Moving Strongly Forward

Bartonella (Maybe It Isn’t Lyme?) and Autoimmune Disease

I am amazed by all the people I know who have a seemingly have Lyme disease, and I live in a state that is not considered to be a significant contributor to the spread of Lyme disease. All of the people I know who are affected were told that they have Lyme disease by their doctors. I had no idea that Bartonella, which mimics Lyme disease in some ways and which is not in the mainstream consciousness of medicine, could really be the problem, as discussed by two pioneering doctors (one an MD and one a DVM), in this podcast from The People’s Pharmacy: Ticks, Fleas & Mystery Disease.

Be sure to listen to the Bonus interviews, particularly the second one. The doc comes out and says that some chronic diseases could be the result of infectious organisms such as Bartonella. 

This podcast is available for only a few weeks. It is truly one of the most powerful I have heard. Please spread the word and hopefully a few more people will get help. 

Permaculture, or Where the Wild Things Are

Yesterday Ryan and I had our initial permaculture consultation with Luke McMullan, owner of Branches Ecological Landscapes. I know others who have consulted with Luke and the result is amazing and beautiful ecosystems that also provide food.

Ryan and I have been in our home for about six weeks. We have been looking at our uninspiring backyard (pictures below), wondering what to do, and almost completely clueless. I did manage to identify the location of our initial garden correctly, but as we talked to Luke about what we wanted, our garden, fruit trees and berry bushes grew into a Food Forest. It literally felt like the book Where the Wild Things Are 

 

That very night in Max’s room a forest grew, and grew, and grew, until his ceiling hung with vines and his walls became the world all around.

This Fall we will replace the current, uncared for, unloved backyard with a fig tree, Nanking cherries, two varieties of plums, 2 apple trees, an Asian pear tree and an Asian Persimmon tree, along with blueberries and blackberries.

According to Luke, food forest has seven layers:

1. Canopy trees, which ideally would be a nut tree, but in our case are oaks, pine and other trees.
2. Understory fruit trees
3. Shrubs, which in this case are the berry bushes
4. Vines, such as grapes or kiwi
5. Herbs
6. The ground layer or traditional garden veggies
7. Root layer, such as potatoes and carrots

Fortunately, we were involved with starting a community garden with Luke, so we have the smallest and of clues about how to start some of this and Luke effectively explained the rest. The amount of information he packed into our 1.5 hours was amazing, along with some great educational resources and recommendations regarding how to affordably get started.

Because we want to do it ourselves, we are hiring Luke for coaching, and I can’t recommend him highly enough. Our next assignment is to plan how our forest will look within the areas that he identified suitable for each of our Food Forest components. We have until September to figure it out and then we plant our trees and shrubs.

If you are in the Triangle and you are wondering how to effectively and affordably start your garden, or you want that Food Forest, while minimizing your work and maintenance, Luke and Branches Ecological Landscapes are more than worth the money.

Can't wait to grow our forest!

Mindfulness, Yoga and other Stress Busters

I envy people who are decently plugged into mindfulness and stress reduction and not overwhelmed by our fast-paced, electronic, must read, decide and respond now society. I really envy those who have been working on mindfulness and stress reduction for years. Some people are just born further along the journey from their first breath it seems.

I turned 47 two days ago. Yay! I like getting older. I like myth busting the paradigm that we must fall apart and feel worse as we age. Ryan and I have accelerated our wellness in so many ways and I want to keep on that path. I just have this one little problem of not slowing down, not resting, and not relaxing. It affects my sleep and it keeps me from leading the monstrously awesome, beyond my wildest dreams incredible life that I could be. Don’t get me wrong - I am living far beyond my expectations now, but I want more.

I know people who have mindfulness and relaxation dialed in and I know I need to learn. I have known for a few years. I try in fits and starts and I have gotten better about coming back into the moment throughout the day, but I don’t take time to relax. If I relax regularly, perhaps my whacked out cortisol releases will change and I will sleep through the night.

It all doesn’t have to be done now even though I want it to be. All those platitudes about slow living apply – it isn’t a sprint, it is a marathon gosh darn it. The Slow Living Movement is looking mighty appealing.

But how? I homeschool Colson, which I wouldn’t change for anything. I savor all of my time with him, even when he is super annoying with all his icky boy noises. Summer is our slow season, with swim team three days a week, fencing twice a week and math club once a week. And that is our slow season. We are having a family meeting to discuss his schedule, how he is being set up to go a million miles an hour and is that what he and we really want.

