EAT THE WEEDS

 

Purslane growing through holes in the black plastic ground cover, in my rock garden.  This took one month to grow 2 feet across.

Eating the weeds 
might be the best alternative to being force-fed corn and other by-products that are already genetically modified. Large corporations would like to make genetically manipulated corn, soy and wheat so that it will be immune to ever more toxic herbicidal chemicals. The goal is to try to kill weeds that compete with domestic grains. The genetically modified grains would supposedly be able to withstand being sprayed with stronger chemicals. Meanwhile the weeds seem to adjust and become ever more immune to the toxins.  

The exponential volume of grains produced, will of course,  also contain their portion of these poisons being  produced for farm animal and human  consumption. These increased toxins will also be hidden in hundreds of processed foods appearing under names hard to recognize. We are being told there is no harm in eating these products.

Ironically, some of the weeds that would supposedly be overwhelmed by poisons that have so far failed to be killed by previous herbicides, are much more high in nutrients than the grain products that would survive being sprayed with toxins. (Info from Just Label It. See previous post.)

PURSLANE- Portulaca oleracea is a very nutritious and edible weed.

Purslane is a  low growing succulent plant that grows wild. It can be either an annual or biennial. It has fleshy decumbent stems, leaves that are opposite, spatulate and sessile with a slightly pinkish tinge. There are different varieties, some with leaves that are very small, and others that are quite large, with varying amounts of red in the stems.The plant bears yellow flowers in groups of two or three to eight, appearing in late summer, and soon replaced by seeds.

Purslane is widely distributed from Greece to Mainland China, and has been introduced elsewhere, growing all over the USA. Asian and European countries do not all  have ready access to the vitamin and mineral supplements that we have in the USA and Canada, but many people in these countries can meet their need for Vitamin A,  C, iron and potassium as well as some other minerals, by eating Purslane.

Purslane contains about 700 mg per 100 grams of Vitamin C and about 75% of the daily needs for those minerals, about equivalent to that found in cooked Spinach. It also supplies other minerals. 

When made into a tea, Purslane is good  for all respiratory disorders and skin afflictions. Boil 2 cups of water, pour over the herb and steep for 30 minutes. Drink 1 cup of tea twice daily. (From John Heinerman’s Encyclopedia of Healing Herbs and Spices.)

My mother fed Purslane to our family as a pot herb when I was a child, in Michigan, and it grows in Colorado as a back yard garden or lawn weed, edible,  if you avoid poisoning your lawn. Purslane is a nice addition to salads, adding a different texture as well as nutrients. 

I do not know exactly which weeds are targeted by the companies promoting herbicides to farmers. I only know of some of the widely available edible weeds that might be a better choice for the table, than the vegetables being grown for us and modified in ways that do not select for improved nutrition.  


Writing and images are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

PROPOSED TOXIC WEED KILLER’S HEALTH RISKS

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Crabgrass- Are the Poisons Enough to Kill the Weeds?

A Warning posted on June 11, 2014 by Just Label It, and written by Mary Ellen Kustin (EWG) announced the EPA was poised to approve  Dow Chemical’s bid to market a new toxic weed killer. The agency had failed to consider the weed killer’s danger to children’s health, as the federal law requires, it said.

The new toxic herbicide would be marketed to farmers to spray on fields of corn and soybeans that have been planted with recently developed genetically engineered varieties built to withstand the spraying. The spraying could be used indiscriminately. 

Just think of how many (hundreds ) of processed foods contain elements of corn and soybeans!

It is now up to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to  allow the new GE corn and soybean crops to be sold without regulation on the open market, in which case, the EPA will follow suit and approve the weed killer created to be used on those crops.

EPA is accepting public comments through June 30, 2014 on their pending decision to approve the weed killer. They could make their final decision anytime after the comment period closes.

The Just Label It group, insists that consumers have the right to know what is in the foods they buy in the open market, and advocates full disclosure of Genetically Modified Organisms, as well as the toxins used in producing such products.

 The Just Label It group claims the EPA failed to fully assess the serious health risks of a new herbicide formulation that, if approved, would lead to the largest increase in use of a known toxic weed killer in decades. The group also says EPA’s assessment omitted the possibility of inhaling 2,4-D – even though that’s one of the primary routes of exposure for people. EPA also disregarded the immune and reproductive toxicity of 2,4-D and overlooked potential links to Parkinson’s and cancer.

