Comments on: Truth and Blogging from Authority http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/12/21/truth-and-blogging-from-authority/ Organic food information and tips and gadgets for healthier living Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:03:14 +0000 hourly 1 By: Diane Vigil http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/12/21/truth-and-blogging-from-authority/#comment-8418 Diane Vigil Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:06:35 +0000 http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/12/21/truth-and-blogging-from-authority/#comment-8418 You have a point, there, Marty, one that we must always be aware of --- which is to ask *why* someone said what they said. It does pay to have one's truth detector on. :) Now, I've also heard various folks stating that organic food is not "better" than regular food. But they fail to take into consideration that "regular" food may be laden with pesticides and the like. I was also pleased to discover that Harvard and the Mayo Clinic conducted separate tests and concluded that <a href="http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/07/23/harvard-mayo-clinic-say-pesticides-linked-to-parkinsons/">pesticides are linked to Parkinson’s</a> in men. To me, the question isn't so much whether organic food is "better" than something else but that regular food is not so good for you. I'd challenge anyone who has a decent sense of smell to visit a regular food store and smell the fruit ... I've smelled oranges upon which you can smell the pesticides. How healthy can that be? You have a point, there, Marty, one that we must always be aware of — which is to ask *why* someone said what they said. It does pay to have one's truth detector on. :)

Now, I've also heard various folks stating that organic food is not "better" than regular food. But they fail to take into consideration that "regular" food may be laden with pesticides and the like. I was also pleased to discover that Harvard and the Mayo Clinic conducted separate tests and concluded that pesticides are linked to Parkinson’s in men.

To me, the question isn't so much whether organic food is "better" than something else but that regular food is not so good for you. I'd challenge anyone who has a decent sense of smell to visit a regular food store and smell the fruit … I've smelled oranges upon which you can smell the pesticides. How healthy can that be?

]]> By: Marty http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/12/21/truth-and-blogging-from-authority/#comment-8356 Marty Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:56:25 +0000 http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/12/21/truth-and-blogging-from-authority/#comment-8356 Getting actual information out to an all too unsuspecting public is a challenge. That same public can also be all too trusting of authority. And that "authority" can simply be a mouthpiece paid to mislead. Back in 1970 I heard an interview with music legend, Frank Zappa. Somehow the conversation wound around to Frank's children. Frank mentioned that he had taught his son to ask a question when he heard something on TV that sounded odd. The question was, "Dad, was he paid to say that?" All too often we hear of "studies" that attempt to invalidate something that seems obvious. A case in point, is the "study" done by a "respected" organization commissioned by UK's Food Standards Agency. This study "found" that organic foods had no measurable benefits over other foods, but were just more expensive. The illogics of this are too numerous to count, yet this was run as a factual article by Reuters. So we have to ask, was the study paid to say what it did? And ultimately, by whom? I can only assume someone in a chemically related industry felt organic food threatened their "rice bowl," if our experience with our own lamentable FDA is any guide. I could go on, but that's another post. Marty Kassowitz webmaster Organic Connections Magazine http://organicconnectmag.com Getting actual information out to an all too unsuspecting public is a challenge. That same public can also be all too trusting of authority. And that "authority" can simply be a mouthpiece paid to mislead. Back in 1970 I heard an interview with music legend, Frank Zappa. Somehow the conversation wound around to Frank's children. Frank mentioned that he had taught his son to ask a question when he heard something on TV that sounded odd. The question was, "Dad, was he paid to say that?"

All too often we hear of "studies" that attempt to invalidate something that seems obvious. A case in point, is the "study" done by a "respected" organization commissioned by UK's Food Standards Agency. This study "found" that organic foods had no measurable benefits over other foods, but were just more expensive. The illogics of this are too numerous to count, yet this was run as a factual article by Reuters.

So we have to ask, was the study paid to say what it did? And ultimately, by whom? I can only assume someone in a chemically related industry felt organic food threatened their "rice bowl," if our experience with our own lamentable FDA is any guide. I could go on, but that's another post.

Marty Kassowitz
webmaster
Organic Connections Magazine
http://organicconnectmag.com

]]> By: Lynn Cameron http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/12/21/truth-and-blogging-from-authority/#comment-433 Lynn Cameron Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:06:59 +0000 http://wewantorganicfood.com/2007/12/21/truth-and-blogging-from-authority/#comment-433 Your point is well taken, Diane. Not only blogs face this difficulty. "Natural Health" online journals often do not reference the sources of their "authoritative" information. I received an installment last week from one of the many sites that function as sort-of a "Reader's Digest" of the online health movement writing on the latest news from somewhere --- they often don't give a specific source. The brief's title under the catchy section of Health E-hints was "An Effective Kitchen Cure-all". It talked about "some small studies" that suggested Apple Cider Vinegar for serious health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar (diabetes). Two of the studies had been done in rats and folks who ate oil and vinegar on their salads and the third in a group of just 11 people. Then the snippet ends with "more folks seem to be turning to 'grandma's tonics' to cure what ails them!" Truth to tell, freshly pressed unpasteurized apple cider will spontaneously "turn" by active lactobacillus action (lacto-fermentation) into a delicious and intensively flavored effervescent (fizzy) beverage in a month or less depending upon the apple trees' growing conditions etc. If this process continues it will move through "hard" cider stage where the LAB (lactic acid bacteria) have enabled the production of a bit of ethanol (2-3% alcohol). Only after this will it eventually turn into Apple Cider Vinegar. This is NOT the $1.29 pint of distilled vinegar in everybody's kitchen that the brief seems to suggest. That it remain raw and uncooked with all its LAB working diligently is KEY to why it may have worked for grandma as a tonic; this crucial fact that makes all those claims probable and possible according to recent research overseas is missing completely from this news. On the eve of the health movement, a Dr. Jarvis, MD wrote that Apple Cider Vinegar was a cure-all. A biochemically active product is available today: BRAGG (as in Paul Bragg, originator of Health Food Stores) raw ~ unfiltered Organic Apple Cider Vinegar With the "Mother" (LAB-rich sediment). I, myself, use about a tsp. in 4 oz. tepid water early each morning to "set my pH" --- uncooked lactic acid, ironically, raises duodenum (upper stomach) pH to soothe and offset the digestive upset of our modern acid-producing foods and lifestyle. It is THIS action that makes it a tonic that has stood the test of time. It absolutely cannot perform this function having been subjected to heat and preservatives leading to LAB elimination. With the increased interest in self-empowered natural wellness and the proliferation of online journals regarding same, it is doubly important to be discerning about both source as Dr. Far suggests and about accurate and full content. Know your source and check some of the references in the spirit of scholarship as well as your well-being. A word to the wise, raw apple cider vinegar makes a terrific addition to your survival kit --- it keeps forever; it's so acidic that no bad bacteria can live in it; it's a great seasoning and refreshing as a beverage plus being a great fabric softener and bathroom cleanser. Use it as you would fresh lemon juice. Get it quickly, though. Unpasteurized apple cider is already illegal in New York --- I go to Vermont to get cider each Autumn. I'm so jumpy these days with the attack from all sides regarding the actual life-giving aspect of real foods, who can say but what raw apple cider vinegar may be the regulators' next "target". Lynn Your point is well taken, Diane. Not only blogs face this difficulty. "Natural Health" online journals often do not reference the sources of their "authoritative" information. I received an installment last week from one of the many sites that function as sort-of a "Reader's Digest" of the online health movement writing on the latest news from somewhere — they often don't give a specific source. The brief's title under the catchy section of Health E-hints was "An Effective Kitchen Cure-all".

It talked about "some small studies" that suggested Apple Cider Vinegar for serious health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar (diabetes). Two of the studies had been done in rats and folks who ate oil and vinegar on their salads and the third in a group of just 11 people. Then the snippet ends with "more folks seem to be turning to 'grandma's tonics' to cure what ails them!"

Truth to tell, freshly pressed unpasteurized apple cider will spontaneously "turn" by active lactobacillus action (lacto-fermentation) into a delicious and intensively flavored effervescent (fizzy) beverage in a month or less depending upon the apple trees' growing conditions etc. If this process continues it will move through "hard" cider stage where the LAB (lactic acid bacteria) have enabled the production of a bit of ethanol (2-3% alcohol). Only after this will it eventually turn into Apple Cider Vinegar. This is NOT the $1.29 pint of distilled vinegar in everybody's kitchen that the brief seems to suggest.

That it remain raw and uncooked with all its LAB working diligently is KEY to why it may have worked for grandma as a tonic; this crucial fact that makes all those claims probable and possible according to recent research overseas is missing completely from this news.

On the eve of the health movement, a Dr. Jarvis, MD wrote that Apple Cider Vinegar was a cure-all. A biochemically active product is available today:
BRAGG (as in Paul Bragg, originator of Health Food Stores) raw ~ unfiltered Organic Apple Cider Vinegar With the "Mother" (LAB-rich sediment). I, myself, use about a tsp. in 4 oz. tepid water early each morning to "set my pH" — uncooked lactic acid, ironically, raises duodenum (upper stomach) pH to soothe and offset the digestive upset of our modern acid-producing foods and lifestyle. It is THIS action that makes it a tonic that has stood the test of time. It absolutely cannot perform this function having been subjected to heat and preservatives leading to LAB elimination.

With the increased interest in self-empowered natural wellness and the proliferation of online journals regarding same, it is doubly important to be discerning about both source as Dr. Far suggests and about accurate and full content. Know your source and check some of the references in the spirit of scholarship as well as your well-being.

A word to the wise, raw apple cider vinegar makes a terrific addition to your survival kit — it keeps forever; it's so acidic that no bad bacteria can live in it; it's a great seasoning and refreshing as a beverage plus being a great fabric softener and bathroom cleanser. Use it as you would fresh lemon juice.

Get it quickly, though. Unpasteurized apple cider is already illegal in New York — I go to Vermont to get cider each Autumn. I'm so jumpy these days with the attack from all sides regarding the actual life-giving aspect of real foods, who can say but what raw apple cider vinegar may be the regulators' next "target".

Lynn

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