Queen’s Sapphire Jubilee. Alternatives to Valentine’s Day. Islamic Terrorists...Update and Glycemic Index.

 

For “Scripture Sunday”:

The Queen’s Sapphire Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, coronation portrait, June 1953.

“This year people around the world will recognize Queen Elizabeth’s sapphire jubilee. Her reign is the latest episode in the long history of a special throne.

Feb. 6 marks the 65th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne of Great Britain.

Celebrations of the queen’s sapphire jubilee were held throughout the Commonwealth, including a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London. She is considered the monarch reigning over 16 nations and the titular head of the Commonwealth of Nations (which includes 52 sovereign states). She is deeply respected by many around the world.

Never before in British history

Since the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II and took the throne, a jubilee in celebration of 60 years on the throne has only occurred twice: for Queen Victoria, who reigned over Britain and the Empire for 63 years, and for Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. Elizabeth is now the first British monarch to reach her sapphire jubilee!

The start of the queen’s reign

King George VI died in February 1952; and as is the custom, his firstborn child succeeded to the throne. Princess Elizabeth was just 26 years old and married to Prince Philip. They had been blessed with two children by then, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

So her long reign began. The date of her coronation was June 2, 1953 (it took that long to prepare).

A huge turnout

If you watched the celebrations five years ago in June 2012, you saw hundreds of thousands of people (who braved somewhat miserable weather) line the banks of the River Thames and watch a flotilla of a thousand boats of every possible kind pass under Tower Bridge and salute the queen. By any standard, this event broke many records.

Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, would have been impressed with her legacy of family. Four generations of royals enjoyed these four days.

An ancient throne

In biblical history there is something very special about the throne that Queen Elizabeth is custodian of. The line of occupants goes back for many centuries past William the Conqueror. In fact, it goes all the way back to King David of the nation of Israel.

In Genesis 12 a promise was given by God to Abram (later Abraham) that through him all families of the earth would be blessed. This promise was expanded on and passed down to the following generations.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (later named Israel) would produce the descendants that would inherit the promises. Jacob had 12 sons who became the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. Then two of his grandsons were given very specific and special blessings.

Promised birthright blessings

The birthright blessings were passed onto Ephraim and Manasseh—two of Israel’s grandsons (Genesis 48:17-22). Manasseh would be a great single nation and Ephraim’s descendants would become a company of nations. When was this fulfilled in man’s history?

We believe that the United States represents Manasseh today, and the company of nations is represented by the United Kingdom and the British Empire (now Commonwealth) that together make up the part of the world that the queen is head of.

King David

King David was appointed by God to rule Israel, and he received a promise from God that there would always be a ruler on the throne (2 Samuel 7:12-16).

A careful study of the Bible and history shows that this throne is actually the one that Queen Elizabeth occupies today. It is the throne of David.

A prophecy in Jeremiah 30:9 tells us that God will resurrect David to be king over all 12 tribes of Israel. This time he will rule under Jesus Christ, who has promised to return to become King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the Kingdom of God on earth (Revelation 11:15-18).

A lesson for us all

At a coronation the sovereign is anointed (following the command given by God in 1 Kings 1:38-40). This practice has been followed by the English for over 1,000 years.

A thread throughout the queen’s reign has been her deep sense of duty. She has carried out her responsibilities with sincere dedication, supported by her husband, Prince Philip. Many have commented on her self-discipline and devotion to her position. One commentator said that this came from the sense of vocation she felt having been anointed at her coronation—in other words, realizing this was from God.

Lord Horatio Nelson said at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 that “England expects that every man will do his duty.” It seems Queen Elizabeth was raised to think that way, and perhaps all of us should pay careful attention to our personal responsibilities as well.

God keeps His promises

Now Queen Elizabeth has passed Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch. How much longer will she serve Great Britain and the Commonwealth as queen? The lives of our leaders are in God’s hands. But we can rejoice, knowing that God keeps His promises, and the greatest one is that He will send the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, back to this earth to establish His Kingdom forever and ever.”

For more about Britain in prophecy and the royal family, read:

• The United States, Britain and the Commonwealth in Prophecy
• The Dedicated Queen Turns 90

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3 Romantic Alternatives to Valentine’s Day

“As Valentine’s Day draws near, many will celebrate romantic love. But what about true love? Here are three ways to escape the superficiality of Valentine’s Day.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, millions of people have already made plans for romantic getaways, ordered flowers or chocolates and started writing valentines. For the holiday that is supposed to epitomize romantic love, it is very materially based and commercialized.

Can a married couple express true love in better ways than heart-shaped chocolates and bland, poorly worded cards? You bet!

Origins of Valentine’s Day

Where does real romance that is related to true love come from? A solid, healthy relationship. The old adage of “we could talk for hours” should still be one of the most romantic things to us. Before we discuss the meaningful alternatives to Valentine’s Day, consider why we should seek alternatives in the first place.  Valentine’s Day is based on a very bizarre, ancient fertility festival called the Lupercalia. This festival was celebrated in mid-February in ancient Rome. The ancient Romans would sacrifice an animal on the Lupercalia and then use the hides to whip females in order to supposedly increase their fertility.

Another component of the festival was matchmaking. Males and females would be paired up at Lupercalia by a lottery and then would remain partners for either the duration of the festival or for a year.

The Roman church later replaced the Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day in honor of a martyr named Valentine. But the popular celebration maintained the romantic and sensual elements of the pagan festival.

The fact that Cupid, a Roman god of love, is associated with this day is even more proof of its deep roots in ancient Roman paganism.

Alternatives

Marriage is a beautiful institution created by God, and there are much better ways to build and celebrate it than a celebration like Valentine’s Day!

Here are a few ideas to celebrate your love for your spouse—without doing it on Valentine’s Day!

1. Get romantic at unexpected times.

Though anniversaries are great times to celebrate your love for each other, romance does not have to be tied to a calendar date. Giving gifts, writing meaningful notes and going on romantic getaways are all great for a marriage—and they can be done at any time of the year! In fact, these things are much more meaningful when they are spontaneous and done out of sincere appreciation and love.

It is somewhat shocking that so many people wait until a holiday inspired by fertility rites and a Roman god to actually show how much they love their mates. We are told not to worship God through pagan practices (Deuteronomy 12:31), and we also should be careful to not degrade love by mixing it with perverse paganism.

Gifts and romantic gestures done at unexpected times and for no other calendar reason will always be greatly remembered and treasured by those receiving them.

Ideas: Be consistent with little gifts, candies or gestures throughout the entire year. Plan something with lots of “us” time involved that is not tied to any specific date. Just do it because it’s good for the marriage!

2. Talk to each other every day.

Yes, it may sound simplistic—but it is actually a huge thing! It’s important to speak to one another.

Where does real romance that is related to true love come from? A solid, healthy relationship. The old adage of “we could talk for hours” should still be one of the most romantic things to us. The wonderful thing about the giving of gifts and the dinners, trips and adventures together is the closeness that should result from them. This closeness is mainly shared through conversation.

No, not from a three-line French poem that someone memorized to impress a date. No, not the seemingly wonderful wisdom of “be my valentine” (meaningless, if you think about it!) scratched on cheap candy. It comes from real words and the development of a connection between two people who truly love each other.

Ideas: Have a set time every single night where the television, computer, phones and everything else are turned off—so you can talk with the person you love. Walk and talk. Eat and talk (not at the same time!). Sit and talk. Exercise and talk. Whatever you are doing, make sure talking is involved.

3. Put 1 Corinthians 13 into practice every day.

It’s nicknamed the Love Chapter for good reason. This chapter comprehensively lists what love is and what it isn’t. We can use this chapter as a daily, monthly or yearly project to improve our marriages. God wrote the book on love, so His Bible should be the primary place we go for guidance in expressing proper love within marriage.

