Can you handle a raw food diet

It was not long ago, raw food bars were all the rage. If you don't eat your raw food, you weren't in with the IN crowd and you were out of the loop in healthy rage. There are still some raw food bars around, but rather insipid has died and I think with good reason.

A lot of my patients ask me about the health benefits of eating raw food and I agree, there are some foods that are a benefit consumed raw, some I into question, and some never will I recommend without cooking. In case you were wondering whether or not it is more advantageous to eat all your raw food, here are some pros and cons you can consider.

What is so great about raw food?

Raw food is to start with something that has not been heated beyond 40 118 degrees. It is reported by raw food enthusiasts, temperatures above that kills the natural enzymes are present in foodstuffs and make it harder for your body to digest them. it is true that your body needs specific enzymes to digest your food. As we get older these enzymes reduce and does not make the job aid digestion and which may leave us constipated and missing a lot of nutrients from our food.

Now, there are some great, high vitamin and mineral-fiber-filled foods recommended for raw food diet, is all the things you should include a healthy diet anyway. They include foods such as vegetables, fruits, pulses, cereals and juices, as well as monounsaturated fats from olive oil, Avocados, coconut and nuts. As you can see, it is predominantly vegetarian diet, but people who practice a raw diet exclusively say, there are many benefits such as:

Lower cholesterol.
Lower down blood sugar levels.
Lower blood pressure (from decreased sodium intake).
Can prevent stomach and oral cancers (excessively boiled, barbecued food suspects).
High in fiber, helps maintain good bowel health and blood sugar.
Boosts the immune system from higher glycoside levels in raw food.
Avoidance of wheat, dairy products, sugar, alcohol and table salt can help certain allergies and aid in detoxifying the body itself.
Clearer skin.
weight loss.

What is not so much about the raw foods diet

Raw food diet, lifestyle, in its purest form, is predominantly vegetarian diet. Am I concerned about vitamin deficiencies, in particular deficiencies in B12, which is common in vegetarian diets. This deficiency can result in anaemia and conditions of the nervous system, as well as neurological disorders of cognition problems and dementia. The best sources of B12 is from red meat, and secondly, chicken, fish, and wheat germ.

In addition, warming not food last 118 degrees allows food borne pathogens that remain intact and can result in serious illness. Take eggs for example. Many of my patients boast about how they put a raw egg in a blender with juice, etc and drink it all down. In cringe and then tell them, they are lucky they dodged bullets salmonella, but may not always, as the eggs can be carriers of bacteria.

Depending on how strict are you in a raw food diet, you can also include some fish (sushi, etc), red meat and milk (non-pasteurized, non-homogenized only). Add meat and fish work better from a nutritional point of view, but from a food borne pathogen viewpoint could pose some serious problems. Both fish and meat can carry bacteria such as salmonella and others. If you have ever suffered a Salmonella food poisoning event, you will not go there again. They can also carry out viruses and parasites. Non-pasteurized milk can also implement Mycobacterium bovis, that can cause non-type pulmonary tuberculosis. These raw foods can short, lead to some serious diseases, as you do not want to subject yourself.

And if vitamin deficiencies and food borne pathogens are not enough to scare you away from a raw food
some raw diet, foods are included in a natural and untreated State, many of which can be toxic.
Here is a short list of these foods:

Kidney beans and Brussels sprouts contain a chemical called phytohemaglutinin, which can be toxic.
Lucerne Brussels sprouts contain canavanine.
Apricot chlorotic cores-contain amygdalin, which is raw cyanide.
Buckwheat Greens are toxic When raw. They can trigger photosensivity.
Parsnips contain furanocoumarin-raw, which can be toxic.

Time may also be a factor in not selecting a raw diet. Since most all raw food, it takes a long time to buy and preparation, which would be the ultimate importance of freshness.

Convenience can be another negative because it would make it difficult to go out to eat. Also to get used to it can be difficult for people who have eaten meat, sugar, salt and alcohol throughout their lifetime to switch to a raw diet.

Is there a healthy way to eat raw food?

The answer to this question depends on who you ask, mainly. But even many raw food enthusiasts say that the ideal raw raw diet is 75% and 25% cooked, and if I would "go raw" this is the way, I would probably do it so well.

25 percent of your raw diet could be boiled meat, fish and eggs, but I want to add a good digestive system enzyme to digest these proteins, especially if you are over 40 years.
the other 75% could be made from raw vegetables steamed just enough to soften them and bring out their flavour. Raw fruits and nuts are always great in their natural form and I recommend heartily eats several servings of these vitamin and fiber rich foods every day.
as always, drink half your weight in clean, filtered water per day to flush the toxins out of your body.

It is what I tell my patients ask about the health benefits of a raw food diet. There are many positive elements, which eat all the vegetables, fruits and nuts, and staying away from sugar and alcohol and processed foods. These are sound changes, as anyone can incorporate in their diet, whether it is completely raw or not. In order to avoid serious illness, however, will be staying away from sushi and steak tartare, unless you really can testify to where they came from, and handled them.

Dangerous and deadly food

There are so many manufactured foods on the market today and a lot of them are considered dangerous or have additive or preservative which are cancer causing agents.

There should be more alerts and a greater concern about what we are eating and feeding our family.

The following is a list of foods or additives which are dangerous or deadly.

Hot Dogs and Processed Meats have chemical preservative which increase cancer risks.

Prepared Baby Food-traces of Pesticides have been found in jars of baby foods. Concern about the chemical, semicarbazide, a sealant used on the jars, this product is carcinogenic and it can reproduction into the food. Musts jar sizes are large so the amount ingested is apparently not harmful. Baby jars are smaller, the amount is greater per volume and therefore percentage level is higher.

Babies should only have natural grown, pesticide free food. Make your own baby food. Note when cooking and preparing the food, do not add salt, babies do not need sodium, it is too hard for there body two break down.

Rice-is used for baby food as it has a very low allergy risk.
The way it grows, can absorb contaminates from the ground so it really needs to be properly rinsed prior to cooking.

Pankake, chocolate Brownie & Cake Mix-(a) mould can grow in old mix, and then if consumed, can be extremely dangerous, even deadly.

Milk To increase production some farmers give their cows Growth Hormones. Taken in large doses these can have an adverse effect on your body and development.

Hydrogenate Oil It s a hard oil, used in margarine to stabilize it, so it does not melt down into a liquid as quickly as butter. The process used to make hydrogenated vegetable oil (or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil) creates Trans fats, which promote heart disease and diabetes. Its used in many foods, not just margarine.

Fat/Avacado Free Guacamole-avocados are high in fat and expensive, so manufacturers are now substituting their dips with hydrogenate oil, yellow and blue food colouring, flavouring for the Avacado.

Artificial Crab Meat exactly that-consists of beef plasma-when blood is spun down the red blood cells clump together and are removed, leaving a clear liquid. This is a plasma which is then mixed with fish and artificial colour.

Raw Eggs the bacteria in raw eggs can cause food poisoning. It can also be contaminated with salmonella, a food-borne illness that can give it a try fatal if untreated.
Cooking destroys the bacteria. Eating raw eggs is not recommended while pregnant nor to be given two babies. Before eating/ordering that the Cesar Salad, make sure the dressing is not made with raw eggs. Some tonics and protein drinks add raw eggs

Shellfish have bacteria, as bacteria exists naturally in the sea. While cooking destroys these bacteria, eating raw shellfish can lead to diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting. People most susceptible are diabetics, cancer sufferers and people with liver disease or immune disorders. Some severe cases can lead to death.

Strawberries Many farmers use pesticides. Check the country of origin, as some are higher than others.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)-MSG is used as a flavor enhancer in many packaged foods, including soups, salad dressings, sausages, hot dogs, canned tuna, potato chips, instant noodles and many more. MSG can lead to intolerance and allergic reactions such as severe headaches (migraines), nausea, drowsiness, heart palpitations, asthma, and anaphylactic shock.

This artificial sweetener-Aspartame is found in Equal and NutraSweet, diet sodas and other low-cal foods. This sweetener has been found to cause brain tumors in rats as far back as the 1970 s.
However a more recent study in 2005 found that even small doses increase the incidence of lymphomas and leukemia in rats, along with brain tumors.
Aspartame is made of 3 components, 50% phenylalanine, aspartic acid 40% and 10% methanol (wood alcohol). In the body of methanol breaks down into formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and formic acid.

Wild Mushrooms be extremely careful if you trend two go wild mushroom hunting in your local wooded area. A few common species of mushrooms are poisonous ... deadly. If unsure, eat mushrooms you ve purchased from a grocery store.

Rare Hamburger-Hamburger and other ground meat should be fully cooked to prevent e. coli, which can cause severe illness even death.

Mouldy Peanuts-Aflatoxins are a by-product, naturally occurring fungus Aspergillus (a)/mould growth on certain agricultural products such as peanuts, almonds, pistachio, walnut, coconut, wheat, cereals and corn, chile peppers, black pepper, coriander, turmeric and ginger.
Alfatoxins have been found to cause liver cancer in animals and humans. Check carefully for any sign of discoloration or mould.

There are concerns over chemicals, proven to be cancer causing agents, being used in our foods. Why do government departments allow large manufacturers to use these agents. What is considered low to no risk? How does anyone know what level is considered a safe amount for our bodies?
Who came up with and how did this safe value come to be?
When is any cancer causing agent inge place inhale or consumed in any way considered safe
If the package lists ingredients known to be harmful, then why don t they list any guidelines explaining how much to be consumed in a day, week, month in order for the level in our body not to be considered dangerous?

Another concern is food allergies. These can be very difficult to control and are becoming more common today. Reactions can be mild, severe two-even deadly.
Allergies-It s estimated that as many as 7 million Americans suffer from allergies to common foods, and as many as 200 people die every year from allergic reactions. While no one is quite sure what causes food allergies, the numbers are on the rise.

