Ban On Salt???

This image found here.

Because of its negative health impacts, salt should no longer be considered safe, and it’s generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status should be revoked, according to a petition by advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).................

Restricting salt in your diet is one of conventional nutrition’s most well-known mantras. Salt, they say, will contribute to high blood pressure and increase your risk of heart disease.

While this may be true for certain salt-sensitive people, it doesn’t apply to most of you in the general population. No study on the general population has ever found an association between low-sodium diets and a reduced risk of heart disease or other diseases.

An eight-year study of people with high blood pressure living in New York, however, found that those on low-salt diets had more than four times as many heart attacks as those with normal sodium intake.

Why would this be? Because salt is essential for life -- you cannot live without it.

The problem with salt intake here in the United States has to do with the fact that more than 75 percent of it in the average American’s diet comes from processed foods, like fast food, packaged snacks, convenience foods, and restaurant meals.

And the salt that is used in processed foods is also the highly processed variety -- NOT the natural salt your body needs to function.

So the issue may be very similar to the vilification of saturated fat, which is typically consumed in many fast foods that are accompanied by large levels of trans fats.

The studies being used to support the reduction of salt have not carefully controlled for the confounding variable of the processed foods that they are typically consumed in.

The Difference Between Table Salt and Natural Salt

Having expressed my concerns for the findings of these recommendations I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not a fan of nearly all commercial processed salt. I personally seek to avoid using all processed foods whenever possible and rarely consume regular table salt.

You may not realize that not all salt is created equal. There is actually a major difference between the standard, refined table and cooking salt most of you are accustomed to using, and natural health-promoting salt.

Your table salt is actually 97.5 percent sodium chloride and 2.5 percent chemicals such as moisture absorbents and iodine. This salt is dried at an excessively high temperature -- over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit -- that actually negatively alters the natural ionic physical structure of the salt.

Moreover, when your body attempts to eliminate the excess processed salt, water molecules must surround the sodium chloride to break it up into sodium and chloride ions in order to help your body neutralize these ions. To accomplish this, water is taken from your cells, which tends to compromise the fluid balance in your cells.

You may be surprised to learn that for every gram of sodium chloride that your body cannot get rid of, your body uses 23 times the amount of water to neutralize the salt. Eating common table salt therefore causes excess fluid in your body tissue, which can contribute to:

Unsightly cellulite
Rheumatism, arthritis, and gout
Kidney and gall bladder stones
And most of you do eat way too much of this salt (90 percent of the money most Americans spend on food is for processed foods, and every one of these foods is loaded with unnatural salt).

The average American eats 4,000 to 6,000 mg of sodium chloride each day (and some of you even eat up to 10,000 mg a day). So this is really a pervasive issue.

To read the rest of this article click here.

I Know You Are A Grown Up But You Still Need To Remember To Wash Your Hands

Photo found here.

With all the concerns about spreading staph infections I thought it was a good time to remind ourselves of one simple strategy for helping us to stay healthy. This one is an easy one but there are things you should know about. This may be a refresher for some but I bet a lot of you are going to learn at least one thing you didn't know. Below is an article by Dr. Mercola with some good points to remember.


Wash Your Hands

Washing your hands will decrease your likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. If your immune system is strong, it should be able to fight off the virus if it does enter your body, but washing your hands provides a bit of extra protection.

Be sure you don’t use antibacterial soap for this--antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. You can read my recent article on hygiene mistakes for more information.

Instead of antibacterial soap, identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to. Local health food stores typically carry a variety of natural soaps.

You may have noticed that I didn’t mention getting a flu shot. This is because the flu shot, and the newly released FluMist nasal vaccine, are not the answer to avoiding the flu.

The "experts" will use fear to motivate people to get a flu vaccine, but this is yet another health care illusion. Let's be clear, flu can definitely be a killer disease and is not something that should be easily dismissed. But, remember that flu shots don't prevent illness--never have, never will.

The flu vaccine can actually weaken the immune system and make you more predisposed to the illness. And the side effects of FluMist, cough, runny nose/nasal congestion, irritability, headaches, chills, muscle aches and fever, sound just like the symptoms of the flu. If you decide to get the nasal flu vaccine, you will get not only a live flu virus in each dose but also table sugar and MSG, which are fraught with their own problems.

Plus, research has shown an increased risk of Bell palsy following intranasal flu vaccination, according to the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS). The makers of the nasal flu vaccine in the study decided not to market it the following season due to the risk. According to GACVS, the greater risk of Bell palsy following immunization with this vaccine may have been due to specific vaccine components, or simply to use of the intranasal administration route. It is therefore possible that such complications of vaccine administration may also apply to other nasal vaccines.

