eatkamloops.org

School Food Fight

Angela Davis is the Brooklyn, NY Chapter Leader for the Weston A Price Foundation. She posted this disturbing information on the WAPF Leader’s Board. There is now a ban on homemade desserts at her local school. The reason behind this ban is there is no nutritional labeling on the homemade desserts telling how many grams of macro-nutrients it contains. Of course, processed foods from the Industrial Food System are allowed because the package states this type of data. Please read and weep at the US government’s wrong-headed approach to solving our society’s childhood obesity problem. Here is what The New York Times has to say about the issue.

Of course, this couldn’t happen in a school near you. Could it? After reading this posting I updated my own Funny Troubles with the local school system over nourishing traditional food and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD).

It is far better for a man to go wrong in freedom than to go right in chains.
Thomas Huxley

Joel Salatin’s Vision of a Local Food System

This last weekend I had the great pleasure of meeting Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. He was speaking to a sold-out crowd hosted by the Cowichan Agricultural Society in Duncan, BC. Joel Salatin speaks passionately about family run, grass-based farming. In his own words, he is “in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” The guiding principles behind “Polyface are:
TRANSPARENCY: Anyone is welcome to visit the farm anytime. No trade secrets, no locked doors, every corner is camera-accessible.
GRASS-BASED: Pastured livestock and poultry, moved frequently to new “salad bars,” offer landscape healing and nutritional superiority.
INDIVIDUALITY: Plants and animals should be provided a habitat that allows them to express their physiological distinctiveness. Respecting and honoring the pigness of the pig is a foundation for societal health. 
COMMUNITY: We do not ship food. We should all seek food closer to home, in our foodshed, our own bioregion. This means enjoying seasonality and reacquainting ourselves with our home kitchens.
NATURE’S TEMPLATE: Mimicking natural patterns on a commercial domestic scale insures moral and ethical boundaries to human cleverness. Cows are herbivores, not omnivores; that is why we’ve never fed them dead cows like the United States Department of Agriculture encouraged (the alleged cause of mad cows).
EARTHWORMS: We’re really in the earthworm enhancement business. Stimulating soil biota is our first priority. Soil health creates healthy food.”

My husband Shaen has read most of Joel Salatin’s books, so much of the information in the lecture wasn’t new to him. Near the end of the lecture, Shaen asked Joel Salatin if there was any big differences in his thinking now compared to when he wrote his books. Joel Salatin answered that in the past he believed thousands of farmers would communicate directly with customers. But most farmers find marketing and distribution very difficult and don’t like the work. Now he sees “clusters of farms” working with “local streams of marketing and distribution”. Joel talked about a six part system for a successful local food supply: producer, processor, accountant, marketer, distributor and customer. My husband and I looked at each other and wondered if there is a place for GO BOX Storage and eatkamloops.org in this new vision.

We realized we could become a local food distribution center for Kamloops. We could form a buyer’s group for Kamloops. We could increase the size of our orders and get better prices for everyone. We could run pocket markets or personal deliveries for a cost. If you do not know about pocket markets please read: Pocket Market Toolkit.

It was exciting thinking that we could become part of a successful local food system which helps all of us get the best in local food at a reasonable price. If we could develop a successful local food system, Joel Salatin believes “we could give the big-box stores a run for their money.”

Update November 25, 2009: I contacted Sally Fallon and asked if she knew of anyone who could mentor me to start a buyer’s group for Kamloops. She suggested John Moody who started a buyer’s club called Whole Life Buying Club. Before a new member can join the Whole Life Buying Club, they recommend the new member watch The Story of Stuff. The Whole Life Buying Club follows a Food Philosophy which defines the type of products the buying club will bring in for members. John Moody has written an essay for the journal Wise Traditions called Building a Local Food Buying Club.

Update December 1, 2009: Here is a link to Martha Stewart’s interview with Robert Kenner producer of the movie Food Inc. and Joel Salatin. I hope you enjoy the hypocrisy of the commercial, marinated in the content, more than I did. This is a link to the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund about Buyers Club Victories.

Updated December 23, 2009: I have just learned from Sandra Burkholder that Joel Salatin will be coming to Quesnel, BC on March 27, 2010. Joel Salatin will be speaking at the 2nd Annual Poultry and Rabbit Forum being put on by the Cariboo Central Interior Poultry Producers Association. Sandra Burkholder and her husband Chris Newton are building a earthship house in Darfield, BC. An earthship house is made from recycled materials and is designed to be completely self-sufficient housing system requiring no outside support. The earthship is the brain child of Mike Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture.

