Hershey to Remove HFCS from Some Products

We are winning, well, sort of. Reported on my local news this am, "Hershey to remove 'some' high fructose corn syrup from their products and replace it with sugar." We know this a huge improvement, but how much of an improvement is it?

BUYER BEWARE: 'sugar' now means beet sugar which might come from GMO beets. According to Imperial Sugar, "Beet sugar can be derived from genetically modified plants. The U.S. does not require labels to designate whether the sugar is derived from sugar cane or beets. If you are concerned about avoiding beet sugar, be sure to look for "Pure Cane Sugar" on the package." Evaporated Cane Juice is another term to look for, to be certain you're getting  cane sugar.

So we know that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is bad. We don't know the effects of beet sugar or GMO beet sugar. Evaporated Cane Sugar, in my humble opinion, is the best choice if Jaggery or Muscovado are not available.

If you still think that fat is the culprit making our cholesterol go up, think again and please let Dr. Hyman's words (talking about HFCS) sink in:

"Fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol) this is why it is the major cause of liver damage in this country and causes a condition called "fatty liver" which affects 70 million people."

UPDATE: Sadly, I've recently learned that sugar cane, too, is sprayed with glyphosate to hasten ripening. National Institute of Health - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/


SOURCE:

http://www.imperialsugar.com/sugar-101/cane-sugar-vs-beet-sugar

http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/#close

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article4243355.html

Do You Add Chlorine To Your Fruits and Vegetables?

Please be careful about what you use to wash your fruits and vegetables!

Post by John Fronis.

This video is disturbing. Drinking chlorinated water is bad enough, but adding extra chlorine to our fruits and vegetables is probably an even worse idea. Although, I wouldn't be washing my apples after I cut them.

Perhaps a better idea might be to purchase a commercial vegetable spray or to make our own. If I don't have any commercial spray on hand, I make my own with GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract), a non-toxic dish soap and distilled water and place in a spray bottle. I have a well, so I don't think I have to worry about my rinse water containing chlorine.

Click for another way to wash fruits and vegetables.

Remembering Why We Celebrate Christmas

Post by Carman Licciardello.

Do you rinse YOUR poultry?

For years I've wondered why people rinsed their poultry. Rinsing obviously won't remove salmonella or other bacteria. Cooking poultry to the correct temperature should destroy any worrisome bacteria. There are different types of meat thermometers. This is the one that I use, that is also handy for the BBQ:

(Affiliate Link:)

So to wash the poultry or not? What do you think? If you're not sure of the right answer, please watch this video:

Perhaps if you watched the video, you will agree with me - "Ewwwwww!!!"

What's the Deal with Probiotics?

Probiotics - the Good Bacteria and the Bad Bacteria

It seems people are doing a lot of talking these days about probiotics. Scientists have discovered that our gut is 80% of our immune system and that our immune system contains trillions of good bacteria, also known as probiotics.

Those of us with Chronic Lyme Disease know the importance of taking probiotics along with antibiotics. Well, here's what happened to me...

My daughter introduced me to Kombucha. In case you don't know, Kombucha is a fermented, sweet tea that was brought to the United States from Asia (China, I think) in the 80's when President Reagan developed cancer. At least according to legend, that's how it came to the US. And when I say legend, I mean 'the Internet.' When I first tasted it, I wasn't impressed. It has a tart, vinegar-like taste. Actually, it's easy to over-ferment and turn it into vinegar.

While I was on high-dose antibiotics for Chronic Lyme, I suddenly loved the taste of it and somehow couldn't get enough of it. At the same time, I continually forgot to take my high-dose, high-end, expensive, probiotic capsules. Surprisingly, I didn't have symptoms that taking antibiotics can cause - mainly diarrhea.  Occasionally, I would remember to take my capsules.

I never felt taking all those antibiotics was the right thing to do, yet I had to do something as I was failing quickly.

A friend of mine developed C. diff. after a course of high-dose antibiotics for Chronic Lyme. If you've never heard of it, c. diff is short for Clostridium difficile, pronounced 'klos trid ee um ~ diff uh seel.'  It's a nasty infection that occurs when we do not have enough good bacteria in our guts. This typically happens during or after a course of antibiotics. It can also be deadly!

According to NHS Choices,"C. difficile does not usually affect healthy children and adults. This is because the bacteria normally present in the healthy bowel keep it under control." Sounds simple to me.