So, WHY ask for approval of a three-fold increase in use of a toxic herbicide that’s been linked to cancer, Parkinson’s, reproductive problems and immune system failure?

Because the last toxic herbicide designed to work with genetically engineered plants stopped working, is the Justification.

How many increases in toxic chemicals will be needed to keep up with the ability of weeds and insects adapt  to the poisons and to resist them?  And you want to eat foods that are altered to tolerate toxins that people will unknowingly end up eating?

Dow AgroSciences (a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company) has asked EPA to rubber-stamp its application for widespread distribution of Enlist^® Duo herbicide, a mixture of 2,4-D and glyphosate, the main herbicide found in Monsanto’s best-selling RoundUp^® weed killer.

• EWG’s analysis of EPA’s recent risk assessment for 2,4-D and Enlist^® Duo finds that the agency did not take steps to protect children’s health, as required by the Food Quality Protection Act.  (• Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org.)

EPA is accepting public comments through June 30, 2014 on their pending decision to approve the weed killer. And they could make their final decision anytime after the comment period closes.

 

Sweet Corn.            Do we want the corn enough to risk the toxins?            Virtually all corn is genetically modified.

Dow is hoping to market Enlist to corn and soybean farmers for whom Monsanto’s RoundUp no longer works because the weeds in their fields have become resistant to it. USDA estimates that more than 60 million acres of farmland is infested by weeds that have proved Monsanto’s scientists wrong about GE crops requiring fewer weed-killers.

If Enlist Duo is approved, farmers would use it on varieties of corn and soybeans that Dow has genetically engineered to survive blasts of 2,4-D.  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the approval would lead to between a three- and whopping seven-fold increase in today’s use of 2,4-D on crops by 2020.

In the rise and fall of Monsanto’s RoundUp and “RoundUp Ready” crops, we’ve watched a “miracle” weed killer designed to work with specially genetically engineered crops lead, first, to the acceleration of herbicide-resistant “superweeds” and, ultimately, application of even more herbicides.

USDA reports that some weeds are already growing resistant to 2, 4-D, which has been used for decades but at nowhere near the amounts under consideration by EPA. 

Even though Dow’s Enlist^® Duo is even more toxic than Monsanto’s RoundUp,  the EPA’s analysis is that they:
            Failed to fully account for the risk to children;
            Disregarded endocrine toxicity and immunotoxicity findings from animal    studies.
            Ignored 2,4-D inhalation, one of the primary routes of pesticide exposure for  
                  communities in the   vicinity of sprayed fields; and
            Overlooked serious impacts on wildlife, including endangered species and   honeybees.

The science is clear: allowing Enlist Duo into the marketplace would be a disaster to people’s health – especially to children close to fields where the toxic weed killer would be applied – and would keep us on the path to even more toxic weed killers in the future. 

Click here to sign a petition demanding that the EPA deny Dow Chemical Company's application to use a combination of glyphosate and 2,4-D on GE crops.

- See more at: http://justlabelit.org/epa-disregards-toxic-weed-killers-risks-to-children/#sthash.vWJMsuww.dpuf

Note: Written Materials were gathered from a Just Label It Petition.

Images were modified  from a Better Homes and Gardens  Garden Book, 1968 .

THE AMAZING ELDERBERRY

Elderberry, a Traditional Medicine for Colds and Flu.

ELDERBERRY (Sambucus canadensis)

Probably everyone has heard of Elderberry Wine. I heard of it, too, but even when I once made wine for a hobby, I could not identify the plant well enough to feel secure about using it to make wine, jams, jellies, teas etc.

I next heard of it as a great remedy for colds, from Dr. Nida (unsure of the spelling) who appeared on one of the Denver TV stations. That was about six years ago, and I soon became a believer. Sambucol, the liquid version  of Elderberry was available at the drug store.

At the first indication of a cold, I would take Sambucol, frequently, and the symptoms would lessen, or go away entirely, and in the first years while taking it, the misery of a cold was much reduced. I have been subject to colds, sore throats and all the symptoms that follow, all of my life, and the last two years I have made it through without having a cold. After the beginning, I found a capsule form of Elderberry, and always keep it on hand.

When I developed Rheumatoid arthritis in both hands last autumn, 2013,  I  noticed also, that in addition to interrupting a cold, taking Elderberry seemed to reduce the inflammation. Wanting evidence, I wasn’t sure that this wasn’t just a coincidence.

