the planet!” I said.

I have also had to stop people at Whole Foods from putting paper bags on my wine bottles so they don’t break in the cloth bags. “It’s fine!” I say, giving them back their bags. “I’ll be careful. I’m not going very far.”

3. Saving trash leads to increased consciousness of what I consume. I cannot purchase a single thing without wondering about all of the energy that went into manufacturing it, the resources use to ship, how far its component parts traveled until it was assembled, how far it then traveled to get to the store where I purchased it, the thousands of miles it may travel before finding its ultimate home in a pile of other unwanted manufactured souls.

I am thinking about this, too. If I have to buy foods and other products that come in packages, I would rather buy things that come in packages that can be composted.

Example: Buying detergent that comes in cardboard boxes (they can be composted) instead of plastic containers. This is an easy switch!

Another example: When I buy meat from Whole Foods it often (not always) comes wrapped in compostable paper. Unlike at Trader Joe’s where it is wrapped in plastic.

Another example: I am using my egg crates to start seeds. I can reuse them for this more than once — or compost them.

4. Recycling sucks. There, I said it. Of course recycling is a powerful first step in becoming more aware of what one consumes and it’s better to recreate something out of something than it is to gather up more raw materials to make something new. That said, recycling still sucks. It takes enormous amounts of energy and clean water to produce plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars and cans of all kinds. It take enormous amounts of energy to collect these items at curbsides and ship them to recycling facilities. It take enormous energy to recycle items and ship them somewhere to be remanufactured. Almost all recyclable materials come from food or health and beauty products – both unnecessary items we have grown addicted to in our modern world. Less recycling also means fresher food. Health and beauty products is another conversation and I’m not sure we’re all ready for it yet :o)

I’m ready for it!

I stopped wearing deodorant. Corn starch (which comes in a cellulose bag) works GREAT!

Many of you know of my “no poo” experiment. I have been using Terressentials hair wash but after one of my readers (thanks, Rachel) suggested trying a little baking soda mixed with bentonite clay (I got some from Mountain Rose Herbs), I find that it works great on my hair. I’ve been using a little vinegar in my rinse.

I’ve stopped using moisturizer on my face; I use coconut oil now.

I’ve stopped using makeup (never really used much anyway — I put a little powder on on occasion). I just can’t be bothered.

I’ve stopped using tampons and now use the Diva cup and a natural sea sponge. Cloth pads and the Japanese toilet seat are next. (Shhh don’t tell Seth about the Japanese toilet seat.)

I’ve stopped using disposable diapers and now use cloth. Cloth wipes are next.

As for the recycling issue, I agree! If we can avoid buying these packaged foods and other products in the first place, that is the ideal scenario.

5. It doesn’t take much to make a big difference. If I can do this, someone else can do this. If two people reduce their consumption radically, 4 people can do it to, so can 8 people, 16 people, 32 people, and so on. Change is much easier and much more readily available than most of us are taught to think and lead to believe.

This is so true! It’s all the little things that add up. And if we all try to do little things, it will add up to making a big difference!

6. Trash sucks. 100 years ago most of the trash we produce now did not even exist. It did not even exist. Now it is at the center of a worldwide economic system that is lopsidedly built upon mass consumption to create huge profits for the few at the physical and environmental expense of the many many many. This makes me sad.

It makes me sad, too. Let’s change it!!!! If we stop buying it, they will have to stop selling it. The power really is in our hands.

7. Changing is fun, much more fun than it is stressful.

I agree!

People keep telling me that they are impressed that I am doing all of this stuff.

The truth: I can’t help it! It’s so much fun. It’s actually addictive.

8. Cleaning out food packaging takes time and is necessary to get rid of odors and to ensure bugs and rodents are not attracted to it.

I’d rather reuse glass jars and stick in the dishwasher. Or compost paper. I hate buying anything in plastic.

I also want to say this:

Blogging and the internet has really spurred me on in this endeavor. I have learned so much from people online — all the wonderful people on the Discussing NT Yahoo list and from blogs like Save Your Trash and These Days in French Life (just to name a couple).