C.diff lives in our guts harmoniously until we kill off the good bacteria, which allows the bad bacteria to take over. When my friend told me this happened to her, I felt lucky it hadn't happened to me, especially since I kept forgetting to take my probiotics. My friend also told me that her Naturopath prescribed something called sachromyces boulardii (also known as s. boulardii) to help combat the C. diff.

Later, I learned that s. boulardii is the yeast that combats and keeps C. diff in check. And WHAT a surprise to find that Kombucha is full of s. boulardii! In fact, G.T.'s Kombucha lists that it contains two billion in their 16 oz. bottle! No wonder I was so lucky! I was drinking about 32 ounces of Kombucha per day. I just couldn't get enough of the stuff.

But wait - there's more! I purchased a wonderful, informative, politically incorrect book - Nourishing Traditions. Much of the information contained in it I already knew - like the fact that humans were made to eat REAL food rather than processed, man-made foods i.e. saturated fats, eggs WITH the yolk, raw milk, etc.

What I didn't know, and had never thought about, is the fact that we are supposed to be eating fermented foods. Fermented foods are the foods that contain good bacteria - PROBIOTICS. Capsules are a good backup, but we are supposed to be eating fermented foods. Reading about this in Nourishing Traditions, I felt a light bulb go off (as it has so many times along my food-learning path). When canning came into our picture, good bacteria for our gut went out the window. We are supposed to be eating fermented foods on a daily basis. Foods like sauerkraut, yogurt, milk kefir, water kefir and fermented vegetables in general. There was a time this was our only way, aside from salt, to preserve foods.

We have at least 500 different bacteria in our guts and a probiotic capsule contains, at most, a few different strains. I had to ask myself, if I've taken antibiotics and most of these bacteria are killed, how do I put back those 500 different bacteria? And how do I put them back in a high quantity? Even yogurt only contains about five transient bacteria strains at most - needing to be replaced daily.

It turns out that we have transient bacteria (that stay only for a short time) and we have bacteria that can colonize the gut.

According to Cultures for Health, "The beneficial bacteria found in yogurt help keep the digestive tract clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria found in a healthy gut. They are called transient because they pass through the digestive tract. The bacteria in milk kefir, on the other hand, can actually colonize the intestinal tract." 

Dr. Mercola writes that our bodies have 100 trillion bacteria. I don't want to do the math, but it seems if we take a capsule containing a couple different strains and a total of 15 billion, it takes A LOT of capsules to re-colonize the gut.

If we need to keep our gut colonized, we need to be eating/drinking fermented foods on a daily basis. When we take antibiotics we need to re-colonize even more because of what was killed off by the antibiotics. Plain and simple - fermented foods! Once I started drinking milk kefir, it was just like with the Kombucha -  I couldn't get enough. I've now leveled off, but will continue to drink and eat fermented foods of all kinds on a daily basis. 

Nourishingplot.com reported in an article: "Dr. Mercola sent his sauerkraut off to a lab and reported the finding of probiotics saying, 'We had it analyzed. We found in a 4-6 ounce serving of the fermented vegetables there were literally ten trillion bacteria.' "  

PLEASE NOTE that I am not a doctor and none of my statements have been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. None of my statements or anything on this site is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. 

PLEASE do NOT eat any foods that don't taste right!!!

One of my favorite books!   My affiliate Link:

Sources:
http://nourishingplot.com/2014/06/21/sauerkraut-test-divulges-shocking-probiotic-count/

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Clostridium-difficile/Pages/Causes.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/24/one-of-the-most-important-steps-you-can-take-to-improve-your-health.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/18/probiotics-the-case-for-healthy-bowels.aspx

Great Price on Banderol!

If you have Lyme Disease, or especially if you have Chronic Lyme disease, you're probably familiar with Banderol. This is a great price! Affiliate link:

Lighted Planters

I love these lighted planters and would love to line them up on my deck!

Omega NC800HDS Juicer

We were long overdue replacing our centrifugal juicer with a masticating juicer. Our Jack LaLanne juicer served us well for many years. I'm not so sure it was the best choice, but since I was only just becoming a 'foodie' when I purchased it, it was a good choice at about $100. I always felt guilty throwing out all that pulp, especially since it stayed quite moist. The Omega's pulp is much dryer.

While researching juicers, one quickly learns the health benefit isn't the same for all juicers. From what I've found, the Norwalk is the best juicer available.  At roughly a $2500 price tag, it's clearly not for everyone, including me. If I was ever told I had cancer, or seriously suspected that I had cancer, I would desperately search for a way to purchase this juicer so that I could properly follow the Gerson Therapy.

A centrifugal juicer is said to heat the fruit/vegetables causing the enzymes to break down and negate healing effects. My personal experience proves they are harder to clean. The surface area of the strainer that's exposed to the fruits and vegetables in a centrifugal is much, much larger than a horizontal masticating juicer.

The strainer in the Omega horizontal is tiny in comparison.

One thing that impresses me most about my Omega juicer, is that it goes together and comes apart easily and quickly. (I like that I don't need to grab my eyeglasses to put parts on or take them off.) Best of all—cleaning is a breeze. I spend much more time washing my fruits and vegetables than I do washing this juicer. A brush is included which makes cleaning the strainer easy. This juicer is not only capable of juicing wheatgrass, fruits and vegetables, making nut butters and making frozen desserts, but can also extrude pasta.  Even though pasta isn't a staple in my home, I'm happy I now have a way to shape it. I'm looking forward to making pasta with my own healthier ingredients. It's great that I not only didn't have to pay for extra parts to use this for more than a juicer, but I also don't have to find extra space in my kitchen to store another big, clunky accessory. My main reasons for choosing the Omega NC800HDS over other masticating juicers:

   1.  Successfully juices wheat grass without purchasing extra parts.  
   2.  Makes frozen fruit sorbet/desserts without purchasing extra parts.
   3.  Horizontal model is easy to clean, with less parts than the vertical model.  
   4.  Includes 6 nozzles and 1 juicing screen.

This particular model, according to the Omega website, has a 'bigger' shute for the fruits/vegetables. The Omega website states, "The size of the feed chute is larger so you spend less time prepping before juicing." I would honestly hate to see the smaller chutes.

I always juice more fruits and vegetables than I can immediately drink. Although it's recommended to immediately drink the juice, I seal leftover juice in a canning jar with my Foodsaver Jar sealer and store in refrigerator. Using a Foodsaver to Seal Canning Jars.

Source: Gerson Guide to Juicers

Do You Know about Bitly.com?

I've used bitly.com or other sites for years - primarily to shorten a url.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to format a computer and lost all my 'Favorites' or 'Bookmarks.'  With smartphones, tablets, labtops and desktops, it's sometimes hard to remember which device I was on when I saved a link. I don't really want to sync all my devices together; I just want to be able to find a link when I want to find a link.  Bitly.com allows me to save everything in one spot and allows me to search all my links. I can even add a searchable 'note' to a link.

Bitly is a handy tool, especially when it's an extremely long url.

I can't believe I missed out on the possible storage possibility for such a long time! Being able to search my stored links is the best part.  Adding my own note makes it even easier to search. 

I Wish I had Questioned.....

When I was in my early twenties, it was suddenly no longer safe to eat raw eggs.  Scientists had found new information that raw eggs were making us sick with salmonella.  If I had questioned this, I may have been told it was because chickens were no longer raised in the backyards of farmers and that they were now raised in CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) -  livestock factories.  If I had asked, perhaps someone would have told me that CAFO conditions are deplorable and bacteria-laden.

When I was six or seven years old, our milkman stopped coming to our house.  I wish I was old enough to question why he disappeared. I was quite certain that I wasn't really the milkman's daughter even though my siblings told me over and over that I was!  Maybe I would have been told that the convenience of supermarkets and a 'need' to pasteurize contributed to his disappearance. I wish I had thought to question this when I got older, too.  When I was in my early twenties everyone around me was saying it isn't good to drink the fat that is in milk.  I wish I asked why the cream and fat were no longer safe to drink and why milk was now sold in choices of 1%, 2% and skim.  Maybe I would have been told it has nothing to do with our health and more to do with it being much more lucrative to separate milk into different parts - parts that the body might not be able see as 'food.' Maybe I would have realized if it were, in fact better for us to drink 1%, 2% and skim that God would have had those different milks coming right out of the spigots - otherwise none as udders.

Suddenly in my twenties it was no longer safe to eat raw hamburger.  Many who are ten years my senior told me they grew up on raw hamburger.  They anxiously waited for their mothers to turn their backs so they could steal a small hunk.  I wish I had asked why it was no longer safe to do this; I might have learned that the cows were no longer raised on farms, but instead, again, in CAFOs. I may have learned that cows now stand in their own manure in CAFOs up to at least their ankles, some up to their udders, and are fed corn which causes e. coli in their stomachs.

