Osama bin Laden, North Korea, terrorism, economic meltdown, global warming — it’s all taken a back seat to the latest fear-based obsession, represented by the phrase “health care reform.” The reality is that pending proposals look less like reform of care for Americans’ health, and more like a scheme to line the pockets of big corporations with taxpayer dollars while increasing the customer base for the insurance industry. None of the plans actively address the deadly flaws in the healthcare system.
What is currently touted is a plan to insure all Americans with a sort of mandatory health insurance, perhaps patterned on the Massachusetts program. That’s exactly what we don’t need: streaming more Americans into a broken medical care system that many say is already DOA.
Now that the cool, prolonged spring has sprung out of the picture, we are undeniably in the heat of summer. When things heat up, our bodies lose water. It’s crucial to replace the fluids we lose in perspiration and respiration. The question is, with all the choices, what is the benefit (or not) of sport drinks, vitamin water, smart water and so on?
Water: smart, structured, purified or tap For millions of years, humans drank from streams and lakes. Certainly, isolated cases of toxic minerals or biological contaminants would be troubling, but nothing like the pollution we have today.
An egg is an egg is an egg … or is it? by Michael Braunstein
When I taught at UCLA, it was my habit on opening day of the term to invite each student to introduce him or herself and give a brief bio. The idea was to open them to the possibility of forming support since their presence demonstrated at least one common interest. The story from one student had a powerful impact on me. It was 1985 and what he had to say wasn’t much known to the public.
One person’s weed is another’s ‘volunteer vegetable’
by Michael Braunstein
Our ignorance of our world and surroundings has always amazed me. It’s embarrassing to me that I can walk down the street and be unable to identify more than a handful of the plants I see. I bet most people don’t have a clue what most of the plants around us are. To some extent, that is about to change for me.
I first heard the phrase “volunteer vegetable” in February 2008 at the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society’s annual conference. I attended a talk by Pat Mettler about food as medicine. Mettler is a registered nurse, a reiki and healing touch practitioner and an herbalist. She is a highly respected expert on foraging and identifying edible and healing plants in the wild, a practice often called wildcrafting.
Advertisements for sunblock chemicals increase at this time of year, and we’re encouraged to slather on gobs of mysterious products concocted by scientists who promise to protect us from the sun.
The big selling point for purveyors of sunscreens is the fear of skin cancer — if you don’t use them. But even the most conservative and establishment dermatologists acknowledge that skin cancer, while on the rise, is rarely fatal, accounting for around 7,000 of the nearly 600,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States. The irony is that some doctors, researchers and scientists believe that avoiding the sun is causing more deaths and cancers than healthy, sunscreen-less, moderate exposure.
Now that summertime is nigh, there is a chance that you, like 500,000 other Americans, will enjoy the park, a hike or a picnic and return home with a friend. Her name is Ivy. Her victims call her Poison.
Contact dermatitis is her gift to you. It results from touching the oily toxins in a trio of plants called poison ivy, poison sumac and poison oak. Though each is a different plant, all have one thing in common. They hold urushiol (pronounced oo-roo-shee-ohl), in the sap of the plant. Urushiol is one of the most toxic substances on the planet. It likely won’t kill you (though it can), but you might wish you were dead. As little as one-billionth of a gram can cause a skin reaction. If you are anywhere near plants and brush up against one of the three cousins, you can expect a reaction within hours. A red, linear rash, accompanied by extreme itching or burning will let you know your new friend has arrived. She’ll be hanging out for two or three weeks and you’ll be giving her lots of attention until she leaves.
Though it claims to be “evidence-based,” Western science doesn’t often understand reality. Too often the evidence chosen is arbitrary and the “real science” is based on research bought and paid for by interested parties, or is out-dated and skewed toward the Western viewpoint.
We should be tolerant of the shortcomings of Western science. For example, it struggles to understand how something like acupuncture works. But how can the Western scientific model evaluate a medical system that is based on an understanding of yin and yang and on the interrelationships of the five elements of fire, earth, metal, water and wood? Understanding why something works is the obsession of Western science. Realizing that it does work is far more important. Two important meta-analyses hit the news recently, and they suggest Western researchers are starting to get it.