Thanks, everyone. Let’s keep encouraging each other!

Snoring, Dentists, and Waldorf Schools February 11, 2008

We went to the dentist this morning. It was Seth’s appointment but Kate and I went along to meet him.

He is a WAPF (Weston A. Price Foundation) dentist. His name is Dr. Silkman and he wrote this fascinating article.

He had a shelf displaying herbal toothpastes and mouthwashes and cod liver oil for sale. And there was a copy of “Nourishing Traditions” on the bookshelf in the waiting room.

Seth and I are going to have all our metal fillings and crowns replaced. Dr. Silkman is also going to fit Seth for an “adjuster” to help with his snoring. Dr. Silkman believes that a narrow palette and high arch is what causes snoring, due to the fact that you can’t get enough air. So if you wear a special “adjuster” you get the air you need and you don’t snore.

Weston Price found that native peoples who ate nutrient-dense diets (grass-fed meat and dairy, seafood, whole grains, fermented foods) had very wide palettes and properly developed skeletal structure. He found that when they started eating “modern” foods like refined white flour and sugar, their palettes and faces became more narrow. (The women also had more narrow hips, and the men had more narrow shoulders.)

Hence, the cod liver oil in Dr. Silkman’s office. Not only does cod liver oil and nutrient dense diets help prevent cavities, it also promotes healthy development of skeletal structure. Proper skeletal structure prevents all kinds of problems, including snoring, sleep apnea, deviated septums, etc.

See Dr. Silkman’s article to read more.

After the appointment, I came home and put some turkey necks in the crock pot for turkey stock, took the dandelion out of the dehydrator (going to use it to make tea), and took the baby food out of the ice cube trays in the freezer and put them in ziploc bags.

Yensi and I made baby food this weekend. We froze lots of organic fruits and some vegetables (everything was stewed or boiled except for the mango, per WAPF guidelines):

Blueberries
Raspberries
Cherries
Blackberries
Mango
Peaches
Broccoli
Peas

I still need to do two more batches:

Strawberries
Kale

I’ve been working on planning my garden. I have GOT to get this done before we go on vacation next week.

I also found out some promising information about school for Kate. I got an email from one of the moms on one of my WAPF email lists, recommending Waldorf schools. I guess a lot of the WAPF moms are in favor of Waldorf education. She was responding to another mother who had concerns about the food her child was eating at daycare (sugary snacks, fruit juice with high fructose corn syrup, etc.).

She writes:

We go to a Waldorf school and love it. No concerns about food as they provide, nutritious, organic hot snacks - like veggie soup, lentils and rice, etc. Parents provide some of the food too, but we use all organic, local food mostly. When they have treats, which is on birthdays and some holidays, it’s usually made with flour they grind in class and they use only unrefined sugars. I don’t think I’ve ever seen candy in the classroom.

Regarding the education, she says:

Both my girls are still in kindergarten and they have lots of movement all day. Most of their ‘learning’ is through rhymes, stories, circle time, and such. They also have a great outdoor program so they are out in nature about 2 hours a day, just playing, hiking and being children. They teach to the hands, heart and head so although academics is taught it is not the only aspect of education they take into account. It is based much more on developmental appropriateness.

Apparently there is a Waldorf school right here in LA!

Here’s what one of the moms on my Peachhead list (an email list for LA moms) says about the local Westside Waldorf school:

“By the time they leave the said the average student can play 2-3 instruments, understand 3 languages, know how to do wood working and sewing. All of them get their #1 or #2 high school pick as well.”

YAY! Doesn’t that sound fantastic? I like the focus on nature, I like that they learn crafts and work with their hands, I like the focus on the arts, and it sounds like they eat really well. Sounds really good to me.

I’m going to look into doing a tour. Yes, it’s true, Kate’s not old enough for school yet but in LA, you have to start very early. All the moms here say you have to start touring when they are about 9 or 10 months old. And Kate will be 10 months on Wednesday. I gotta get cracking!

