Archive for the ‘Food-Nutrition-Health’ Category

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GMO Alfalfa, Sugar Beets deregulated by USDA; updated

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, February 2, 2011; updated February 17, 2010

Recap of developments: January 28, 2011, the USDA approved and deregulated GMO alfalfa. February 4, 2011 the USDA approved another planting of GMO sugar beets, despite a federal judge’s ruling against the crop in 2010.

Now, according to a Feb 16, 2011 article on Natural News, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) plans to sue the USDA and Monsanto over GMO alfalfa just as it successfully sued over GMO sugar beets last year.

What is GMO/GE? What does this have to do with Organics and Sustainability? Read on for more on all of these topics. (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, GMO, Livestock | Comments Closed

His & Hers: Matters of the Heart

Monday, February 14th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, February 14, 2011 (copied to catsfork.com/CatsKitchen 6/19/21)

Clip art, right, from Webweaver’s Clip art (11)

On this Valentine’s Day, I’d like to draw your attention to the differences between men and women when it comes to matters of the heart.

I had a “false” heart attack (see Neuromuscular Spasms section below) on December 23, 2010 and spent the holiday weekend in the hospital. Until the results of the enzyme test came back, the doc didn’t think I’d had a heart attack, believing instead it was heartburn. Especially since my EKG was normal. My enzymes, however, told a different story. They were slightly elevated indicating I’d truly had a lapse of oxygen to my heart. I was checked into the hospital for the holiday weekend, for tests.

The results of those tests were good news: Echogram indicated normal size heart with no loss of muscle; Angiogram indicated no plaque in my arteries with no blockages and no need for stents. But what, then, caused the heart attack? And why did I recover so quickly?

It turns out that the hearts of men and women are different, and the cause for attacks in women can be entirely different from that in men. Because of this difference, women’s attacks are routinely dismissed as heartburn, pulled muscle, overwork, etc.. In short, women are not being diagnosed and treated for a problem that could kill them.

So, then, what are the differences?

(more…)

Posted in Health | 3 Comments »

Soap vs Detergents

Friday, February 4th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, January 28, 2011

At the suggestion of our audience (at our recent gathering on Making Soaps at Home, with Kathy Mansfield), I promised to write a post on how to tell a soap from a detergent on an ingredient list.

2015 update: I just found a very helpful website, regarding deciphering the ingredient list on personal and body-care products: Terre Essentials: Ingredient Guide (for personal and body-care products).

(more…)

Posted in Ecology, Health, Home & Ranch | Comments Closed

A Blog for Hunters, Anglers, Gardeners & Cooks

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, January 30, 2011

Is there a hunter or angler in your household? Do you garden or shop local Farmers Markets? Do you forage? If the answer to any of these is YES, then check out this wonderful blog by Hank Shaw on cooking local wild fish and game, and home-garden bounty. Check it out at Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. I’ve added this link to our links column under Food: Local/Organic Links category

I found this blog while googling ‘grouse brine.’ The top two responses were:

It has gourmet-quality recipes for all types of wild game and produce available in the USA and Canada:

  • venison (deer, elk, moose, caribou, bison);
  • duck & goose; upland game bird (grouse, pheasant, quail, partridge, chuckar);
  • dove & pigeon, rabbit;
  • hare & squirrel;
  • boar and bear;
  • fish & seafood;
  • sausage, salami, ham and other charcuterie items;
  • vegetarian recipes.

If foraging is your interest, select ‘foraging’ under ‘Top Categories’ in the right-hand column of his pages.

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, Gardening, Shop Local | 1 Comment »

Natural Shampoo & Rinse – Updated

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

by Catherine Haug (originally published on 7/9/2009; updated and republished Jan 29, 2010)

When we find empty shelves at the grocer and chain stores (due to unavailability or high expense of fuel), what will we do?

As ESP pursues healthful and local sources for essentials, we wonder about shampoo and rinse for cleaning hair.  Most shampoos available in the American marketplace are synthetic cleansers, technically termed ‘detergents,’ and cannot be made in your kitchen.

Even Organic brands, such as Avalon, are synthetic, albeit synthesized from natural organic substances (like coconut oil), and cannot be made in your kitchen. (For more on this, refer to the Coming Clean Info Sheet by the Organic Consumers Association).

So what’s an essentials-minded person to do?

The answer is soap and vinegar, both of which can be made in your kitchen!  How cool is that? (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Health | Comments Closed

Cured vs Processed Meats

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

by Catherine Haug (Jan 22, 2011)

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) recently published their Expert Report Recommendations (1), based on the findings of the WCRF/AICRreport, Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective (2007). This was a review of over 7,000 independent studies on diet and cancer. Amongst the recommendations is a caution to avoid processed meats:

“There is strong evidence that … processed meats are causes of bowel cancer, and that there is no amount of processed meat that can be confidently shown not to increase risk …

Try to avoid processed meats such as bacon, ham, salami, corned beef and some sausages.” (more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

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