Flax oil taste?

Can anyone tell me if flax oil is supposed to taste nasty or does that mean it’s rancid? I grind flax seeds and they taste great but the flax oil I have–yuck!! It’s Barlean’s which is top of the line, flown-in, shorter shelf life, etc. so I don’t know how it would have gone rancid but surely that’s not the normal taste!

Be a friend T-shirts

T-shirts I want (if you want one, let me know; I might have some made):

Friends don’t let friends use bleach.

Friends don’t let friends drink diet coke (or diet anything).

Friends don’t let friends use statin drugs.

Friends don’t let friends eat dessert everyday.

Friends don’t let friends eat too many grains.

More on milk allergies

When I found out about Elisa’s milk allergy I asked if organic milk would make any difference. I was told no and although they’re probably right I wondered if the absence of regular milk in our world would have prevented it. Well, the news is even worse. Pasteurization and homogenization may be a cause of all the milk allergies today. Read Annie on milk.

This is very overwhelming for me. I mean if you have access to a goat or cow, I’ve read enough to believe it is probably safe for older children and adults. But what about the masses? Not everyone is going to have that kind of access.

Explanation

I thought maybe I should explain my newfound passion for things organic for those of you who know me and know that I haven’t felt this way for very long. You might think it’s all come since I found Shaklee but that’s not the case. I found Shaklee at a time when I was disgusted with the lack of integrity in the average manufacturer.

So here it is: When someone used to say such and such causes cancer or cholesterol problems or what have you, I’d say–well what doesn’t. I didn’t feel like avoiding “normal life” (ie buying what the grocery store sells) was an option. Besides I knew that frequently after a report like that comes out they come up with another report that says the product actually doesn’t cause cancer. Well, this is what I’ve realized :

Some things that were invented never should have been because they have done us more harm than good and weren’t necessary (like high fructose corn syrup).
Some things that were invented could have been made in a way that wouldn’t harm us (like detergent).

When a report comes out about anything, you have to find out who wanted the report done. For instance, when someone comes out and says vitamin E is bad for you and it turns out that they used synthetic vitamin E instead of natural and used bad science, and vitamin E sales plummeted, it makes you wonder if someone was trying to hurt vitamin companies.

And when those reports come out saying such and such actually doesn’t cause cancer, you’ve got to wonder what if it’s true and, if it is, what information they’re leaving out.

So I guess I got good and mad. I don’t know why I was so trusting thinking that 90% of advertisements were truthful or at least not flat out lies. I used to be a Ritalin advocate until I found out that if you take sugar and chemicals out of a kid’s world and give them lots of omega 3, ADD can virtually disappear. I used to be an advocate of anti-depressants until I found out what terrible science was behind their approval and realized that if there even is a chemical imbalance, good counseling, healthy eating, and environment will do far more for depression than a pill. . . . . As a Christian I believe in evil so it shouldn’t surprise me when I encounter it but it’s still shocking to think of a company making . . say . . Splenda which is chlorinated and years or decades of use may contribute to serious chronic immunological or neurological disorders and simply not caring if that’s true. With some companies it’s possible that when they started manufacturing their toxic product they had no idea. But when it became apparent, shouldn’t they stop if not out of conscience out of fear of reprisals from the government or from lawsuits? Well, the world we live in I guess allows for so much gain that any reprisal would be a slap on the wrist.

But this may change. Stories like Erin Brokovich, the lawsuit against Philip Morris, etc. should have clued us in sooner. You may disagree with suing McDonalds since anyone knows that food’s not good for you. But consumers can’t be expected to assume that their trusted Tide laundry detergent or Dial soap might be harmful (I picked these out of the blue and don’t know specific information on these products). Whether you agree with lawsuits or not, companies do have responsibilities (and so does the FDA but they’re a joke).

The feel sorriest for poor people. People with higher education may be duped (I was with Splenda which shows I lacked healthy skepticism) but they have resources to look things up on the internet or whatever and the ability to work it through logically. If poor people believe what they see on television, who’s going to tell them it’s not true? They might not have the resources to look up information and even if they did, it might not occur to them.

So when I found out that Shaklee will withhold a product from the market if any contamination in the source is found, I wanted to stand up and applaud. Shaklee is the nation’s first climate neutral certified company. Well, what do you know. If everyone had taken nature seriously and did science the way they do, we just might live in a better world and still be “modern” (like being able to use our washing machines, dish washers, and take showers everyday).

So. Maybe you don’t agree with me but at least you know something of what went into the transformation.

