Savvy Homestead

Nutrition and Essential Trace Elements

2009-08-18T21:20:00.004-05:00

Looks like the Pot-o-gold is right in my garden - taken during a sunny rainstorm.

Some call them trace minerals or nutrients, but they are on the periodic chart of elements - over 100 of them. Weather you know them as elements, minerals or nutrients they are vitally important to our health. We previously knew that calcium was essential for our bones. Recently we have learned that Zinc is essential to our immune system and Chromium, Selenium, Potassium and Copper are, to name a few that we are currently aware of, essential to our heart function. Some believe that sixteen minerals are required to support human biochemical processes. Those may indeed be essential for life but not necessarily sufficient for optimum health, furthermore, today’s understanding reveals much of what we took for granted a few years ago was not the end of the story; the importance of macro elements, and trace elements is growing. Then too, there is now an awareness that too much of a nutrient or vitamin can cause deficiencies of others. The challenge we face results from taking a simple solution to a complex process and making it a complex solution.
Since humans were on earth they consumed plants grown on generally nutrient-rich soil and the animals that consumed those nutrient rich plants. Humans survived directly or indirectly on the nutrient rich plants for thousands of years, until modern food processing began to remove many vitamins and minerals; to compensate for that vitamin and mineral supplements were developed. The problem with that is we don’t know precisely how much of what our bodies really need. However, if we would eat as nourishing food our ancestors did a few thousand years ago we wouldn’t need supplements at all.
Our dilemma is to find a way to obtain food with high nutritional value in a commercial world that doesn’t recognize food's valuable relationship to one’s health. To be nutrient healthy a person must either obtain their food directly from the wild or consciously seek out food grown in nutrient rich soil.

Links for additional information:
The Role of Elements in Life Processes

Answers.com - Columbia Encyclopedia: dietary mineral

How well do you eat?