There does appear to be almost an epidemic, I would say, in the last five to 10 years, reports Dr. Hugh Sampson, an allergist to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

He doesn t know the cause, but says there may be a link with breastfeeding. Ninety percent of the children who develop a serious peanut allergy were breastfed as infants, he says.

It may be a coincidence, he says, but the general consensus is we d rather the mothers not eat peanut while they re breastfeeding if they re from allergic family.
Some children will grow out of their allergies, however many people will develop them as they get older.

There is greater concern today, since many food manufacturers use the same plant or factory to manufacture foods with nuts in them as well as foods without.
Some people s allergies are so severe that eating anything that was made in a factory that processes peanuts or seeds could kill them.

Is there no alternative than using known harmful chemicals when growing and processing our foods? Are safer measures too costly, therefore the all mighty $ becomes more important than the value of life

Hence, is now not the right time to take action and control your health, the health and wellbeing of your family

Read the label and make healthier choices. Get back to healthy eating and avoid the preservative chemicals and the Government and Manufacturers claims are acceptable levels.

It is time to be serious about healthy eating and living and getting back to eating naturally grown whole foods.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=MaryLeahy

Dangerous foods-reasons

Although the food supply in the United States is still one of the safest in the world estimates, CDC, Centers for Disease Control that every year more than 300,000 Americans are hospitalized and 5,000 die from FOODBORNE illness. Preventing FOODBORNE illness and death remains a major public health challenge.

A FOODBORNE disease is any disease caused by ingestion of food. Although the term is often used food poisoning, most FOODBORNE diseases is not actually the result of toxins, chemicals or toxic substances created by the food, but is caused by one of several forms of micro-organisms in food. The most frequent causes of food borne diseases is bacteria, including Salmonella, e. coli, Listeria and Shigella. Some bacteria secrete toxins as they grow; for example, secretes Clostridium bacteria botulin toxin, which can be fatal.

An estimated 55% of FOODBORNE diseases is caused by incorrect cooking and storage of foodstuffs and 24% of poor hygiene, in particular the lack of washing hands before handling food. Only 3% of cases are from a source that unsafe food.

In a FOODBORNE illness symptoms may begin in hours to eat food, or they may be delayed as much as three days. Symptoms vary with different micro-organisms, and may include one or more of these: nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, gastroenteritis, fever, headache and fatigue. Babies and small children, pregnant women and their unborn children, the elderly, chronically ill and the other whose immune systems are compromised are in greatest danger. In most cases, there will be a period of acute illness, then an upswing as the body Rids itself of toxic agent.

Escherichia coli or e. coli for short, is a common bacterium found commonly in the ground, and usually in human and animal Intestinal tracts. There are hundreds of different varieties of e. coli, most of which is harmless, but some varieties may cause serious illness. Certain strains of e. coli can cause severe diarrhea and also infect the genital organs and urinary tracts.

In September 2006, led a widespread outbreak of e. coli infection in raw spinach to over 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths across the country. U.s. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to buy or eat raw spinach from any source. California's Department of Health Services and the US Food and Drug Administration worked together in the investigation. In their joint final report they correctly identified the environmental risk factors and the areas was probably involved in the outbreak, but they were not definitively determine how the contamination occurred.

E. coli involved in the contaminated spinach is e. coli http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2039 Beef sausage this variety was first discovered in 1982, when it was found to be the causal agent in the event of an outbreak of diarrhoea is caused by eating undercooked beef. E. coli Beef sausage producing toxins that damage the lining of the intestines. The result is severe, bloody diarrhea. Vomiting, stomach cramps, and swine fever may also be present. Centers for Disease Control estimates that this e. coli strain is responsible for an average of 73,000 cases of infection and 61 deaths each year in the United States.

In 2007 made several withdrawals of ground beef products, where the beef was contaminated with e. coli. A restaurant in Effingham, Illinois, was identified as the source of the e. coli outbreak, resulted in at least six confirmed cases of e. coli O157: H7 among customers in September 2007. Outbreaks also occurred among students at an Indiana elementary school.

More than half of us FOODBORNE diseases are viral. Most FOODBORNE viral infections have an incubation period of 1-3 days before the victim experiencing symptoms. The symptoms are similar to those specified for bacterial infections. In healthy individuals is a FOODBORNE viral disease is self-limiting; as the body Rids itself of the infected food and the viral particles, abate the symptoms.

Some FOODBORNE diseases have more far-reaching effects, cause long-term health problems or even death. FOODBORNE illness is a major cause of reactive arthritis, a painful inflammation of the joints and other tissues. Its disease is 1-3 weeks after the initial event, and it can persist for up to one year.

Other infectious agents in food include mycotoxins produced by fungal agents such as Aspergillum, found in tree nuts, peanuts, and corn and cottonseeds; Ergot, which infect cereals and Fusarium, which infects maize, are all fungal toxins. There is still much to learn about FOODBORNE illness. Around 60% of all outbreaks of FOODBORNE diseases, source of infection cannot be identified.

In addition to individual disease and disorders impose food contamination and the resultant diseases significant economic and social strains. In the United States costs medical costs and lost productivity caused by food borne diseases more than 35 billion dollars annually.

E. Coli and your health

Escherichia coli, commonly known as e. coli, is a naturally occurring bacteria that may be dangerous to humans. While most strains are harmless, some types of e. coli can cause serious food poisoning, when the bacteria is consumed because they release the toxins in your digestive system. Because e. coli bacteria cannot be seen with the naked eye, they can come into contact with food and bring Eater in danger without warning. While there is some food preparation precautions can reduce your risk of infection, there is a chance of contracting e. coli when you eat or not grow and prepare your own food.

Prevention

Fecal-oral transmission is the most common form of transport infection in humans. United States's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows a number of recommendations in order to minimise the risk of infection, including:

Wash hands thoroughly before preparing food
Preparing and cooking food properly
Wear gloves while handling food
Pasteurisation of foodstuffs such as juices, milk and other dairy products
Prevent sick food workers from coming into contact with foodstuffs
Symptoms

E. coli infection can cause serious food poisoning and even life-threatening disease. Like most bacterial infections and other diseases are people most at risk of serious illness of children, the elderly and persons with compromised immune systems. Symptoms of e. coli infection include:

The stomach muscle cramps
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea
Stomach tenderness

Some people may be infected with the e. coli without getting sick, but can give it to others, which then become sick. The simplest and most effective prevention, which all can take is to wash their hands thoroughly before cooking, dining or other handling of food. SOAP and hand sanitizer is both effective deterrent.

Eating raw food

Eating raw foods has many health benefits. Imagine waking up every morning feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. When you switch to this diet not only will you feel amazing when you wake, you will immediately improve your overall health.

Heal Yourself

The cost of traditional medicine is outrageous. Many times it does not work and health professionals are only guessing that what your real health issues are or they treat the symptoms without attempting to discover the underlying problems. Science has proven that a diet of these foods has numerous health benefits. The result of eating raw does more than treat disease and illness. It can heal the underlying problems of whatever is making you sick. A whole list of health problems can be cured.

Diabetes Fibromyalgia Migraines Back pain Neck pain Joint pain Asthma High blood pressure Anxiety Mood swings Depression Cancer

This is only a partial list of the health problems that can be improved with these foods.

Eat More, Weigh Less

One immediate benefit of this diet is a natural weight loss. You will see the pounds shed away when you stop eating cooked and processed foods and begin a diet of these foods. The greatest thing about raw foods is you can eat as much as you want without worrying about gaining weight. Foods in their raw state do not have added sugar, oils, and preservatives that cause weight gain.

Regain that Sparkle

This food will give you clear, beautiful skin and return a youthful sparkle to your eyes. This diet improves skin tone, clears acne, shine to your hair, and give you a youthful appearance. Many raw foodists believe eating these foods turns back the hands of time. Not only do they regain their youthful appearance, their lifespan is increased. Some studies show that the average human lifespan of 65 years is increased two 100 years with the this diet.

Some raw food dieters have seen their hair return to its natural color. Gone is the gray that develops as you age. In its place is the hair color of your youth naturally and without dyes. Another youth giving effect of eating like this ice cream smooth skin. Wrinkles seem to disappear and deep creases are less visible. Age spots become less noticeable. Even dark circles, puffiness, and bags under your eyes will disappear. All of these benefits only add to a new, youthful appearance.

No Fears

If you have a fear of the dentist you will truly love eating these foods. These foods and tighten your gums heal gingivitis. The nutrients in these foods stop your gums from bleeding and also freshens your breath.

Why It Works

The science behind these foods focuses on digestion. When food is digested it must be broken down or absorbed into your system. Digestive enzymes work to complete the process. When you are born, your body has a supply of digestive enzymes that are depleted over time. Once they are gone your body does not reproduce more. The lack of these enzymes can lead to serious illness and disease as food is stored in your body and becomes toxic.

Eating raw foods replaces the digestive enzymes in your body. This is reason so many health benefits are attributed to the raw food diet. Once you have replaced the digestive enzymes in your body food is again broken down and absorbed in a healthy manner. Eat to your health by eating raw foods!

Food additives

As our food supply has become more sophisticated, the number and different additives-the substances added to foods in processing either by accident or design-increased. There is a swirl of controversy around this topic, as food scientists and health professionals consider the negative aspects of to add items to our food, not as found naturally.

There are a number of reasons why food producers additives in their products. These include, in order to preserve food for a longer shelf life, improve color create texture, to improve the taste, to increase the nutritional value, to appeal to a niche market and make the food more economical.

There are two types of preservatives that are added to food to keep them from ruin. Anti-microbial substances such as sugar, salt and nitrates, inhibit the growth of these microbes that can cause food-borne diseases. Antioxidants protect the food from damage due to exposure to oxygen and includes sulfates, BHA and BHT are. Vitamin c and Vitamin E, anti-oxidant vitamins can also be used for this purpose.

Colors are added to food to give them more eye-appeal. Most of us expect packaged Macaroni and cheese be orange, colas be Brown, butter-like lookup must be yellow and raspberry gelatine must be red. None of these foods would have these colors without the presence of additives. In recent years been attention to find natural plant sources for these color additives, unlike their artificial cousins.