Disposable versus cloth

Diapers, of course! Had read some of this information before but this article certainly makes cloth seem more doable . . .

Would be funny but it’s true

http://www.newstarget.com/019987.html

Follow up to soy

Dr. Mercola bashes soy a lot but says fermented soy is good. Below is a quote. Click to read more.
Many studies have shown traditionally fermented soy–which is the form that is very popular in many Asian cultures–aids in preventing and reducing a variety of diseases including certain forms of heart disease and cancers.

Now I need to find out how soy is fermented . .

Soy–good or bad?

I am updating this post.  See the bottom note.

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A few years ago soy was the rage. . it was so good for you la di da . . . then studies came out that no it’s not good for you in fact it’s terrible for you. So what’s up? Well I’m still investigating this myself but here are some things I’ve learned that need to be taken into consideration:

SOY QUALITY CONTROL CHECKLIST

1) The beans must be organically grown.

Studies have shown decreased levels of food nutrients and increased levels of nitrates in chemically fertilized crops when compared with their organic counterparts. There is a connection between the ingestion of nitrates & cancer. Therefore, it is important to know that pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides have not been used during the growing process. With soy beans in particular, since they are such a hardy plant a powerful and deadly weed spray called Round-up is usually used. For your safety, you must know that your soy products are organically grown.

2) The beans must not be genetically engineered.

Genetically engineered soybeans are much cheaper to purchase but the effects of genetically engineered food is not fully known and is likely problematic.

3) The beans should contain all nine essential amino acids.

One of the most valuable features of the soybean is that it is a complete protein and provides all nine of the essential amino acids. The body requires these daily to produce hormones, digestive juices, antibodies, and enzymes. However, not all soybeans are created equal. Quality and amino acid content will vary based on soil conditions, and variable growing and harvest conditions. If one essential amino acid is missing the immune system can be depressed by 30% and many important body functions are delayed or stopped. Therefore, it is essential that each batch of soybeans be checked for amino acid content if we want to depend on the soy isolate to provide a guaranteed supply of the nine essential amino acids.

4) The crushed soy flakes must be washed in water, not alcohol.

Alcohol washing destroys isoflavone content up to 88%. It is the isoflavones that reduce the risk of breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer. As well, it is the isoflavones that are so beneficial in hormone balancing and increasing bone mass.

5) The “anti-growth” or “anti-tyrosine” substance must be removed.

Tyrosine deficiency will cause low blood pressure, low body temperature, and restless leg syndrome. Therefore, the anti-growth substance must be removed without cooking the soy (cooking will remove it but see below).

6) The soybean must be raw.

Amino acids and isoflavones are very sensitive to heat. In some studies, cooking protein has been shown to destroy up to 50% of some essential amino acids. If an individual consistently consumes a diet that is lacking in all of the essential amino acids, inadequate brain development and hormones or other body tissue development can be the result.

7) Calcium must be added to the soy isolate.

Some negative reports about soy say that soy powders are very acidic and cause bone loss because it causes calcium to be drawn from the bones. The raw soy bean is a neutral food. However, the removal of the soybean oil (which is essential so the soy powder will not go rancid very quickly), makes the powder very acidic. Therefore, adequate calcium (which is very alkaline) must be added to cause the powder to be neutral again, or it can cause the above stated problem.

Shaklee has a soy protein powder that meets these standards (I don’t know if anyone else does). But mistakes can be made by anyone human so I don’t take this as the final word. However, I do know I don’t trust other soy products. My blood turns cold after reading soy criticisms when I think about how much of the store bought kind Elisa has had.

UPDATE:  there is controversy as to whether the isoflavones help cancer or make it worse.  The only safe soy is fermented and used as a condiment like they do in Asia.

Feed me, feed me!

