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I spend quite a bit of time each week answering comments on my blogs, both old and new. I love answering comments and no question is ever a “dumb” question in my book. The only dumb questions are the ones that never get asked!
There are always a few comments each week that really grab my attention for whatever reason.
Here are the ones in the spotlight this week ….
Brilliant Comments
Loved this comment from D. in reference to the post Hey Chicken Nugget Fans, Get a Load of This!
I agree about Snopes.com They are downright fraudulent in their advice at times. But just try telling them about it and you’ll get the whole of their wrath!
Yes, that awful pink slime and some other junk like it is produced in my home State of SD. There are “meat glues” and other stuff which are so nauseating to talk about it makes me gaggy just to think about it.
I agree with you D. Snopes has no credibility with me and their defense of the food industry is just shocking. Any organization that defends the disgusting practices of factory farming and processed foods is more than likely in their pocket. Who crowned Snopes King of rumor control anyway?
This comment from Patrick, an attorney at the excellent blog The National Fork, in reference to Whole Grains Cause Cavities?
I respect the paleo diet, and I think it is consistent with the WAP teaching. It is consistent in the sense that it doesn’t conflict with it. But I think it is unnecessarily restrictive. Many of the traditional cultures that Dr. Price studied ate foods that the paleo diet excludes, yet these cultures were supremely healthy. Of particular importance are raw dairy foods, which many traditional cultures considered the cornerstone of their diet. Properly prepared grains is another example.
Patrick, your comment is very insightful. I agree that the paleo diet is unnecessarily restrictive and perhaps an example of folks overcorrecting in the other direction once they realized that overconsumption of grains and starches was making them sick. The fact is that humans have eaten grains for thousands of years. Humans have by and large adjusted to eating grains in moderation and when properly prepared. We don’t have to eat like cavemen anymore to be healthy although subsisting entirely on these foods is ok – it just doesn’t make life all that pleasant in my opinion since eating is such a big part of life! I believe there will be a backlash against paleo and primal diets in the coming years. Some folks will need to continue eating this way for health reasons, but there is already evidence of fallout in the primal community from complete abstinence from grains. Avoiding grains/starches really should be a short term thing (few months or even a few years) to heal the gut in most cases. Abstinence for the rest of one’s life is simply not necessary for most people.
This insightful comment from Martha regarding the post The Desperate Grab for Prescription Painkillers:
When I read this post, I couldn’t help but think of Dr. Campbell McBride’s comment in her book about how many kids with gut dysbiosis grow up to have addictions to drugs and or alcohol. The constant ingestion of drugs, just makes this worse. it’s a vicious cycle.
Martha, you are so right on here. I’ll bet you 100% of these people who are robbing pharmacies or are addicted to painkillers have severe gut dysbiosis. Having an imbalanced gut does indeed predispose someone to addiction more than someone who has balanced gut flora. The folks I know who have used these painkillers for a short time but easily stop when their physical condition improves tend to be healthier in general with better gut function. Excellent observation!
Ann, a reader with a degree in horticulture, added this brilliant comment to the post The Lunacy of the American Lawn:
Grass that has been allowed to die back in the heat of season will definately come back in the cool of fall and spring. Our grass is a cool season grass and it’s natural for it to stop in the heat and drought. If allowed to do so, it will grow a better root system and be able to find that moisture in the ground. Grass/plants that are watered constantly, have shallow root systems since it doesn’t have to search for moisture and will therefor not do well if not babied. Also, grass/plants that are fertilized regularly become addicts to the chemicals. Sound familiar? So, a natural lawn/planting will better sustain itself than a manicured/over-watered/over-chemicalized lawn. BTW-I have an entire book on how to calculate fertilizers for golf courses. A course I had to take for my degree in horticulture was turf grass management. I really disliked it since I’m into native plantings/prairies.
Ann – thank you for explaining this so very clearly. I never knew why yards that weren’t watered seem to have hardier grass than watered lawns. Makes sense that the root systems would be deeper. Perhaps I can use this information to explain to my Mom why she should not water her grass anymore and just let it go through the cycles of green and brown naturally!
