Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (163 page)

Place Irish moss, water, orange and lemon juice in a pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly. Strain into teapot and stir in honey. Serve in teacups or mugs.

Irish moss is a red algae that the Irish have gathered and made into refreshing drinks and desserts. It contains a gel, similar to agar, called carrageenan that has many uses. Unfortunately, some individuals have adverse reactions to carrageenan, particularly in commercial preparations. This may be because, like all seaweed, carrageen moss contains long-chain sugars that some people have difficulty digesting. Seaweed can also be overused, providing a surfeit of iodine that can cause thyroid problems just as much as a deficiency.

But the Irish have always valued their carrageen moss as a health food. Used in moderation as a tea, Irish moss seems to be helpful for digestive disorders, including ulcers, kidney ailments, heart disease and glandular irregularities. It is high in carotenoids, iodine, iron, sulphur, sodium, copper and numerous trace minerals. SWF

YOGHURT DRINK

(Dahi)
Makes 3 quarts

1 quart plain whole
yoghurt

juice of 12 limes

½ cup raw honey

filtered water

Place yoghurt, lime juice and honey in food processor and blend well. Dilute with filtered water to desired consistency.

The particular activator which is chiefly requisite for the utilization of calcium and phosphorus. . .comes to us chiefly through fats of plant and animal origin, the two chief of the latter are the fats of marine forms of life and the butterfat of milk. Thus, many of the great civilizations of the world have been built around sources of seafoods and the dairy animals, chiefly the cow, as adjuncts to plant foods. . .. We have not recognized the marvelous similarity between milk and blood. The milks of many mammals carry calcium and phosphorus in practically the same ratios as they are found in the bloods of mammals, though differing in concentration of the blood. Human milk and cow's milk carry calcium and phosphorus in a concentration about ten times that found in mammalian blood. Weston Price, DDS
Journal of the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions

KVASS

Makes 2 quarts

4-5 slices whole grain
sour dough bread

2 quarts filtered water

¼ cup whey
Whey and Cream Cheese

2 teaspoons sea salt

½ cup raisins

2 apples, peeled and quartered

Place bread in warm oven until dried out. Place in a large bowl. Bring water to a boil and pour over bread. Let cool before adding salt and whey. Cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for 2-3 days. Remove bread and strain into a 2-quart container. Add raisins and apples, cover tightly and store in refrigerator for about 1 month before drinking. Kvass is ready when the fruit floats—a sign that sufficient lactic acid has been produced.

The potentially large amount of glucuronic acid in the beverage is especially exciting to us, just as it was to Soviet scientists and cancer researchers. . .. Glucuronic acid is not readily commercially synthesized, but the healthy human liver makes large amounts of it to detoxify the body. In the liver the glucuronic acid binds up all poisons and toxins—both environmental and metabolic—and rushes them to the excretory system. Toxins once bound by glucuronic acid cannot be resorbed into the system so we are rid of them. Tom Valentine
Search for Health

QUICK SPORTS DRINK

Makes 8 ounces

8 ounces filtered water

juice of 1 lemon

¼ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon Azomite powder (See
Sources
)

2-4 tablespoons whey
Whey and Cream Cheese

Mix all ingredients together in an 8-ounce glass.

The Soviet experience is part of the large body of documentary evidence that the beverage made from kombucha fermentation of tea and sugar is, indeed, a dramatic immune system booster and body detoxifier. Tom Valentine
Search for Health

KOMBUCHA

Makes about 2 quarts

3 quarts filtered water

1 cup sugar

4 tea bags of organic black tea

½ cup kombucha from a previous culture

1 kombucha mushroom (See
Sources
)

Bring 3 quarts filtered water to boil. Add sugar and simmer until dissolved. Remove from heat, add the tea bags and allow the tea to steep until water has completely cooled. Remove tea bags. Pour cooled liquid into a 4-quart pyrex bowl and add ½ cup kombucha from previous batch. Place the mushroom on top of the liquid. Make a crisscross over the bowl with masking tape, cover loosely with a cloth or towel and transfer to a warm, dark place, away from contaminants and insects. In about 7 to 10 days the kombucha will be ready, depending on the temperature. It should be rather sour and possibly fizzy, with no taste of tea remaining. Transfer to covered glass containers and store in the refrigerator. (Note: Do not wash kombucha bowls in the dishwasher.)

When the kombucha is ready, your mushroom will have grown a second spongy pancake. This can be used to make other batches or given away to friends. Store fresh mushrooms in the refrigerator in a glass or stainless steel container—never plastic. A kombucha mushroom can be used dozens of times. If it begins to turn black, or if the resulting kombucha doesn't sour properly, it's a sign that the culture has become contaminated. When this happens, it's best to throw away all your mushrooms and order a new clean one.

Note: White sugar, rather than honey or Rapadura, and black tea, rather than flavored teas, give the highest amounts of glucuronic acid. Non-organic tea is high in fluoride so always use organic tea.

A word of caution: Some individuals may have an allergic reaction to kombucha. If you have allergies, start with a small taste to observe any adverse effects. If you react badly, use
beet kvass
several weeks to detoxify and then try again.

It seems surprising, even ironic, to conclude a health food cookbook, in which we have warned against sugar, yeasted foods and tea, with a tonic made from sugar, yeast and tea! But the kombucha "mushroom" (which is actually a symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria) acts on sugar and tea to produce not only acetic and lactic acid but also small amounts of a potent detoxifying substance, glucuronic acid. Normally this organic acid is produced by the liver in sufficient quantities to neutralize toxins in the body—whether these are naturally produced toxins or poisons ingested in food and water. However, when liver function becomes overloaded, and when the body must deal with a superabundance of toxins from the environment—certainly the case with most of us today—additional glucuronic acid taken in the form of kombucha is said to be a powerful aid to the body's natural cleansing process, a boost to the immune system and a proven prophylactic against cancer and other degenerative diseases.

More importantly, kombucha is the cure for a hot day—it tastes delicious and refreshing. A fizzy, dark colored, energizing beverage, at the same time acidic and slightly sweet, this gift to the world from the Ural mountain region of Russia qualifies as the soft drink of the twenty-first century, the answer to the scourge of cola drinks that now wreaks havoc with the health of Western populations. SWF

Any effort to ensure optimal nutrition of your baby must begin long before he or she is conceived. The wisdom of primitive peoples is vastly superior to our own in this regard, in that a common practice among isolated groups is the feeding of special foods to both men and women for a period of time before conception occurs. Dr. Weston Price's studies revealed that these foods—including organ meats, fish heads, fish eggs, shell fish, insects and animal fats—were rich in fat-soluble vitamins A and D as well as macro-and trace minerals. Couples planning to have children should eat liberally of organic liver and other organ meats, fish eggs and other seafood, eggs, and the best quality butter, cream and fermented milk products they can obtain for at least six months before conception. A daily cod liver oil supplement is also advised. (See note on cod liver oil,
Superfoods
.) Organic meats, vegetables, grains and legumes should round out the diet, with a special emphasis on the leafy green vegetables rich in folic acid, which is necessary for the prevention of birth defects like spina bifida.

A good rule for pregnant women is two eggs, raw milk or bone broth, and cod liver oil daily, and liver at least once a week. Appropriate amounts of superfoods, such as high-vitamin butter oil, evening primrose, borage or black currant oil, bee pollen, mineral powder, wheat germ oil and acerola powder, will provide optimal amounts of nutrients for your unborn child.
Beet kvass
and
kombucha
, with their liver-supporting properties, are useful in preventing future morning sickness—as are foods rich in vitamin B
₆
, such as appropriately prepared raw fish and raw meat (
Raw Meat Appetizers
).

A cleansing fast, undertaken six months or more before conception, is a good idea, but during the six months before conception and nine months of pregnancy it is vital to consume nutrient-dense foods. Every attempt should be made to enhance the digestibility of the diet through meat broths and the inclusion of lacto-fermented grains, beverages and condiments. All empty calories and harmful substances should be eliminated—sugar, white flour, hydrogenated and rancid vegetable oils, excess of polyunsaturated oils, tobacco, caffeine and alcohol. Oral contraceptives should be avoided during this preparatory period as these deplete many nutrients, particularly zinc, the "intelligence mineral."

The importance of breastfeeding your baby, especially during his first few months, cannot be overemphasized. Breast milk is perfectly designed for your baby's physical and mental development. Breastfed babies tend to be more robust, more intelligent and freer from allergies and other complaints, especially intestinal difficulties, than those on formula. In addition, colostrum produced by the mammary glands during the first few days of a baby's life helps guard him against colds, flu, polio, staph infections and viruses.

It must be emphasized, however, that the quality of mother's milk depends greatly on her diet. Sufficient animal products will ensure proper amounts of vitamin B
₁₂
, A and D as well as all-important minerals like zinc in her milk. Lactating women should continue with a diet that emphasizes liver, eggs and cod liver oil. Whole milk products and stock made from bones will ensure that her baby receives adequate calcium.

Pesticides and other toxins will be present in mother's milk if they are present in the diet, so all care should be taken to consume organic foods of both plant and animal origin during pregnancy and lactation. Organic foods also provide more omega-3 fatty acids needed for baby's optimal development. Hydrogenated fats should be strictly avoided as these result in reduced fat content in mother's milk.
Trans
fats accumulate in mother's milk and can lead to decreased visual acuity and learning difficulties in the infant.

Breastfeeding should ideally be continued for six months to a year. If mother's milk is not adequate or of good quality, or if the mother is unable to breast feed for whatever reason, a homemade baby formula, rather than a commercial formula, can be used. Commercial infant formulas are highly fabricated concoctions composed of milk or soy powders produced by high-temperature processes that overdenature proteins and add many carcinogens. Milk-based formulas often cause allergies while soy-based formulas contain mineral-blocking phytic acid, growth inhibitors and plant forms of estrogen compounds that can have adverse effects on the hormonal development in the infant. Soy-based formulas are also devoid of cholesterol, needed for the development of the brain and nervous system.

Fortunately, it is possible to compose a formula that closely resembles mother's milk. Whenever possible this formula should be based on raw organic milk, from cows certified free of tuberculosis and brucellosis. The milk should come from cows that eat food appropriate to cows, which is green grass in the warm months and hay and root vegetables in the winter, not soy or cottonseed meal. Ideally, the milk should come from Jersey or Guernsey cows, rather than Holsteins, so that it has a high butterfat content. This may be purchased at the farm in some states. Of course, such milk should be produced under the cleanest possible conditions and stored in sterilized containers. But the milk should be unheated. Properly produced raw milk does not pose a danger to your baby, in spite of what numerous public health propagandists may assert. Raw milk contains enzymes and antibodies that make it less susceptible to bacterial contamination than pasteurized milk, while many toxins that cause diarrhea and other ailments survive the pasteurization process. Your nose will tell you if raw milk is contaminated or spoiled—but pasteurized milk may be seriously contaminated with no telltale warning odor. Raw milk is easier for your baby to digest than pasteurized and less likely to cause cramps, constipation and allergies. If it is not possible for you to obtain certified raw milk, begin with the best quality pasteurized whole milk you can find, milk that is not homogenized, and culture it for 12 hours with piima culture or kefir grains to restore enzymes lost through pasteurization (
Piima Milk
,
Buttermilk
and
Kefir
). Or, you may prepare a milk-free formula made from organic liver. Organic liver should also be added to formula made from goat milk, as goat milk is deficient in iron, folic acid and vitamin B
₁₂
.

Both our milk-based and meat-based formulas have been designed to provide maximum possible correspondence with the various components of human milk. Our milk-based formula takes account of the fact that human milk is richer in whey, lactose, vitamin C, niacin, manganese and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to cows milk but leaner in casein (milk protein). The addition of gelatin to cow's milk formula will make it more digestible for the infant. The liver-based formula also mimics the nutrient profile of mother's milk. Use only truly expeller-expressed oils (See
Sources
) in the formula recipes, otherwise they may lack vitamin E.

A wise supplement for all babies—whether breast fed or bottle fed—is an egg yolk per day, beginning at four months. Egg yolk supplies cholesterol needed for mental development as well as important sulphur-containing amino acids. Egg yolks from pasture-fed hens or hens raised on flax meal, fish meal or insects are also rich in the omega-3 long-chain fatty acids found in mother's milk but which may be lacking in cow's milk. These fatty acids are essential for the development of the brain. Parents who institute the practice of feeding egg yolk to baby will be rewarded with children who speak and take directions at an early age. The white, which contains difficult-to-digest proteins, should not be given before the age of one year. Small amounts of grated, raw organic liver may be added to the egg yolk after six months. This imitates the practice of African mothers who chew liver before giving it to their infants as their first food. Liver is rich in iron, the one mineral that tends to be low in mother's milk.

A pinch of sea salt added to the yolk will also facilitate brain development. Salt is necessary to activate the formation of glial cells in the brain, the cells that make connections and help us think faster. Unfortunately, salt is often left out of commercial baby food, in the mistaken belief that salt should be avoided. As you add other foods to baby's diet, be sure that they are salted with unrefined sea salt.

An unfortunate practice in industrial societies is the feeding of cereal grains to infants. Babies produce only small amounts of amylase, needed for the digestion of grains, and are not fully equipped to handle cereals, especially wheat, before the age of one year. (Some experts prohibit all grains before the age of two.) Baby's small intestine mostly produces one enzyme for carbohydrates—lactase, for the digestion of lactose. (Raw milk also contains lactase.) Many doctors have warned that feeding cereal grains too early can lead to grain allergies later on. Baby's earliest solid foods should be animal foods as his digestive system, although immature, is better equipped to supply enzymes for digestion of fats and proteins rather than carbohydrates.

Carbohydrate in the form of fresh, mashed banana can be added after the age of six months as bananas are rich in amylase enzymes and thus are easily digested by most infants. Some preindustrial societies give a gruel of cereal grains, soaked 24 hours, to babies one year or older. Soaking in an acidic medium neutralizes phytates and begins the breakdown of carbohydrates, thus allowing children to obtain optimum nourishment from grains. It also provides lactic acid to the intestinal tract to facilitate mineral uptake.

At the age of about ten months, meats, fruits and vegetables may be introduced, one at a time so that any adverse reactions may be observed. Carbohydrate foods, such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc., should be mashed with butter. (Don't overdo on the orange vegetables as baby's immature liver may have difficulty converting carotenoids to vitamin A. If your baby's skin develops a yellowish color, a sign that he is not making the conversion, discontinue orange vegetables for a time.) Lacto-fermented taro or other roots (
Fermented Taro Root
) make an excellent carbohydrate food for babies. It is wise to feed babies a little buttermilk or yoghurt from time to time to familiarize them with the sour taste. Above all, do not deprive your baby of animal fats—he needs them for optimum physical growth and mental development. Mother's milk contains over 50 percent of its calories as fat, much of it saturated fat, and children need these kinds of fats throughout their growing years.

It is unwise to give baby fruit juices, especially apple juice, which provide only simple carbohydrates and will often spoil an infant's appetite for more nutritious foods. Sorbitol, a sugar-alcohol in apple juice, is difficult to digest. Studies have linked failure to thrive in children with diets high in apple juice. High-fructose foods are especially dangerous for growing children. The best beverage for a growing child is whole raw milk, which can be introduced slowly as the baby is weaned from the breast or from homemade formula.

Remember that babies should be chubby and children should be sturdy and strong, not slim. Babies need body fat to achieve optimum growth. The fat around their ankles, knees, elbows and wrists is growth fat that ensures adequate nourishment to the growth plates at the ends of the bones. Fat babies grow up into sturdy, well-formed adults, neither too tall nor too short and either slender or stocky depending on genetic heritage.

Keep your baby away from processed junk foods as long as possible—but do not think that you can do this indefinitely. Unless you lock your child in a closet—or live in a closed community of like-minded parents—he will come in contact with junk foods sooner or later. His best protection is the optimal diet that you have given him during his infancy and your loving example and training in later years.

MILK-BASED FORMULA

Makes 36 ounces

2 cups organic, certified clean raw milk or organic pasteurized, nonhomogenized
piima milk
, preferably from pasture-fed Jersey or Guernsey cows

¼ cup homemade liquid whey
Whey and Cream Cheese

4 tablespoons lactose (See
Sources
)

¼ teaspoon bifodobacterium infantis (See
Sources
)

2 tablespoons good quality cream (not ultrapasteurized)

½ teaspoon high-vitamin or 1 teaspoon regular cod liver oil (see note on cod liver oil,
Superfoods
)

1 teaspoon unrefined sunflower oil (See
Sources
)

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons coconut oil (See
Sources
)

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons gelatin (See
Sources
)

1
⁷
/
₈
cups filtered water

¼ teaspoon acerola powder (See
Sources
)

Add gelatin to water and heat gently until gelatin is dissolved. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend well. Transfer to a very clean glass or stainless steel container and mix well. (Note: If milk is from Holstein cows, add an additional 1-2 tablespoons cream.)

To serve, pour 6 to 8 ounces into a very clean glass bottle, attach nipple and set in a pan of simmering water. Heat until warm but not hot to the touch, shake bottle well and feed baby. (Never,
never
heat formula in a microwave oven!)