Seeking Wholeness

I just wanted to write a quick post and say “Baking Soda, What a Precious Salt!”  Baking soda can be used for so many things, from cooking to deodorizing,  it makes a good tooth paste, has anti fungal effects and can be used to wash hair and quickly eliminate dandruff. What a useful precious salt!

Do you use baking soda for things other than cooking?

Below you will see what wikipedia says about backing soda. Retrieved 10/27/2009 10PM CST.

Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO₃. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs. The natural mineral form is known as nahcolite. It is also produced artificially.

Since it has long been known and is widely used, the salt has many related names such as baking soda, bread soda, cooking soda, bicarbonate of soda. Colloquially, its name is shortened to sodium bicarb, bicarb soda, or simply bicarb. The word saleratus, from Latin sal æratus meaning “aerated salt“, was widely used in the 19th century for both sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate. The term has now fallen out of common usage.

Cooking

Sodium bicarbonate is primarily used in cooking (baking) where it reacts with other components to release carbon dioxide, that helps dough “rise”. The acidic compounds that induce this reaction include phosphates, cream of tartar, lemon juice, yogurt, buttermilk, cocoa, vinegar, etc. Sodium bicarbonate can be substituted for baking powder provided sufficient acid reagent is also added to the recipe.^[3] Many forms of baking powder contain sodium bicarbonate combined with one or more acidic phosphates (especially good) or cream of tartar. Can also be used for softening peas (⅛ tsp. per pint of water and bring to boil for one hour)

Thermal decomposition causes sodium bicarbonate alone to act as a raising agent by releasing carbon dioxide at baking temperatures. The mixture for cakes using this method can be allowed to stand before baking without any premature release of carbon dioxide.

Neutralization of acids and bases

Many laboratories keep a bottle of sodium bicarbonate powder within easy reach, because sodium bicarbonate is amphoteric, reacting with acids and bases. Furthermore, as it is relatively innocuous in most situations, there is no harm in using excess sodium bicarbonate. Lastly, sodium bicarbonate powder may be used to smother a small fire. ^[4]

A wide variety of applications follows from its neutralization properties, including ameliorating the effects of white phosphorus in incendiary bullets from spreading inside an afflicted soldier’s wounds.^[5] Sodium bicarbonate can be added as a simple solution for raising the pH balance of water (increasing total alkalinity) where high levels of chlorine (2-5 ppm) are present as in swimming pools and aquariums.^[6] Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

I was fortunate enough to have grown up eating home made wholesome meals that my grandmother cooked. I have, however, had my share of fast food.

I ate burgers from every fast food chain that I can think of, not to mention the french fries, smoothies, hot dogs, fish or chicken sandwiches, tacos, just name a (pre-2007) fast food and I probably have eaten it.

After moving out of my college dorm, I lived on cheap hamburgers and other fast food diets for a couple months. I clearly noticed how my health declined, how I gained weight and had cravings often. I got sick, so I purchased the college meal plan. I didn’t get that plan because I was a smart kid, as I just said I did get sick. I give total credit to my doctor who advised me to eat at the cafeteria for a while until my health improved, so I did. I loved that decision; going to the campus cafeteria was often a relaxing and nutritional daily venture. I kept eating there until I graduated.

Had I seen this picture and had I known what I know now about fast food, I would have likely purchased that meal plan right away, without getting sick, without the doctor having to suggest it.

I am not comparing McDonalds to BurgerKing or DQ or …anything else. I put them all in the same bucket. Well, just imagine a KFC family meal bucket, close your eyes and reach in, grab the first greasy thing you touch, whatever you get, you would have gotten that same from any other fast food joint. I mean, you get bad food. Now that we established that ‘all’ fast food is the same, i.e. ‘bad for you’, you will love this one:

This lady has saved a McDonald’s hamburger from the year 1996. The 1996 McDonald’s hamburger is on the left side of the picture. A 2008 McDonald’s hamburger is on the right side. Do you notice anything strange about the picture? If you said that the 1996 burger looks quite preserved to be 12 years old at the time the picture was taken, then you win — sorry, no-prize!

If you eat home made food, or even restaurant food, you know that if you don’t eat something eventually it goes bad. We are all familiar with mold in all its colors and varieties. Then, how come this burger doesn’t go bad? Isn’t food supposed to go bad?

Had this food been natural, or nutritional, you’d expect to see so much mold, in fact we’d have a bona fide eco-system thriving on that burger.

I teach a workshop titled Healthy Choices for Children. It’s a class for parents seeking solutions to how to improve the way they eat. It’s about the alternative food market, organics, and the top ten food additives to avoid and why, menu planning and more. It’s a 3 session fabulously informative interactive class.

Below is my absolutely favorite prop.