Updated February 28, 2010: I found a series about Polyface Farm on Watch.MeetTheFarmer.TV. You will get a personal tour of Polyface Farm with Joel Salatin. There is an incredible amount of information in this video series about his pasturing systems for the watchful viewer. He will go into the types of grasses and herbage plus the effect of mass group grazing and resting of the pasture. He goes in to some theory but most of the videos are very practice. If you are interested in the theory behind his practices please read his books for more information. Here is Part I, Part II and Part III.

[The road to] hell is paved with good intentions.
English Proverbs

eatkamloops.org is a Distributor for Green Pasture’s: Questions and Answers

1. What Green Pasture’s products does eatkamloops.org carry?

eatkamloops.org offers a limited number of basic products from Green Pasture’s. Green Pasture’s products are NOT considered a food by the Canadian Government so PST and GST is changed. If you are looking for other products, please order directly from Green Pasture’s. We are a small, family-run business without the resources to have the whole line of Green Pasture’s products. We carry:
Fermented Cod Liver Liver (FCLO) 237mL (unflavored): $44.00 plus GST/PST
High Vitamin Butter Oil (BO) 237mL (unflavored): $64.00 plus GST/PST
Fermented Skate Liver Oil (FSLO) 237mL (spicy orange): $44.00 plus GST/PST
Organic Virgin Coconut Oil (CO) 3.8L: $69.00

2. Where can I pick up my Green Pasture’s products?

We offer the products for sale at the Weston A. Price Kamloops Chapter potluck on the third Sunday of each month. If you cannot come to the monthly potluck, email us at info(a)eatkamloops.org or call Caroline Cooper at 250.374.4646 to ensure we have in stock the items you want. Come and pick up your products at:
GO BOX Storage (Map to home of eatkamloops.org)
2853 Bowers Place, Kamloops, BC V1S 1W5

3. What happens if I cannot come to pick up the products in Kamloops? Will you ship the products to me?

The cost for shipping and handling within B.C. is $17.00 plus GST for any two of the 237mL containers. The package is sent by Canada Post Regular Parcel service. It will have insurance for the value of your shipment and will be delivered within three days.

4. What if I want to order more than two 237mL containers?

We need your address and postal code for a shipping quote. We need to know all the items you want to ship because the cost is based on weight and size of package. Your price will include insurance to cover the value of your products. We ship by Canada Post Regular Parcel service. These rates are subject to change. Contact us for the current rate. There is GST payable on the shipping.

5. What types of payment do you take?

If you come for pick up in Kamloops we can take cash, debit, VISA and Mastercard. If you wish to order by mail, please send money orders or call us with your credit card information. For security reasons, it is best NOT to email your credit card information.

6. Do you offer the volume discounts as seen on the Green Pasture’s website?

We do not offer volume discounts. Please contact Green Pasture’s directly for volume discounts.

7. How do your prices compare to ordering directly from Green Pasture’s?

First our prices are in Canadian dollars and the Green Pasture’s prices are in US dollars. If you order from Green Pasture’s, you will be responsible for the cost of shipping and any customs fees. At eatkamloops.org, we cover the costs of bringing Green Pasture’s products into Canada. You will be responsible to cover the costs of shipping within Canada, if necessary.

8. Will you be bringing in other Green Pasture’s products in the future?

Presently, eatkamloops.org will only carry the basic product line. If we have enough interest in a given product, we might consider bringing it in as a regular item. If you would like to order something special, contact us and we can put the item in with our regular order. You will have to prepay and wait for the item. If you want a specialty product right away, please contact Green Pasture’s directly.

9. Can I flavor my unflavored fermented cod liver oil or high vitamin butter oil?

Yes, you can. Add one teaspoon of sea salt to the FCLO to give it a “salty cod” flavor. You could add essential oils, safe for internal consumption, to either the FCLO or the BO. To test it first, use a small amount of FCLO or BO with the essential oil to find a combination that you like.

10. I find the taste intense. What should I do?

Some people like the taste of fermented oils, but others find it unusual or unpleasant. Try chasing the product with water, raw milk, apple sauce, or a small amount of juice. Some mothers use a small amount of raw honey with their children. My children like sucking on a wedge of lemon or lime after consuming fermented oils.

