Holiday Weekend – A Great Diabetic Dessert!

When you are gathering with friends and family this week-end, here’s a frosty treat that everyone will enjoy, as we officially begin the Summer Season in the Northern Hemisphere … and, as long as you have a toasty fire going, there’s no reason you can’t use it in Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere either!

This is a great way for big flavor to carry along a small portion. You can be satisfied with “less” or celebrate with abandon. It’s about as healthy a dessert as we can make.

Just don’t use this after a meat meal, as dairy “coats” these animal proteins and makes them harder or impossible to digest properly. It is another reason for the prohibition in the Jewish dietary Kosher Laws, not to “mix” milk and meat.

I also do not recommend garnishing it with fruit, which should only be used as the appetizer course, 20 minutes before the rest of the meal, for the best digestion. So, I have garnished the dessert with chocolate.

 If you want, you can mix in a tablespoon or so of finely-ground organic coconut. This adds another flavor option, along with some fiber. You can whizz too-large grated coconut in the food processor to make it finer. Add a little coconut milk if you need to return to the proper consistency as before the coconut was added.

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 Em’s Cool Marsala Cheesecake

makes (4)  1/2-cup servings
Use a loaf pan OR pie pan OR ( 4) 1/2-cup ramekins OR mini muffin pan.

1/2 cup organic cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup mascarpone, ricotta or dry cottage cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon Marsala wine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or coconut extract
1/2 cup organic heavy cream

Garnish:
Bittersweet Chocolate curls

1.   Line your larger pan with a new sheet of parchment paper, or place paper baking cups if using muffin tins (individual servings in ramekins won’t need a liner).

2.   Beat the cream cheese and softer cheese with an electric mixer until it is fluffy.

3.   Add the liquids — agave nectar, Marsala, and extract. Beat just until combined.

4.   In a separate mixer bowl, whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Then, fold it into the cheese mixture.

5.   Spoon mixture into the prepared pans and freeze until firm (which is at least one hour, for the smaller diameter containers).

If this dessert was frozen for more than 2 hours, then remove it from freezer and allow to soften for about 10-15 minutes before serving.

6.   Just before serving, add bittersweet chocolate curls or chocolate sprinkles.

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If You Insist Cookie Crumb Crust

this recipe makes enough for a 9″ cheesecake or pie

I do not recommend using the crust, as it is just extra calories, carbohydrates and fat.

1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs (use organic gingersnaps or graham crackers)
1 stick organic butter

1.   Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.

2.   Melt the butter in a skillet; add the cookie crumbs and toss well.

3.   Cool to a safe temperature, then press the crumb mixture into the pie pan, on the bottom and up the sides. Lay in a piece of oiled aluminum foil, oiled side downward, and add about 6 small, metal pie weights or dry beans (about 1/2 inch thick layer) on top of the foil.

4.   Bake the pie crust for 8-10 minutes, until the crust is set. Gently and slowly remove the foil, while warm.

5.   Cool completely on a rack before adding filling.

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This is a low glycemic index dessert that satisfies with just a small portion size. As it has fat, it will help to slow the digestion of your meal to cushion it’s blood-sugar impact. Enjoy!

Best to all — Em

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

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Acid to Alkaline – The pH Path to Health

Dr. Robert O. Young, PhD, DSc, ND, formulator of the New Biology Theory of Health and Dis-ease, states: “Excess acidity is a condition that weakens all body systems.” How?

“Excess acidity forces the body to borrow minerals – including sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium -from vital organs and bones to buffer (neutralize) the acid and to safely remove it from the body. As a result, the body can suffer severe and prolonged ‘corrosion’ due to high acidity – a condition that may go undetected for years.”

Over-acidity affects virtually every person in Westernized society because of our dietary and lifestyle choices and ecological exposure – resulting in creating our own “internal environment where dis-ease can easily manifest, as opposed to a pH-balanced environment which allows for normal body functions – necessary for the body to resist dis-ease …”

If we have a healthy body, we will manage to maintain sufficient alkaline mineral reserves to meet emergency demands placed on us by stress and poor diet or lifestyle choices.

“However when excess acids must be continually neutralized, our alkaline reserves are depleted, leaving the body in a weakened, dis-ease-prone condition.” The pancreas is one of our body’s organs charged with the awesome responsiblilty to “alkalinize” us … can you start to see how our serious acidosis has overwhelmed our pancreas’ ability to operate effectively, that then results in a state called “diabetes”, a condition which can respond in a natural way toward Health as a result of the proper, needed changes, for all kinds of pre-diabetics and diabetics.

