It all began with a curious recommendation to read this book. However, to be more accurate, it began even before this with the gardens and orchards in CT. Before I continue, I wish to apologize to everyone with my uneducated thoughts of Genetically Modified Foods, organic and natural foods, or even not considering heirloom seeds verses altered seeds. I was wrong and now my eyes have been opened to the problems our society has gotten ourselves into with it's search for cheap food.
This book was recommended by someone who was experiencing weight and nutrition problems that seemed to coincide with her cancer issues. Two doctors, An Oncologist and a Sports Medicine, told her they found this book very interesting. Without much thought as to what exactly the book was about, I decided to check it out myself. Our public Library had the book on CD which enabled getting through the information much more quickly and Karl listened to it during his commute to work. Without giving too much away, we found the actual politics behind the changes in our food following WWII nearly frightening. I also loved his recommendation when grocery shopping, imagine you are shopping with your grandmother, or great-grandmother, would they see the items as food or food like substances. I also felt as if I was finding the answer to why was I suddenly developing an allergy to melons (water, cantaloupe, honey dew, etc.) purchased from the store, even organic ones, but not from the Amish farmer down the road. The Amish farmer is using heritage/saved seeds but the store bought ones are most likely altered ones. The store bought melons' seeds' DNA has been altered with BT to make it more resistant to pests. BT is an organic chemical found in soil, and organic farmers will sprinkle it on their crops but when I sprinkled it on my garden in CT and some got on my skin, it burned. Now scientists have put it directly into the melons which could be the reason why I can not eat those melons without a reaction within 2-4 hours.
At about the same time we were finishing the book, Karl and I were experiencing some intestinal issues, like mild food poisoning. I was able to come up with a short list of food we both consumed around the 8 hour mark that denotes food poisoning. The culprit seemed to point to the Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies from the BJ's bakery. I scrutinized the ingredients label and found a pretty heavy dose of soy lectin in the dough and the chocolate chips. What is soy lectin? Well, it is used as a food conditioner, and in many cases, a cheap substitute for eggs or milk in items. Where does it come from? In Germany, a processing plant was creating a sesse pool of the byproduct from soybean oil. This byproduct was bitter and brown. So, our wonderful food scientist stepped in to see what they could do with it. If they bleached it with peroxide, this soy byproduct would loose it's bitter taste and color and by looking into it's DNA they discovered it did have choline, a nutrient found in eggs. Scientists yelled yurika! They discovered a use for this waste byproduct and could claim it was healthy because it contained choline. Soy lectin is used in every cheap chocolate now as it keeps the chocolate from separating and companies can use less milk. When used in dough, the amount of eggs, to bind the dough, can either be eliminated or reduced. So what is the problem? Soy lectin is still a soy product which mimics estrogen, only tofu through fermentation removes the estrogen like compounds, causing an imbalance in hormone levels. It's not a natural product when you consider peroxide is used to make it palatable and I thought we were not suppose to drink peroxide. I could go on, but the point is, Karl and I began reading our labels on food much more closely.
Then after talking with a fellow home school mom, who happens to own an organic vegetable farm, she exclaimed I actually did it backwards. I should have read this book first. Before we took off for a drive up to CT, I took Karl to Gabriel's farm to pick up fresh winter squash, leeks, potatoes, and winter lettuce mixes. I know he wanted to see her green houses but we were also excited to have seen her "gone wild because they refused to go back in their coop" Guinea hens. The price is a shocker for those who do not purchase organic food, but more reasonable than the store as we pick it up from the farm 25 minutes away.
