Time, Money, Health: The Conclusion

If you missed the other posts in this series, you can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here,  part 5 here and part 6 here.

I never got around to finishing this series because what I thought I was going to say in this final post was drastically changed!

I was going to lay out some baby steps to healthier eating and tell you some specific things our family was doing so that eating healthy was not so overwhelming.

But before I got a chance to compose the post, I started going to my new doctor (who I absolutely love!) and the diet she prescribed was a radical change!  Baby steps weren't going to cut it for me.

So much for trying to keep things from being overwhelming!

Basically I had to keep doing all the things I had been doing (local, organic food) but with the elimination of gluten and several other food intolerances we discovered that I had.

That's the extremely short version of it all, but my point is that while I was hoping to preach “baby steps” to you all, in reality I had to practice radical strictness for myself.

No matter what path I would have taken, I believe my conclusion to the whole matter of balancing time, money, and health would have been the same:

The balance isn't the same for everybody.

While I may be allotting a generous portion of our budget for food and spending more time preparing my food, you may be only changing up a few key ingredients in your kitchen.

A year or two ago, my mouth would have dropped open if you would have told me how much we'd be spending on food right now.  And back then, it wouldn't have been the right balance for us.  But my husband has been blessed with a raise and good food was a priority for us, so we put extra money toward it.

What we spend on food may not be what you're supposed to be spending (or can even afford to spend.)

Here's the mistake many of us make:  We think that just because we've found the balance that is right for us, everyone else's balance should look just like ours or they're not doing something right.

For those who have a lower income, the temptation comes to think that those who spend extra money on organic food are being too extravagant, too concerned about their health when “everybody's going to get cancer anyway”, and shouldn't be spending so much money, time, and effort on their eating preferences.

For those who can afford it, and choose to make their health a priority with how they spend their money, it can be tempting to be critical of others who don't eat all the same things you do.

Those on both sides of the spectrum need to ask themselves some questions.

Am I spending my money as wisely as possible?  I may not have much, but am I being a good steward of my body with the money I do have?

Is there information regarding my health I know I should pay attention to, but I'm choosing to ignore it because I know it's going to require some financial adjustments?  (In other words, I use “I can't afford it” as an excuse when I probably could adjust things to make it happen if I chose to.)

Am I criticizing others for their choices instead of focusing on my personal responsibility to manage my own money and health wisely?

Am I trusting in my food choices to keep me healthy, or am I remembering that my health is a gift from God?  If I can't afford all the food I'd like to eat, am I still thankful for what I have and trusting God to keep me healthy? 1 Timothy 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

As I write posts on various topics regarding healthy eating, (such as my post from yesterday on Why I Drink Raw Milk) I hope you'll keep in mind that these topics are merely for your consideration; not because I'm telling you I think you have to do this or you are inferior to me if you don't.  I have come to my conclusions about certain foods gradually and after thorough research of my own.  I didn't just decide to start spending extra money because somebody put me on a guilt trip.  And I'm not here to put you on a guilt trip, either.  I'm here to encourage you and provide resources to help you come to your own decisions on what is right for you.

Tell me, where are you in your healthy journey?  Are you still struggling to find the right balance?  Or have you found the balance that is right for your family and just need to make sure you stay on track?

Why I Drink Raw Milk: Part 1

Wednesday is the day I pick up my raw milk for the next two weeks.  I thought some of you may be interested to know why I spend extra time picking up milk from my farmer and why I spend extra money to pay for this milk.

As I began my article, I realized that this was not going to be a quick answer, so I've divided it up into several posts so that it's not so much information all at once!

So, here we go.  The first reason I drink raw milk:

RAW MILK IS SAFE

The FDA will tell you that drinking raw milk is dangerous.  According to them, raw milk carries dangerous pathogens, including Salmonella, E.Coli, and Listeria.  Their statistics state that between 1993 and 2006 more than 1500 people in the United States became sick from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk. In addition, CDC reported that unpasteurized milk is 150 times more likely to cause food-borne illness and results in 13 times more hospitalizations than illnesses involving pasteurized dairy products.  Sounds scary, doesn’t it?

But…I have a question or two about those “facts”.  Where did the FDA obtain these statistics?  The  article which they have published and updated as of March 22, 2013 contains no references whatsoever for these statistics.  How do we know they’re true?  The claims were originally published in a press release in 2007 and the reference cited was the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reportfor the week of March 2, 2007.  However, that report provides no such information; nor is any such information found in any other FDA or CDC document.

Various reports by the FDA throughout the years have made claims stating that people were infected with bacteria from raw milk sold at various farms.  Each of these reports, however, was never updated with the information that the farms were tested for the suspected bacteria and each time the tests came back negative.  

As scary as the FDA’s reports about raw milk can sound, what they don’t broadcast loudly is that many widespread outbreaks of food-borne illness have actually been due to pasteurized milk.  Pasteurization destroys probiotics; therefore any bacteria that have survived the pasteurization process (and they do survive) cannot be destroyed by the naturally occurring probiotics in the milk.  The largest outbreak of food-borne illness from pasteurized milk occurred in March of 1985 when there were 19,660 confirmed cases of Salmonella.  Pasteurization is no guarantee of milk safety.  

Can raw milk carry bacteria and infect people with food-borne illness?  Absolutely.  If there are indeed potentially deadly bacteria lurking in the milk that I drink, then I think the need for pasteurization would be obvious and more than acceptable.

However, in the 1800s when pasteurization became prevalent, these were the conditions:

Cities were growing rapidly, and there was an increasing demand for milk in these cities.  To meet that demand, cows were housed next to distilleries and were fed the waste from the whiskey making.  This brought the source of milk closer to the cities; however it was by no means a sanitary source.  The cows were unhealthy and crowded, and the workers did not practice sanitary handling of the milk.  An ideal breeding ground for bacteria was the result.  That was the milk that was making people sick; not the milk from fresh pasture-raised cows.  With the infant mortality skyrocketing, city officials had two options: 1. Pasteurize the milk or 2. Certify the sanitation of raw milk. 

Likewise, cows raised in today’s commercial feedlots are raised in similarly unsanitary conditions.  To say that the cows are crowded would be an understatement.  They are tightly packed one against another, standing all day in their manure.  Open sewers line the roads.  The cows are fed grain, which is not natural for cows to eat.  Because of their unnatural diet, they experience massive health issues, and they spend basically their entire lives in a state of constant infection. 

The infection, including blood and pus, ends up in the milk.  To combat the infection, the cows are fed a steady stream of antibiotics, which also end up in the milk along with pesticides and herbicides from their grain-based diet.  The 2003 FDA Pasteurized Milk Ordinance sets the maximum level of somatic cells allowed in Grade A milk at 750,000 cells per milliliter.  Robert M. Krakjan, MD, Surgeon at Seton Medical Centre, wrote in a letter to his patients, “If you don't already know this, I'm sorry to tell you that another way to describe  white cells where they don't belong would be to call them pus cells.”

Although raw milk is regulated as to how many units of coliform bacteria (fecal bacteria) the milk can contain, there is no legal limit to the number of coliform bacteria that conventional milk can contain.  The rationale is that since it will be pasteurized, the bacteria will be killed; therefore cleanliness is not terribly important.  In other words, there is no limit on the amount of manure your milk from the store contains; it's cooked manure, so it's okay.  Although there are many dairies who do practice good hygiene in their milking, all the milk from every farm gets blended together anyway, so the quality is only as good as the quality offered by the worst farm.

So, the question is: Is pasteurized milk safer to drink than raw milk? 

If you’re talking about raw milk obtained from the above-mentioned types of sources, then there’s no way I would ever drink one sip of unpasteurized milk. 

But if you’re talking about raw milk from a farmer who lets his cows graze on grass, with plenty of space to get fresh air and sunshine, and who utilizes only the most sanitary practices of milking his cows, then I’d say heartily, “RAW MILK IS SAFE TO DRINK!”

But I’m not here to try to convince you.  I’m simply here to get your wheels turning and help you to think through and research things you’ve always been told.  The FDA has always said raw milk is dangerous.  Are they right?

You’ll have to decide for yourself. 

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Thankful for Little Things

I'm so blessed. After spending many of my days in bed or barely keeping up with what needs to be done around the house, God has allowed me to have several good days in a row. I've enjoyed being able to do housework, cook dinner, and play outside with my kids! The mundane things of life have become special blessings!

On days when I've complained to my husband about not being able to do this or that for the kids, he has simply said, “At least they still have a mom.”

Although I'm hoping that the protocols my nutritionist has prescribed are working and that I'll continue to improve, I realize that my health is really a gift from God.

As I was reading through my Bible one day, the Lord showed me this verse:

II Chronicles 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. (Italics mine)

Did you get that?  He forgot where his health came from, and went seeking healing his own way instead of going to the Lord.

I have tried to remember each day to acknowledge God's working in my life, and remember that my health is His decision; not mine.

I may be better than ever tomorrow, but I could be back in bed.  I don't know what tomorrow holds, so instead I'll just enjoy today!

15 Minute Tasks for the Week

I have a bunch of odds and ends I need to get done this week, so I'm hoping to use my 15 minute sessions to tackle those.

Here's what I'm shooting for:

• Replant potted plants into bigger pots
• List a few things on ebay
• Work on planting my herbs that I got as a bonus from the Ultimate Homemaking Ebook Bundle

Since I'm still in survival mode, I'll be very happy if I even get that little bit done.  I'm trying not to make any big demands on myself right now.  Sometimes those 15 minute sessions just need to be used to do dishes.  🙂

What are you working on this week?

I Need Your Help

I'm working on some resources regarding chronic illness.  If you or someone you know suffers from a chronic illness of any type, I'd be ever so grateful if you could help me out with a little information.

And as a thank you, I've put together a set of 5 free printables to encourage you on your journey.  When you complete the survey you will be directed to a private page where you can access them.

Please complete the survey here.

I'm not sure why WordPress is adding some strange lines onto some of these.  They won't be there when you print them.

Thank you in advance for your help!

A Love Story {Part 5}

If you didn’t get a chance to read the other parts to the story, you can go back and do that now. {Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4}

The summer following my junior year found me at home planning a wedding even though I wasn't engaged yet.  I even found and purchased my wedding dress.  I knew my senior year of college would be busy and I wanted to have as much planning as possible done before school started.

I was missing my boyfriend, who was in Virginia doing his pastoral internship, but I did manage to sneak in a weekend visit (thanks to my ultra-patient mom who accompanied me on what I'm sure was to her a boring trip.)

As the time for school to start drew near, my parents decided they wanted us to go out to eat together and spend some time as a family.  I got dressed in a nice casual outfit and was rummaging through my basket of perfume and body spray when my mom came into my room.  “Can I wear something of yours?” she asked.  “Sure, I don't care…oh…wait…that's my favorite one and it was really expensive and now it's discontinued.  Not that one please.”  It was a roll-on, and as I was in the middle of my sentence she grabbed my wrist and dabbed the perfume on.  “Stop!  I don't want to use that up!” I protested.  “Oh. Sorry.  I just wanted to see what it smelled like,” was her reply.

“Hey, by the way.  Bring your walking shoes.  We'll go on a walk afterward,” she mentioned as she left the room.

As we pulled out of the driveway, my dad headed the car not toward town and the restaurants, but toward the college I attended.  He was on staff there, and was always having to stop by to “fix this real quick”, “lock up that door”, or some such thing.  I didn't think a thing about it.

But when we pulled up, there was a surprise waiting for me…in the form of a PERSON…a very special person! (Now I understood the whole perfume thing, and I was thinking, “Mom, you are awesome.”)

“Get on your walking shoes.  We're going to go ahead and go on a walk,” Dad said.  I was pretty sure I knew what was going on, but I played along and got my walking shoes on (with my skirt.  So adorable.)

The next thing he said was “Ya'll go on ahead.  I've got to fix something real quick.”

Now I knew for sure what was happening.  I knew mom and dad wouldn't be along for this walk.

And, we were headed for the exact spot where I had been told a couple years earlier would be “a pretty place to get engaged.”

He was acting pretty nervous, even though to this day he denies it!

A few minutes later we arrived at a picturesque, secluded little pond that had a pier overlooking it.

On the pier were several things:

• A rocking chair – I had mentioned at some point while we were dating that someday I would like to have a special place in my bedroom where I could go to be alone and spend quiet time with the Lord.
• A table – this was his idea.  I would need a side table so that I could always keep my Bible close to my chair.
• A box – He had built it for me with the help of a friend.  Inside the box was a Bible with my name engraved on it.  Only it wasn't my maiden name.  It was the name I would have if I married him!

As he got down on one knee, his question to me was, “Would you like to have that name?”

When I said “Yes”, he pointed out a place he had hollowed out in the lid of the box where he had placed the ring.

The inside of “the box”

We headed home to another surprise – his parents were visiting from Pennsylvania.  We all enjoyed a truly “family” dinner out.

It was time to begin our final year of college and to prepare for marriage and the joys and responsibilities that lay ahead.  Only God knew what was in our future, but we were blessed to be spending it together!

Shortly after we were engaged

7 years later, I still have my special place. I have spent many a quiet moment here.