Amazingly and unfortunately, many health practitioners still believe that the body can some how miraculously cope on its own and that our body can still ‘naturally’ balance its pH. It’s not true, for most of us are NOT living in Nature and eating raw foods and herbs. Our self-created truth is so far beyond this ideal.

The Truth – according to Dr Lynda Frassetto, an acid – alkaline researcher from the University of California, is that “we have been forced to turn an evolutionary corner”.Our bodies are so overwhelmed with cellular acid-waste that “We simply do not handle acid waste the way we used to.”This is an awesome statement. What does this mean to you?

Her research, on 1,000 people, shows the huge volume of acid waste which our body is expected “to handle” has instead forced it to take ‘war’ style, drastic action to preserve its strategic mineral reserves – and wisely protect the abilities and cell safety of our kidneys and liver – our major essential detoxifying organs.

Frasetto found we are now ‘stock piling’ acid in fatty deposits rather than eliminating it via the kidneys and liver. This fat-cell enlargement is called “obesity”, but that term hides the real cause and the real source of distress and obscures the real road to Cure.

Increased tissue acid-deposits engender:

___ Obesity

___ Lowered immunity

___ Lack of energy (this may be the real source of “Chronic Fatigue” Syndrome)

___ Other acid-related “named” dis-eases including cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, clotting problems, athrosclerosis (hardening of arteries) and many, many more.

From many different disciplines, over centuries, astute and logical scientists and practitioners have made the latent tissue acidosis “connection” as the creator of dis-ease in our body’s internal Bio-Terrain.

People as diverse as Edgar Cayce, Dr. William Howard Hay, MD and modern researcher Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, ND, author of “Alkalinize or Die”, along with Dr. Robert O. Young, PhD, Dsc, ND are trying to alert us to what is actually killing us and causing untold needless suffering.

Simple changes in food choice and lifestyle can reap amazing rewards. I have watched Dr. Young and his wife Shelley Redmond Young grow healthier and healthier before my eyes, and just GLOW with Health — even as they age and take on the quixotic “stresses” of trying to inculcate such a huge change in biological thinking for the ordinary person to use to regain their Health.

According to renowned researcher, Sang Whang, author of “Reverse Aging”, “even if we eat the best of organic fruit and vegetables, 97% of our food still consists of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, which will still be reduced to acid waste” as the end product of our natural metabolic processes.

Sang Wang says that ‘it is not what we put into our bodies, it is what stays in our bodies as waste that creates our over-acidic condition and what causes us to age prematurely’.

Sang Whang also states regarding acid/alkaline balance, the only difference between ‘good’ food and ‘bad food’ is that ‘good’ food will have less acid waste residue after metabolism and therefore, be more acid neutralizing as a result. “Your pH balance depends on what is left after metabolism.”

Dr. Robert O. Young, Ph.D. in his book, “The pH Miracle” states: “Those willing to look again, and with clear eyes, will be rewarded with the secrets to permanent health. We can heal ourselves by changing the environment inside our bodies …”

Are you ready? Do you have to be broadsided by full-blown diabetes, cancer, heart disease and on and on before you will act in your own Health interest? Real Health can no longer be assumed or taken for granted, even if you were given a healthy beginning.

Our society’s habits, insistence on rote adulation of false health models and theory and surely, increasingly overwhelming stress, are literally eating us alive.

We have some very core changes to make. Dr. Young’s 3 books give guidelines and strategies.

First and foremost is simplify your life so you can de-stress and learn to laugh and relax.

Second, learn which foods build Health and which don’t. Some may surprise you!

Third, learn the importance of the correct waters we need to combat acidosis and the forms of healthy salt. Both alkaline water and specific salts must be ingested daily, in order for you to reach your goal of true Health by neutralizing the over-acidity in your body with potent alkalinizing foods and habits.

Learn why the wrong amount and type of exercise can really hurt you, biochemically.

Please start the Journey. If you are young, you may be able to run-the-gauntlet fairly quickly and regain then maintain your health.

If you already have a named “dis-ease” – any of the ones named above and hundreds more, then you need this process to start immediately. The amount of time you need to return to alkaline pH is totally individual, but you will start to see or feel some benefit a few months into the regimen. You have LOTS of acid to try to get rid of safely. Things can’t be rushed or you will likely have a Herxheimer “healing reaction”, which can be unpleasant, but usually is not threatening.

As you alkalinize, you will see any excess weight disappear of its own accord, as your body brings out the acids from the white fat cells, which have truly saved-your-life. And your brown fat cells, are the most potent cells to burn calories, if you have maintained enough of them to be metabolically significant. Bless your fat cells, steadfast little guardian soldiers that they are.

 Best to all — Em

References:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/fat-cell1.htm

http://calorielab.com/news/categories/susan-mcquillan/

http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com

http://www.holographichealth.com/html/who_we_are.html<font

To see more of my whole Archive of articles, use the Title Archive tab on the top navigation bar, and use the link at the base of the page, to access successive pages.

