10 Reasons to Hate Veg*ans

It's continually amazing to me how intense are the feelings of meat eaters when they become aware they've come into contact with a veg*an (vegetarian/vegan). Rarely do they ask pertinent questions: "Why did you decide to abstain from animal products?"; "Have you found your diet/lifestyle to be beneficial?"; even, "How are you doing with your decision?"

Instead, they either step back, aghast and fearful of infection with the disease, or they attack: "What're you some kind of hippy nutcase?"; "There's nothing in the Bible that says eating meat is a sin - IN FACT! God tells us to eat meat!"; and the fake caring, "Oh dear! How do you get your protein? Aren't you afraid you'll get sick?" (Like they go around counting how many grams of protein, etc. they eat!)

So many of them wind up getting all confused and tangled up in their false claims and fears, it's rather sad to watch them. Therefore, I thought I'd help our my carcass-eating friends with a list of good, solid reasons to hate veg*ans:

1. Them durn veg*uns are always tellin me how meat and good stuff will hurt me! How dare they stick their ol noses in my business? If I want to ruin my and my kids' health, that's my own business! I can push any dangerous substance on my kids I want to, like hamburgers, hot dogs, cigarettes, beer, meth, milk, sodie pops. They're my kids!
2. Looking smug while sitting there all skinny and healthy and all! If I want a 52 inch waist line, I'll durn sure have one! I don't need your ol pink cheeks grinnin at me when I try to get up from my chair.
3. They don't hold up their end on supporting the healthcare industry. Why is it, me and my kids have to be sure the doctors and hospitals and clinics stay in business? Stoopid veg*ans don't have to go to them near as much as we*uns do. Just ain't fair! (Where's my heart pills, Mother, I'm a gittin worked up!)
4. And how come I have to pay more for life insurance then them? If I'm gonna die sooner, seems like mine should cost less!
5. They don't have to walk near as far as I do when they go grocery shopping! There dumb ol produce department is always at the front of the store, while my meat, cheese, and budder is all the way at the back! Don't the grocery store people know we get short of breath quicker?
6. They make me sick, goin on and on about how my beloved meat is hurting the environment. Who cares about the chicken, cow, and pig poop anyways? That's just good fertilizer to grow more crops to feed my animals. Who cares if it takes a whole lot more veggies to make a little bit of meat? Ain't like people's starvin, is it?
7. They make me feel uncomfortable with all their talk about sufferin and tortured animals. I can't help it if animals gotta be penned up tight all their lives so I can eat a big ol greasy burger. It ain't none a my business how the food gets to my plate, just so long as there's plenty of it!
8. If they're so concerned about the starving children in third world countries, let them kids raise their own cows and pigs and chickens! I don't know what they'll feed their animals! Send them some food for the animals! Starvin kids across the world ain't my concern, as long as my kids get hot dogs and pertater chips!
   
9. It also annoys me when they start off talkin about God meanin for us to be veg*uns in the beginning. That was then, in the Garden of Eden. I don't care what God wanted us to do. I ain't never killt no body - not directly, anyways. I CAIN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY MEAT!
10. When we all get old, I've heard them veg*uns will be stealing our wives and husbands in the nursing homes! It ain't fair! Not only will they live longer, they'll be in better shape! Stoopid veg*uns! Wow! muy hearts a'poundin outta my chest! Mother! where's them heart pills? Better call 9-1-1 agin, Mother. I'm having another one of them attacks!

Feel free to pass this along to your meat eating friends. Just don't wait too long - you may be too late!

Christine O'Donnell Anti-Evolutionist

Bill Maher, in his never ending quest to make fun of everyone who disagrees with him - which would be fine if he'd just stay in his basement to do it - has pulled out old footage of a past show in which her makes fun of Christine O'Donnell's beliefs. I guess mostly to show how open minded liberals are.

Watch the clip:

Sweet, huh? Maher just can't get enough of poking fun at someone who believes in God and His Word. It seems like the more we exercise our Constitutional rights to free speech, the more angry and threatened those "liberals" get.

Have you ever looked up the word liberal? It means, "• favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms : liberal citizenship laws. • (in a political context) favoring maximum individual liberty in political and social reform." Maybe the "liberals" should learn to read a dictionary! Poke a hole in their evolution religion and they go ape! (Sorry) Their first line of defense is to belittle anyone who disagrees with their theories.

How far we've drifted in America from a time when to make fun of God or religious beliefs was considered rude, if not wicked altogether! Well, any religious beliefs besides Islam, that is. For over 200 years, this culture showed respect toward our country's Christian heritage, and tolerance toward other beliefs. But today we've DEvolved into a swamp of gleeful atheists who demand their right to attack us, while refusing us the right to even exercise our religious and Constitutional rights to freedom of religion.

I'm right on the verge of becoming ashamed to associate myself with the new American image. This new culture, which has spring up in the last 20 or so years has culminated in the Obama/Pelosi administration's move from traditional Judeo/Christian values to no values at all within a socialist agenda. Reading visitors' comments on some of the O'Donnell evolution stories you find hate filled bile spewed out against anyone who stands up for Godly values or Biblical history.

We have been called a City on A Hill, because of how we have championed Christian liberty in the world. America is quickly becoming a garbage heap on a pile as we rush to sound just like every backward tribe in the world. We have lost our edge and our willingness to stand up for Right against the World and their ignorance and wickedness. Obama's urgency to turn us into just another failing third-world cliché is simply a reflection of our culture's slide into degradation.

Public figures like Christine O'Donnell who are willing to risk defamation and mocking in order to be a voice of reason in the wilderness are heroes. "IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you," you will not only be a "Man" (i.e. human, adult, courageous, with morals), but you will be a hero to others who have any integrity.

Immunize Yourself!

Scientists have recently discovered that vitamin D, known to support bone health and much more, is a crucial component in our body's immune system. This often overlooked vitamin serves to activate T cells so they can fight off viral and bacterial invaders.


Researchers have found that T cells rely on vitamin D in order to activate and that they remain dormant if vitamin D is lacking in the blood. In other words, if there’s not enough vitamin D in the blood, then the T cells remain passive and no immune response occurs. Their study was published in the journal Nature Immunology.

Professor Carsten Geisler, of the Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, explains that “when a T cell is exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signaling device or ‘antenna’ known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D. This means that the T cell must have vitamin D or activation of the cell will cease. If the T cells (white blood cells) cannot find enough vitamin D in the blood, they won’t even begin to mobilize.”

And that could spell trouble—especially since 75% of U.S. teens and adults are deficient in vitamin D.
Make sure your T cells are activated this season. T cells are part of the adaptive immune system. That means that they function by teaching the immune system to recognize and adapt to constantly changing threats.

T cells are white blood cells that can transform into two types of cells—at least once they’re activated. One type searches and destroys infectious agents, while the other type records information about the invading pathogen and communicates that knowledge to other parts of the immune system. That’s why the latter cells are called “helper” cells; they help the immune system respond quickly if there is a future infection with a similar invader.

The key here is that these T cells must be activated in order to function properly. If they’re not activated, then they just sit there—with no immune response—and those invaders can march right on in and gain a foothold.

So what activates these killer T cells? Vitamin D.

You heard right.  To make sure your family has a healthy immune system during this coming flu season, you don't have to rely on a very questionable flu shot which many are avoiding like the plague. Instead, help your bodies' own natural immune systems by supplying your family with enough vitamin D to fight off the invaders themselves, naturally.
 

This information is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used in place of an individual consultation or examination or replace the advice of your health care professional and should not be relied upon to determine diagnosis or course of treatment. Find a doctor who is open to alternative, natural cures and not just brainwashed by the pharmaceutical industry!

When I Am the Brat

Twila Paris sings a song, The Warrior is A Child, about a Christian minister who falls into his Father's arms when he gets hurt or tired, despite others thinking he is a tough warrior. I love that song because it so clearly depicts the parent's or stepparent's dilemma. We are supposed to be strong, to remain calm and wise, to bear all the stepkids' attacks and our own children's tests, and to be saintly to our dear spouse. But we can be just as weak and just as prone to failures as anyone else in our family ... can't we?

I lost it last night. I have excuses. Input overload; tired from pressures of work; frustrated over numerous small problems; a slow Internet signal; cats determined to steal some of our cheese dip; on and on. You know, life. Anyway, one straw too many was dropped onto this camel's back and I sort of, you know, ... exploded at everyone. Threw a fit. Had a tantrum. Acted inappropriately. And ruined what had been until my outburst a perfect evening at home. My darling wife had blessed me with a short nap when we got home, then a wonderful dinner, then a quiet evening together. And I blew it.

On my way to work this morning I stopped at a little park on the way and gathered the fragments of my mind for a moment by the lake. It is a perfectly still, cool morning today, so the surface of the lake is like a sheet of glass. No ducks or geese make trails across the water today. As I look at the lake, I see so clearly the trees, rocks, and walkers on the other side of the lake, reflected in the pristine surface. An occasional bubble from a bottom feeding turtle breaks the surface and causes ripples that disrupt the serene picture in the liquid mirror, but overall it's perfect.

The Bible says, "Be still and know that I Am God." And, once again, He is right.

When I am at peace, I more clearly reflect God. Looking at that lake surface, you have to really focus to see the lake itself. Instead, you see what is reflected on it's peaceful face, in this case, the beautiful natural setting on the other side of the lake. When I am at peace, you do not at first see me. You see what I reflect.

However, on a windy day when waves disrupt the lake, or when outside forces disturb it (like ducks or rocks thrown by someone), the lake itself jumps into view. You lose the serene picture of the reflection and are jolted back to looking only at the lake and what's disturbing it.

How much time do you devote to peaceful meditation and prayer? How many times during the day do you sit aside the jangling issues of your life to find your peaceful, quiet center? ("Be still and know that I Am God.")

If you are a spouse to someone you value; if you are a parent to a normal child; if you are a stepparent to a "typical" stepchild, you need to "renew your strength" on a regular basis. To be who your mate, your children, and your stepchildren depend on, you must give them the gift of a peaceful you. And in order to have that peaceful you available for them, you must take time for your surface to grow calm.

I know, I know. In a hectic daily grind life of work, chores, responsibilities, parenting, marriage, and everything else, it can seem impossible to find your quiet self. But of all your tasks, this one is one of the most important. You MUST do it. In order to be the person your family is depending upon, you MUST repair your soul regularly. Join a prayer group or a Bible study class or a yoga class. Find a quiet park on the way to work and leave early enough to stop there. Hire a coach to guide you.

Get something in place to help you. Because, if you're like the vast majority of overburdened individuals out there, you'll set it aside and place your serenity last. If you put it off, if you let it slide, you will wake up someday ashamed and disturbed at what you've become. You owe it to your family, your God, and yourself to do this.

If you just cannot find a way to find your peaceful center otherwise, I will help. But whatever method or assistant you choose, DO IT. Your future is counting on you.


God bless your whole family!
STEPcoach Bob Collins

To hear Twila Paris' song and read the lyrics, you can go here: http://artists.letssingit.com/twila-paris-lyrics-warrior-is-a-child-dcc26pg

.. and God Said It WasGood!

Let's not even get on the issue of clubbing baby seals (oops! there I said it!), and just look at this sweet animal who is clearly delighted to find a new friend. I watch this and I think of the years (or days, or millennia, or whatever) that Adam and Eve lived in the garden in peace with their animal companions. (Gen. 1:25-31; 2:18-20) This young elephant seal just seems so happy to have connected with a human who is as willing as she is to be friends. When she throws her head back, could she be saying, "Oh praise You Creator! What joy!"?

Please remember, our first duty (the "oldest profession") was to take care of the garden and the animals. We were never released from that responsibility, were we?

Be good to each other!
STEPcoach Bob

The Price of Laziness

It's been a rough week. I started out last weekend feeling oddly like I had the flu or something - achy, upset stomach, etc. Then, just out of the blue, I happened to check my blood sugar - it was 385! That's more than twice what it was at its worst two years ago when I first got it.