11. How much FCLO or FSLO should I take daily? How many servings will I get with each bottle?

Dose is adjusted by age. Children 3 months to 12 years need 1/2tsp (2.5mL) per day. This is 95 servings per bottle. Children over 12 years and adults need 1tsp (5.0mL) per day. This is 47 servings per bottle. Pregnant and nursing women need 2tsp (10mL) per day. This is 24 servings per bottle. Please go to Cod Liver Oil Basics for further information.

12. How much BO should I take each day?

Use the same amount of BO as FCLO or FSLO for your age.

Update November 11, 2009: For more information about why eatkamloops.org is carrying Green Pasture’s products read eatkamloops.org is Now a Distributor for Green Pasture’s Products.

The Garden of Fertility

The Garden of Fertility by Katie Singer is a guide to help a woman chart her monthly fertility using basal body temperature, changes in vaginal secretions, and cervical texture. This book will help a woman and her partner to avoid pregnancy without the use of dangerous endocrine disrupting hormone treatments. This book will help with strategies for the couple having problems conceiving a child, a situation becoming more and more common.

For the older and younger woman alike, fertility awareness will help with assessing endocrine health. Fertility awareness will give the woman early warning of hyperthyroid or hypothyroid problems, low progesterone levels, risk of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and miscarriage. Charting gives a method to assess if changes in diet and lifestyle are successful in reversing a problem. The Garden of Fertility has a whole section on how to improve gynecological health with night-lighting techniques and nourishing traditional foods. For more information about pre-conception diet please read: Thinking about Motherhood.

The Garden of Fertility is a book I wish had been available when I was a young woman. I have found this book so useful, I will teach the method to my daughters when they reach sexual maturity. Early training in charting gives a young woman a better understanding of her changing body. Charting gives the young woman safer choices regarding methods of birth control. It is my hope that an early understanding of how their bodies work will last a lifetime.

Katie Singer’s has written two books called The Garden of Fertility and Honoring Your Cycles: A Natural Family Planning Workbook. Both books are available at the Kamloops Public Library. Katie Singer maintains a website where you can download fertility awareness charts at: gardenoffertility.com.

Updated August 5, 2010: If you are having trouble conceiving Dr Andrea Hansen specializes in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. She teaches Natural Fertility Awareness Method. For more information:
130-546 St Paul St, Kamloops, BC V2C 5T1
T: 250.682.7289
E: dr.andreahansen(a)gmail.com

Cholesterol: Foe or Friend

Our Society’s views about cholesterol are based on the work of Ancel Keys and the Lipid Hypothesis. The Lipid Hypothesis “proposes a connection between plasma cholesterol level and the development of coronary heart disease”.

In the last few years there has been increased questioning of the Lipid Hypothesis. What if the Lipid Hypothesis is wrong? This would mean there is a lot of misinformation in the general population. Our society has spent an enormous amount of resources to battle the evils of cholesterol. There is a whole industry developed to fight this scourge. This means there is a lot of resistance to change, because so many people’s livelihood depend on the battle continuing.

The Weston A. Price Foundation does not support the Lipid Hypothesis. This is part of an email correspondence with someone interested in the views of the Weston A. Price Foundation on saturated fat and its evil twin cholesterol:

I have written very little about cholesterol on eatkamloops.org. This is mainly because of embarrassment. I completely believed the Lipid Hypothesis. It was very hard for me to admit I could be so wrong. The only writing on this topic that I can find is The Grease Bucket - Something from Nothing.

The issue around fats is a very important area to get clear on. There is research that shows that people with cholesterol below 150mg/dL are at a high risk of cancer. Also, that women with the highest cholesterol levels live the longest. The research is very confusing and I am not going to tell you I know the answer because I don’t.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet radically improved my health but it was after going high fat with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that my health problems finally resolved. I would have never gone high fat if it wasn’t for the Weston A. Price Foundation and their materials. I was brainwashed. I couldn’t see that what I thought was a “healthy diet” wasn’t working for me. I nearly crashed my endocrine system. I will say this: a low fat diet is a slow killer. If you stay on it long enough, you want to die, because you feel so crappy and are sick all the time.

The Weston A. Price Foundation’s website has a number of excellent essays on this topic. Do your own research. Check out the facts, and make your own informed decision:

Know Your Fats Introduction
The Skinny on Fats
Cholesterol and Heart Disease: A Phony Issue
The Oiling of America
Cholesterol: Friend or Foe?

