Cinco de Mayo – Celebrate With Native American Foods!

Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, is a proud time for celebration, but first we need to remember. Five hundred years ago, a European juggernaut, driven by greed and glory, committed genocide and tens of millions of Native Americans died. For example, in Central Mexico, only 5% of the Native American population survived the invasion and next few years of epidemics and mass slavery and genocide throughout Central and South America. Reference: encarta.

Then, in the centuries that followed, the disrespect, greed, dishonorable killing and actual murder continued into North America. What happened at the hands of the Spanish Conquistadors, Christian Church, American army generals and settlers is despicable and never should be glossed-over, as in movies, or glorified — and it should never be forgotten.

Their careless view of human life was without honor as e.g. smallpox-infested blankets were purposely given to the Crow tribe and peaceful California tribes were hunted-to-extinction as blood-sport for bounty-money.

We can never make up for these tragedies, but we can learn from them and never repeat them, and route out the roots of newly attempted discrimination.

We can also help by learning from the Native Americans to revere Mother Earth, as they do, and leave an ecologically-kind small-footprint on the Land. The Land deserves to be Honored.

For decades, I have traveled to visit First Nation peoples in North America. The Sovereign Nations are still being abused by governments throughout all the Americas — and especially are at risk in the USA. Yes, you heard me correctly.

I go to tribal lands here to learn their plight and then I try to lobby my legislators on their behalf. Please learn their issues and their causes. I can relate to their plight as it was my people labeled for genocide in World War 2. None of my family was ever on this continent to kill or hurt First Nation peoples during those centuries of terror, but I feel their pain.

There are many ways to perpetrate genocide, and these days, in America, it is done by “exclusion” and denial of heritage, by Government policy. As I said, learn more.

I sincerely hope that one day, all Native peoples will have the chance to return to their own culture completely, but most of the tribal cultures are so decimated, that without the help of anthropologists, oral tradition, the legacy of the artists who recorded a soon-to-vanish culture, there would be little for them to call their own. This was as much a genocide of their culture and language as much as of their body. Every time I look at my river-cane baskets, purchased from the Cherokee Tribe’s Cultural Center in Asheville, North Carolina, 30 years ago, I keep hoping that the last 2 women in the tribe who knew this skill, and who made my baskets, were finally able to transmit their knowledge to other members of the tribe. It had seemed hopeless back then.

Yet, now I think there is great hope. When we were in New Mexico 7 years ago (I can’t believe it’s almost 7 years!), I was so pleased to find the college-age people returning to their ancestral homes in Taos Pueblo, to live without modern conveniences like running water … they went to the stream to get it as their people had for more than 1,000 years. Taos Pueblo is the longest-inhabited site in the Americas.

And, I was hopeful because the artists were able to market their work for decent prices, at home or at tribal galleries, without voracious middle-men. And, people are being educated about the cheap, knock-off, totally-fake “Native-American” jewelry from China.

I was also so happy when my family was invited to attend the communal Salmon Feast marking the opening of the Museum at Warm Springs in Oregon, where hospitality, traditional foods, and dancing from many regional tribes made a living history seem very vibrant.

The video and language conservation has begun on the large personally made, 40 year now-archived legacy of Guy Tyler, amateur ethnographer for 22 Native American languages, stories and traditions, by National Public Radio and the Berkeley Language Center, University of California, Berkeley at www.indigenous-language.org   www.nativeland.org/ilrp.html  and the advocacy of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers Council, a worldwide organization for tribal peoples whose Mission Statement sums it all up:

“We come together to nurture, educate and train our children. We come together to uphold the practice of our ceremonies and to affirm the right to use our plant medicines free of legal restrictions. We come together to protect the lands where our peoples live and upon which our cultures depend, to safeguard the collective heritage of traditional medicines, and to defend the Earth herself. We believe that the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future.”

I have always been so struck by every tribe’s wonderful hospitality to the stranger — even before this Causcasian showed that I was on their side. Whether it be in the home of a Penobscot princess in Old Town, Maine or on the windy coast of the Makah reservation in Washington state, listening to how the tribe was trying to decide how to save their tribal forests when the wood was needed to pay for legal fees to fight for their right to live their tribal ways. I was always treated with respect and welcomed.

I admire the people so much, and so it is with great pleasure I introduce to you the next in a recurring series about native foods. I have already introduced you to agave.

Unfortunately, the Pima tribe, in America’s Southwest, have the highest percentage of diabetics of any people on earth. This is from a high rate of gestational diabetes and also the way the Pima have been treated on their ancesteral lands.

The Pima Tribe is learning to control its diabetes by returning to these native foods, (which were almost unavailable on the small area given back to them from their once-vast lands, which also couldn’t be farmed when Caucasian farmers upstream cut off almost all the water to Pima lands, and caused death and starvation!). And, the same water cut-off by Caucasians has happened to the nearby Cocopah tribe in California and destroyed their ability to farm their lands as they traditionally had for thousands of years. www.cocopah.com/docs/overview.html

The foods the US Government made available to the Pima when the water dried-up through upstream greed and poor government regulation were the regular sad American foods, and they have caused the Pima’s rates of diabetes to soar. Whereas, studies of Pima in Mexico, who still are able to live in their traditional way, show almost no diabetes at all.

“Dr. Eric Ravussin, a visiting scientist at the Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch at NIDDK, has studied obesity in the Pima Indians since 1984. He believes the thrifty gene theory applies to the Pimas.

The Pima Indians maintained much of their traditional way of life and economy until the late 19th century, when their water supply was diverted by American farmers settling upstream, according to Ravussin. At that time, their 2,000-year-old tradition of irrigation and agriculture was disrupted, causing poverty, malnutrition and even starvation. The Pima community had to fall back on the lard, sugar and white flour the U.S. government gave them to survive, says Ravussin.”