Here are some ways 1 Corinthians 13 can be put into practice to improve our marriages:

• Love suffers long: When our mates do something that really bothers us, we should let it go or work on improving the problem together.
• Love is kind: We should do something kind for our mates without being asked—often.
• Love does not parade itself: We should be sure to tell our mates how much we love them privately—we don’t need to use Facebook to demonstrate our love for our mate!
• Love is not puffed up: We should always be ready to admit when we’ve done something wrong.
• Love does not behave rudely: We should make sure our marriage is characterized by considerate behavior toward each other.
• Love does not seek its own: We should willingly and joyfully do something we have no interest in, but our mate enjoys.

The Love Chapter, though about a much deeper love than just romantic love, is filled with guidance on how to treat the love of your life. Read it often.

One 24-hour period involving candies and ancient fertility symbolism does not come close to the fulfilling and meaningful love God wants us to enjoy.

Isn’t it time for you to ditch Valentine’s Day and demonstrate true love God’s way?”

To learn more about how to build a happy marriage, read our study guide “5 Keys to Improving Your Marriage.”

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Religion of Peace
Atrocity of the Week

 
Uganda: Muslim Mob Beats,
Rapes Christians in Church

Put the Numbers in Perspective -  Islamic Terrorists...

...killed twice as many people in one month (5000) in November, 2014) than were killed in in 350 years of Inquisition (2000-3000).

...murder more people everyday than the KKK has in the last 70 years (26 since 1945).

...killed more civilians in two hours on September 11th (2977) than in the 26 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland (2236).

...massacred more Iraqis on a single day in June, 2014 (1566) than the number of criminals executed by America in the last 40 years (1423).

...killed more Americans on American soil than the combined militaries of Japan and Nazi Germany in WWII.

...slaughter more people everyday than were killed during the entire Salem Witch Trials (12).

From: http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

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Update:

Nothing has been done to the guest house this week.  Never saw my helper again, even though he called and said he would come by on Friday to pick up some of his stuff, he never arrived. 

As I didn’t have a helper, I was busy doing different reseach on the computer, taking care of animals, and helping Roni, the neighbor with pancreatic cancer.  I cooked her some homemade organic food, and took some food for the cat that is still there.  One day Roni had the cat she calls ‘Squeakers’, in her arms, knowing that the cat needed to be vaccinated and spayed.  So we popped her in a carrier and she is now here in a third cage that my neighbor SPCA foster mom had loaned me.  I needed one more with a side door as mine had Stripes and Speckles, Roni’s other cats, in them.  Squeakers is not used to being in a cage, but she has the shy temperament where she would find the most inaccessible place to hide if I let her loose in the room.  As she is pregnant, she might not show herself again until she had multiplied!  She is scared of people, but she lets me pet her and has let me hold her.  So, for now, she has to be caged so that I know where she is and can give her the deworming meds for 3 days.  Still trying to think of a better name for her.

Stripes and Speckles had their neutering surgery and are recovering nicely.  They had to be caged for several days so that they wouldn’t jump up or down on things and hurt their stitches, but then they were allowed to be loose and play in my house.  Later in the week they were taken to stay in the SPCA Habitat inside Petco, Conroe for a month.  SPCA volunteers go daily to tend to the cats in the Habitat. They are on display there for adoption, and cats usually get adopted during that time.  Both are really sweet kitties and will be a great joy in their adoptive homes.  My favorite, Speckles just loves it there.  All the attention from the shoppers is right up her ally.  If they don’t get adopted while they are in the Habitat, then they go back to live with their foster parents.  Each animal has it’s own webpage, too, so sometimes they get adopted that way.

So I still have the great big cat, Napoleon, Squeakers and the ‘come-along’ bobcat-looking cat that lives on my front porch, he is called “Rumpy for “Rumpelstiltskin”!   Napoleon is more work as he is messy, scattering litter and food all over my bathroom.  That’s where my little electric ‘broomstick’ comes in handy.

Some of the research I have been doing is about the glycemic levels of sugar and sweeteners. This was because I saw one of the younger ladies at the church putting FOUR spoons of sugar, THREE spoons of Coffeemate (ladled with HFCS) in her coffee, and then eating donuts.   No wonder she is pudgy!  She surely will be riddled with health issues if she carries on like that.

“Sugar-containing foods in their natural form, whole fruit, for example, tend to be highly nutritious—nutrient-dense, high in fiber, and low in glycemic load. On the other hand, refined, concentrated sugar consumed in large amounts rapidly increases blood glucose and insulin levels, increases triglycerides, inflammatory mediators and oxygen radicals, and with them, the risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses,” Dr. Ludwig explains. 

“The glycemic index for sweeteners is a function of three things:
1. The amount of carbohydrate present. 
2. The type of carbohydrate present. 
3. The presence of other substances (soluble fiber for example) that slow metabolism of carbohydrates. 

Glucose has a glycemic index (GI) of 100 and fructose is 25. Sucrose (Ordinary sugar) which is made up of a combination of these two has a GI of 65. 

“Sugar alcohols tend to have very low GIs. In particular Erythritol has a GI of only 1, and it is a safe low calorie sweetener that occurs naturally in some fruits and mushrooms.

Both the natural zero calorie sweeteners such as Stevia, and the artificial ones such as Saccharin have no glycemic index. They do not raise blood sugar at all. This brings up another issue: The human body is programmed to react to the taste of sweet things.

Studies have shown that insulin is secreted by the pancreas soon after the sweet taste is experienced on the tongue, whether the substance contains calories or not. The body is fooled by the zero calorie sweetener. It expects glucose to hit the bloodstream and it gets none. This may result in increased appetite soon after.

Some studies have indicated that zero calorie sweeteners do not help reduce weight, and this may explain the reason. However this does not take into account several useful aspects of zero calorie sweeteners:

1. They do not cause a blood sugar spike and this alone is beneficial to health.
2. They are suitable for diabetics who would otherwise have a limited choice of sweet things.
3. They are harmless to teeth.
4. All things being equal they contain no calories and should be of assistance in a diet plan.”

From: http://www.sugar-and-sweetener-guide.com/glycemic-index-for-sweeteners.html”

Over the years I have found out that artificial sweetners like Aspartame, in the Blue packets, are like toxins and are so very bad for you. CSPI has also issued aspartame a rating of "avoid."  Since methanol in aspartame has no natural binder, nearly all of it turns into formaldehyde in your body. Formaldehyde (which is used in, among other things, paint remover and embalming fluid is a poison several thousand times more potent than ethyl alcohol.) From:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/13/artificial-sweeteners-more-dangerous-than-y )  And Splenda (Yellow Packets)  (Yes. Sucralose (Splenda) bears more chemical similarity to DDT than it does to sugar. From:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/10/new-study-of-splenda-reveals-shocking-information-about-potential-harmful-effects.aspx )  Some people find out that their headaches or fibromyalgia were caused by them. 

Saccharin (Pink Packets) isn’t so bad, (“No chemical additive for food has been tested in as many laboratories, for as long a period, in as many species of animals (including man) and in successive generations, and yet has been found to be as innocuous as saccharin.”   From: http://saccharin.org/saccharin-safety/   and it is readily available when you are out and about, but Non-GMO Erythritol seems to be a better choice to have at home: https://www.verywell.com/erythritol-what-should-you-know-about-it-89560 .

I knew that I would have to ramrod the potluck again as the pastor’s wife still has a bad knee which has put her in a wheelchair.  She cannot be on crutches because of her breast cancer surgery.   Some of the healthy food that I cooked for Roni got me on a healthy grains kick.  So I made several ‘grainy’ dishes for the church potluck.  Wheatberry Waldorf Salad, Buckwheat with Apple and Blackberrues, Freekeh with Ground Beef and Veggies, and Chia Pudding made with flaxmilk and sweetened with ground up dates.  I have previously taken dishes made with Farro and Quinoa for the potluck many times.  Our vegan lady brought a delicious vegan rice dish with cashews in it.   I am nuts about nuts.  But as I have had a busted jaw, some nuts are hard for me to chew, so I grind the nuts up in my auger juicer with the nut butter blank in it, and mix the ground nuts with different things to make them into a spread, like cream cheese, or just put it in my yogurt. 

The Bible readings were John 6:25-36, Exo. 13:17-17-16. Judges 4:4-5:31 and Heb. 13:10-21. The Teaching was about Joshua 24, but I couldn’t hear it very well with folks trying to help me in the kitchen.  Maybe Winter is over as I had to run the air conditioning on the way home, as it was a much warmer day.

Bone Broth. We Feed Cows Chicken Poop, Rotten Potatoes And Newspapers! Ractopamine. Splenda And Neotame Hazards. Montgomery Ward.

 

For "Foodie Friday":

Now that you have had all the left-overs from your holiday meal that you can take, how about some……

Bone Broth—One of Your Most Healing Diet Staples

"According to an old South American proverb, "good broth will resurrect the dead." While that’s undoubtedly an exaggeration, it speaks to the value placed on this wholesome food, going back through the annals of time.

The featured article by Dr. Amy Myers¹* lists 10 health benefits of bone broth. Sally Fallon with the Weston A. Price Foundation²* has previously published information about this healing food as well.

Bone broth contains valuable minerals in a form your body can easily absorb and use, including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur chondroitin, glucosamine, and a variety of trace minerals.

The gelatin found in bone broth is a hydrophilic colloid. It attracts and holds liquids, including digestive juices, thereby supporting proper digestion.

Bone broth also inhibits infection caused by cold and flu viruses, for example, and fights inflammation, courtesy of anti-inflammatory amino acids such as arginine.

Making your own bone broth is very cost effective, as you can make use of left over carcass bones that would otherwise be thrown away. And making your own broth is quite easy."

1* http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9890/10-benefits-of-bone-broth-gut-healing-recipe.html

2* http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/broth-is-beautiful

More at: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/16/bone-broth-benefits.aspx?

Another recipe: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/3615609338/slow-cooker-beef-bone-broth

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We Feed Cows Chicken Poop.

They’re Feeding WHAT to Cows?

"'Poultry litter' is exactly what it sounds like: the filthy stuff scraped off the floor of a chicken coop. Feeding it to cattle (yes, that happens) risks the spread of mad cow disease—yet the FDA has done nothing to stop it.

Anyone who pays even scant attention to where our food comes from is likely aware that some pretty unsavory things happen between the farm and your fork (see this month’s big story in Rolling Stone, for example). But some of these farming methods are more than just unappetizing: they could be deadly. One practice in particular could allow for the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, the gruesome and fatal neurodegenerative disorder more commonly known as mad cow disease.

The practice in question is feeding what’s known as "poultry litter" to farmed cattle. Poultry litter is the agriculture industry’s term for the detritus that gets scooped off the floors of chicken cages and broiler houses. It’s mainly a combination of feces, feathers, and uneaten chicken feed, but in addition, a typical sample of poultry litter might also contain antibiotics, heavy metals, disease-causing bacteria, and even bits of dead rodents, according to Consumers Union (the policy and action arm of the nonprofit that publishes Consumer Reports). 

Aside from the fact that we’re feeding our cows chicken crap, this practice is worrisome because both the excrement and uneaten pellets of chicken chow found in poultry litter can contain beef protein, including ground-up meat and bone meal. Which means—if you can follow the gruesome flow chart here—that cows could be, indirectly, eating each other.

As the US Department of Agriculture has made quite clear, cows really, really shouldn’t be doing that. Meat and bone meal containing infected bovine protein, the USDA says, is the chief culprit behind the spread of mad cow disease. (The closely related illness in humans is called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.)" 

A lot more at: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/12/we-feed-cows-chicken-poop  This story originally appeared on OnEarth.org.

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 5 Surprising Things We Feed Cows

Sawdust, Candy, wrapper and all, Chicken shit, Ground limestone, Crab guts!

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And another list of factory-farmed cow's diet here:

Chicken Poop and Cookies: Food for Cows?

"For those of you wondering what chicken litter is, it is basically straw or wood shavings  and chicken poop that is scooped up off the floor of the chicken coop while cleaning it. Yum.

I had some skepticism when I first read that cows were fed old chicken house bedding that contained chicken manure, because it seemed so crazy to me, but after a little research into “feedstuffs” for cattle, there were all kinds of unsavory things that cows are fed. Here is an incomplete list of the things that I discovered on various university extension and cattle industry websites:

• Shredded newspapers soaked in molasses
• Blood meal (dried blood from slaughter house waste)
• Animal byproducts: fish meal, meat and bone meal, poultry by-product meal, etc. (slaughter house waste – wait, isn’t this what caused mad cow disease??)
• Hydrolyzed Feather Meal (AKA chicken feathers – also slaughterhouse waste – this REALLY eliminates the humor in those chic-fil-a commercials)
• Stale candy: gummy bears, gummy worms, m&ms, etc.
• Pasta (old surplus pasta)
• Surplus french fries and potato chips
• Cannery waste (waste from canning factories where canned vegetables etc are processed)
• Stale bakery goods: breads, donuts, pastries, etc.
• Soy cakes (left over after making soy sauce)
• Brewery waste: spent grains from making beer (this is what caused the problems that led lawmakers to decide that milk needed to be pasteurized after milk from cows that were fed brewery waste sickened and killed hundreds of people.)
• Rotten potatoes that never made it to grocery store shelves. (This only after potatoes useable for making frozen french fries are separated out. My father used to work at a factory that made frozen french fries, and the place smelled like a sewer. The potatoes used for fries were rotten, but not completely mush yet. They would soak them in a solution to harden them again, then bleach them, then cut them into fries and flash freeze them. The potatoes that couldn’t even survive this process are sold as animal feed.)
• Soy hulls (a byproduct from the soybean milling process)
• Corn, cottonseed, soy, peanut, and other ‘meals’ (leftover from making oils)
• Cotton gin trash (leftover from harvesting and milling cotton)
• Peanut shells
• Grain middling's (left over from milling flour)
• Citrus pulp (leftover after making orange or grapefruit juice)
• Cane byproducts (leftover after making sugar)
• Beet pulp (from sugar beets in sugar production)
• *Sweetos a cheaper substitute for molasses. Sweetos guarantees the masking of unpleasant tastes and odor and improves the palatability of feed according to Monsanto spokesperson (so that cows will eat all of the unnatural feedstuffs that they are being given)

(See this list of cattle ‘feedstuffs’ from the University of Wisconsin)

Which of these cattle would you prefer as your food source?

If we are what we eat, (and so are our cows) what have you eaten today?" From:  http://www.meanroostersoup.com/chicken-poop-and-cookies-food-for-cows/

*Neotame is the generic name for Sweetos:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/28/neotame-more-toxic-than-aspartame.aspx

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Ractopamine: The Meat Additive on Your Plate That’s Banned Almost Everywhere But America.

October 31st, 2013

[Note:  Don't panic, go organic!  This additive is not allowed in organic foods.]

"The asthma drug-like growth additive has enjoyed stealth use in the US food supply for a decade despite being widely banned overseas.

Are you sure you want a bite?

Have you ever heard of ractopamine? Neither have most US food consumers though it is  used in 80 percent of US pig and cattle operations. The asthma drug-like growth additive, called a beta-agonist, has enjoyed stealth use in the US food supply for a decade despite being widely banned overseas. It is marketed as Paylean for pigs, Optaflexx for cattle and Topmax for turkeys.

Certainly the ractopamine label puts no one at ease, says the label for the turkey feed.

"WARNING: The active ingredient in Topmax, ractopamine hydrochloride, is a beta-adrenergic agonist. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure.  Not for use in humans. Keep out of the reach of children. The Topmax 9 formulation (Type A Medicated Article) poses a low dust potential under usual conditions of handling and mixing. When mixing and handling Topmax, use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask. Operators should wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling. If accidental eye contact occurs, immediately rinse eyes thoroughly with water. If irritation persists, seek medical attention. The material safety data sheet contains more detailed occupational safety information. To report adverse effects, access medical information, or obtain additional product information, call 1-800-428-4441."   This is used in food production?

Complete article at: AlterNet By Martha Rosenberg

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From Me:  And people wonder why they are sick!  More reason to eat only organic pasture-fed beef and poultry.

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Health Hazards Associated with Splenda Consumption

"Splenda is found in tens of thousands of processed food products sold in 90 different countries, many of which are specifically marketed to those seeking to either lose weight or manage their diabetes.

Mounting research, however, shows that not only does it tend to worsen both of those problems, but it’s also associated with an array of other troublesome side effects.

The web site www.truthaboutsplenda.com lists a variety of consumer complaints from Splenda consumption, many of which mimic other health conditions. Some of the most commonly reported adverse effects include:

• Gastrointestinal problems
• Seizures, dizziness, and migraines
• Blurred vision
• Allergic reactions
• Blood sugar increases and weight gain

But that’s not all. Now, an in-depth scientific review of sucralose (Splenda) published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health reveals an extensive list of safety concerns, including toxicity, DNA damage, and heightened carcinogenic potential when used in cooking."  More at: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/18/sucralose-side-effects.aspx

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On This Day:

FDR seizes control of Montgomery Ward, Dec 27, 1944:

"On this day in 1944, as World War II dragged on, President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders his secretary of war to seize properties belonging to the Montgomery Ward company because the company refused to comply with a labor agreement.

In an effort to avert strikes in critical war-support industries, Roosevelt created the National War Labor Board in 1942. The board negotiated settlements between management and workers to avoid shut-downs in production that might cripple the war effort. During the war, the well-known retailer and manufacturer Montgomery Ward had supplied the Allies with everything from tractors to auto parts to workmen's clothing--items deemed as important to the war effort as bullets and ships.

However, Montgomery Ward Chairman Sewell Avery refused to comply with the terms of three different collective bargaining agreements with the United Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union hammered out between 1943 and 1944. In April 1944, after Sewell refused a second board order, Roosevelt called out the Army National Guard to seize the company's main plant in Chicago. Sewell himself had to be carried out of his office by National Guard troops.

By December of that year, Roosevelt was fed up with Sewell's obstinacy and disrespect for the government's authority. (The uber-capitalist Sewell's favorite insult was to call someone a "New Dealer"--a direct reference to Roosevelt's Depression-era policies.) On December 27, Roosevelt ordered the secretary of war to seize Montgomery Ward's plants and facilities in New York, Michigan, California, Illinois, Colorado and Oregon.

In his announcement that day, Roosevelt emphasized that the government would "not tolerate any interference with war production in this critical hour." He issued a stern warning to labor unions and industry management alike: "strikes in wartime cannot be condoned, whether they are strikes by workers against their employers or strikes by employers against their Government." Sewell took the fight to federal court, but lost.

For much of the 20th century, Montgomery Ward, founded in 1872, reigned as one of the country's largest department store and mail-order retail chains. Heavy competition from Wal-Mart, Target and similar discount stores forced the company to close all of its stores in 2000, though it retains a catalog and internet presence."

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Yesterday:

Just as I was feeding the animals their breakfasts, Ray came over wanting to help me with something, anything.  That surprised me as he is still hurting from his accident.  Shay's sister has been staying with them for over a week now, and Ray just wanted to get out of his house rather than listen to them constantly arguing.

The pine needles have been settling on blind Misty's pathway to the back yard which makes it difficult for her to find her way to the stone walkway. So Ray blew them out of there with the blower.  That led to both of us raking and blowing the whole front yard.  The red maple had dropped all it's leaves, too. As there was no wind, we lit the burn pile, and kept on loading more pine needles and leaves on it.  Then we moved into the back yard and raked up all of the pine needles back there, too.   We got our exercise for the day.  

Then we came in here as Ray wanted to watch the two videos that tell about the customs when Jesus was born.

More about the living conditions in those days:

Ray found them very interesting, and said that they bring up some facts which are not generally known.  What did you think? These are the ones that I posted on Christmas day.

Artificial Sweeteners. Agave Nectar? High Fructose Corn Syrup? Alaska. Puerto Rico. Dymaxion.

 

For "Foodie Friday":

Artificial Sweeteners and Other Food Substitutes: Dangerous to Your Health?

"Dr. Oz examines the risks linked to artificial sweeteners and other food substitutes. Bottom line: They’re not always the healthier option."

You put artificial sweeteners in your coffee, drink them in your diet soda and use them to limit sugar intake and cut calories. But could they be hazardous to your health?
This question is critical since the average American consumes 24 pounds of artificial sweeteners each year. Soda is the most common place they’re found, but did you know that sugar substitutes are also added to nearly 6,000 other products sold in the US, including baby foods, frozen dinners and even yogurts?
The four major groups of FDA-approved artificial sweeteners on the market are:

• Aspartame (includes Equal, Nutrasweet brands)
• Sucralose (includes Splenda brand)
• Saccharin (includes Sweet’N Low brand)
• Acesulfame Potassium (includes Sunett, Sweet One brands)

Besides artificial sweeteners, today’s grocery store shelves are also lined with substitutes for butter, salt and fat. In all of these cases, the substitute is not necessarily the better option.
Here’s the skinny on the top questions concerning artificial sweeteners, and the facts you need to know regarding other popular “fake” foods.

The Skinny on Artificial Sweeteners Can They Cause Weight Gain?
Many people use artificial sweeteners to cut their caloric intake, but the very opposite effect can occur. New research shows that artificial sweeteners stimulate taste receptors that sense sweetness in both the esophagus and stomach. Anticipating energy, the pancreas releases insulin, an important hormone for accumulating body fat. At the same time, chemicals are sent to the brain’s satiety center, which becomes confused as to whether or not the body is actually receiving calories. The result? You feel even hungrier and less full, which can lead to weight gain.

Are They Addictive?
Research on artificial sweeteners shows that they affect the same parts of the brain that deal with addiction. Artificial sweeteners are substances some people feel they can’t live without, a sign of an addiction. Second, artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than natural sugars, such as those found in whole grains, fruits and skim milk, and can actually reset your taste buds. The body then builds up a tolerance, which can cause overuse, another sign of addiction."    More at: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/artificial-sweeteners-and-other-food-substitutes-dangerous-your-health

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Sugar Substitutes—What’s Safe and What’s Not

"Sugar substitutes can be divided into four general categories: artificial sweetener, sugar alcohols, natural sweeteners, and dietary supplements such as Stevia and Lo Han.

Artificial sweeteners can actually be far worse for you than sugar and fructose, and scientific evidence backs up that conclusion.

Furthermore, numerous studies show they increase weight gain and worsen insulin sensitivity to a greater degree than sugar.

Natural sweeteners such as honey and agave may seem like a healthier choice, but not only are they loaded with fructose, many are also highly processed.

In moderation, some sugar alcohols can be a better choice than highly refined sugar, fructose or artificial sweeteners. Of the various sugar alcohols, xylitol is one of the best. When it is pure, the potential side effects are minimal.

Three of the best sugar substitutes are all-natural Stevia from the whole plant, Lo Han Guo, and dextrose (pure glucose). Contrary to fructose, glucose can be used directly by every cell in your body and as such is a far safer sugar alternative."    Complete article at: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/07/sugar-substitutes.aspx

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Q: What's Wrong with Agave Nectar?

""I've been using agave as a sweetener for a couple of years. Lately, I've been reading some very negative reports on it, and am considering switching to another sweetener. Do you still recommend agave?"

Answer:  "Agave (pronounced 'uh-GAH-vay') nectar is a natural sweetener with a pleasant neutral taste. It ranks relatively low on both the glycemic index and glycemic load scales. For a while, I used agave as my main sweetener, although I don't use sweeteners very often. When I do, I use very small amounts.

I've stopped using agave myself and no longer recommend it as a healthy sweetener. The reason agave ranks relatively low on the glycemic index is because it has a high content of fructose. Fructose does not readily raise blood sugar (glucose) levels because the body doesn't metabolize it well. New research suggests that excessive fructose consumption deranges liver function and promotes obesity. The less fructose you consume, the better.

As it turns out, agave has a higher fructose content than any other common sweetener, more even than high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Because of its reputation as a "natural" sweetener, it is now widely used in products claiming to be good for health – from teas to nutrition bars and energy drinks.

I don't think there's any doubt that Americans consume much too much fructose, an average of 55 grams per day (compared to about 15 grams 100 years ago, mostly from fruits and vegetables). The biggest problem is cheap HFCS, ubiquitous in processed food. 

Fructose is a major culprit in the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.  It may also increase risks of heart disease and cancer.

I now use maple syrup instead of agave. It has a much lower fructose content, and I have always liked its flavor. I've asked the chefs at True Food Kitchen, the restaurants I helped found in Phoenix and Scottsdale in Arizona and Newport Beach, San Diego and Santa Monica in California to cut back on agave and experiment with pure glucose syrup for sweetening.  It is less sweet than either agave or maple syrup and contains no fructose at all."  Andrew Weil, M.D. From: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401166/Whats-Wrong-with-Agave-Nectar.html

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Q: High Fructose Corn Syrup: Too Sweet to Eat?

""I'm confused about high fructose corn syrup. I thought it was bad for you, but now I read that it's natural and may not be to blame for the obesity epidemic after all. True?"

Answer:  "High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is definitely bad for you. It is also bad for the planet, and I believe that it is a major driver of the obesity epidemic, despite the position taken in June 2008 by the American Medical Association. The AMA concluded that HFCS isn't any worse than other caloric sweeteners and that there is "insufficient evidence" to restrict its use or require a warning label on products that contain it.

HFCS is a relatively recent invention for sweetening soft drinks, juices and foods - the production process was developed in Japan in the late 1960s, and the new sweetener entered the American food system in the early 1970s. It tastes sweeter than regular corn syrup, blends well with other foods, maintains a longer shelf life and is cheaper. You'll also find it in processed foods ranging from salad dressings and ketchup, to jams, jellies, ice cream and many others - even bread. HFCS contains 14-percent fructose, much more than regular corn syrup. I'm concerned that it has disruptive effects on metabolism, because the body doesn't utilize fructose well, and humans have never before consumed it in such quantity.

Of course, HFCS isn't solely to blame for the obesity epidemic. The AMA correctly pointed out that as consumption of HFCS rose, Americans were also consuming more calories (of all kinds) and becoming less active. All told, however, consumption of HFCS in the United States increased by more than 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, and a study published in the April 2004 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, concluded that Americans over the age of two consume more than 300 calories daily from caloric sweeteners, one-sixth of their average daily calories. HCFS may also promote weight gain because it behaves in the body more like fat than glucose, the blood sugar derived from other sweet foods. Some evidence suggests that fructose may disturb liver function, and unlike glucose, doesn't appear to trigger the process by which the body tells us it is full. What's more, in men (not in women) HFCS appears to elevate triglycerides, blood fats that increase the risk of heart disease.

As far as HFCS being "natural," this was a recent FDA decision based on whether or not HFCS constituents come into contact with a synthetic fixing agent during manufacturing. If not, the FDA said, products containing HFCS can be labeled "natural." The other side of this argument, advanced by the sugar industry and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group, is that HFCS can't be considered "natural" because its chemical bonds are broken and rearranged during manufacturing. I don't much care if it's called natural or not; it's not good for us.

And then there's the environmental impact, a serious concern. Journalist and agriculture industry critic Michael Pollen points out that growing all the corn needed for HFCS depletes soil nutrients, which increases the need for pesticides and fertilizer. In March 2008, theWashington Post quoted Pollan as saying that a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where "virtually nothing will live" has been starved of oxygen by the fertilizer runoff coming down the Mississippi from the corn belt. Pollan also notes that federal corn subsidies keep prices of products containing HFCS low, and that - plus the sweetness - feeds the public demand for these foods.

Giving up products containing HFCS will benefit your health, help control your weight, and if enough people get the message, protect the planet as well."  Andrew Weil, M.D. From: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400442/High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup-Too-Sweet-to-Eat.html 

and:

HFCS: BAD FOR THE BRAIN?

"Scans showed that drinking the glucose-sweetened beverages turns off brain areas that stimulate the desire for food, but this didn’t happen when the drinks contained HFCS."    More at: http://www.drweilblog.com/home/2013/3/18/hfcs-bad-for-the-brain.html

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On This Day:

U.S. takes possession of Alaska, Oct 18, 1867:

"On this day in 1867, the U.S. formally takes possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre. The Alaska purchase comprised 586,412 square miles, about twice the size of Texas, and was championed by William Henry Seward, the enthusiastically expansionist secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson.

Russia wanted to sell its Alaska territory, which was remote, sparsely populated and difficult to defend, to the U.S. rather than risk losing it in battle with a rival such as Great Britain. 

The name Alaska is derived from the Aleut word alyeska, which means "great land."  Most Americans recognized that Seward had made a smart deal with the Alaska Purchase. Still, a few ill-informed critics did not miss the opportunity to needle the Johnson administration by calling the purchase "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox," or joking that the administration had only bought the territory to create new political appointments like a "Polar Bear's Bureau" and a "Superintendent of Walruses."

Within a few decades, Alaska would prove to be an amazing treasure trove of natural resources from gold to oil, proving Seward's wisdom and exposing the shortsightedness of those who had once poked fun at the purchase."

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U.S. takes control of Puerto Rico, Oct 18, 1898:

"Only one year after Spain granted Puerto Rico self-rule, American troops raise the U.S. flag over the Caribbean nation, formalizing U.S. authority over the island's one million inhabitants.

In July 1898, near the end of the Spanish-American War, U.S. forces launched an invasion of Puerto Rico, the 108-mile-long, 40-mile-wide island that was one of Spain's two principal possessions in the Caribbean. With little resistance and only seven American deaths, U.S. troops were able to secure the island by mid August. After the signing of an armistice with Spain, the island was turned over to the U.S forces on October 18. In December, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Spanish-American War and officially approving the cession of Puerto Rico to the United States.

Movements for Puerto Rican statehood, along with lesser movements for Puerto Rican independence, have won supporters on the island, but popular referendums in 1967 and 1993 demonstrated that the majority of Puerto Ricans still supported their special status as a U.S. commonwealth."

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R. Buckminster Fuller tries to patent his Dymaxion Car, Oct 18, 1933:

"On October 18, 1933, the American philosopher-inventor R. Buckminster Fuller applies for a patent for his Dymaxion Car. The Dymaxion—the word itself was another Fuller invention, a combination of "dynamic," "maximum," and "ion"—looked and drove like no vehicle anyone had ever seen. It was a three-wheeled, 20-foot-long, pod-shaped automobile that could carry 11 passengers and travel as fast as 120 miles per hour. It got 30 miles to the gallon, could U-turn in a distance equal to its length and could parallel park just by pivoting its wheels toward the curb and zipping sideways into its parking space. It was stylish, efficient and eccentric and it attracted a great deal of attention: Celebrities wanted to ride in it and rich men wanted to invest in it. But in the same month that Fuller applied for his patent, one of his prototype Dymaxions crashed, killing the driver and alarming investors so much that they withdrew their money from the project.

Sculptor Isamu Naguchi helped the inventor with his final design: a long teardrop-shaped chassis with two wheels in front and a third in back that could lift off the ground. In practice, this didn't turn out to be a great idea: As the vehicle picked up speed (theoretically in preparation for takeoff) and the third wheel bounced off the ground, it became nearly impossible for the driver to control the car. In fact, many people blamed this handling problem for the fatal crash of the prototype car, even though an investigation revealed that a car full of sightseers had actually caused the accident by hurtling into the Dymaxion's lane.

Many elements of the Dymaxion Car's design—its streamlined shape, its fuel efficiency—have inspired later generations of automakers, but Fuller himself was probably best known for another of his inventions: the geodesic dome. Geodesic domes are built using a pattern of self-bracing triangles. As a result, perhaps unlike the Dymaxion Car, they are incredibly strong and stable—in fact, as one historian writes, "they have proved to be the strongest structures ever devised.""

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Yesterday:

Another day that we couldn't work on the water leak, as Ray and Shay were helping someone down the street.  Time for me to go shopping, as Misty seemed to be feeling better.

Even after I had the bad vacuum hoses and injector replaced in my van, I could still feel a vibration in the seat and steering wheel.  When Jim the mechanic down the street serviced it, he discovered that the front tires were wearing unevenly.  So, yesterday I took it to Pete's mechanic shop in Conroe, and he took it for a test drive.  Then he drove it over his front-end alignment pit and checked the front end.  I have to take it back when I can leave it, as the upper ball-joints need to be replaced. 

The new camera that I had bought at BestBuy, wouldn't work, so I took it back.  They didn't have another one like it in stock, so it is ordered. I was at BestBuy for ages getting that done, it is a busy place.  Any pictures that I have taken recently have been with my old camera.  The little green light which won't turn off, was running the battery down.  Now I keep the battery loosened so it isn't making contact until I'm ready to use it.  Not a very handy solution, but it works, for now.

I had some items to return to Home Depot, but as it was over the time limit, they gave me a store credit.  The only thing I really needed was another circular saw.  I used to have three.  My nice little lightweight one was so popular with everyone that it finally gave up.  Another one was stolen, and the remaining one has a faulty switch. At my age, I hadn't intended to buy any more power tools, but it seems that we always need them to do something.  I bought the lightest one, as it is easier for me.

As I had to go to Pete's first, I was doing my rounds in Conroe backwards, so then I dropped off the paper recycling at St. Mark's thrift shop.  I quickly looked at their wares, but nothing attracted me.

A troll around Conroe Kroger's found some food bargains, and then I came home. 

Nala and Peekers, my foster cats, are getting used to each other, and sort of play.  Nala follows Peekers, then when he turns around they have a 'claws-in' boxing match.   He, being so young, gets into everything, so at night and when I am gone, I put him in his cage.  He is safer that way, and then he gets to chase around the house for the rest of the day.

Buckwheat, Plant it, Grow it and Eat it! Is the Diet Industry Making Us Fat? How Diet Soda Makes You Fat. Salvation Army. Black Sox.

 

For “Foodie Friday”:

Buckwheat - 9 Great Reasons to Know it, Plant it, Grow it and Eat it!

“Buckwheat is one of those plants that may be unfamiliar to most Americans. It is a staple crop in parts of China, Russia and Eastern Europe, but is less well known to U.S. food consumers.

Buckwheat is not a cereal grain, although it's name might lead you to think it is. Rather, it is a flowering plant. Buckwheat is a relative of sorrel, dock and rhubarb, whose 'fruit seeds' are a great source of nutrition, cancer fighting phytonutrients, antioxidants and fiber.

A major crop which has been cultivated throughout the world for centuries, buckwheat production in the U.S. is currently far lower than in other parts of the world.
In the U.S. it is often planted not for the harvest of its seeds but as a weed control cover crop, a green manure to be cut and either tilled or left on the soil as organic matter, or as a honey crop for bees.

There are some powerful benefits offered by buckwheat in the garden and in the diet, not the least of which is its ease of growing and ability to thrive without fertilizers or pesticides.

1. Buckwheat is a great gluten free grain substitute

A source of high quality protein, it contains all eight essential amino acids. Use it to make pancakes, porridge, as a substitute for rice, or sprout it and add it to salads and sandwiches for an antioxidant boost.

Research has shown that sprouting buckwheat changes its nutrient profile and provides a super antioxidant boost.  To super enhance that antioxidant boost, add trace minerals to the sprouting water.

2. Buckwheat improves blood cholesterol levels

In populations where buckwheat is a staple in the diet, it has been shown to lower serum cholesterol and particularly to lower LDL cholesterol, earning it a reputation as a heart healthy grain substitute.

3. Cancer fighting properties

Studies have shown that various parts of the buckwheat seed inhibit tumor growth and slow cancer cell growth in a variety of different types of cancer.

4. Buckwheat is a clean crop.

Common buckwheat is one of the traditional ancient foods of people around the world. It has never been engineered, gone through breeding programs or modified, so you don't have to worry if it's safe.

5. Buckwheat shows results as an appetite suppressant.

It may even reduce your appetite and help you lose weight. In studies of grain substitutes, buckwheat was found to provide a higher sense of satiety than staple western grains such as rice and wheat.   

6. An important bee crop.

Bees adore it. It blooms later than most spring pollen producers and can be a very important food source for bees. Like borage, it will continue blooming and producing new flower clusters and seed heads all season right up to the first frost, providing a major food source for the honey bee.
So, if part of your life mission right now is to help bees, planting common buckwheat is a definite must-do action item.

7. Buckwheat flowers are the source of buckwheat honey, which has proven antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties.

Not only does the buckwheat flower sustain the bees during the mid and late season when traditional pollen sources are low; the honey it produces is medicinal. According to research:
"As buckwheat honey was most effective in reducing ROS levels, it was selected for use in wound-healing products. The major antioxidant properties in buckwheat honey derive from its phenolic constituents, which are present in relatively large amounts. Its phenolic compounds may also exert antibacterial activity, whereas its low pH and high free acid content may assist wound healing."

8. It makes an attractive addition to the garden and has a fragrant flower.

No matter where it is planted in the garden, it adds flowering beauty and a pleasing scent. It can go in the vegetable gardens, herb gardens or along borders and edges. It can be broadcast seeded in meadows. Plant it around the main vegetable and fruit gardens to attract pollinators.

 
9. It's a great cover crop for garden beds

Buckwheat can crowd out some of the toughest spring weeds. While it's growing it is adding phosphorous to the soil for any vegetable crops which can be inter-planted later in the season once the buckwheat has been established.  In polyculture gardens it is left to continue blooming and plants are planted in among the stalks.
Buckwheat is a popular crop in permaculture for all these reasons.

So, even if you don't grow enough to harvest the seeds and make your own grain substitutes, adding buckwheat in the garden provides food for bees, nourishes the soil and fills the air with a delightful fragrance.
For those not fortunate enough to have a garden, this information might inspire a local seed bomb project.

Remember, common buckwheat grows easily, without fertilizers or pesticides, so it's easy enough to make up small clay 'seed packages' and deliver them to edge lands, open spaces where little care is being taken of the property. Organic common buckwheat is sold by many organic specialty seed farmers.

Oh, one more thing, buckwheat can be used as a replacement for barley to make a gluten free beer. So, if it's really true that humans began growing grains and developing agriculture in order to make alcohol, as some anthropologists have suggested... Now there's the reason we were waiting for to get truly motivated! 

Buckwheat plants grow quickly, beginning to produce seed in about 6 weeks and ripening at 10 to 11 weeks. They grow 30 to 50  inches (75 to 125 cm) tall.

Buckwheat: plant it, grow it, sprout it, eat it!”  

From: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/buckwheat-9-great-reasons-know-it-plant-it-grow-it-and-eat-it

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Buckwheat as Food

 

Cooked buckwheat

 

Soba noodles, made from buckwheat flour

 

Naengmyeon, Korean cold noodle soup made with buckwheat flour

 

A traditional Breton galette, a thin large buckwheat flour crepe

 

Black buckwheat tea produced in Sichuan Province, China

 

The fruit is an achene, similar to sunflower seed, with a single seed inside a hard outer hull. The starchy endosperm is white and makes up most or all of buckwheat flour. The seed coat is green or tan, which darkens buckwheat flour. The hull is dark brown or black, and some may be included in buckwheat flour as dark specks. The dark flour is known as blé noir (black wheat) in French, along with the name sarrasin (saracen).

Buckwheat noodles have been eaten by people from Tibet and northern China for a long time, as wheat can not be grown in the mountain regions. A special press made of wood log was built to press the dough into hot boiling water when making buckwheat noodles. Old presses found in Tibet and Shansi share the same basic design features. The Japanese and Koreans might have learned the making of buckwheat noodles from them.

Buckwheat noodles play a major role in the cuisines of Japan (soba), Korea (naengmyeon, makguksu and memil guksu) and the Valtellina region of Northern Italy (pizzoccheri). Soba noodles are the subject of deep cultural importance in Japan. In Korea, guksu  (noodles) were widely made from buckwheat before it was replaced by wheat. The difficulty of making noodles from flour with no gluten has resulted in a traditional art developed around their manufacture by hand.

Buckwheat groats are commonly used in western Asia and eastern Europe. The porridge was common, and is often considered the definitive peasant dish. It is made from roasted groats that are cooked with broth to a texture similar to rice or bulgur. The dish was brought to America by Russian and Polish immigrants who called it kasha, and they mixed it with pasta or used it as a filling for knishes and blintzes, and hence buckwheat prepared in this fashion is most commonly called "kasha" in America, but the groats themselves are called "grechka" by Russian immigrants. Groats were the most widely used form of buckwheat worldwide during the 20th century, eaten primarily in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. The groats can also be sprouted and then eaten raw or cooked.

Buckwheat pancakes, sometimes raised with yeast, are eaten in several countries. They are known as buckwheat blinis in Russia, galettes in France (savoury crêpes made with buckwheat flour, water and eggs are associated with Lower Brittany, whilst savoury galettes made without eggs are from Higher Brittany), ployes in Acadia and boûketes (which are named after the buckwheat plant) in the Wallonia region of Belgium. Similar pancakes were a common food in American pioneer days. They are light and foamy. The buckwheat flour gives them an earthy, mildly mushroom-like taste. In Ukraine, yeast rolls called hrechanyky are made from buckwheat. Buckwheat flour is also used to make Nepali dishes like "dhedo" and "kachhyamba".

Farina made from groats are used for breakfast food, porridge, and thickening materials in soups, gravies, and dressings. In Korea, buckwheat starch is used to make a jelly called memilmuk. It is also used with wheat, maize (polenta taragna in Northern Italy) or rice in bread and pasta products.

Buckwheat contains no gluten and can consequently be eaten by people with celiac disease or gluten allergies. Many bread-like preparations have been developed. However, buckwheat can be a potent and potentially fatal allergen by itself. In sensitive people, it provokes IgE-mediated anaphylaxis. The cases of anaphylaxis induced by buckwheat ingestion have been reported in Korea, Japan and Europe, where it is more often described as a "hidden allergen". A recent article by Heffler et al. showed allergic reactions, even severe ones, induced by accidental ingestion of buckwheat as "hidden allergy", are not so rare as previously described.

Buckwheat is a good honey plant, producing a dark, strong monofloral honey.

Beer

In recent years, buckwheat has been used as a substitute for other grains in gluten-free beer. Although it is not a cereal, buckwheat can be used in the same way as barley to produce a malt that can form the basis of a mash that will brew a beer without gliadin or hordein (together gluten) and therefore can be suitable for celiac or others sensitive to certain glycoproteins.

Upholstery filling

Buckwheat hulls are used as filling for a variety of upholstered goods, including pillows and zafu. The hulls are durable and do not conduct or reflect heat as much as synthetic fills. They are sometimes marketed as an alternative natural fill to feathers for those with allergies. However, medical studies to measure the health effects of buckwheat hull pillows manufactured with unprocessed and uncleaned hulls, concluded such buckwheat pillows do contain higher levels of a potential allergen that may trigger asthma in susceptible individuals than do new synthetic-filled pillows.

Biological control

Buckwheat is currently being studied and used as a pollen and nectar source to increase natural enemy numbers to control crop pests in New Zealand.

Cultural

On Hindu fasting days (Navaratri, Ekadashi, Janamashthami, and Maha Shivaratri), northern states of India eat items made of buckwheat flour. Eating cereals such as wheat or rice is prohibited during such fasting days. However, since buckwheat is not a cereal, it is considered acceptable for consumption during Hindu fasting days. While strong-willed Hindus do not even drink water during their fast (observing nirjal upwaas), others just give up cereals and salt and take a meal made of preparations from non-cereal ingredients such as buckwheat (Kuttu). The preparation of buckwheat flour varies across India. The famous ones are kuttu ki puri (buckwheat pancakes) and kuttu pakoras (potato slices dipped in buckwheat flour and deep fried in oil). In most of northern and western states, buckwheat flour is called kuttu ka atta. In Punjab, it is also called okhla, and is extensively used in flour form.

The buckwheat plant is celebrated in Kingwood, West Virginia at their Buckwheat Festival, where people can participate in swine, cattle, and sheep judging contests, vegetable contests, and craft fairs. The area fire departments also play an important role in the series of parades that occur there. Each year there is a King Buckwheat and Queen Ceres elected. Also there are many rides, and homemade, homegrown buckwheat cakes and sausage are served.

Medicinal uses

Buckwheat contains a glucoside called rutin, a phytochemical that strengthens capillary walls. One clinical study showed mixed results in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency. Dried buckwheat leaves were manufactured in Europe under the brand name "Fagorutin" for use as a tisane.

It also contains galloylated propelargonidins and procyanidins.^[

Buckwheat contains D-chiro-inositol, a component of the secondary messenger pathway for insulin signal transduction found to be deficient in Type II diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome. It is being studied for use in treating Type II diabetes.

Research on D-chiro-inositol and PCOS has shown promising results.

High protein buckwheat flour is being studied for possible use as a functional ingredient in foods to reduce plasma cholesterol, body fat, and cholesterol gallstones.” More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwheat

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How to Grow Buckwheat

“Buckwheat is easy to grow — in fact, it's unequaled at growing on poor soil . . . cut the stems with grass shears when about three-quarters of the seeds have turned brown. Threshing the seeds is fun: Just lay the stalks on a clean sheet and beat them with a broom!