And no, I do not think industrial vegetable oils are safe at all. Remove all new fangled foods from your diet. Eat butter, coconut oil and grease for cooking. Use organic extra virgin olive oil on salads. The other “healthy” cold pressed oils high in omega 6-9 can cause inflammation in some people. So anyone with asthma, allergies, joint pain, or other inflammation disorders should eliminate these oils for a few weeks and see if their condition improves.

If you are looking for a laugh, please watch the trailer for the movie Fat Head called Big Fat Lies. In the eternal words of the creator of Fat Head, Tom Naughton:
“You’ve been fed a load of bologna.”

Updated December 5, 2009: Here is a link to an interview with Utte Ravnskov called Does High Cholesterol Really Cause Heart Disease? Utte Ravaskov is the author of The Cholesterol Myth. If you would like further reading about cholesterol Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes will give a historical perspective on the issue. Both books are available at the Kamloops Public Library.

Visit to the Killing Floor at Kam Lake View Meats

Yesterday I visited the killing floor at Kam Lake View Meats. I had a very interesting experience and I am very grateful to Kam Lake View Meats and the local inspector for allowing it. I was there to harvest organs and glands from three heifers from Jocko Creek Ranch. I had ordered from Jocko Creek Ranch, one grassfed two year old heifer and two grassfed veal calves. For more information on why I like grassfed veal read Grassfed Veal.

That day, I learned many things on the killing floor. The hides, once a valuable byproduct, are now almost a waste product. The inspector said: “we are close to the day when the customer will have to pay extra to dispose of the hide.” The kill floor manager said: “when I started twenty years ago, the hides were worth $50.00 each. Now they get $5.00 a hide.”

It makes me think about my vegetarian days, when I did not want to wear leather because I thought it was environmentally unfriendly and cruel to animals. I thought we all should use cotton clothing. Of course, I did not think about all the water, energy, pesticides and herbicides used to produce industrial cotton. I do not think cotton clothing is environmentally friendly anymore. Now, I think about how long a piece of clothing made of leather or fur would last. I think about the skill of being able to tan that hide and make it into a piece of useful clothing, has almost been lost.

The internal organs and waste not harvested from animals includes the head, stomach, intestines, reproductive organs, tail end, hooves, and extra fat. Some can be used in raw pet foods but most has to be composted. There are parts of the intestine that are considered “toxic waste” and must be incinerated due to fears of Mad Cow Disease. The Weston A. Price Foundation has a number of essays on Mad Cow Disease by Mark Purdey called Animal Pharm, Maple Grief, TSE Cluster Data, and Purdey’s Data on TSE Confirmed by Auburn University.

These waste materials are shipped to Alberta because no one in the area wants to have a composting plant in their area. So, trucks full of animal waste moves up and down our roadways. The inspector shared some black humor regarding all the wishful thinking about “reducing our carbon footprint” while regulations require such inefficiencies. Again, the government always thinks big. Big composting plants cause big problems. Little composting plants cause little problems. But for the government it is hard to regulate small operations. For the small operations, government inspection and regulation is not cost effective.

Organs are normally harvested, though the interest in these foods have dwindled over the years. These foods are now commonly added to raw pet foods. This is ironic, because traditional people preferred the organ meats and fat over the muscle meat. During periods of good hunting, traditional people would eat organ meats and fat and would throw the muscle meat to the dogs. Traditional people would dry muscle meat as jerky and add fat to make pemmican. This was travel and starvation food. Read Guts and Grease for more information about traditional diets.

Kam Lake View Meats produces raw pet foods, so this would be a good local source if you need pet foods. Raw pet foods are called the Bone and Raw Food diet (BARF). In my opinion, raw food diets are far better for your dog or cat than dried or canned foods. Read Pottenger’s Cats by Francis Pottenger for more information about raw and cooked food feeding experiments. The Weston A. Price Foundation has an essay called Trends in Home Prepared Diets for Pets. There is a lot of controversy about raw food for your pet. Do your research and make your own informed decision.

We did not harvest the brain or pituitary glands. Kam Lake View Meats uses a 22 caliber rifle to kill the animal. This means the brain tissue is contaminated with lead and is unsafe to eat. In new slaughter houses they are required by law to use the humane hammer. The owner of Kam Lake View Meats has used this humane hammer and has renamed it the “inhumane hammer”. He has found the hammer causes more suffering for the animal but would allow the harvesting of the head meat, brains and brain organs.

