Food for thought

OAKLAND, Calif. DR. PRESTON MARING was striding along a hospital corridor at double speed on a recent Friday morning, his tall frame, white hair and frequent gesticulations prompting waves of greetings from colleagues, who also took care to sidestep his forward momentum. His destination was the weekly farmers’ market he started in 2003, just outside the front door at the Kaiser Permanente medical center here. “Since it’s mine, I made the rules — all organic,” he said as he skimmed by a line of stalls where fresh fruits and vegetables are sold to hospital workers, passers-by and even, he said, those bringing patients to the emergency room. Dr. Maring, 64, a gynecologist and obstetrician with three decades as a surgeon, is well known as a former physician in chief at the hospital, the man who spearheaded the creation of its new pediatric neurosurgery unit. But increasingly, his reputation and perpetual motion revolve around his conviction that in the health professions, the kitchen must ...

This is a very short, worthwhile video. Who'd a thunk it! Please go to: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/09/21/intv.clinton.blitzer.weight.loss.cnn (First you have to wait for a short CNN commercial.) It's pretty amazing to hear the words coming out of Mr. Clinton's mouth! It's a shame people don't see the light until AFTER they get sick. It's what happened to me, so I can identify. Those of us who have been turned on to a healthy lifestyle must continue to spread the word, and be a good influence.

POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 BY DEANA FERRERI, PH.D. The idea that cow’s milk is an essential component of the diet for young children is one of the biggest nutritional myths. Decades of marketing by the dairy industry has convinced most parents in the U.S. that milk and cheese are indispensible for childhood health, but this is simply not true. Cow’s milk was designed by nature to be the perfect food for baby cows – not for human children. There is a strong correlation between early exposure to cow’s milk and type 1 diabetes in children.2-8 Early (12 months of age) dairy consumption is also associated with excess body fat in children.9 Milk consumption in teenagers is associated with acne.10-12 Childhood diets rich in dairy products are associated with cancer in adulthood.13 Additional conditions associated with cow’s milk consumption include allergies, Crohn’s disease, ear infections, heart attack, multiple sclerosis, and prostate cancer.14 These are serious concerns, especially when ...

It's August and it's hot and muggy here in Minnesota, no surprise. The ragweed is blooming with its yellow display of pollen filled flowers. One of my crosses to bear in life has been an annual bout with ragweed associated hay fever. I am wondering if we'll need to start closing our windows to keep the pollen out. That would be a bummer. Besides loving the fresh air, we regulate the temperature in our house by opening and closing our windows at the right times. We have a rambler- a main floor and basement. Four years ago in August, it was hot. As usual, the central air conditioner was humming away. I went downstairs into the basement for something and I got one of those lightbulb ideas. It was hotter than Hades outside, yet it was cool and comfortable as always in the basement. I thought, "Why don't we just spend more time down here when it's hot and take advantage of Mother Nature's coolness?" I went upstairs and shut off the air conditioner. We ha...

...what part of a chicken's anatomy an egg comes from? Go to http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Anatomy_and_Physiology/Anatomy_Female_reproductive.pdf Scroll down to Figure 3 on page 3 and you will see eggzactly where the egg comes from: starting in the ovary, to the uterus (shell gland), through the chicken's vagina, and then out the "vent", into the egg cartons, into the stores, to your plate, into your mouth. It's gross, but some activists refer to eggs as "bird menses," which in actuality is what they are. A great majority of eggs come from chicken factory farms, or as I call them, concentration camps for birds. In these terrible living situations the chickens are exploited for human purpose alone, with no consideration for the bird's natural life. In some factory farms the birds are stuffed in cages with other birds so small the chickens don't even have room to spread their wings. To prevent the chickens from damaging each other th...

ANIMAL FOODS = Disease and Death

Like so many celebrities doing commercials and ads regarding products that supposedly promote health, Sally Fields is sadly mistaken. In her TV commercial on Boniva, she states that yogurt, spinach, and cheese are healthy sources of calcium. Aside from the spinach she is dead wrong. Yogurt and cheese PROMOTE osteoporosis! To prevent osteoporosis a healthy diet of plant foods, exercise, and sunshine is the prescription for healthy bones. Sally needs to read any of the books from Joel Fuhrman, MD or John McDougall, MD to be educated. I wonder how much Ms. Fields is paid to work with Boniva to present this wrong info?? Check out the side effects: BONIVA is a prescription medicine for the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Important Safety Information (Tablets) You should not take BONIVA if you have certain problems with your esophagus (the tube that connects your mouth and stomach), low blood calcium, cannot sit or stand for at least 60 minutes, have severe kidney disease, or are ...