Learn the Lingo: Food labeling can be confusing and deceptive
by Michael Braunstein
Essentially, “natural” means nothing. A food processor can label a product “All Natural” and there is no regulation for it at all unless it is being used on meat such as poultry. And then it simply means, “minimally processed.” So a chicken processor can inject chickens with salt solutions, sodium lactate and call the chicken “all natural.”
There are very minor regulations when something is listed as an ingredient. Consider vanilla flavor. If a food scientist extracts the essence of the flavor of the vanilla bean, a substance known as vanillin, into alcohol, the flavoring agent can legally be called “natural flavor.” But if the product contains synthetic vanillin, chemically made in many different ways, it must be called “imitation vanilla flavoring.”
But, if the scientist makes synthetic vanillin not by combining chemicals but by allowing bacteria to ferment ferulic acid, a chemical obtained from corn or rice, it may be labeled “Natural Vanilla Flavor” because fermentation is a “natural” process. The synthetic vanillin obtained by both methods, however, is absolutely identical.
Don’t overlook massage therapy as a solution to many ailments
by Michael Braunstein
One can imagine the first caveman standing up quickly in the wrong part of his cave and smacking his bean against the ceiling. He probably uttered a caveman expletive and rubbed his head. The latter is instinctive. Maybe his cavewoman counterpart came over and gently rubbed it, too.
Touch When something aches or is sore, we want to touch it or rub it. When you’ve been sitting during an eight-hour day, you may give your traps (those muscles along the shoulder at the base of the neck) a quick rubdown. The only thing better is having someone do it for you.
My first image of massage was from some old black and white movie on television. I think it was a gangster movie and the guy was at a golf course clubhouse getting a rubdown after a round. For a long time thereafter, I thought massage was something for rich people in the swanky backrooms off a country club locker room. The idea of massage having therapeutic benefit escaped me.
I soon realized people enjoyed professional massage for relaxation and stress relief.
But associating massage only with sports or relaxation overlooks some of the vital benefits it provides. In Nebraska and Iowa, a massage therapist must be licensed and trained.
In this era of concern for environment and the economy, we often measure how we’re doing by estimating our carbon footprint. Officially, that’s a calculation of the green house gases generated by any individual, corporate or national activity. It’s a comment on our lifestyle choices.
To fight global warming, it would be cool if everyone chucked SUVs for the eco-friendly Prius. Clean and economical is good. However, there’s an even better way to lower our carbon footprint. Global research confirms food choices contribute the highest percentage to our carbon footprint; even more than transportation.
By shopping at the local food shed, we realize advantages that go beyond environment and reach into health, economy, spirituality and awareness. Farmers markets are the best way to choose local. So, here are some reasons to shop at a farmers market:
Now that a soggy meadow at Elmwood Park has (presumably) returned to normal, the 2009 Earth Day Omaha celebration will take place on its makeup date, this Saturday, April 25. With hundreds of exhibitors and multiple food venues, including a beer garden, the event draws thousands each year to enjoy informational speakers, free music, children’s events and more. It’s very popularity is what led to the postponement last weekend.
“Our first priority is to be responsible stewards of the land at Elmwood,” said Craig Moody, chairman of the Earth Day Omaha Planning Committee. “The park’s central meadow is very susceptible to damage when it gets saturated like it was last Saturday morning. With thousands expected to attend, we met with city park officials Friday and decided postponement was the safe thing to do. But don’t worry, nearly all the scheduled exhibitors and events have already confirmed for the makeup date this Saturday.”
A chance to love your Mother The official worldwide Earth Day is Wednesday, April 22. But midweek celebrations tend to be somewhat poorly attended so the standard is to schedule on the closest Saturday. Though last Saturday ended up with a cheery and sunny afternoon, the six hours of rain in the morning made postponement the wise choice. The full lineup is expected this Saturday and since everyday is Earth Day, a week’s delay doesn’t detract. Find out about some of the scheduled events at earthdayomaha.com.
Emphasis is on interactive this weekend at Elmwood Park
by Michael Braunstein
Everybody wants to be “green.” Correct that. Everybody wants to be thought of as green. Utility companies publicly tout exploration of renewable energy sources like wind or solar, yet current plans account for only three-tenths of one percent of Nebraska’s electricity to come from renewable sources. Meanwhile, they will bring a new coal-fired power plant online, one of the few in the nation still on the drawing boards. Coal accounts for 64 percent of Nebraska’s power and is considered the dirtiest way to generate electricity. Nebraska power companies plan to increase energy generation from coal by 46.6 percent. (Source: nwf.org.) All those pretty pamphlets and ads about wind and solar are just plain “greenwashing.”
Automakers clamor, “Our SUV gets one more miles-per-gallon than your SUV.” And they still burn carbon-based fuels, whether the carbon comes from corn, coal tar or oil. Hey, corn is still a “fossil fuel” — just a little bit younger fossil. And did I just read GM and Segway are developing a small, two-person electric vehicle that travels about 30 miles per charge at a maximum of 25 miles per hour? It will have a projected price similar to a small sedan, they announced. What, are they re-inventing the golf cart at 10 times the price?
When Stevie Wonder recorded his album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants in 1979, it was surely the first time many of his fans had heard about the book that delved into the sentient nature of the plant kingdom. Released as a soundtrack to the documentary film (based on the 1973 book, The Secret Life of Plants), few who heard the music understood the real connection at first.
Written by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, it documented many of the ways plants respond to stimuli. One involved music. This was the first extensive treatise on music and plants. It spawned a wave of hippies placing speakers in front of houseplants and trying to stimulate growth and happiness in other indoor crops.
Music has been found to have dramatic effect on human beings. After all, music is sound. Sound is energy. And humans, like all things in nature, are made of energy.
Is the human characteristic genetic or a learned trait?
by Michael Braunstein
“What a waste it is to lose one’s mind,” once quipped Dan Quayle, then vice president to Bush One. Attempting to paraphrase the slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” that gaffe was nothing compared to others he can claim. Once, DQ insisted that a grade school student had spelled “potato” incorrectly and made him add an “e” to the end of it. Another time Quayle announced that since there are canals and water on Mars, it’s important to explore there.
We all make mistakes. But Quayle’s biggest misstep may have been assigning a fox to guard the henhouse.
In 1992, genetic engineering was emerging as a commercial reality. Monsanto, Dupont and other giants of industry wanted to make sure the Bush administration would support their schemes and needed the government to stamp it “safe.” Bush asked DQ to head a task force to make sure the new technologies wouldn’t be burdened by government regulations. With no FDA or USDA scientists in the group, whom did DQ choose as director? He picked a chemical industry executive from his home state, friendly to genetic engineering. The result is that the U.S. has arguably the most lax government policy in the world on an unproven technology, a policy shaped and molded by a guy who couldn’t spell ‘potato,’ let alone understand the ramifications of genetically modifying one.
McCartney and fellow meditators to perform benefit concert
by Michael Braunstein
The bass player was late and you can’t start a session without the bass player. It was back in the day, the L.A. days, during my life as a recording engineer. So I was out in the room dressing cables and doing busywork as we waited.
A bass guitar case plopped on the floor right in front of me. As I looked up, I started to say, “You must be the … bass … player.” The hesitations came because the “bass player” was Paul McCartney.
During the next 14 hours or so cutting a track, McCartney’s demeanor impressed me. Accustomed to over-amped and often crazy rock ‘n’ rollers in those days, I will never forget the restrained command he held of the session. The details of the recording session are unimportant but the impression he made on me as a person remained powerful.
Another musician I worked with had a similar demeanor in the studio. Readers wouldn’t recognize his name but both he and McCartney had a common link. This musician had an even deeper effect on my life. He was pretty much the catalyst that made me decide I wanted to learn how to meditate.