Texture of our food can be so important for us as color. For this reason we find emulsifiers and thickeners in many, if the foods that we enjoy. These substances to keep food from crystallizing, disassociate, or otherwise change to a form, which we could find unpleasant.

Is probably the most common type of food additive is used to enhance the taste of food. These additives can be natural-herbs, spices and fruit flavors or artificial variants that have been created in a laboratory. This category includes also artificial sweeteners, which has been the subject of much debate in the last 50 years. There is also a substance called MSG (mono-sodium glutamate) a commonly used flavor enhancer, has created a storm of controversy that still rages.

In order to increase the food which it produces nutrient value food producers will often add nutrients to their products. These include adding b vitamins and iron to cereals and grains, vitamins A and d to dairy products, Calcium and Vitamin C to fruit juices and even iodine table salt. These nutrients may be added to replace those lost during processing or improve the quality of a food that otherwise would not have this specific nutrient.

The addition of a specific substance to a food is sometimes purely a marketing decision. If a particular additive will help sell the product, than it is added to the feed. For example, Pomegranate juice be promoted as a super food, and as a result, it appears added to everything from Apple juice to cookies. In the same way we found Bran is added to many products, when fibre were new watchword nutrition community. Artificial sweeteners are often used to attract those watching their weight, or on a diabetic diet.

Save money on processing is probably the least attractive reason for why additives in food processing. It is called the bottom line. If a food business operator can use less expensive natural ingredients by adding taste and color marketing advantages, so that they do so. If a cheaper additive can be produced to replace a more expensive, most food companies will choose the cheaper version. An example of this kind of thinking is the ubiquitous presence of high fructose syrup-corn in the food supply, a cheap but controversial substitute for sugar cane or beet sugar.

The FDA has regulations on food additives, which are trying to assure that they are used safely. They try to keep the list of authorised additives that are safe, effective, and shown on the package. Unfortunately, there is a real question of what constitutes "safe", and this leads to a constant clamor from those who are in favour of a stricter standard of safety than the one currently in use. With the prevalence of cancer rising, there is a real concern over a possible link between certain additives and the disease.

Some additions could be called "accidental additives.

Not all foreign substances come into our foods by deliberate methods. Sometimes it is the method for the manufacture and processing of food, which introduces the substance and some times it is the form of packaging or storage. An example of this type of additive is dioxins in food packages that can contaminate food, especially if it is stored in a while. Hormones and antibiotics to animals, can find their way to the meat and dairy products we consume. These are "additives", which are not listed on the label, and yet can have an impact on their health.

An interesting example of this is when you see the warning on their labels that the product was manufactured with the help of equipment used to treat peanuts. This is because people who have a Pcen allergy can be so sensitive that even trace amounts can cause a severe allergic reaction. This is a case of an inadvertent use of the additive that can cause a serious problem.

Now that you know what you do

Now that you know about the types of additives, which can be displayed in your food, it is up to you to decide what, if anything, you want to do about it. At least you can learn to read labels, so you know which food additives are in the foods you eat. Another option is to choose more organic food, which is generally produced and packed with fewer additives, in particular those which can compromise your health.

Vote with your food dollars.

As food consumer, you can have an impact on the food supply. Each time you buy an item in a merchant at a farmers market, online or anywhere else, you cast a vote in favour of continuing the production and sale of the product. Conversely, each time you choose not to buy any food that is overly processed or adulterated in any way to make it less healthy we cast a vote to remove the product from the food supply.

Food allergies-Trainspotting their warning signs and Options For live with them.

My first child was colicky, miserable. I became a vegan while breastfeeding is trying to curb the chronic condition. As for the formula, we tried them all until settlement on Alimentum, which worked until we introduced food. Then things took a horrible two years again. Everything we fed the child caused diarrhea. My doctors, overwhelmed with new mom syndrome, congratulate me head and sent me together not so worried. In fairness to them, they could not have known how big a deal it was until we had what I call a month from hell.

The child was conceived over ten times a day and could not seem to deal with something and was about to lose weight. Doctors realized something perked and was not right. From there, it was visited by the gastroenterologist who finally given that our first born was allergic to: wheat, nuts, soy, milk proteins, egg white, dog dander and some insects. So keep these things in mind if you are dealing with this type of child:

Of course, the most terrifying character in a food allergy is anaphylactic shock. It is also the rarest form but be informed about some of the characters: itching, hives, difficulty breathing, poor, cough. Call for help immediately-this is not the time for home remedy. I know my first child went into it after a few peanuts. It is frightening. Many food allergies has grown over time. These days, we only have to worry about very extreme nut allergies with our first born. Not much, I know, but it could be worse. It could be very extreme allergies of the entire list. Colic is not some magical aliment, cannot be explained.

I get so angry when I read it has nothing to do with the digestive system process or the stomach area. My child would Let out adult style gas or poop at the end of each session colic. Every one I have ever known with a colicky baby has said as much. Babies have never eaten any of the things we squander them. no matter how mild, it is a shock to their bodies. And some of them like adults, handle it better than others. And allergy sufferers can not handle it at all. More often than not, it is certainly the digestive system. The example is the character number one.

Now the example can be triggered by many things so confer with your doctor, but with both of my children, it started with their formula intolerance. Food does not even begin until you have found a formula they can tolerate. My second is on soya, but my first was a Alimentum baby. Both started on milk formula. Difficult it is to waste expensive formula, if the child cannot tolerate it, ask your pediatrician and establish a new formula course and start it immediately. Introduce food slowly. I know, it is exciting and fun to bring new flavour and smell in their worlds, but you have all the time in the world to do so.

Take more than a week between foods. Even with my second child, when I tried to introduce peas got in the Tell tale signs of diarrhea. Then it happened again when I tried garlic. So I have shelved both of them now and will try again in 6 months. I was moving faster than a week in May has blurred together introductions and not sure what caused the change in him. Diarrhea. Listen to it. It is real and their bodies are trying to tell you something. Sometimes it may be a cold or disease. But run through the list. If it is chronic make this call to your doctor. There are no stupid questions.

Call the doctor if you are unsure or need some answers. And squeaky wheel. By continuing to raise issues with my first child we finally get answers and was able to form a course for a better life for the child eating disorders. When you get to table food, go easy hard digest foods such as Fried foods, spicy foods, red meat, even some veggies like broccoli. Flakey white fish (like tilapia) is a large protein and very mix than most meat.

And remember they can simply grow those allergies. But if not, arm yourself with information.

Food safety and bioterrorism-of the fittest

How safe is the food you eat Do you know what went into it? 9. January 2009 article by Sarah hills in The mad Navigator, with the title "food terrorism Tops 2009 Security Scare list", she quotes his source, Bill Marler to say, "food safety will be a great concern for President-elect Barack Obama after his inauguration this monthand it is an important part of the overall health of our country and our economy.

Mr. Painter, which is a food safety advocate and managing partner of law firm Marler, Clark represents victims of food-borne disease outbreaks and claims that there has been a continued increase of potentially fatal error, e. Coli. According to his company is economic terrorism and deadly strains of e. Coli among the most important food supply problems, manufacturers could face in the United States in 2009.

According to this article continues Mr. Painter by saying, "at the top of the list (of issues Obama will have to handle) is the globalisation of the food supply, including the possibility of economic or chemical terrorism. which is intentional adulteration of food supply" He adds, "this year will be more international recalls and outbreaks due to the growing globalization of the food." There are several "challenges of supervision orinfrastructure in developing countries, which include bioterroism," where harmful biological substances intentionally used to create widespread disease, as well as fear and economic or chemical terrorism He predicted outbreaks linked to local food and/or farmers markets and more pollution events in connection with the entire food chain from animals, feed, animals to humans. Mr. Painter goes on to say, "the new Obama administration will be faced with enormous challenges." These statements reflect another sensational statement Joe Biden back in October of 2008, when he said that "Obama should undergo a review during his first six months of his presidency. And it would be time for a very serious international crisis! " Although a cryptic remark, what he saw piracy No one really knows, but the potential of a biological attack on the food supply is plausible.

"According to French and isrælske intelligence reports, if America goes to war with Iran, they" can expect a quick retaliation against the remaining American food supply by Iranian agents. The former US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson, concerned about this before leaving office in 2003, when he said: "I, for the life of me, do not understand why terrorists have attacked our food supply, because it is so easy to do."

The possibility of bio-attack against the American food supply will be an all too real scenario We must act and prepare these opportunities in our families and communities. We must be to achieve and consume healthy food, if we are going to be Fit enough to survive what can come.

In order to know that the food we eat healthy food, we know where it came from, and what went into it. Also more "processed" a food, the less likely it will contain any real food value. This does not even take into account food, which is targeted to be contaminated. Therefore, when in doubt, choose foods that have less pillet, for example, raw foods.

Another solution is to grow their own food and can or preserve the food they have raised. This way, you know exactly what you get. In this way, you can assure yourself and your family to get the most nutritious food possible. Plus, you can have extra barter with, give away or sell.

The bottom line is this: degree, we can control exactly what goes into the food we eat is the degree we can remain unaffected by contamination food going on around us whether accidentally or on purpose.

To do so, to engage in to become the strongest we can be and not leave it to someone else. This way, we can be sure "survivors" regardless of what can.

Food safety and bioterrorism-of the fittest

How safe is the food you eat Do you know what went into it? 9. January 2009 article by Sarah hills in The mad Navigator, with the title "food terrorism Tops 2009 Security Scare list", she quotes his source, Bill Marler to say, "food safety will be a great concern for President-elect Barack Obama after his inauguration this monthand it is an important part of the overall health of our country and our economy.

Mr. Painter, which is a food safety advocate and managing partner of law firm Marler, Clark represents victims of food-borne disease outbreaks and claims that there has been a continued increase of potentially fatal error, e. Coli. According to his company is economic terrorism and deadly strains of e. Coli among the most important food supply problems, manufacturers could face in the United States in 2009.