Buckwheat is one of the best sources of high quality protein in the plant kingdom. It's easy to grow, harvest, and process; it prospers on soils too poor for other crops; and it's not susceptible to any major disease or pest problems. On top of all that, buckwheat is an excellent smother crop for weed control, a superb green manure crop, and a legendary nectar source for honeybees.

Yet few gardeners use it! In all the years we've planted buckwheat for bread and pancake flour, we've never heard of any other gardener raising the crop. So this article explaining how to grow buckwheat is our chance to speak up for an old friend, one that has served us faithfully . . . providing fine flavor and wholesome nutrition while asking for just a little care in return. We think buckwheat is the backyard grain you can bring in a usable harvest from as little as 40 square feet! It well deserves a place in American gardens.”

Who Has the Buckwheat Varieties?

Unfortunately, seed of the few good buckwheat varieties can be quite difficult to locate. Most likely, your local farm supply store can provide you with "common" buckwheat, which is OK but nothing special. The same goes for the few mail-order houses selling buckwheat seed.

If that's the best you can find, go with it. But there are a few certified varieties available in states with commercial buckwheat growers. For example, the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association supervises production of Mancan and Giant American seed. Your local county extension agent might be able to connect you with a source of these seeds.”  More at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/how-to-grow-buckwheat-zmaz86mjzgoe.aspx#axzz2Xyx1pTJc

Organic seeds here: http://www.wheatgrasskits.com/sprouting/buckwheat_seed.htm  and organic Japanese seeds here: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/ogs/search.php?item=8111&listname=Wheat&

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Is the Diet Industry Making Us Fat?

“You won’t believe Dr. Mark Hyman’s diet truths. What does “fat-free” really mean and how harmful is diet soda? Dr. Mark Hyman explains what’s shooting the number of diabetes cases through the roof and how we can prevent it.”

From: http://www.katiecouric.com/videos/is-the-diet-industry-making-us-fat/

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This video is just part of what Dr. Hyman says in this article:

How Diet Soda Makes You Fat (and Other Food and Diet Industry Secrets)

Mark Hyman, MD, Practicing physician

“How do you lose weight? Substitute diet drinks for sugary drinks. Eat low-fat foods. Just eat less of the bad foods -- it's all about the calories. We are told, "Just have more willpower."

These ideas are false. They are food and diet industry propaganda that make and keep us fat and sick. Lies by the food industry combined with bad government policy based on food industry lobbying are the major cause of our obesity and diabetes epidemic.

Now, more than 35 percent of Americans are obese, and almost 70 percent are overweight. This is not an accident but the result of careful marketing and money in politics.

We are told it is all about making better choices. If we all took more personal responsibility, we could stop this obesity and diabetes epidemic. We have been told there are no good or bad foods, that the key to weight loss is moderation. And, of course, if we all just exercised more, all of us would lose weight. These ideas hold us hostage.

What the Food and Diet Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

Diet Soda and Diet Drinks Make You Fat and Cause Type 2 Diabetes.   Diet soda makes people fat? Really? How does that happen?
If losing weight were all about the calories, then consuming diet drinks would seem like a good idea. That's certainly what Coca-Cola wants us to believe in their new ad highlighting their efforts to fight obesity. They proudly promote the fact that they have 180 low- or no-calorie drinks and that they cut sugared drinks in schools by 90 percent.

Is that a good thing? In fact, it may be worse than having us all drink regular Coke (and the other food giants making diet drinks also push the same propaganda).

A new 14-year study of 66,118 women (supported by many other previous studies) found that the opposite seems to be true. Diet drinks may be worse than sugar-sweetened drinks, which are worse than fruit juices (but only fresh-squeezed fruit juices).

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, discovered some frightening facts that should make us all swear off diet drinks and products.

1. Diet sodas raised the risk of diabetes more than sugar-sweetened sodas!
2. Women who drank one 12-ounce diet soda had a 33 percent increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, and women who drank one 20-ounce soda had a 66 percent increased risk.
3. Women who drank diet sodas drank twice as much as those who drank sugar-sweetened sodas because artificial sweeteners are more addictive and are hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar.
4. The average diet soda drinker consumes three diet drinks a day.

You might say that people who are overweight and just about to get diabetes drink more diet soda, but they scientifically controlled for body weight. And they found the artificial sweeteners increased diabetes independent of body weight!

This and other research shows how diet sodas make people fat and sick.  And that diet drinks may be even worse than regular sugar-sweetened sodas! How does that happen?…….

Bottom line: There is no free ride. Diet drinks are not good substitutes for sugar-sweetened drinks. They increase cravings, weight gain, and Type 2 diabetes. And they are addictive.

Eating Fat Does Not Make You Fat

The diet and food industry has brainwashed us to eat fat-free foods, which seems like common sense. Eating fats makes you fat. Right? But the science tells us otherwise -- not all calories are created equal. And even though fat has more calories per gram (9 calories vs. 4 calories of carbs and protein), eating fat can help you lose weight.

This low-fat idea was based on bad science. Our government told us in the 1970s to go on a low-fat diet and to eat 8-11 servings of rice, bread, and pasta a day. And unfortunately, we listened. This was the beginning of our obesity and diabetes epidemic. The food industry happily created a flood of fat-free foods.

But the science has proven that eating fat doesn't make you fat -- sugar does. And it is sugar, not fat, that raises your cholesterol despite what people and most doctors still believe.

So why does eating fat free make you fat and diabetic?

Bottom Line: The key point here is that all calories are not the same. Swap out sugar and starch for good fats such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, and grass-fed animal products or wild fish. Be a "qualitarian." Focus on quality, on real food, and the rest takes care of itself.”

Complete article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/diet-soda-health_b_2698494.html

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On This Day:

Salvation Army founded, Jul 5, 1865:

“In the East End of London, revivalist preacher William Booth and his wife Catherine establish the Christian Mission, later known as the Salvation Army. Determined to wage war against the evils of poverty and religious indifference with military efficiency, Booth modeled his Methodist sect after the British army, labeling uniformed ministers as "officers" and new members as "recruits."

Today, the Salvation Army, still based in London, has branches in more than 75 countries. The Army operates evangelical centers, hospitals, emergency and disaster services, alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs, community centers, social work centers, secondhand stores, and recreation facilities. Voluntary contributions and profits from the sale of its publications fund the organization.”

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Sox accused of throwing World Series, Jul 5, 1921:

“After Judge Hugo Friend denies a motion to quash the indictments against the major league baseball players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, a trial begins with jury selection. The Chicago White Sox players, including stars Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, and Eddie Cicotte, subsequently became known as the "Black Sox" after the scandal was revealed.

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Yesterday:

After Misty had eaten her breakfast, when it was time to pick up Jay, Misty didn’t want to go, so I let her sleep, and took her for a walk around here later.

Midnight and her five kittens arrived, four black and one tabby. They seemed to like playing in the playpen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midnight has weaned them now, so she is loose in the Grooming Room, but keeps a watchful eye on them.

Last time they were here in May, they were really tiny, so  Midnight took care of them. Now it is my job to feed and tend to them.  Midnight came in the living room to say ‘Hi’ to Misty, as they are old friends.  She is such a sweet cat, but still very skinny.

Jay and I popped a line on the top of the long lattice fence on the walkway to the back yard, then he cut it all off level, before we screwed on the top boards.  We also installed a second gate.  The board fence in the front has already received compliments, it will look stunning when painted.

Hoping that Ray would have time to paint, I held off taking any pictures of it today.