And keeping up with the Museum of Natural Sciences and their Biotech ethics policy efforts  is always on my mind. They have had six months to develop policy and I need to check in and see how that is coming. They probably think I have forgotten, but I haven’t. When I catch government in some doubtful actions, it becomes a kind of weird hobby for me ensure accountability. And what about the other ways I am working for honesty and accountability in our government? After the Museum there will be another cause. Will I go for it or walk away? I am good at this stuff and to not use my experience and professional training seems like I am letting my son down.

I help a lot of people with health and food questions. That takes a lot of time. A lot. I have been doing it for years and now I am launching a business around it (more coming soon). It is such a kick to see people improve their lives and know that I am part of that catalyst.

What to do? what to do? as my calc prof used to say. (He was an amazing guy and saved me from dropping out of college). Ryan and Colson decided that I need to go to yoga and learn how to slow down. That is my 47^th birthday present. I am committed to going to a place and slowing down. Structured time to slow down – that seems kind of wacky, but whatever it takes. That plus Slow Living, some planning and some tough decision making.

Intertwined Seasoned Chicken

It has been awhile since I have posted any recipes, but today I have a couple of new ones to share, one of which depends on the other. 

Mexican Baked Chicken

This is a tasty one thanks to Crepes of Wrath, and definitely a great change of pace from the usual baked chicken: Oven Roasted Mexican Chicken.

Cook time:   40 MINS

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts or legs (the drumstick + thigh attached), fat trimmed (I used a whole cut up chicken - 3.5 pounds)
• ¼ teaspoon hot sauce (I used ½ teaspoon and I didn’t think it was too spicy)
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used coconut aminos instead)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• juice of 1 lime
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken, in a small bowl and whisk together. Place the chicken in a sealable container or bag, then pour the marinade over the chicken. Allow to sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and place the chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet (preferably covered in tin foil to prevent the juices from burning to your baking sheet). Bake for 30-40 minutes, until cooked through and the juices of the chicken run clear. Cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving with some fresh summer veggies.

Butternut Squash Soup

The bone broth made from this seasoned, marinated chicken is delicious, and I used it to make a butternut squash soup. The marinade seasoned broth is a nice twist on the standard butternut squash soup recipe. I wing this soup each time using some of the following ingredients:

• chicken bone broth (see end of this post for instructions)
• butternut squash that I have roasted in a 400 oven until soft and then I puree it with onions that I saute while the squash is roasting
• salt
• pepper
• garlic (optional)
• ginger (optional)
• coconut milk or coconut butter (optional)
• green curry paste or other type of curry (optional)

Why Cooking Turns Me On

It gets arduous sometimes in the kitchen, but I love the fact that I am taking my family toward vibrant health by ensuring nutrient dense food consumption. I read this Scientific American blog post with a touch of smugness because it doesn't apply to my little family. Dear American Consumers: Please Don’t Start Eating Healthfully. Sincerely, the Food Industry. I also read it with some sadness, as new people have come into my life and they are suffering from some pretty serious troubles.  

It all comes back to this: What one small step can you take today to change the course of your health and your life? What one blogger or book can you read to help you understand how important your choices are? What community can you join so that you can learn to expect and experience health and vitality instead of illness and demise? 

Here are a few:

www.chriskresser.com

www.marksdailyapple.com

www.robbwolf.com

www.westonaprice.org

www.holisticmoms.org

Finally, if you need to hear it from an MD, check out Dr. Kurt Harris: The Archevore.

 

Bone Broth Instructions

You can’t use canned broth and expect any health benefits. If anything it will be a detriment. So…follow these instructions from the Weston A. Price Foundation (with some modifications by me):

1. Roast a three to four pound chicken (ideally free range) and pull the meat to eat immediately in your meal or use in another recipe.
2. Place the bones in a 6-quart crock pot or stove top pot (preferably glass or enamel). You can also put the bones in the freezer to make broth on a different day.
3. Add filtered water to cover bones, stopping at about one-half inch from the top of the crock pot.
4. Add 2 T apple cider vinegar to the water and bones and let soak for one hour (Note: you can also make beef or lamb broth, in which case use ¼ cup of vinegar).
5. Add one peeled onion, one carrot and one celery stalk. They do not need to be cut up.
6. Put the lid on the crock pot, turn it on, and let it cook for 12 tp 24 hours (if making beef or lamb cook up to 72 hours). The temperature of crock pots varies – you want it to barely simmer. Check the water level and replenish if necessary. You can let the broth cook down and become more concentrated. This makes it easier to store. Add water to reconstitute when you are ready to cook with it.
7. Twelve to 24 hours later, turn the crock pot off and let it cool a little.
8. Place a colander in a large pot and strain the broth into the pot.
9. Let the broth cool, pour it into glass jars or other containers and store. If you are not going to use the broth in the next week, put it in the freezer. Be sure to leave plenty of room (at least an inch – I leave up to two inches) in your jars for the broth to expand when freezing. When defrosting, only defrost the jars in the refrigerator or in very cold water that has been iced. If you defrost the jars too quickly they will crack and you will lose most of your broth. You can also buy freezer jars and avoid the cracking drama.