I hope this information will be useful for mothers-to-be. I thought I was fairly informed before my daughter was born thanks to parenting magazines and babycenter.com among other things. But like anything, I suppose, experience gives you more than you could get otherwise. So here’s my story. I was vehemently committed to breastfeeding no matter what and that went well (yes I cried everytime she latched on the first week but I thought that was normal and persevered–she may have been latching wrong and that’s why I had pain but in any case things got better). However, my commitment was only til six months. My mother said I weaned at 7 months and I knew I didn’t want to let my daughter wean herself at 8 years old so six months seemed fine until I found out that the AAP recommends breastmilk or formula until a year. I was opposed to formula but at six months I felt like I didn’t have much milk flow (oh the doubts that come with being a mother) and long story short, I went ahead and weaned. Well, that was a mistake. First of all, there’s a chance my daughter already had a milk allergy but it was mild enough that we didn’t notice it. The other option is that she acquired the allergy because I switched to formula or because I put her on yogurt while she was on anti-biotics (which is a whole other post). Elisa had a few ear infections before and after weaning (which if you didn’t know can indicate a milk allergy but I didn’t know that until much later). Around 7 months I had her at the doctor’s for something and she was constipated again so I mentioned that and the doctor suggested a milk allergy since she also had some eczema (diarrhea can also indicate a milk allergy). I thought no way. Well, in hindsight there’s a good chance she got it from Matthew because he was on formula and really fussy until his mom switched him to a soy-based formula but no one ever made the connection (I don’t think) that he probably had some problem with milk so I didn’t have that to go on. Anyway . . I got used to the idea and tried some hypoallergenic formula but didn’t feel like it made much of a difference so went ahead and had Elisa tested because if I was going to pay a fortune (regular formula is expensive enough as it is) I wanted to know it was necessary. She showed a mild reaction on a blood test so hypoallergenic it was. Until 11 months when the doctor gave me permisison to get her off formula and move on to the next thing–which normally is cow’s milk. I had her retested in high hopes (some kids outgrow it by a year) but she hadn’t outgrown the allergy yet. I researched my options and the only one I was happy with was rice milk. As it turns out that was constipating so I turned to the only other option I could think of which was soy milk (I will write a post just about soy later). I wasn’t thrilled at all with that because I knew soy could be a problematic food (and now I know even more about it) but one consideration was fat and calories–which babies need. In other words, water isn’t enough and juice is too much sugar . . . So soy it was and has been with a little rice milk for months. I recently put two and two together and wondered if I couldn’t keep her regular with flax oil (which is good for her anyway and when I had given it to her a couple of times had a laxative effect) and cut out the soy milk using only rice milk. So that’s the latest. We’re also having her . . . not retested . . it’s called a milk challenge which almost seems barbaric to me but she’s going to mother’s day out a couple of days in the fall and to make things easier I would like to know if she can tolerate cow’s milk (and there’s a good chance she can since we have avoid milk even in solids for six months now and she’s older). So on Monday they will feed her milk in increasing doses to see if she starts showing some eczema. I think that regardless we will still avoid cow’s milk at home until she’s two but if she can handle it at MDO that would simplify things. (Not to mention that she’s likely to get it by accident anyway while there). Whenever we switch her it will definitely be to organic cow’s milk. I was planning that for her anyway but after reading the top cancer causing products, Matthew & I have switched as well (before only price kept us away but cancer is a higher price to pay).

There are a lot of factors that contribute to milk allergies I think but in any case it is more prevelant now so if I had to do it all over again, I would drink only organic milk through pregnancy and minimize my milk consumption while breastfeeding (and I would continue breastfeeding til at least a year even if it was only a couple of times a day or if I had to pump or whatever; in fact, I think I would nurse once a day and/or pump til she was 2 or 3 but that is another post as well).

Long post, I realize. I will make a separate post for solids.

Cleaning/washing part 2

I promise it won’t always be feast or famine on here. I hadn’t told anyone about the blog yet and wanted to get that out before I posted more. Have several coming.

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I recently tried Shaklee’s laundry detergent. I have been trying different Shaklee products for about 7 months now but had been holding off on the laundry detergent. I had been using a dye- and fragrance-free detergent so I thought I was doing pretty well even though I knew Shaklee’s was organic so it would be healthier. Well, I finally got the detergent and as soon as I pulled the clothes from the washer to put them in the dryer, they felt different. Clean! No residue! And they smell clean–not fragranced, clean! Oh, it’s great . . . especially knowing I don’t have to worry about ill effects in my bloodstream (yes, your detergent gets through your skin). Check out the laundry products Shaklee has to offer.

While I’m at it . . did you know that Ajax & Lysol are in the list of top cancer causing products?

This country’s obsession with anti-bacterial everything is part of what’s making us sick. Yes, we know bacteria can do “bad” things but when we freak out about it we end up using things that do worse harm like chlorox wipes, germ-x (both which I used for awhile) etc, killing our skin cells faster than they die naturally, causing harmful substances to be absorbed in our bodies, and stripping away our bodies natural oils which are part of our defense system.
Organic cleaners work and are affordable. Shaklee’s Basic H costs 14.5 cents for a gallon as general cleaning and less than a cent for a gallon as window cleaner!

Email me if you’re interested.