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

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

“Everyone knows someone who needs this information!” (TM)

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Mothers Are A Sisterhood Of The Soul.

There are 82 million mothers in the USA, and several billion worldwide. Yet, mothers are singularly special. Some of them are far from perfect, many are wonderful, and some are extraordinarily great. But, each, for at least a moment, felt the awesome responsibility of caring for the unborn, for bringing forth a totally dependent little being and for making the personal changes necessary to insure her child had health, safety and opportunity — the best she could provide.

I think the person who stated “Mother is a verb”, rather than a noun, had it correctly. Mothering is what counts; who mothers you is now often a very unconventional person or even a group of people, in today’s topsy-turvy world, for “it does take a Village to raise a child” and I do not know why Hillary Rodham Clinton was criticized for saying that, but it is entirely true, worldwide and always has been.

Usually it’s a village of mothers, as fathers are becoming less and less involved or always had been, traditionally, but there have always been great Dads (other men need to emulate them!).

 As we learn from Eastern Medicine, each of us embody the masculine and feminine “principles”, side by side, and each of us needs to help balance these faculties and emotions, for we need the blessings of both.

Generally, in the past, Western society has not tried to mesh these potent forces, and has “valued” masculine traits. This has led to powerful unhappiness – personally and societally. Women became society’s conscience out of necessity.

Mother’s Day began as a protest against the Civil War in America in the 1860s. Yes, it has been women fighting the lonely, un-glamorous issues, often when they did not have a voice in the public-workings of society. How could THAT ever be! What’s worse, it still is true, for much of the developing world.

I believe that female values are starting to swing the tide, fueled by the revolution, and it was a revolution, which happened in the Western countries in the 1970s.

Now the real “power” behind the patriarchal throne is quietly being born, itself, into the larger society. More women than men are graduating from universities in America. Women are excelling, where the majority of men are just making “average”. The society and workforce will finally have to become truly equitable — not the shameful, for-no-reason at least 25% lower wages for women that still seems to be happening across the board.

Science is constantly showing that the female body excels over males, at just about every measure except physical strength and some spatial faculties. But even that is challenged by individual women, just as individual men embody special sensitivities to nurture.

Science is also showing that at least 97% of all women are actually genetic “sisters”. So, women are all truly “family”. (You can learn more about it, if you study “mitochondrial DNA”). Our Sisterhood is truly a potent bond, if we recognize and act on it. Males do not have a similar genetic connection, as a group.

The Sisterhood is gradually taking the reins of political power. Sometimes, they don’t succeed, but they are trying to — Andrea Merkel succeeded in Germany recently, but Marie-Ségolène Royal in France did not, this time. Britain’s Margaret Thatcher was formidable in the 1980s, Golda Meier in Israel in the 50’s and America has yet to trust a woman at the helm. How absurd.

Yes, what a disconnect. The person most responsible for who you are is somehow incapable of running the country?!

Well, things are changing anyway. Your health is now more-often in the hands of women than men, as more men were in medicine for the money and prestige than to be of-service. I think this will begin to help America become healthier, over time.

The women who run medium size corporations have done well and in a more humane way have led their businesses into the realm of being more responsible. They will be standard-bearers as women reach for placement in decision-making positions in the global corporations, and hopefully, through them, we will begin to see ecological and social responsibility arise or increase.

Women just teach different lessons, and if the outer-world now begins to “match” what was inculcated in you as a child, at home, then fairness will be more the rule and bad behavior will not be tolerated, but will be patiently re-directed, usually successfully.

When society continues the lessons Mother’s teach, we will have a better world.

I Paraphrase the poet Nordette Adams, at blogher.org:

‘We do grab at the love swelling in Mother’s hands,
Which hold our warm, curling fingers.
And whose own palms are
lined first, faintly, with life’s unprobed paths, then
later branded by a tangle of choices made putting us first.
She puts us first like the God who calls us children.’

So, in the spirit of a Mother’s Love:

___ I ask us to respect one another, as your mother most-likely taught you to. And, to allow for, and appreciate, individual “differences”.

___ I ask us to remember the Love she openly shared, even if it was by the hard-choice to let “another” raise you.

___ I ask you to love unconditionally, when you love.

___ I ask you to become the best you can be, in all facets of your life.

___ I ask you to be truthful to yourself and with others.

___ I ask you to be responsible for yourself and for your actions.

___ I ask you to be patient and tolerant.

___ I ask you to think of others beyond yourself.

___ I ask you to act with kindness, knowledge and with courage.

___ I ask you to nourish and take care of your body and respect it, and those of others.

These are just some of the Life Lessons which Mothers know we must have in our quiver if we are just to survive, and we certainly need them to thrive.