According to this article continues Mr. Painter by saying, "at the top of the list (of issues Obama will have to handle) is the globalisation of the food supply, including the possibility of economic or chemical terrorism. which is intentional adulteration of food supply" He adds, "this year will be more international recalls and outbreaks due to the growing globalization of the food." There are several "challenges of supervision orinfrastructure in developing countries, which include bioterroism," where harmful biological substances intentionally used to create widespread disease, as well as fear and economic or chemical terrorism He predicted outbreaks linked to local food and/or farmers markets and more pollution events in connection with the entire food chain from animals, feed, animals to humans. Mr. Painter goes on to say, "the new Obama administration will be faced with enormous challenges." These statements reflect another sensational statement Joe Biden back in October of 2008, when he said that "Obama should undergo a review during his first six months of his presidency. And it would be time for a very serious international crisis! " Although a cryptic remark, what he saw piracy No one really knows, but the potential of a biological attack on the food supply is plausible.

"According to French and isrælske intelligence reports, if America goes to war with Iran, they" can expect a quick retaliation against the remaining American food supply by Iranian agents. The former US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson, concerned about this before leaving office in 2003, when he said: "I, for the life of me, do not understand why terrorists have attacked our food supply, because it is so easy to do."

The possibility of bio-attack against the American food supply will be an all too real scenario We must act and prepare these opportunities in our families and communities. We must be to achieve and consume healthy food, if we are going to be Fit enough to survive what can come.

In order to know that the food we eat healthy food, we know where it came from, and what went into it. Also more "processed" a food, the less likely it will contain any real food value. This does not even take into account food, which is targeted to be contaminated. Therefore, when in doubt, choose foods that have less pillet, for example, raw foods.

Another solution is to grow their own food and can or preserve the food they have raised. This way, you know exactly what you get. In this way, you can assure yourself and your family to get the most nutritious food possible. Plus, you can have extra barter with, give away or sell.

The bottom line is this: degree, we can control exactly what goes into the food we eat is the degree we can remain unaffected by contamination food going on around us whether accidentally or on purpose.

To do so, to engage in to become the strongest we can be and not leave it to someone else. This way, we can be sure "survivors" regardless of what can.

Foods to avoid during pregnancy-Advice about avoiding food-born bacteria while pregnant

When you are pregnant is more vulnerable to food-born bacteria. Some bacteria can be found on the finding of food can cause you serious infection, so you must be extra specially careful when it comes to what you eat.

What I have put together below is a brief overview of some of the nasties, along with what foods to cut out so that you avoid them.

Listeria can cause you a mild flu like symptom during pregnancy, but can result in miscarriage, still-birth or a serious disease in a newborn baby. It is best to avoid blue-veined cheeses like Stilton and soft mould ripened cheese Brie and Camembert, although they have been produced from pasteurized milk.

Salmonella can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. This does not affect your baby directly unless you become dehydrated as a result of it. Foods to avoid raw or partially cooked eggs, such as in home made mayonnaise, mousses and ice cream.

Campylobacter can cause you have stomach cramps and diarrhea. You can avoid this by steering clear under cooked meat and Unpasteurised milk.

Finish this short list there are also other bacteria that can cause food poisoning and affect you and your baby. Generally you will find these in raw or cold seafood so give it a wide berth.

All that said, I do not wish to be too freaked. The risk of the above diseases are rare. For example, Listeria affects only 1 pregnant woman in about 20,000 and very few women catch Toxoplasmosis. However, it is helpful to know that the parasite found on dirty vegetables, in soil and in cat faeces. Make sure that you wear gloves if you plan on doing any gardening or change a cat litter tray.

Fruit juice your food

Using your own fresh ingredients when you make juice can be a physical therapy for many diseases. You can grow many wonderful foods in your own garden, then use vegetables and fruits to make your own juice taste better. There are no preservatives, artificial sugar or other unknown additives added, if you do it yourself! Make your own juice is easy and healthier than the store bought juice.

Processed juices have little or no nutritional value. They are mainly sugar or other flavor marketing advantages, but if you were to look at the label you want to see the actual content of the fruit in the bottom of the list. Unfortunately, most Americans and Europeans Choose these types of food, because they are quick and easy. While with a little preparation (most juicing recipes requires less than 15 minutes preparation time), juicing your own drinks not only is fast and easy, but also healthier.

Processed and fast food is an industry millions of dollars, as are vitamins and food supplements. So here we use the money we earn on processed food, and then goes and spending more on vitamins and food supplements! It does not make a whole lot of sense to me to spend money on food, that does not have nutrients must then spend more money on food supplements to obtain what food was missing.

Let me share a little of what I've learned in years. I have four grown, healthy children. When my first was born, feeding them, young and inexperienced with children, I am her only bottled foods. When my twins born five years later, I fed them bottled foods. You know how expensive it can get buy twice the amount of food to the twins each week? Then had not 15 months later I another. I did not have the Council three times the amount of bottled foods, so I started using my blender (it was all I had), steaming all the vegetables from my garden, until they were soft, blending them into a fruit puree (I do not add something like sugar or salt)and freezing them in small containers. I started feeding the youngest three with this food. Not only did they grow healthier, they had no food allergies, no weight problems and they grew in fact like to vegetables.

I just read a study that said that prescription drugs be taken today is the result of not consuming a high in the whole foods diet. Now, it seems to me, and research has backed up this, to eat more food that is organically grown is better, than those dealt with in who knows what conditions.

In fact, movement for healthier foods has created a high demand, and the major supermarkets have reacted by stocking of more of these types of food.

To really understand how food can be a more natural cure of many diseases, you need to understand what natural foods, and what it means for our bodies. As you know, food provides food for our body in the form of energy. If your diet consists mainly of unprocessed foods, it will strengthen your immune system, to help you to combat the disease and to heal faster. A strong immune system goes hand in hand with a healthy diet. Drink your own unprocessed fruit juice is an excellent way to give your body the nutrients it needs.

Did you know that there are over 3500 disease fighting phytonutrients in whole foods? These nutrients are only available by using the entire food juicing. Manufactured supplement can only produce about 150 of these phytonutrients.

Apple a day will keep the doctor away, how often have you heard that? With whole foods, juicing, there are plenty of truth to this idiom. When you do the whole food juice by using all of the apple, skin, stem and seeds will get you all phytonutrients locked in apple. Also, you get all the fiber, which is a prerequisite for a healthy diet. Whole foods juice from an apple, with all its vitamins, phytonutrients and fibre is really a natural health remedy.

Vitamin c of oranges has always been known, but when oranges are prepared in whole food juicing vitamin c can increase just as much a 400%. In the entire food juicing you use everything, even seed, with the exception of the clergy.

Now that you know these vitamins and phytonutrients found in whole foods, juicing, and can be used as a natural remedy for many diseases, you examine your diet and in your family by adding whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Breakfast oatmeal helps in lowering cholesterol and can be used in juicing other whole foods. Jalepeno peppers are high in iron and is a great source of vitamin C (actually have more Vitamin C per gram than most citrus fruits).

Juicing is the best way to protect our bodies and to improve our eating habits.

How to implement a HACCP food safety Program in your Restaurant-principle 1

Hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) program is not a requirement of the food service industry. Developed for 30 years ago by NASA to manage food safety in space, is HACCP since been final FDA program for controlling food-borne diseases. The HACCP system is efficient because it requires commercial kitchen to identify and trace the points where food is exposed to the agents that can cause disease. Many local boards of health to promote the application of the HACCP SYSTEM, because it is effective in controlling outbreaks and disease, but again, it is not a required program.

So why use the HACCP SYSTEM, if it is not required? Because even one customer makes sick can spell lawsuits and financial ruin for your company. Large institutions that serve thousands of meals on a daily basis like prisons and universities practice HACCP religiously for this very reason. Small independent operators and small, medium and large chains face nothing less amount of risk from food-borne diseases, and many use not yet a HACCP program to control food risks. The purpose of the HACCP system is to provide you with active managerial control over the most critical points relating to food safety in your company.

Principle 1-understanding the hazards and risk factors

This step is also the first part of the acronym HACCP: hazard analysis. The second part, critical control points (CCPs) does not make you a very good thing if you don't know which hazards control. Food-borne diseases originate from three primary groups of risks:

Biological agents: bacteria and bacteria-produced toxins, parasites and viruses.

Physical objects: jewelry, stone, glass, bone and metal fragments and packaging.

Chemical pollution: allergens, cleaning compounds, food additives, insecticides

Food-borne diseases can come from all three of these groups, although the most common and most worrying for restaurateurs, biological pollution. All three groups can be controlled by means of an effective HACCP program. So how do these dangers actually get transferred to food prepared and served in restaurants?

Here are the primary risk factors:

Food from unsafe sources. The restaurant is only one part of a long chain that brings food from the place it was harvested to the diner's table. Unfortunately for restaurants, they are the last link in this chain. This means that they stand to take the blame for food-borne diseases.

Inadequate cooking. In contrast to unsafe sources, restaurants absolutely can and should control how food is prepared.

Improper holding temperatures. Raw food and cooked food must both be stored at the correct temperature (under 41 degrees Fahrenheit) in order to prevent the spread of biological agents.

Contaminated equipment. It is used in a commercial kitchen equipment can easily upload any of the three groups of the dangers to which the above foods just before it is served to a customer.

Poor personal hygiene. Restaurant staff can also easily upload any of the three risk groups for food at the most critical time.

The most common ways to solve the above risks are:

Only buy food product from a reliable, trusted source. Also ensure the proper and safe handling when food arrives at your restaurant.

Always cook food thoroughly. Make sure untreated products you buy like dairy products and fruit juice has been pasteurized or heat treated.

Make sure food is at the correct temperature when you're hot holding, cold holding, cooking or freezing it. Also trademark food product, and follow a first in, first out (FIFO) principle strategy that ensures the oldest product is used first.