Note #1: if you do not cook the bones first, scum will form on the surface of the broth after it begins to boil. Scoop it off.

Note #2: If you cook the broth for only a few hours, the broth will be gelatinous when it cools. If you cook it the full 24 hours, the broth will not become gelatinous. I do not know why this occurs. Temperature does make a difference, with gelatin forming when cooking a lower temperatures, which you want.

We Marched Against Monsanto – Join Us Next Time

What a great day yesterday. Gorgeous and 70° in Raleigh. Perfect for joining about 500 people to March Against Monsanto.

I wonder what causes people to take action or not. Five hundred people is a pretty good crowd for Raleigh, I think, but as educated and progressive as the area is I would have hoped for more.

It is an interesting time in America, with the Obama administration’s assault on the press, the continued use of the Patriot Act and statements like this one from a Huffington Post article discussing efforts to undo the Monsanto Protection Act:

 "This particular amendment would interfere with the FDA's science-based process to determine what food labeling is necessary for consumers," Stabenow said.

Really. This nut job senator from Michigan thinks that consumers can’t make an informed decision? That we don’t have the right to make an informed decision? At least checks and balances still work sometimes in our country, thanks to the court system, as shown by the this victory: Vernon Hershberger Trial Verdict: Acquitted on Three of Four Charges.

Food Democracy Now, The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund and other organizations are fighting the good fight with our support, but they need more help. I am not talking about funding help, but about your voices, your letters and your time.

Our rights have been threatened and taken away bit by bit. It is insidious and allowable given the vast majority of lethargic Americans. I am saddened by the number of “well educated, professional” people who don’t know who Monsanto is or what is happening to their food rights, let alone the other assaults on our freedom. Even so, we are starting to awaken, and that awakening is gaining momentum.

Participating in yesterday’s March Against Monsanto was not just the patriotic and correct decision for my family, but it was fun. The crowd started quietly, but as the march went on our voices grew. Cars honked and people waved and shouted support. We started and ended at the capitol – 500 people doing our best to make our concerns known.

I am grateful to all who participated in Raleigh and around the world. We must exercise our right to assemble so that we can begin to reclaim the freedoms we have lost and prevent the loss of more.

Will you be able to make the next march?

How Many Prescription Drugs Do You Take?

I tripped across this Forbes article Who Is Popping All Those Pills? while pondering a statement made at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences' BESTFest by Dr. David Kroll, the moderator of the ethics panel. He mentioned that a certain percentage of people in his age group are on one or more drugs. Given that I am in his age group, I had to seek out some information.

I learned from the Forbes article that 39% of people in my age group (45 - 54) are on one or more prescription drugs. Nine percent are on four or more drugs. This isn't a vetted, scientific survey, but still the results are alarming. The article goes on to say that:

Adverse drug reactions among multiple drugs and even Over-the-Counter (OTC) drugs are a serious problem.  It has been estimated that perhaps approximately 16% of hospital admissions were related to adverse reactions to medicines and approximately 100,000 deaths occur yearly due to adverse drug reactions – making it the 4th leading cause of death and ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS and automobile deaths, according to Nurse.com [sic].

For more information on prescription drug use trends, visit this CDC publication: Prescription Drug Use Continues to Increase and this CDC site: Therapeutic Drug Use. I also like this NPR article, which gets quickly to the point: A Portrait Of Health: Prescription Drugs In America.

Fortunately, Ryan and I are part of the 60% who do not take prescription drugs. That got me thinking, why are we part of this costly healthcare system, forking out a lot of money each month for health care that we don't use. It is worth it to pay more than $500 a month so that we can have a $25 co-pay for each of our annual exams? Is it worth spending more than $6,000 a year so that we can save $525 on physicals? Now that we have Ryan's food reactions identified, allowing his inflammation to greatly reduce and his cholesterol numbers to normalize (yes, I know that cholesterol markers are highly contested, but watching Ryan’s plummet let us know we are on the right track), what do we have left to ponder in the mundane health maintenance world? I do want to know my Omega 6:3 ratio, but that isn't covered by insurance anyway (and neither were most of Ryan's cholesterol blood tests because we wanted more info than the standard diagnostic allowed so that we could better insure he was making good food choices and maintaining healthy inflammatory markers - shame on us!).

Granted, emergencies come up and I have been the beneficiary of great ER docs. I won't quibble about that and would want some emergency insurance, but will that meet the Obamacare standard? I will be exploring that in the next few weeks. Our other plus is that we know great MDs who will continue to guide us because they are generous and we are, well… us, regardless of our insurance status, trying hard to do the right thing. It is not often that critical thinking, intellectually sharp doctors get to guide people like us and we are always grateful to them.  

Here is another article which makes me want to hop out of the system: Welcome to the Brave New World of Corporatized Medicine: Just Hope You Don't Get Sick!. Sure is tempting to slash our insurance costs by half. And what about the big, scary C. What if? So many people get it. I know I am not going to get chemo'd and radiated to death, so I won't be going down that insurance road. 

It is tough to break out of the pack, and I am not ready to do it just yet, but with a little more research we just might.

And what about you? If you are on medication or about to be put on medication, what one small thing can you do this week to improve your chances of avoiding it? Maybe stop drinking soda, whether it is diet or regular? How about taking grain out of your diet? How about processed food? Here is a how to eat well to be well website that a great MD I know recommends to his patients who will listen: The Archevore.

If big changes seem too big, remember it is a journey and one small step after another can get you where you want to be too. It takes a long time to become sick and it takes awhile to undo it and become well. Your body is just waiting for the chance to excel. Check out this blog post for some great resources to keep things in perspective: Be Kind to Yourself About Food and, Well, Everything. If you don’t go to this blog post, be sure to read the book The Slight Edge .

Happy adventuring!

Glyphosate Findings from Dr. Stephanie Seneff (aka GMO Foods are not Safer than Organic Foods, aka Museum GMO Follow-up, aka a Whole Heap of Health Problems)

One of my favorite researchers, Dr. Stephanie Seneff (see Dr. Stephanie Seneff, D3 and Cholesterol Sulfate, Vitamin D, Hormesis, Northern Europeans and Dr. Stephanie Seneff and Cholesterol Sulfate, Vitamin D and Hormesis - more to consider), has put out another awesome publication – this time relevant to my efforts to get the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to recognize that GMO foods are a health threat. The Museum’s BESTFest panel discussion of April 2013 promoted that GMOs are actually safer to eat than organic foods (see NC BESTFest (formerly Biotechnology Day) Ethics Panel Results), which blew my mind. I was in the middle of packing and moving (and exhausted), so I didn’t have the time to do the research needed to push back against the panel discussion as strongly as I would have liked. Nevertheless, I have continued to dog the issue and Dr. Seneff’s most recent work has gotten one panelist’s attention, so much so that he says he is including her most recent study in his University teaching.

Here is Dr. Seneff’s publication: Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases. Here is the abstract for those who want to get to the point – that GMO foods – or at least the pesticides used on them – are causing a whole heap of health problems:

Abstract: Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup^®, is the most popular herbicide used worldwide. The industry asserts it is minimally toxic to humans, but here we argue otherwise. Residues are found in the main foods of the Western diet, comprised primarily of sugar, corn, soy and wheat. Glyphosate's inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes is an overlooked component of its toxicity to mammals. CYP enzymes play crucial roles in biology, one of which is to detoxify xenobiotics. Thus, glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins. Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body. Here, we show how interference with CYP enzymes acts synergistically with disruption of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids by gut bacteria, as well as impairment in serum sulfate transport. Consequences are most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We explain the documented effects of glyphosate and its ability to induce disease, and we show that glyphosate is the “textbook example” of exogenous semiotic entropy: the disruption of homeostasis by environmental toxins.

If you are still eating sugar, corn, soy or wheat, look out. Your run of the mill metabolic syndrome-related diseases (diabetes, auto-immunity, obesity) are now amped up.

What was the Museum’s response regarding Dr. Seneff’s article? So far no response from Dr. Kroll, but I truly and sincerely understand that his workload is huge and he may not have time. Another colleague, however, is beginning to question whether or not GMOs are the answer to feeding the world because of Michael Pollan’s latest work (see the PBS interview In 'Cooked,' Michael Pollan Argues Importance of Making Your Own Food).

I plan to continue to forward compelling research such as Dr. Seneff’s to the Museum. The idea that GMOs are safe because scientific research does not suggest otherwise, and that this message is coming from the Museuem’s venue, is unacceptable to me. As I discussed with Museum panelist Dr. Kouri, anecdotal evidence is critical when scientific evidence is unavailable, and I believe the scientific evidence regarding the harm of GMOs will grow.

Should I Miss My Parasitic Worms?

I hope to get back to posting regularly, but until our move is over, posting will remain sporadic at best…unless I can pre-write some stuff, which in turn would suggest that I am fully packed ahead of time, which actually could be a possibility.

Until then, this Chris Kresser podcast is a good one: The Hygiene Hypothesis - Is Modern Disease Associated With Being Too Clean?. It makes me wonder about the wisdom of washing out those whip worms under the guidance of my Dr. of Chinese medicine way back when I lived in Florida and didn’t know much. He was also Ryan’s aikido instructor and he ran a strict dojo. Through aikido is how we initially got to know him, and I am amazed at how attitude conveys authority and rightness, even when the person is wrong.

Funny how much we learn over time. I was always skeptical of that healer/instructor. I know people he helped when western medicine was failing them, but I also didn’t trust him even though I couldn’t identify why. Seven years later I know enough to know he was wrong on a few things – but maybe he learned along the way too?

One of the things he promoted was that 99% of Americans have worms and we need to get rid of them. Neither Ryan nor I did anything about it, but our tailor, whom we referred the doc/instructor, followed his instruction. Then she convinced her less than evolved husband to clean out (that guy even had a tape worm). Being confronted by her friendly mocking of our fear and weakness, we finally took the plunge and got rid of our whip worms. At least we think they were whip worms…I was too chicken to look them up on the internet and described them to our tailor, who by then was an intestinal worm specialist.

A little bit of quick follow-up reading leads me to believe that maybe I should not have washed the little guys away. I wonder if they are back after a seven year absence.

Here are a few interesting articles:

Opening a Can of Worms – from The Scientist.

Hookworms and Whipworms: Our Immune Systems Attachment to Parasites - from Scienceline.

Helminthic therapy: using worms to treat immune-mediated disease – a PubMed abstract.

Even ABC News is reporting on it: Drinking Pig Worms to Fight Crohn's Disease.

And this from The Wall Street Journal: In a Squeaky-Clean World, a Worm Might Help Fight Disease.

All of these articles relate to pig whipworms. I am guessing I had human whipworms (or were they dog), but they must have been moderate because I showed no symptoms. I wonder if my body misses them? 

P.S. I finally worked up the nerve to take a look at pictures. I definitely had whipworms. 

Relationships With Food Are Like Relationships With People

I had an inspiring email discussion recently with a friend regarding her husband’s frustration with clean eating around celebration times, even though the whole family’s health has been accelerating. Here is my end of the exchange, for what it is worth:

Here is the scoop. Some people, like my husband and yours, have to make some serious mistakes many times in order to "get it." Let him go wild tomorrow. Don't say a word. He will get his butt kicked and pay for it and learn. His body will yell at him like nobody's business. Be open to it. And then he will probably do it again at some other celebration. And again. And that is OK. Eventually he won't want to feel like he does after each blowout (and the blowouts will get less in scope), but it takes awhile for it to sink in, and each time he has that experience he will learn a little deeper. [It took me six years to be ok with this paradigm!]

When the celebration is over and he is feeling horrible then hopefully you can help him celebrate because his body is strong enough to respond to these "foods" finally. To give context, most of the other people at the celebration are too sick and weak to respond properly and are slowly killing themselves. Your husband, however, will have climbed into a place of health where his body can actually talk to him and let him know what it needs. Almost nobody in America has achieved that and he will hopefully be stoked by it. This is a country of painfully ill people on the path to premature death. Your husband, in contrast, is on the path to vitality and wellness. He probably won't want to fully acknowledge that just yet. Hell, it took Ryan 5 years and he is finally fully on board and he was better than 99% of husbands. I can't believe the changes in him now that he is really clean and not fighting it. His brain is so freakin' sharp it is unreal and he looks great. He has shed years like I can't believe. 