2009-08-16T18:08:00.004-05:00

We assume that if we eat some fruits and vegetables we are getting good nutrition. That is probably not the case for over 90% of the population. You have to realize that commercial growers are paid by the grocery store’s corporate buyers. They are paid to produce large quantities of nice looking produce not nutritionally superior food. The incentive is NOT in your nutritional welfare but in favor of PROFIT. The prime objectives are to raise a visually attractive product that will entice the customer to hand over their money for the product. If the buyer does not know what is nutritional and what is not, that is not a care of the grocer and if you are not well because of lack of nutritionally adequate food, your problem is passed on to the medical profession. It should be the concern of every individual that the food they eat is good for them.
So, how do you determine if that tomato is good or not? This is not rocket science folks - nutrient dense produce maintains its quality more readily than nutrient deficient ones and it tastes really good. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it was when plants grew on their own but that is not true today with the modern NPK method of farming today. You have probably, at some time, eaten a delicious home-grown tomato or cantaloupe and thought that it was great. You assumed that the commercial ones were just not as fresh or ripened quite as long due to the trucking time. In reality your sense of taste was telling you what good food is. The full bodied and sweet taste is a result of nutrients in the produce. Commercial Brussels-sprouts are bitter and I refuse to eat them, however after a fall frost we eagerly gather them from my garden; they are sweet and packed with flavor.
Another interesting trait of nutritionally dense food is it’s ability to resist rotting; take a organically home-grown cucumber and place it in a refrigeration along a commercially grown one and see the commercial one turn to a moldy, mushy mess in a few days while the home-grown one will just start to shrivel up as it looses moisture. No doubt, the commercial produce begins its deterioration as it goes through you digestive system. If tasty produce were only a mater of taste there really wouldn’t be much harm in tasteless food, however, we have the sense of taste for a very essential survival reason; we need proper nutrition and taste leads us to it! Our bodies need food for fuel, yes, but bodies need minerals and trace minerals to build and operate properly; you might think of carbs as fuel and the trace minerals as the oil and grease for your system. Without essential nutrients our system cannot develop immune responses or maintain optimum cellular health; our system won’t operate at peak efficiency, if it can even function adequately. Lack of calcium, we are now aware, can cause bones to break. Lack of Magnesium can cause sleeplessness or anxiety. It would be a simple mater to add these to our diet is a pill but we do not know enough yet. Too much, or the wrong form of calcium may deplete essential magnesium levels causing health problems. The interaction between nutrients in food just is not understood well enough. As we learn of one aspect of nutrition, we uncover a dozen new connections and relationships of nutrients in our bodies. The one fact that we can rely is that we have been eating naturally grown food until the recent advent of “modern” farming practices. Plants naturally take in the right size, combination, quantity and form of minerals that our bodies need; since man has been on earth plants and animal that ate wild plants have been man’s source of nutrition. A deviation utilizing refined food like white sugars, flours, and stabilized oils does not meet our established nutritional pattern which can contribute to negative health consequences.
There is an undeniable fact that our food production has made an unhealthy choice in favor of profit over nutrition and it is up to the consumers to set them on the right path.
The simple solution is, well, simple; eat tasty food similar to what our ancestors ate - but that is not so simple today given our modern day population, habits, economy and logistics in general. It IS ironic, however that those plain, simple people of our society have returned to nutritionally dense food similar to that which our great grandparents enjoyed. The Amish are developing nutrient dense farming practices that fit their plain lifestyle.
Some might think of them as backwards, however their methods are rather cutting edge compared to current farming techniques. They use soil analysis to determine the nutrient composition of their soil. Then they add the appropriate minerals to achieve a healthy soil composition. Their crops, grown in healthy soil grow faster and do nor suffer from insect or disease nearly as much as conventionally grown crops - it seems pests, like the mold on the cucumbers, prefer less healthy plants. The progress is checked with
refractometers to ensure total dissolved solids (or Brix). A pH tester is used to check for proper alkaline/acid balance. Plant temperature stress, measured with an IR (InfraRed) Sensor. EC (Electrical conductivity) meters are used to determine nutrients not yet complexed into sugars.
Plants grown on nutrient dense soil resist disease and insects thereby eliminating most sprays and chemicals, they grow faster, produce more without costly annual applications of chemical fertilizers. Some spraying is still done, however, it is mostly foliar fish emulsion or mineral nutrient sprays while utilizing chemical sprays as minimally as possible.
Nutrient dense makes sense on many levels. Once grown, the produce has a remarkable ability to resist rotting due to the nutrients they contain; this allows a much longer shelf life. Your food is not contaminated with unnecessary chemicals or pesticides. The food is nutritionally matched to you body’s needs. It is more economical to raise for many. It is most like the diet of our ancestors since man set foot on earth until relatively recent changes in agricultural practices. Finally, the food tastes wonderful.

No Knead Bread

2008-03-23T19:40:00.002-05:00

I saw this easy bread recipe for no knead bread in the Mother Earth News, (Its a great magazine that I recommend). When it costs more to go to the store than it would to buy bread you might want to consider making you own!

No Knead, Dutch Oven Bread

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two.
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf.
Adapted from The New York Times.

Sunset in America

2008-01-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

Enron and the subprime meltdown are wake-up calls for Americans. Our time as the world leader appears to be setting as we struggle with a materialistic and dishonest administration. Having a corporate compromised media has complicated people’s ability to make the best decisions.
Yet, there is hope. After the sunset there will come a dawn. While there are those who seek to dictate the lives of Americans the powers that be may delay but cannot prevent truth or superior paths from emerging any more than they can prevent their sun to set or a new dawn.

Tower Sunset

RELIGION Gone Wrong

2008-01-06T20:53:00.000-05:00

I had thought about writing about the direction of religion today but this article sums it up. It appears our mainstream religion that passes for spirituality today has become, as Carl Rove puts it, a useful tool of the corporate beast that runs counter to Biblical teachings.

"Many Christians outside the right-wing camps have hidden their identity as Christians because of embarrassment and shame that fundamentalists and evangelicals have brought upon the Name of Christ."

Just like doing the back stroke?

2007-12-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

You Think, You Decide:

Via: Think Progress

Waterboarding is not “simulated drowning.” It is drowning. As Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and William Delahunt (D-MA) explained, “The victim’s lungs fill with water until the procedure is stopped or the victim dies.” Former Navy survival instruction Malcolm Wrightson Nance explained to Congress:

In my case, the technique was so fast and professional that I didn’t know what was happening until the water entered my nose and throat. … It then pushes down into the trachea and starts the process of respiratory degradation. It is an overwhelming experience that induces horror and triggers frantic survival instincts. As the event unfolded, I was fully conscious of what was happening: I was being tortured.
Read more here ...... http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/12/comedian-waterboarding/

Politicians at Work?

2007-11-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

This bunch couldn't do worse than our current leader and his yes-men!

Then again, they would probably be better than our Mainstream "Managed Media" who wait around for their managed news handouts.

Maybe this group would be better shoppers than our current compliant consumers.

Might Black Friday shoppers be wise to consider - What Would Jesus Buy?

The possibilities abound!

Thanksgiving Endangered

2007-11-22T21:09:00.000-05:00

Here's an Eagle that I photographed the other day near my house. I never saw one when I was growing up here but they are fairly common sights now.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving but maybe we could do a better job of creating healthier citizens by producing better, not poorer food!

As I mentioned before the beneficial Omega-3 oil is derived by animals eating living food. Animals raised in pens have a very low ratio of Omega-3 to potentially harmful Omega-6.

Pick up the November copy of AcresUSA and see what I mean or do a search on the internet.

History (DELIBERATELY) Forgotten

2007-08-12T08:19:00.000-05:00

Our freedoms are in danger because the people do not follow or understand politics or the methods politicians and corporations employ. Perhaps we are too busy, but the cost of remaining uninformed is too great. Every individual should read these words!

War Is A Racket
By Major General Smedley Butler
Contents
Chapter 1: War Is A Racket
Chapter 2: Who Makes The Profits?
Chapter 3: Who Pays The Bills?
Chapter 4: How To Smash This Racket!
Chapter 5: To Hell With War!

CHAPTER ONE

War Is A Racket

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

Link

Free Food

2006-08-27T19:48:00.000-05:00

Recent rains brought out this choice Chicken-of-the-woods, or Sulphur-shelf growing on an old oak stump. This mushroom is not to be confused with the also orange, and very poisonous, gilled Jack O'Lantern. The Sulphurshelf is a choice eatable, however up to 50% of the population can have an allergic reaction so even if you positively identify this one, only try a very small bite to determine if you are allergic to them. Do not consume any mushroom unless you are 100% positive of its identity!

In the Woods

2006-08-22T18:15:00.000-05:00

I took a walk today to check out the woods. Blackberries are ripe, Ginseng berries are red and some good mushrooms are out after the recent rain.

nO gLOBAL wARMING - REALLY?

2005-08-14T12:24:00.000-05:00

So we don't have Global warming?

A vast expanse of western Sibera is undergoing an unprecedented thaw that could
dramatically increase the rate of global warming, climate scientists warn today.
Researchers who have recently returned from the region found that an area of
permafrost spanning a million square kilometres - the size of France and Germany
combined - has started to melt for the first time since it formed 11,000 years
ago at the end of the last ice age.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1546824,00.html

But that's waay over there - right? ...Ummm, not exactly. Via the Suburban Guerrilla:

FAIRBANKS -- Interior Alaska's permafrost has warmed in some places to the
highest level since the ice age ended 10,000 years ago, its temperature now
within a degree or two of thawing.
Earth frozen since woolly mammoths and
bison wandered Interior steppes has been turning to mush. Lakes have been
shrinking. Trees are stressed. Prehistoric ice has melted underground, leaving
voids that collapse into sinkholes.

http://www.adn.com/news/environment/story/6815494p-6707211c.html

As the permafrost melts it releases methane, a gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere. The faster the permafrost melts the faster methane heats up the earth. That is sure to really boost the non-existant global warming. Talk about cooking your goose!