As a mother, I try to teach them, to each successive generation — I am part of the Sisterhood, and it does take a Village to raise a child!

The quality with which we use these Lessons determines if we will excel, and if we do excel at the positive road-map she gave us, we can make a better world.

To all the Mothers, I send a big hug, and my admiration and Gratitude.

Best to all — Em

PS
The photo is my own Mum, Muriel, who is a loving, proud and vital 84 years old. I couldn’t have asked for a better mother. I honor her here, and thank her for helping me be who I am.

We’re doing something special together today. I hope you can still be with your mother, or do spend time thinking about the good she did for you.

References:

Woman’s World Magazine, May 15, 2007 edition

http://blogher.org/node/19383

http://blogher.org/node/19065
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/fashion/10granny.html?em&ex=1179028800&en=9b416874774be811&ei=5087%0A

http://www.pbs.org/parents/special/mothersday.html?campaign=pbshomefeatures_5_pbsparentsmothersday_2007-05-11

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

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Diabetics Have Birthdays, Too. How Do You Celebrate?

You can make a wonderful, naturally-sweet birthday cake for a diabetic or for anyone seeking a healthier lifestyle or wanting to lose weight. There is no need for any artificial sweetener!

I’ve got cakes on my mind as it’s the beginning of my birthday tomorrow. As I was born in the Southern Hemisphere, I celebrate at the “real” time there and continue into the date as it rolls around to where I live in America. Yes, I grab all the “happy time” that I can. No apologies!

Cakes have been the traditional way to celebrate, but did you realize that for most of human history, cakes were only for the Rich-and-Famous e.g. only Egyptian Pharaohs, Roman Emperors and other royalty had their birthdays celebrated with cakes?

Roman cakes were simple honey, grain and wine concoctions, cooked on a griddle. It was only in the 1300s that cakes began to change and by the 1700s, just about all the ingredients we now use had been gathered from all over the world, fueled by colonialism’s domination, slavery and thereby cheaper products. Now most people could have cake once in a while, at least.

And, once Gutenberg invented the printing press, cook-books appeared for the common people, instead of just the wealthy, and more people learned to read.  That led to revolution after revolution, as we all know. “Cake” is powerful stuff – eh?

Of course, the main adaptation for a healthier cake is to get rid of ‘the white poison’ — sugar — or corn syrup. These have high glycemic impact on your blood sugar.

Agave is the adaptation of choice, as it cooks well, with slight modification of regular recipes. I give hints below.

Make sure you only get an agave syrup which you read has been tested for being low-glycemic. The brands listed below say they have been.

So, here’s my recipe for a Happy Birthday cake. Have fun!

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EM’S AGAVE SYRUP TROPICAL SUNRISE BIRTHDAY CAKE

Makes (3)  8-inch layers or a 9″x13″ pan

Wet Ingredients

3/4 C    pecans or sliced almonds
1 1/2 C    peeled, grated carrots (3 or 4 large carrots) or ½ lg sweet potato, peeled and grated or combo
3/4 C    chopped or crushed, unsweetened pineapple, fresh (or canned in it’s own juice type)
3/4 C    white raisins or sultanas or currants or chopped organic dates
3/4 C    organic butter, softened
2/3C – 3/4 C    agave nectar
2              Free-range, Omega-3, organic eggs
1 1/2 t    natural vanilla extract (e.g. Cook’s)

Dry Ingredients
1 C    spelt flour (or use wheat, if you must)
½ C      coconut “flour” (whizz unsweetened, organic coconut in a food-processor or blender)
1 1/2 t  cinnamon
3/4 t     nutmeg
1 1/2 t baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line the bottoms of the cake pans with cooking-sprayed parchment paper.

Chop the nuts coarsely with a knife or in a food processor.

Peel and grate the carrots or sweet potato to a medium grate.

Prepare the pineapple (reserve the juice for another use, if you use canned).

Combine the chopped nuts, grated vegetables, pineapple, and dry fruit, and set aside.

Sift all of the dry ingredients together in a large, separate bowl.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and agave nectar together until well blended. Then, add the eggs one at a time, incorporating the first egg before adding the second.

On the lowest speed, stir in the dry ingredients – about 1/4 of the mixture at a time.

Fold the carrot / sweet potato mixture in by hand with a spatula.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, depending on pan size. The cake is done when it bounces back when touched lightly in the center OR when a wooden toothpick or bamboo skewer is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out dry and clean or has only a few dry crumbs clinging to it.

Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. Make sure it is completely cool before frosting with a cream cheese or ricotta cheese frosting sweetened with agave — about 1/3 C agave to ½ C of cheese — smoothed in blender.

Cut the cake into 16 pieces and a serving is one piece.

When cooking with agave, reduce the temperature 25 degrees until you know if you can cook it at regular temperature. Reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 – 1/3 cup.

When making either cakes or cookies, first mix the agave with the fat or the liquid. Then mix it thoroughly with the other ingredients. If this is not done, a soggy layer will form on the top of the baked product.

At Volcanic Nectar, they say:
Cakes: One-half of the sugar in a cake recipe can be replaced with agave.

Cookies: The amount of sugar that can be replaced with agave varies with the kind of cookie being made. For brownies, half of the agave can be replaced. For fruit bars, agave can replace two-thirds of the sugar called for in the recipe. Only one-third of the sugar can be replaced in gingersnaps.
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Best to all — Em

PS:

“One thing I wanted to mention about Agave syrup is that there is some question as to the purity of most of the syrups sold in this country. Agave is mainly produced in South America, where labelling standards are not as they are in the U.S., and often pure agave syrup is cut with things like corn syrup and other additives, and then sold to U.S. distributors as “pure” agave. Personally, I try to avoid corn syrup, so that’s a problem for me. Just thought I’d throw that out there for anyone else who might have an issue with it, too.

I had heard this mentioned on another thread and it freaked me out because I use Agave a lot. (Use it in my tea mostly.) So, I e-mailed the company I get my Agave from, Madhava. Here’s what he had to say:

Thanks for the opportunity to respond to persistant rumors concerning agave nectar adulteration with corn syrup.

I can assure you that Madhava Agave Nectar is 100% Pure, no additives of any kind. Every production batch is analyzed and a Quality Certificate issued.

As for rumors which have circulated, I am sure that they stem from events a number of years ago. There are currently only two producers of agave nectar in Mexico. While our producer of agave was the second to go into production and has been in operation for four years, there were events after agave’s original introduction to the US market in the late 90’s that raised suspicions. In 2000, there was a severe shortage of blue agave. This occured just after agave nectar from blue agave was introduced. There were suspicions at that time that the agave being sold was adulterated with corn syrup, as a result of the blue agave shortage. So, this was the origin of the adulteration suspicions. I was not in the market at the time and have no direct information as to the truth here.

But, I have been selling agave since 2002 and it is a wonderful product.

While that same original producer of blue agave nectar is still selling to the US market, our producer is independent of them and in fact even our source of agave nectar is different, as agave salmiana is the variety our agave nectar comes from. I feel salmiana as a source has several advantages over that from blue agave.

So, I hope that gives you an idea about why there have been rumors about agave nectar and I also hope it puts your mind at ease concerning our product.

I would be glad to discuss agave nectar with any interested parties and I can be contacted by email or phone at 800-530-2900.

Thanks and best regards,
Craig Gerbore”
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/archive/index.php/t-548059.html

References:

www.madhavahoney.com

www.volcanicnectar.com

www.blueagavenectar.com

http://www.chowdc.org/Papers/Cherkasky2000.html

http://www.mercola.com/2004/dec/4/sugar_free_birthday.htm

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

www.dld123.com/sweetsavvy/sweeteners/summary.php?id=Agave%20Nectar

http://www.volcanicnectar.com/textfiles/HealthMagazineApril2006.pdf

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105843

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

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

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Can We Combat and Reformulate Global Capitalism? Why Try?

 

Is this a strange topic for diabetics? Absolutely not! Here’s why.

Robert Jensen, journalism professor at the University of Texas, Austin states the argument succinctly at:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17634.htm

Big-Medicine and Big-Pharma (drug industry cartel) are pre-eminent in maintaining Global Capitalism, at all costs, including human lives and people’s well-being. Other corporate sectors, like Banking, are mightily involved, too. The corporate executives may or may not be privy, but the Boards of Directors have to ‘know the real score’, at least at some level.

Power, money, greed and profit are the way The Game of Life is being played by the most-influential  “haves” today, in an even more unprecedented, audacious mode than ever before, especially since the early 1980s.

Why do you think the stock exchange reports appear in every semi-important newspaper throughout the world, and did so long before the Internet? They want instant news to make instant or constantly-calculating decisions which affect ALL of us for months or years to come.

Global Wealth is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands than any other time in world history  — the Power of the Powerful is growing and economic subjugation is here (this is the face of Modern Slavery).

What has this corporate Power Game resulted in for most of Humanity (for both the “haves” and “have-nots”)?

___   A polluted and raped planet.

___   Abject poverty for more than half of the world’s population. For example, 500 children in Africa die every hour from preventable causes. Who’s helping? Anyone care? I think the not-politically-organized, “average” person does, but not the already-organized Powerful , who could change this.

