Falling Down

Climbing the stone steps to the Peterborough Unitarian Church, I fell. Suddenly I was down, lying still, reorienting. Heather came behind me and helped me up. I said I had to get Arnica, and walked across the street to open the trunk, find the bottle, and put four little white pills in my mouth. I went into the church to join the rest of Animaterra, ready to warm up, ready to sing. Nothing else is so good for me to bring me into the moment and set my troubles aside. Warmup over, I looked down and saw blood on my left foot and knee. Set that aside, a third dose of Arnica, and set my attention to singing for half an hour. How beautiful, such joy! Leaving, I felt the stiffness setting in. At our circle meeting which followed, Kathy provided the bandaids and wash cloth I asked for. More Arnica, a good meeting, moving slow, then drive home to Traumeel Gel. Now, three days later, still sore and stiff, but there was no bruising, and the scraped skin is healing over. So what is the lesson here? Be a Girl/Boy Scout, be prepared? Yes! My purse is a mobile natural first aid kit. At the moment, I see seven homeopathic remedies and two herbal salves. Bandaids are missing and need to be replaced. That covers most emergencies I meet. What I carry changes, evolves, but here's what I have now: Euphrasia (allergy, burning/tearing eyes) Nux Vomica (indigestion) Apis (insect bites and stings, red/hot) Cocculus Indicus (motion sickness) Ipecacuanha (nausea, vomiting) Arnica Montana (muscle soreness, bruising, trauma) Five Flower Remedy (a Rescue Remedy, physical and emotional) TheraNeem Neem Stick (for lips, for any kind of boo-boo) a tin of herbal salve They sit in a little pocket handily set on the side of the purse, with a secure flap and snap closure. The remedies are in very small tubes + a tiny bottle + a small tin, so they all fit. I haven't needed them often, but I would feel unprepared without them. Sunday I was very relieved to know I had what I needed.

Language and Health

‘Corn Sugar’ No More: HFCS Name to Stay

6:55AM PDT on Jun 2, 2012

There are many ways that a product can contain any kind of sweetner but the whole truth is your body neither knows or cares whether a sweetner is liquid, powder or granulated. The problem is not what the sweetner is. It is how much of it you put into your body. Lables are not going to change that. It is using less that will change the way people the way people treat their own bodies. If people can't change it themselves, neither will a name. Less is more!!! As in a sauge - use one instead of two or a half instead of a whole. The only way obesity will end is when everyone who cares about theie bodies enough, changes the amounts they put into theor body. It isn't up to government policy, it is up to each family cook to change the way their own family treats the food they eat.
Comment on care2.com from Janet W. (typos and all)

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/corn-sugar-no-more-high-fructose-corn-syrup-name-to-stay.html#ixzz1we33YFn6

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT -- The FDA will not allow 'high fructose corn syrup' to rename itself as 'corn sugar.'   'Sugar,' by definition, must be granular.  So, a technicality, but the fact is, the Food and Drug Administration did not cave in to the sugar manufacturers.

Now, how about labeling for dairy hormones?  How about the simple truth on a label for genetically modified plants and animals?  Let consumers make informed decisions, through information only available on labels.  (Consult those little produce stickers.  But, have you ever found the one that means 'GMO'?)

ABOUT THE COMMENT I copied above...  What Janet W. has said makes so many good points!  Yes, sugar is sugar.  The qualifications:  there is evidence that HFCS is particularly agressive when consumed.  A carb is a carb, but whole foods treat the body more gently than refined, and bring with them the benefits of the nutrients they carry.  Sugars have a range on the glycemic index and differ on the -ose composition, and (to a far lesser degree  than grains) can bring along some nutrient buffers to their pure hit.  Choose your sweeteners with attention.

Then, the issues of quantity... Valuable information you can learn from labeling is the breakdown of carbohydrates on the nutrition label.  If you are about to buy a manufactured product, compare items for the amount of sugar.  Check portion size too -- they may not be computed on the same amounts, or the portion size may be unrealistic. 

Following a recipe?  Here it's all in front of you, no secrets!  I just saw a cake recipe -- 2 9" layers, 2 cups maple syrup in the layers, 1/2 cup in the frosting (made with 1 pound of cream cheese), 1/4 cup in the 'healthy' fruit filling!  And the author of the recipe had reduced the sugar when she converted to maple syrup.  Common sense, anyone?

Janet says, "...when everyone cares about their bodies..."  Such a paradox in this country with its bountiful food supply, food costs still at a historically low level, mostly good information about nutrition easily accessed!  We're also a culture of rampant plastic surgery and Botox, anorexia and bulimia, skinny models and weight loss fads.  Too many people care about their bodies in strange and sometimes destructive ways, when the slow simple answers should be on our plates.

FOOTNOTE ABOUT SODIUM  I recently bought a package of English wholemeal biscuits.  I had a choice of 2 brands, with similar ingredients.  Checking the nutrition information panel, I found one had 4 times more sodium than the other.  Without that information, I would have ignorantly bought the other brand and ignorantly enjoyed it.  Another very sneaky excess in packaged food.

 

Need an Intestinal Workout?

I can hear myself quoting myself:

Fiber is a sponge and a broom. A sponge because it will pull toxins from the intestines, and a broom because it will sweep the toxins out of the intestines.

That was a handy analogy so that people who came to VitaSource could see a vivid picture of how fiber can work. Some people like to take seasonal change as the time for a dramatic internal cleanse. Simplify what you eat as a modified fast, concentrate on herbs and fibers in liquid meals. Some of the cleanse plans promote agressive, even explosive elimination. (The most common question was, Do I have to stay near the bathroom?) I prefer to advocate a more gentle approach. What you eat should be easy on the gut -- that food is assimilated. What you eat should be a pleasure -- that's better for you too. Fibers can be incorporated in a daily routine, in a simple drink with greens for gentle ongoing cleansing. Happier gut bacteria, happier elimination, better energy, better health. Now, quoting Carol Steadman:

Fiber without water is called a cork.

Fair warning! Plentiful water from pure sources makes everything work together.