… ” Recently, Ravussin visited a Pima community living as their ancestors did in a remote area of the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. These Mexican Pimas are genetically the same as the Pima Indians of Arizona. Out of 35 Mexican Pimas studied, only three had diabetes and the population as a whole was not overweight, according to Ravussin. ”

So, now, in addition to agave syrup — an amazing low-glycemic, natural sweetener, from a specific cactus — you can learn about mesquite bean pods. I’ll give you a couple of recipes and I note that mesquite is best eaten as raw meal in recipes. If it is cooked, you will need to add other flours to “cover” the strange flavors from cooking it.

Mesquite is a life-saving high-protein, high-mineral, low glycemic carbohydrate, non-gluten food. It needs to be part of your larder.

Thank the generations of indigenous mothers and grandmothers who patiently learned the secrets of the plants in every culture, but the American Southwest was especially blessed with many important low-glycemic foods, which the women found and used for their family’s and tribe’s benefit.

By choosing the right foods, the women kept their family healthy, and that is still our need today. Keep learning how to find healthy foods among the plethora of junk offered you.

So celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the day when the Native American Mexicans and Metizos (people of Native American – Spanish heritage), after more than 400 years, beat the last of the European colonial powers to occupy their land, and paved the way for a successful win against slavery in the United States, too, by defeating the French at the Battle of Puebla.

Best to all — Em 
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Based on a recipe from:  www.desertharvesters.greenbicycle.net/recipes.html

Pinole  – for 1
1 T   mesquite flour
1T   saguaro cactus seed meal (or ground pumpkin seed, hempseed or flax seed meal)
1 C   Evamor or spring water

Stir all together briskly.  Drink it before flour settles to the bottom.  Almond milk can be used instead of water.

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http://www.rawguru.com/recipe29.html

Mesquite Nut Milk
serves 2-4 people

1/3 C almond butter
1 C cashews
4 C water
        Celtic sea salt to taste
3-5 T mesquite pod meal

Blend everything till it is quite smooth. Strain the milk through a cheese cloth. You can dehydrate the nut pulp for later use. Enjoy!
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http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/sumsix.htm

Mesquite ‘Toffee’ Smoothie

Source: Recipe developed by Karen Knowler of the Fresh Network

3 large  ripe organic bananas
1-2 C     Evamor or spring water
2-3 T    agave nectar (or 4-6 organic dates)
2 T        mesquite meal (rounded, heaped tablespoons)

Blend the ingredients together, adding more mesquite or agave/dates to suit your taste.

As a variation: Try adding some cacao nibs for a chocolate alternative; they are available in good health stores or from link below.   Serves 2.
======================================================================= Based on: http://www.mightyfoods.com/archives/superfoods

Mesquite Cornbread

3/4 C    cornmeal
3/4 C    flour of choice
1/2 C    mesquite meal
1/2 t     baking soda
2 t        non-aluminum baking powder (Rumford’s)
3 T        organic butter, melted
1/2 t     Celtic sea  salt
1 egg     organic, Omega-3, free-range
3 T        honey OR 2T agave syrup
1 C        fresh  buttermilk or plain kefir

optional: 1 C corn, 3/4 C  grated jack cheese, 3 T  minced onion, or 1 T  chipotle chili flakes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix wet ingredients and stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Add optional items if desired. Spread on a greased, preheated 8×8 pan. Bake 25-30 minutes at 325 degrees.
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References:

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701509044_20/Native_Americans_of_Middle_and_South_America.html

http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm

http://www.mfdp.med.harvard.edu/fellows_faculty/cfhuf/fellows/bios/2001/donald.htm

http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec0461/012.htm

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/pima/obesity/obesity.htmhttp://www.associatedcontent.com/article/75810/prickly_pear_cactus_and_exercise_natural.html

www.americanindianpolicycenter.org

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0809046016?tag=welcometohanksvi&creative=373489&camp=211189&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=0809046016

http://www.nmai.si.edu/http://catlinclassroom.si.edu/cl.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/01/arts/design/01clay.html?ex=1177992000&en=9998b7567ad259d9&ei=5070

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/arts/design/23indi.html?ex=1177992000&en=661469a379a1268e&ei=5070

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/arts/design/22dike.html?ex=1177992000&en=0834525aa319e311&ei=5070/

http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/

http://www.saltriver.pima-maricopa.nsn.us/

http://www.cocopah.com/docs/overview.htmlhttp://www.nativepeoples.com/

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2001/june2001/june01leb.htm#page_25

http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/tepp/tribal_projects.htm#PascuaYaqui

http://www.stanford.edu/group/ethnoger/americanindian.html

http://www.indigenous-language.org/

http://www.nativeland.org/ilrp.html

Philip M. Klasky is the director of the legacy of Guy Tyler, The Storyscape Project located in the Presidio of San Francisco. They are in need of financial and other means of support to advance their projects. For more information call (415) 752-8678 or pklasky@igc.org. Please check this information is still current.

http://nativeland.org/links.html

http://www.nativevillage.org/Messages%20from%20the%20People/student_risked_life_running_from.htm

http://www.nativevillage.org/Archives/2005/Oct%2019,%202005%20I%20159/Oct%2019,%202005%20News%20I%20159%20%20V3.htm

http://www.nativevillage.org/Inspiration-/ten_native_american_commandments.htm

http://www.nativevillage.org/Messages%20from%20the%20People/This%20Month%20in%20NA%20History/HOME%20this_month_in_native_american_hi.htm

http://www.nativevillage.org/1International%20Council%20of%20the%20Thirteen%20Indigenous%20Grandmothers/Grandmothers%20Home%20Page.htm

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/curthome.html

http://www.ed.gov/free/past/2005/111.html

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/community/cc_nativeamerican.php

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/feature/indian/

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/118trail/118setting.htm

MESQUITE FLOUR – SUPPLIERS:

http://www.essentiallivingfoods.com/products-functional-food-algorroba.html
http://www.desertharvesters.greenbicycle.net/resources.html

San Xavier Farm Cooperative
8100 S Oidak Wog, Tucson, Arizona 85746. 520-295-3774
The San Xavier Farm Cooperative harvests their mesquite pods from the best tasting trees on their tribal lands, and Desert Harvesters mills the pods into flour. This is another source of local mesquite flour for those living in southern Arizona.

Native Seeds/SEARCH
526 N. 4th Ave., Tucson, Arizona 85705. 520-622-5561. www.nativeseeds.org

http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/prod.php?prodID=FD017
Inquire with Native Seeds/SEARCH as to where their mesquite flour is from as they have different suppliers.

They have packaged mesquite flour, tepary beans, cactus jelly, chia seeds, and more!

San Pedro Mesquite Company POB 338, Bowie, Arizona 85605. 520-847-1015. www.SanPedroMesquite.com
http://www.spmesquite.com/

San Pedro Mesquite Company supplies mesquite flour imported from Peru and Namibia. They also sell and excellent mesquite meal cookbook. A great local source of native mesquite flour, tepary beans, roasted wheat flour, corn meal, roasted corn, squash, and more!

http://www.desertbotanical.org/index.aspx?pageID=282

RAW CHOCOLATE:

http://www.essentiallivingfoods.com/products-culinary-nuts-cacao-beans.html

(c)2007 Em https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
If you desire to quote or use my article, please include the full copyright citation and website address. Thanks!

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‘Get Fresh’ With A Young Farmer!

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Only people can farm and their lives depend on it — and so do ours! Growing healthy food and securing clean water are everyone’s top priorities — or they should be.

The weather is great at the moment, and as we head into summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to think about the bounty of fresh food — and about the diligent farmers who produce it for us.

I whole-heartedly support family farms, and I think we all should try to help them survive. They have been the back-bone of society, and their care and love of their land will never be replaced by corporate “efficiency” and heartless ruination of the land, by factory farms.

So, how do you support local agriculture?  How do you support the young people who care and want the hard-but-worthy life of the farmer? We need to appreciate and laud them, as without them, we’ll have no future, and we need to provide a sound plan:

___    for land to be affordable

__   for their land to be passed from one family generation to another without the inheritance taxes which force families to sell their land, if they agree to stay on the land and continue farming it or arrange for it to be farmed by non-corporate entities

___    provide needed financing so farmers can grow useful, needed crops (not just the crops big-business or government “wants” them to grow)

___   provide a dependable living wage for farmers, so they do not have to worry about the weather, chance and artificially-depressed markets taking away their families’ livlihood and security.

Support local food growers. Tell your supermarket’s buyers you want 70% to be local produce, minimum. Go to the Farmer’s markets or farms and buy direct (see link below). Take the time to learn and understand their concerns and their plight.

Get your Federal legislators to REFORM the Farm Bill, and at the same time, adovcate for organic gardening practices, period! The Farm Bill is coming up for a vote, and it is probably one of the most far-reaching in implications for you and your family and the planet’s health!

Please read the New York Times article about the Farm Bill and even register at the site to read it, once it’s archived — the article is important. You’ll learn why farmers grow what they grow and why the healthy food costs SO much more. You need to get involved to change a very poor system which is “stacked” against both the farmer and the consumer.

If you live outside America, then advocate for your farmers and for organic practices, too! And, everyone needs to help 3rd World countries be able to feed their people from their own soil, as much as possible, repairing it if needed.

We have to outlaw Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) plants and animals. We have to get rid of harmful “fertilizers”, “insecticides”, “ammendments” to our soil. In America, we have succeeded in nearly sterilizing it of homeostatic soil bacteria (HSO’s) needed for our health and plants health, as well as poor practices which are depleting our soil of its life-giving minerals — while replacing a handful as “fertilizer”. It’s a sad day as our Earth Mother is dying from our lack of caring.

We are the earth’s stewards. Everyone has a role to play. Those who work the land need to keep our Trust that they will care for the Land. We need to keep their Trust that we will pay fair prices for their labor and goods. Little or none of this has been happening for decades in America.

We need to get the middle-men out of the food chain as much as we can. Eating locally helps that happen, and is healthier too. We need to talk to local farmers and ask them to plant the healthiest crops their climate allows. Use the link below to find your state’s local farmer’s markets, and if outside the USA, then check for a similar resource. I saw sites for British markets; hopefully there are others.

It’s really important to only eat foods in their season as much as possible. If you want to preserve food, then freezing is the next best to “fresh”; it has little nutrient degradation if it is processed right after picking.

Dehydration is an acceptable method for some foods, if it is at low temperatures (approximately 118 degrees F) — long and slow and low. Learn how to determine when it is “dry enough”, as you cannot have safe food if there is too much moisture left.

In my opinion, canning (commercial or at home) is not a choice. I believe too much nutrition is lost, but if you decide to can foods at home, learn properly from your county’s Extension Service professionals or through your state university.

Vacuum packing at home has become an option, but, again, learn the technique thoroughly and all of these techniques for food preservation require fastidious attention to cleanliness! These may be great options at time of civil emergencies, but you must know all about their preparation and how to use them safely.

Start to foster new knowledge in your family and become a gardener — in the soil if you have land, or by container, if you don’t. Also learn about CSA agriculture programs and Urban Farming plots programs. And, advocate for your school to teach your children to use school land to garden, especially in elementary school, but these life-lessons are needed and appropriate at any age.

As far as knowing the state of your soil and when to harvest, get a Brix meter and a laboratory soil test of the area in which you want to grow food (ask your gardening center or County Extension agent for recommended labs). The Brix meter will tell you SO much about what your soil needs and exactly when to harvest at the peak of nutrition and flavor. If you were to take your Brix meter to sample supermarket food, you would be SO surprised at the immature and low-nutrient produce we are often buying, especially from factory-farms.

Well, I hope this gets you reading, thinking, acting. Health is intimately connected to food and water, and we have to advocate for the Best.  Only the currently most-expensive food is healthy. What’s wrong with that picture? If all of us are concerned with Health – ours and everyone’s – then we have to change the whole system. There are many ways to do this — so enjoy learning and then work hard on the issues, as your Health depends on the best outcomes from your advocacy.

 Always — Em

References:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22wwlnlede.t.html?em&ex=1177560000&en=955cc305987d1146&ei=5087%0A

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24bees.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

http://www.sustainableharvest.org/techniques.cfm

http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Summer2006/tabid/418/Default.aspx

http://www.mofga.org/tabid/458/Default.aspx

http://www.farmland.org/

http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/foodfarm-main.html#links

http://casfs.ucsc.edu/community/csap.html

http://www.greenpeople.org/csa.htm

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml

http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm

http://www.cityfarmer.org/

http://garden-in-the-city.com/garden.html

http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/index.cfm?c=djieg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_garden

http://www.organicgardening.com/

http://www.ezidridehydrators.com.au/

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/

http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/fsgfaq.html

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/advice.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/restore_digestivehealth.html

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

http://www.saveseeds.org/biography/coleman/

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/13/HO126062.DTL

http://www.johnjeavons.info/

http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/ppl_aw.html

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/vacuum_packaging.html

http://www.themeterman.com.au/interview.php

(c)2007 Em https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com

If you want to use or quote from my article, please include the full copyright citation and my website address. Thanks!

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Weight-Loss Tip – How To Stop Drinking Your Calories

Most calories in the drinks you choose contribute little or no nutrition for your body! And, many drinks are a blood-sugar nightmare waiting to happen, as well as a source of potent inflammation potential by causing acidic pH in your body. At the moment, among Americans over 2 years old, about 21% of daily calorie intake comes from beverages!

Apart the body-damaging, cheap high-fructose corn syrup and white sugar (poison) many commercial drinks have, alert yourself to:

___    the acidifying and weakening aspects of alcohol

__    the empty calories and deleterious caffeine of other beverages like lattes

___    the non-satiety and hard-hitting blood-sugar pummeling of fruit juices and smoothies

___    the hazardous use of any artificially-sweetened beverages (or foods)

___    and the scary contents and dehydrating aspects of cow milk, as well as the poorly monitored accuracy of its Vitamin D supplementation

___   the dehydrating effects of even healthy teas when over-consumed

So, I believe that natural, pure, non-fluoridated water is the safest, non-caloric, most-satisfying and health-promoting beverage we have available … and that does NOT include the nutraceutical waters that are now being promoted. Partial supplementation of “nutrients” by a beverage company is not healthy nutrition and the concern here is that people will depend too heavily on these waters thinking they are providing them with all-inclusive nutrition.So, what are the best waters, ones that give us the most-absorbitive fluids we need:

___   to stay alive

___   to feed our 60 trillion body cells (they only drink water!)

___   to enhance our Health

and can we build our Health with water?

The study conducted by Dutch researchers last year stated that water is the best beverage, by far, and the study was funded by the owners of Lipton’s Tea!

There are many kinds of water and, in my opinion, natural spring water, in glass bottles is best, but it is almost impossible to find!

The bottled-water industry is not interested in putting the best products forward, and in America, the standards are not good enough. Read the labels and you may find you have just purchased re-packaged tap water — yes, that’s true!

There are some decent glacial and spring waters packaged in plastic, but you need to buy them in stores with quick turnover, and get them into a regularly-cleaned, no-lead glaze, ceramic crock at home, as soon as possible.

I bought my New Wave Enviro crock at my health store, but I am including their website below. 

By pouring your water into a clean ceramic crock, the water will not have been in the detrimental energy-field that plastic has any longer than you can help it (and your male family members will have less chance to be feminized by the plasticizers which mimic estrogen in our bodies).

If you are trying to conceive, both of you need to try to stay away from all plastic use, for at least a year, as well as any other junk foods, artificial colorants etc. Both of you need to detoxify before conceiving. Low sperm counts are likely caused, in major part, by plastic use. Plastics use and electrical field pollution, too tight jeans [for men — scrotal temperature is too great, as is pressure at site] and poor nutrition  are probably the biggest reason why there is an increasing rate of impotency and need for in vitro fertilization.

There are other worthy “specialty” waters, which I will talk about from time to time. I have already mentioned the highly alkaline Evamor spring water (pH9) for beneficial detoxification. It is what I am using at the moment to try to alkalinize my family’s bodies. I buy it buy the case – several a week, while I am trying to make up my mind about which water-production system I am going to choose (it’s taken years of research and saving, if I choose an expensive one).

At the moment, I am contemplating an interim system, where my water will be better than tap water, modified in pH by the addition of Evamor and having a better ORP, magnetic and molecular structural profile. More on these another time.

I do NOT include mineral waters, even if they are in glass. Most of the “minerals” in these waters are not usable by our bodies. They are inorganic minerals and burden our kidneys greatly to try to eliminate them.

How to wean yourself off the caffeine, sugar-highs, brain damaging artificial sweeteners, and get yourself onto the healthy water regimen? That’s the big question! You’ve become ADDICTED to these other substances!

Treat it like any other addiction. Make yourself a mathematical matrix — in effect, a schedule to decrease your use of any of the substances — day by day, for about 2 -3 weeks. Hopefully, you will avoid any withdrawl symptoms, by regularly tapering-off in a time frame where you are able to accomplish it and start feeling benefit soon. Start using home-made soups and home-made juices to provide you with variety along with your best waters.

As you decrease the deleterious beverages, increase your use of natural waters. This will help to begin to detoxify you from the deleterious residues the other beverages left. (You may have some healing reactions now and later, as your body detoxifies itself from these problem “foods”.)

If you insist on keeping fruit juices, then make sure you use:

___   low glycemic index fruits

___   organic fruit

___ add some young, green coconut water and flesh

___   dilute the commercial juices even further at 1/3 juice to 2/3 water or aim to reach that concentration. It is easy to quaff a large glass of juice, but that could contain the juice of 12 – 20 fruits or so, which you would usually not be sitting down to eat all-at-once! Fruit juices are very deceptive, and they are a fractionalized food; much of the nutrition is left behind in the fruit and peels, and is not used in juice. They also have a low satiety factor, so you keep wanting to eat or drink even though you have imbibed a lot of calories at the usually-recommended dilution concentration.

Vegetable juices are much healthier. They still are fractionalized and you do not get the benefits of fiber, like eating the real vegetables, but if you are bored with just water (while waiting for your natural taste-bud sensitivity to return — when you will crave water and recognize its Health and Life affirming qualities), then use vegetable juices and have fun inventing combinations you like. There are several sites where you can get ideas, and Calbom’s book is a classic. Always use a little lemon or lime juice in your recipes to stabilize color and to create some alkalinity in the recipe.

Glacial milks (high mountain glacial water with the ground colloidal minerals the glacier is producing from the rock as it moves forward) from the Himalayas are thought to be a prime reason for the longevity of the Hunzas of Pakistan — one of the world’s longest-lived peoples in their Shangri-La mountain home. And, in the Pacific Northwest, in Washington state, Mount Rainier’s glacial milk colloids are also being bottled as Serac.  Rainier’s regular, pristine water is also available as Tahoma water. See website below.

The milk (water) from young green coconuts is one of the most nutritious foods on earth. It is Nature’s  sports drink! And, evidently the electrolyte balance of young coconut water (Buko juice) is so perfect, it mirrors the solutions used for blood transfusions, as quoted from http://idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/somethings_in_the_water/ 

Fruits and vegetables contain valuable, already filtered, all-ready for your cells bio-water. So use them wisely and you get the bio-water when eating the raw fruits and vegetables, too. They don’t have to be juiced, just chew them well. Making them into popsicles can let you include some of the original pulp etc, not just the juice; it is a sneaky and fun way to eat your juice more healthily.

Also remember that coconut water from young green coconuts, glacial milks and home-made soups are great beverages, but your actual water intake needs to gradually rise to 1 quart of water per every 30 pounds of bodyweight, unless you have kidney trouble (consult a physician).

Actual water consumption is all that counts, because most other fluids have a dehydrating aspect to them or require body water to digest them or neutralize them.

Best to all — Em

References:

www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/health/27brody.html?em&ex=1175400000&en=252fd45784ad0aaf&ei=5087%0A

http://www.ohno.org/rsrch/studies_4.asp

 http://www.newwaveenviro.com/products-dispensers-c-8_3.html

http://www.newwaveenviro.com/products-bottles-c-8_2.html

http://cheriecalbom.com/

 www.evamor.com

 http://www.glacianova.com/

http://www.nariwa.com/nariwa/about_nariwa.asp

 http://www.nariwa.com/opinions.htm

http://www.nariwa.com/about.htm

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/youngcoconuts.html

http://bodyecology.com/coconutkefir.php

http://www.mercola.com/2004/mar/10/coconuts.htm

http://www.newseasonsmarket.com/dynamicContent.aspx?loc=1033&subloc=1&menuId=1080

http://gliving.tv/greenchefs/thesource/how-do-you-open-those-darn-coconuts-anyways/

http://idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/somethings_in_the_water/

http://www.polynesia.com/samoa/coconut-cracking.html

 http://www.championjuicer.com/models.html

(c)2007 Em https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
If you want to use or quote this article, please include the complete copyright citation and my website’s address. Thanks!

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THAT BIKINI IS BECKONING! Dealing With Summer Weight-Loss.

Let’s find the NewYou (TM). Summer’s coming and Spring’s volatility will give way to mellowness. We want to accomplish lots when our spirit is high and the best-of-the-year is just around the corner. But, these actions should be assumed for their own merit, and not just a fleeting whim.

Sure it will be fun to feel admired, but more importantly, are you feeling GOOD — healthy to your core? Otherwise, no matter how good you may look in a bikini, you’ve lost more than weight.

People just tend to want to “lose the weight” and if done incorrectly, you can lose your health, lean muscle and be burdened by much-easier weight gain later. You don’t want to be a yo-yo dieter!

Now and again over the coming months, we’ll talk about weight-loss, but for now, just start a reasonable walking plan, especially as the days are getting longer now. Getting exercise started first, while the weather is decent, is an unintimidating way to start your NewYou(TM) program.

I certainly will help you and I begin by recommending:

___    the walking videos and tapes of Leslie Sansone

___   doubling your intake of fruits and vegetables, daily, emphasizing the vegetables rather than the fruits

___   using a new fruit or vegetable every week and keeping it in your weekly diet while it is in season

__ understand there is safety in variety — so eat at least 15 – 20 different foods a day

___   use a papaya enzyme capsule in the middle of any larger meal

___   increase your spring water intake gradually and consistently every week until, by 4 – 6 weeks from now, you are using around a quart of water for every 30 pounds of body weight. If you have kidney trouble, then follow your doctor’s instructions instead.