___   Production of mostly worthless, cheap, not-needed, impulse-bought “goods” which we must then sell-our-souls to have a thankless, unfullfilling corporate job to pay for — which takes away precious year after year of our lives.

___   The death of Democracy, as We The People are not being listened to or thought about, in the rush to get corporate dollars for re-election and the re-elected official returns the corporate “campaign contribution” investment by access to legislators or with biased legislation and treaties favoring the corporation. Cheap investment on the corporation’s part for such access to power. Push for Campaign Reform! Make your government “accountable” to you!

___   Stress over personal finances which eats up your Health.

___   Poor financial choices spurred by wanting “everything everyone else has” or feeling “entitled” to having it. This results in not buying healthy enough food because cheap food fills our belly and damn the consequences when the rest of the money is going to buy a little, transient “happiness”. Get the picture?

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can reformulate world-wide co-operation into a form of Positive Globalism, rather than what the corporate interest agenda has wreked on all of us. For this plan, we need fair, courageous government AND informed citizenry!

Have you been caught in Negative Globalism’s trap — without thinking about your actions and their consequences — because that’s the way everyone you know lives their lives and ‘gets ahead’?

Wake up.

If every person starts thinking and makes new choices, we can change this world — and make a more equitable, co-operative one instead. Why not try?

___ The first step is to stop accruing debt and put yourself on a strict money-diet to get out of debt. This requires you to prioritize the money you will have left to spend, and I sincerely hope that Health is at or near the top of your list.

If you have your Health, you truly do have everything. With Health, all other parts of your Life are fully possible and actionable. Without Health, you are at-risk in many, many ways.

In an increasingly volatile world, this is a last-ditch effort by the massive base of Humankind to change the direction of our planetary existence.  Be part of it.

___ To institute a more Positive Globalism, which respects Local interests and sovereignty, we need every person to think and make new choices. And, like Professor Jensen suggests and shows, have a 5 minute “conversation” ready to be able to open-others’-eyes and hopefully they will act.

___ Stop using your credit cards. Live on what you earn. Oprah has also had many programs showing the deep subjugation that credit card debt brings. In one of her examples, paying minimum balances (like most people do), she showed the debt would never be paid off!

We have been lambs-to-the-slaughter and Banks are not your friend. Why else would there be such paultry returns for savings and massive interest on debt, especially “too-convenient to use” credit card debt? The Banks are “into” Globalism’s Interests big-time.

___ If you expect to have your Government be able to help you, as a diabetic, at any point in your life, be aware that all this fiscal mis-management affects governments, too, as well as their ability to survive. China is America’s biggest creditor. If they call in their loans to us, where do you think we will be? We are being reigned-in by a rogue global power we helped create by imprudent purchase of cheap goods and whose oversight is non-existent. For example (this goes way beyond the “usual” intellectual property piracy issue ) read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/world/americas/06poison.html?hp

___ Buy locally made goods. Support your nation’s businesses and provide jobs for your own nation’s citizens, first. 

___ We also have to take care of our own personal financial security in a savvy way. So, vote with your money-purchases and give them only to worthy businesses who honor the Earth and act in Humanity’s interest. There are such corporations. Learn about them.

___ Also, learn Frugality. Learn Voluntary Simplicity. Join others who have made these choices for quality of Life and for Fairness.

And, when you are out of debt, make sure you use your money in more constructive ways. Think about what those priorities are.

___ Teach your children, at any age, a new paradigm about money; learn from Neale Godfrey, pioneering female banker, who is seen on Oprah and who wrote the seminal book for changing a family’s financial view, “Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees” and “Money Still Doesn’t Grow On Trees: A Parent’s Guide To Raising Financially Responsible Teens and Young Adults”.

___ Also, I sincerely suggest that you stop living Life day to day. You get to be 60, 70, 80, 90 years old and nothing has been done — it’s all been “waiting ’til I can …” “tomorrow …” “I’m too tired; it can wait …”. Begin by planning to start a business of your own,  full or part-time. It is imperative to be as financially independent as you can be. Everyone should have a business and put the “extra” away for further growth or for emergencies.

___ Start saving – no matter how “little” you earn. I’ve included the work and websites with the knowledge of the late Wall Street whiz-kid, Joe Dominguez, and his partner Vicki Robin; I have known about their work since the 1980s. They have helped thousands of even impoverished people get self-sufficiency.

Learn more, please, then act, dear reader. I wish you well on your most-important Journey.