What is the real price of greed, stupidity and corruption? ...we may find out sooner than we want!

Want To Save Hundred Bucks And The Environment?

2005-04-11T08:45:00.000-05:00

You can cut the amount of gasoline that you use by simply checking your tire pressure regularly . Check out this site and this one.

Statistics compiled by the American Automobile Association (AAA), show that fuel economy is compromised by 10 percent when tires are under inflated by only two psi (pounds per square inch.) So if you spend $80 a month for gasoline, this can cost you almost $100 a year. Now wouldn't you rather have that hundred bucks in your wallet?

Making Your Own Newspaper Seedling Pots

2005-03-20T22:25:00.000-05:00

Why pay a lot of money for pots for plants? Here are 1, 2, 3, 4 ideas to make your own.

-------- Okay where's the PICTURE??

Why Garden?

2005-03-20T22:13:00.000-05:00

In case you need them to convince your neighbor or friend here are some good reasons - of course I have already mentioned the quality of food is enough alone!

Gardening is the world's best-kept exercise secret, as I found out (albeit the hard way). But that's changing. Recent medical studies have documented what backyard enthusiasts have known for years: gardening is good for us. More @ Garden.org

Zone Finder

2005-03-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

If you garden you'll need to know your zone. Find it here at Garden.org.

USDA Hardiness Zone Finder

The Measure of a Successful Lifestyle

2005-03-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

You would think that if we were the most powerful and advanced nation in the world we would have the best health too, but this is not the case. Perhaps we should rethink our priorities. Perhaps having a healthy and satisfying life is better than having material “stuff” and a living a short unsatisfying life - ya think? First we might look at a lifestyle that promotes a longer, healthier life. AskMen.com has some information you should read:

"Notorious for their longevity, the average life expectancy of the Japanese is 81.6 years, compared to the 77.1 years expected for Americans (and only 74.5 years for men). This puts America at par with Cuba on the human durability scale."

Global Warming? You Be The Judge

2005-03-16T19:59:00.000-05:00

The peak of Mt Kilimanjaro as it has not been seen for 11,000 years ....but now you can see it!!

Alternate Refreshments

2005-03-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

The drink of choice today is common at our nation's fast food stops - 32 ounces of liquid candy. Pop has taken over the United States as our source of liquid intake. There are more than one or two reasons besides tooth decay to remove sodas or colas from your everyday beverages.
Considering that a can of pop has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, any drink that you create with two teaspoons has five times fewer calories! But it is not only the sugar that is the health culprit. Women who drink diet pop increase their of risk bone breakage.
Besides coffee and tea there are better alternatives. For instance, tea mixed with real peach or apricot juice makes a tasty relatively low calorie drink. You can buy cherry concentrate at health food stores and mix your own flavored water- you can always add a bit sugar. The old standby, lemon water, with or with out sugar, makes a satisfying drink.
Switchel is old-time thirst quencher from the hayfields: mix a half cup of brown sugar, half a teaspoon of ground ginger, a quarter cup of molasses with three-fourths a cup of cider vinegar and two quarts of water. There are many variations of this recipe too. Then again, good old water should be a major source of your liquid intake.
It’s a matter of taste and it may take awhile to develop a pop free lifestyle but your health will thank you.

Food As Medicine As Food

2005-03-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

The possibility of an outbreak of avian flue is in the news. A new strain of flue is always unwelcome news, however this strain could be one of the worst in years.
Among the steps people can take to avoid or minimize the effects of this potential killer are: getting plenty of rest, washing ones hands with an effective virus killing alcohol hand cleaner, wearing a good quality mask and avoiding groups of people as much as possible. Another powerful preventative is our food. See here, here and here.
In our world of “meds” we forget that people relied on food as their medicine for centuries. Granted modern medicines can be more effective than diet. However knowledge of nutrition can keep us from becoming unhealthy enough to need medications that are often detrimental to our kidneys or liver and produce undesirable side effects.
Several studies and doctors now advocate food alternatives as safer cures for illnesses.