Back to my garden planning…

The Joys of Cloth Diapering & Homemade Formula February 3, 2008

For the first 6 months of Kate’s life, I used disposable diapers. I read online that cloth diapers weren’t worth the effort. People said that cloth diapers wasted just as much energy and cost almost as much as disposables.

So I decided not to make my life any harder than it needed to be. After all, taking care of a baby was a lot of work. Why make it more difficult?

When Kate was 4 months old, I had to resort to supplementing with formula. I just couldn’t produce enough milk. It was probably because I was working and not pumping enough. Many women go through this… still, I felt horrible. I kept nursing and pumping and kept supplementing. I did the best I could.

Then one day I got an email from my favorite Great Uncle Roy, warning me not to use soy formula. I had never heard anything abut the dangers of soy formula. Uncle Roy is not the type to speak out — he’s a very mild-mannered, mind-his-own-business kind of guy. So I figured if he cared enough to send this, it must be important.

He sent me a link to an article about soy formula on the Weston A. Price foundation website. I was impressed at how well-researched the article was. I started reading some of the other articles on the site. They recommended making your own homemade baby formula. From raw milk.

I read everything I could find about raw milk. I googled, read books — researched it for a whole month. By the end of that month, I was absolutely convinced. I needed to make Kate’s formula from scratch, and it had to be made from raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk.

I joined a Yahoo email group for mothers following the Weston A. Price dietary guidelines and making homemade formula. They encouraged me and I started making it. We are lucky in California because we can buy raw milk in stores (one of the few states in the nation).

Kate had a bad case of cradle cap when she was on commercial formula. Within two weeks of using the homemade formula, the cradle cap disappeared.

I’m so grateful for the Weston A. Price Foundation. I know this is the healthiest thing I can feed my baby — short of breast milk. I’m grateful too to my Uncle Roy for sending me this information. Not only is Kate doing well on the formula, but the WAPF community has opened me up to so many other things.

Those same mothers posted about about how they were all using cloth diapers — how easy it was and how much money they saved.

I looked into it and realized that if we switched to cloth, I would save around $1500 for one child. Two children (using the same cloth diapers) and I could save over $3000. *

These are not small figures.

I realized that all the people who say that you don’t really save with cloth diapers are talking about using diaper services. Those services are expensive. But if you wash your diapers at home (which is so easy to do if you have a washing machine), it is super cheap. And really easy!

We’ve been doing cloth diapers now for the past three months and I have to say, I love it!

I love not having to lug the huge bags of Huggies from the store. I love not having to lug the huge bags of dirty Huggies to the curb. I love just tossing a wet diaper into the washing machine filled with water and a mixture of Borax, washing soda, and vinegar. I love how cute Kate looks in her adorable cloth diaper covers. I love the low impact on the planet.

But it’s more than that. There is something about washing and drying and folding cloth diapers. And blending up the homemade formula and pouring it into old-fashioned glass bottles. It’s so pleasant, so satisfying. I can’t really explain why. It just makes me feel like I am doing something good. Not only for Kate, but for the planet.

All of these modern solutions — disposable diapers and commercial formula. They are all about convenience. But convenience is not fulfilling. Convenience is not joyful. I prefer the slow path, the joyful path. There is something about taking the slow path that feels more real, more connected — more life-giving.

I know, that sounds nuts. I can’t really explain it any better. But for some weird reason, these cloth diapers and this homemade formula are two things that really make me enjoy motherhood so much more. Not just because I know it’s better for Kate. And not because we are saving money. It’s deeper than that. There’s something about it that makes me feel more connected to Kate, more connected to motherhood. It is an expression of love and caring. And a connection to the small every day things that make up being a mom.

These things only last so long. Babies grow up fast. Why not enjoy them? Sometimes the less convenience involved, the more joy you experience.

Thanks, WAPF. You have made me a better mother!

And thank you, Uncle Roy. Without you, I would not have known about any of this. I am so very grateful to you. :-* (That’s a kiss.)

PS: Here’s where I got my cloth diapers: Baby Cotton Bottoms

And here’s the link to the Weston A. Price website.

* This is how much you save if you use Chinese pre-folds and covers, the most economical scenario (short of making your own). The photo above is what I use — the pre-folds, “Thirsties” covers, and Snappies fasteners.

Low-Carb: Relief for GERD January 26, 2008

I was thinking about my father-in-law yesterday. He has very severe GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). He lives with it and never complains. That’s just how he is — an upbeat optimist.

However, I was wondering if there was anything that could help him. I found this very interesting article by Dr. Thomas Cowan on the WAPF website.

Here’s an excerpt:

A recent study done by Professor Yancy and his team at the gastroenterology department at Duke University examined this very question. The article was published in Alternative Therapies Nov/Dec 2001, Vol. 7 No. 6 under the title “Improvement of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease After Initiation of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet: Five Brief Case Reports.” In this study, the Duke researchers took on people very much like yourself. They were mostly diabetic patients, often with a host of other medical problems. Furthermore, they were described as patients who had failed all other conventional therapies. In other words these were their most refractory patients with GERD.

Much to their amazement they report that in spite of continuing to smoke, drink coffee, and other GERD-unfriendly habits, in each case the symptoms of GERD were completely eliminated within one week of adopting a very low-carbohydrate diet (about 20 grams per day.) The patients were able to stop all antacids and prescription stomach medicines and this improvement continued even after they liberalized their carbohydrate intake to a more tolerable 70 gram per day.

Goodness! All symptoms eliminated within one week? That’s pretty amazing.

Dr. Cowan writes:

I have used this low-carbohydrate approach for the treatment of GERD for many years and with many patients. I can report that it is one of the most effective interventions that I use. It is not unusual for people to report relief even within a few days.

Does Eating Lard Prevent Wrinkles? January 24, 2008

Read an interesting article last night about how eating more good fat helps your body. I was particularly fascinated by this excerpt:

On a side note, I worked with a client from Mexico who was here visiting her daughter over the summer. The mother was 85 years old, very strong and healthy, and had not one wrinkle on her beautiful face. Her skin was incredible! It was so soft and silky, not at all dry, scaly or wrinkly like the skin I’m so used to seeing with most of my clients.

I just had to ask her what kind of fats she eats. Her daughter translated my question to her mother and then replied, “She said she eats mostly lard. I can’t believe it! I keep telling her that’s not good for her, but she just won’t listen!” Us silly Americans!

Sourdough and Bone Broth for Gluten Intolerance January 19, 2008

I just read this fascinating article, Going with the Grain by Catherine Kzapp on how she healed her father, a sufferer of celiac disease, or gluten intolerance.

Gluten intolerance has become a serious modern disease, not just among kids on the autistic spectrum (autism, Aspberger’s ADD/ADHD), but among many, many people with chronic digestive problems.

Damage to the intestinal wall causes a condition known as leaky gut or intestinal permeability. This creates all sorts of problems such as toxins being released into the bloodstream and malabsorption of nutrients.

Malabsorpition causes degenerative diseases like osteoperosis in the elderly and can cause failure to thrive in babies.

Most celiac sufferers feel doomed to a life without bread. Complete avoidance of gluten (and often casein — in dairy products) is the only way they can quell a plethora of symptoms and disorders.

Symptoms of Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance (from the Mayo Clinic):

There are no typical signs and symptoms of celiac disease. Most people with the disease have general complaints, such as intermittent diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating. Sometimes people with celiac disease may have no gastrointestinal symptoms at all. Celiac disease symptoms can also mimic those of other conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, gastric ulcers, Crohn’s disease, parasite infections, anemia, skin disorders or a nervous condition.

Celiac disease may also present itself in less obvious ways, including irritability or depression, anemia, stomach upset, joint pain, muscle cramps, skin rash, mouth sores, dental and bone disorders (such as osteoporosis), and tingling in the legs and feet (neuropathy).

Some indications of malabsorption that may result from celiac disease include:

Weight loss
Diarrhea
Abdominal cramps, gas and bloating
General weakness
Foul-smelling or grayish stools that may be fatty or oily
Stunted growth (in children)
Osteoporosis

The article by Catherine Czapp is very encouraging for the gluten intolerant, as it outlines a protocol for recovery that goes beyond gluten avoidance:

When a patient receives a diagnosis of celiac disease or gluten intolerance, either via laboratory testing or by process of elimination by the sufferer himself, complete avoidance of all gluten-containing foods will often bring improvement of many symptoms in a short time, sometimes as quickly as three days; others may require a month for positive signs to emerge. Finally understanding what was wrong can be a tremendous relief for someone who had likely been struggling with unhappy digestion for quite some time.

It is important to remember, though, that the impaired digestive capabilities of someone suffering from this autoimmune disorder will not automatically return to full healthy functioning by merely excluding gluten from the diet, nor will longstanding nutrient deficiencies be corrected unless they are actively addressed in a recuperation protocol designed with care and insight into the needs of the individual. Celiacs who have been severely afflicted should expect significant renewal of health only after one or more years of concerted effort.

What does she recommend for recovery?

Bone broths! The gelatin in homemade bone broths actually repairs the intestinal walls.

She ventured beyond the average bone broth, though, adding things like kombu, shiitake and nettles — which also help to soothe and repair the gut:

I had been pottering away in my kitchen experimenting with bone broths. I had become entranced by the extraordinary nutritive and recuperative properties of highly gelatinized broth made from the long simmering of bones, and I wanted to have a good storage of it. I improvised my brews by adding astragalus root–a nutritive immune system enhancer–to some pots, and kombu (a brown kelp) to others for its contribution of minerals and soothing mucilage. I added vinegar I’d made from shiitake mushroom stems–another immune system booster–in others, and nettles I’d grown on the burial ground of spent fish bones in another.

Nettles have so many nourishing and energizing attributes that one can barely enumerate them all, but I had been counting on their ability to pull minerals from the soil to augment my bone stocks. I only recently have come across a reference to their ability to actually promote the growth of intestinal villi!

Note: she does not recommend storebought broth. It must be homemade from the bones of chickens, cows, fish, or other animals (or purchased from someone who made it from scratch).

She goes on to discuss homemade sourdough bread and how it may be tolerable by celiacs. She says her recovered dad has been eating it for years with no ill effects.

She describes an amazing study wherein celiac volunteers ate sourdough bread and had no reaction:

A study published in February, 2004 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology with the tantalizing title “Sourdough Bread Made from Wheat and Nontoxic Flours and Started with Selected Lactobacilli Is Tolerated in Celiac Sprue Patients,” describes the results of an Italian research team which, encouraged by preliminary findings of their earlier work in vitro, designed an in vivo experiment to test their findings. The team’s premise was that lactobacilli, chosen for their ability to hydrolyze or sever protein (gliadin) fractions might be key in processing wheat flour so that its toxic properties would be neutralized and therefore not harmful to celiac patients.

Their experiment included 17 subjects, all celiac patients who had been consuming gluten-free diets for at least two years and no longer exhibiting symptoms. The experimental bread was made from a combination of wheat (Triticum aestivum), oat, millet and buckwheat flours, 30 percent of which was wheat. The flour was mixed with a “broth” of four lab-obtained lactobacilli, a dose of baker’s yeast and tap water in a continuous high-speed mixer. When the dough was allowed to ferment at about body temperature for 24 hours, almost all of the toxic peptide fractions in the wheat protein had been hydrolized. The bread was then baked and fed to the celiac volunteers (who also bravely ate breads made with plain baker’s yeast as “controls”). After consuming the simple yeasted bread, analysis of the volunteers’ gut permeability was made, which showed a change in permeability normally associated with celiac response. No such response was noted when the volunteers ate the 24-hour fermented sourdough bread. The authors of the study are cautiously enthusiastic about the results of this “novel bread biotechnology” and its implications for celiac patients.

