Articles by kmangino

So I just read that there are reports of a Swiss restaurant owner who is going to substitute 75% of the cow’s milk he uses, with BREAST MILK.

In response to this, PETA wrote a letter to Ben & Jerry’s, asking them to switch from cow’s milk to breast milk in all their ice cream production.

Don’t believe me?  See it here.

In a nutshell, PETA’s arguments against using cow’s milk include linking its consumption to human health ailments, and linking its production to harsh treatment of cows and the veal industry in general.

This is fine.

The question is - why replace the cow’s milk with breast milk?  Why not suggest something less controversial, like soy or almond milk?  I know soy ice cream doesn’t have the same texture as cow’s milk ice cream, but do they think that breast milk ice cream will?

It seems like the simple answer to this is to either just be a vegetarian, and know you are not supporting the cow industry at all, or enjoy your cow treats in peace.  But breast milk??

I can picture it already.  A new cottage industry!  Entrepreneurs will flock to build huge factories with sterile stainless-steel equipment and set the place up to look like a living room.  Women will lounge on couches and eat anything they please, breast pumps attached, chatting and watching Oprah.

To save money, maybe we’ll outsource internationally by building ‘plants’ in less-industrialized nations.  Who needs sterile breast pumps when you have eager villagers aplenty, all with years of experience milking now-obsolete cows and goats?

Me, I’d rather go get a pint of Chunky Monkey on the way home, while the getting’s good.

I love fish.  Fish is delish!

But it’s even better when you know where it was caught.

During the last six months or so, I’ve noticed a wonderful change at my local supermarkets: all of the prewrapped fish in the cooler case was labeled with its country of origin.  Things like that really get me excited, which is why I am rushing to share with you what I saw come over the newswire today.

As part of the Farm Bill of 2008, starting September 30, all meat and produce as well as some kinds of nuts must be labeled with their country of origin.  This includes all supermarkets and major mass retailers, but your local butcher shop and restaurant are exempt from this requirement.  Also, some processed foods (like chicken nuggets) are exempt from this.

Overall, this is great news!  Now, we’ll know whether our steak and chicken (or cabbage, for that matter) are grown in the USA or shipped from a foreign land.  Score one for the consumer!

Nowadays, you can’t swing a dead cat without bumping into something about Sarah Palin.

She is absolutely EVERYWHERE, and while the media frenzy is starting to die down a little, we’re about to enter the toughest part of the campaign.  I’ve seen a lot of reports focusing on her very generic answers about foreign policy, on her freezer full of wild game, and on whether she had the volume turned up or down while watching Tina Fey’s skit on SNL.  This is only the beginning…

Yet, I can’t say I know a single thing about her as a candidate.

Everything that the mass media is printing is purely circumstantial!  And it isn’t limited to just this candidate, or just this election.

Mass media frequently releases select information about issues, without printing the whole story.  I know Palin flip-flopped on the Bridge to Nowhere, but I don’t know *why*.  Was it special interest groups?  Party pressure?  Or was there actually logic behind her decision?

Same goes for Obama. He has been hammered for flip-flopping on issues whenever it suits him.  The real question is, if he flip-flopped in his voting record, what prompted the change?  That “why” is almost never reported on, and that’s where we’d really learn something about the character and intent of our candidates.

Every election season, the media becomes tinged slightly yellow, and instead of getting whole pictures of each candidate we get mere caricatures.  This year, it truly is a landmark election: let’s hope that, in the end, it’s not the media who wins.

Codliver oil.

I still vividly remember those mornings back in grade school, wolfing down my breakfast hoping that if I ate fast enough, Grandma would forget to take that little bottle out of the fridge.

Most mornings, Grandma outsmarted me.  When I had my guard down, she’d press my little body up against the fridge, force a spoonful into my mouth, and hold me there until I demonstrated I’d swallowed it.  Blech!

It took 20 years to recover from the trauma, but now I genuinely thank her for it.  This thoroughly old-fashioned habit (while always popular with Norwegian grandmas) is making a comeback, even here in the states.   Today’s New York Times presents some very compelling results here tying fish oil (or more specifically, Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids) to improvements in childhood behavioral health. According to the article, some health practitioners are even prescribing fish oil before trying medications.  It concludes by advising everyone to “take fish oil only under the supervision of a health care provider”.

Hm, what?  What was that?  I need to ask my doctor before me or my child (if I had one) takes fish oil?

I grew up on this stuff!  My family didn’t ask anyone before they fed it to me.  And I turned out fine…

I thought about this a little, and came up with the following possible reasons.

1.  Mercury and other ocean contaminants.  So, before you take any fish oils, do be careful that the are cleaned of any such impurities.

2.  Doctors think parents might begin to self-treat all misbehaving children with massive doses of fish oil in place of medications for ADHD et al.  Well - don’t do that.  Just increase you (or your child’s) intake of fish oils or omega-3s in a reasonable fashion, with either a single daily supplement or by increasing your intake of fatty fish, walnuts and flaxseeds (ground, of course!).

3.  NYT is afraid of being sued.  I’m putting my money on this one.

The bottom line is, it’s exciting to see that once again, good nutrition and a healthy diet can directly contribute to your well-being and may even positively impact behavioral conditions.  So be good to yourself and eat your Omegas!  After all, the most significant drug we take is the food we eat everyday.