The regular harvesting of glands has not been done for over eighty years. Before there was a pharmaceutic industry, people used glands to help heal endocrine problems. People with glands that were damaged by illness or injury might have to take glandulars for the rest of their lives or their condition would quickly deteriorate and they would die. For more information about glandulars read Nutrition Hall of Fame: Royal Lee.

This is why I was on the killing floor. I wanted to harvest a number of glands from the three animals. With the help of these knowledgeable people, we located the thyroid, adrenals, ovaries, and pancreas. This wasn’t easy. Those pictures drawn by artists in textbooks does not do justice to the individuality found in all animals.

I brought home the following organs: heart, kidneys, and liver. I brought home the following glands: ovaries, thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas. When I got home, I cut up the glands into the smallest pieces I could. I cut up some of the heart and liver into small cubes. I then froze those glands and organs on a tray. After the pieces had frozen, I re-packed them into bags. I will leave the organs and glands for two weeks in the freezer to kill any parasites, before consuming raw. I will be able to eat the small pieces like a “frozen supplement pill”. The dose for organs is 1-2T a day or more. The dose for the glands is an issue. It will require some experimentation to get the dose right. I will be using Degeneration Regeneration by Melvin Page as a guide. I will contact Ron Schmid, who produces dried glandulars for human consumption. This will be a long term project for me. I will keep everyone posted about what happens and what I learn. If anyone knows about endocrine treatment with raw glands, please contact me.

Updated December 17, 2009: Here are two essays on adrenal function: What You Should Know About Your Glands and Further Experiments of Cortico-Adrenal Extract.

