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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!
That being said, there are always a few comments each week that really grab my attention for whatever reason. To give you some idea, I was having lunch with my husband yesterday and was telling him about this absolutely brilliant comment by a reader that I was still marveling about. He immediately suggested that I do a weekly blog spotlighting standout comments.
What a great idea!
So here I am, kicking off a new Friday series that will spotlight a few brilliant comments from the prior week.
Be advised that, on occasion, I may spotlight a truly boneheaded comment as well. Boneheaded comments typically come from conventionally minded people with a bad attitude who make some lame, in the box, propaganda statement without even reading the post and considering “the other side of the story” so to speak.
I have no problem with comments that aren’t in agreement with what I write. We all have our own perspectives after all. It’s those comments which don’t even consider the other side and the commenter makes this known in a manner that is rather rude that causes me to take issue.
Brilliant or boneheaded? Let me know what you think! Here are the spotlighted comments from this past week:
Brilliant Comments
From Christin on Fish Eggs: A Superior Source of Vitamin D:
“Salmon roe was one of my babies 1st finger foods. They love to grab the tiny eggs. Way better than cereal “O”‘s…Yuck!”
Christin, my jaw was on the ground after reading your comment. What an excellent idea to give babies little fish roe to munch on as a finger food! I never did that when my kids were little even though I knew all about how wonderful and nutritious fish eggs are and what a much better choice they would be than those nasty, nutritionless Cheerios and other boxed cereals! I wish I had done this too!
Another excellent comment by Michelle, regarding Seedling Garden in 95F Heat:
“I’ve had a garden here in Lakeland, FL for a couple of years now and here’s a few things I have learned. In this area, you want your spring seedlings to be in by late February. Also, if it says FULL SUN — it’s doesn’t mean Florida full sun. Most plants need a break from the heat here. If your garden is near concrete, it’s even hotter. The concrete will reflect the light and heat making it harder to grow things. Over the summer, just plant cover crops. It’s basically our “off-season.” You can do well with black-eyed peas and Sunflowers at that time. Then get ready for the bigger growing season by planting again in September.”
Thanks Michelle for the Florida gardening tips. I will be planting again in September per your advice!
And finally, a brilliant and insightful comment from Elizabeth on A Tale of Exploding Watermelons and Fruit Fed Fish:
“Pretty soon I will give up grocery shopping altogether. Nothing is safe unless you grow it or kill it yourself. We need a serious food revolution that will take down Monsanto and eliminate the chemical pesticides and fertilizers from our food supply and we need it yesterday. Those of us who can garden and buy local meats at reasonable prices are somewhat in the minority. Everyone else is either too broke to buy the organics at the store or are going broke doing so! It should be a RIGHT to buy chemical free food. It should not be a “lifestyle choice.” That type of thinking just leaves out a lot of people who just plain can’t afford it. And that is a human rights issue.”
Elizabeth, I honestly never thought about all this food mess we’re in as a planet as a human rights issue but that is a slam dunk observation! People really do need to have a food revolution in their own homes as buying organic produce and avoiding fast food is not going to get them healthy. We are so far down the rabbit hole on this one that only drastic changes to how we grow, source, shop, and prepare our food is going to make any difference in reversing the epidemic of chronic disease in ourselves and our children.
Boneheaded Comment
Unfortunately, there were a few boneheaded comments this week as well. They were from several dentists that converged on the How I Healed My Child’s Cavity post. One of them actually called me a flat out liar!
This comment from Kent G., DDS:
“My friends and colleagues Adam, Marc & Grisha are on point here. This type of anecdotal evidence is worthless if not backed up by clinical, reproducible results. There is a scientific method for a good reason: it works! If you want to convince anyone with a scientific background or an analytical mind, you need to approach the forum of discussion with a modicum of scientific evidence. Otherwise, you’re embarrassing yourself, as are the sheep of your flock.”