Note: we are not talking about that faux sourdough bread you find in the grocery store. This is real homemade sourdough made from a fermented starter.

The article concludes:

Rather than condemn celiac sufferers to a life without bread, how much better to offer a healing protocol followed for life with the right kind of bread. In fact, how much better for all of us to take our cue from celiac sufferers and consume only bread that has been prepared by artisans–with attention to detail and lots of time.

The same old refrain. Modern food production is causing health problems that can be reversed by going back to eating foods raised and prepared traditionally.

There is nothing I love better than a house filled with the odors of fresh baking bread and a pot of homemade chicken stock simmering on the stove. To me, that’s home.

Drinking Pasteurized Milk is Dangerous January 9, 2008

The Associated Press reports:

Dairy Linked to 3 Deaths, Miscarriage

By DENISE LAVOIE – 1 day ago

BOSTON (AP) — At Whittier Farms dairy, the fifth-generation owners brag of the quality of their Holstein cows and still deliver milk right to your door, in glass bottles. Customers like the products because they are a hormone-free taste of old New England.

But health officials now say three elderly men have died and at least one pregnant woman has miscarried since last June after drinking bacteria-contaminated milk from the dairy’s plant in Shrewsbury, about 35 miles west of Boston.

All were infected with listeria, which is extremely rare in pasteurized milk. It is more often found in raw foods, such as uncooked meat and vegetables, and processed foods such as soft cheeses and cold cuts.

The outbreak is believed to be only the third time listeria has ever been linked to pasteurized milk in the United States, said Dr. Alfred DeMaria, state director of communicable disease control.

“We know something is going on; we just don’t know what it is,” DeMaria said. “We just need to find out how the bacteria is getting into the milk.”

Listeria bacteria are often present in manure and are commonly found in soil and water. Pasteurization is supposed to kill listeria.

Sally Fallon compiled a list of U.S. government documented outbreaks of food-borne illness from pasteurized milk for Ted Elkins, Deputy Director for Maryland’s Office of Food Protection and Consumer Health Services.

Here is that list:

1945—1,492 cases for the year in the US
1945—1 outbreak, 300 cases in Phoenix, Arizona.
1945—Several outbreaks, 468 cases of gastroenteritis, 9 deaths, in Great Bend, Kansas
1976—Outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica in 36 children, 16 of whom had appendectomies, due to pasteurized chocolate milk
1978—1 outbreak, 68 cases in Arizona
1982—over 17,000 cases of Yersinia enterocolitica in Memphis, TN
1982—172 cases, with over 100 hospitalized from a three-Southern-state area.
1983—1 outbreak, 49 cases of Listeriosis in Massachusetts
1984—August, 1 outbreak S. typhimurium, approximately 200 cases, at one plant in Melrose Park, IL
1984—November, 1 outbreak S. typhimurium, at same plant in Melrose Park, IL
1985—March, 1 outbreak, 16,284 confirmed cases, at same plant in Melrose Park, IL
1985—197,000 cases of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella infections from one dairy in California
1985—1,500+ cases, Salmonella culture confirmed, in Northern Illinois
1987—Massive outbreak of over 16,000 culture-confirmed cases of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella typhimurium traced to pasteurized milk in Georgia
1993—2 outbreaks statewide, 28 cases Salmonella infection
1994—3 outbreaks, 105 cases, E. Coli & Listeria in California
1993-1994—outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis in over 200 due to pasteurized ice cream in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin
1995—1 outbreak, 3 cases in California
1995—outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica in 10 children, 3 hospitalized due to post-pasteurization contamination
1996—2 outbreaks Campylobactor and Salmonella, 48 cases in California
1997—2 outbreaks, 28 cases Salmonella in California

That’s a whole lot of outbreaks from supposedly safe pasteurized milk!