Best to all — Em

References:

 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17634.htm

 http://www.yourmoneyoryourlife.org/

http://www.newroadmap.org/default.asp

http://www.simplicityforum.org/

http://www.simplicityforum.org/resources.html

http://www.nwei.org/NWEI/Home.html

http://www.sharesavespend.com/

http://veracity.univpubs.american.edu/magazine/magazine/fall06/fall06_dollarsandsense.html

http://www.resourcesforlife.com/groups/smallhousesociety/

http://www.timeday.org/

http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/11/saul.html

http://evatt.labor.net.au/news/350.html

http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2005/08/04.html

http://www.iits.dircon.co.uk/newalliance/ageinsec.htm

http://www.ilstu.edu/~mbstege/research.htm

http://globalism.rmit.edu.au/about/about_us.html

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

If you are interested in using or quoting from my article, please include the full copyright citation and my website address. Thanks!

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Time For A Food Fight! With Imported Foods’ Dangers, Have We Been “Hung Out To Dry”?

 

Is this the first exposure to poisonous adulteration of animal and human food by cheap, dangerous additives or processing from China? Somehow, I think not!

Are you worried? You should be. The problem goes way beyond this event, and affects other countries’ lack of safety oversight, too.

The additive from China killing pets is now into the American human food supply via hogs and chickens. Time to do what should have been done decades ago — stop importing food from other countries, unless they can pass the strictest testing standards (and most European and Australia- New Zealand products can). They must also be a country which allows transparent oversight (which China will not) and is open to stricter guidelines for export to the USA. At least in the beginning of the current pet-food crisis, the Chinese refused to let the FDA come to inspect the food plant, even after the crisis surfaced. Is that OK?

And, on a definitely human-safety issue, please read about the Chinese Government’s lack of oversight on the adulterated manufacture and also piracy of prescription drug formulas being sold around the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/world/americas/06poison.html?hp

We do not need other countries to produce our food or our medicine!We should remember that we are capable of producing all the foods, with plenty of variety and choice, that our citizens need.

With all biomes and climes available to us, there’s little we can’t grow, especially when government “subsidies” get out of the picture and our farmers can grow fresh vegetables instead of the abusive excess of cotton, wheat, soy and corn we don’t need, but which ties up our acreage. We don’t need to buy broccoli from China or papayas from South America or Asia etc. or have our wheat sold back to us as processed wheat gluten from China (at a huge mark-up)!

We do need to support the family farm and discourage more acreage being sold to “agri-business” corporations, with corporate profit-at-any-cost mentality and patent disregard for the environment. (Multiply that in China a thousand-fold over US suppliers’ bad behavior.) See my previous article about helping family farms and ourselves at “Get Fresh With a Young Farmer!” in this blog’s Title Archive tab at the top of the page.

I have just been reading the perceptive, common-sense ideas for solutions from the public on a blog at the New York Times, and I would encourage you to read them too at:

http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/safeguarding-food-from-overseas/#comments

Really let the world know what you think, and post your comment here. We need to discuss this furiously and get solutions in place in America, NOW!

One of the NYT readers had already written a letter to favorite stores saying to stop buying fresh produce in China (in this case, broccoli). Another said every food label and fresh food should be marked with country of origin for ingredients (Whole Foods and some other good health stores already do this for fresh produce — that’s how I know what to buy and what not to buy, but the lack of information about origin on labels needs reforming).

Start waging war with your pen! You can do that, can’t you? Start an email campaign to your friends, if nothing else, and do more when you can to write legislators — state and federal — and support consumer groups like Science in the Public Interest.

We don’t “need” to buy fresh vegetables from China. It is just UNBELIEVABLE.

All of this is a tangled web that we need to unravel fast and get our food sovereignty back! Producing our own well-managed, well-inspected American food is not just a Health issue, but it is also a national security issue. What will be “slipped into ” our food overseas next time?

NO! I am not being paranoid. There’s enough of a track-record surfacing over many years, especially about Chinese goods (even Chinese made prescription drugs — they killed 88 children in Haiti, 365 people in Panama and on and on for thousands of deaths)(used medical gauze being put into silk comforters etc. — so it’s not just food items that there are problems with in China — apart from any worker abuse issues, too). Three of the last four fake medicine scourges originated in China, says the New York Times article linked above. And NYT states ” … And the deaths, if not intentional, are often no accident.” Other countries have bad track-records as well.

For about 40 years, I have been aware and ashamed that American companies would ship their “banned” for use in America insectides, fumigants etc, to “other” countries (especially in the Americas and Asia), so I had already severely limited my family’s access to these probably-tainted, overseas food sources, already.

However, last August, while I was by myself, I wanted quick “healthy” meals, so I broke my rule and purchased some frozen fish, processed in China. I will never do that again, after reading the comments on the NYT blog from Chinese-Americans with relatives in Hong Kong, and Americans living and working in China now. It was a real eye-opener, even for someone who follows these “issues”.

