Nutritional supplements

Did you leave all your favorite figs behind when you moved? It isridiculously easy to root fig cuttings.

In the Spring take some 12-inch cuttings that are at least as thickas your pinkie finger. Be sure to get about 3 inches of last yearsgrowth at the base of the cutting. Dip the cut end in rootinghormone (otional) and plant it about 6 inches deep in potting soilout of direct sun for several weeks. Pot the baby up to a biggersize container as needed then plant in the ground the next Spring.

To take cuttings during the winter, soak them in a 10% bleachdilution for 20 minutes, wrap them loosely in paper towels, andplace them in a closed plastic bag in the refigerator until Spring.

I’m way behind on reading the digests again (there have been a lot of posts) sothis may have been commented on but I haven’t read it yet.

My stepfather (79 yrs) is type II insulin dependent. He has been taking 25 unitsin the evening. I got him started on kefir about 2 weeks ago. To him it is likethe real [tag]buttermilk[/tag] he used to get as a kid. He drinks a big glass before bed.It has helped his sleep and he has had to cut his insulin to 20 units becausehis morning test was too low - 60, and he was feeling light-headed. It seems thekefir has helped him.Carol

Oh, I’m not on the Warrior Diet. I’m going to probably give it a shot thisweekend, we’ll see. I was just saying that the discussion was very related toour scope of topics, not that the way of eating is necessarily central to atraditional way of eating.

I have a question for you, since you test your blood sugar and need to adjustinsulin to carbs. Do you consider lactic acid to be a carb? In other words,if you eat [tag]yogurt[/tag] or kefir, which has significantly less lactose than milk,but a lot of lactic acid (which can be converted into glucose in the liver), doyou need proportinately less insulin, or do you need insulin to correspond tothe actual carb amount plus the amount of lactic acid?

You might not have tried kefir, but I figure you’ve had yogurt. (it wouldhave to be plain of course though.)

FDA to Make Foods Reveal Trans Fat Levels

WASHINGTON - Trans fat hasn’t gotten the attention its infamous cousin,saturated fat, earned through warnings and labels. That’s about to change: After10years of debate, the government is requiring food labels to reveal exactlevels of the artery clogger.Trans fat is the stuff that helps make such foods as doughnuts, french fries,crackers and fried chicken taste so good. But it’s at least as dangerous tothe heart as saturated fat — and many doctors consider it worse. And untilnow,consumers have had no way of knowing how much trans fat they eat.

Food and Drug Administration regulations unveiledWednesday will require nutrition labels to include a new line listing the amountoftrans fat in each food right under the amount of saturated fat.

Add the two lines together to learn the total of heart-risky fats in everyserving.

“Our choices about our diets are choices about our health, and those choicesshould be based on the best available scientific information,” said FDACommissioner Mark McClellan. “This label change means trans fat can no longerlurk,hidden, in our food choices.”

“It’s a good first step,” said Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in thePublic Interest, which petitioned FDA in 1993 to make the change. “People willbe able to compare different products and determine which ones are worse fortheir hearts.”

But Wootan cautioned that the comparisons won’t be easy: The labels won’ttell consumers how much each cookie or dollop of margarine counts against theirdaily allotment of total unhealthy fat. Nor will they bear a message FDAdebated this spring — that trans fat consumption should be as low as possible.

The FDA promised more research to find ways to educate consumers aboutheart-damaging fats so that they make better food choices.

The FDA has estimated that merely revealing trans fat content on labels wouldsave between 2,000 and 5,600 lives a year, as people either would choosehealthier foods or manufacturers would change their recipes to leave out thedamaging ingredient.

The government is giving companies until 2006 to phase in the change.

But some companies already have begun jockeying for position in theanti-trans fat market: Frito-Lay has announced it is eliminating trans fat fromitspopular Doritos, Tostitos and Cheetos, and became the first major manufacturertovoluntarily begin adding trans fat content to the labels of other brandsearlier this year. Wednesday, Unilever Bestfoods announced its line of “I Can’tBelieve It’s Not Butter” margarine spreads will be free of trans fat by nextyear.

“Clearly this is going to be a major change to food labels, and it’s going tohelp consumers who are seeking information about trans fat content of foodsto find it,” said Tim Willard of the National Food Processors Association.

Saturated fat is found primarily in meat and other products containing animalfat. People are advised to eat no more than 20 grams a day, about 10 percentof calories.

Some surveys suggest trans fat comprises up to another 10 percent. Both typescan increase the risk of heart disease, although some research suggests transfat may be the worst culprit.

Trans fat is in numerous products, from meats and dairy products to pastries.The most common source is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, where liquidoil is turned into a solid to protect against spoiling and maintain long-termflavor.

Typically, the harder a margarine or cooking fat, the more trans fat itincludes. Soft, spreadable margarine in tubs, for instance, contains little ifanytrans fat, while stick margarine can contain a lot. In other foods, the onlyway consumers could tell which contained trans fat was to check the ingredientlist for the word “hydrogenated.”

The National Academy of Sciences which setsnutritionlevels, last year ruled that while eating some trans fat may be unavoidable,there is no safe level that it could set as an upper limit. So while productlabels today list what percent of total [tag]calories[/tag] a food offers in saturated fat,the new trans fat labels will won’t.

FDA had considered putting a footnote on labels recommending eating only alittle trans fat, but consumer testing found that had the unintended consequenceof scaring people back to foods high in saturated fat, said Stephanie Childsof the Grocery Manufacturers of America, which lobbied against the move.