___   keep snacks ready ( a list follows)

___   get active with your kids, outside!

___   ease up, have fun!

 ======================================================================EM’S SNACKS LIST – MAKE AHEADS FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND YOU

hummus

green pea spread

black-eye pea hummus 2T dip and a celery stick or on ½ a pita

egg salad

tuna salad

hard-boiled organic eggs

organic yoghurt

organic cheese and organic crackers (Safeway O Ritz-type)

natural gelatins

vegetarian sushi

cold cooked fish cakes i.e. “rissoles” (ideas follow – bake them)

lettuce leaf wraps

organic nut butters

seeds and nuts ( make sure your children are quiet and supervised while eating these)

raw veggies

olives

fresh fruit

sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes

granola bars — as Balance, Zone Bars

organic cereal and almond milk

trail mix – if supervised

1 tea – otherwise more dehydrates

spring water

vegetable juices

kefir   (sources follow)

100% juice diluted with sparkling water ½ and ½ or 2/3 to 1/3

=======================================================================

EM’S BLACK-EYED PEAS-PLEASE HUMMUS

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or use food processor
1/2 C fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/3 C tahini (ground sesame-seed paste)
3T grated Parmesan cheese
1 t curry powder
1/4 t Celtic sea salt
1/16t cayenne pepper
2 (15 oz) cans black-eyed peas, rinsed with spring water, then drained
fresh chives
chopped cilantro

If using a food processor, then drop garlic through chute with processor on. Process it 3 seconds or until garlic is minced. Add lemon juice and next 7 ingredients (lemon juice through peas). Process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add the last 2 herbs and pulse briefly to chop. Serve with celery sticks.

Yield: 3 1/2 cups (serving size: 2 tablespoons dip)
========================================================================

By the way, as you reduce the intake of food OR the types of foods you use, please consider using some of your food budget savings to help others have food to eat. See OxFam below. They are a really dedicated, efficient group.

Best to all — Em

REFERENCES:

http://www.lesliesansone.com/

http://www.evamor.com/

www.edenfoods.com

http://www.theorganicpages.com/topo/index.html

http://www.greenol.co.uk/

http://home.howstuffworks.com/california-black-eye-peas1.htm

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/lubbock/vegrote.html

www.rawganique.com

http://www.rawganique.com/Womens/organic-hemp-bikini-swim-top.htm

http://www.mercola.com/forms/kefir.htm

www.lifeway.net

http://www.heliosnutrition.com/

http://bodyecology.com/kefir.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishcake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rissole

http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t–34046/rissole.asp

http://www.emailcash.com.au/benefits.asp?go=post&iid=59&u=&c=

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/ontheline/explore/journey/burkina/recipe1.htm

http://cookingresources.suite101.com/article.cfm/sustainable_seafood_fare

http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=rissole

http://ausgarden.com/recipes/rissole-recipes.html

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/

(c)2007 Em http://diabetesdietdialogue.com

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The Quiet Hero Of Virginia Tech – A Tribute

This tribute is to Professor Liviu Librescu, who, at age 76, was still giving the world the benefit of his brilliant mind and still giving his loving heart and wisdom to his students at Virginia Tech.

On Monday, April 16, 2007, he lost his life while actively barricading and protecting the otherwise unlockable classroom door, giving his students valuable time to escape by alternate routes.

Dr. Librescu was a World War 2 Holocaust survivor. How ironic that he should lose his life in ‘the Land of Freedom’, which took him decades to reach, and whose Peace and Protection had been dearly earned.

Maybe it was the recognition of Evil coming, yet again, that helped Dr. Librescu act so quickly — giving his students those precious minutes, to return them to Life, while he took his chances and faced the Great Evil, alone, yet not-Alone.

As an educator, I especially feel the poignancy of his solitary stand on behalf of his students, for I always was completely aware of the Great Trust which society and parents had placed in me, to care for and protect their children, whatever might befall us, on my Watch.

The fact that these students were college age helps, but Dr. Librescu understood the Trust. His very name embodies it … Live, Liberate, Rescue.

I wonder if it is a Sign. The energetic Power of our Name is crucial to who we are. The Lord creates by the Power of the Word.

Maybe Liv Librescu was born to show us the way, at this Time of Crisis and Decision. His selfless action is a benchmark for us to reflect on the mutual responsibility we have to one another and the personal Courage we must foster in ourselves.

Each day is a Gift. No person knows what will be asked of themselves, and we are to spend a life-time cultivating our Spirit to be as Wise and Loving and Courageous as we can possibly be, so that we can stand on the side of Goodness and be in the Light of Knowledge for as much of our individual Time as possible.

All-the-while we need to try to make a contribution to the betterment of Earth and all who dwell therein. Liv did all of this.

The diminutive Dr. Librescu had survived the German concentration labor camps as a teenager, returned to the oppressive Communist regime in Romania and only was able to flee to Israel in 1978 and then onward to America in 1985.

His 20 years in America let him aid the world as the brilliance of his mind helped make aeronautical and space travel safer. So, his legacy will last. Remember him each time you or loved ones fly. And pray for Peace for his family, please.

For me at least, his Greater Legacy is the clarion call to be Vigilant and Courageous and to Act, as otherwise Evil can triumph. Aim to live a worthy Life, as he did.

By the work of our hands and hearts shall we be known. And as we spiral into the the vortex of the Unity, from the butterfly-moment Life we have experienced, a Transformation happens as we Understand and Return. Hopefully, that will ease his family’s pain and our pain at the loss of a Good Soul in our corner.

