Raw milk is healthy

Today I read an article on the Real milk website about a new study which shows that raw milk is healthy. It was a good read.

Here is the start of it.

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Raw milk opponents and doctors strongly warn against the consumption of unpasteurized milk for infants, children and pregnant women, arguing that these individuals are more susceptible to illnesses that raw milk could cause. However, a new study that took place across Austria, Finland, France, Germany and Switzerland shows a connection between the consumption of raw milk and lowered rates of colds and infections among children. This study clearly relates Raw milk and lower infections in children.
The study, detailed in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, aimed to assess the effects of consumption of raw vs. boiled vs. industrially processed milks on common infections (including coughing, runny nose, fever, ear infection or diarrhea) in babies’ first year of life.
Women from rural areas (about half of the women lived and worked on livestock farms) were recruited during their third trimester of pregnancy and detailed their children’s consumption and lifestyle changes in weekly diaries. A total of 983 children completed the study.

“The main finding of this analysis was an inverse association between consumption of unprocessed cow’s milk and rhinitis [cold or runny nose], RTI [respiratory tract infections], and otitis [ear infection]. The effect was strongest when cow’s milk was consumed raw; boiled farm milk exhibited an attenuated effect.”

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read more at:

http://www.realmilk.com/european-study-shows-connection-consumption-raw-milk-lower-infections-children/

Undoctored, the movie

Today I received an email about the movie "Undoctored" being available to watch for free until coming Saturday. I decided to watch it as it seemed quite interesting. It is about the history of chiropractic care in the USA and the fights the chiropractors had to fight with the American Medical Association. I have heard many of the same negative statements having been made about chiropractors when I was growing up. So I think this mindset has been exported quite well to other parts of the world, which is quite unfortunate. The movie is nearly 1,5 hours long, but certainly worth watching.

Here is the link:
http://www.undoctoredmovie.com/free-viewing/

Knitting: Everett the elephant

About 2 weeks ago I was invited to do another test knit for Linda Dawkins / mamma4earth. I really like test knitting for her, so I joined.

This time it was for an elephant. And below you see the results of it. It was an easy and lovely pattern. Very nice to knit. I picked Garnstudio Drops yarns, Nepal in grey and Lima in white. They were both very nice yarns to knit with, so in all I had a great time.

In case you are interested in purchasing this pattern from Linda, here is the link to her Ravelry store. The pattern is $6. Well worth the money I would say. The link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/everett-the-elephant

You can also visit her blog: http://www.naturalsuburbia.com/2015/12/everett-the-elephant.html

Enjoy!

Cod Liver Oil and Our Changing Food Paradigms

Earlier this year Sally Fallon wrote a very good article named Cod Liver Oil and Our Changing Food Paradigms. I read it with much interest and want to share it with you so you can have a read as well. It was published in the autumn issue of the publication Wise Traditions. 

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Cod liver oil—what is it?That stinky stuff kids had to take on a spoon? A magic medicine that heals rheumatism, clears the scrofula of TB and helps children recover from measles? A beauty aid that smooths the skin? A messy industrial product used to tan shoe leather? A clean, clear, standardized yellow liquid or a brown oil that rises from rotting livers?

It’s all of these and more. In fact, our views on cod liver oil can serve as a kind of bellwether for evolving attitudes on food, health and processing over the years. Cod liver oil is the quintessential traditional “natural” remedy and also one of the first common foods subjected to industrial processing. And as tradition has collided with modern science, cod liver oil has suffered the buffets of changing attitudes. Even in the early days, when this ancient folk remedy first caught the attention of modern physicians, it provoked instant and constant controversy.

Since early human settlement in northern Norway, cod and cod products have served as the cornerstone of industry for the region. Even as early as the Viking Age, cod liver oil brought prosperity as a chief item of trade with northern Europe, both for consumption and for industrial purposes. Some types were used for oil lamps, ovens, leather treatment, paint manufacture, coloring processes in textile production, soap manufacture, tempering and lathing of steel, manufacture of explosives for the armaments industry, and industrial lubricants, while more carefully extracted versions were consumed as a food and medicine for humans and animals, or used as skin creams and healing ointments, and even as a lubricant for childbirth.1

The method used by the Vikings was actually a kind of steam extraction. They brought water in a pan to boil and then placed birch tree branches on top of the pan; the cod livers were put on top of the branches. As the steam from the boiling water rose, it began to cook the livers, and oil from the livers would drop into the pan.2

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- See more at: http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/cod-liver-oil/constant-controversy/#sthash.zyKeHz4c.dpuf

Vitamin D in Cod Liver Oil

Chris Masterjohn, Phd wrote a very interesting article on vitamin D in cod liver oil. As I found it very interesting I decided to quote the summary here, so that you can read it as well. It is well worth spreading this information

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ARTICLE SUMMARY

• In recent years, controversy has erupted over whether vitamin D2 or vitamin D3 is the predominant form of vitamin D in cod liver oil.
• Research in the 1930s suggested that there were at least four if not six forms of vitamin D in cod liver oil.
• Recent research has shown that fish metabolize vitamin D into at least three other compounds and probably more.
• Although cod liver oil probably does not contain vitamin D2, it probably does contain an array of different compounds derived from vitamin D3.
• The diverse array of vitamin D compounds we would expect to exist in natural cod liver oil likely provides a diverse array of biological activities; many people may experience vitamin D-related benefits from a natural cod liver oil without experiencing as pronounced a rise of 25(OH)D – the blood marker of vitamin D nutritional status—as they would have expected.
• Although it makes sense for someone to increase their sun exposure and vitamin D3 intake if their 25(OH)D is low, low 25(OH)D in and of itself should not be used as evidence that cod liver oil is not providing a vitamin D benefit

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.- See more at: http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/cod-liver-oil/vitamin-d-in-cod-liver-oil/#sthash.NMoJK5kL.dpuf