Thursday, August 19, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
One man's 3-year experiment in eating organic food - all the time
One man's 3-year experiment in eating organic food - all the time
By Tara Parker-Pope
Published: Tuesday, December 2, 2008
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink.Fruits, vegetables and animals can be 100 percent organic. What about people? In a fascinating experiment - on himself - Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician and author in Danville, California, decided to find out. For the last three years, Greene has eaten nothing but organic foods, whether he's cooking at home, dining out or snacking on the road.
He chose three years as a goal because that was the amount of time it took to have a breeding animal certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While food growers comply with organic regulations every day, Greene wondered whether a person could meet the same standards.It hasn't been easy.
"This isn't a way of eating I could recommend to anybody else because it's so far off the beaten food grid," said Greene, 49, the founder of a popular Web site about children's health, drgreene.com. "It was much more challenging than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be tough. There were definitely days where there was nothing I could find that was organic."
Other writers have ventured off the traditional food grid, notably Barbara Kingsolver in "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and Michael Pollan in "The Omnivore's Dilemma." But what makes Greene's experiment remarkable is the length of time he devoted to it, and his effort to incorporate organic eating into the routines of everyday living. His findings offer new insight into the challenges facing the organic food industry and those who want to patronize it.
Organic farmers don't use conventional methods to fertilize the soil, control weeds and pests, or prevent disease in livestock.Organic methods often lead to higher costs, and consumers can pay twice as much for organic foods as for conventional products.To cut back on the cost of an organic diet, Greene said he had to cut back on meat. "Whenever you go up the food chain, the costs pile up," he said. "If you don't eat meat at every meal, if meat becomes more of a side dish than a centerpiece, you can fill the plate with healthy organic food for about the same price."
Questions remain about whether organic foods are really better for you. The data are mixed. In autumn, researchers from the University of Copenhagen reported on a two-year experiment in which they grew carrots, kale, peas, potatoes and apples using both organic and conventional growing methods. The researchers found that the growing methods made no difference in the nutrients in the crops or the levels of nutrients retained by rats that ate them, according to the study, published in The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.But other research suggests that organic foods do contain more of certain nutrients - almost twice as many, in the case of organic tomatoes studied for a 2007 report in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Greene said he was inspired to go all-organic after talking to a dairy farmer who noted that livestock got sick less after a switch to organic practices. He wondered if becoming 100 percent organic might improve his own health.Three years later, he says he has more energy and wakes up earlier.
As a pediatrician regularly exposed to sick children, he was accustomed to several illnesses a year. Now, he says, he is rarely ill. His urine is a brighter yellow, a sign that he is ingesting more vitamins and nutrients.
At home, he said, the organic routine was relatively easy. Organic food is widely available, not just at natural and organic food stores but at traditional supermarkets. He also shopped at farmer's markets and joined a local community-supported agriculture group. Because he bought less meat, the costs tended to balance out. And his family (two of his four children still live at home) largely went along with the experiment.
On the road, though, life was more challenging. In corporate cafeterias and convenience stores, he looked for stickers that began with the number 9 to signify organic. When dining out, he called ahead; high-end restaurants were willing to accommodate his all-organic request.
Greene reached the three-year milestone in October, but his diet is still organic. He hasn't decided whether to keep going full tilt or to ease up in the interest of cost and convenience. In his latest book, "Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care" (Jossey-Bass), he advocates a "strategic" approach, urging parents to insist on organic versions of a few main foods, like milk, potatoes, apples and baby food.
The biggest surprise of the whole experience, he says, was that many people still don't know what "organic" means.
"It's surprising to me how few people know that organic means without pesticides, antibiotics or hormones," he said. "In stores or restaurants around the country, I would ask, 'Do you have anything organic?' Half the time they would say, 'Do you mean vegetarian?"
New York Times
By Tara Parker-Pope
Published: Tuesday, December 2, 2008
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink.Fruits, vegetables and animals can be 100 percent organic. What about people? In a fascinating experiment - on himself - Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician and author in Danville, California, decided to find out. For the last three years, Greene has eaten nothing but organic foods, whether he's cooking at home, dining out or snacking on the road.