In my thirties, it was simply no longer safe to eat beef - period.   I wish I had questioned why.  Was it because cows were no longer raised on farms, they were no longer eating grass in pastures and instead being fed a steady diet of corn - corn that is no longer sprayed with insecticide because the insecticide is now on the INSIDE?  In my later thirties I wish I had questioned it again.  Would I have learned we were the only country that approved Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) and that other countries didn't approve it because it makes the cows sick?

In my twenties I also wondered, what is this 'canola' oil that everyone is telling me to use.  Why is something that I've never heard of suddenly the 'heart-healthy' thing to be eating?  I wish I had not trusted those rumors and did my own research - maybe I would have realized it simply wasn't true.  I am embarrassed that I never even asked, "What is a Canola?"  I knew what the olive in olive oil was and the sunflower in sunflower oil. If only I'd asked, perhaps someone may have told me it is an acronym for - Canadian Oil Low Acid.  Maybe I would have learned that it came from a plant that was toxic before it was modified to be 'safe' for human consumption. I may have been told that before it was modified to be 'safe' for human consumption that it was only used for oiling machines.

I wish I had questioned, "What is Lard?" I knew it was a fat and that it came from an animal, but that was about all I knew.  I wish I had asked why it was no longer 'healthy' to eat.  Maybe I would have heard about a company that invented a product called shortening that was shelf stable for years and that there was a LOT more money to be made with this new product.  If only I had asked,  maybe someone would have warned me that it might 'shorten' my life.

I am embarrassed and ashamed that I never took a long, hard look at what I was eating. But in my own defense, I wasn't just a Baby Boomer - I was a Supermarket Kid, too.  I wish I had questioned on what our Creator had intended my body to run, I might have learned it is supposed to be real food.  Real food - it's that plain and simple.  Okay, so deciphering what is real food and what is fake/plastic food is another story.  By now, most of us have learned that margarine is one molecule away from being plastic. Although I'm still learning about 'plastic' foods every day, I think I am getting it under control!

Sources:

   Carole Morison, via Food Inc. - who was brave to stand up for what she believes by showing us the deplorable conditions in which chickens are raised. Thank you Carole and Food inc.!

   Robyn O'Brien TedX

   Dr. Mark Hyman

Magic Jack

I've had a magicJack for many years.  MagicJack started out like all the other VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) companies for me - dropped calls and poor clarity.  It ended up in a drawer; it was much too frustrating!

About a year later, someone called me on their new magicJack; the call wasn't dropped and the clarity was great.  Out from the drawer came my magicJack.  The difference was astounding; what a difference a year made!  They had finally perfected their service - well, mostly perfected (more later).

The original magicJack was plugged into a computer.  This meant that if the computer was shut off, the phone service was lost.  This didn't thrill me, but since everyone in the house had their own cell phone, it wasn't a big deal.

Next came the magicJack Plus.  It was time to renew my service, so I ordered the Plus.  The magicJack Plus plugs into a router or modem instead of a computer.  If the modem or router stays on, the magicJack Plus stays on.

While waiting for this one to arrive I thought about how many people told me they "back feed" their house generators so that they feed their entire house. Hmmm... could I do this with my new magicJack Plus? If I only need to plug this into my router and not my computer, can I back feed my magicJack Plus somehow to feed my entire house?  Could I plug it into the router, but instead of plugging a phone into it, could I plug it into the jack where my land line phone service enters my house and feed the entire house through my phone jacks?  I had to admit this might be a tough project to get my cord from point A to point B!  This sounded like it might work!  When my Plus arrived, I decided to try one last thing before having to fish telephone cords.

It turned out to be even simpler than I thought; I simply took the phone jack plug on the magicJack and plugged it into the nearby telephone wall jack.  It worked! I was surprised it was easier than I thought.  I had never heard of being able to do this and am surprised the company doesn't advertise that it can be done.  When I plug a telephone into any wall jack in my house, I now get magicJack phone service.

My complaints with magicJack:

   1.  When I make a call, there is a delay when the phone is answered on the other end. Because I don't hear the greeting, I always have to question where I've called.  I've learned to just use my cell phone, if I'm making a business call that has a real receptionist.

   2.  Occasionally it just doesn't work, which is not a big deal.  I unplug it from the electrical power for a few seconds, plug it back in and it always works (so far so good anyway).

   3.  If magicJack are charged by a telephone company, they pass a fee along.  I have two friends who live in the same telephone company district who I can not call for free with the magicJack. I bypass that by just using a telephone calling card.

Overall, I would recommend a MagicJack.