Each restaurant encounters these risk factors. In order to carry out a risk analysis in your company, carefully assess where, when, why and how occurs each of the above factors, and which of the three types of risks are involved. When you have a complete list of hazards and risks, you can begin to develop a process to addressing and minimize these problems.

Iron rich foods: Six Favorites

Ten percent of women and children are deficient in iron. Iron is critical to growth and brain health. Without adequate iron children grow not good and does not perform well in school. Women may suffer from depression and postpartum depression. Including iron-rich foods in the diet is critical. These are some of the foods with the highest content of iron.

Liver. The liver from cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and other animals is very high in iron. It is a form of iron, which is highly digestible, as well as. The biggest caution the liver should be organic, and it should not be consumed by pregnant women unless they have a known vitamin A deficiency.

CLAM. Clam is a iron powerhouse and should be a dietary staple. A popular clam dish is New England clam chowder, a creamy soup. This is a tasty dish but the cream will inhibit your absorption of some of the iron. Select Manhattan clam chowder instead.

Oysters. Oysters are an excellent source of iron and cooks up in sautes and fried dishes. Oysters have been implicated in a whole food-borne diseases, so this item is best eaten boiled.

Garbanzo Beans. Beans can be a great source of iron in vegetarian diet, but they have inhibitors which keeps you from absorb all iron. Remember to soak them overnight in very hot water. Add the meat in the dish for best absorption. A high C-vitamin food as an orange slices or tomato and fresh pepper also helps.

Fermented soya.Soya beans actually make many iron rich food lists, but the fact is that iron from soya be included very badly because of inhibitor phytic acid. Soya is a high iron food, if it is fermented and phytic acid reduced. Eat miso and tempeh as fermented soya settings.

Sesame Seeds. Sesame seeds have a high iron content, but they are best soaked with hot water overnight and then dehydrated to remove iron inhibitors. If you are up to this task, add them generous salads, and other foods for an iron Punch.

Add some of these iron-rich foods to your diet, little by little. Consider adding an iron supplement to your recipe until you get some of your energy back. If you child suffering, adding a supplement immediately and begin to change the cost in the meantime.

Keep your food safe in chilled Display case

Food security is one of the most important aspects of food service. When you use chilled display case to sell food with, there are a few things you can do to make sure your food and your customers will remain secure. There were over 300,000 cases of food borne illness is 2007. 5000 of them actually died.

As a restaurant and Shop owners, we have to do everything we can to ensure our customers. They put their confidence in us and we must meet our page, but using the equipment and procedures that keep our products secure. Many authorities on food safety requires that all lighting in chilled display case be encapsulated in the event of breakage. This ensures that the glass particles are not thrown at nearby food.

A proof of that equipment complies with the national sanitary guidelines is ETL sanitation listing. This mark means that the product has gone through testing and revision, if necessary, to prove that it meets the necessary standards. There are also some general guidelines on the preparation that are important for food safety and storage in chilled display case.

Generally ensures the cooking food until the core temperature is 75 degrees Celsius that all food borne bacteria to persish, if it exists. Food pollution is most likely to begin in the preparation part of his journey from you save for your customer. Although the guidelines for U.S. food safet is complicated, after a few basic guidelines for the preparation and serving, the can to ensure your customer safety, as you use chilled display case in you restaurant or store. An interesting fact is that there are more than 15 national agencies monitor and maintain food safety regulation.

We are still responsible for compliance with all rules and regulations, as these bodies come with it's all about the customer. Security, however.

Kitchen Design and food safety

This part from the kitchen area style process is sufficient to stain stainless steel dreams any
Chef: food security, a topic, nobody likes to talk about, but it makes headlines yet some time patrons turn out to be ill when dining. U.s. Centers for disease control estimate, you can find 76 million cases of food-borne diseases each year in the United States alone.

The reasons for around 95 percent of them never pinpointed; But if a pattern is established, points to a specific item, the supplier or place it in a restaurant, the possibility of legal liability-or at least, very bad publicity-is the greater. U.s. food and Drug Administration (FDA) developed a preliminary food safety program recognized as a food establishment Strategy Review information. The idea is to conclude the evaluation plan and submit it to the local health department before a food-related company opens its doors. In this way carries out do not need to be redone the wellness provisions-they are followed from it really begins construction.

A strategy review is not a requirement, but it is certainly a good idea for new businesses in the design phase. Checklist and guidelines cover many food buyer, handling and preparation of its concerns. Introductory questionnaire is quite comprehensive, but it is an excellent reason to PIN down all information from the new operation: number of seats and meals must be served, kind of service, staff, and so on. Necessary documents shall be submitted by means of the questionnaire is proposed menus; home page and the word strategy shows the aisles, storage spaces, toilets, cellars and any areas where the trash can be saved; and manufacturers ' specifications for the gear that has been ordered.

A flow strategy is an additional requirement such as the flow patterns of food, dishes, utensils and waste. Also necessary is really a list of foods that will be developed much more than 12 hours in advance, together with a strategy for the Security (based on the HACCP program; see following section) for each of these categories, food. This includes the techniques which they will be thawed, boiled, cool, chilled, kept warm until service and similar, including temperatures. Cold storage, should the strategy list how many types of meals are stored before they are exactly the same refrigerated space will be protected against contamination.

Strategy Review Guide also covers equipment: everything from color-coded cutting boards to avoid cross-contamination, water temperature needs for dish machines for certification needs, equipment meet sanitation safety standards. There must be plenty of hand-washing sinks, conveniently located for use by all employees; and the FDA is proposing to at least one individual in the kitchen will be certified in food safety, a recognised authority.

Know your pregnancy food to avoid

Numerous medical studies and research have given lists of pregnancy food to avoid. While the variety in food choices are encouraged among pregnant women are not all foods safe for baby. In order to ensure normal fetal development, we recommend pregnant women to be careful to choose the food they eat. Maintain balanced pregnancy diet is crucial to maintain the health of both mother and child. Regardless of the mother consumer is passed on to the baby. That is why it is important for pregnant women to take note of the following foods they should exclude in their diet.

Contaminated fish. Due to increasing pollution in lakes and seas, can be contaminated with poisonous fishes elements such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls. These chemicals often slowly accumulate in the baby's body through the mother's diet. These toxic chemicals have been linked to developmental delays and brain damage. Shark, swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel, Bluefish, striped bass, salmon, pike, trout and walleye is included on the list of pregnancy food to avoid because they usually contain these toxic elements.

Raw meat. Raw or semi-raw meat may be contaminated with bacteria such as e-coli, Toxoplasmosis and salmonella. Pregnant women are strongly advised to avoid eating raw shellfish such as oysters, mussels and clams, for they bear a majority of shellfish food-borne diseases, especially algae-related infections. Such infestation in food may hinder the baby's development.

Deli meat. Deli meat may contain listeria and is a concrete pregnancy food to avoid. Listeria is a type of bacteria that usually crosses the placenta of pregnant women, which are harmful to the baby health as a result of infection and blood poisoning in the fetus. Ensure that your deli meat not bear this pathogen, to verify that you cook or heat it until it is steam cooked.

Soft cheese. Roquefort, blue cheese, Gorgonzola, Camembert, Feta and Mexican-style cheeses such as queso blanco and queso fresco, and many other imported cheeses can cause serious health risks to the baby. Imported soft cheeses may contain listeria, which are directly linked to life-threatening risks to the baby's health. Alternatively, soft non-imported cheeses made from pasteurised milk is safe for pregnant women.

Raw eggs. Salmonella is the number one reason for why raw eggs are included in the list of foods to avoid pregnancy. Salmonella can lead to poisoning and other related problems.

The Liver. Animal liver are rich in Vitamin a. an excess of vitamin a can cause birth problems, so this food to be consumed in moderation.

Caffeine. High caffeine intake have been related to the increased risk of miscarriages, premature birth, low birth weight and withdrawal symptoms among infants. Because caffeine is a diuretic, the tendency to eliminate liquids from the body, which results in water and calcium loss.

Alcohol. Alcohol occupies pole position in the list pregnancy food to avoid. Alcohol is never good for babies, because it increases the probability of birth defects and inhibits fetal development.

Junk Food. Junk foods are loaded with preservatives and artificial flavouring substances which are not good for the baby. In addition, it will only cause problems such as vomiting and jaundice.

There are ongoing studies on the various aspects of pregnancy nutrition to guide all pregnant women to ensure their health and their baby's health, as they carry the baby full term. Be careful with entries in pregnancy food is important to avoid by restricting the factors that affect healthy pregnancy.

Natural food poisoning-food borne illness remedies, treatments, dietary supplements and possible cures

If you are experiencing the following acute (severe or sharp) symptoms, chances are you're feeling the effects of a food poisoning or food borne illness:

Frequent vomiting lasting longer than 1 day (Adult only) Severe diarrhea - loose stool every 1 to 2 hours lasting longer than 2 days. (Adult only. Children would be less than a day) Severe Dehydration - dry mouth, very dizzy or lightheaded, fast heartbeat and breathing, very little or no urine, no tears, sunken eyes, very lightheaded or dizzy. Very severe, sudden abdominal pain. Possible botulism symptoms - headache, double vision, vertigo or dizziness, loss of reflex to light. weakness, droopy eyelids, constipation, dry mouth, muscle and respiratory paralysis.

Now, you are asking, or desperately looking for something to minimize, or even cure these horrific pains?

Believe it or not, there are a number of pretty good, or at least partially good, natural remedies and treatments for alleviating food poisoning symptoms, pains etc.

The following list is based on my own research, experiences and is of course not a guarantee of anything, but are at least harmless for most normally healthy adults (allergies not included).

I grouped the remedies by general types and noted them in order based on what I believe are their effectiveness and ease of use. Also, I would not recommend mixing or trying more than one of these remedies at a time. Wait at least 1-2 or more hours before trying something else, with the exception of the re-hydrating options, which should be consumed as often as your system will allow.

Liquids

Since liquids are the quickest and easiest thing to take and generally have the quickest affective response to the symptoms, they should be tried first.

