Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

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Kitchen Hint: More Uses for Apple Cider Vinegar

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

by Catherine Haug, Jan 22 2014

See also Kitchen Hints for others on this site, including Uses for vinegar from 2012. The EssentiaList: Homemade Apple Cider provides instructions for making your own raw apple cider vinegar.

The following uses for apple cider vinegar are from TakePart.com (1), or other sources as noted. You don’t need to use raw apple cider vinegar unless you ingest it (as in items 1, 3 and 9). Save money and use regular apple cider vinegar if it is not to be ingested. For household uses, you can use white vinegar. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Health, Kitchen Hints, Remedies | Comments Closed

The case for organ meats (offal)

Monday, December 30th, 2013

by Catherine Haug, December 30, 2013

I’ve been eating liver since I was a kid – as liverwurst, sautéed chicken livers, liver paté, and calves’ liver. I love the heart from a chicken but have not tried heart from other animals. And I’ve yet to try kidney or brain. But I know most people gag at the thought of eating these foods. Certainly there is cause to dislike liver that has not been properly cooked, or liver from an older animal. Or kidney that has not been deodorized by removing the urine before cooking.

The most important consideration in eating these foods is that they are rich in vital nutrients that are very bioavailable (much more so than taking those minerals supplementally. Another important consideration is the importance of using these foods ONLY if they come from pastured animals, which means that you need to get them from the rancher/farmer or from an Organic source, as commercially raised livestock are highly contaminated with toxins that tend to collect in the organ meats, especially in the liver. (more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, Health, Organics, Remedies | Comments Closed

The grocery bag dilemma

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013
Reusable Grocery Bag

Reusable Grocery Bag

by Catherine Haug, Nov 3, 2013 (photo, right, from This Domestic Life blog)

Do you answer the question, “Paper or plastic” with, “Neither, I’ve brought my own” when you check out at the grocery store? If so, then listen up.

You’ve probably seen some headlines warning about bad microbes lurking in your reusable grocery bag. Is there any truth to this? See Are Reusable Shopping Bags Really a Hazard to Your Health? by Jason Best (1).

Should we go back to having to choose between polluting our planet with plastic bags, or deforesting the planet to make paper bags?

I say “No way.” But there are things we can do to lessen the risk of bad bugs. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Health, Recycle | Comments Closed

Foster Farms chicken and salmonella outbreak

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

by Catherine Haug, October 19, 2013

It has just come to my attention that rotisserie chicken sold under the Kirkland brand at Costco stores nationwide, and traced to three Foster Farms plants in California, is subject to a major recall after over 300 people nationwide were sickened with an antibiotic-resistant strain of salmonella (1,2,3). Foster Farms brand chickens grown in Washington are sold at many local stores including Bigfork’s Harvest Foods, but are not involved in the recall.

Are these fresh chicken products risky? How do chickens become infected with salmonella? (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Health | Comments Closed

Gardening beats depression

Friday, July 26th, 2013

by Catherine Haug, July 26, 2013

The BBC has a great 2 minute video with Brit gardener, Monty Don, on the topic of gardening to increase your happiness and ease depression. I’ve not been able to isolate the video on the BBC website, so for now you’ll have to view it on Mercola’s website: Gardening can help beat depression.

It’s all about the natural joy you experience when you put your hands in good fertile soil and do other work in the landscape – it just feels good. From Mercola’s article:

“According to a recent survey for Gardeners World magazine, 80 percent of gardeners reported being “happy” and satisfied with their lives, compared to 67 percent of non-gardeners. And the more time spent in the garden, the higher their satisfaction scores—87 percent of those who tend to their gardens for more than six hours a week report feeling happy, compared to those spending less time in their gardens.”

See also GardenersWorld.com: Gardening makes you happy. Here’s a quote:

“Humans have evolved with the land, and spent thousands of years growing our own food. We belong outside. Modern lifestyles force many of us into offices and apartment blocks. For some people, their only time outside during the week is the journey to and from the car. But we gardeners have a reason to be outside, and to be part of nature. It makes us happy because it’s part of who we are.”

I can personally report that I begrudge the time when I go out to work in the yard (because I’d rather be sewing). But once there, it’s hard to get me to stop, I just feel so good. Especially when I’m out picking my first year crop of raspberries!

Posted in Gardening, Health | Comments Closed

Your primitive brain – your gut

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

by Catherine Haug, July 25, 2013, updated July 29,2013

In college I took a class on comparative vertebrate anatomy – we studied the anatomy of many vertebrates as a way of better understanding our own anatomy. This study began with the tiny fertilized egg of each species studied, and progressed through the development of the adult. One of the things I took home from this class is that the first organ to form is the gut, and it serves as the brain for the developing individual while the heart and circulatory systems form, and finally the central nervous system (CNS) and the brain. But we also learned that the primitive brain in the gut continues to function in intimate contact with the actual brain, throughout the life of the individual.

What does this mean for us humans? It means that while modern medicine has pretty much ignored the effect of the gut on human health and happiness, the gut deserves more study and respect. We need to ensure that our gut has healthy colonies of gut flora (probiotics), and that it is not overburdened with toxins in our food.

It is important to remember that diet and gut health are not the only factors that influence the overall health and longevity of a human individual, but it may well be one of the most important. Other factors include (but are not limited to) genetics, lifestyle and stressors (7), medical care, gender, accident, and environment.

(more…)

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

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