He chose three years as a goal because that was the amount of time it took to have a breeding animal certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While food growers comply with organic regulations every day, Greene wondered whether a person could meet the same standards.It hasn't been easy.
"This isn't a way of eating I could recommend to anybody else because it's so far off the beaten food grid," said Greene, 49, the founder of a popular Web site about children's health, drgreene.com. "It was much more challenging than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be tough. There were definitely days where there was nothing I could find that was organic."
Other writers have ventured off the traditional food grid, notably Barbara Kingsolver in "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and Michael Pollan in "The Omnivore's Dilemma." But what makes Greene's experiment remarkable is the length of time he devoted to it, and his effort to incorporate organic eating into the routines of everyday living. His findings offer new insight into the challenges facing the organic food industry and those who want to patronize it.
Organic farmers don't use conventional methods to fertilize the soil, control weeds and pests, or prevent disease in livestock.Organic methods often lead to higher costs, and consumers can pay twice as much for organic foods as for conventional products.To cut back on the cost of an organic diet, Greene said he had to cut back on meat. "Whenever you go up the food chain, the costs pile up," he said. "If you don't eat meat at every meal, if meat becomes more of a side dish than a centerpiece, you can fill the plate with healthy organic food for about the same price."
Questions remain about whether organic foods are really better for you. The data are mixed. In autumn, researchers from the University of Copenhagen reported on a two-year experiment in which they grew carrots, kale, peas, potatoes and apples using both organic and conventional growing methods. The researchers found that the growing methods made no difference in the nutrients in the crops or the levels of nutrients retained by rats that ate them, according to the study, published in The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.But other research suggests that organic foods do contain more of certain nutrients - almost twice as many, in the case of organic tomatoes studied for a 2007 report in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Greene said he was inspired to go all-organic after talking to a dairy farmer who noted that livestock got sick less after a switch to organic practices. He wondered if becoming 100 percent organic might improve his own health.Three years later, he says he has more energy and wakes up earlier.
As a pediatrician regularly exposed to sick children, he was accustomed to several illnesses a year. Now, he says, he is rarely ill. His urine is a brighter yellow, a sign that he is ingesting more vitamins and nutrients.
At home, he said, the organic routine was relatively easy. Organic food is widely available, not just at natural and organic food stores but at traditional supermarkets. He also shopped at farmer's markets and joined a local community-supported agriculture group. Because he bought less meat, the costs tended to balance out. And his family (two of his four children still live at home) largely went along with the experiment.
On the road, though, life was more challenging. In corporate cafeterias and convenience stores, he looked for stickers that began with the number 9 to signify organic. When dining out, he called ahead; high-end restaurants were willing to accommodate his all-organic request.
Greene reached the three-year milestone in October, but his diet is still organic. He hasn't decided whether to keep going full tilt or to ease up in the interest of cost and convenience. In his latest book, "Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care" (Jossey-Bass), he advocates a "strategic" approach, urging parents to insist on organic versions of a few main foods, like milk, potatoes, apples and baby food.
The biggest surprise of the whole experience, he says, was that many people still don't know what "organic" means.
"It's surprising to me how few people know that organic means without pesticides, antibiotics or hormones," he said. "In stores or restaurants around the country, I would ask, 'Do you have anything organic?' Half the time they would say, 'Do you mean vegetarian?"
New York Times
the rain forest!
free your self from anger. Don't let anyone, or anything make you mad today, keep a level head and stay in control. Imagine yourself in a tropical rainforest...
techniques...
Here are three techniques that may help you learn to listen and slow down before you speak:
1) Before every action, there are words, and before all words, there are thoughts. Make it a habit to Witness your actions, and if you recognize that they are not of a peace-bringing nature, cease doing them. Similarly, if you see that your words are tension producing, stop them. And then examine your thoughts. If you Witness them being troubling, change them to ones that bring you serenity, or cease them entirely. This can be done by using a meditation technique that you have found brings you peace, or by praying, dancing, physical exercises, or whatever.
2) Check your body for physical tension. Make it a habit to stop several times a day to scan your body mentally for areas where you are tense. Command them to relax. You will quickly learn where you keep your tension and when you command that area to relax, your whole body will melt away it's uptightness like chocolate melting in the summers heat. Similarly, start taking a breath break. All you need to do is spend a minute or two doing a breathing exercise. It can be as simple as just inhaling and exhaling deeply, or it can be a pranayama (breathing) method that has a more complex pattern. This will always produce a calming effect.
3) Say a prayer or affirmation several times a day. Something simple like "Higher Power, guide, protect, and bless me", or "I receive and fill with wisdom and love with every breath", can produce uplifting physical, mental, and emotional changes.
http://www.meditationsociety.com/index.html
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
quick to listen, slow to speak
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
James 1:19 NIV
Please listen and be tranquil
Having trouble meditating?
Techniques for Positive Thinking and Meditation
The aim of free meditations is to bring inner peace within our self and the world in a positive and spiritual way. The world is not a peaceful place and within every soul there is some form of tension and stress. It is therefore essential to create positive and peaceful thoughts to bring peace to our mind. Meditation is one of the best methods to bring about transformation and nurture the natural qualities within.
The best way that we can create that change is to change our thoughts from being negative to positive. The positive discovery about meditation is that we are focusing within our self and becoming free of negativity. Meditation techniques simply involve a process of transforming yourself, your thoughts, and recognizing the negative thoughts, and changing them into positive and peaceful thoughts.
The best attitude towards meditation is to be very patient as the mind does not always want to focus. Having a sense of expectation towards positive results can create uncomfortable pressure and thus take away the enjoyment of the experience. By practicing meditation regularly, the person whom meditates gains a wonderful sense of the self.
Meditation is a self healing process, any form of stress is a sign of our negative thinking and Dis ease within our mind. If we don't attend to dis ease in the mind we may find that chronic stress can lead to disease of the body.
Please say this prayer before meditating:
God, Open my minds eye so I may see and feel Your shinning light presence close to me.Give me inner strength for my stumbling feet as I battle the crowd on life's busy street.
And widen the vision of my unseeing minds eye so in passing faces I'll recognize not just a stranger, unloved, and unknown, but a friend with a heart and soul that is much like my own.
~Author
Ruth Ann Mahaffey
Meditation is a form of stress management that will allow our mind to experience an oasis of peace and love within our heart and mind. Meditation gave me back control over my life so that no matter what was happening externally weather it was positive or negative I could still develop control over my thoughts and thus control the emotions and feeling in my mind. NO one can control eradicate adversity in life but you can master the way you respond in regards to your thinking processes. Take control now master your mind through one of the meditation techniques and you will forever be able to be the peaceful beacon in the eye of the storm of any adversity.
The aim of free meditations is to bring inner peace within our self and the world in a positive and spiritual way. The world is not a peaceful place and within every soul there is some form of tension and stress. It is therefore essential to create positive and peaceful thoughts to bring peace to our mind. Meditation is one of the best methods to bring about transformation and nurture the natural qualities within.
The best way that we can create that change is to change our thoughts from being negative to positive. The positive discovery about meditation is that we are focusing within our self and becoming free of negativity. Meditation techniques simply involve a process of transforming yourself, your thoughts, and recognizing the negative thoughts, and changing them into positive and peaceful thoughts.
The best attitude towards meditation is to be very patient as the mind does not always want to focus. Having a sense of expectation towards positive results can create uncomfortable pressure and thus take away the enjoyment of the experience. By practicing meditation regularly, the person whom meditates gains a wonderful sense of the self.
Meditation is a self healing process, any form of stress is a sign of our negative thinking and Dis ease within our mind. If we don't attend to dis ease in the mind we may find that chronic stress can lead to disease of the body.
Please say this prayer before meditating:
God, Open my minds eye so I may see and feel Your shinning light presence close to me.Give me inner strength for my stumbling feet as I battle the crowd on life's busy street.
And widen the vision of my unseeing minds eye so in passing faces I'll recognize not just a stranger, unloved, and unknown, but a friend with a heart and soul that is much like my own.
~Author
Ruth Ann Mahaffey
Meditation is a form of stress management that will allow our mind to experience an oasis of peace and love within our heart and mind. Meditation gave me back control over my life so that no matter what was happening externally weather it was positive or negative I could still develop control over my thoughts and thus control the emotions and feeling in my mind. NO one can control eradicate adversity in life but you can master the way you respond in regards to your thinking processes. Take control now master your mind through one of the meditation techniques and you will forever be able to be the peaceful beacon in the eye of the storm of any adversity.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Posted by CURLYNIKKI
The Power of Positive Affirmations Posted by CURLYNIKKI
Labels: body image, Positive Affirmations, self-esteem
GG's post this morning was very powerful and totally relatable. I think it would be beneficial for each and everyone of us to reflect on our lives... our blessings... our achievements. We need to make an effort to shift toward a positive mindset.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, we have a tendency to be negative. We filter out the good things that happen to us, and focus in and harp on the bad-- we constantly tell ourselves negative things. These self-defeating thoughts can result in depressed mood, irritability, anxiety, and low self-esteem. This is where affirmations come in...
An affirmation can help you replace a negative thought with a more helpful positive one. By using the power of positive affirmations and by repeating them you can recondition your brain and change how you feel and think about any situation (your appearance, your hair, a relationship, etc.). You can choose to be happy, no matter the circumstances! At a personal level it will transform your life, your health and renew the joy and passion for life.
Labels: body image, Positive Affirmations, self-esteem
GG's post this morning was very powerful and totally relatable. I think it would be beneficial for each and everyone of us to reflect on our lives... our blessings... our achievements. We need to make an effort to shift toward a positive mindset.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, we have a tendency to be negative. We filter out the good things that happen to us, and focus in and harp on the bad-- we constantly tell ourselves negative things. These self-defeating thoughts can result in depressed mood, irritability, anxiety, and low self-esteem. This is where affirmations come in...
An affirmation can help you replace a negative thought with a more helpful positive one. By using the power of positive affirmations and by repeating them you can recondition your brain and change how you feel and think about any situation (your appearance, your hair, a relationship, etc.). You can choose to be happy, no matter the circumstances! At a personal level it will transform your life, your health and renew the joy and passion for life.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
gardening
This is so cool, Marthastewart.com has a page where you can tour gardens designed by very talented
landscapers. Please click on link and be inspired:)
http://www.marthastewart.com/home-decorating
CLICK ON GARDEN TOURS
Monday, June 21, 2010
romans 12:14
Romans 12:14-21 (New International Version)
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[b]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[c] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
words from me..
I want to say a few words:
It's important to be an example not only to children but as christians to everyone around you.
Be a gentle loving loving spirit, wach what you say, watch what you do, and make sure what ever you
do or say that it's pure in heart, and full of truth. AND DONT TAKE LIFE TOO SERIOUSLY, it just
makes you a stiff person...lol
Remember God is in control.
love you guys:)
from Gracie
to my beautiful beautiful brothers and sisters:
i love you and i miss you!!!
in my last email i wrote from lamentations 3:22:
"the Lord is my portion; therefore i will wait for him."
i keep repeating it over and over again
because frankly, it is hard to wait.
to just stay, and obey.
the Lord is my portion; therefore i will wait for him.
the Lord is my portion; therefore i will wait for him.
the Lord is my portion; therefore i will wait for him.
the Lord is my portion; therefore i will wait for him.
God remind us of your love
that all-consuming, world-transcending, BOOMING love
because we cannot do it on our own.
give us the right attitude of surrender, trust, and thanksgiving.
because frankly these things are hard to do.
hard to submit to your will, to be humbled, to completely trust, and to be thankful, especially when times suck.
and if we fail, remind us that you are gentle and kind,
our forever father, our faithful dad.
i listened to a testimony today: jubilee church: dan kim
and you could physically hear the love in his voice for God and for all of us.
he said: "...one day i was just reading the bible and i felt like heaven just opened up. and i just felt, just love, just the love of God. and at that moment i knew that God is real. God is REAL people. i wouldn't be here if he wasn't. and i knew that God loved me and i knew how much God loved me. and in that i knew that this is how much he loves everybody. and God loves ALL of you."
"...i wrote in my testimony that God is so powerful that he can take something like cancer and make it the best thing that's ever happened to you, because he used it to bring me back to him. im not saying that he gave me cancer or anything like that, but he used it. that's why in romans 8:28: '...in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' "
GOD LOVES US. GOD LOVES YOU.
i pray that God fills you and me with his love so that we can be transformed.
grace
Monday, March 15, 2010
be careful dear christians
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
Author Unknown
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
Author Unknown
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Colossians1
Colossians1
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[c] behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. 9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption,[e] the forgiveness of sins.from Gracie
so not sure why i'm not sleeping
i'm exhausted :P
but hopefully after this email
i'll be sleeping like a baaaabby. 
hello. how have you been?
ya having a good week thus far...
a good day? i hope so. and i do mean that.
here's a cake thing: 
, that should cheer ya up
if you are bummed.
hmm, so what i want to share is this:
i was trying to sleep but a thought popped up
so i typed it out, and it starts like this.
all the things i shoulda done.
good movie title, no? haha.
i'm just wondering
what keeps us from doing the right thing.
two things, two people happened to me.
the first, an old lady holding up a broken umbrella
it was raining all day today, it was cold and windy.
her coat wasn't waterproof. she was wearing a lot of layers.
she was walking very slowly
and she was carrying a backpack and something else under her coat.
and her umbrella just looked so sad.
i wanted to give her my umbrella. it's big and pretty sturdy.
but i didn't. i was embarrassed to stop her, to ask.
i was embarrassed of what people might say, might think
because it's not a common gesture.
i walked behind her, next to her, walked past her
then stopped, waited for her, and still couldn't gather the courage.
the second, a tall, large man standing in the subway car.
he gave a long speech, asking for money and food.
he said he had not eaten since yesterday.
i tuned him out. i thought he was a fake.
a man sitting down gave him a pkg of crackers.
i was holding a mango smoothie in my hands.
it was clutched in both hands on my lap.
i didn't give it to him. i didn't want to.
he shook his valentine's gift bag
expecting something as though we owed him.
then stopped to hit on the girl next to me.
i thought: what a liar. a cheat. gross.
i still get upset thinking about it
but i wonder, even if he was a cheat, what does that make me?
what keeps us from doing the right thing...
for me it was
fear, judgment, self-justification, cynicism
such serious words i know, but true i think. no?
i think about Jesus.
didn't he say if someone strikes the rt cheek, to turn to him the other also?
didn't he say give to the one who asks you
didn't he say love your enemies
isn't it said to accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you
isn't it said there is no fear in love
isn't it said God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love
and of self discipline.
"...for anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen,
cannot love God, whom he has not seen. and he has given us this command:
whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 john 4:20-21)
whaddyathink...
so glad i stayed awake this late to share with you!!!!
hope it's encouraging. motivating.
LAlalalaLoooooovveeee,
grace 
Sunday, February 14, 2010
words from me...
Hi friends! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. I did some serious early spring cleaning so I feel refreshed. A clean and organized environment helps me to relax and center myself. This may not be the case for everybody but it could help if you try. Go through the junk and clothes in your house that you don't use or wear, and donate them! Right now Haitian people are in need of clothing, and other junk you have in your house, someone else may use. So try doing some spring cleaning, and you can end up helping others!
Love,
Kiki
Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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