Go Green Go Breastfeeding - Environmental Advantages of Breastfeeding and Environmental Disadvantages of Infant Formula

Breastfeeding has many benefits for the baby, for the mother, but as well for the environment. Yes breastfeeding is good for the environment, and I am glad that I contributed. It wasn't that easy when you are new mother, and when never breastfed - but once you master it, it is the best thing ever. Starting with delivery system of this natural food. The delivery system is the most efficient system because it goes from the mother straight to baby's mouth. It is also clean, because no pollution is generated. On the side note nothing to do with the pollution, note that even baby's stool has no odour. No energy is required to heat it up or refrigerate. No accessories are required to feed the baby - like bottles, nipples. In addition, no additional cost of food for the first year - but you have to ensure that mother eats well nutritious food. And how about all the trips to the local store to shop for the baby food. If you care about environment then breastfeed your baby. I also understand, that some mother's cannot breastfeed, but for those who can, then they can contribute to the environment a lot.

Let see now, how damaging to the environment infant formula can be. The formula production is a mechanical process which causes air pollution and uses fuel from natural resources. Same applies to the nice fancy packaging - glass, plastic, tins, cardboard. All this, needs processing and printing, and packaging which all creates pollution before being used and after it is disposed. Yes all this fancy packaging needs to be recycled, thus more energy required, thus more use of fuel extracted from natural resources. Hopefully you got the idea by now. However, we are not done yet. How about the transportation, meaning once packaged, it needs to be shipped, now days possibly around the world. Transportation is in fact one of the greatest contributors of air pollution. Lastly, just at home, you will use energy to prepare and store the food. You will need bottles and nipples which are produced also by means of mechanical processes thus the resulting pollution. And once not needed, recycling process will take over.

Hopefully now you got the complete picture, and if you are expectant mother, by breastfeeding your baby, you will not only contribute to your baby's health and your health, but also to the environment's health. In addition, you will save money. The cost of using infant formula can be between $1,250 up to $3,000 a year, a very expensive compare to breast milk costing you almost nothing. And since breastfeeding is beneficial to the human health, guess what - reduction in health care costs.

Make Plain Yogurt Tasty for Children and Adults - Add Cooked Pears

I should say I used to like all the creamy and tasty yogurts [yoghurt] out there, but then when I changed to a healthy life style and started to read labels, I was amazed what all kinds of stuff is added to make it delicious and for those who are conscious about weight, to make the fat free ones. Extra sugar, I still don't understand why. Probably because all the fruits added are not that sweet, meaning probably not riped too. Then fat free - you know that they add extra chemicals to reduce the fat content. Therefore, the best recommendation of mine is, get normal 1% up to 3% fat yogurt, have little bit and enjoy it.

Now, how to make it delicious. Peel bosc pears [the sweet one], dice and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350-375 F, then puree. Let it cool and add to yogurt as much as you want to make it tasty; however, do not indulge on the pears, but rather on yogurt. This combination makes yogurt nice and sweet, and some say even more delicious. Then if you like other fruit, you can cut up some fresh fruit , and spice it up with cinnamon. Note that if you get a nice sweet red delicious apples, this may have the same effect.

I actually like plain yogurt plain or with vegetables, but children may be a bit fussy about its taste, however addition of pears can make a difference. I introduced yogurt to my baby at 11 months, and if your doctor recommends earlier, then go for it. He actually didn't mind like me eating the plain yogurt too, probably because I ate so much during pregnancy. Plain yogurt is excellent for balancing levels of the bacteria cultures in our system. We all have bad bacteria, so it is always good to eat yogurt to add good bacteria. Its all about balance.

Here are nutritional benefits of yogurt in general: excellent source of protein, rich in calcium, rich in potassium, source of B vitamin riboflavin, it is easier to digest than milk due to the culturing process, boosts immune system, can reduce cholesterol, improves colon health and may reduce risk of breast cancer due to improved immune system, reduces yeast infection [Candidiasis], and it aids in healing intestine infections. The plain yogurt is better than the taste enhanced yogurts because they contain less calories than the one with added fruit or sugars, they contain less fillers to make it creamy, contain more protein and calcium, and you will note also that there are no added sugars.