25 Steps to Eating Nourishing Traditional Foods

1. Purchase your food as whole ingredients and as close to the original natural state as possible. Avoid processed foods. Avoid all additives, coloring, stabilizers and fillers. Avoid Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). If you are wondering what is wrong with GMOs please listen to Dr. Mercola and Jeffery Smith on GMOs: Who Do You Want to Believe. Make it a point to understand the system used to process your food. If you cannot understand the process, do not eat the food.
2. Try to source your food locally. Get to know your farmers and ranchers. Show appreciation for all the work that goes into producing your food. Look for pastured raised or organic. Find the local suppliers for un-sprayed products. There are many local suppliers which are not certified organic but follow organic principles. Un-sprayed products are usually cheaper than certified organic. Use eatkamloops.org to find local farmers and ranchers. For some guidelines about assessing food quality read WAPF Shopping Guide for Canada.
3. Eat local foods seasonally. The food has better nutrition and is cheaper. If you would like to eat these foods out of season, find a suitable storage method. Get a large deep freezer and find an area in your home for dried stores. Consider building a root cellar or cold room. For more information read Winter Storage Part I and Winter Storage Part II.
4. When buying from non-local sources try to buy certified organic. When we can’t talk to the producers about their practices, having a third party certification is a good idea. If certified organic foods are not in the budget, read about The Dirty Dozen and avoid foods with the most contamination.
5. Consider growing your own food. Use container gardening on small properties or a big garden on larger lots. If labor is an issue, you might be able to trade garden space for labor. Depending on your zoning, you might be able to have laying hens for eggs or a miniature goat for raw milk.
6. Start a grease bucket. Save all your drippings and fat from roasted meat and fowl. Use the grease for any high heat frying or roasting. For more information read The Grease Bucket - Something from Nothing.
7. If you eat industrial vegetable oils or foods containing industrial vegetable oil, stop now. For cooking, replace these industrial vegetable oils with your grease bucket, butter, or coconut oil. Save your extra virgin olive oil for salads and uncooked foods. Other cold-pressed oils may be used occasionally in very small amounts. If you have any condition involving inflammation, removing even quality cold-pressed oils may improve your condition.
8. Make bone broth. Save all your bones from meals and store in the freezer until you have a pot full. Cover the bones with water and add 4T cider vinegar and simmer for 6-24 hours. For more information read Beautiful Bone Broth.
9. Eat some fermented foods each day or with each meal. Fermented foods improve our digestion. Fermentation can remove anti-nutrients from our food and increase nutrient availability. Fermented foods are not commonly available in the Industrial Food System and must be made at home. For more information read Wild Fermentation.
10. Start making some fermented foods at home. A good place to start is making yoghurt or kefir. If you do not consume dairy, try making lacto-fermented vegetables or use sourdough for breads and biscuits. Contact eatkamloops.org for free starter cultures. For more information about what starters we have read I Got Culture!
11. If you eat grains, beans, and legumes, soak them overnight in water, salt and fresh lemon juice before cooking. This soaking will remove the anti-nutrients from the food and make it easier to digest. Use bone broth when appropriate for the recipe in place of water. This will improve your digestion of these foods. If you are wondering why you need to soak grains read Be Kind to Your Grains.
12. Purchase all of your grains whole. If you are making flour, grind it yourself, and use it within four days. Flour is very perishable and will go rancid very quickly. Freshly ground flour can be stored in the freezer for later use.
13. If you eat nuts and seeds, soak them overnight in water and salt. Nuts and seeds can be then dried and consumed uncooked. These store well in the freezer for quick use.
14. Look for a local supply of grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds. There are many local varieties which will be fresher. Look for un-sprayed or organically grown.
15. If you eat rice, buy organic brown rice. Since this is not a local product, buy certified organic. Brown rice does not need to be soaked overnight but cooking in bone broth will help with digestion and improve flavor. If you would like to try fermenting rice to improve mineral availability read A New Way to Soak Brown Rice.
16. Buy your meat by the whole animal. This allows you to have a variety of cuts, offal, fat and bones. The butcher will package the meats in sizes that are best for your family. Get all the products from the animal even parts you do not know how to cook. They can always be used to make bone broth. For more information read Cooking with Grass-Fed Meat and Fowl and Visit to the Killing Floor at Kam Lake View Meat.
17. If you consume dairy, find a source of raw milk or raw milk products. This will involve having your own cow, goat or sheep or being a member of a herd share program. If you are wondering what is so great about pastured raw milk please read Let’s Talk about Raw Milk Safety. For more information about herd share programs in the province read Birdsong Farm - Cow Share Program.
18. If you are concerned that you have a deficiency in your diet and want to take a supplement, consider using whole foods, sometimes called superfoods. Examples of superfoods are: fermented cod liver oil, high vitamin butter, liver, spring and fall butter, raw milk products, bone broth and fermented foods. Other superfoods are related to the health problem of the person such as: various fresh or dried glands, kelp, assorted clays, probiotics, assorted high vitamin berries and herbs. For more information about superfoods read Supplement or Superfoods.
19. Look at your cosmetics and decide if you would eat them. If you would not like to eat them, consider stopping use. Our skin is far more porous than was once believed. The use of coconut oil can be a excellent moisturizer. Consider making your own soap or buying brands with very few ingredients. A good source of information about the safety of your cosmetics can be found on Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database.
20. Look through your medicine chest and decide if you can do without most of your medication. Many medications mask symptoms while the condition worsens. It is better to feel the pain and make fundamental changes in our lives, rather than masking symptoms while the condition gets worse. Think about the other drugs you take on a daily basis. Assess if these drugs might be adding to your health problems.
21. Think about food preparation in the home and how the task can be done efficiently. The job of running a traditional household is more work than eating convenience foods. This means someone must be willing to allot time for this important work. Some people use one day a week where they spend a morning in the kitchen producing meals for the whole week. Others cook larger meals and consume the leftovers.
22. Remove all plastics from your kitchen and replace with glass containers. Remove Teflon and aluminum from your kitchen and use stainless steel, glass, cast iron or enameled cast iron. Stop using a microwave for cooking or reheating foods.
23. If you are thinking about having a child, start thinking about what you eat before you conceive. All traditional populations had a special feeding schedule for mothers and fathers to be. For more information read Thinking about Motherhood.
24. If you continue to have health problems after changing over to a nourishing traditional diet, consider looking at the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. This diet is also known as Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS). This diet is for very sick people. For more information about SCD and GAPS please read Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
25. Continue getting educated about health. eatkamloops.org has donated a number of books to the Kamloops Public Library. For a list of donated books read Recommended Reading List.

Cure Tooth Decay

I have just read Ramiel Nagel’s book called Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition. This book outlines a protocol for reversing tooth decay. This book questions a number of very well entrenched ideas about dental health. First, it questions the standard belief that bacteria, feeding on sugar in our mouths, causes tooth decay. Second, the book states it is possible to reverse and heal tooth decay.

As fantastic as these two statements may seem, there is a long history of research in this area. Dr. Weston A. Price and Dr. Melvin Page both worked on this issue and came to very interesting conclusions. Dr. Price found indigenous groups who ate raw or rare organ meats from grassfed animals, consumed raw dairy from grassfed animals, and raw or rare organs and meats from fish and shellfish, were immune to tooth decay. Dr. Price did a feeding experiment on children with rampant tooth decay. He found with proper diet and supplementation he could stop and reverse tooth decay. Please read eatkamloops.org is Now a Distributor for Green Pasture, for more information about Dr. Price’s feeding experiment.

