Health Foods. . . Part 2

Thanks Christina for filling in for me! Our internet has been out the past few days. . . but we are back online and I have a few minutes this evening to get my post up and running.

There's so much I'd like to talk about, but I'm going to stick to highlighting three things: milk, cod liver oil, and fat.

Raw Milk
Let me start by saying, it needs to be clean, raw milk. And this is the only milk we drink. (We don't have access to clean raw milk at this point so we simply don't use milk. Instead, I make kefir and we get dairy from plain yogurt, kefir smoothies, and sometimes cheese. I substitute coconut milk in desserts calling for milk and try to not make other recipes that call for milk where I can't substitute an alternative such as fermented dairy.)

Ultrapastuerized milk and cream (most of the cream you buy in grocery stores) is absolutely terrible for you (actually, you should really stear clear of all ultrapastuerized dairy). This is milk that has been heated to such a high temperature that it doesn't even have to be refrigerated until you open it - think about it, milk that can sit on a shelf for months?! Don't be fooled, most stores still put this milk in the cooler section so it will sell; you have to read the label carefully.

Clean, unpastuerized whole milk is really the only healthy source of dairy we can put in our bodies.

There is lots of evidence and resarch for this, however let me just leave you with these thoughts on skim milk, pastuerized milk, homogenized milk, and raw milk (from The Milk Book by William Douglas Campbell):

"When animals are placed on skim milk with the vitamins lost from the cream replaced, the animals develop very poorly. But when 4% butter fat is fed to similar animals, they develop normally. The vegetable oils now being pushed on the American people by organized medicine and self-styled nutrition experts will not work as a substitute for cream. Skim milk-fed animals develop testicular atrophy with complete sterility." pp. 36-7.

"Do you know how a pig farmer fattens his hogs? He feeds them skim milk." p.35.

"Steinman studied rats. The decay process in rats' teeth is biologically identical to that in human teeth. He divided his rats into several groups. The control group received a standard nutritious rat chow and averaged less than one cavity for their entire lifetime. The second group received a very heavy refined sugar diet. . . averaged 5.6 cavities per rat. The third group was fed homogenized grade A pasteurized milk and they had almost twice as many cavities as the sugar-fed group - 9.4 cavities per animal. (Add chocolate to this milk and the cavity rate quadruples over that of a sugar diet.) If processed milk does this to your teeth, what does it do to your other high-calcium organ - your bones? How does it affect calcium metabolism in the soft tissues of the body such as the blood vessels? Remember that your teeth are a window to your body's physical condition. " pp. 41-42.

"But with the increase in consumption of pastuerized milk came a dramatic and steady increase in arthritis, heart disease, crib death, and stroke." p. 43.

"Want to live to be a hundred? Eat mostly raw animal protein, and you may make it (if industrial pollutants, an 18-wheeler, or modern medicine don't get your first)." p.229

These are just a few quotes from one source. . . there is a plethora of information out there that is overwhelmingly in support of clean, raw milk. Even the reason we ever began pastuerizing milk will blow your mind (you can read about it in The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid, M.D.). Also, here's a link for the real stats on clean, raw milk - it's true, more people get sick each year on pastuerized milk than clean, raw milk!

I really encourage you to read more on this topic, especially if you think it is simply crazy to drink unpastuerized milk. Your family's health is worth the extra research!

Cod Liver Oil

Is rich in fat-soluble vitamins A & D and helps with proper function of the brain and nervous system. It has been shown to improve brain function, memory, stress response, allergies, asthma, learning and behavior disorders, cancer, and heart health to name a few. It also strengthens bones. It's especially great for pregnant/nursing moms and young children. It improves breast milk to help brain development and helps to fight infections. For more information, and dosing information, check out the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Healthy Fats
These are healthy: butter; lard, beef and lamb tallow; chicken, goose, and duck fat; coconut, palm and sesame oils; cold pressed olive and flax oil; marine oils. These are not: all hydrogenated oils; soy, corn, and safflower oils; cottonseed oil; canola oil; all fats heated to very high temps in processing and frying. Here is an excellent resource to learn more about what oils to use. . . and how (for example, extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oil is fine IF you don't heat it).

And a few more tidbits- with links for more research.

SOY is BAD for you!

Vegetarianism is NOT healthy. . . we need some animal protein in our diet!

Please, please stay away from anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup!

Want to know more about why MSG is so bad? (Seriously, it numbs your taste buds to healthy, God-given foods like the yummy sweetness of fresh fruit so that you have to have more and more JUNK!).