Elderberry varieties grow all over the world, and Native Americans used it as a medicine in this country. Elder trees were part of the folklore in European cultures.

Dr. Robert A Schulman, MD. in his book Solve it with Supplements, says that Elderberry counters the flu as well as sinus infections, bronchitis, sore throats, coughs and more. Some recent studies show that cocktail remedies containing Elderberry may help treat forms of herpes.

Schulman says Elderberry flowers and berries contain flavonoids, notably, Quercetin. The flowers have anti-inflammatory properties as well. Not only that, but Schulman says (pg 110) that Elderberry stimulates the immune system and inhibits the growth of viruses.

So probably I did not just imagine that Elderberry helped my inflamed hands when I took it.

Use of the (white) flowers for making tea, and the extract from black and blue Elderberries are the usual ways of using it, but specific procedures for cooking the berries are required, and as long as syrups, capsules and teas are available commercially, this is probably the most prudent source to use. Red Elderberries, are not effective. Raw and or green forms of the plant can make one very sick.

Nature’s Way is one Store brand that has several forms of Elderberry products. An on- line order company that has herbal formulas of Elderberry and hundreds of other herbal remedies is Swanson Health Products. (I do not recommend any products or companies I have not found reliable, and am not paid for my endorsement.)

"Herbal Supplements" is a new label on this blog, and I hope to review other supplements on an intermittent basis in the future.

Writing and Images are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

ACID REFLUX AND THROAT BURN

Bananas are especially good for an acidic stomach. Citrus fruits are not advised, however.  Photo © by Ruth Zachary.

Acid Reflux:

One of my friends recently told me she went to the hospital with a sore throat, thinking it was a Strep infection. The diagnosis was Acid Reflux.

Then I heard about Throat Burn… a newly named ailment one step beyond heart burn, or acid reflux.

Apparently when we sleep, extra acidic foods tend to cause the sphincter between the esophagus and stomach to relax. Acid is belched up as far as the throat.

Avoiding some foods are likely to help this condition- the Five C’s.

            caffeine

            chocolate

            cocktails

            carbonated drinks

            citrus fruits.

Foods that help neutralize an acidic stomach:

Eat five servings of raw fruits and vegetables daily. At least start with raw foods,

even if you cook them. It turns out the FDA has required adding acid to canned foods. The reason? I don’t know, unless it preserves the foods longer.

I used to experience hiccups quite often before going to bed. Accidentally I noticed that eating even a quarter of a banana would stop the hiccups. I should have linked that to acid reflux, because I do take a medication to prevent inflammation of the esophagus.

But then I heard that banana is a food that can help Acid reflux.

One over–the-counter remedy is Melatonin. It is inexpensive, also.Taken 2 hours before sleep, melatonin not only helps you go to sleep, but it causes the sphincter above the stomach to remain closed during the night. Inclining your upper body about four inches also can help prevent acid reflux.

 Writing and Photos are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

MOUTHWASH MAELSTROM

Salad Bits. Photograph                                    © by Ruth Zachary

This blog follows on the heels of a problem with plastic microbeads in tooth paste- see the previous post.Tooth paste isn’t the only dental hygiene product we must research to prove it is safe. Mouthwash companies urge you to buy more and to use more of their products.

It turns out that our saliva produces enzymes that eventually end up in the bloodstream, and these enzymes are part of the body chemistry that causes the heart to beat regularly. Mouthwash left in the mouth, throat, and even swallowed can disrupt these important enzymes for hours afterward. How can we be informed enough to protect ourselves?

Use of mouthwash once a day is enough, Dr. Oz said in early May. Once the mouth is thoroughly washed to kill the bacteria causing plaque, the chemicals should be spit out, and one might want to also rinse the residue out with water.

But do we really want to dump yet another chemical or another medicine down the drain, to be recycled through a local waste water treatment plant? How do we avoid contaminating our environment and even our drinking water, since some waste water is not completely filtered, but ends up in reservoirs?. What is the answer?

A faucet filter has been used in my kitchen since November of 2013, after I developed a fourth auto-immune disorder. Even still, I know relatively little about how effective such filters are in removing chemicals from drinking water. 

Even my local health food store sells food in questionable plastic containers.

It is seriously disappointing that the very products we use to be healthy, are ones we cannot rely on not to poison us. Manufacturers certainly should be held accountable in this.


Writing and photos are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

TOXIC TOOTHPASTE?

Cauliflower and Friends. Photograph                                                                 © by Ruth Zachary

This week on the News, (Television)  we were warned that some toothpastes contain micro beads of plastic, put into tooth paste to help clean teeth, with the disclaimer that the beads do not impact your health.  Tests done in the Denver area show the beads are made of the kind of toxic plastic that consumers have been trying to avoid, because they do harm the body. Not only do these plastics harm the user of these products, but then the consumer spits out the toothpaste and the micro beads are discharged into the waste water network.

Water that comes from rainwater and natural sources is filtered, city officials say. Filtering can remove a substantial amount of these plastic contaminants.

However, wastewater from treatment plants is mixed into the water supply of reservoirs and that water is not filtered for chemical problems. That source of water is the most likely place where the plastic micro beads end up. Many of us who live downstream, in the plains areas may be relying on drinking water that may include the micro beads and the chemicals leaching out of them, which end up in the water.

It is not necessary for the plastic micro beads to be in these dental products in the first place. As consumers we can look for products that do not contain the plastic beads, and we can lobby against companies that continue to use them. Some states have required Dental products to be free of these contaminants. 


Writing and images on this blog are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

THE YEAST CONNECTION

October Raspberries,  photograph.                                         © Ruth Zachary

Yeast and fungal infections can affect many parts of the body; the vagina, the bowels, the skin, and in other parts of the body. Three of every four women will have at least one yeast infection before menopause, according to Robert A Schulman, MD, in his comprehensive book, Solve It With Supplements. (Rodale Books)

We have known for a long time, too much sugar causes diabetes.. My grandmother found a diet for my grandfather that removed his diabetic symptoms, over 100 years ago. Other conditions are slow to be connected to carbohydrates. The link between sugar and yeast infections is rarely mentioned, and is not mentioned in Schulman’s book.

Dr. Oz recently did discuss this link on his daily program. Yeast thrives on sugar and carbohydrates in the diet. A high glycemic diet is known to cause inflammation. Yeast infections often cause inflammation. Yeast and Inflammation may or may not be linked to each other.

Antibiotics given for a yeast infection, can cause it to virtually explode in one’s system. Antibiotics can destroy the natural flora in the digestive tract,  that counteracts yeast.

Schulman, explains vaginal fungi, Candida albicans can cause outbreaks, when there are hormonal changes in the body. Usually a sexual partner is not responsible for a recurrent yeast infection. He says to avoid bubble baths, wear clean cotton underwear and to avoid tight fitting clothing.

Precautions include taking Lactobacillus acidophilus, in the diet – (8 oz. of yogurt)or as a supplement, or taking boron, garlic (with anti fungal properties), Lavender, or tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is a proven germicide, and will inhibit 11 different bacteria, according to Schulman. See his book for details.

Yeast in the system may be a secondary, sometime problem, but it may also be a major malady on its own. A person can be allergic to yeast, even as it multiplies in different parts of the body. A blood test can reveal a yeast allergy or sensitivity.

Yeast infections in the body may go away on their own. Even if we try to avoid starchy or sweet foods, it is hard to realize the full extent of sugar and carbs we are consuming every day. Even if we look at the ingredients on canned goods, boxes, cereals, and condiments, the chemical names are a mystery, hard to identify by only looking at the names, which are unfamiliar. Processed foods are filled with high glycemic ingredients and various kinds of sweeteners and sugars, starches, flour, (as well as gluten which has other impacts).

If you have an autoimmune disease, and inflammation is part of your problem, it is critical to know how to avoid these ingredients in your diet.

The food industry is invested in selling these products. They tell you sugars, grains and starches are staples and are healthy. In regulated amounts this is probably true, but the volume of such products consumed in this country is not healthy. In addition, the amount of exercise we don’t do contributes to obesity and diabetes. Physical labor is not part of a person’s life style and occupation, to the degree that it was 100 years ago.

How to reverse yeast in the system? Learn to identify and avoid the sugars and carbohydrates that contribute. Some people think fruits and berries, a source of natural sugars must also be withdrawn from the diet. I am still researching that subject.

Another thing that will probably help is to take a probiotic, containing the natural living cultures to restore your intestinal health, and which will put the various cultures that live in the gut, including yeast into balance. Natural immunity to disease is dependent upon a healthy intestinal tract. 90% of a healthy immune system depends upon the intestines.

Next time: Lists of sugars, starches, high glycemic foods and additives.


Images and Writing are the Copy right © of Ruth Zachary