Re-Hydrating Options - not necessarily going to alleviate symptoms but are a necessary treatment for replacing loss fluids and electrolytes:

Water, water with electrolytes i.e. commercially prepared products such as Gatorade, fortified bottled water, light fruit juices such as apple juice or young coconut water; Broth or bouillon Popsicle and frozen juice bars may also help.

Teas - both to re-hydrate and to help settle a nauseated stomach:

Ginger tea and ginger extract taken with lemon juice are considered highly effective for controlling nausea; To sooth the digestive tract which has been recently ravaged, good mint tea is recommended, and tannin in tea will help neutralize the poison and all mint calms the stomach; Mint, raspberry, chamomile and blackberry herbal teas.

High Acidic Liquids - believed to help kill off harmful microorganisms and alleviate symptoms. Potentially these are most effective if taken straight or with very little dilution. In either case, drink or sip slowly and also it's recommended to rinse your mouth and teeth with water, or a baking soda water mix right afterwards. The high acid can over time destroy the enamel on your teeth.

Apple cider vinegar - 1 to 2 table spoons diluted with about 8 oz of water, or add more water for drinkability. If possible or tolerable, may be more effective to take the tablespoons straight. The most effective apple cider vinegar is supposedly unpasteurized, undistilled and unfiltered, if you can find it, otherwise try any commercial version you can find.

Soft Drinks, especially coke - provided you drink them flat, otherwise the carbonation can potentially cause further irritation of the stomach. To promptly remove carbonation, quickly pour the soda back and forth between two glasses a number of times. Then drink or sip gradually.

Grapefruit Seed Extract - 2 to 5 drops in a glass of water.

Lemon juice - I've seen different options but primarily take the juice of 2-4 lemons and either drink the juice straight or mix with warm water and sip.

Absorbents

Some form of charcoal or activated charcoal or carbon. Charcoal is natural and provides very good absorption or binding properties. It is used by emergency medical personnel for initial treatment for a variety of poisonings. It can be purchased as a capsule or powder over the counter. Follow the directions on the label. Another simple and quick option is to toast bread until it is brownish if not burnt.

Bread or Crackers. Bread or crackers can soak up poisons thereby possibly minimizing their effects.

Herbs and Natural Antibiotics

These remedies are known for there antibiotic, antiseptic and antioxidant properties:

Garlic - The quickest way to get it into your system is to cut up a small clove, (a half moon shaped piece of the garlic bulb), remove the skin or husk and swallow with water as if swallowing a pill. Other cooked forms should be just as effective. One quick way is to microwave it, (1-2 minutes depending on how much) remove the husk, and mash it to form a paste. Mix the paste with some honey or sugar, salt and spread on toast or bread.

Goldenseal Extract - a root that is related to the buttercup family of plants. Usually mixed with water. Follow directions on label.

Barberry - a shrub where the root, bark and berries have medicinal properties. Can be purchased as capsules, and fluid extracts. Again, follow directions on the label.

Papaya fruit - eaten raw or after boiled in water. Works to smooth digestion and control nausea.

There are a number of other herbs, plant seeds, roots, leaves etc. such as basil, ginseng, astragalus, ginger root, licorice, peony root, cumin, and fenugreek that have also been noted as having some minimal affects on food poisoning symptoms. As with anything new, consult and do your own research as to dosages, or follow directions on labels or advise from doctors or others in the know before trying more exotic remedies.

Other Measures to Take

Room temperature - avoid excessive heat or cold which may exacerbate symptoms such as nausea. Adjust your thermostat for maximum comfort.

Stress - you are already undergoing abnormal stress. You need to minimize all other work, or personal related stresses. Turn on smoothing music or have visitors that will help with pleasant, agreeable conversation.

Sleep - sleep allows your body to divert energy to the problem and to recover from the stress and energy needed to fight against the illness. Even after taking any of the above remedies that may help to alleviate the pain and symptoms, you won't feel close to fully recovered until after a good long sleep.

The Don'ts

Anti-diarrhea products - Do not use over the counter medicines such as Imodium or Lomtil. Diarrhea is actually your body's mechanism of flushing out toxic microorganisms. These medicines may hamper the body's ability to fight the infection. Only after consulting with and getting your doctor's approval or possible prescription should you take something like this.

Antacid products - Stay away from these products as well. As you see above, one common remedy to treat the symptoms of food poisoning is to provide more acid to your system to assist in killing off the pathogens. Antacid products will actually reduce your systems acid response and could provide a more favorable environment for bacteria to multiply, thereby prolonging and possibly worsening your symptoms.

Don't encourage or induce vomiting. At least for food poisoning related symptoms, this is not likely to help your symptoms. Your body already will recognize it has an infection or intoxication and will respond accordingly. See below to determine at what point you think you should see or call a doctor.

Avoid certain foods during initial recovery. During the first few hours to a day or so after the symptoms (i.e. diarrhea and vomiting) have stopped you digestive system will still be sensitive and weak. Stay away from heavy, high-fiber, acidic, spicy, greasy, sugary or dairy foods. Instead try simple light foods such as cereal, crackers, broth, or other light soups.

At What Point Should You See a Doctor or Go to the Emergency Room

There are certain groups of people that should contact a doctor or go to emergency at the first signs of food poisoning. These include infants or small children, elderly, anyone suffering from a chronic illness or weakened immune system (for example, HIV/AIDS, cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, or has kidney disease). These groups of people have the greatest risk of experiencing the more serious effects of food poisoning including death.

If you don not fall into this category, but you are experiencing the following more severe symptoms, then you need to call or go see your doctor or get yourself to the emergency room immediately:

Difficulty swallowing, speaking, or breathing Slurred speech, double vision or dizziness Muscle weakness or paralysis especially if occurring after eating mushrooms, canned food or shellfish Fever higher than 101degrees F along with abdominal symptoms Vomiting blood or having bloody bowel movements Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea that lasts more than two days even if able to drink fluids Cannot take normal prescribed medications because of vomiting Obvious stomach or abdomen swelling Dark colored urine or complete stop in urination Extreme thirst, a dry mouth, and when you pinch the back of your hand, the skin stays pinched Skin or eyes turn yellow Persistent, localized abdominal pain Other family members or friends who ate the same thing are also sick Symptoms begin after recent foreign travel One or more joints swell or a rash breaks out on your skin

If you are unsure, do not take any chances and at least call your doctor. Food Borne illness severely sickens in the hundreds of thousands and kills thousands of people in the U.S. alone every year.

Pet food safety-home made can eliminate uncertainty

The latest outbreak of dog food and cat food contamination have shaken confidence in pet owners around the world, but nowhere as much as in the United States where disease and reported deaths took its highest toll of family pets. Now in the wake of large scale pet food recalls, asks lots of questions about the ingredients, they have always trusted to provide optimal health for their family pets.

It is not real surprising now, many pet owners choose to make their own homemade row pet nutrition. When carried out correctly, it must be a better solution than to imported things with unknown ingredients of suspicious composition and origin. Many say it is not too difficult at all and relatively cheap to make. But a number of experts caution that homemade diets do not work for each pet or its owner. Some dogs and cats have a more difficult time adjusting to a new unit and the new process can only be also work intensively and inconvenient for many owners. Elections should only after careful consideration.

Firstly, you can get your family VET or a veterinary nutritionist recommended put together a starter diet for you to try. On the other hand, if you prefer, make the nutritional research itself. It is unfortunate, but rap against veterinarians today is similar to what doctors experienced in years past, that they know a lot about medicine, but was never learned much about nutrition. And veterinary nutritionists is accused of being little more than puppets with pet producers pulls the strings. There may be an element of truth in both, but in any case, you have to use your own judgment., however, will have some sample diet to follow at the same time, getting started is likely to be useful.

The most responsible advice is proposing to close attention to your dog or cat. You know better than anyone, pets, so you should quickly Note changes in the quality of their health, such as energy levels, a condition of your coat and stool consistency. Keep so closely next to subtle changes during the transition, as you would with changes to a food. When you decide to start with your homemade food, do it gradually to mix the new food in the old food for a few weeks. Slowly increase the ratio of new to old every day as you monitor your pets alignment.

Another trend has in recent times some owners of feeding their pets diet based largely on raw meat, vegetables and fruits. Many people believe, in fact, it is the most natural and therefore the healthiest choice for pets. Melinda Miller, President of the North American raw Pet food Association recently stated, "there is a wide range of benefits. Animals with arthritis and longstanding gastrointestinal disorders or skin problems often improve considerably after being placed on grain-free raw diet ".

For those who may be worried that introduce contaminants in their own cost, it is important to note here that the more common phobias and issues related to food borne microbes, such as salmonella is largely unfounded, with no real evidence of actual cases of the disease in animals or humans where the meat is fresh and processed in appropriate manner. Melinda Miller added, "no study has ever correlated human illness with raw-fed dogs or cats." Raw food diet is popular in Europe and have won considerable interest in the United States in the last 20 years, so that it can be regarded as yet another possible alternative to store bought brands.

A small warning:

Not just believe that you can feed your pet table scraps and assume to be a viable nutritional alternative. It is not! Pets have special needs, just as we do, so do your homework. There are many online resources, and even pets cookbooks in order to make things much easier. But in the meantime not only feed them what you eat. They will not get the nutrition they need at the very least, and the thing you're giving away them could make them sick or even kill them.

Here is a short list of foods that may be toxic to animals and should always be avoided, even in small quantities: chocolate, macadamia nuts, mushrooms, onions, garlic, leeks, chives, grapes, raisins, potato potato skins, tomatoes (cats) and beverages containing caffeine or alcohol. List of special pets may include other dangerous or sickening food, so think before you throw.

Make your own pets can definitely be a loving and caring way to ensure that your pets will get healthy nutrition it deserves and without the risk of unknown contaminants. But do your cost-benefit research first to ensure a situation in which you are familiar with including the dollar, time and balanced nutrition. Carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages for both you and your pets before deciding on this trendy alternative.

Additional information regarding care, development and security in the family's PET visit All about dogs.

