Coconut Flour for Baking

I've just found a great post on the blog The Nourishing Kitchen on How to Bake with Coconut Flour.

For those who want a grain free or wheat free alternative to flour, coconut flour looks like a great choice.

This blog post is an excellent reference for how to use coconut flour, the benefits of coconut flour, measurements for substituting coconut flour for other ingredients, and links to a number of recipes using coconut flour.

Here is just one section of this very informative post:

"Benefits of Baking with Coconut Flour

- Coconut flour is rich in protein, fiber and fat, which makes it exceptionally filling.

- Coconut flour is also a good source of lauric acid, a saturated fat thought to support the immune system and the thyroid. Like most healthy fats, lauric acid also promotes good skin health.

- Coconut flour is an exceptionally goodshource of manganese which helps you to better utilize many nutrients including choline and biotion (found in eggs), vitamin C and thiamin. Manganese also supports bone health, nervous syste function, thyroid health andhelps to maintain optimal blood sugar levels.

- Coconut flour is not grain-based, and, as such does not present many of the issues that accompayn grains. Coconut flour is a gluten-free and, while it does contain food phtate, the mineral-binding effect of phytates in coconut are virtually non-existent so coconut flour does not need to be soaked (read more about soadking coconut flour)."

 

MSG in Disguise - Read the Label Carefully!

From John Douillard's Life Spa website -

This article is very much worth a read through. There are many health issues that are exacerbated by eating MSG.  John Douillard explains what MSG is, how is affects our bodies, and just how much the use of MSG in its many forms is dangerously prevalent in many foods we would not think would contain MSG - why? because, as the title of his article explains - MSG has many sneaky names.

"Sneaky Names for MSG: Check Your Labels"

"The dangers and prevalence of MSG will shock you! This flavor enhancer is linked to a host of health issues, including fibromyalgia (1), obesity (2), fatty liver (3), high insulin and blood sugar (3), high cholesterol (3), liver toxicity (3), metabolic syndrome (4), high blood pressure, disturbance to the gut-brain connection (5), neurological and brain damage (6).
The danger lies in that MSG is almost impossible to avoid.

Why? The reason is twofold:
    1.    There are over 40 different ingredients that manufacturers use, that all have MSG.
    2.    It is not just a flavor enhancing additive – it is a natural by-product of processing proteins.

These MSG by-products are found in many of your favorite organic health foods. ... "

please read on

Ponder this - a view of the gut-brain connection

A slide show presentation by Todd R. LePine, MD, a graduate of Dartmouth Medical School, and interestingly he did practice at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires. The information on the nature of bacteria is absolutely fascinating, as well as all the other findings on the brain-gut connection.

The Gut-Brain Connection: An Inside Look at Depression from Augustin Bralley

eat your greens

Informative article on why eating your greens not only feeds you, but is healing, too.

"Who told you to eat your green veggies? Your mother? Me, or another clinical nutritionist? Well, not only was mom right, but there is now some amazing research that will get you running to eat that broccoli and kale! Really! Read on…

Food goes into your intestines, you knew that. But did you know that 80% of your immune system is housed in your small intestine? The immune system is the one that either successfully fights off ‘bad guys’ such as bacteria and cancer or it succumbs to infections and disease results.

Three brilliant women, doctors and researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s Molecular Biology division in Melbourne, Australia, just discovered that a special type of immune cell can be controlled by the consumption of leafy greens in your diet."

please click to read the rest of this article "Eating Greens ..." by Dr. Vikki Peterson

Some of best of the Green (Cruciferous) Vegetables, according to the article are:

• Greenest: arugula (rocket), bok choy, broccoli, broccoli rabe
• Greener: cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, watercress, kale, mizuna
• Green: radish, rutabaga, turnip greens

there are others ... I recommend reading the full article

David Winston, founder of Herbalist & Alchemist, is truly a wizard. I have attended his classes, stood in ceremonial circle with him, and have taken his products, with excellent results.

One of the most remarkable healings I have had with his products was when I took his formula, David Winston's Women's Transition Formula™ right after surgery, in experiencing surgical menopause. My doctor had wanted to start me on estrogen replacement, and I had decided that that was not an option for me. I started on his formula right after surgery, and made the transition smoothly. I kept up taking it for about a year, and then transitioned to a simpler program, with the help of herbalist Greg Patch, who had gotten me started on David's formula in the first place.