Dr. Page did extensive research on blood chemistry and endocrine function. He found tooth decay was not caused by bacteria feeding on sugar in the mouth but a malfunction in the ratio of calcium and phosphorous in the blood. This malfunction of mineral absorption was caused by fluctuations in blood sugar levels and insulin caused mainly by… sugar. If this hypothesis is correct, managing blood sugar levels and insulin, would help to slow and possibly reverse tooth decay. This is exactly what Dr. Page did in his research. An explanation of this process can be found in Suckled by Triceratops.

Cure Tooth Decay is a summary of the work of these two dentists. The protocol is very simple. Remove all “displacing foods of modern commerce” from your diet. Eat nourishing traditional foods properly prepared from a quality source. Supplement your diet with fermented cod liver oil and high vitamin butter oil. Ramiel has done his own personal experimentation with diet and supplementation with whole foods which has helped his own dental health. He talks about the pain he experienced as a parent making decisions regarding his infant daughter’s crumbling teeth. The wonderful thing about this book it how Ramiel’s family took this very upsetting situation and transformed it into something wonderful. Through research, diligent application of principles he had learned, and experimentation, he found a solution to his family’s health problems.

Ramiel has become passionate about improving our children’s health through nutrition. Children’s health starts before conception with the quality of the parent’s diet. He has started another website dealing with the issue called Healing Our Children.

It is store food that has given us store teeth.
Earnest Hooton

December 27, 2009: Need some more proof? I have just found a very informative blog by Stephan Guyenet called Whole Health Source. This is a link to his writings about Dental Health. There are many very good photos and references for further reading on the topic.

I Got Culture!

I have had a number of emails over the months about dairy and water Kefir. Kefir originated in the Caucasus Mountains and is a gelatinous community of bacteria and yeast. Kefir grains are the real thing. They are different from the “direct set cultures” you will find in health food stores which lose their potency and must be purchased again. Once you get the Kefir grains they will continue to grow indefinitely as long as the culture is fed.

I received my dairy and water Kefir grains from Real Kefir Grains. You can order directly from Marilyn Jarzembski, better known as the Kefir Lady, and she will ship it to you at a very reasonable price. Her culture is very vigorous. If you live in or near Kamloops, you can come and pick up your Kefir grains from me for free. Just email me to ensure I have enough to share. I get my Yoghurt Starter from Custom Probiotics which also has a line of probiotics.

These are the cultures I have to share:
1. Wild sour dough culture (sour dough bread, biscuits, pancakes, etc)
2. Lacto-fermentation liquid (sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, etc)
3. Dairy Kefir (yoghurt-like drink, Kefir cheese, Kefir bread, etc)
4. Water Kefir (traditional sodas)
5. Yoghurt culture

Updated December 21, 2009: I am enjoying the ease of using the new Weston A Price Foundation website. I found this favorite essay about Kvass and Kombucha: Gift From Russia by Sally Fallon.

Updated May 8, 2010: I have just started my first Kefir of the year with Patty’s raw milk. Sarah Pope is the WAPF Chapter Leader for Tampa, Fl. She has a video on how to make Milk Kefir and Healthy Water Kefir Sodas. Sarah outlines some really good reasons why Kefir may be a better choice than yoghurt. Here is her video on Making Sauerkraut and Apricot Butter. Please note you can make the apricot butter “more raw” by pouring very hot water over the dried apricots and letting them sit until soft.

Updated May 30, 2010: I have found another source of cultures. If you are looking for cultures please see Cultures for Health.

Our Children’s Teeth - Choices a Family Needs to Make

I wish I knew then what I know now before conceiving my children. If I had known about the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, I could have eaten differently, and saved my family money and suffering. Maybe I could have avoided the problems I now see in the faces of my two girls.

My two girls suffer from such a common problem, it is now seen as “normal”. My girls do not have enough space in their mouths for all their teeth. This is the “physical degeneration” Dr. Weston A. Price saw in all primitive communities after exposure of only one generation to the “displacing foods of modern commerce”. In his time the “displacing foods” were: white sugar, white flour, pasteurized milk, canned foods, vegetable oils and convenience items with extenders and additives.