Now, we were ready for our trip north and we could listened to the book on CD. Actually, I had just finished reading the Young Adult version of the book, much less titillating language and much shorter on the science behind the stories to explain, for those of scientific minds, the how and why it works. The book is in such demand at our library, I could only get the young adult version quickly and then the book on CD before the actual book. This book looks at four different paths from which we get our food; Industrial food, Industrial Organic, Sustainable Farming, and Hunter/Gatherer/Grower. When you listen or read the book, it is easy to see the authors preferences. I will share one incident during our listening to the book. The children were busy watching a movie on their portable DVD player, when Isabella asked if we could stop at Burger King. At this particular time, the book had just finished describing CAFOs. I thought Karl was going to vomit. He gently said Cracker Barrel looked like a nice option. Karl also started to purchase free-range organic eggs and thinks we need to talk with the sustainable farmer we met last year about his grass fed animals.
When we returned from CT, my Organic Farmer friend had sent me a movie recommendation. This is kind of like the movie version of the Omnivores Dilemma. Karl and I watched it but having been through the book already, we were not as shocked by the industry's way of getting cheap food as much as we were at the mafia style control the industrial players have over our farmers and the food. The biggest point to accept is the industry does not look at it as food but as a commodity.
During all this time, I was also reading this book which follows a couple as they try to eat for a whole year within a 100 mile radius. Their only exceptions was when they traveled or received gifts. It was very interesting to see how much we have forgotten about the seasonality of food or native foods indigenous to the area.
Now, I come to my current book on health and nutrition. As many of you know, I have been struggling for nearly the past decade with my thyroid. Since Isabella's birth, I have experienced every symptom of hypothyroidism but my blood tests have put me at the very bottom of the normal range. This is not an endocrinologist doing the testing but my regular doctor, which might find the results different as now my mother is taking medication for hypothyroidism. Knowing something is wrong with my metabolism, which is tied to your thyroid, I began to search for something to "fix" my problem. A girlfriend suggested a Metabolism Boosting Diet, she is currently on one of these diets and told me to google search it. When I did try to find information about this new diet, I kept coming across Jillian Michaels, the weight trainer for "The Biggest Loser". Not wanting to waste my money on purchasing a fad diet book, I found it through our library system.
First, I will tell you, this is not a fad diet. Her first chapter tells you if you want to drop weight fast or get the perfect body in a month or less, drop this book now!! I was shocked to find her quoting "Omnivores Dilemma". Jillian admits that fad diets, processed food, starvation, and hypothyroidism had ruined her body. Jillian hypothyroid??? She goes into explaining, with the aid of her Endocrinologist, how the chemicalized foods and lack of balance in carbs, protein and fat has caused our hormone levels to be imbalanced and caused havoc on our systems. I also discovered the multi-vitamin Karl and I have been taking is no longer considered complete in the current recommendations.
For the past two weeks I have fixed my vitamin deficiencies, worked out 3-4 hours a week, and tried to keep the chemicals out of our food. I have dropped 4 pounds and no longer feel the immobilizing cold I have felt for the past few years. Karl even commented one day it was strange to feel my hands warm when his were cold. I am sleeping better which is helping my mood and energy to get through the day. I may still ask my doctor for a referral to an Endocrinologist, but I want to see if I can get it under control the natural way first.
I challenge you to go through these books and movies to see if they make you think about your food and where it comes from. Our society has us so far removed from our food, the simple foods, we do not give it a second thought. We wonder why food allergies have gone up in the past 20 years or outbreaks of food poisoning and diseases. Why is our nation getting fat? Many want to blame the person's lack of self control but never point the finger at our food or food like substances (Remember the Mafia and who has the power). They do not even consider that it is cheaper to buy fast food meal deals than lettuce, broccoli, and fruit never mind the meats.
Is it worth is? A friend of mine noticed her young children were starting to show signs of early puberty. This was not from their gene pool, so she made a simple but costly switch to organic milk. The changes stopped. I pondered this as I stared at the case of milk and the difference in price of the two milks. Was Anton and Isabella's health worth it when they consume so much milk? You know my answer, what is yours?
But once he uncovered the cabinet he understood. Karl had been wanting one of these for years, but would not justify the cost. So, I got t for him. One of the dads from scouts helped him get it out of the truck and asked me to tell his wife he wanted one for his birthday too!