The flu vaccine, whether in the shot or nasal form, is worthless at best and should be avoided. Not only are they loaded with toxic chemicals including mercury and aluminum, but many people come down with the flu shortly after receiving the shot. This is because it actually weakens the immune system, making the person more predisposed to the illness. I have never received a flu shot and haven?t missed a day of work due to illness in over 20 years.

The bottom line is to lead a healthy lifestyle, which includes eating right, exercising, getting adequate sleep, and addressing stressors, year round. Again, consider reading my new book and implementing my diet and health program into your life (the book is guaranteed for life or your money back!) If you do, chances are you'll never have to worry about coming down with the flu.



In another article he said the following......


Don't Use Antibacterial Soap

Somewhere along the way the public began to believe that regular soap wasn't good enough--they needed antibacterial soap. Well, antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good.

Triclosan, an antibacterial compound that acts as the active ingredient in most antibacterial soap, not only kills bacteria, it also has been shown to kill human cells (Eur J Oral Sci 1998 Apr;106:628-36). Antibacterial compounds are in nearly half of all soaps sold in the United States, which is likely contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Many traditional medical circles now accept the hygiene hypothesis, which centers on the idea that children need to be exposed to some bacteria in early childhood in order to strengthen their immune systems. Children who are not exposed to common bacteria, which are wiped out by antibacterial soap, may be more prone to allergies and asthma.

This is not to say that you shouldn't wash your hands, only that you shouldn't wash them with antibacterial soap. It would be wise to identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to. Local health food stores typically carry a variety of natural soaps.

Thankful November

If you are subscribed to our family blog this is a copy of today's post. No you are not seeing double or having deja vu

Today I am thinking of how thankful I am for the Pilgrims and Our Founding Fathers. Where would we be without them? We sure wouldn't be here.

I was reading something today that said to share with your children George Washington's or Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day proclamations, or some of the writings of the Pilgrim fathers. Thanksgiving, has become such a secular holiday in America (just like Easter and Christmas), let us go back to the beginning and see what these men had in mind when they established this holiday.

"Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling [bird
hunting] so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together
after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day
killed as much fowl as... served the company almost a week... Many of
the Indians [came] amongst us and... their greatest King, Massasoit,
with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted;
and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought... And
although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us,
yet by the goodness of God we are.. far from want."

--Edward
Winslow (one of the original pilgrims)

What’s All the Thankfulness About?
Like most Christian holidays, Thanksgiving has become a secular institution in America, moving from religious meaning to cultural tradition. This is the case for most other Christian holidays as well. Let’s face it, Christmas is more about Santa than Jesus, and Easter is more about the bunny than the resurrection! But most people in our country fail to see Thanksgiving as a Christian holiday at all, and this is primarily because they don’t know the history of the people and the celebration of the day. So let’s take a look at the first people who celebrated Thanksgiving and the ideas that they held about God, the very object of their thankfulness.

Think about it for a minute. Who exactly are we to thank for everything that we have in our lives here in America? If you are a youngster, you might say, “Well, I would thank my parents; they were able to give me everything that I have!” And while that is true, a more thoughtful consideration would reveal others in the chain of provision who also should be thanked. After all, your parents couldn’t provide for you if they didn’t live in a state that provided them with the freedoms required to make a living. So you might find yourself thanking the Governor or the state officials that run and maintain your state. But the state wouldn’t exist without the nation, so you might next want to thank the federal leaders and military who serve and continue to protect our freedom. And of course, the nation would not exist without the sacrifice of those who first worked so hard to form the union. So we could find ourselves thanking the first settlers and founders. But would it stop there? Would it be interesting or important to find out who THESE people were thanking as they formed the nation? Did these folks see themselves as the last object of thanksgiving, or did they bestow their thankfulness on yet another?

Who Did the Pilgrims Thank?

The pilgrims who came over from England in 1620 were, in many ways, simply ordinary men and women. Many of them were members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect of Christianity). These Separatists originally fled England and sailed to Holland to escape the religious intolerance and oppression of their homeland. In their day, the Church and the State of England were one, and independent congregations who desired to explore their own, differing relationship with the Christian God were unable to practice their faith independent of the State Church. Separatists had come to the conclusion that membership in the Church o England violated Biblical teaching. They fled their homeland so that they would be able to purse God in a way that they considered to be truer to the teaching of the Bible. This group in Holland successfully escaped religious persecution from the Church of England, but eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life. They observed the lifestyles of those around them and believed that they were in an ungodly land. So once again, they pushed on toward a new place where they could both worship the Biblical God of Christianity and live in a way that honored that same God.