People are always astounded when I share this.

I have used this as show and tell for a very long time.

Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

Again, we the people have spoken.

A recent CBS/ New York Times poll found that 72 percent of Americans (50 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats) support a government-sponsored health care plan to compete with private insurers.

A clear majority of Americans — 72 percent — support a government-sponsored health care plan to compete with private insurers, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. Most also think the government would do a better job than private industry at keeping down costs and believe that the government should guarantee health care for all Americans.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/19/opinion/polls/main5098517.shtml

Share & Bookmark to:

I had a discussion with a coworker about water, he said that distilled water will suck out minerals out of my body.  I find myself  unsure if the idea that “distilled water leeches minerals from the body” is truth or myth.  A friend of mine who had Fibromyalgia said her doctor thought her condition was due to drinking distilled water.

One has to be cautious here because money is involved, companies selling distillers may have a different story than companies that sell you water filters.. In the midst of product-selling and marketing wars the truth becomes elusive to consumers.

Even doctors that talk about the topic seem to have a monetary connection to a product, so I cannot trust their talking points either.

A CALL TO DOCTORS: IF any doctor is reading this article, please let me know what your professional opinion on distilled water leeching minerals from the body is. Thanks

I went online looking for an answer and found conflicting views, some say distilled water is good others say it depletes your body from minerals.

Here are some of the views I found:

Yes. You an drink safely distilled water. It is good for health. You must know that basically water is taken from tube wells, which is treated and distilled and the good and potable water is separated, which is good for drinking.

You actually should drink mineral water or safe Tap water as it contains calcium, magnesium, sodium and other trace minerals including flouride which are beneficial to your health.

Distilled water will not do any harm but you may need to supplement your diet with the minerals you are loosing (these minerals are added to tap water to ensure we get enough). The health risks are not severe in the short term but i should imagine, over a number of years may lead to illness if you never eat or drink anything which contains them.

Distilled water is not good for our health , as all the minerals are missing in ditilled water, it doen’t have anything accept H2O…..
On the Contrary, minreal water is purify and it has the basic minerals, which are neede by our body

distilled water is ” ordinary ” water put through a process of boiling and steam collection ( distillation ) and gets impurities out and some chemical elements.

It is WATER….It will NOT suck minerals out of your system…Water does not need any assistance to hydrate your body.
If anyone tells you that distilled water is bad for you they are Yanking your chain or just plain being mean and lying to you.

2. I heard that distilled water is leeches minerals from the body, is this true?

It is unsure where this myth came from, but it is not based upon any scientific fact and is literally a lie.  It is presumed that it was a rumour started by an individual or company with vested interests (possibly a manufacturer of an alternative filter or purifier).

Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

Here we go again with another food recall. On Tue Mar 31, 2009 a California pistachio processor issued a nationwide voluntary recall due to potential salmonella contamination.

Thus far, several illnesses have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios, the FDA said.

The pistachios are roasted and tested for quality, it is believed the cross-contamination occurred at the processing / packaging plan.

The FDA is advising consumers avoid all pistachio products

The last food recall due to salmonella contamination outbreak was with peanuts and peanut butter that has sickened more than 690 people in 46 states. The company in the news then was Peanut Corp. of America, the company behind the current outbreak is Setton.

Both Setton and Peanut Corp. of America are bulk provider of nuts to food manufacturers and wholesalers. That means that the contaminated pistachios could have ended up in a variety of processed foods, including ice cream, cookies, candies and trail mix.

I try to purchase and consume (i.e support) organic and small farm products when I can, I do not support large scale commercial factory farming and food processing.

When are we going to learn than small farms and smaller food manufacturers will provide better quality and be more socially and environmentally friendly?

News articles:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103267

http://cancer.about.com/b/2009/04/01/fda-issues-pistachio-warning.htm

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFoodDistribution%20&%20Convenience%20Stores/idUSN3139386420090331

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1238034318314750.xml&coll=7

Share & Bookmark to:

I am a guy that loves soup, I have soup when I’m cold, when I’m sick, when I have a migraine, at restaurants, for dinner, over lunch, etc… I have been migraine free for more than a week now, and a couple days ago I ate soup. Within an hour of eating it I had a headache. Luckily, the headache did not develop into a full blown migraine, I considered it a mini migraine, this prompted me to check the ingredients on the soup.

I always read ingredients, but somehow I assumed that all soup was healthy and I overlooked reading the ingredients. I was surprised to find MSG (Monosodium glutamate) in the ingredients of my soup. I decided to take action.
Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

CSA is a socio-economic model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. It is also a method for small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to have a successful, small-scale closed market. CSA’s focus is usually on a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables, sometimes also flowers, fruits, herbs and even milk or meat products in some cases. A variety of production and economic sub-systems are in use worldwide.