Best-selling author who coined the term to visit Omaha
by Michael Braunstein
Rarely does a book grow in importance the longer it is on the shelves. Yet this is the case with Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods — Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. If we have not reached desperate times in our relationship with nature, we are very close. The full load of that dysfunction will be borne by our children. That disaster is exactly what Louv and the legions of parents, activists and right-thinking people who have taken up the cause, are doing their best to avoid.
First published in 2005, Louv’s book has been revised and updated in a 2008 edition and drawn international attention to the premise posed by the author. In the past few decades, our children have become detached from the nature experience humans have evolved with over millennia.
Legislature considers bills to improve birth safety
by Michael Braunstein
George H. W. Bush was. Jimmy Carter wasn’t. John Kennedy was; so was Ronald Reagan. Lennon and McCartney weren’t but Ringo and George were.
Bush, Kennedy, Ringo, Reagan and George were all born at home — no hospital, no neonatal, no epidurals or fetal heart monitors; no pitocin, forceps or IVs and certainly no elective C-sections. They were born naturally, the way mothers have been birthing offspring for millions of years and doing so successfully. It may seem surprising to some, but birth can occur quite safely outside the hospital and in fact, worldwide that is where most safe births happen.
In the United States, however, the medical model is strong. The belief in the need to turn a natural event into a medical procedure pervades many aspects of our lives and especially childbirth. Still, there are a number of people who believe having a baby at home or in a dedicated non-medical facility should be an option. The reasons range from nurturing the emotional experience, control over the methodology to a belief in safer outcomes.
Natural options to allergy drugs and their side effects
by Michael Braunstein
You’ve made it through another winter without the flu and you didn’t take a flu shot to get here. Congratulations! Ready for the next seasonal onslaught from Big Pharma? March means Mardi Gras and vernal equinox. As we enter Spring, say goodbye to snow and hello to growing things like grasses, flowers and trees. Natural production of pollen will increase and so may the uncomfortable symptoms of what we call hay fever or seasonal allergies.
Serious about dealing drugs Big Pharma has already begun its big push of propaganda selling allergy drugs. The drug company promotions are as insidious as sponsoring the “Pollen Report” on various weather news outlets and websites.
Direct-to-consumer drug ads became legal in the United States in 1997 and we remain one of only two countries where they are allowed. Just think, the entire civilized world aside from the U.S. and New Zealand disagrees with advertising drugs the way we do.
Wine drinkers have seen more than enough press advocating moderate consumption of their favorite beverage for promoting heart health. Now we find that you can scale back your spending and get wine benefits on a beer budget
Research places beer drinkers who consume a moderate amount of their favorite in a similar group as wine drinkers — with lower chance of stroke, heart disease, hypertension and even dementia. That isn’t really news since epidemiological studies on the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption have been known since the 1800s. Now we know that some risk markers are lowered 30 to 60 percent.
A study from the University of Wisconsin found that dark beers, Guinness stout specifically, have high levels of flavonoids. These naturally occurring substances are present in vegetables and fruits but not so much in lighter beers. Researcher John Folts found that dark beers lowered bad cholesterol, were twice as effective as Heineken in preventing blood clots and the vitamin B in them lowered blood serum homocysteine, linked to clogged arteries.
Nebraska Congressman Fortenberry in key agriculture role
by Michael Braunstein
Critics of industrialized agriculture point to many problems with large-scale agribusiness. A United Nations report pegs industrial livestock production as a major contributor to the global climate crisis, creating more greenhouse gases worldwide than the entire transportation sector. A recent Pew Foundation report identified industrial farm animal production as posing “unacceptable” risks to humans and should be changed immediately.
Many other problems are obvious in industrial agriculture: the reliance on petroleum and fossil fuel inputs; the lengthened food chain and the health, safety and security issues it creates; the overuse of antibiotics and chemical fertilizers and the resultant pollution; the loss of small, family owned farms and the isolation of the consumer from the source of food.