As for your kids, front load an expected splurge with something to the effect of "We know that you and Papa can't eat this way. Papa is choosing to do so and because he is older it is taking him a little more time to learn about food because he has lived with the fake food for so long. I know you are going to want to eat the treats too and I understand because I want them also, but I am asking you to be strong and help me be strong because we know it is not good for any of us to eat that way. Let's go and get your favorite [insert treat - gf baked good, ice cream, chocolate bar] from Whole Foods instead (shopping for it specifically makes is super special for them and they will want it more than the other junk). I am going to buy papa a cupcake/small cake from Whole Foods. You will have your treat, I will have mine, but we have to buy this cake for Papa because he just isn't ready to learn like you have. Sometimes it just takes people longer and we have to be ok with that because we learn things differently."

It worked for us and hopefully that will fly for you. Congratulate your kids throughout the day for being strong and doing the "right thing" for themselves. The treats they choose may not be what you want, but as long as it isn't gluten and whatever else is seriously a problem then enjoy the splurge. If the treats whack them too, then they will have learned a lesson just like their papa. And you can quietly abstain from all of it. Your kids will remark on it and you can simply say that you are feeling so good because of the food you are eating that you don't want to risk feeling bad by having a treat. You don't have to say anymore. They will be amazed, ask a question or two and they will remember. It will pay off if they see you do that several times. 

It will be ok - let him have his birthday and other larger family celebrations the way he wants. It is better than having serious backlash and resentment. Growing the relationship with food is just like growing relationships with people. There are strong steps forward and some setbacks. That is just human nature.

NC BESTFest (formerly Biotechnology Day) Ethics Panel Results

If you recall, I sustained an eight month effort to get the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ attention about concerns that I and others have regarding about the Museum’s apparent favoritism for and support of genetically modified foods (GMOs). This link contains the background: Quick Museum GMO Update – Whew!

During our meeting in January 2013, as discussed in the previous link, the Museum reps stated that they would hold a panel discussion focusing on the ethics of biotechnology, including GMO foods. This panel discussion would occur during the NC BESTFest celebration, part of a month-long North Carolina science celebration.

BESTFest and the panel discussion were held on Saturday, April 6, and to the Museum’s credit they put together an awesome series of presentations covering a wide range of topics. Due to an impending house purchase and move and the need to help a client with some personal chefing that weekend I could not attend the entire day but so wish I could have. My notes below are brief but compelling. I wish I could have written them sooner after the event, but life is moving too quickly with too many demands.

The panel contained:

• Richard Kouri, PhD, Director, BioSciences Management Initiative, Professor of Practice, Poole College of Management, NCSU
• David Kroll, PhD, Director of Science Communications and Investigator, Genomics and Microbiology Research Laboratory, NC Museum of Natural Sciences
• Cedric Pearce, PhD, Founder and CEO, Mycosynthetix, Inc. 

David Kroll, whom you may recall was my chief critic, did a good job moderating the discussion. The discussion was fascinating, but a bit frustrating to start. Dr. Kouri was the primary commentator and he emphasized several times that GMO foods were safe – there were no studies to suggest otherwise. He is a strong believer in studies and data and there aren’t any to suggest any reason for alarm. Dr. Kouri went on to say that we simply can’t avoid GMO foods, so in essence we need to accept that they are a part of our lives, and Dr. Pearce agreed. Dr. Kouri noted that the backlash against GMO foods is the result of their introduction into the food system without our permission, causing anger and pushback. Regarding public health, another key point Dr. Kouri made was that medication is preferable to surgery. It is important to note that both Dr. Kouri and Dr. Pearce own biotech medical research companies.

When audience feedback was requested, I informed the panelists that many of us go out of our way to avoid GMO foods and we are successful doing so. I stated that I know MDs who counsel their patients on diet, which includes avoiding GMOs, and that as the number of doctors who become aware grows there will be more demand for non-GMO foods. I asked for the panelist’s feedback on a statement to the effect that while medication is often better than surgery, did either of the panelists foresee a time when pharmaceutical companies and other biotechs would promote the idea that people take personal responsibility for their health through their food choices so that they can avoid the products companies such as theirs are producing? Dr. Kouri jumped on that and strongly agreed with my statement and emphasized that diet and exercise were the keys. He said he makes that case to major biotech companies regularly but they just don’t want to hear him. He also said that he doesn’t like to eat organic foods because organic foods contain pesticides and those pesticides concern him – GMO foods don’t require as much pesticide treatment, making them safer.

Another question that I asked is how the panelists felt about the most recent legal free pass that Monsanto and other GMO producing companies just received from the US Congress and President Obama (see this link for the short story on Monsanto’s immunity to prosecution). The panelists were unaware that this law had been implemented but seemed sympathetic to the public outrage around it.

The last question I asked involved the accidental crosspollination of GMO crops with non-GMO crops and how the non-GMO farmers had no recourse. Dr. Kouri was very strong in his statement that Monsanto needs to contain their product and not contaminate other farmer’s crops.

An interesting note from Dr. Pearce is that if we don’t get a handle on our antibiotic use then we are going to have a hard time performing future surgeries and other hospital procedures because of the risk of infection and the inability to treat it.

After the panel discussion ended I had a chance to talk with Dr. Kouri. I really like him. He is energetic, patient and super smart. During our discussion we were able to get into anecdotal evidence and how that can’t be discounted. He and I agreed on a lot, which was surprising to me and reflects how different our discussion was from the panel discussion. It is unfortunate that the panel discussion couldn’t have been longer and that a panelist who is fluent in anecdotal evidence wasn’t available. I am certain that the message which was broadcast to those in attendance and those listening over the internet would have been different if anecdotal evidence would have been included in the panel discussion. I am going to raise that concern to the Museum and Dr. Kouri.

A final note – Dr. Kouri stated that his research shows that the health care system will be unsustainable in about ten years. Too many sick people will cause it to collapse. Because of this, companies (even Glaxo and the other pharmaceuticals) will need to incorporate dietary counseling and exercise into their offerings. That gave me a great opportunity to comment on how dietitians and nutritionists were largely cookie cutter, non-thinking professionals who are not helping America out of its health crisis, and Dr. Kouri energetically agreed.

And a late addition to this blog post, here is part of the feedback that I sent to the Museum regarding the panel discussion:

 

Thank you for a great discussion at BESTFest last weekend. I was hoping to follow up sooner with some thoughts, but I am too slow for the fast pace of life lately.

David – You did a great job moderating and commenting. Thank you. I had an interesting conversation with Dick after the event, wherein we began to discuss the importance anecdotal information regarding food and health. I completely understand and support the desire for rigorous scientific study and results, but when those are not available the importance of anecdotal information grows. I wish there was a way for anecdotal information to be incorporated into the panel discussion but I see that it was not possible this time around. In the future, perhaps referencing the positions of people such as Dr. David Suzuki would be helpful. (I am a big fan of his – first heard him speak in 1985 when I was an undergrad.) Statements from credentialed scientists like Dr. Suzuki would be important to include in the discussion. This is a good video segment with Dr. Suzuki to consider including in the future: David Suzuki speaks out against genetically modified food.

Take Action to Terminate the North Carolina Board of Dietetics and Nutrition

We are getting a second swipe at terminating the North Carolina Board of Dietetics and Nutrition. At this point we only need to contact 5 legislators, and the Weston A. Price Foundation alert below makes it very easy. I contacted my legislator via email and cc: the four bill sponsors. Thank you!

ALERT

Hello,

Yesterday 4 very courageous Representatives (2 of each party) filed HB 676, a bill to repeal the very restrictive North Carolina Dietetics Nutrition Practice Act!

These representatives in less than 24 hours are getting alot of opposition already and this will grow very quickly. They and all House members in NC need to hear how much constituent support there is for repeal of this law.

Please act as quickly as you possibly can to mobilize your networks and membership to make calls and send emails this week so these folks know we have their backs. It is always up to the committee chair that gets a given bill whether to hear it or not, so we have  a very narrow window to let all Representatives know this is a bill with alot of support.

Refer everyone to  http://nutritionadvocacy.org/north-carolina where you can find talking points that can be used, and a document w/ links to find House of Representative Contact information. We want people to let their own representatives know they support this repeal. But also a brief email or call of support to the sponsors will let them know they are not alone. Remember, the sponsors are already on our side--no need to tie up their phone lines or jam their mailboxes--just a quick "thanks for bringing this bill" will do.

In support of health,

Judy Stone 

Legislative Policy Director
Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists
P: 734-996-0761

JStone@CBNS.org

CBNS.org

Eight Benefits of Hormesis and FUN!!

Hormesis has become an entrenched part of Colson’s vocabulary. What is hormesis? According to Dr. Kurt Harris MD:

Hormesis is when a small stress induces a healthy response in an organism, such that the organism is healthier than without the stress exposure. Any stress that we have defenses for, that we would expect to encounter on an evolutionary basis, is a candidate to be hormetic. Think of this as a necessary, but not sufficient, set of conditions, though.

See Dr. Harris’ blog post for a more complete discussion: William Munny Eats His Vegetables.

Colson (see Cold Shower Hormesis the Colson Way) has been leading our hormesis journey and we have been playing around with it a bit in 2012, but hormesis has revved up in 2013 with great results.

My family’s major hormesis challenges have been overwhelmingly physical, and when in the challenge we are pulled into the moment, more aware than ever. Those 30 seconds in the cold shower, which Colson has reintroduced this winter, snap you right to the present. Over the summer they turned into full blown cold showers.

We took cold water a step further and headed out to Jordan Lake in early February on a 54° day (a pretty warm day, but the water was cold) with 15 – 20 MPH winds to take a swim.

 

Colson spends a lot of time in hormesis, which I am trying to learn from him. Almost every day he is challenging himself and having a ball. The challenge can be learning a new sports skill, climbing a tree or the climbing rock differently, leaping from higher heights and rolling better on landing, or learning how to cook. For Colson hormesis is fun ways to learn.

Adults spend a lot of time slogging through the day, trying to accomplish their list of tasks, always looking to the next thing. That sucks. Even with the break of a hormesis challenge I quickly fall back to my old hurry along patterns. Ryan, whose undergrad is Recreation and Leisure and who was a high adventure trip leader for the Army, doesn’t suffer from this problem nearly as much as most adults. I hope Ryan and I can help Colson hold on to his fun, in the moment self, but we have to make some changes to succeed.

More Colson Inspiration

You may recall that Colson was on a Quest to complete 10 challenges before he turned 10 (see Colson's Food Catastrophy Night). That was a lot of hormesis, some of it physical and some of it mental. Colson was successful and it was a transformative experience. As he was working through his challenges Colson decided he needed to challenge me by teaching me his version of parkour. He put a weekly lesson on the calendar. Next thing I know, at age 46, I am up in trees and tackling the climbing rock’s hard routes. I have a healthy fear of heights and the hard routes were not part of my reality (or being in trees).

Colson’s parkour lessons have been fantastic. On a regular basis they pull me out of my daily grind and into the moment. I enter into the lesson somewhat reluctantly because of all the stuff I have to do and I leave all smiles. I have accomplished things I never would have imagined, such as becoming confident and competent on the rock. As an added bonus, I am getting a bit of the MoveNat training I have wanted to try. It is a kick to see that all of those pull-ups and push-ups have paid off as I use the strength in unexpected ways to accomplish the challenges that Colson puts before me. Next I am going to learn to leap and roll – gulp! That is a big challenge for me because I fractured my back 17 years ago in another hormesis challenge. Colson plans to teach me rolls on the ground first, though. Whew!

I have to give Colson some serious appreciation for his teaching style. He is very patient and reassuring, he explains things well and he celebrates victories with me. I am so proud of him and the lessons that I learn from him. Because he teaches me I have become a better teacher for him

Ziplining

We took the height challenge to all new levels recently when we went on a 1.5 hour zipline tour. For Ryan it was cake, as he runs a 50 foot Alpine Tower, for Colson it was a challenge, and for me it was almost a no go. I seriously thought about backing out when we climbed to the top of the first tower, but a 72 year old woman was in our group and if she was going, I was going, darn it! Colson and I were the last two to leave the first tower, and we were nervous. He was gone and then it was just me. I couldn’t disappoint Colson, so I had to suck it up and go. It was a piece of cake, smooth as can be, but I was nauseatingly nervous and I had the sewing machine legs by the time I landed. It took me another zip until that stopped. The wind was howling and the platforms were swaying, making me dizzy. By the fifth platform I was certain I wasn’t going to throw up and by the tenth platform I was getting comfortable. By the last three I was having fun, looking around and relishing each flight. Colson and Ryan each had a blast and we can’t wait to go again. If you are curious, here is Colson taking a flight.

 

I have to give a shout out to Oscar, our flight captain who ensured we landed safely. He was as fun and awesome as we could hope.

The Eight Benefits of Hormesis

What are the eight benefits of hormesis (realizing that there are plenty more)?

1. Having FUN
2. Being in the moment
3. Getting stronger
4. Being surprised
5. Building stronger relationships
6. Growing respect for self and others
7. Growing desire for more time living in the moment
8. Having even more FUN!

How can you bring some wake-you-up hormesis challenges into your life? Hormesis means something different for everyone so choose according to your personality!