The Mommypotamus » Link Love

Link Love

Heather — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:03:03 +0000

On today’s menu are three links, served piping hot. Only, I need you to tell me what the last link is because my laptop lost power and erased all my tabs. Watcha got?

How to Avoid Dangerously Genetically Modified Foods

A MUST read on the health dangers of GM foods complete with photos of rat testicles! You know you want to look now!!!

Check it out at Real Food Digest

Prominent vegan advocate: “I was wrong about veganism.”

Excerpt:

“This will not be an easy column to write. I am about to put down 1,200 words in support of a book that starts by attacking me and often returns to this sport. But it has persuaded me that I was wrong. More to the point, it has opened my eyes to some fascinating complexities in what seemed to be a black and white case.”

Read the original post or the above analysis at Hunter Gatherer

Happy Monday!!!

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Link Love From The Mommypotamus

Heather — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:49:17 +0000

I’m in the stacks today researching for future posts. In the meantime, check out these fabulous posts:

The Undervalued Therapeutic Power of Rest

If you think you might POSSIBLY ever have another baby read this (including comments) first!

We live in a culture that has no value or respect for rest. If you’re resting, you’re lazy and incorrigible. We have been raised on Tampax ads that say “Go play tennis, golf and volleyball when you’re having your moon time. An active woman is an attractive woman.” I love the Orthodox Jewish practice of giving women a bed of their own from when their period starts to 12 days later and arranging a complete day of rest from all household duties on Saturday. We would all be well advised to adopt these customs.

More at Gloria Lemay

How To Buy Real Food – 8 Helpful Guides

Since my egg farmer stopped delivering a couple months ago (he lives 2 hours away) our family has eaten A LOT of oatmeal for breakfast. This week a desperate craving for scrambled eggs this week drove me to pick up some organic “free range” eggs at my local farmers market. I had a feeling something wasn’t right, though, so I called the farm they came from and found out they are neither organic nor free range. They are factory farmed, full of GMOs and still sitting in my fridge untouched. The sad fact is, these days it requires some detective work to eat healthy. Although farmers markets are a great place to shop, consumers still need to be careful. Here’s the best guide I have read on sourcing good ingredients:

Our modern food system is full of complexities, regulations, and corporate influences. How do we get to the truth of our food? The following eight guides will give you a strong knowledge base to make the best choices for how to buy real food.

Consumers need to be their own advocates. In a transparent food system produce would include its list of accompanying pesticides, animal products like eggs, dairy, and meats would label how animals are raised, treated and fed, and processed foods would have truth in labeling.

This kind of transparency does not exist in our food system. Hidden ingredients and poor production methods have powerful impacts on our health- especially children and their developing bodies- and the environment.

Check out Real Food Digest for Part 1 and Part 2

Cry It Out: 10 Reasons Why It’s Not For Us

Here’s a broad, research-based overview of the effects of the CIO method:

Science has shown that stress in infancy can result in enduring negative impacts on the brain. Prolonged cries in infants causes increased blood pressure in the brain, elevates stress hormones, obstructs blood from draining out of the brain, and decreases oxygenation to the brain. Excessive crying results in an oversensitive stress system (likened to a faulty burglar alarm in one book) that can lead to a fear of being alone, separation anxiety, panic attacks and addictions. Harvard researchers found that it makes them more susceptible to stress as adults and changes the nervous system so that they are overly sensitive to future trauma.

Read more at PhD in ParentingSimilar Posts:

Link Love From The Mommypotamus

Heather — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:37:57 +0000

Confession: I have twenty-seven open tabs in my Firefox browser . . . and that’s after I eliminated all the unnecessary ones!

I can’t help it. Research is in my DNA. I have to reference/cross-reference/double check the cross-cross reference and then email an expert for confirmation. I have tabs open for my water post (working on an awesome giveaway for that one coming soon!), the THAT mom series, vaccines, tips for eating healthy on vacation, yada yada yada.

The problem is, my browser keeps crashing. I need to unburden myself from some of this info, so I’m sharing it with you!

Food Safety, Not Food Slavery! Stop S510!

It’s been months now since I posted this article on the Food “Safety” Bill – S510 and I am still irked about it. Feeling rushed to “get something out” there about this bill that I TOTALLY OPPOSE, I published something that was poorly researched. That’s just not like me, so here I am trying to make it right.

In this article, attorney and real food advocate Stanley Fishman explores the flaws and dangers of S510 in my favorite language . . . PLAIN ENGLISH.

You probably don’t like to read this stuff. Me either, but then I remind myself that accessing real food, especially raw dairy, is hard enough already. Ridiculous laws that complicate my life are on the books now . . . I don’t need more. Do you?

S510 will give the FDA, an organization totally devoted to industrial farming, GMOs, and supporting big agriculture, total and complete control over how crops are raised and stored.

This would allow the FDA to impose its factory food standards on all produce, spraying and radiating everything.
The FDA could force the spraying of all produce, even dictating the pesticides to be used, and how much. The FDA could force all produce to be irradiated.

. . . If you think the FDA would act fairly, think again. The FDA has even filed court documents claiming that we have no right to choose our own food, and can only eat the food the government allows us to eat.

Click here to read more

Being Informed About Childbirth, Breastfeeding and Babies

Photo credit: limaoscarjuliet on Flickr

The best crash course education on the subject I have ever read ; – )

Check it out at Health, Home & Happiness

Uh oh! Looks like I am out of time early today. HAPPY MONDAY!Similar Posts:

Link Love From The Mommypotamus

Heather — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:39:55 +0000

Well, hello! As you read this I am probably leafing through a brand-new baby/toddler cookbook that I plan to review and give away soon. In the meantime, I have a couple of interesting and informative reading recommendations just for YOU (if you are the kind of person that likes babies and butter).

Baby Seats . . . What works and what HURTS

Do you have a Bumbo seat? Or maybe a Jumparoo or Exersaucer? I’ll admit it, we put Katie in an exersaucer until my good friend and chiropractor, Dr. Jim Bob Haggerton, told me I am an idiot. Okay, he didn’t actually call me an idiot, but Dr. Haggerton is the kind of person that tells people when they have a booger hanging out of their nose because he would want someone to tell him. So, if you meet him, WATCH OUT. He’ll probably educate you and make your life better, because that’s what he would want ; – ) He’s hilarious (think Patch Adams), well-versed in nutrition (a true Nourishing Traditions advocate), and best of all, he’s a dad (no pie in the sky advice).

He recently started a blog and so far every post has been well worth reading. But back to this particular post: If you’ve never heard about the neurological effects of using these baby items before you’re not alone. However, according to Dr. Haggerton, putting a child in a seat that allows them to sit, stand, walk or jump before they are able to do these things on their own causes them to bypass crucial developmental mini-milestones. When these milestones are missed a child’s spine may not develop properly. He also says:

The reason these seats are so popular is that they are a convenient way for the parents to strap their baby down and keep them in one place so that they can get things done around the house. I get that, I really do, but at the risk of damaging their pelvis, put a blanket on the floor and throw some toys down around them! Neurological development is really really important and the order in which a baby learns to lay, sit, crawl, and walk is equally as important. By bypassing this order of development, you are setting your child up for other developmental issues later in life.

Read the full article (and some more!) at Lifetime Family Wellness Center

Want to Increase Your Metabolism? Eat More Butter!

Matt Stone of 180DegreeHealth is offering a FREE ebook on raising metabolism using real, nourishing food (and lots of it!) Although I haven’t read it yet (I just signed up), I was very intrigued by one particular study he mentions:

Stephan Guyenet of www.wholehealthsource.blogspot.com writes:

Susceptible strains of rodents fed high-fat diets overeat, gain fat and become profoundly insulin resistant. Dr. Jianping Ye’s group recently published a paper showing that the harmful metabolic effects of a high-fat diet (lard and soybean oil) on mice can be prevented, and even reversed, using a short-chain saturated fatty acid called butyric acid (hereafter, butyrate).

The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided metabolic problems. Butyrate increased their energy expenditure by increasing body heat production and modestly increasing physical activity. It also massively increased the function of their mitochondria, the tiny power plants of the cell.

Butyrate lowered their blood cholesterol by approximately 25 percent, and their triglycerides by nearly 50 percent. It lowered their fasting insulin by nearly 50 percent, and increased their insulin sensitivity by nearly 300 percent. The investigators concluded:

Butyrate and its derivatives may have potential application in the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome in humans.’

[Note from CHEESESLAVE: Butter is the very best source of butyrate.]

To read more or sign up for the free ebook, visit Matt’s guest post on Cheeslave.comSimilar Posts:

Link Love from The Mommypotamus

Heather — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:45:29 +0000

My favorites from the week . . .

From Seeds of Suicide to Seeds of Hope:

This is not a puff piece. But in light of what Monsanto claims about their products, it’s a must read. Honestly, I expected M Corp to keep a low profile after Food, Inc. came out. Nope. Here’s the statement on their front page:

Monsanto is an agricultural company. We apply innovation and technology to help farmers around the world produce more while conserving more. We help farmers grow yield sustainably so they can be successful, produce healthier foods, better animal feeds and more fiber, while also reducing agriculture’s impact on our environment.

Does that line up with real life experience? You decide.

The region in India with the highest level of farmers suicides is the Vidharbha region in Maharashtra — 4000 suicides per year, 10 per day. This is also the region with the highest acreage of Monsanto’s GMO Bt cotton. Monsanto’s GM seeds create a suicide economy by transforming seed from a renewable resource to a non-renewable input which must be bought every year at high prices.

To read more, visit The Huffington Post

How Long Should You Breastfeed For?

This short article, although not new information, was certainly worth the read if only for the comments. I feel almost mainstream now. Sigh.

The practice of extended nursing has sparked heated controversy because some disagree about when it is no longer appropriate to breastfeed children. Some parenting experts say breastfeeding too long could potentially stunt child development because it may impede a child’s ability to self soothe. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics supports mothers who want to nurse as long as necessary. “It’s completely appropriate that a mother should avail herself to her infant or toddler,” said Dr. Lori Winter, of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “That’s in no way damaging to the child.”

Read the full article at New Parent

Who Owns Your Favorite Organic Foods?

I try to buy local as much as possible, but due to time/budget/availability constraints we supplement our pantry with goodies from Whole Foods. I shop at WF because it is the only grocery store I can go into and buy anything, knowing it doesn’t have any GMO ingredients (yes I am THAT against GMO’s). Plus, even their conventional produce has not been irradiated. So even if it’s not organic, at least it’s still alive.

With that said, Whole Foods is not what it used to be. I don’t walk in there and buy just anything. Many of the labels are owned by companies I don’t trust. They’ve “gone organic” for the money, and that often means they sacrifice quality.

“The large companies go to great lengths to hide that they’re the owners,” Potter said from his company’s headquarters in Clinton, Ill. “There’s a great deal of effort that goes into shielding that from the public. There’s smoke and mirrors in the marketing of organic foods.”

There are a few really exceptional companies out there. One of my favorites, Organic Valley, is more expensive than Horizon Organic but soooo worth it. If you’re wondering why Horizon uses factory mega-farms to produce their organic but environmentally unsustainable milk. Organic Valley, on the other hand, is a cooperative of private family farms with very high standards. Their CEO, George Siemon, is an actual farmer. He has resisted buyout offers from just about every U.S. food conglomerate imaginable in order to keep product quality and environmental sustainability a priority. Seriously, I wish more CEO’s with half a billion in sales this year looked like this.

For more on this topic, read Who Owns Your Organic Foods?

Happy Saturday!!!

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Stories Worth Telling

Heather — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 13:27:14 +0000

Photo Credit: Nelson Syozi

Sometimes I look at my life and I’m amazed. I never really envisioned all this: getting healthy, having kids, living with my mom as an adult. But my story, as unforseen as it was to me, is not really a dramatic one.

You want to know what is dramatic? How about a meth addict that uses for 70% of her pregnancy, gives birth, and . . . I won’t ruin the rest of Celina’s story for you. Check her out at Motherhood Saved My Life!: A blog about hope

Another story I couldn’t stop thinking about this week comes from Jaime the Very Worst Missionary. If you don’t know Jaime, she’s an ex-suburban housewife that packed up her life and moved to Costa Rica to become a missionary. I’ll be the first to admit that some of the things she writes make me squirm. Reading her blog is a little like exfoliating. It’s gritty and sometimes uncomfortable. But when you’re finished you’ve got something fresh and new.

About a year ago I talked to Daniel about the possibility of becoming a foster parent or adopting. He wasn’t that interested, but after reading this post and this one he located every orphanage within a 30 mile radius of us. Seriously. Just a note: If you bother checking out the first post and it makes you feel all icky make sure you read the second one.

Well, that’s it! Happy Saturday!Similar Posts:

Link Love From the Mommypotamus

Heather — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:15:13 +0000

The List: What to Eat, What to Avoid, How to Compromise

Once again, Katie over at Kitchen Stewardship tops my list of link recommendations for the week! Her printable shopping guide of No Way!, Okay! and Hey Hey! food choices is very helpful for anyone trying to sort through the morass of confusing grocery store labels. Check it out!

The List: What to Eat, What to Avoid, How to Compromise

Ten Keys to Patient Motherhood

I am not a patient person by nature. And Motherhood has magnified this particular weakness of mine ten fold.

Ok. Maybe a gabazillion fold.

Times infinity. Plus one.

But even though I have a long way to go, I have also come a long way. If you struggle with patience, I hope you’ll glean something from the tricks I’ve employed to keep my sanity.

Read the full article at Passionate Homemaking. Thanks Hannah for posting this link!

Happy Saturday!!!

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Link Love From the Mommypotamus

Heather — Sat, 29 May 2010 13:20:33 +0000

My favorite articles from this week . . .

Is White Bread GOOD For You???

Katie over at Kitchen Stewardship has been hosting a fascinating debate on the value of soaking whole grains. Her tenacity in pursuing this subject rather than just accepting the Nourishing Traditions stance on this makes me wonder if she will be the Sally Fallon of our generation.

For the record, I do soak my grains and Sally Fallon authored the most incredible nutrition/cookbook I have ever found. I just think it’s amazing that someone is building on her work and pushing the research further.

I’ve always hated white bread. It’s too sticky and feels like it’s reverting to dough in my mouth.

Imagine my shock when not one, but THREE of the five “expert” panelists on my Soaking Grains Debate weighed in with an opinion in favor of white flour, in one way or another.

It made me want to go buy a loaf of Wonderbread. And then throw it at my computer screen. Or maybe feed it to the ducks.

To read more, visit Kitchen Stewardship

Can Dirt Do a Little Good?

As you can see in the above pic of Katie eating dirt from our organic garden, I clearly think it does. Our immune systems were made to fight. If we don’t give them something real to go to battle with they will create an imaginary enemy and conquer that. That’s what autoimmune diseases are mostly about. Our bodies attacking themselves because we eliminated all other threats.

For the record, I don’t agree with the solution this article hints at, which is that we should create pharmaceuticals that mimic the beneficial bugs found in nature. I think we should just lock our inner germaphobe up and let our kids (and ourselves) get dirty once in awhile.

Note: In a country such as ours, where access to good nutrition is optimal (if you know where to look), our bodies will do quite well. In some of the countries studied I believe the outcomes have more to do with immune weakness due to malnutrition vs. immune failure due to overload.

According to the “hygiene hypothesis,” first proposed in 1989, exposure to a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms early in life helps prime a child’s immune system, much like sensory experiences program his brain. Without such early instruction, the immune system may go haywire and overreact with allergies to foods, pollen and pet dander or turn on the body’s own tissue, setting off autoimmune disorders.

Dazzling and Amazing Lesser-Known Facts about Breastfeeding

Think you’ve heard everything? I thought I knew everything there was to know about the awesome physiology behind breastfeeding. Not even close. Here are just a few of my favorites:

What Hooters? They’re Heaters! Your Breasts Are Able to Detect Even a One Degree Drop in Your Baby’s Temperature and Warm Up. Really!!!! You are the best incubator/warmer there is. Wrapping that baby up like a Christmas present is necessary if he/she will be away from you. But the best way to keep her warm in the early days is to cuddle with her skin-to-skin with a blanket over the two of you. Your skin contact means that baby will have to expend fewer calories regulating her own temperature. And, it’s a delicious experience not to be missed! Bergström A, Okong P, Ransjö-Arvidson AB. Immediate maternal thermal response to skin-to-skin care of newborn. Acta Paediatr. 2007 May;96(5):655-8.
Breastfeeding Can Reduce the Need for Braces. The human mouth was not intended to accommodate artificial (rubber or latex) nipples. The action of suckling on the breast helps the proper formation of the jaw, palate, teeth and gums. The longer you breastfeed, the more likely this benefit will occur. Leite ICG, et al. Associação entre aleitamento materno e hábitos de sucção não-nutritivos. Revista da Associação Paulista dos Cirurgiões Dentistas 1999;53:151-5; Paunio P, Rautava P, Sillanpaa M. The Finnish Family Competence Study: the effects of living conditions on sucking habits in 3-year-old Finnish children and the association between these habits and dental occlusion. Acta Odontol Scand 1993;51:23-9; Degano MP, Degano RA. Breastfeeding and oral health. A primer for the dental practitioner. NY State Dent J 1993;59:30-2; Labbok, M.H. “Does Breastfeeding Protect against Malocclusion? An Analysis of the 1981 Child Health Supplement to the National Health Interview Survey” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 1987
Breastfeeding Reduces Bed-Wetting. Children breast-fed as infants are less likely to wet the bed later—possibly because they have a developmental edge. Barone JG, Ramasamy R, Farkas A, Lerner E, Creenan E, Salmon D, Tranchell J, Schneider D. Breastfeeding during infancy may protect against bed-wetting during childhood. Pediatrics. 2006 Jul;118(1):254-9.

To read the complete list, check out Best for BabesSimilar Posts: