Monday Morning Mix-Up 12/13/10

You know what I love to hear in the comments from all of you?  I love it when you say, “This post was such perfect timing because…”  I got that a lot last week and it’s so fun to know that whatever was on my mind was similar to what’s going on in your world, too.  🙂

• A few months ago I was asked to join the board of our local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and one of my first tasks was to set up our new “Meetup” page!  Check it out if you are here in the West Michigan area, so you can keep up with other members and all that’s going on with our group.  🙂  Also, be sure to visit our local chapter’s webpage, Nourishing Ways of West Michigan, for info on all our upcoming meetings; we have great stuff planned for 2011.
• If you’re not local, be sure to find out where your local Weston Price chapter meets because connecting with other Real Foodies is a great way to learn where to find what you’re looking for, how to cook this or that, who to go in with on big food orders to save money, and it’s just fun!
• Blast from the past:  have you seen this post called, Corn Pops for Diabetics?!
• Just another reminder to check out this post on the upcoming 21-Day Weight Loss and Wellness Adventure, beginning 1/3/11, if you’re up for making and reaching some solid health goals in 2011, and even better, you won’t be doing it alone!
• Planning a family Christmas gathering soon?  Don’t forget to get a Real Food Party Planning Guide to save you some major stress!
• One of my favorite online friends is Stanley Fishman, he is as sweet as they come, and always there for me when I have a question about healthy meat.  He wrote a post recently on how to save on grass-fed meat that you’ll want to check out!  (And don’t forget to get a copy of his book, Tender Grassfed Meat: Traditional Ways to Cook Healthy Meat.)
• Want the latest on the S510 Food Safety bill?  Read Sarah’s post, FDA:  American Gestapo.  For a simple way to let your voice be heard (literally takes only a few seconds), go to this FTCLDF action page.  Also, see Sarah’s follow up post here with a video of a farm raid in Minnesota that makes my blood boil.  Keep in mind that they are stealing milk… a food, not drugs or weapons.
• Is the skin a solar-powered battery for the heart?  Doesn’t that post subtitle just grab you?  Here are some good quotes:

• “I am not aware of any other food source besides raw milk that contains vitamin D3 in the sulfated form. So, when studies monitor either vitamin D supplements or vitamin D serum levels, they're not getting at the crucial aspect for heart protection, which I think is the serum level of vitamin D3 sulfate.”
• “Both cholesterol and sulfur afford protection in the skin from radiation damage to the cell's DNA, the kind of damage that can lead to skin cancer. Cholesterol and sulfur become oxidized upon exposure to the high frequency rays in sunlight, thus acting as antioxidants to “take the heat,” so to speak.”
• “Why am I spending so much time talking about all of this? Well, if I'm right, then the skin can be viewed as a solar-powered battery for the heart, and that is a remarkable concept. The energy in sunlight is converted into chemical energy in the oxygen-sulfur bonds, and then transported through the blood vessels to the heart and skeletal muscles. The cholesterol sulfate and vitamin D3 sulfate are carriers that deliver the energy (and the oxygen) “door-to-door” to the individual heart and skeletal muscle cells.”
• “Today's lifestyle, especially in America, severely stresses this system. First of all, most Americans believe that any food containing cholesterol is unhealthy, so the diet is extremely low in cholesterol. Eggs are an excellent source of sulfur, but because of their high cholesterol content we have been advised to eat them sparingly.”
• “The immune system depends upon abundant cholesterol to defend against severe stress.”