Boneheaded Unenlightened Comments
This short sighted comment from Michael S. regarding The Lunacy of the American Lawn:
Homeowners should strive to maintain their property out of consideration for their neighbors. A neighborhood of homeowners is an investment group. Each homeowner is partially dependent on the others for the maintenance of property values. Until presentation and value become completely unrelated, the homeowner who neglects his lawn is expressing contempt for his neighbors. So I’m glad you moved out to the country. I wouldn’t want you to be my neighbor.
Unfortunately, Michael seems to have missed the point of this post completely. Untreated yards are frequently much more beautiful than overchemicalized perfect yards! Am I saying have your yard look like a dump so that property values drop for your neighborhood and all your neighbors hate you? Absolutely not. I am saying that going the natural approach will cause you less grief, save you money, and usually bring you better results than the obsessive chemicalized approach.
I challenged Michael to send me a picture of his chemlawn and I would post it with a picture of my au naturale yard and see which was more beautiful. We could even do a poll on it. So far though, Michael has not responded.
And this from Jack in reference to Most Vegetarians Return to Eating Meat:
None of these warnings about health problems and recidivism are reflected in my personal experience, either with my own health or the condition of the hundreds of vegetarians and vegans that I know. if you must eat the flesh of abused animals ( and don’t kid yourself about “organic” or grass-fed animals not being abused, no one wants to die, you realize), then do it, but skip the rationalizations.
Jack, this is not so. Study of the Native American tribes which depended and tracked buffalo herds for survival document how a buffalo would typically “sacrifice” itself to the tribe when the time for slaughter came near. The buffalo would stand away from the safety of the herd and willingly offer itself as food for the tribe. Of course, the Indians were grateful to the buffalo and never wasteful — using every part of the animal for food, shelter or clothing. Grassfeeding of animals attempts to replicate this in some ways by being respectful and grateful to the animals which provide us the food we need to be healthy and treat them with utmost respect and care while they are under our stewardship.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of The Weekly Comment Spotlight! Check back next week for more amazing reader comments!
Dr. Tom Cowan MD talks about this phenomenon in an article he wrote for Wise Traditions magazine sometime back .. can’t remember which one exactly. But, he talks about how going off grains for awhile can be beneficial but after awhile it can be very bad for some folks to continue so low carb. I appear to be one of those people as well. When I initially went off grains I had plenty of energy and was fine for months. Then, I gradually got bone tired. Adding back in a moderate amount of properly prepared grains to my diet fixed the problem immediately as Dr. Cowan describes.
There are a huge variety of non-grain starchy carbohydrate sources on the planet. Why not take advantage of them? Grains are literally for the birds 🙂
I have to disagree somewhat on the grains question. Just because many people can tolerate grains doesn’t mean they should, or even that grains offering benefit. They are low in nutrients compared to the other foods available to us (meat & veg), difficult to digest even for those with healthy guts (hence all the need to properly prepare through soaking etc.) and take a great deal of energy to plant, harvest, and process. They are simply an inferior source of nutrition–one that can come in handy outside the growing season, but generally not worth the trouble. It is very easy to live grain-free. I would never prevent others from eating grains, but there will be no “backlash” for me at least.
Some folks would find being grain free helpful. But I found being grain free to make me unbelievably tired after about 5 months off them completely. Going back on properly prepared grains fixed the problem overnight. I eat them now in moderation in amounts typical of traditional cultures. Overeating grains that are improperly prepared is the problem in my view not grains themselves. When the gut heals, eating grains in moderation prepared in a traditional manner is helpful to health at least in my case. Some folks simply need more carbs.
Totally agree. I know some people who do very well on a low-carb diet but I don’t seem to be one of them. After a period of no grains, I am absolutely exhausted and lightheaded. This is especially the case when I don’t have them for breakfast. I don’t know that I could survive without my morning oatmeal (served with lots of healthy fat, of course!).
Grains are not the only source of “carbs”. They aren’t even the only source of starch!
“This short sighted comment from Michael S. regarding The Lunacy of the American Lawn”
Let Michael know it works both ways. Personally, I hate living next to neighbors that are constantly spraying their yards. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to pack up the kids and go indoors because the pesticide is blowing right at us.
Good point Hilary. I am grateful that neither of the neighbors on either side of me spray so I had forgotten how annoying an over-chemicalizing neighbor could be. Kind of like second hand smoke … second hand pesticides!
I love these comments as well. Can you explain “gut dysbiosis.” Or direct me to your link about it.
Sarah, again another pleas for a “subscribe to comments” at the bottom of you posts so I can follow the conversation from other commenters.
Gut dysbiosis is gut imbalance of any form or fashion. Bloating, fatigue after eating, reflux, constipation, IBS, crohns disease, flatulence etc are all examples of symptoms of gut dysbiosis.
Will look into that widget Anna. I have been so snowed under lately it just hasn’t made it up the list yet! 🙂
One day I was having lunch with a vegan friend of mine (I was vegitan for 10 years myself) after I had started eating meat again. She said, “Did you ASK that cow if it wanted to be your lunch?” I said, “No, did you ASK that lettuce?” We both had a good laugh over that.
I enjoy these comments each week as well.
I must say that in your neck of the woods it may be right to say maintaining a lawn is a poor choice, but in mine this is not true. I will tell you why. I will start with I do not fertilize, nor do I try to grow things in the lawn non-native, but water and cut I must ,it is called protecting your home. All under brush and grasses must be cut and trees trimmed so as to protect your home from forest fire. The grasses that are well watered are a better protection to the home than those than those that are dry and perfect fuel for the fire.
My reasons for watering and maintaining may be different than those of Michael S , but I still feel as a home owner it is my responsibility to keep things watered and cut to cut back any chances of my home or property being destroyed by forest fire.
Your comments offer a very low-grade, poor excuse for wasting the water so precious in case of a fire. My DH was a firefighter (amongst other things) for 40+ years and my oldest son works for the Game Fish and Parks Dept, and is also a volunteer fireman. I’ve learned a few things from them over the years, and let me tell you this much – that green strip of grass around your house is NOT going to protect you from a blazing, out-of-control fire. No sirrreee, it just won’t. If you have a green lawn, or think you have an excuse for one, you better find some other argument than fire protection.
My water is not wasted, it has saved my home on 2 occasions in the last 4 years!
I can only hope that the fire department is able to save your home when the fast burning fire comes through the timber! There is no green strip around my house, my “acreage” is green. I will fell the fields at some point for winter feed. I have loaded and evacuated animals to get them out of harms way and signed the papers to let the forest service into MY water supply. Yes it is my water, I have paid the fees to have the water there for stock and pasture needs………
Relax-jump off your high horse, there are many reasons I keep my place green.
Imagine if I told the Forest Service to find their water another place to put out the fire headed for your home! Yes-I give up some of my irrigating rights almost yearly to provide the Forest Service with water to fight fire.
Oh and my father and brother are both members of volunteer fire departments as well, it would sure make their jobs easier if everyone in the district bothered to clean up all cones and dead debris and under brush in the vicinity of their homes .
Where others have lost their homes I still had mine to come home to.
You presume to much .Enjoy that grass fed cow, it may have came from my green strip!
I can’t remember where, but I recall a veterinarian commenting on a vegan/omnivore debate about the whole abuse thing. If cows were wild, they would have the stress and uncertainty of having to find enough grassland to feed in, weather changes, wildfires, drought and being hunted by other animals. What is so abusive about hanging out on a couple of fenced acres, protected by a farmer, a warm barn to sleep in, a feed bucket when the grass browns, fresh water no matter what and when the time comes to die, BLAM! one quick shot to the head, no fear, no pain. How is that worse than what would be happening otherwise?
I love this argument. I had a cow (bottle raised when his mom dies naturally in a hurricane) and not only did I ADORE him, he thought of me as his mother. His whole life was pampered and all he ever knew was love. When the time came for slaughter, I was heartbroken, but it was time. In the next 6 months, the process will start again. We will have a heifer, she will give birth, they will be SPOILED, and when the time comes, the baby will be slaughtered. It will be quick, painless, and humane. I challenge any wild situation to be as kind.
I really like these every week!