Thursday, May 29, 2008

A Doctor's Visit About Raw Food

Last Friday I went to the “Oh so dreaded” doctor’s appointment. I broke the news to him gently that I was not on any med now other than my hormone (because I have had an hysterectomy) and waited for his reaction. He was a little skeptical I think, about the whole diet thing but he took my blood pressure, blood sugar and then weighted me and we talked a little more about how I got there. My blood pressure is in the normal range, just a little higher in the normal range, and my blood sugar was normal. My weight was down 45 pounds from my visit about 6 months ago. My doctor is a Seventh Day Adventist so I think that he is a little more aware of lifestyles impact on health. He was also interested in the fact that I needed no psyche meds or pain meds. I was surprised too that he had never heard of the raw food approach. He generally just gave me the thumbs up so that was a big relief.
I went to the hardware store today and picked up my “monster tool”. It is a pick thing that has a flat head on the other side. I have not been able to do any gardening because the place I am going to plant has been just grass and weeds for a very long time. I knew that it was going to take a big tool to get through it. The price was ridicules but I plan on keeping this tool the rest of my life. I figure if I just dig on hole a day, in a week I would have gotten in seven plants. I am going to mulch on top of newspaper around them later when I can get some mulch. I thought that I could get free mulch but after checking around I found out that was not going to happen. The local green-waste place is now sending it to a worm farm so I have to buy it from them at $20.00 for a cubic yard. It will be chopped so I don’t think I will have to lay it down really thick. I am thankful though that I have a pickup so that I can pick it up as I go along. I am a little late getting my plants in but I think that is going to be fine. I am planning on getting a dehydrator so that I can dry some of these tomatoes. Some of the ones I planted are the San Marzano kind which is supposed to be a yummy paste tomato for drying. It is the one they dry in Italy. When I get my mulch on I also plan to plant some greens including some kale for winter use. Some of the pepper seed that are also an Italian variety came up so I plan on getting them in as well as a few plants from a nursery. Thinking about the dehydrator, I tasted some raw crackers from the natural food store that were so delicious. They were made from sprouted seeds that were left in their whole form. They had sesame, flax and sunflower seeds plus a little onion and spice. I better get a dehydrator because at five bucks for two servings I just cannot buy them. So anyway, can’t wait to start churning those things out but I am going to add pumpkin seeds to mine, as for some reason, I am really into pumpkin seeds.
I do encourage all of my readers to go to the http://www.goneraw.com/ site for some great recipes and support for raw-fooders. I am on that site almost every day in anticipation for new recipes being posted and also for the forum activity.

Monday, May 5, 2008

A thought about water

Water should just be part of the bounty and provision that God has provided for His creation but I to have found it to be a challenge. I think that some think that clean, pure water is just a problem in developing nations but here in the US it is also a problem. Our water is contaminated by the addition of fluoride and chlorine, and of course all the chemicals that farming and industry have dumped into our environment for good measure. I live in the city so am pretty much stuck with what comes out of the faucet. The best solution to this is to go downtown to a purified water machine and get my water by the gallon using gallon water containers that I have saved. This machine has two filters and reverse osmoses systems to get the junk out of my water. Maybe it is not the perfect solution because the water does not have a correct electrical charge but it is the best solution I have come up with. This is my choice but I don’t believe it should be this way. Fluoride and chlorine both have negative effects but they are added without my permission for my own “good”. Gee what would I do without the government making those choices for me? After all maybe I am just too stupid to make my own decisions on the matter.
I have decided to start moderating my comments, not so much because I want to control everyone’s opinions but so that I can keep track of responses on my previous posts. I don’t want to miss any so that I can dialog with all of you.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

A thought on the poisening of the population.

I did not know what a tough issue this was until I started eating a raw pure food diet. Two of my “incurable” diseases were cured but the challenges of such a journey was surprising. I live in California so I have to go to farmers mrkt to buy raw almonds from the grower because you can not legally buy them in the store here. I then learned that most all the nuts in the store were heated until dead, even if they are labeled as raw. Even the shelled nuts usually heated before sale. I stopped eating all packaged food and did research on all those Frankenfood ingrediants and found out they were poisoning people with MSG, an excitotoxin that causes diabetes, depression, and other disorders. MSG has over thirty names and can even be on the label as “spices” or “natural flavorings”. I also learned that the chemical in white flour that makes it white is used to induce diabetes in animals. This is a crime against our temples and the deception of satan to kill God’s creation. I try to tell people about this and they just look at me like I am crazy while they chow down on there processed food. I am angry. I am angry at our government for allowing greed to run their policy decisions. I am also angry at the individuals that are profiting on the poisoning of our people. Don’t I have the right to know what is in my food such as genetically modified organisms, chemicals and drugs? Maybe that is the point here. In this country we may think we have rights but it seems to me in a lot of cases, this is just an illusion.
What am I doing about my anger? Well, I am voting with my dollars by purchasing mostly fresh organic foods from local producers whenever possible, using pure “real” soap without chemicals added, and drinking pure water (believe me, that is another topic). I have to pay more for these choices than the person who does not care and I am a lower income person but I count it as doing what is right unto the Lord. I could eat better if I was a little more well-off but I do the best I can in the place that I live. I do eat 99% raw and would like to eat 100% organic but to run out of food and fast because of lack instead of for the Lord makes it very hard, at least for me.
I do hope that maybe this post will make you think on this issue every time you have a food choice in front of you.
Rosemary