Could it have anything to do with the fact that these animals are kept in confinement and fed a diet of grain that makes them sick?

Studies show that factory-farmed cattle have 300 times more pathogenic bacteria in their digestive tracts than cattle that are allowed to openly graze in pastures.

Peck, John E. “Spinach Crisis Reflects Need For Smaller Farms,” — The Capital Times, A8, October 2, 2006

Now let’s talk about raw milk.

According to the Weston Price Foundation:

Pathogens Can Multiply in Pasteurized Milk and Other Foods but Not in Raw Milk

Campylobacter in chilled raw milk (4o C):
Day 0 = 13,000,000/ml
Day 9 = less than 10/ml (1)

Campylobacter in body temperature raw milk (37o C):

Bovine strains decreased by 100 cells/ml in 48 hrs
Poultry strains decreased by 10,000 cells/ml in 48 hrs (2)

Note that the protective components work more quickly to reduce levels of pathogens in warm milk than in chilled milk.

1. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1982;44(5):1154-58
2. Mikrobiyolji Bul,1987:21(3):200-5

And yet…

Raw milk is often blamed for causing infection with Listeria Monocytogenes, a deadly food pathogen that can cause severe illness and fetal death, premature birth or neonatal illness and death.

Let’s look at the facts:

In a 2003 USDA/FDA report:

Deli meats caused 515 times more illness from listeria than raw milk
Pasteurized milk caused 29 times more illness from listeria than raw milk

On a PER-SERVING BASIS, deli meats were TEN times more likely to cause illness than raw milk.

FDA: “Raw milk is inherently dangerous and should not be consumed”

Where are the FDA’s charges that deli meats are “inherently dangerous and should not be consumed? Where is the FDA’s exhortation to “everyone charged with protecting the publish health” to “prevent the sale of deli meats to consumers”?

In a response to a Freedom of Information request, the Centers for Disease Control provided data on raw milk outbreaks 1993-2005—a 23-year period.

In this report, CDC listed NO cases of foodborne illness from raw milk caused by listeria during the period.

Let me repeat that:

The CDC listed NO cases of foodborne illness from raw milk caused by listeria for the past 23 years.

Recently the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has suspended sales of several dairies and issued inflammatory press releases, claiming listeria monocytogenes in the milk.

Independent tests have shown NO listeria in the milk and in all cases sales were resumed. There were no illnesses.

Is the PDA trying to falsely build a case that listeria is a problem in raw milk?

Raw Milk Safety in California

Since 1999:

40 million servings of Organic Pastures raw milk, not one reported illness; in 1,300 tests, no human pathogens ever found in the milk, or even in the manure on the farm.

19 recalls of pasteurized milk products during the same period.

Sally Fallon on Fats and Why They are Essential December 21, 2007

Fascinating interview with Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation on essential fatty acids and why saturated fats are critical to good health.

Also how good saturated fats like butter, lard, duck and goose fat, and coconut and palm oil were driven out of the marketplace by corporations profiting off of soybean oil:

http://www.metrofarm.com/assets/podcasts/2007-12-01_567dfat.mp3

Curing cavities with nutrition November 7, 2007

This is fascinating…

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=399989

These mothers are talking about curing cavities with nutrition — how eating the WAPF (Weston A Price Foundation — http://www.westonaprice.org) diet has actually remineralized their teeth. In other words, it can reverse and heal cavities.

One of the really interesting things you will see if you read the thread is that two of the moms whose children had really bad tooth decay at a very young age (under 3) were both vegetarians.

This makes sense — since you can't get vitamin D from plant foods. And calcium is what builds bone — but you can't absorb and use calcium unless you are getting enough vitamin D.

The other thing that is really interesting is that one of them cites a case where cavities were halted/prevented when the only thing that was changed in the diet was that raw milk was added (a case from a London orphanage).

Amazing!

I've always had a lot of cavities. I'll be interested to see how much better my teeth are by say a year or so — now that I'm eating this way.