Lazy Chef

2005-02-27T22:59:00.000-05:00

I've got to be the laziest cook! Picked up a cheap cut of pork shoulder steak and threw it into a covered fry pan with 3/4 cup of apricot juice and sliced up that leftover onion I found in the frig. Put it on the woodstove and went back to the internet. Three hours later the smell called me off the web and I had green beans and tender, absolutely delicious pork for dinner. Only thing, I forgot to add the organic rice. Well, I didn't starve without the rice.

Tomatoes For 2005

2005-02-24T23:47:00.000-05:00

Since last year was a great year for a tomato crop disaster I have decided to try two varieties with more disease resistance. Although the web is littered with sites that say there are no late blight resistant tomatoes I have decided to try a couple I spotted at Tomato Growers Supply. They should be better than last year's anyway. One is an early variety and the other is a mid-season tomato. However neither is a paste tomato which is a bummer. Here they are:

Legend - Introduced by Dr. James Baggett at Oregon State University, this very early variety sets large fruit that are glossy red and round with a very good flavor that is a nice blend of sugars and acids. What is also exciting about Legend is its strong resistance against the late blight fungus, a problem that has thwarted many a tomato gardener. It sets fruit well under cool temperatures, and contains few seeds. We think this combination of great taste, earliness, and strong disease resistance makes Legend truly memorable.

Floralina VFFFA Hybrid - A cooperative effort between the breeding programs at North Carolina State and University of Florida, this variety is the first available to homeowners with resistance to all 3 races of fusarium wilt. It produces beautiful, smooth 8 to 10 oz. round red tomatoes with very good flavor. Even though it was developed in the South, Floralina grows equally well in other regions.

My theory is that where consumers spend their money businesses will pay attention. Maybe we can have disease resistant tomatoes without having genetically altered ones.

Cucumber Crop for 2005

2005-02-23T23:31:00.000-05:00

I'm going through my list of varieties for the 2005 planting season. Starting with cucumbers I plan to plant Country Fair a pickler that was a great success for me last year with all the rain and those cool nights. Country Fair is the only cucumber resistant to bacterial wilt (the last I checked), and is fairly resistant to many other diseases. Normally my cucumbers produce for a while and then die. Last year I actually ate a fresh vine picked cucumber in November! While the cool summer temperatures delayed the start of the crop, production, once started never stopped until the heavy frosts of winter killed them. Another plus for these cucumbers is they also have the bitter-free burpless gene. I would rank their taste as good.
Our cool moist area near the Great Lakes is a haven for plant diseases, especially bacterial wilt, and this variety has proven its place in my garden.

Inert My Dog Fleas!

2005-02-20T23:10:00.000-05:00

The October/November National Wildlife Magazine has some interesting information for pet owners. It seems that the “inert” ingredients in dog flea control medicines may actually be petrochemicals! All the more reason to go organic for your pet’s health too. If you are like me, you may wonder what else in hidden by the "inert" lable!

Manufacturers do list active ingredients on packaging, but trademark laws allow them to keep secret so-called “inert” ingredients—dangerous petrochemicals and solvents such as benzene, toluene and xylene—even though they can make up 90 percent of the product. “Inert ingredients are not necessarily safe, nontoxic or even chemically inert,” says Maria Mergel of the Washington Toxics Coalition, a nonprofit organization in Seattle. “The term usually means only that these ingredients are not intended to kill fleas.”

They suggest using citrus oil extracts containing D-limonene and linalool - both are some of the many natural alternatives to chemicals.

Neat Feet

2005-02-19T22:38:00.000-05:00

Those who works in boots will appreciate these tips:

For persistent athletes feet soak feet in warm water with 6-8 teabags - almost any kind will do.
For smelly feet soak feet in Kool-Aid.
For sweaty feet and to prevent athletes feet use cornstarch.
For toenail fungus use Vicks Vap-O-Rub.