Thank you, Liviu. And may your Spirit rest with the Peaceful and Loving Oneness.

In Gratitude,

Em

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18143312/?GT1=9246

http://www.esm.vt.edu/php/person.php?id=10023

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3388753,00.html#n

(c)2007 Em   https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
If you desire to use or quote my article, please include the complete copyright citation and the website address. Thanks!

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Salt – Demon or Angel of Health?

Here’s a new view about salt.  In addition, I have written several times about the benefits of sea salt and the demonic contribution of regular table salt. 

Look at Title Archive tab to re-acquaint yourself with my opinions and the facts I’ve found.

I’m writing again, because yet another fact has come to light, and you have to have the information to be able to make up your own mind.

Yesterday, I was visiting raw food sites, again, as I was researching them for their success in helping diabetics, and I came across a statement by David Klein, PhD, editor of Living Nutrition Magazine (in 2008, now called “Vibrance”) in which he said, unequivocally:

“Avoid all salt – it’s a toxic, irritating, corrosive, stimulating, enervating and potentially deadly poison. Yes, even Celtic and Himalayan salts are destructive to your body and health – don’t be fooled by marketing hype! These inorganic substances may be trendy but they are not healthful. In addition to sodium chloride, they contain numerous toxic elements including heavy metals, such as aluminum, cadmium, lead and mercury. These wreak havoc in the body, and are very difficult to eliminate.”

This is only one practitioners’ opinion, but it is the first time I have seen such a strong, all-inclusive statement about salt. Every salt.

This really threw me for a loop, and I started to weigh the value of his opinion. That lead me to wonder how “natural” extra, dry, salt consumption is for humans, anyway.  Why did ancient humans incorporate eating salt into human behavior?  Was eating salt continued as a societal behavior rather than a physical need?

It is not the first time that there is a cause to re-examine some long-held belief right from the beginning! That’s where free-thinkers have to start. Humanity’s life is certainly a lot different for some of us on the planet today.

The Current State of My thoughts on Salt

___   This is only one practitioner’s experience, gained while helping his Crohn’s patients heal. Other practitioners modify the amount of added salt they suggest, but do not withdraw it completely. What’s different here? Well, Crohn’s patients have severe intestinal damage. Most would have been eating demonic “table salt” which would have  possibly created and evidently exacerbated their problems. Klein argues salt inflames; if so, we don’t need a further-inflammed pancreas – or was salt an original ’cause’ (contributing factor)? I don’t know if anyone is researching that tack. I haven’t read so. But salts are usually either neutral or alkaline pH.

To heal, Klein’s protocol is a completely raw food diet, using a wide variety of plants (which takes a lot of committment by most people) and it truly does provide all the organic salts a human would need, gained gently, from the plants themselves.

Most people don’t eat enough fresh food to accomplish getting the vitamins and minerals and salts they need.  Their food is cooked and they are not eating enough fruits and vegetables at all. So, dry, whole-salt, for most of humanity, gives us the minerals we are not getting from fresh food — or at least that is the theory of practice.

But, Klein is right that dry salt has inorganic minerals, while those in just-picked plants have the organic salts, just as we need them. And, Klein would probably argue that if we continue to use too few fresh plants and use dry salt, we are rotting our intestines, too, whether we end up with Crohn’s before we die, or not. We will be compromising our digestive ability if we hurt our intestines, so we DO have to pay attention to this warning.

___ Other healers have successfully utilized Salt Solutions made from dry salts to heal OR they have utilized the Harmonics of salt in homeopathic Cell Salts. How can salt be “bad” when in others’ hands, it Heals?

So, I think the form of administration, type of salt, concentration of salt and frequency of use  all factor into whether whole-salt is an angel of Health or not.

___   My thinking is, at the moment in 2007-8, one of the reasons to eat mostly fresh fruits and vegetables is to get your organic salts in the proper form your body really needs. The plants do it all for you! Thank them. They are a Gift.
 
At times, when seasonally or for economic reasons you cannot afford lots of fresh food, then add whole-salt (Celtic, and sometimes Himalayan) judiciously and usually in solution – as soup or in spring water. A pinch or two a day is about right, unless you know you are chronically ill (due to being very acidic), in which case, discuss doing the water-cure, when you are talking to your physician about new healing options. Learn more at links below.

___ My mentor, Dr. Robert O. Young, PhD, does not exclude salt use. He is specific about the salts he recommends, and table salt is not among them!

___   Our ancestors lived in hot climates, and if we watch animals when they are stressed, they do take in salt. Normally this is an infrequent occurrence because they adhere faithfully to their Original Food, which would give them what they need. Only Humans and some other Primates “choose” and “search” for foods they “like”, and try “new” foods in the wild.

The only unusual knowledge I have heard, is that Amazonian parrots come to a specific clay deposit to eat the earth, periodically, to get salt. Again, it’s a hot climate, and Nature directs them, but it is an inorganic source, rather than getting organic salts from the fruit they usually eat.

___   As humans moved from such hot climes, salt may have taken on other societal roles, and indeed, it did become a standard of Wealth etc. and the diet of the common person, once Humans settled the land, about 10,000 years ago, was not Equal. Classes developed in societies – the Haves and HaveNots.

Among the lesser, then salt was definitely needed, especially in the still-warm climes, just for survival by retaining the very tissue fluids needed for Life, especially in groups where water was also not plentiful. The owners of Salt controlled the Masses and had the Power — and maybe that is the real reason it started being “needed”, as precription drug monopolies are today. In desert areas, lacking much water, salt was “revered”, too, whether in the Mid-East or America’s Southwest, etc.

___   In today’s world, we have choices, except for those in the 3rd. World countries, and maybe we should be using our bounty properly — eating much more fresh vegetables, and downgrading the use any added dry salt, as much as possible. It is worth avoiding rotting our intestines, if Klein is right to point the finger at any dry, inorganic salt as the culprit.

___   I still think that salt-in-solution is safe — after all, fish and other animals live in the ocean! Yes, sea water has every element known on the planet, so I am not automatically frightened by Klein’s mention of the toxic elements. Who is to say that these are not needed as trace elements? But, I think we are safer eating them organically than inorganically.

The seaweeds and fish have taken the inorganic salts from ocean water and vitalized them in a living-system into organic salts, just like we need. Why add the dry inorganic stuff — eat seaweed, fish and a wide variety of land-plants instead.

___   The Water Cure does Heal. And, we need to acknowledge the life’s work and science of others who say whole-seasalt is beneficial … see the following examples:

A Chicken’s Life Span: normally is 3 – 5 years
“The late French scientist, Dr. Alexis Carrel, kept a chicken heart alive for over 27 years by keeping the pulsating heart in a solution of sea salt (changed daily). Dr. Carrel voluntarily ended the experiment after a third of a century, having proven that living cells can have physical immortality. “Ye Are the Salt of the Earth”.

Professor C. Louis Kervran with his scientific research and formulas has been an asset to the scientific establishment and he was a candidate for the Nobel Prize. Professor Kervran links us to the secret of immortality and reveals its prime source is trace minerals from seawater remedies. Other physicians continued research and found fermentation of briny salt pickles, salted sour plums, and other salty fermentation as powerful and effective medicines.

Dr. Jacques de Langre, Ph.D., who wrote the book Seasalt’s Hidden Powers, states that naturally and properly sunshine-preserved sea salt is the difference between life and death, health and illness, social sanity and planetary panic and its elements are vital for proper body functions – that natural hand-harvested Celtic ocean salt alone helps to maintain life, neutralizes toxins and detrimental bacteria, and enhances all your organic function.

Sea salt contains 92 essential minerals and most all refined adulterated sea salts only contain 2 elements. Biologically, 24 of these elements in real sea salt have already been proven necessary and essential to maintain and recover health. See Scientific American, July 1972: “The Chemical Elements of Life,” by Earl Friden.”   http://www.stopcancer.com/000/025.htm

___   As real, whole-salt sea-salt is one of the most alkaline foods on Earth, my belief is that it is useful to us. Salts are usually pH neutral. Science sees whole-seasalt, as it functions in our body, as being alkaline, as it leaves alkaline residue. There’s too much acid food and acid-causing stress in our life to give-up an important alkaline Balancer.

In  Chinese Medicine’s view salt is Yang energy — more “concentrated” (“acid”), in action in our body — this view is non-judgemental, as life has to have both opposites and Balance them, so it is less critical which “side” they placed salt, energetically.

___ The beautiful ball you see in the photo above is a Himalayan Salt Lamp. These are used to tap and spread the salt crystal’s harmonic (which it picks up from the Earth’s Schumann Resonance energy), just as quartz crystals tap the frequency of radio energy, so we can “hear” radio energy.

“Fantasy, you see, is really about things that are not believed;
and the reality or unreality of those things has nothing to do with it.”
— Gene Wolfe

___   Has the Health benefit of dry salt been a fantasy?  Under the way I use it above, I don’t think so. Our body is bio-electrical and we absolutely must have the minerals whole-salt provides, but I now think  it is better to get them in organic food, from land and sea plants, as much as possible.

___   I also think that Salt became the original Power game, and therefore it’s real need and use, to the degree we’ve been brainwashed over the millenia, is possibly different than it might be naturally.

___   So, I will use whole-sea salt as a back-up. I am giving a link to Maine Sea Vegetables, a company whose products I have used for over 25 years, and they are a useful alternative. Do not overuse them — just a sprinkle here and there daily or every other day — as you want your thyroid working to optimum instead of the kelp helping too much. I have also used Mendecino Sea veg on occasion.

I also think it is necessary to eat a variety of land plants, as any one plant’s culture and uptake is only as good as the soil it is living in and its natural needs as a life-form. Sea vegetables are the only plants which have access to all the earth’s minerals. I am including a link to Fearn for the veggie salts I have used over the years, but I am not sure about the quality of the actual “salt” they use, so I have not used them a lot.

As minerals are critical to our enzyme system working, this is really important information for you to decide about, as without the appropriate minerals, your biochemistry will stop — not a good choice!

Hyland’s Bioplasma cell salts contain ALL the organic salts every cell in your body needs to function, so pay attention to these as another way to maintain Health. See the article just about Cell Salts in May 2008; https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/cell-salts-what-every-one-of-your-cells-needs-daily/

Any thoughts?

Best to all — Em

References:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2003/05/19/stories/2003051904660102.htm

http://www.indien-netzwerk.de/navigation/bildungwissenschaft/artikel/eng/salt-plant-eng.htm

http://www.hylands.com/cellsalts

http://www.phmiracleliving.com

http://www.seaveg.com/

http://www.seaweed.net/

http://livingnutrition.com/articles/salt.html 

http://www.watercure.com/

http://www.watercure2.org/

http://www.watercureinsider.com/

http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20010720.htm

http://www.celticseasalt.com/
http://www.celticseasalt.com/Seasalt_s_Hidden_Powers_P154C44.cfm

http://www.celticseasalt.com/Books__C44.cfm

http://www.modernfearn.com/index_files/page0001.htm

http://curezone.com/foods/watercure.asp

(c)2007 Em http://diabetesdietdialogue
Please respect my copyright. If you desire to quote from or use my article, please include the full copyright citation and web address. Thanks!

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