David's website has many resources, in addition to his formulas. He has information on the uses of all of the herbs in his formulas, as well as a  library of CDs of many of the classes he teaches, with class notes. I highly recommend him - he is a great resource.

Puddink Lovers Alert

I have not tried this recipe yet, but its on my list of things to do very soon.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding recipe

Thank you, Jess, who writes Forgiving Martha, for your post on how to make it! I've just poked around a little bit on her blog, and she has many gluten free recipes, in addition to this Chocolate Avocado Pudding.

Mmmmmm!

Magnesium - What About It?

I've known that magnesium is an important mineral for health, but I keep forgetting why, or to get some and take it.

This article grabbed my attention - but of course, it is on weight loss! As the author of the article states, almost everyone in the U.S. seems to be interested in weight loss, and thus the title of the article:

Magnesium - The Weight Loss Cure

Of course, there are many more important reasons to make sure we are getting enough magnesium in our diet. Magnesium helps to keep the heart healthy, helps to regulate blood pressure and prevent strokes, it is helpful in the control of diabetes II, and is considered more important than calcium, potassium or sodium - it helps to regulate the levels of all three in the body. Interestingly, magnesium is a muscle relaxant, while calcium is a muscle constrictor. Getting enough calcium is greatly stressed, while magnesium is rarely mentioned. We are often told that if we have muscle cramps, we need more calcium rather than more magnesium, while we more likely need to increase our magnesium intake.

Find out more about magnesium. Here are a few more articles concerning the importance of magnesium from the same website, Natural News, that are worth reading:

Magnesium: The Lamp of Life
Magnesium is Vital for Good Health
Magnesium is Crucial to the Proper Functioning of a Healthy Body

Lizards Hold Secrets to Lyme Cure?

Image from wikipedia:
Sceloporus_occidentalis, Western Fence or Blue Bellied Lizard

Lizard May Act As Lyme Disease Panacea
Feeding on Its Blood Strips Ticks of Dangerous Lyme Bacterium

by Kathleen Scalise, Public Affairs
from The Berkeleyan,
A newspaper for faculty and staff at the University of California, Berkeley

posted Apr. 29, 1998

Ticks harboring the Lyme disease bacterium can be cleansed of the infection when they feed on the blood of the common western fence lizard, Berkeley researchers have discovered. The new finding may explain why Lyme disease is less common in California but epidemic in some northeastern states, where lizards are rare.
(read full article)

Think of the possibilities! I'll have to meditate on Lizard Spirit to see if I get any insights.

Thanks to my daughter's neighbor and friend, who spoke of this last night. I decided to google it today. I am sure that there is more information out there, but this is a start.

Attack of the Urban Mosquitoes

Tiger Mosquito, Aedes Albopictus  image from wikipedia

Attack of the Urban Mosquitoes, Aggressive and Hard to Kill: Two Asian Cityslickers Swarm the East Coast.

This article from the Wall Street Journel is from 2011, but it is still timely and very informative. The two types of mosquitos discussed are both from Asia - the tiger mosquito and the rockpool mosquito.

Mosquitos with their insidious buzzing and the often resulting bites are bad enough to deal with. Details of the article state that these insects can also be disease carriers.

"The Asian tiger was responsible for transmitting more than 200 cases of dengue fever, a sometimes-fatal viral infection, in Hawaii in 2001-02. A similar (but less lethal) virus called chikungunya was transmitted in France and Italy, but no cases have been cited in the U.S. from the Asian tiger. Likewise, the rock pool mosquito is capable of transmitting the West Nile virus, but no cases have been traced to the species in the U.S., Dr. Fonseca says."

Another Insect Borne Disease - Chagas

According to an article in the New York Times by Donald McNeil, published on May 28, 2012, Chagas disease is "the new AIDS of the Americas". The source of this information is an editorial, Chagas Disease: “The New HIV/AIDS of the Americas”, on PLoS (Public Library of Science) website.

I am not trying to be alarmist, just wanting to be informed of possibilities.

Joyful

A very good website to peruse for health information -

Joyful Belly