If I have any of that fish left, shamefully I am throwing it out. I hate to waste food — but it is the only way I can protect my family. At the time, I was upset that American companies were using Chinese processors, but now my anger reaches much further.

The American food processors need to have a severe fine structure imposed by the US government, if they do not do the research in food technology and assay any materials for purity, if purchased overseas. And, the processors should be exposed to potential litigation from any infringements which result in illness or deaths. This is if you want to eat “processed” food, anyway.

The safest route out of this mess — best for you and the planet — is to eat fresh, real food which is locally grown. Period. And, learn to cook!

Even for a busy family, there’s always time to cook. It is just a matter of “how”.

___   Use crockpots for mostly hands-off cooking. I use Rival computerized ones.

___   Use steaming and stir-fry which will be healthier and faster than getting take-out and you’ll know exactly what is in your food! I use Sunbeam steamers and Maxim electrical woks on medium temperatures and a real carbon steel wok for real  stir-fry results.

___   Make soups. All the nutrition stays right in the pot, and they can be eaten in any season — hot or cold, cooked or raw (like Gazpacho or fruit soups). I use my large Revere Ware stainless steel stockpots or my crockpots.

___   Eat lots of salads and make your own dressings (it’s really fast and easy and beats a $3 – $4 bottle of indescribable additives). (I have a just-the-right-size, keep in the bottle, Black and Decker Gizmo electrical gadget for whirling home-made dressings.)

Learn more about eating a raw vegetarian diet for a larger percentage of your meals. It really helps diabetes.

___   Learn to pre-cook basic ingredients and freeze for instant prep — chop batches of onions, grate cheese and package these in usable batches, pre-cook ground meats or cook and slice meat for later additions to recipes.

___   Learn to cook once or twice a month. This requires learning a technique that is very easy and it is possible to make a month’s worth of main meals over about 4 days of shopping and kitchen prep. Get the ingredients shopped for and sorted and use the 2 week-end days to cook. My kids do this all the time, with 2 kids in the house and 2 full-time jobs. So, I do know this works.

___   Note, you will not see “Microwave” listed as an option on my lists. There are many safety reasons for that. I won’t discuss them this time.

___   You can learn to use a pressure cooker, too. My father was doing this 50 – 60 years ago, after he and my Mum would pick us up from school, when they had their own business, and we had a timely, excellent, home-cooked meal every night. (He was a great cook.) Cooking should be a family effort. It goes much faster that way.

I own 4 pressure cookers: 1 giant, wonderful Mirro aluminum one (it’s the only aluminum “pot” I own, but I don’t do such large batch-cooking often, and more to the point it has an extremely safe, fool-proof pressure gauge. The others I have are Presto stainless steel ones, which use a different pressure gauge mechanism. There’s a link for a beautiful Swiss option — which I may take a closer look at, as it may meet my empty-nest options better, now.

___   For those into more pre-cooking which saves lots of time later — consider blanching and freezing vegetables etc. or using an automatic dehydrating machine (learn the safety techniques) or Vacuum-packing system (same caveat). Dehydrating food is also a useful civil-defense action for emergencies – weather or societal. I have an Excalibur vacuum system (it seems not to be being made now, but they make excellent dehydrators, too) and a FoodSaver (R) system, and a Harvest Maid dehydrator (with a tower of extra trays and sheets — they’ve been bought by an Aussie company now, but may still be on the US market).

If you don’t act, you’ll get what you deserve. All we can do is try to change the system, and if enough of us get onboard, and persist, we may just manage some Progress this time — for the lasting benefit for all of us and future generations. It’s a worthy goal. Start now.

Best to all — Em

References:

http://www.foodrevolution.org/bio.htm

http://earthsave.org/

Episodes 23 and 34, especially on the podcast at:

http://rawveganradio.podomatic.com/

http://members.aol.com/oamcloop/

 http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20000131a.asp

http://www.realfood4realpeople.com/oamc.html

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/work_at_home_parents/7645

http://www.kuhnrikon.com/products/pressure_cookers/index.html

http://homecooking.about.com/od/appliancecookery/a/choosepressure.htm

http://www.gopresto.com/

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

http://www.cabelas.com/ssubcat-1/cat602108.shtml

http://www.hillmark.com.au/products/tips_and_faqs/ezidri_tips_and_faqs

http://www.blackanddeckerappliances.com/product-238.html

http://www.sunbeam.com.au/products/product.cfm?sec_id=9

http://www.esalton.com/control/product/~category_id=C20014/~product_id=EW70A

http://www.crockpot.com/

http://www.revereware.com/

http://www.cspinet.org/

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

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