How The CSA System Works

CSA generally is the practice of focusing on the production of high quality foods using ecological, organic or biodynamic farming methods. This kind of farming operates with a much greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders—resulting in a stronger than usual consumer-producer relationship. The core design includes developing a cohesive consumer group that is willing to fund a whole season’s budget in order to get quality foods. The system has many variations on how the farm budget is supported by the consumers and how the producers then deliver the foods. By CSA theory, the more a farm embraces whole-farm, whole-budget support, the more it can focus on quality and reduce the risk of food waste or financial loss.

In its most formal and structured European and North American form, CSAs focus on having:

• A transparent, whole season budget for producing a specified wide array of products for a set number of weeks a year;
• A common-pricing system where producers and consumers discuss and democratically agree to pricing based on the acceptance of the budget; and
• A ‘shared risk and reward’ agreement, i.e. that the consumers eat what the farmers grow even with the vagaries of seasonal growing.

Individuals, families or groups do not pay for x pounds or kilograms of produce, but rather support the budget of the whole farm and receive weekly what is seasonally ripe. This approach eliminates the marketing risks and costs for the producer and an enormous amount of time, often manpower too, and allows producers to focus on quality care of soils, crops, animals, co-workers—and on serving the customers. There is little to no loss (i.e. waste) in this system, since the producers know in advance who they are growing for and how much to grow, etc.

Some confusion about the CSA system has arisen as some CSAs are less whole-budget, whole-farm oriented and have more the character of subscription farming. This kind of arrangement is also referred to as crop-sharing or box schemes. In such cases, farmers often simply set the weekly prices and retain a high level of risk, marketing costs and so on. Thus there is an important distinction between the producers (farmers, gardeners, etc.) selling shares in the upcoming season’s harvest or selling a weekly subscription that includes x, y, z amounts of produce. In all cases, participants contribute a pre-agreed amount (sometimes an equal amount, sometimes variable) and in return receive a weekly harvest.

Some farms are dedicated entirely to CSA, while others also sell through on-farm stands, farmers’ markets, and other channels. Most CSAs are owned by the farmers, while some offer shares in the farm as well as the harvest. Consumers have organized their own CSA projects, going as far as renting land and hiring farmers.

Typically, CSA farms are small, independent, labor-intensive, family farms. Many CSAs practice ecological, organic or biodynamic agriculture, avoiding pesticides and inorganic fertilizers.

Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

There are some foods that people should avoid. Health researcher Mike Adams said, people should avoid foods that contain ingredients known to cause cancer, such as refined sugars, refined grains, hydrogenated oils, MSGs, and nitrates. This is all common-sensical. Check the list to see if you already knew about these foods.

This article lists five foods that may just be the worst foods ever.

Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

The following brands contain high levels of toxic lead in them: L’Oreal Colour Riche “True Red,” L’Oreal Colour Riche “Classic Wine”, Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor “Maximum Red” and Dior Addict “Positive Red.”

L’Oreal had the highest lead results in the samples tested by a consumer advocacy group. You should be upset at L’Oreal, Cover Girl, Dior and other cosmetic companies, also at the FDA for not monitoring the substances that we use (and ingest) more carefully, and ultimately for corporations caring more about profit than the health of their consumers.

We live in a “Consumers, be Aware” world. But, how could we have known that lead existed in a product if lead isn’t listed as an ingredient? Consumers should always be cautious, but how could they make decisions if they are being deceived when information such as lead levels are not disclosed?

Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

If you enjoy the buttery smell of freshly cooked microwave popcorn like millions of people do, you must read this.

Dr. Cecile Rose, pulmonary specialist at Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center, in a letter, warned federal agencies or regulators that consumers are in danger of suffering the fatal popcorn lung disease from buttery flavoring fumes in microwave popcorn.

At least one heavy popcorn consumer has been diagnosed with the same disease affecting workers exposed to the substance, Bronchiolitis Obliterans.

Read more…

Share & Bookmark to:

I just landed myself in a comfortable chair at a local coffee shop…

Just before I start sipping my hot dark roast black coffee I’d like to share a reflection with you.

On my way to the coffee shop I stopped by a coop and filled my 1gallon jug with water for 45 cents only.

At the coffee shop where I’m sitting now, they charge $1.45 for a 20 oz bottle of (tap) water. 20 oz is 1/6 a gallon. Six bottles of water would make a gallon, would cost me $8.70; this is 19 times the price of the coop water.

Buying this bottle of water is bad for four reasons:

• It is tap water
• It is in a plastic bottle
• It’s expensive
• It will lead to 1 plastic bottle in trash / or recycled

Read more…

Share & Bookmark to: