Anyone wanna eat some wood pulp?

I have been noticing Cellulose in most of the pre-shredded cheeses that are in the supermarkets.  They list it as an ingredient to keep the cheese from sticking together.  I don't like the idea of eating something that is not actually cheese.  So I buy my cheese in a block and shred it myself. 
But it got me to wondering, what is cellulose, what foods is it in, why do they put it in there and how unhealthy is it or not.
Cellulose is a plant fiber.  The plant fiber they put in many processed food comes from wood and cotton.  You will find interesting reading about what it actually is and how it is used on about.com and Wikipedia. 
It is not digestible, it has no nutritional value.  Why do they put it in our food.  Well for one thing it is cheap and the food companies put it in there as a filler thereby making it cheaper to process and it makes them money by selling less for more.  According to Chef Shane Kelly They use it "because the cost of food is going up and food labs and manufacturers have got to figure out a way to make their food more filling with a great mouth feel, and also thickens and keeps food separated that is cheap."  Mary Bauer states on livestrong.com, "The food pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries use cellulose gum in a variety of products. Its emulsifying properties make it especially useful for products with ingredients that tend to separate, such as yogurt and jellies. Its ability to bind water makes it especially useful for diet foods, which tend to substitute water or other liquids for fat. Cellulose gum also improves texture, so it is a common ingredient in ice cream and frosting, products in which smoothness is a mark of quality. Beer manufacturers also use cellulose gum to stabilize beer foam. These same properties are useful for some pharmaceutical products that tend to separate over time, such as toothpaste. In the cosmetics industry, cellulose gum appears in bath products, makeup, shaving gels and hair products"

As far as it being good or bad for you, it is hard to tell, it is a "dietary fiber" and is used to add bulk and give you that full feeling with less nutrients.They take the wood pulp and treat it with various chemicals to strip away the cellulose. (Other forms of cellulose go through much more processing.)  That is not organic at all.  The FDA also cautions that the consumption of large quantities of cellulose gum may have a laxative effect. 

For those of us trying to avoid as much "processed" foods as possible, this is just crazy and way too processed.  Why don't we go eat some sawdust with our salad?  That would give us some nice fiber too wouldn't it?  In reality that is what we are doing, but it is processed sawdust, even yummier!

I think I will try to stick with foods that we are supposed to eat like fruit and vegetables that have the kind of cellulose we are suppose to eat.

It all goes back to my "conspiracy theory" that is in one of my earlier posts.  They sell crappy food, we eat it and get sick; we go to the doctor and the doctor pumps us full of drugs from the pharmaceutical companies that make us sick all the while continuing to eat the crappy processed foods that got us sick in the first place. On top of all that the Food and Drug Administration is at the head of this conspiracy.  Just follow the money, right out of your pocket...

Obama Again!

It is November 7, 2012 and I did not have a good day. I am heartbroken at the people's choice in re-electing Obama.
The problem I see because of this is that we are spiraling downward into a less righteous country, our morals are being trampled, right is becoming wrong and wrong is becoming right.  My concern is when will we ever get someone in office that can stop all these illegal aliens from coming into the USA (or just help Mexico become a US state, that will solve the illegal immigration problem), when will there be someone to lower taxes and stop paying Congress so much and start increasing Military pay (members of our Armed Forces should not have to be on food stamps, WIC or welfare), when will there be someone who is fair and just to all races and ethnic groups, when will we have someone to lessen the government's hand in our private lives.... ?

There are a few issues I have with Obama
1. He does not respect his mother (by denying his white heritage) in that same vein he seems to be prejudice against whites,
2. He does not pledge allegiance to the flag.  If you can't be patriotic why be allowed to be president?
3. There is still controversy concerning whether or not he was born in Kenya (there is a copy of a Kenyan birth certificate with his name on it), There is also the birth certificate that puts him born in Hawaii.  Such uncertainty should not surround a US president. It should be cleared up once and for all. 
4. He supports Gay/Lesbian marriage (marriage is between a man and woman only) instead he should come up with something like a partnership for them that is a binding document that allows them tax benefits like married folks and those things a marriage enjoys, but don't confuse marriage with co-habitation/partnership it is not the same.
5. He is not helping to end illegal immigration.
I hope next time around we have the sense to elect someone to get the US back on the right track, otherwise we are in for a rude awakening.

The Garbage Patch

We have got to start doing something about this.  I know I am just as guilty as everyone else when it comes to plastic.  Our society is just made out of the "use it and ditch it" mentality.  There is way too much packaging in all the products we buy, not enough recycling. How can we make it better for generations to come and to protect our natural resources?  What can we as consumers do with all the post-consumer plastic?

There are a couple of things we can do to help as I found out by reading this New York Times article.
Some of the ways they suggest to cut down on the plastic junk getting into the ocean are:

• Better recycling
• More re-use of containers and packaging
•  Less waste in packaging

I for one am amazed at how much trash goes to the curb each week for Waste Management to pick up.  I often feel guilty for contributing so much garbage.

There may be some hope in the future, (some scientists have found a way to get rid of plastic by  pre-treating plastic with ultraviolet light and heat, and then exposing it to three kinds of fungi — including white-rot fungus, which is already used to help clean up environmental toxins.  How long can we wait to make sure our oceans are free of plastic, and worse yet how long can the wildlife wait?

Conspiracy

I always suspected there  a conspiracy going on between the food industry, the pharmaceutical providers and Doctors.  Here is why I have had my suspicions.

You go to the store and purchase food loaded with crap that is not healthy and stuff you just wouldn't eat on its own.  Then you get sick and go to the doctor and you pay him/her money for the visit and the doctor gives you medicine, which cost more money.  Maybe all that does not work and you get even sicker, then the doctor says we need to cut you open, oh my!  Then you pay the doctor more money to cut you open and he/she gives you more drugs.  All the while you are still eating the processed foods and white flour, refined sugars, bad fats and preservatives (would you eat those by themselves? Preservatives, really?).  It is just one big conspiracy to get us to spend more money.  One just feeds the other. It is a viscous cycle.

They don't really care if we are healthy or not.  If more of us were healthy and eating right then many food companies would be out of business unless they changed how they operated, doctors would be there for emergencies and not just to save us from our unhealthiness, and pharmaceutical companies would have less drugs to peddle.

I hadn't seen any conformation of my suspicions until I read Dr. Lundell's article.  It was an eye opener and has led me to wonder, what else we have been misinformed about.  Who or what is behind all of this?  Is it just the food that causes troubles?  Certainly there are many foods that do cause troubles.  I can't comment on the drugs because that is beyond the scope of this blog and my beyond my understanding. I do know that some drugs work for some people and are toxic or work opposite of what they are suppose to on others, and some drugs cause more problems than they fix.   That is all I have to say about drugs.

I had been told in the past that red dye 40 caused children with ADD to act out and behave in an undesirable way.  Deborah Boehle has written an article explaining her experience with this. http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-school-age/article-797235-could-your-child-be-sensitive-to-red-food-dye---t/.  I had also known from a friend that gluten causes all kinds of troubles in some people but was not sure what it was all about, and by no means do I know much on the subject but I found a website that addresses how gluten effects certain peoples bodies.  I have also found there are many other foods and drinks that can cause serious ailments or "conditions" that can be eliminated just by not ingesting them.  One culprit of this is diet-soda.

Not all doctors are in on this conspiracy and some do really care and will tell you the facts.  Here is one that has chosen to speak out. his name is Dr. Dwight Lundell.  He want you to know what really causes Heart Disease.  Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease -- Health & Wellness -- Sott.net: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

Here is another doctor that cares.  Dr. Peter D'Adamo http://dadamo.com/  has written a book called  Eat Right For Your Type.  It is all about the foods you should be putting into your body and the ones you should not depending on what your blood type is. 


We can start to try to circumvent this conspiracy to rob us of our health and our money by taking charge of our health and not leave it in the hands of others. Find out what is on or in our food, choose more organically grown  and non GMO foods.  Find out what is good for us as individuals and use that as our guide.   Stop putting crap into our bodies to include any food or any drug in excess.  To me it is not about how long we will live but the quality of life we live within the time we have here on earth.  No one knows when or how they will die but if we can have a positive impact on our bodies just by what we put in our bodies then it makes sense to do everything within our power to improve what days we have here on earth.


I still have my suspicions about a conspiracy even though I probably will never be able to prove it, I am aware  that something is going on and it just may be about money and greed.  Buyer beware!  That is the warning to live by.  

YOUNG WOMAN IN LOVE

I wrote this a long time ago and recently found it.  It was my thoughts on a man that was in love with me but I was having a hard time coming to terms with how I felt about this man.  I had had several disaster relationship where I was hurt tremendously so for me to have a man that was real, honest and in love with me was hard for me to come to terms with. This was an attempt to put on paper what I was feeling at the time. Unfortunately he was one of the "lost loves" of my life.

16 May 1981
I wake in the morning thinking of you.  I don't know if I'm in love or if I'm just dreaming.  I know they say when you've found your true love you'll know it, but I wasn't looking for anyone and here you are professing your love for me.  Oh God if this is a test please let me know or else I'll not make it through.

I sit and listen to the birds sweet songs and feel the wind blow through my hair, wondering which way to go, I don't know which way is right and which way is wrong.  I just don't know which way to go.

I went away for a day and I felt so all alone.  I thought of you as the whole day went by and there was no one there that I knew in that place.

As I think of the past, I think of all men as "rats".  They're all out to get what they can.  When I see you, suddenly my view changes, but still I stay away thinking you're a rat in disguise.

If I only knew what the future held, if I was to be with you for time and eternity, then I would quickly take you away, but then again, I might just walk away, never to see you again.

As the day slowly passes by, I think of all the times I though of you and remember that you said that you love me. then I shake my head and ask, why me?  Is it no wonder I'm in this situation?  Are you my friend or are you an enemy?

Now the day domes to an end, my thoughts all disappear with me as I fall asleep and in my slumber something tells me, "he's for you my dear", then suddenly I awake in tears. I cry, "my God, please help me through this"!

Now I sing a song, a beautiful song:  I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with you.  Don't ever leave me, stay by my side, oh what a beautiful day and oh what a beautiful long.  I love you.

Susan Sheppard aka Susan Clay

JUST A DREAM

I want to go to the place I've dreamed of and teach my children the things they need to survive in life. I want to be able to sing, write and paint all the things I seen and learned in life.   I have dreamed of this place since I was a little girl.  It has a large house, a large piece of land and it has room for a large family.  It is a place of refuge, and a place of learning.

This place is a farm with fields of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, okra, cauliflower, collards, peas, beans, sugar cane and anything else the soil will bring forth.  I want to see a Maple tree in the back yard and a Magnolia tree in the front yard.  There has to be an Orange tree, Pear tree, grapevine, and a Banana tree on the side of the house with a few palms here and there.  There would have to be a giant Oak tree in the front for the children to climb.   None of this would be complete without a dog, a cat and a few horses to play around with.  There has to be a rocking chair on the front porch and a swing on the back porch.

The house is a simple whitewashed Colonial with tall white columns in the front. The house is run by a solar system and a windmill.  The lawn looks like a lush green carpet and the plants around it are nicely landscaped to match.  You are far enough out in the country that if you want your music very loud, then you may have it loud or if you want it low, then you may have it low and no one will say anything to you because there is no one around.

You can see an empty field through the kitchen window in the Winter and Fall, but in the Spring it turns into an ocean of blue, pink, purple and white wildflowers.  At the end of the field of flowers there is a stream that flows gently into a lake that lies a distance away hidden by the forest.  Along with the flowers, trees, animals, sunshine, ocean, beaches and its inherent beauties, there are many lakes all around. At night you can lie in the yard and look up and actually see thousands of stars and hear the Crickets and Whippoorwills sing.

There are always plenty of things to do around the place.  One has to tend the garden, feed the animals.  The lawn has to be mowed in the Summer and the leaves raked in the Fall.  At harvest time the vegetables and fruit have to come in and those that we can't eat have to be sold or given away, the rest has to be either canned, dried or frozen.

The children play happily outdoors in the sunshine without fear of being kidnapped, hit by a car, or getting lost in a strange neighborhood.  There is even time to take long walks and talks with the family.  The yard is large; large enough to hold a family reunion or a neighborhood barbecue.

There is no worry about time, you don't have to worry if you are going to be late to go anywhere or if the store is going to be closed or not, because you already grow your own food.  The only day you have to get anywhere on time is on Sunday and that is to go to church The rest of the time depends on where the children have to go or if there is a P.T.S.A. meeting or a church meeting, otherwise you are totally pre-occupied by your farm work.

In the Spring you can see the Azaleas and the Rhododendrons bloom and the Roses are in their prime.  On a warm Summer day day you can lie on a hammock and drowse off into a lazy Summer dream. The thunderstorms in the rainy season are a fantastic sight and show.  The Fall is very beautiful with radiant colors and gentle breezes.  The Winter is mild with no snow and an occasional freeze.

Not far from this beautiful home is the ocean.  A big beautiful body of water that looks so innocent on the surface yet it is treacherous underneath.  The sands are warm beneath your feet and the Seagulls squawk above your head and are brave enough to come right up to you.  The air is warm and gentle, the sound of the ocean is relaxing, yet, at times, it also seems deafening.  There are seashells and starfish that can be found along the sands of the beach.   If you were to go SCUBA diving, you would find an amazing world of beautifully colored fish and amazing plant life all trapped beneath the ocean.

Ah yes!  This is only a dream but sometimes it feels  so real; on occasions I can reach out and touch it. I can smell the flowers and feel the warm breeze blow through my hair and hear the children laughing.  Then I remember it is just a dream

Susan Clay

INTERESTING THINGS FOUND WHILE TRAVELING

This was in Niagara Falls, Canada.

The wall of gum

There is this path that goes along the falls and at the end of it is steps that leads down to view the rapids, just before you turn the corner to look at the rapids on your left is this wall of gum.  Looks like someone started it and everyone that came by contributed as well.  



This was found in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

I could not figure out this at all.  Someone crocheted a cover for the post that holds the trash cans.  I thought this was kind of bizarre.