Dr. Kent, anecdotal evidence is far from worthless particularly with all the flawed and blatantly false “scientific” studies that are being exposed these days! It is the patients that assume cavities always need to be drilled and filled and that there is no other way than brushing and flossing teeth to prevent them that are the real sheep! I personally don’t need a scientific study to tell me that I see a hole in a tooth one day and that the hole in the tooth is gone a few weeks later. If you cannot respect a well researched book such as Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price DDS and his observations about how nutrition can heal and prevent cavities, then no scientific study will convince you either.
Thanks to everyone who posted comments this past week! I love reading your ideas and insights and understanding what is on your minds and hearts. Keep ’em coming! Another edition of The Weekly Comment Spotlight will be posted next Friday!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Wow, Dr. Kent, thanks for your comment–otherwise, how else would I know never to be a patient at your practice? Baaa.
That’s funny! Thanks for the laugh.
Clinical trials are funded by those who stand to gain a lot, as Lauren said above. And even if someone does a trial or study using the hallowed scientific method, if it points to a natural solution to a problem, their findings won’t get published in any of the usual places.
HOWEVER, there’s a sea change happening as more people seek answers they’re not getting from the conventional models.
Remember, DDT was once thought to be good for your skin, smoking was once touted as health-promoting, and countless discredited pharmaceuticals once promoted as safe and effective have left the marketplace. But, sadly, in many cases not until much bodily harm has been done and not until millions or billions have been raked in.
A couple of years ago I kept having a mysterious pain in one of my molars. My dentist inspected it and took xrays of it on two separate occasions, and finally concluded that he had no idea. After changing to a real food diet, one day it occurred to me that I had not been feeling that pain anymore. It occasionally comes back, and when it does it always correlates with a time that I’ve eaten too many unhealthy foods. I suppose that is in my head too, right?
Me too! Must be magic because it can’t be because of nutrition!!!
I like this idea because I don’t always have time to read all the comments. Also, please post the boneheaded comments regularly. In an effort to reduce stress in my life, I try to avoid the conventional medical community as much as possible (to the extent of flipping over the front copy of Prevention magazine to avoid having to be irritated by its cover while on the rare trip to a supermarket register). Reading these help remind me about how boneheaded the boneheads are.
Also, I read the comments associated with the cavity post and was amazed at the animosity from the dentistry. I couldn’t believe that they passed around your post as a “joke” within their profession. Wow. I hope then ones who didn’t post were looking into who Weston Price was, but I’m not optimistic.
You gotta be thick skinned to be a blogger, no doubt about it. The gall of those dentists was very shocking. I got a bit testy but hey, I don’t have infinite patience. I’m human just like anyone.
Yes, you do have to be thick skinned. (Hugs!) I could never do it and I admire you for that. I went and backed you up on most of their comments, but they probably won’t read them, sadly. We are making your Russian Custard with our chicken own chicken’s eggs and our bee’s honey for dessert tomorrow night!
Great idea to tap into the collective wisdom and hope we see more!
Many (if not most?) of you readers know so very much you don’t even realize it. I am excited to spotlight that wisdom on a regular basis. Don’t know why I didn’t think of this before????? Such an obvious thing to do.
Unfortunately, anything considered a natural cure won’t get a chance to be put through a scientific trial by conventional medicine. Why? There’s no patent to be had nor billions to be raked in. I work in the health care industry next to brilliant physicians who are very skilled at treating symptoms but very inadequate in curing disease. The very idea that there is a different approach outside of the 10 years of training they’ve invested in causes extreme discomfort. They are very quick to label any one who thinks outs side the box as a “quack” or a “freak”. I often hear the statement “I guess they just have bad protoplasm” when referring to a patient with multiple chronic diseases with no obvious explanation. And everyone else nods in agreement! How scientific is that statement, doctor? It’s RUBBISH. The truth is they don’t have any answers. In fact, physicians that suggest that there’s an actual explanation to this “bad protoplasm” are poo-pooed by their peers. The real sheep here are those who take everything the FDA, CDC and the MD tells them at face value. I am not the minority amongst my peers, I cant find a like minded individual. I am also in the minority that doesn’t take medication or have children with tubes in their ears, home every other week on antibiotics or on behavior medications. Anecdotal? By definition, yes, but you cant refute the proof that’s in the pudding, doctor.
Lauren, WELL SAID!
Your husband had a great idea! Do you know if heavy metals, and other contaminents are ever a concern in the fish roe? Thanks for all you do!
Hi Sarah,
What a great idea to feature comments. And kudos to you for your response to the “doctor” and the “scientific method.” How many studies show one thing and the next month show just the opposite? Sometimes common sense and experience is the best method. They used to say chiropractic is vodo (and some still do) while in my practice I know when patients get better from the treatment because THEY TELL ME. Duh. People know when a treatment works and they know it without multiclinic double blind studies (funded by big pharma).
Great idea Sarah! On the dentist one and cavities. We have been with our dentist now for over 30 years, we are about the same age so started with him when he first began his practice. He’s evolved, than goodness, from mercury fillings to not doing them at all. He uses a type of x-ray that is less invasive, not sure what he called it, and doesn’t x-ray unless he suspects something. Recently my 22 year old son was told that he had tiny holes, the beginning of cavities and if he took great care, they did give him a paste to use with flouride, so not too sure about this, he could actually reverse the decay and not need fillings. Our dentist does keep up on all of the latest in his field and does not give out sweets or coupons for sweets as rewards to kids.
my dentist, who is alto a naturopath, said to brush with iodine once a week to stop two tiny severe cavities i have on my side teeth. She did not want to drill them!
BRAVO! A dentist who thinks for herself and comes to her own conclusions rather than the ADA playbook which is so very flawed.
I agree with Andrea and I love they way she brought it! It is so true how people look to the “clinical tests”, as well as the medical profession like they are gods. I for one, when butting heads with pediatricians back in 1983 & 1984 (when my boys were born) lost my awe for them. I had been reading books like “A Shot in the Dark” on vaccinations and when I tried to talk to the pediatrician (and his colleagues) they admitted that they don’t get much education in most fields (unless they are a specialist) AND that they are (and I quote) “only educated guessers!” Yes, he said that! Well, I can educate myself and then weigh the facts. If I’m going to be biased, then I want it to be according to how I think, feel and want to live, not how someone else THINKS I should live based on their limited time/care for that subject.
Anyway, I also wanted to mention that I’m reading a book right now called “Cure Tooth Decay: Heal & Prevent Cavities with Nutrition,” by Ramiel Nagel and a foreword by Timothy Gallagher, DDS (President of Holistic Dental Assoc., and lots of other credentials). They TOTALLY believe that the body will heal itself with the proper nutrition. And, I for one, even in the last few months after starting to eat more butter (Kerry Gold, or raw homemade butter when I can afford it) AND Green Pasture’s Blue Ice Royal Butter Oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil AND I’ve been cutting out sugar and grains, my teeth sensitivity has gone away; I had 3 cracked molars and they no longer are causing any pain!
One more thing (besides saying your hubby had a great idea) – just making an observation: Have you noticed that “conventional” means they put all this time, effort, pesticides and unhealthy way of growing (whatever it is) and then they charge LESS, but to grow organically (which is the NATURAL way and how it’s been done since time began) which should cost less, BUT actually costs MORE! Now someone can go on and on about how the farmer might have to do more things to keep his plants healthy, but what about grass fed beef, for example?!!! If the cattle are out in the fields eating grass (there is no feed/cost) then the rancher slaughters them. With the “conventional” way, they allow them to eat grass, then send them off to feed lots to force them to eat GMO corn to fatten them up (which is actually killing the cattle, and they have to slaughter within so many weeks before the animals die! – see King Corn video) which has to cost a lot of money to have the animals shipped to a different location, fed something that costs money…. I’m sorry, but this seems ludicrous to me – and then they charge less?!??!!
I know, it does seem like an illogical contradiction. I think the answer lies in the fact that the conventional food production models are subsidized. Plus they have “economy of scale”.