What do you think of fluoride, specifically fluoride rinse, and also fluoridetoothpaste? The fluoride site that the WAPF site links to focuses onfluoridating water, but doesn’t seem to have info on the other two sources offluoride. I came down with a major dental decay problem last October, somany cavities I lost count, I think around 15, with two root canals. Mydentist prescribed a fluoride rinse. At first I was paranoid about the sideeffects, but later found out the ones they list only happen in children andwell it is swallowed. But still, I did it off and on. Soemtiemes I havetrouble sleeping when I use it, because you can’t drink anything after it fora half hour, and I’m supposed to use it right before bed, and it makes mereally thirsty. Also, it sometimes seems to give me a feeling in my bonesthat I get when I have too much coffee. So I haven’t used it for a while.Since my diet before was no meat, lots of soy flour and canola oil, and soymilk instead of milk, and coffee every day, I am counting on my diet changesstopping the dental decay and hoping I don’t need the rinse.

Does anyone have any opinion on the effectiveness and side effects of theserinses, and also in fluoride toothpaste?

I like to go to a Cambodian restaurant for “hot mussels” which are mussels infermented black bean sauce with jalapeno peppers. I order them withoutwhite rice (which raises some eyebrows) but with a young coconut. Theyoung coconut is served with a straw to drink the water and a spoon to scoopout the meat. It must have some fat in it as it really helps cool things down!

I got the ad email from Wilderness Family Naturals as well and sawAnnette Fischer’s mention of a new product, Caucasus Kefir Capsules.They say they are: “are a dietary supplement containing liveprobiotic microorganisms, yeasts, proteins and minerals, enzymes,lactic acid bacteria and vitamins.”

(disclosure: I am just a happy customer of WFN’s — good site, goodcoconut oil, friendly owners — hi Annette!)

I’m wondering if any one has experience with these capsules andwhether this is likely to be a Good Thing for those of us who, forwhatever reason, aren’t making kefir at home ourselves?

For example, I can’t get my kids to even take more than a sip of thestore-bought kefir, so my chances of getting them to drink any muchtangy-er home brew kefir is about zip. Maybe these caps would helpme add kefir benefits (if not “real” kefir) to their diet in a lessobjectionable / noticeable way? My daughter refuses any form ofliquid milk whatsoever, although she will eat cheese at everyopportunity…

Also, would it be likely that these freeze-dried [tag]kefir grains[/tag] in thecapsules could be used to start a batch of kefir if you put one (ormore?) into milk (or coconut milk or whatever), instead of consumingit? For some of us, less-adept at being fermentation meisters thanyou experts out there, keeping a set of grains going continuously isnot a successful option (travel, etc…).

and, no, I recognize that this approach is not “natural” or “perWAP” — it’s just an “adaptation” to acknowledge “modern realities”and to take advantage of what might be a beneficial advance in ourtechnology.

Can anyone recommend a really good juicer?I got a Juiceman from Sears and the motor brokeafter a few weeks. It still juices, but only on onespeed - super-super-high!

I tried juicing a coconut, and now the top partsof the [tag]juicer[/tag] are stuck together. I would loveto have a juicer that could actually stand upto coconuts.

After drinking 4-6oz. of [tag]kombucha[/tag] tea three times a day for three days, Ibecame very ill. Fever, chills, diarrhea, body aches… I have susbsequentlyread that kombucha is a powerful detoxifier, and that some people need tostart drinking it very slowly or they will have major healing crises. I believethat drinking too much too fast has caused my illness (if so, that’s somepowerful drink!). I am recovering from CFS and long term high dosePrednisone use, and I believe my body released pockets of Epstein Barr viruswhich proceeded to cause a flu-like immune reaction. Interestingly enough, Ialso experiened some of the effects I had on steroids (muscle tremors, headshaking, moaning and crying). The fact that the illness hit quickly and theworst was over in 24 hrs. (though I have lingering queasiness and weakness),I believe supports my theory that this isn’t an outside flu virus I just pickedup.

Has anyone else had such strong reactions to kombucha? I really loved thetaste, and plan on drinking it again when I feel better. But this time I’mtakingit SLOWLY. One book mentioned that some people need to start with as littleas a teaspoon a day. If I’m one of them, then I REALLY overdid it!

Does anyone know what would make kombucha such a powerful detoxifier?I’ve had healing crises before… but nothing like this.

I recall the [tag]NT book[/tag] mentioning to avoid protein powder because it’sbasically evaporated (pasteurized) milk protein. I was wondering ifanyone uses here, and if so: why? I’m especially interested if thosewho lift weights use protein powder. I assume people here’d be usingwhey protein, and not soy.

had another message typed up and lost it, being new to this group.prob just as well. the shorter version is:question: could raw fruit be causing my system’s inability to digestlarger than very small portions of clean meats and dairy (the dairyraw)? usually eat fruit 1/2 hour before a meal or 2 hours after.

nutritionist suggested i get off all raw fruit for awhile, at least.think said candida [sp].

can candida [sp] cause the flu-like exhaustion and chills than haveput me on my back from time to time over the last months andpossibly years?

possible cause could also be residual mold effects (lost home tomolds). also possible cause: detox from very small amounts ofcondiments and “unclean” meats salted with table salt, lacking theclean stuff i have finally found in my relocation to another state.(though the detox idea seems unlikely to me…)

i have been eating 80% raw fruits and veges, and 20% cooked veges,clean meats, [tag]nuts[/tag] and seeds, and raw dairy. been made aware that mybody is screaming for more protein. but now i am craving at leastsome fruits too. don’t do [tag]grains[/tag] usually.