My vegan diet got me out of trouble then, bringing my numbers all back down into healthy levels, but apparently my occasional "allowances" have been adding up. First I let cooking oils back in - granted I used extra virgin olive, but it's still oil*. Then I began falling for my old temptress, cheese**. Only a little, at first, but then eating pizza fairly often - even plain cheese pizza with all the different kinds of cheese. I should have recognized that I was getting too far off track when I began buying into the whole "eggs are part of a healthy diet" jazz and started eating EGGS#!

The clue that finally got my attention was when I started have "rolling blackouts" where I'd start to do or say something and just phase out. My wife was getting worried and so was I, when I could remember having the blackout. I got a new batch of glucose test strips and found the bad news.

So - go to the doctor and let him insist that I begin Metformin or some other poisonous diabetes drug, or get myself back to basics and clean the machine.

Duh.

I set out Monday morning to renew my commitment to Dr. Barnard's Program to Reverse Diabetes, the book that saved me before. All this week I've had gentle breakfasts: steelcut oatmeal with no butter or oil, just flavorings and flax meal, or rye toast with banana spread (that's a soft banana spread on the toast!). Followed by very basic lunches: frozen fresh veggies with rice or pasta, or beans and rice; and dinner of something similar - or my treat, non fat refried beans and rice and veggie cheese burritos with lots of salsa on top. Oh, and only water to drink. Snacks were some boiled baby potatoes, salad munchies, or crisp rye bread.

Today, five days into the diet, my blood glucose was 185, 245, and 211. Not great, and certainly not where I want or need to be, but one half what it was just a few days ago.

Was it hard? Not really. I am motivated by fear and necessity, so I am sticking with the plan well. It's nice to get back to the basics. I hope I won't have to restart again, but I might. At least I know there is a safe, reasonable solution to run to.

More updates later.

God bless y'all!
Bobby C.



*Any oil contributes to the intermyocellular fats that clog your muscle cells and prevent the proper intake of glucose.
** Cheese is basically condensed, concentrated cow's milk, which means all the blood, pus, and poisons of cow's milk in super strength form!
# Eggs do, indeed, have some good properties: vitamins, amino acids, etc. But they come wrapped in a cholesterol heavy, animal protein, high sodium soup. That's 1028mg of cholesterol (yes, one THOUSAND milligrams - that's FOUR times as much as a fatty 16 ounce T bone steak!). And animal proteins, as opposed to vegetable proteins, are extremely hard on your kidneys. Sodium - don't get me started!

Antibiotic Soap Danger!!!

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the safety of a widely used chemical found in antibacterial soap, toothpaste and other consumer goods.

The agency said Thursday in an online statement it is looking into recent studies showing the chemical triclosan can alter hormone levels in animals. Other studies suggest the chemical increases bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

The FDA says it currently has no evidence that triclosan is hazardous to humans and does not recommend consumers avoid it. However, the agency said there is no evidence that soap with triclosan is superior to soap without the ingredient.

The European Union recently banned triclosan from any products that come into contact with food.

[SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/08/fda-will-review-safety-of_n_530797.html]

A good friend passed these along to me and they were so good I had to share them with you.
According to her notes, this is a wild deer that comes into this private yard to visit their cat. Apparently, they're pretty good friends, even though we would consider them natural enemies.
Animals are wonderful.

 

greeting each other

 

"WHERE have you been?"

 

"see, first I'd grab your bottom ...

 

... then I'd jump up on your neck like this."

 

"You're just being silly, my friend!"

FDA approves poison in food

We give so much credence to the FDA and their decisions regarding our health. But issues like the following keep popping up. It is good to keep in mind that the FDA is very open to outside influences, including those by producers of dangerous substances.

"WHY HAS THE FDA ALLOWED A DRUG MARKED 'NOT SAFE FOR USE IN HUMANS' TO BE FED TO LIVESTOCK RIGHT BEFORE SLAUGHTER?:" 02/02/10: "While researchers and scientists investigate the cause of our diabetes, obesity, asthma and ADHD epidemics, they should ask why the FDA approved a livestock drug banned in 160 nations and responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and 10 percent mortality in pigs, according to angry farmers who phoned the manufacturer... Though banned in Europe, Taiwan and China--more than 1,700 people were "poisoned" from eating Paylean-fed pigs since 1998 says the Sichuan Pork Trade Chamber of Commerce... How does a drug marked, "Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask" become "safe" in human food? With no washout period? The same way Elanco's other two blockbusters, Stilbosol (diethylstilbestrol or DES), now withdrawn, and Posilac or bovine growth hormone (rBST), bought from Monsanto in 2008, became part of the nation's food supply: shameless corporate lobbying. A third of meetings on the Food Safety and Inspection Service's public calendar in January 2009 were with Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly--or about ractopamine...

...Nor can we overlook the effects of "adding these drugs to waterways or well water supplies--via contaminated animal feed and manure runoff-- when this class of drugs is so important in treating children with asthma," says David Wallinga, MD of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy...."

Original story: http://www.alternet.org/story/145503/

Arguments against an Alternate Lifestyle

While I accept that eating meat is a personal choice, and that it is not considered a "sin" by God or His church (just as smoking cigarettes isn't), it is also true that flesh eating is not what our bodies were designed for. We were created with a specific diet (fuel source, if you will) in Mind - vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes. Carnivorism, or carrion eating, is an alternative lifestyle choice some may choose over the recommended, natural way we were intended to live.


Whether you choose to avoid dead flesh and blood for religious, environmental, or health reasons, here are some facts which may help you explain your choice to others if they pester you - which scavengers tend to do when their own unnatural lifestyle is challenged. And for some reason (conscience perhaps?) just by being a vegetarian, they feel we challenge their alternative lifestyle.


Thoughts?

The Hunger Argument

Number of people worldwide who will die as a result of malnutrition this year: 20 million
Number of people who could be adequately fed using land freed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 100 million
Percentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by people: 20
Percentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 80
Percentage of oats grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 95
Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90
How frequently a child dies as a result of malnutrition: every 2.3 seconds
Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 40,000
Pounds of beef produced on an acre: 250
Percentage of U.S. farmland devoted to beef production: 56
Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce a pound of edible flesh from feedlot beef: 16

The Environmental Argument

Cause of global warming: greenhouse effect
Primary cause of greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels
Fossil fuels needed to produce meat-centered diet vs. a meat-free diet: 3 times more
Percentage of U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75
Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly related to livestock raising: 85
Number of acres of U.S. forest cleared for cropland to produce meat-centered diet: 260 million
Amount of meat imported to U.S. annually from Central and South America: 300,000,000 pounds
Percentage of Central American children under the age of five who are undernourished: 75
Area of tropical rain forest consumed in every quarter-pound of rain forest beef: 55 square feet
Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rain forests for meat grazing and other uses: 1,000 per year

The Cancer Argument

Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily compared to less than once a week: 3.8 times
For women who eat eggs daily compared to once a week: 2.8 times
For women who eat butter and cheese 2-4 times a week: 3.25 times
Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 or more times a week vs. less than once a week: 3 times
Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume meat, cheese, eggs and milk daily vs. sparingly or not at all: 3.6 times.

The Cholesterol Argument

Number of U.S. medical schools: 125
Number requiring a course in nutrition: 30
Nutrition training received by average U.S. physician during four years in medical school: 2.5 hours
Most common cause of death in the U.S.: heart attack
How frequently a heart attack kills in the U.S.: every 45 seconds
Average U.S. man's risk of death from heart attack: 50 percent
Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat: 15 percent
Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat, dairy or eggs: 4 percent
Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 10 percent: 9 percent
Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption by 50 percent: 45 percent
Amount you reduce risk if you eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from your diet: 90 percent
Average cholesterol level of people eating meat-centered-diet: 210 mg/dl
Chance of dying from heart disease if you are male and your blood cholesterol level

is 210 mg/dl: greater than 50 percent

The Natural Resources Argument

User of more than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S.: livestock production
Amount of water used in production of the average cow: sufficient to float a destroyer
Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of wheat: 25
Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of California beef: 5,000
Years the world's known oil reserves would last if every human ate a meat-centered diet: 13
Years they would last if human beings no longer ate meat: 260
Calories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef: 78
To get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2
Percentage of all raw materials (base products of farming, forestry and mining, including fossil fuels) consumed by U.S. that is devoted to the production of livestock: 33
Percentage of all raw materials consumed by the U.S. needed to produce a complete vegetarian diet: 2

The Antibiotic Argument

Percentage of U.S. antibiotics fed to livestock: 55  (70% today)
Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13
Percentage resistant in 1988: 91
Response of European Economic Community to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: ban
Response of U.S. meat and pharmaceutical industries to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: full and complete support

The Pesticide Argument

Common belief: U.S. Department of Agriculture protects our health through meat inspection
Reality: fewer than 1 out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues
Percentage of U.S. mother's milk containing significant levels of DDT: 99
Percentage of U.S. vegetarian mother's milk containing significant levels of DDT: 8
Contamination of breast milk, due to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in animal products, found in meat-eating mothers vs. non-meat eating mothers: 35 times higher
Amount of Dieldrin ingested by the average breast-fed American infant: 9 times the permissible level

The Ethical Argument

Number of animals killed for meat per hour in the U.S.: 660,000
Occupation with highest turnover rate in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker
Occupation with highest rate of on-the-job-injury in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker

The Survival Argument

Athlete to win Ironman Triathlon more than twice: Dave Scott (6 time winner)
Food choice of Dave Scott: Vegetarian
Largest meat eater that ever lived: Tyrannosaurus Rex (Where is he today?)

Source = "Diet For A New America" by John Robbins

The Problem with Soda

This is from a Care2 article:

Most soft drinks are made with highly concentrated sweeteners, like high-fructose corn sweetener. Even the “healthier” versions made with good old-fashioned sugar deliver it in a highly concentrated dose. The job of the pancreas is to secrete insulin when needed to process sugar, so when you hit your body with a wallop of sugar, the pancreas goes into overdrive. Experts at the University of Minnesota followed 60,000 people in China and found a link between those who drank large quantities of soda and the incidence of pancreatic cancer. The researchers theorize that stressing the pancreas repeatedly with high doses of sugar leads to inflammation, which in turn sets up a vulnerability to pancreatic cancer.

Their study found that people who drank two or more sodas a week had an 87 percent increase in their risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Since pancreatic cancer is rare, and the overall risk of developing it is low, even an 87 percent increase is not as big as it sounds. But pancreatic cancer is a particularly deadly type of cancer, killing most of those who get it within a few years. So protecting our pancreas is something we all need to take seriously.

 I can't overemphasize this point - it is dangerous to drink sugar pops (sodas, colas, soft drinks, etc). For an adult to do so is about the same as smoking - personal choice to defy a slow, painful death from your body falling apart. For a parent to hand a sugar pop to their child is tantamount to handing that child a syringe filled with a drug!

In her book, Food & Behavior, Barbara Stitt notes:

The connection between food and behavior is so basic that it is being over looked by parents, the school system, counselors and most of the medical professionals.
Ask any hyperactive child, depressed, angry teenager, violent adult or criminal what they eat and you'll find they "live" on junk food - sweetened boxed cereals, candy, carbonated drinks, potato chips, fast foods.
Junk food abuses the mind, undernourishes the body and distorts the behavior.

Children model after their parents. Studies have shown repeatedly that children whose parents smoked are much likelier to smoke, whose parents drank alcohol would probably drink; therefore, it follows that if you have sugar pops in the house and you drink them in front of your kids, they will become addicted to this drug, also.

What do you want to will to your children: diabetes, obesity, hyperactivity, and pancreatic cancer, among many other problems, or habits of good health so they can enjoy a good, long life?

Think about it!
STEPcoach Bob Collins

Food for Thought for Food

Plutarch taught: Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind did so, the first man touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived.

How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds?

It is certainly not lions and wolves that we eat out of self-defense; on the contrary, we ignore these and slaughter harmless, tame creatures without stings or teeth to harm us, creatures that, I swear, Nature appears to have produced for the sake of their beauty and grace. But nothing abashed us, not the flower-like like tinting of the flesh, not the persuasiveness of the harmonious voice, not the cleanliness of their habits or the unusual intelligence that may be found in the poor wretches.

No, for the sake of a little flesh we deprive them of sun, of light, of the duration of life to which they are entitled by birth and being.
-----

We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions and organs with our own, and fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain and fear.
-Robert Louis Stevenson
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I don't eat chicken anymore. I won't eat it. I won't allow it in my house. -Rodney Leonard - U.S. Poultry inspector

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Based on my experience in Los Angeles, my advice to the public is not to eat meat. - Gregorio Natavidad - meat inspector

Diabetics: Got Vinegar? Yaotta!

 Just read some very interesting news about keeping my blood sugar under control and making my wife happy: scientists have completed a study that showed that vinegar prevents sugar spikes after eating. Here, look:

Past studies have shown that consuming vinegar can improve insulin sensitivity in people with insulin resistance and possibly improve blood glucose control in people with Type 2 diabetes. Now, research has indicated that vinegar consumption is also effective at controlling after-meal blood glucose levels in those with Type 1 diabetes.

Diane Fennell reports in Diabetes Self Management that the subjects of the study drank two tablespoons of vinegar in one and a half tablespoon of water just before eating. Their blood sugar rose after the meal - as everyone's does naturally - but it did not spike high as is common with diabetics.

No one is completely sure why this works, but it does.

While the mechanisms by which vinegar helps control after-meal blood glucose levels aren’t entirely clear, it is known from previous studies that vinegar delays stomach emptying and that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, enhances glucose storage in the liver and muscle tissue.

 So, if there's a good result, why not try? And unlike medicines that usually cause more dangerous side effects than their intended good, vinegar is a natural treatment. That means it is unlikely to have any negative side effects. Of course, some people do have allergies to some things, so you might want to ask your M.D. if you've never used vinegar in this way before.

The article closes with this note:

According to the researchers, “two tablespoons of vinegar could easily be used as a complementary food (e.g., in a salad dressing) to reduce hyperglycemia.” 

 Now, Jo Donna and I have been using apple cider vinegar (ACV) for years to stop colds and flu and to ease indigestion, but this is a nice bonus. It's important to note that, if you're going to try ACV, you get the right kind. If the vinegar is a clear amber color, that's not right. Good ACV is amber colored, but it looks smokey, like there's something foggy in it. That's called The Mother (no, really) and it's all the natural enzymes of protein molecules, which are what do most of the healthy stuff.

We've settled on Bragg brand (their web site is HERE) mostly because that's the brand carried in most of our local stores, but also because they wrote the book on ACV benefits - literally! Paul Bragg was one of the pioneers in discovering all the many health virtues of ACV. Also their's is organic, so that's good too.

I highly recommend unprocessed apple cider vinegar for all sorts of things - now including keeping your or your family member's blood sugar under control without drugs.

LINKS:
the original article : http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/Diane-Fennell/vinegar-reduces-after-meal-glucose/
Bragg vinegar info: http://bragg.com/products/bragg-organic-apple-cider-vinegar.html

go get 'em!
STEPcoach Bob Collins
P.S. you do know what "yaotta" means, don't you?

Got Milk? Nuts to You!

Man! if it's this easy, why not get all the benefits of almond milk! Read about the nutritional value of almonds below the video ...



Almonds are popular for the following:

• they have anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and tonic properties
• help alkalinize the blood and relieve stagnation in the liver,
• help to lubricate the lungs,
• relieve asthma and coughing,
• clear phlegm,
• improve energy and memory,
• strengthen the nervous system,
• increase strength and sexual vitality,
• are known as brain and bone food.

Almond milk can be sweetened with a bit of natural honey or raw sugar added to the blender. It tastes great alone, as a refreshing cold drink, or as a cooking additive in the place of moo milk. Speaking of "that other milk," almond milk has not cholesterol, animal fat, or mucus-making casein.

For those of you trying to cut out dairy and/or meat from your diet (good for you!!), almond milk can be a great help in your growth.

Keep it up!