When buying yogurt here are some pointers. Look for containers with ingredients containing live and active cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus or Bifidus bacteria cultures. Look for the ones with no added sugar - bingo - choose plain yogurt. Lastly, the active bacterial culture decreases after the expiration date, therefore, guess what you really need to check the expiry date on the containers.

Silkworm Moth Has the Ultimate Perfume for Mating,

Hopefully the above title really lured you in to read this article. Did you know that silkworm moth female announces that is available for mating by giving off an ultimate perfume or pheromone called bombykol? I bet not. I didn't. My personal interpretation, bomb - it is a strong and attractive scent, and -ykol, the alcohol base of the chemical molecule unit - a chemistry that is the same as man made perfumes. The male silkworm moth can smell the bombykol very well. Lets just say he can smell one molecule of bombykol diluted in the quadrillion of air molecules. This is one of the amazing chemical sensing trades in the animal kingdom.

Note do not try to extract this ultimate perfume for yourself, it only works between silkworm partners.

Wonders of the Chicken Soup and Recipe – Is it a Common Cold Relief Remedy or a Cure?

Chicken soup is the probably the oldest soup recipe in the world, and in addition to be a very tasty it’s been used as a remedy to relief a cold – also called a comfort food or feel-good food when you are sick. It has been known that there is no other remedy that effective as the chicken soup. For centuries it was believed that chicken soup had the healing powers or cure for the illnesses as a common cold. This sparked attention among researchers and scientists to conduct studies in that field. The research concluded that chicken soup was in deed a relief remedy for a common cold, and not a cure. However, with the continued advances in science and technology time will tell what other benefits will be discovered in the future.

Chicken Soup Scientific Research HistoryThe research done in 1978 at Mount Sinai Medical Centre, Miami Beach, Florida by group of lung specialists concluded that the chicken soup helped ease the nasal congestion than the hot and cold water. The study was performed on 150 individuals with colds who were told to drink hot chicken soup, hot water and cold water. The objective of the experiment was to measure how quickly the mucus and air flowed through each individual’s nose. Interestingly, note this: ‘Hot liquids in general can be soothing, if only because they require you to slow down, sit still, and sip patiently in order to consume them without scalding yourself’ – as Dr. Andrew Weil suggests in his article: ‘Can Chicken Soup Banish Colds?’. This one actually made me smile as he is right; we tend to forget the physical component of the eating hot stuff.

The research done in early 1990’s has shown that the home made chicken soup contains substances that can relief a common cold. This research was done by Dr. Rennard and his research team at the University of Nebraska. It was concluded that the chicken soup can relief cold symptoms such as a stuffed nose, coughing and congestion – typical signs when body is fighting a cold. In more detail, when we get a cold, neutrophils [cells that fight infection] move to the airways like an army to destroy the attacking virus. When virus is being destroyed our body responds with inflammatory reactions such as a stuffed nose, coughing and congestion. However, when chicken soup is consumed it slows down movement of these neutrophils thus the reduction in the cold symptoms, and therefore we feel better.

The most recent study in 2008 concluded that the ‘Chicken soup may lower blood pressure, study finds’ – an article you can read from USAToday. However, you may want to take a note of this quote: As this study suggests, some collagen in chicken may lower blood pressure," said Dr. Byron Lee, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. "But be careful. The salt we put on our chicken and in our chicken soup may offset or even reverse this potential benefit."

Hopefully in the future the above research areas can be repeated and fully validated, as it seems there was no further scientific studies performed to confirm the 1978, 1990s and 2008 findings.

Difference between Chicken Soup and Chicken Broth, Chicken Stock
May be this terminology should have been explained at the beginning, however, let me clarify now. Chicken soup is a mixture of chicken stock, vegetables, chicken itself, meat pieces, and/or some kind of noodles. Chicken broth is the liquid part of the chicken soup. And the chicken stock is a liquid in which chicken or chicken parts and vegetables been boiled. Confused? If so just call everything chicken soup.

How About Chicken from the Chicken Soup
Chicken also contains an amino acid called cysteine that is released when you make the soup. This amino acid thins mucus in the lungs, aiding in the healing process, and with the benefit of the hot chicken vapours it leads to even faster recovery and comfort. Coincidentally the cysteine is similar to the drug called acetylcysteine. Acetylcysteine is a drug prescribed by doctors to those who suffer from bronchitis. For those who like to learn more technical stuff about cysteine and acetylcysteine – just follow the link.

How About All the Vegetables from the Chicken Soup
Yes, how about all the good stuff cooked with the soup like carrots, onions, leaks, celery, garlic, parsley, black pepper, basil leaf, and sea salt. And if you adventures then you can also throw some cauliflower, parsnips, turnips and sweet potato. All these vegetables cooked in the chicken soup are loaded with many valuable nutrients. However, one may ask are they really loaded, since it has been know that heat can also kill nutrients. That I cannot answer, thus in my opinion, I doubt that all the nutrients from the vegetables do exists after prolonged and required cooking of the chicken soup.

Cleaning Chicken before Making Chicken Stock or Soup
It is very important that you clean raw chicken or chicken parts before making chicken stock or chicken soup. This is what I do. I usually clean chicken under running cold water, remove skin and extra fat, and then rinse it with white vinegar. I fill a pot with cold water, enough to cover the chicken and plus extra above the chicken. Bring to boil until the foam forms. This should take about few minutes of boiling. On the side I prepare a pot of measured water for chicken stock or soup and start heating up. Then I take the partially pre-boiled chicken, rinse with cold water again to remove residues of foam, and transfer to the other pot with correct amount of water. Now you are ready for nice clean chicken soup.

Are You Ready To Make Your Chicken Soup?
Now that you have cleaned your chicken or chicken parts, first you can prepare chicken stock, and then decide if you want to continue with chicken soup. If you search Internet you will find thousands of recipes for chicken stock or soup. And believe or not on some occasions you will find the same recipe copied from blog to blog, from web site to web site. I am not sure if you seen this one before, but this is what I do.

CHICKEN STOCK
Ingredients
3 L of Water
3 Chicken Drumsticks
2 Chicken Breasts
5 Bay Leafs
1 Table Spoon of Black Peppercorn

Procedure
[1] Simple, combine all, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours.
[2] If you planning to consume chicken stock, you can add pinch of salt here to taste.

CHICKEN SOUP
Ingredients
3 L of Chicken Stock
5 Large Carrots
1 Large Onion
½ Head of Cauliflower
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Table Spoon of Salt [optional]
5 Table Spoons of Small Shell Pasta [optional]
Procedure
[1] Simple, combine chicken stock, carrots and onion, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for ½ hour.
[2] Add cauliflower and boil for another ½ hour.
[3] Remove chicken into separate container and store temporarily.
[4] Now that you have all nice and cooked, you can easily make nice soup with little of extra work. Take 4 carrots and onion and pureed them in the blender, pour back into the soup.
[5] Take left over carrot slice and put back to the soup.
[6] Take one chicken breast and mash in the blender with some chicken broth. Pour back to the soup.
[7] Take all chicken drum sticks, strip from the bone, cut them into pieces and put back to the soup.
[8] Add garlic, and bring to boil, simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Optional: Salt is optional and can be added on the end to taste. I noticed that pureed carrots, onion and chicken breast add nice sweet taste.
Optional: Add small shell pasta in Step [8].

How About that Extra Chicken Breast?
With extra chicken breast you can make nice chicken salad, but that is recipe for next future post.

Hope this post summarizes all you needed to know about the chicken soup. So now when you find that you are about to come down with a cold, get those ingredients going fast and make yourself home made chicken soup. In the future, I will be cooking different variations of chicken soups thus I will be sharing them here with you. However, if you are too sick to get to the chicken soup part, just enjoy nice hot chicken stock in the cup, you will be surprised how much better you are going to feel.

Document Release: 0; Document Last Modified: March 23, 2009

Facts About Calcium

CALCIUM

- is an essential ingredient for all growth.

- is the main component of the bones in the human body, and it is stored in the trabeculae part of the bone, up to 98% of it.

- is also main component of the teeth.

- the reminder is in the circulation around the tissues in the body fluids to facilitate blood clotting, maintaining easy passage through cell wall and tissue wall.

- also keeps the enzymes to work properly.

- shortage results in lack of sleep, and getting tired easily.

- can also drain from the bones in young people, thus the pseudo-rheumatism.

- amount entering blood is controlled by parathyroid gland; note if this gland is damaged then levels of calcium in the blood may decrease.

- intake can be lessen by excessive consumption of the fats and its accumulation.

- shortage in the body, then avoid from your diet the following: chocolate, cocoa, foods containing oxalic acid such spinach and rhubarb.

- can be found in almonds, hazelnuts, beans, soy beans, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, onions, turnip-tops, watercress, apricots, figs, gooseberries, grapes, lemons, lime, oranges, bran, buttermilk, cheese, milk, sour milk, yogurt, maple sugar, herring, sardines.

- can also be found in herbs: arrowroot, carrageen moss, chamomile, chives, cleavers, colts foot, dandelion leaves and root, flax seed, horsetail grass, nettle,

- in herb plants is in higher levels in the green outer leaf.

- is destroyed by use of artificial fertilizers.

- lack, then you will not be able to absorb Vitamin C.

- content is higher in the goat milk than the cow milk.

- in the milk is destroyed by the pasteurisation process.

- combines with starch to form solids which are not absorbed in the bloodstream and lymph, therefore avoid eating calcium rich foods with carbohydrates, especially with carbohydrates that are more starchy.

Facts About Vitamin D

Vitamin D contribute to the healthy heart.

Vitamin D works with phosphorus to burn sugar.

Vitamin D provides stability to our nervous system.

Vitamin D is necessary to help your body absorb and use the Calcium.

Vitamin D can be very easy destroyed by frequent shower baths; especially avoid alkali soaps.

Vitamin D deficiency results in early tooth decay, bone deformation, rickets, and weakness of the muscles.

Vitamin D deficiency in elderly people usually results in thinning of the bones.

Vitamin D can be obtain from the sunlight, however, tanning obstructs the Vitamin D absorption.

Vitamin D from sunlight can also be blocked by use of sunscreen.

Vitamin D can be found in butter, margarine, cheese, kidneys, cod liver oil, halibut liver oil, mackerel, salmon, sardines and tuna.

Facts About Vitamin C

Vitamin C consumed will be not be properly absorbed if you have deficiency of Calcium.

Vitamin C is essential for individuals who are on the protein rich diet.

Vitamin C is not toxic if consumed in large dosages.

Vitamin C intake must be increased by smokers because each cigarette reduces its effectiveness.

Vitamin C is found in broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, kale, turnip-tops, watercress, red chillies, rose-hips, strawberries, blackcurrants, melons, and citrus fruits.

Vitamin C can be very easily destroyed by cooking - high heats.

Vitamin C deficiency leads to easily bruised muscles and other internal injuries.

Vitamin C deficiency can also lead to brittle bones, and stiffness.

Vitamin C is the first aid for a upcoming cold or flu.

'An apple a day keeps the doctor away.'

Where are Ears on the Birds, Fish, Spiders, Crickets, Moths, Snakes and Leopard Gecko

Ear location can be different for different species. Majority have ears on their heads, and some don't have ears but have sensors that function like ears. Let's find out then were are some ears located.

Birds have ears located on the side of their head behind the cheek patch. They lack the external part of the ear. It does not resembles animal like ear at all, as a matter of fact it looks like a small slit or a hole beneath the feathers. Fish same like birds, do not have external ears. The ears of the fish are located inside skull with no real connection to the outside. Spiders and crickets have their sensory capability on their legs. Moths have something equivalent to the eardrum and mounted in the middle of their thorax. Snakes in fact do not have ears. To survive they rely on vibrations, heat, and motion.

Lastly let me present you with fascinating fact and unique characteristic of the Leopard Gecko's ears. Their ears go right through their head. Check it out for yourself, just shine a light through their ears.

Got a Stiff Body - Tendons Which Hold the Bone and Muscles Together Need Physical Stretch

This is actually interesting thing to know. Our body muscles are attached to bones by tendons. When a muscle contracts it actually pulls on the tendons, where then tendons pull on the bone and cause the movement, like walking or exercising.

Two things you should know about the above fact.

Tennis elbow is the inflammation of the tendons in the elbow. A repeated strain on the elbow will produce this injury.

Secondly, as we age tendons become stiff and that is why it is harder for us to do things when we are older. Therefore, it is important to exercise all the time. Remember stretching is not only for the muscles, but more so for the tendons. With regular stretching you can avoid tendons injury by keeping them nice and elastic. Same applies to the muscles.

Good To Know: Apple Seeds May Be Poisonous

Something I didn't know, and I found out recently. But how would that be, I ate or swallowed so many. I am in fact seed eater, I eat all seeds I see. I don't know but looks like I have personal addiction. Well, after learning about apple seeds being potentially poisonous I think the era of seed eating for me is over. As a matter of fact, over for all the seeds. I guess I will have to look into other sources of high fibre foods.

However, kidding aside this is what I found. The apple seeds are not harmful if you swallow one or two. The trick is to swallow them, and not to chew them. Apple seeds when chewed apparently release toxin called cyanide [cyanogenic glycoside]. However, human body can detoxify small amounts of cyanide compounds, but large amounts can be lethal. Therefore, keep away from children, and believe or not pets.

Characters, Text Are Not Displaying Correctly in Google Chrome and FireFox

You may have this issue once you install your Google Chrome or FireFox browser. The text is not that smooth anymore in those browsers as it appeared to be in your Internet Explorer. I came across this issue also. It was bothering me, because text was more digitized or anti-aliased [fonts too fuzzy to read], meaning not smooth and not good quality. I also noticed that same quality text appeared on my Desktop and everywhere else but the Internet Explorer. For some reason Internet Explorer has permanent setting for smooth text. With few settings adjustments I was able to fix the quality of the text in the Google Chrome, FireFox and everywhere else on my computer. However, I noticed the disadvantage - changing from screen to screen takes now a bit longer, computer slows down.
The fix for this is very simple. Go to your desktop, right click and select Properties. In Properties click on the Advanced tab, and on the right bottom corner select button Effects [Properties > Advanced tab > Effects]. Once in the Effects window, check the the 'Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts: ClearType', and click OK. All set now.
However if you still have this issue, there may be another setting to adjust. Got to My Computer, right click on Properties, then select Advanced tab, Select first option Performance and click on Settings, select Visual Effects tab, and ensure that the 'Smooth edges of screen fonts' is checked off, and if not then check it, and then Apply, OK, OK again and you are done. [My Computer > Properties > Advanced tab > Performance Settings > Visual Effect tab].

The Great Canadian Invention Series: Pablum Baby Food or Cereal

Time to feed your baby solid food. What are you going to feed her or him? Or do you have any ideas for breakfast for babies. Let me give you one suggestion, how about baby pablum - another great Canadian invention. Did you also know that Bobby Orr, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Trudeau and Anne Murray had pablum baby cereal for breakfast when they were infants. Well, I did not. The pablum baby food story started with three doctors working at the SickKids Hospital at Toronto back in 1930s who were concerned about the nutritional value of baby's daily diet. Back then cereals were part of the baby's diet, but there was not enough vitamins and minerals to ensure healthy growth and development. First, the nutritional biscuit for children was invented which was fortified with vitamins. After intensive research and testing in that area this lead to invention of the pre-cooked highly in the nutritional value cereal called pablum. It was based on the wheat meal, oatmeal, cornmeal, wheat germ, bone meal, dried brewer's yeast and alfalfa, and so it is now.

Cooking Tip: Baked Asparagus Recipe

This is how I prepare my asparagus - I bake it. It is the easiest method. Simply, wash the asparagus bunch. Take cookie try, spray with cooking spray Pam. Place all asparagus on the tray, and then give one nice spray with Pam again. If you want to you can also sprinkle with sea salt on top, but you don't have to, because baked asparagus already tastes good. Set your oven on 400 F and bake for 20-25 minutes, and then serve.

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site - Operation aborted

After one Microsoft automatic update everything just went wrong with my Internet Explorer 8. I am vivid blogger and I visit my blogger friends regularly. The problem I started to have was that some blogs posts would not display. But the main issue I got with many blogs I visited I kept getting an error: 'Internet Explorer cannot open site http://sitename.blogspot.com. Operation Aborted.' When I clicked OK, I get 'Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage'. This is just too many 'cannot' message for a bad day already.

I did some search hoping to get an easy answer, but I don't think I want to fool around with those fixes. It looked like it involved some code manipulation. Short story long, I decided to switch browsers. I ended up uploading Google Chrome and FireFox. So far I been vivid user of Google Chrome and I am definitely not disappointed, okay just a bit but that is topic for another day. Google Chrome is easy to use with some interesting features for those who like change. Changeover was painless, so guess what I think I have to say goodbey to Internet Explore for now. I been Google addict anyway.

Just to give some answers to those who wants to be Internet Explorer troopers, here is the fix link from Microsoft. The answer is simple, upgrade to Internet Explorer 8. Okay what did I just write, my Internet Explorer is 8. But then they also ask to contact web owner to do modification, okay last thing I want to do is to bother someone with issues like that.

How to Take Picture of the Moon - Digital Camera Tips and Guides

Sometimes information can be buried between the blog posts, therefore here are summarized links to the three posts on how to take pictures of the moon, especially if you looking to take close up pictures. They focus on the environment around you, digital equipment requirements and settings.

How to Take Photos of the Moon? – Part 1: Moon Calendar & Weather Conditions
Tips and guides on lunar cycle and checking weather conditions.

How to Take Photos of the Moon? – Part 2: Digital Equipment Required
Suggestions on what equipment you may need.

How to Take Photos of the Moon? – Part 3: Digital Camera Settings
General settings to help you get nice close up pictures of the moon.

Above moon photo courtesy of My Only Photo blog.

“I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it” ~ by Albert Einstein

Reusable Grocery Shopping Bags - The Next Green Trend But May Be Not The Cleanest One

I been using reusable grocery shopping bags for almost a year now, and did some observations. Probably out there someone thought about it too, but I will spill out my opinion here about reusable shopping bags. I personally absolutely love them. Sometimes I forget to bring them to the store, but that's just a bad habit I got to stop. This used to be a good habit when I lived in Europe. There were no such things as shopping plastic bags; as a matter of fact plastic bag was a novelty and been reused many times by many people. However, this may be old news now since it happened over twenty years ago.

Plastic bags have been used here in North America very commonly, but with the recent green trend everywhere, the message is clear - they must go, and stores are going to charge customers for them. Not so good for consumers of course. However, over many years we already knew that the plastic shopping bags were not good for the environment, therefore lot of manufacturers been working on the solution to produce biodegradable plastic shopping bags, bioplastics. We may not notice but some of the supermarkets carry them. However, this is not a point of this post.

The point is that because we reuse these bags, groceries we carry may contaminate them. What is the solution? Easy, wash them. But then this becomes again the green issue, more energy more natural resources consumed. If not cleaned then the potential health issues, and more health care costs associated with it. But there is always a way to do things right.

Firstly let me outline what foods can potentially contaminate the reusable bag, and let me give you simple suggestions to keep those bags clean.

The following are foods that can easily contaminate the reusable bag:

[1] Dairy Products - no matter how much care there is taken, there always will be milk, yogurt or sour cream leak.
[2] Eggs - sometimes they do break, or we do not notice the broken ones until we arrive home.
[3] Vegetables - there are many of us out there just grabbing broccoli or cabbage without bagging them.
[4] Fruit - yes many times I do grab a watermelon without slipping a produce bag on it, but face it some of them just don't fit.
[5] Meat - those packages are not leak proof, a worst contamination you could get, especially from the poultry.
[6] Chemicals - all kinds of cleaning products may cross contaminate with food, as we never really know which bag we use for what.

Here are my suggestions to keep your reusable bag clean.

[1] Get a reusable bag that is more synthetic plastic surface. That way it can be wiped easily with a soap water or vinegar.
[2] Now many stores sell reusable bags, then buy different ones and dedicate them for different food categories. For example, this bag for dairy products, this for cleaning products.
[3] Always bag your fruits and vegetables in thin plastic bags usually located in the produce area. For anything big as watermelon, may be get a carton box to carry it, or just get a grocery bin.
[4] And as stated in three, you can always get the grocery bin which is much easier to clean. Note canvas bags may be worst for contamination.

Lastly I think that charging for plastic bags by stores is a real cash grabs. It would be nice if that money was dedicated to further green developments or given to charitable organizations. After all they used to be free. What do you think?

Corn Fed, Grain Fed Versus Grass Fed American Beef

I thought I post about something I read about corn or grain fed cattle versus grass fed cattle. It is interesting because it tells you that we, including all other living creatures on this planet Earth been designed to eat certain foods only - meaning our digestive system is designed for particular foods. Introducing processed food to our or animal digestive system can actually cause potential problems in the later food chain. I don't know how many of you know, or at least I didn't know, but the conventional American cattle is corn or grain fed, as oppose to grass fed cattle. Note that the cattle is designed to graze, therefore, when fed with corn and grain the cow's stomach becomes very acidic environment attracting bacteria like E.coli. The beef from grass fed cattle is much leaner and has more the omega-3 fatty acids than the today's conventional beef. To conclude, you may want to consider then the grass fed beef, which is also classified as organic beef.

The Great Canadian Invention Series: Mashed Potato Flakes and Other Instant Food Processes

It was Dr. Edward Asselbergs from the Canada Department of Agriculture in Ottawa who in 1961 develop a process for making instant mashed potato flakes that tasted like real homemade version of mashed potatoes. From this idea Dr. Asselbergs moved to make instant meat, chicken, fish and cheese products. If you interested Google Patent search engine is excellent for listing all kinds of patents, and here what I found for mashed potato flakes: PREPARATION OF DEHYDRATED COOKED MASHED POTATO Patent number: 3260607 Issue date: Jul 1966 Inventor: Asselbergs et al.

In addition, it was Dr. W. H. Cook from the Canadian National Research Council, a Director of the Applied Biology Division who came up with several methods to meet the emergency food requirement for troops during World War II. His invention was a special refrigerated storage system used to transport close to 20% of the perishable foods to Britain. He also devised an improved process for drying whole egg powder.

Interesting Video to Watch: The Truth about Pandemics

To follow up on my last post about the swine flu, here are some other interesting findings about current outbreak of swine flu or H1N1 flu.

Video: The Truth about Pandemics from Livescience.com where Dr. Siegel explains why we sometimes panic too much about pandemics, and how media and the government escalates these issues.

On the other hand here is a very interesting claim about the H1N1 flu or swine flu of which I am not surprised about, Claim: Swine Flu Possibly Created in the Lab, Submitted by Robert Roy Britt posted: 13 May 2009 12:58 pm ET, Livescience.com.

In addition, I found this article Pandemics and Pandemic Threats since 1900, an article outlining major pandemics that occurred since 1900 and some major pandemic threats. This article is from PandemicFlu.gov site, another great site to explore and educate yourself:

‘PandemicFlu.gov provides comprehensive government-wide information on pandemic influenza and avian influenza for the general public, health and emergency preparedness professionals, policy makers, government and business leaders, school systems, and local communities.’; Source: About Us, PandemicFlu.gov site.

To conclude this post I want to add one more link, a link to the Canadian site where you can find very useful information about fighting flu, protecting yourself, and the most recent status of the flu in your area or province – FightFlu.ca. Yes, protect yourself, and protect others.

Asparagus Season: Why the White Asparagus is White and the Green Asparagus is Green?

Did you ever wonder why white asparagus is white, or looks really pale from his friend green asparagus? I will then try to provide you with simple answer in here, however, let me start with the green asparagus.

Green asparagus, as any other green plant contains substance called chlorophyll. The pigment in the chlorophyll absorbs all other colors in spectrum and reflects the green light. Whenever the light is reflected, the human eye can see it. Same as for the red apple, or the orange carrot, the red and the orange colors are reflected and transmitted to our eyes.
A side note, a pigment is something that absorbs the certain colors in the light spectrum. Whatever is not absorbed is then reflected into our eyes.

So what happened to the poor white pale asparagus? Nothing really, it is grown in the dark and deprived from the sunlight. The blockage from the sunlight makes the asparagus white. No light to absorb or reflect. The process used to make the white asparagus is called process of etiolation, meaning that the plant is grown in partial light or completely without the light.