Cheese bites

I was online shopping the other day (something I am rather good at doing) and ordered my third wheel. Third wheel of raw milk cheese that is. I am truly chuffed that I have found the best cheese and it is made right here in Minnesota from the raw nectar of some really lovely pastured cows.

The dairy is in Carlton County near Duluth Minnesota and it is run by the Hedquist family. The dairy name is Green Pastures Dairy, Inc and their online site is Green Pastures Dairy. They rotate their girls, so they are always grazing a new pasture of green grass and they only make cheese in the spring, summer and fall from the richest possible milk.

What I can personally attest to is that their cheese is delectable and getting a wheel delivered to your front door is way too much fun. I have ordered the Gouda and the Cheddar and I love them both. The Carlton sounds positively divine and the aged Gouda is on my list but they are low on wheels of the aged Gouda at the moment. This time my daughter and I are sharing a wheel but the whole wheel will keep very well in the lower drawer of your refrigerator wrapped in butcher paper for a very long time. You simply cut away any mold that might form and feed the bacteria rich rind to your very eager canine companion who will benefit from the beneficial bacteria now occupying space in the lining of their healthier gut.

Why order raw milk cheese from grass fed cows who aren’t treated with hormones, antibiotics or rBGH? There are several reasons but first let me ask you this question.  Do you really want to eat cheese or any dairy products from cows that are fed hormones, antibiotics and rBGH? I don’t, and rightly or wrongly I think all those horrible additives are ruining the health and wellness of most of America (Who needs terrorists to bring us down when we are doing it so well ourselves?)

Now to the reasons offered in the brochure from the dairy. “Grass fed cows produce milk that is very high in CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) in fact, it contains as much as  5 times more CLA than cheese from grain fed cows. CLA is mostly concentrated in milk fat, so the more fat in a given dairy product, the more CLA it contains. Nonfat dairy products have virtually no CLA. Two new European studies link a diet high in CLA with a lower risk of breast cancer. Research has shown CLA to actually shrink cancer tumors.”

Another positive health benefit from eating raw milk cheese is that unpasteurized milk has the enzyme phosphatase that allows the body to absorb the calcium from the milk. This allows for the digestion of lactose. Milk before pasteurization is rich in colloidal minerals and enzymes, which are necessary for the absorption and utilization of sugars and fats in the milk. When milk is heated it becomes precipitated with minerals that cannot be absorbed contributing to osteoporosis, sugars that cannot be digested and fats that are toxic. Unpasteurized milk has a cortisone-like factor in the cream, which is heat sensitive. This aids in combating allergies. Lastly unpasteurized milk has beneficial bacteria and lactic acids, which implant in the intestines and contribute to a balanced immune system.

I feel like I just can’t go wrong with this cheese. I get to shop online which I enjoy. I get to eat cheese that comes from very happy cows, tastes wonderful, melts beautifully and is really good for me. All that and it is delivered to my front door for a very nominal cost.

P.S. This is completely unsolicited, I just wanted to share my incredibly good find.

An Idea to Warm Up To

My naturopath and I were having a discussion several weeks ago regarding health and healing and I finally asked her to tell me in a nutshell the one thing she would recommend I invest in to optimize my health. She didn’t hesitate one moment and answered “The far-infrared sauna”.

She actually told me about the far-infrared sauna at my first visit and piqued my curiosity but as there was not one available in my area I was unable to pursue it as a healthy addition to my life. I pondered this for several months and looked in to buying one for home use which seemed a good idea but then I came upon an even better idea I would provide a far-infrared sauna to anyone interested in using it as a healing aid or just to maintain their health. This summer I am opening a business in Stillwater, Minnesota that will provide all of the benefits of far-infrared sauna without the investment of money and space to have one at home.

“What is a far-infrared sauna?” you ask. As succinctly as possible I will attempt to answer that question.

According to Sunlight Sauna’s (http://www.sunlightsaunas.com) website “far infrared light(FIR) is part of the sun’s invisible spectrum and since it can’t be seen it is experienced as heat. One of far infrared light’s characteristics is the ability to easily penetrate human tissue. When this happens  it creates a natural resonance, which has many beneficial properties.  Dr. Toshiko Yamazaki, M.D. owns a clinic in japan where she has done extensive research on the therapeutic uses of far-infrared. In her book, “The Science of Far-Infrared Therapies” she explains that one of the reasons FIR has beneficial results in a variety of illnesses is the ability of FIR waves to remove toxins which are often at the core of many health problems.

The far-infrared sauna looks like a traditional sauna and mine is made of basswood to provide the best hypoallergenic properties but in appearance it will be as pleasant as sitting in any sauna. The infrared sauna differs from a traditional sauna in several ways but I feel the primary difference is that far-infrared has healing properties due to its ability to penetrate human tissue more deeply thus exciting existing cellular water molecules, breaking them down and allowing the cells to excrete the toxins that have accumulated. A traditional sauna uses extreme heat(150 degrees+) and humidity to make a person sweat and release some toxins. Far-infrared uses much lower temperatures (110 degrees F-130 F) but more effectively allows the body to release accumulated toxins because it heats from the inside out.

Far-infrared sauna therapy has been studied quite extensively(particularly in Japan where it has been in use for many years) and found to be quite  therapeutic in treating conditions as diverse as artherosclerosis and fibromyalgia. It can be effectively used to help people with debilitating arthritis or who suffer with psoriasis. It aides in weight loss and is equivalent to 30 minutes of aerobic activity (but who wants to sit in a sauna instead of exercise I want to use it in addition not as a substitution for exercise). It helps clarify skin that is troubled by acne and helps build collagen in skin like mine that has lost some of its elasticity. It has been used to detoxify former drug users by L Ron Hubbard and less well known but every bit as important to me it has helped a friend of mine lessen the pain and debilitating affects of an injury to her groin.

Will I be able to make such claims to the people who use my facility? Of course not, there are far too many lawyers out there looking for business and far too many people willing to give them their business. I feel confident however that I have the information to prove that the far-infrared sauna is a great healer and I simply want to provide those who are looking to maximize their potential for good health with the tool to achieve their goal.

Sick o’ Not? That is the question.

Predictably Michael Moore has everyone talking and spending their dollars to see him tell us that our medical system is corrupt, inefficient and downright deadly. I cannot help but think that getting people on edge about our current medical system and promoting a dialogue on the subject of health care is a very good thing and on par with Gore’s attempts to get people discussing the future of the entire planet. What I don’t understand is why it has taken Michael Moore and Al Gore to make people realize how truly messed up things are.

 

It has been clear for years that we were headed down a dead end road regarding our health care but finding the answer that everyone will accept is one problem. Providing an answer has been attempted for decades now but what pleases one group (Michael Moore worshippers) is totally opposed by the other group (insurance sales people and their ilk) and they are both very vocal and politically active groups. The muddying of the waters therefore occurs when these two diverse groups attract all of the media attention and neither group is willing to tell people that what they need to do is take charge of their own lives.

 

People need to take responsibility for their own bodies. We need to read every bit of literature out there every tiny bit of research and draw our own conclusions through some experimentation, some trial and error but that isn’t easy. It is tedious and time consuming and besides in the great United States it is far safer and easier to blame someone else or let someone else tell you what you should do and how you should do it.

 

Thus it follows that it is much easier to blame the government for your poor health than to accept that you allowed yourself to eat one too many super sized Big Macs with the extra large order of french fries. Or as you peruse your folds of fat you could blame your teachers who failed to instill in you the need to exercise both your body and your brain. We can blame them or blame someone closer to home. Blame your parents who fed you crap as a child and allowed you to wallow on the couch or sleep until noon. It must be easier to point the finger at anyone but yourself because after all “they” are the source of all that you now do wrong.  Right?

 

Wrong-o! The human race does not need Michael or Al, Hillary or George to tell us that we are on a very slippery slope and we placed our bottoms on the very sled that is taking us down that mountainside. All we need to do is look in the mirror at our bulging waistlines and take a quick glance in the bathroom cabinet full of Big Pharma “candy”to know that we are in trouble with a capitol T. How can we think it is okay to see our private physician, present them with a physical ailment and expect to come away with a prescription for a magic pill?  A brightly colored easy to swallow capsule that will take away all your responsibility for your own good health.

 

Even better than having the feeling of no responsibility for your own body you will also have earned the “right” to sue the very company that you allowed to lead you around by the nose ring thanks to this country’s litigious bent. Yes, you will be allowed to blame someone, anyone when your body rebels and cancerous cells advance and destroy the life you have now squandered.

 

 However, I am here to tell you that blaming others  does not give you your life back. Your life on earth is gone and everyone will mourn your passing. A room full of friends and family will talk about how young you were and how much of life you missed but no one will be able to give you back what you could have had had you just been willing to prevent disease and not leave it to others to treat disease.

 

There will be no one you can point the finger at and tell to remove the embalming fluid, no one you can order to exhume your body from the deep dark pit you have been placed in. Now it is all up to you and it should have been up to you all along but in our Sicko world we don’t prevent, we treat, and as long as we remain deaf and dumb when it comes to our own bodies we leave our destiny in the hands of Michael, Al, Hillary and George and that scares the hell out of me. Be it right or wrong I want to be at the helm of my ship and I want to determine the direction my ship sails.