The Mayflower held more than just the Separatist Puritans. The ship also contained other pilgrims who still remained loyal to the Church of England but came to the new world for economic reasons or because they sympathized with the Puritans in one way or another. But one thing is certain about all those who were on the ship. Whether they were part of the Puritan group or simply along to assist them and make a new life for themselves, everyone on the ship shared a fervent and pervasive Protestant faith that permeated all aspects of their lives. So, when the pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11th, 1620, they were also grounded in their faith as Christians. In less than a year, they suffered the loss of 46 of their original 102 members from the Mayflower. But these Christians never lost their faith.

You can finish reading this article here.

The Homeschoolers Wishlist

This image was found here.

If you homeschool you have probably already seen the following. It is very popular right now. If you have not you MUST read it. Hilarious with the truth mixed in. I also think the cartoon above is hilarious. Although I wish I had written this I did not. I am not sure who the author is. If anyone knows let me know.

1 Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we’re criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2 Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you’re talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we’ve got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4 Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a “reality” show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7 We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9 Stop assuming that if we’re religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10 We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.

12 If my kid’s only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

13 Stop assuming that because the word “home” is right there in “homeschool,” we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.

14 Stop assuming that because the word “school” is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we’re into the “school” side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15 Stop asking, “But what about the Prom?” Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16 Don’t ask my kid if she wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17 Stop saying, “Oh, I could never homeschool!” Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as her parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she’s homeschooled.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25 Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!

My oldest daughter calls this "the one from the bitter Mom". Well, I don't think she is bitter, just tired- tired of answering the same questions over and over for years. LOL

For a more serious look at homeschool myths click here.

Had Enough?

I sure have! A friend sent me the link to this web site (thanks Adam!). This is some crazy stuff! Here are a few picture from their website.

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't
pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected,
and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years
telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the
United States where men were free." - - Ronald Reagan

No, I am not prejudiced and I am not against immigration. What I am against is ILLEGAL immigration. It is criminal after all.

I saved the worst photo for last. Ugh! This makes me SO angry!

There is tons of information here so be sure to check out this website....http://www.outragedpatriots.com/

To find out what is going on with this picture click here.

Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here
in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be
treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to
discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.
But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American and
nothing but an American. … There can be no divided allegiance
here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also,
isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American
flag. … We have room for but one language here and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to
the American people.”

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

The above quote is something that every American citizen needs to read!

Also:

Boycott Bank of America! I think this is a great idea! Long before I heard about this I was already doing my own boycott. They are anything BUT American.

Should You Really Get A Flu Shot?

Why do People Still Believe in the Flu Shot?

But getting back to the vaccines, Big Pharma may appear idiotic, but they are no fools. They know people want guaranteed safety. “Here, take this shot and nothing bad will happen to you,” they say. And a lot of people believe them, even when evidence of the opposite comes out. They just want the magic pill to be true.

Some hard-hitting evidence released just a couple of months ago should make anyone think twice about the flu shot: flu vaccines have NEVER been proven to prevent flu-related deaths in people over age 65, which is one of the primary groups for which they’re recommended.

You may also be shocked to learn that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grossly distorts the facts about flu deaths. If you go to the CDC’s main flu page, you’ll see their statistic that about 36,000 people die from the flu in the United States each year.

But if you search a little harder, you can find the actual number of people who died from the flu in 2005 (this is the most recent data that’s available). Want to take a guess at what it is?

In 2005, 1,806 people died from influenza, not 36,000. And in 2004, there were just 1,100 flu deaths.

The statistics the CDC gives are skewed partly because they classify those dying from pneumonia as dying from the flu, which is not at all true or accurate. For instance, their 2005 statistics lump influenza and pneumonia deaths together, at 62,804 deaths.

But broken down, there were 60,998 deaths from pneumonia and just 1,806 from the flu.

This will not stop the powers-that-be from touting their yearly fall warnings about this year’s upcoming flu season, and all the flu deaths that will follow. The media (which is largely controlled by corporations, many of which are making or selling the flu shots or the junk food that will actually make you more vulnerable to the flu) would have you believe that getting the flu shot is all you need to do to stay healthy all winter.

How to Prevent the Flu Naturally

For most people the flu shot does not make you healthy; it does just the opposite, as it weakens your immune system. It appears that some of you in the medical field are beginning to catch on to this, with less than 40 percent of health care workers getting flu shots in 2006.

The truth is, if you follow a healthy lifestyle, you will not have to worry about getting the flu.

Take it from me -- I’ve never received a flu shot, and I haven’t missed a day of work due to illness in over 20 years. The key steps that I follow to stay flu-free, which I suggest you follow too, include:

Get plenty of sunshine or vitamin D
Eat right for your nutritional type, including avoiding sugar
Exercise
Get adequate sleep
Address emotional stress
Wash your hands regularly
Take the Time to Make Informed Decisions

Whether or not you will subject yourself to the flu shot, or any of the other recommended vaccinations, is an important decision. Unless you’ve already studied it carefully, I would implore you to spend some time analyzing both sides of the argument before you make up your mind. Rushing blindly ahead could have dire consequences, especially if you’ve never considered the potential for side effects. You can use the links on my Favorites Page to start your journey.

You can see the rest of this article by clicking here and scrolling down the page to Dr. Mercola's comments.

There is more information on this subject at this website.

That information comes from the Natural Cures Website They Don't Want You To Know About.

There is a lot of great information on many topics from diabetes to cancer to bird flu. I encourage you to do a lot of reading at this website.

While I agree with most of the things that Dr. Mercola says I do not agree with a different diet for different people. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us different people should eat in a different way. However, Dr. Mercola does say to eat healthy and provides the keys that we should all adhere to. He encourages us to all eat more fruits & veggies, eat whole grains (that is how God made them for us isn't it?) stay away from processed foods, drink lots of water, get plenty of exercise, etc. These are all important and are more in line with what God's Word says than different foods for different people. Now if I could just get rid of sugar in chocolate and ice cream and could figure out a way to play volleyball by myself (nobody in my family likes that game) I would be good to go! :-)

Feel free to share your comments. What has your experience been? ~Kim

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Calling All Older Women

This is the beginning of a great article. I encourage you to read it. When you are done finish the article at the website link below.

I would love to hear your comments on this topic too!

Dear Sisters,

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live,
not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is
good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and
children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be
kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign
the Word of God." Titus 2:3-5

For the second time today I have talked to a young woman who is
frustrated and hurting. As we talked I could see the problem. The
problem is the "older women" in their lives were not living out the
above verse.

Each woman was not complaining about the older woman in her life, but
she was frustrated at her inability to figure out what she was doing
wrong since her home did not match their well-managed home. Well, the
problem was they are not teaching and training these young women in what
they know. Rather than coming alongside these young women with important
aid to them in their child raising and home management, they come to
these younger women's homes and sit and talk and then get frustrated
when the children interrupt. Or when the younger women go to their
homes, they feel as though they should have never come (especially with
their children), because no one can move for fear the well-manicured
home and the well-manicured woman running it will break down if
something is mussed or broken.

I felt bad for these two women. I do not see this going on in the verse
above. In the verse above I see a whole lot of "training" going on. As
you know with training children you have to get into the middle of it
with them. Well, likewise with the older women training the younger
women. They need to get "into the middle of it" with the younger women.
And the "it" results in loving husbands and loving children. How? By a
well-managed home run by the kind woman exemplified in Proverbs 31. This
does not just happen naturally. It happens through prayer and training
and practice. Training that watches an older woman in action, which
causes the younger woman to be encouraged to imitate, and then to
consistently practice what she sees. If that were not so, then Titus 2
would not call the older women to train anyone.

Remember the days when an older woman would drop everything to be beside
her daughter when she gave birth? And then continue to stay for weeks on
end to see her daughter back on her feet again? The daughter would learn
so much about the raising of her children watching a seasoned veteran in
her home. Now the saying goes for many older women, even in the church,
"I raised my children. Now it's your turn."

Remember the days when an older woman was up before dawn and pulling
pies out of the oven by 6:30 a.m. while readying her fruit for the
makings of jam? (Just read about a great grandmother like this.) Now
older women say that they're not cooking anymore. Their kids are raised
and they've cooked enough to last a life time. How the younger woman
needs to watch this woman in her kitchen. How the grandchildren need to
watch her and know her love that puts hot dishes and warm cookies on a
kitchen table.

Remember when going to grandma's house on Sunday was as big a treat as
going to church? Now older women are quite busy with the many activities
of their church leaving the younger women to feel guilty if they want
some of their time. It's not the same world anymore, is it?

To read the rest of this article go here.

You can read her many other letters here.

Laine's official website: http://www.lainesletters.com/

Black Five

Black Five is a blog where REAL soldiers are talking about what is going on in Iraq. I thought this might be a neat thing to look at often. If you find it interesting let me know.

(Know that there may be offensive language on this website. Soldiers come from every walk of life, religious background, and culture. Read before you allow your children to read.)

http://www.blackfive.net/

Here is another interesting site .