So what’s a Mother to do? I can’t go back in time and correct my errors but I can try not to make anymore. For the last three years, I have fed my family the most nourishing, quality foods I can find. We completely avoid all “displacing foods” except for holidays. Halloween, Valentine’s and Easter without candy seems to cause social problems with our children’s schooling community. Nevertheless, this approach of avoiding all “displacing foods”, except for children’s holidays, has improved my children’s health. Their dentist Dr. Hugh Thomson has noted the girls have “cavity resistent teeth”. This is a very good sign we are doing something right. But it does not solve the structural problems in the mouths of my children.

As a child, I had very crowded teeth and so many cavities I have lost count. I had eight extractions: four bicuspids and four wisdom teeth. I wore braces for two years and a retainer for one year. This is standard orthodontic practice. This process was fairly traumatic for me because I lived my prepubescent years with big spaces in my mouth due to the removal of the four bicuspids. Then I spent three years of my adolescence with braces. I always felt ugly.

When I was at the Weston A Price Conference in California last November, I heard a lecture by Dr. Louisa L. Williams. She introduced me to the difference between orthodontic and orthopedic dental practices. It was during this lecture that the lights came on for me. When I came home from the conference, I started reading her book Radical Medicine: Profound Intervention in a Profoundly Toxic Age. After reading the 1000 plus page book, I understood what Dr. Hugh Thomson wanted to do with Sonja’s emerging dental problems.

I feel really grateful for that lecture and book because I understood why I needed to move on Sonja’s work. Orthopedic dentistry works on improving the basic structure of the mouth compared to orthodontic dentistry which is more concerned with appearance. Orthopedic dentistry works best with younger children that are growing fast. It would have been better to start with Sonja at seven years of age. Sonja had two problems. First, she had a “finger sucking habit” which had to be broken before her pallet could be expanded. She had just turned nine when we started the pallet expansion. Pallet expansion works best before a child loses her baby molars. This usually happens at about eleven. So far, her top front teeth have lots of space now. Her lower jaw is still back, but nothing is holding her jaw back except the muscles and tendons which will loosen over time. I remind her to bring her jaw forward whenever I notice.

We thought we had gotten lucky with Erika. She had an over-bite but her teeth looked really straight. I was a bit worried because I have noticed that most children that have straight teeth as adults, have spaces between their teeth by age six. We put “overlays” on her baby molars which corrected her over-bite. In theory, when her adult molars come in they come in at the new height, permanently correcting the over-bite. When the baby teeth with the overlays fall out, their job is done.

Big changes happen in a child’s mouth at about seven. Erika’s permanent teeth came in crowded. About a month ago, Erika got an upper pallet expander. The pallet expander is on the inside of the teeth so the appliance is not visible. She will need an expander for her lower jaw, which Dr. Hugh Thomson recommended inserting about a month later, after Erika became used to the upper appliance. Even in a month, I can see more space for her upper teeth. Pallet expansion works best with younger children. It can happen really quickly.

It is my hope that my children will be able to keep all 32 of their teeth. I have only 24 teeth to chew my food. In Radical Medicine, Dr. Louisa Williams states pallet expansion improves digestion because it avoids extractions and maintains all the teeth for chewing food. Also, the pallet expansion increases the space in the mid-brain area. The mid-brain area houses the seat of our endocrine system, the pituitary gland. This helps the pituitary gland function normally. Hopefully, my girls will have their dental work all done before they hit their teenage years. The cost of early orthopedic intervention appears to by a fraction of the cost of regular orthodontic treatment.

Update October 2, 2009: Erika has had her lower appliance in for about a week. This appliance will increase the size of her lower jaw to accommodate her permanent teeth. The appliance has a key and lock system which increases the tension. We adjust the appliance twice a week ourselves. The biggest issue of earlier intervention with young children is that the parent must be willing to clean the appliance and child’s teeth at least once daily. It is too much to expect a seven year old to have the dexterity to clean their mouth sufficiently.

Undated December 27, 2009: I have just found a very informative blog by Stephan Guyenet called Whole Health Source. This is a link to his writings about Dental Health. There are many very good photos and references for further reading on the topic. Please note the famous Identical Twin Study. One twin was given standard orthodontic treatment and the other was given orthopedic treatment. Note the different in the facial outcomes in the identical twins.

Updated January 4, 2010: If you are looking for a dentist trained in Holistic/Biological/Environmental Dentistry please search these websites:
The International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine
The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology
Holistic Dental Association