Copyright 2007 Harry producer. All rights reserved. Please unchanged in welcome to share the entire contents of this article with your friends or post it on your site, as long as it is left intact with all links, including this notice.

Poor personal hygiene practice in a Restaurant and how to prevent food poisoning

The kitchen staff and food handlers of a restaurant, deli, cafeteria, meat market, bar etc. are a common source for bacteria and viral contamination in your food, that can very readily cause you be become ill. What can you do then to protect yourself and determine if the business is practicing good health and safety, and the staff good personal hygiene?

There are a number of subtle and obvious signs, practices etc. that the consumer can and should look for in a restaurant related to the personal hygiene of the food handlers. The following list of practices or requirements (by law) are designed to prevent or minimize contamination of food, either directly from the food handler, or from cross-contamination from other sources. Review each one and make a mental note to remember to look for these the next time you are patronizing your favorite restaurant or market.Look for clean clothing and aprons and hair restraints, either a hat or hairnet to hold all the hair in place for anyone handling or processing open, exposed foods. Clothing must be sufficient to cover the entire body including arms if necessary to block body hair from getting into the food. Fingernails of food handlers must be kept clean, cut or trimmed and well manicured. Hair, skin, and fingernails are common sources of bacteria that if given the right conditions for growth in food, very readily and commonly do cause illness.

Food handlers should be wearing clean aprons and should not wipe their hands on their aprons (paper or single-use disposable towels is the requirement). Aprons must be changed frequently as they become soiled or contaminated.

If the food handlers are wearing gloves, do not automatically consider this a good sign. Gloves are generally not required and at most establishments you will not see cooks or kitchen staff wearing gloves. Gloves are not a guarantee against food contamination. They can become contaminated just as easily as bare hands and the person wearing the gloves may not even realize their hands have been contaminated, whereas they would normally feel a splash or liquid contact on bare hands. Gloves are also not a substitute for washing hands. Hand washing is still required or recommended both before donning gloves for working with food, and between replacing gloves.

Gloves are still required when contacting food or food contact services if the food handler has cuts, sores, rashes, artificial nails, nail polish, rings (other than a plain ring such as a wedding band), orthopedic support devices, or fingernails that are not clean, smooth or neatly trimmed.

Utensils are also either required or recommended when processing or handling food. A utensil, instead of the hands, should be used as much as possible during processing.

Employees serving or placing ready to eat food on tableware or containers, or assembling ready to eat food should always use tongs, forks, spoons, paper rappers or gloves rather than bare hands. Bare hands, under the law in many areas, can be used if they have been just previously washed. Although as a customer, seeing bare hand contact with any ready to eat food would likely cause me to look for, or order something else.

Makeup, perfume and jewelry can also contaminate your food and should be kept to a minimum on all food handlers.

Bad habits to look for while checking out the food handlers (which includes servers, as well) are any use of tobacco, spitting, rubbing or picking the nose, ears, pimples or boils, licking their fingers, or eating while working or just eating or chewing gum in the kitchen area. All of these habits can potentially contaminate your food with hazardous germs (bacteria or viruses.)

Smoking, or any form of tobacco use, by employees is definitely not allowed in any area where food is prepared, served, or stored, or utensils are cleaned or stored, for two important reasons. (1) A person smoking can easily pick up saliva on his or her hands by touching his or her mouth or touching the cigarette that just came from their mouth. This saliva is then passed on to your food as soon as this food handler touches it; (2) The ashes and cigarette butts left behind may be dropped or spilled and thereby mixed into and contaminate your food.

Obviously ill employees cannot work in any way with exposed food, clean equipment, utensils or linens or unwrapped single use utensils. Symptoms to look out for are persistent sneezing, coughing, or runny nose, or discharges from the eyes, nose, or mouth.

Look for cross contamination. If you can see into the kitchen or processing area, you can observe how the employees handle raw products, especially meat, chicken and seafood products in relation to cooked or ready to eat products, such as salads. They should never use the same utensils, cutting boards, plates, platters or their hands for handling raw product and then turn around and use the same utensil or equipment or hand for handling cooked or ready to eat products (known as cross-contamination) without both washing and sanitizing in between. I have witnessed this both as a customer and while working as an inspector. The instances as a customer were observed at various barbeque restaurants where the employee used the same set of prongs and fork for putting the raw chicken on the grill as for taking off and processing the cooked chicken. Cross contamination is a very common and serious hazard and is a leading cause of food-borne illness.

Lastly, in California it is now state law that if the facility prepares, handles or serves non-prepackaged potentially hazardous foods (ready to eat foods), there must be an owner or employee who has successfully passed an approved and accredited food safety certification examination. Unfortunately the law in California does not require the certified owner, manager or employee to be present during all hours of operation. Check with your local Environmental Health Food Inspection Program.

This certificate with the individuals name is usually posted (though not required to be) on a wall near the entrance or where the consumers can view it. Look for it and even inquire if this person on the certificate is present. If they state that this person is no longer working for them then it's time to make inquiries to the manager and even to the Environmental Health program. I have seen both restaurants where everyone working was certified and all their certificates were posted on the wall, and the other extreme, where no one was certified.

When I do see a certificate on the wall, while as a customer, I take note of the name on the certificate and then just ask the waiter, waitress or server if this person is working today. If they are, then I take this as at least a positive sign (no guarantee of course) of improved safety. If they aren't, I might be a little more cautious or alert that before; or even worse if they say something to the effect that this person no longer works here, I would then bring it to the attention of the manager or owner stating that that they need to replace him or her and take down this certificate. I would also contact the local Environmental Health Food Inspection Program for further investigation.

If you observe any of these hazards or potential violations you have really 3 actions you can take:

1. Immediately notify the manager and request the problem be remedied at once (washing hands, discarding the contaminated food, providing a utensil, etc.) and then determine whether to stay depending of the how well the manager reacts.
2. Say nothing and leave without ordering anything.
3. Say nothing, and proceed as if nothing had happened and hope for the best. I would hope that most of us who have experienced the pain and symptoms of a food poisoning, would not take this approach.

Regardless of how you immediately act, I would recommend you still get on the phone or internet and contact your local Environmental Health Food Inspection Program and make a complaint. Believe it or not, one main function and responsibility of the local food inspection and enforcement agency is to respond to and address complaints received by the public. These local government enforcement agencies depend on you to be a second set of eyes and ears as to what is happening in your neighborhood. Most facilities are inspected perhaps on average, and at best, twice per year, and the inspector is only there for an hour or so at most. Therefore, you, being a regular or even occasional customer, may very likely see and experience things that the inspector will never see.

Leave your name and phone number so they can contact you with their findings after the inspection. (Most departments have a strict policy of maintaining complainants information confidential.) They may not observe what you observed but they will bring the complaint to the attention of the manager or owner and will be alert to it at future inspections.

Raw cat food-why it is the best diet For your cat, and what are the tradeoffs you?

The biggest myth surrounding cat ownership is that cats are worry free, self-contained and self-providing pets that require little or no maintenance. Cats are so good at giving people the impression of independence and self-reliance that people believe they don't have to provide the highly focused attention to cats that, say, dogs require. The fact of the matter is that cats do require the same attention to detail that any dog does, and maybe even a little more, in some cases. This is especially true when it comes to probing the controversy regarding whether raw cat food is better that canned cat food or kibbles for your feline ward.

It's a sad thing to look around our country these days and see so many people who have allowed themselves to become overweight and then have to deal with the consequential suffering and ill-health effects of obesity. Diabetes, shortness of breath, constant exhaustion from lugging around so many extra pounds and lowered self-esteem. Of course, the garment industry is singing happy tunes with all the extra thread they have to put together. T

here's no shortage of explanations for why this situation has come about, but I think when it comes down to it we can only blame ourselves at the individual level for allowing such a condition to take root. After all, how many pounds overweight does one have to get before they realize that something's not right and becoming a problem 10, 20. 50 lbs And how long does it take to realize that the magic pills, diets, elixirs and effortless, lose weight with no work out machines are products being marketed to your ego, to separate you from your bank account, and not to solve your problem No the only way to find an ideal normality is with thorough research, discovery and a lot of hard work accompanied with a healthy life style change. But, enough sermonizing about the human condition. This is about cats, their eating habits and raw cat food.

One thing needs to come along with this discussion from the previous paragraph. Most people are not experts in animal nutrition and rely on others to lead them in the right direction. The source for most experts available to a person for their daily decision making and selection of choices usually comes to us through the traditional media of radio, newspapers, television and now, the internet. Media offers two kinds of resources. Investigative reporting which is presented in newscasts or opinion pieces, and secondly, the marketing hype that provides commercial broadcast funding. The former is reliable enough to put credence into and might call for further research on your part if it interests you. The latter really only wants you to spend your money with them. That's not necessarily bad it does ultimately put people to work and provides many with an adequate, and even comfortable living. Unfortunately, the bottom line is corporations only have one objective in the end. That is to feed their bottom line. Now recent events have caused many to reconsider the morality behind a corporations goals. But, as long as this market structure is the paradigm for our economy, the ultimate goal for big business will always be to maximize their profit-loss statements towards the profit end of the spectrum, any way they can get away with, and at your expense literally.

So, what does this have to do with cats and if raw cat food is what you should be feeding them? Simply put, most people rely on the marketing hype to base their decisions regarding the food they feed their pets. Which is exactly the wrong source for basing such a critical decision. Take the cat for example. It's not only a scientific fact, but a cultural one also, that the cat is described as an obligate carnivore. This defines cats as creatures who derive most of their food nutrients from the animals they hunt and consume (raw cat food). When a cat devours it's prey, she will eat everything including not only muscle meat, but the brains, organ meat and the stomach and its contents which may consist of grasses and grains. One thing she doesn't do is fire up a stove and saute or bake her dinner, or prepare a nice sauce to go with it. She eats it raw. Cultural purists use this description as an argument that feeding cats store bought, mass produced canned or dry cat food is doing your cat a disservice by depriving her of the natural nutrients she would normally get in the raw cat food she captures in the wild, and for which she was biologically designed.

Pottenger's cats
Francis M. Pottenger, Jr. (1901 - 1967) was the son of Francis M. Pottenger, Sr., the physician who co-founded the Pottenger Sanatorium for treatment of tuberculosis in Monrovia, California. Between 1932 and 1942 he conducted what is know as the Pottenger Cat Study. One part of this study was what effect heat had on the nutrient value of raw food. In other words, what happens to food when you cook it.

"Pottenger used donated laboratory cats to test the potency of the adrenal extract hormones he was making. The adrenal glands of these cats were removed for the experiments and Pottenger noted that most of the cats died during or following the operation. He was feeding the cats a supposedly nutritive diet consisting of raw milk, cod liver oil and cooked meat scraps of liver, tripe, sweetbread, brains, heart and muscle.

When the number of donated cats exceeded the supply of food available, Pottenger began ordering raw meat scraps from a local meat packing plant, including organs, meat, and bone; and fed a separate group of cats from this supply. Within months this separate group appeared in better health than the cooked meat group. Their kittens were more energetic and, most interestingly, their post-operative death rate was lower.

At a certain point, he decided to begin a controlled scientific exploration. Pottenger conducted studies involving approximately 900 cats over a period of ten years, with three generations of cats being studied.

Meat study:

In one study, one group of cats was fed a diet of:

Two-thirds raw meat, one-third raw milk, and cod-liver oil A second group was fed a diet of two-thirds cooked meat, one-third raw milk, and cod-liver oil.

The cats fed the all-raw diet were healthy while the cats fed the cooked meat diet developed various health problems:

By the end of the first generation the cats started to develop degenerative diseases and became quite lazy. By the end of the second generation, the cats had developed degenerative diseases by mid-life and started losing their coordination. By the end of the third generation the cats had developed degenerative diseases very early in life and some were born blind and weak and had a much shorter life span. Many of the third generation cats couldn't even produce offspring. There was an abundance of parasites and vermin while skin diseases and allergies increased from an incidence of five percent in normal cats to over 90 percent in the third generation of deficient cats. Kittens of the third generation did not survive six months. Bones became soft and pliable and the cats suffered from adverse personality changes. Males became docile while females became more aggressive. The cats suffered from most of the degenerative diseases encountered in human medicine and died out totally by the fourth generation.

At the time of Pottenger's Study the amino acid taurine had been discovered but had not yet been identified as an essential amino acid for Cats. Today many cats thrive on a cooked meat diet where taurine has been added after cooking. The deficient diets lacked sufficient taurine to allow the cat's to properly form protein structures and resulted in the health effects observed. Pottenger himself concluded that there was likely an "as yet unknown" protein factor (taurine) that may have been heat sensitive.

Milk Study:

In another study, dubbed the "Milk Study,", the cats were fed 2/3 milk and 1/3 meat. All groups were fed raw meat with different groups getting raw, pasteurized, evaporated, sweetened condensed or raw metabolized vitamin D milk. The cats on raw milk were the healthiest while the rest exhibited varying degrees of health problems similar to the previous cooked meat study.

This particular Pottenger cat study has been cited by advocates of raw milk as evidence that it is likely healthier for humans than pasteurized milk.

Though Pottenger's experiments don't conclusively verify that raw cat food diets are better for sustaining a healthy support for the physiological needs of cats than cooked (canned) or dry kibbles, (because he didn't use canned cat food or kibbles in the experiments) certain conclusions can be drawn.

Cooking meat can destroy certain food nutrients, namely amino acids (proteins) Cats thrive more healthily on raw meat rather than cooked meat with less degenerative results Cooking meat for your cat requires the replacement of the essential amino acid taurine, and possibly other nutrients destroyed in the cooking process

Pet food marketing hype says that "XYZ" cat food products are healthy for your pet because it adds "ABC" nutrients, vitamins and minerals to their product which safeguards your cat's health. Fortunately, marketing laws require that the ingredients in any given product be listed on the packaging of your cat's food. Ultimately, it is left up to you to make the decision about which is the best shelf product for your cat.

For a discussion that details interpreting cat food labels CLICK HERE

Today's problem plagued market place has left many in doubt as to whether the corporate entities that supply the bulk of our aggregate necessities can continue to be worthy of our trust. Arrogance and greed have always gone head to head with social morality and it's usually the end user that ends up paying with unnecessary suffering. Many pet owners have now taken matters into their own hands and are resorting to providing from raw ingredients meals made with their own hands for their pets. It's not a bad step but certain measures, which include a life-style change, need to be taken when preparing your pet's meals to keep her safe from bacterial infection and insure that her nutritional needs are met.

Here's an example of a raw cat food meal preparation from scratch:

2 kg [4.4 pounds] raw muscle meat with bones (chicken necks are mostly cartilage, are easy to chop and easy for the cat to digest) thighs and drumsticks or, better, a whole carcass of rabbit or chicken amounting to 2 kg; if you don't use a whole carcass, opt for dark meat like thighs and drumsticks from chicken or turkey) 400 grams [14 oz] raw heart, ideally from the same animal (if no heart is available, substitute with 4000 mg Taurine) 200 grams [7 oz] raw liver, ideally from the same animal (if you can't find appropriate liver, you can substitute 40,000 IU of Vitamin A and 1600 IU of Vitamin D but try to use real liver instead of substitutes). NOTE: If you cannot find the heart or liver and decide to substitute with the Taurine or Vitamin A and D, then remember to replace the missing amount of organ meat with the equivalent amount of muscle meat. In other words, if you cannot find heart, you add another 400 grams of the meat or bones. If you can't find the liver, add another 200 grams of meat/bones.

16 oz [2 cups] water
4 raw egg yolks (use eggs from free-range, antibiotic-free chickens if you can)4 capsules raw glandular supplement (such as, for example, "Raw Multiple Glandular" from Premier Labs)4000 mg salmon oil
200 mg Vitamin B complex
800 IU Vitamin E ("dry E" works well) Buy Vitamin E in dry powder form. It's much easier to deal with than those little oil-filled capsules.OPTIONAL: 1/4 teaspoon of kelp and 1/4 teaspoon of dulse (1/2 teaspoon total) Try and get dulse and kelp in powder form that you can easily measure with a teaspoon rather than in capsule form. Taking apart those capsules is time consuming. If you can only find kelp in caplet form, you'll need to spend time crushing the caplets with a mortar and pestle.OPTIONAL: 4 teaspoons psyllium husk powder (8 teaspoons if using whole psyllium husks)

It looks like this recipe will produce about 5- 6 lbs of finished raw cat food product which would feed a single cat for several weeks. That means most of it would have to be frozen in individual air tight containers and thawed as needed.

The digestive system of a cat is designed to handle things human systems can't. Their stomachs have a highly acidic environment, which is an excellent deterrent to ingested bacteria such as e coli and salmonella. In the wild, cats sometimes eat some pretty iffy stuff with no ill effects. Wild cats die more often from infection due to injuries than from food poisoning. However, there are steps you can take if you have concerns about raw cat food bourn bacteria.

Avoid packaged supermarket ground beef using whole chunks of meat instead Buy "free-range" meat and poultry as fresh as possible Add priobiotics (which help maintain intestinal health) to your raw food preparation Proper handling of raw cat food is essential since some raw cat food may contain bacteria that could cause illness to you or your pets. Be sure to keep raw cat food meat and poultry separate from other foods. Wash hands prior to, and after handling raw cat food. Wash working surfaces, bowls, and utensils that come in contact with raw meat with hot, soapy water. Always wash your hands after cleaning your cat's waste; this includes litter boxes. Pick up and dispose of uneaten raw cat food within 30 minutes of feeding your cat

Preparing raw cat food meals from scratch for your cat is a labor of love indulged in by purists. Most people don't have the time, and maybe lack the talent to take on such a task. If you count yourself among this latter group, rest easy. Ready-made products are finding their way to the market place. There are complete raw cat food meals which are shipped frozen and there are mixes which all you have to do is add the meat. Just remember that if you are going with the mix, be certain that the essential amino acids such as taurine are included. If not then be sure to add the heart (a source for taurine) and other organ meat from the same animal if possible, with the raw cat food meal so that your cat won't be deprived of these critical ingredients.

So, what are the trade-offs you ask

Well, for one thing you will have to forego the convenience of one-stop-shopping in the supermarket pet food aisles. Orders for raw cat food meals or mixes are mostly made on-line so you will have to deal with credit or debit cards. Pre-planning will have to be regular routine so that you don't run out of raw cat food before the next shipment arrives. If a shipment thaws, you will have to return it because you won't want to take any chances with bacterial infection. Most companies will honor returns due to thawing. And, if you prepare raw cat food meals completely from scratch, be prepared to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen with this task.

The real trade-off is with the quality of cat food you will be providing. The store bought meal based cereal foods will be replaced with the high quality fresh foods that cat's were designed for. Some cats may balk at the transition at first because they weren't socialized with raw cat food as kittens. But, their health will show marked improvement, you will probably be surprised by the results which can be compared to how your cat behaved before being fed a fresh, high quality raw cat food diet that meets their needs nutritionally, plus their immune systems will be stronger giving your cat a chance for a longer, healthier life.

Ask any monk or even the ordinary, next-door-neighbor contemplative type, and they'll tell you that life is not easy; suffering is the characteristic that describes much of the existence in this corner of the Universe, and that the punishment for ignoring this fact is to bear more suffering. Yet this suffering can be relieved with even a little knowledge and understanding of why and how things can operate to ease your burden. It does take a willingness on your part to change and accept new habits to accommodate a changed life-style. But, knowledge and understanding cannot be acquired through osmosis. It takes a lot of work to comprehend even a small amount of the sense that holds life together. One can't depend on epiphanies either. Like magic and miracles, instant knowledge occurs only rarely and you can grow old waiting for it while your cat pines for a raw cat food meal. It'd be like huffing and puffing along wondering why you're carrying around all that extra baggage.