Tag: food

Long Time, No Write

I’ve been traveling a bit, down to Florida, to see family and work on our old house. Along the way, I’ve been reading The Monsanto Papers by Carey Gilliam.

This is the story of the lawyers who took on Monsanto, the plaintiffs they represented, and many internal emails and documents from within Monsanto that were shared with the public in 2017.

There are parts of this book that made my mutated blood boil.

For example, this passage from page 243. This is text from the court testimony of Dewayne Johnson vs. Monsanto Company, showing internal an email from Dr. James Parry,  indicating not only that the company knew – in the 1990s – that glyphosate caused cancer, but that they knew to look for mutations of the lymphocytes.

They already knew which cell would be affected first.

Even though the plaintiff won his case, and even though more and more cases came to trial, and even though there was a flurry of publicity surrounding each one… glyphosate is still the most used herbicide on the planet.

It’s still used as a desiccant during harvests.

And it’s still in most foods you can buy in any American supermarket.

If you’d like to know more, there’s a film called Into The Weeds which shows scenes from the courtroom. You’ll get to know Dewayne Johnson and hear and see his heartbreaking story. The film can be streamed for $2.99 through Amazon.

Carey Gilliam has written a few other books on this topic, and there are some interesting interviews with her on YouTube.

https://www.intotheweedsimpact.com/

It will make you sick, literally and figuratively.

Budwig

Came across this recipe, which promises cancer-fighting properties. It was developed by Johanna Budwig, a German biochemist and pharmacist who developed a lacto-vegetarian cancer prevention diet in the 1950s.

Not gonna lie, flaxseed oil tastes pretty yucky. It literally tastes like you are eating oil paint. BUT it contains a lot of omega 3 fatty acids, which most of us are not getting enough of.

Mixing with cottage cheese somehow helps aid in the digestion of the flaxseed oil. It has a symbiotic effect.

She passed away in 2003, a few years before the discovery of resolvins and protectins:

Only recently has it been established that inflammation resolution is an active process with a distinct set of chemical mediators. Several clinical and epidemiological studies have identified beneficial effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for a variety of inflammatory diseases, yet without mechanistic explanations for these beneficial effects. Resolvins and protectins are recently identified molecules that are generated from Omega-3 PUFA precursors and can orchestrate the timely resolution of inflammation in model systems.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2785519/

I do see this in relation to the seed oil info I posted earlier today. If modern man is living in an omega 3/ omega 6 imbalance, and we don’t know about it or understand the damage it is doing to us…. well, that’s a bad thing.

It’s interesting that Dr. Budwig’s daily regimen begins with sauerkraut juice…  the kombucha of 1800s Germany.

Then she blends together flax seed oil (very high in omega 3s) with a dairy product to help it be absorbed easily.

I think the science will catch up to her and what she was able to do… reportedly nurse cancer patients back to health with nutritional strategies.

The Dangers of Seed Oils

I have wanted to write about this for a while but I’m a bit out of my depth, and so I’ve put it off… but it is critically important and the little that I know has really changed my eating habits.

I recently came across this Instagram post by Dr. Mark Hyman, which sums it up nicely.

Abundance

We recently found out about a local grocery co-op that carries only healthy whole foods. Our daughter bought us a share as a Christmas gift. 🎄 🎁

I’ve been three times so far, and my husband Jimmy came along this last time. We are really happy with the foods available!

The co-op carries produce from my farmers’ market connections, including Botanical Ben’s mushrooms and veggie sprouts.

They carry a lot of bulk products and encourage folks to simply bring their own jars.

Abundance Food Co-Op

Great Resources

Stumbled across some great resources lately and I wanted to share them here. Thse were all serendipitous…

This doctor has a YouTube channel and provides very down-to-earth advice on how to stay healthy and avoid cancer. Check her out!

This doctor popped up in my Twitter feed, and I don’t know much about him, but WOW, I wish my doctor was handing out a sheet like this to his patients, including the healthy ones.

I have already incorporated a lot of these into my daily/weekly routines over the last year, and it’s great to have those ideas reinforced by a doctor.

The “seek” button on my car radio pulled up this radio show/podcast, which looks interesting. I happened upon their report of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen:

https://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=25-P13-00004&segmentID=4

Food Colorings, Part 2

Christmas has come and gone, and yes, we did make cookies. Knowing that food dyes are linked to cancer, I went out in search of non-toxic alternatives.

I didn’t find any in the local stores. I did find them online, but after exhausting local options and then returning to my search bar, I found them out of stock.

Does that mean that other folks are looking for non-toxic alternatives? 🤔 I hope so!

So this year, we went without. Our cookies were the color of our non-GMO organic flour, and the frosting was transparent. And we loved them anyway (though it was hard to tell the lemon cookies from the almond ones).

This weekend, I found the colors I was searching for at the Abundance Co-op. My daughter gave me a share & membership for Christmas.

Fun Fact: The old dyes in my cupboard actually have a resale market! At least the brown glass bottles do. I found them online today priced between $10 and $25 per bottle. Huh!

Food Colorings

Yesterday, the FDA banned Red 3 from foods and medicines.

While this is technically a good thing, its more of a baby step / half measure in the move toward a healthier society…

Why?

  • Red dye 3 was banned from cosmetic products 35 years ago because of its link to cancer. 35 years!!!
  • There are thousands of other additives that are just as toxic that are still being used in many foods, medicines, and other products. Most of these are banned in other countries.
  • This particular ban gives companies TWO YEARS to reformulate the food products. A lot can happen (or be reversed or forgotten about) in two years.
  • This ban gives pharmaceutical companies THREE YEARS to comply! Are you kidding???
  • It solves 0.01% of the problem with untested food additives.

The best thing this ban can do is simply awaken the consumer to the problem and lead them to change what they buy and eat.

Salad Dressing

For 99% of my life, I’ve used either the Good Seasons spice packet or the Aldi knock-off to make my dressing with red wine vinegar, high quality olive oil, and a little bit of water.

The spice packets are both delicious and easy to mix in the Good Seasons bottle (you know what I’m talking about).

Recently, though, I scanned the Aldi and Good Seasons packet with the Yuka app. Both scored 18 out of 100… yuck!

Both of the additives flagged “may be associated with” development of breast cancer.

It’s just a spice packet, though. How hard could it be to make it from scratch?

I decided to make my own. I used a big jar and mixed up a bunch, so it’s ready whenever I need it.

Copycat Salad Dressing Spice Mix

  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 0.25 teaspoon ground thyme
  • 1 tablespoon parsley
  • 0.25 teaspoon celery salt
  • 2 tablespoons salt (use less if you want)

Put it all in a jar.

When you want to make the dressing, mix:

  • 1 tablespoon of the spice mix above
  • 1/2 cup of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons water

Bon appetit!

Update: Great article from the Environmental  Working Group:

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2022/09/turn-over-new-leaf-ditch-your-salads-harmful-chemicals-healthier