MAKE FOOD GREAT AGAIN.

AND HEAL OUR WORLD. (Without a red hat)....

Nov 21, 2023

With apologies…. This was sent out yesterday evening to paid subscribers only. MEA CULPA.

“I wish you a world free of demons, and full of Light.” Carl Sagan to his Grandson.

Over recent weeks I have posted on how Climate change issues relate to water and air quality, ie:- our Health. I have offered solutions via personal involvement in political process, and via intelligent reduction of ones “Commercially induced” consumption. Both of these avenues present dishonestly imposed third party barriers to change. FOOD is a different kettle of fish as there is much we can do ourselves - short term, even immediately - without interference. As each of us have different dietary needs, it’s worth doing a bit of research, to give a clearer idea of what will serve you and yours the best. On the journey we will encounter A) some unpleasant truths about Factory / Megamarket Chain FAKE Foods; And B) what would be genuinely Healthier (and Happier) alternatives. REAL Food is Good Medicine.

A Personal Anecdote :- From kid to retirement age I enjoyed a fairly healthy diet, but coupled it with a steadily increasing quantity of (oxymoronic) convenience foods. This finally led to me being diagnosed as Diabetic, was prescribed pills with side effects, more pills to cure ‘em, which failed giving more. Repeat five times for a world of gut pain, for which they gave me cancer pain relief pills - BEFORE even testing me for a cancer I didn’t have. I ditched the lot, researched and commenced finding a totally healthy diet. Cured myself.

During that same period I studied the history of the NHS, discovered that Jeremy Hunt, Thatcher’s Hatchet wielder had corrupted the management with U.S. Big Pharma and engineered a very real threat of unemployment in the faces of any British House Doctors who refused to medicate rather than heal. Many have gone already, Hunt is now Sunak’s Chancellor. There are of course many Doctors in western countries that do care about caring, have not succumbed to pressure, and some who are now playing a valuable role to combat these evils. …. Read Drs Roger McFillin’s and Julia Patterson’s Substacks. The real point I make here is that to trust Big Pharma, Corrupt Politicians and Big Food with our health is Sheer Folly. We have to take it upon ourselves, Don’t we ?? Make it Personal, together, Peacefully….

Just for the record I am not a qualified dietician, medic, chef. Nor am I into conspiracy theories. I am a well read concerned citizen blessed with a multitude of diverse life experiences and a non-religious passion for our beautiful planet. I do not believe that it is for me to tell you what to eat, No Way. That said, I do strongly suggest that we should all avoid Junk food and Ultra Processed Fake food - Like the Plague - WHY ? Because it is The Plague, and it’s worse than Covid. Here’s the definition of UPF’s - “Industrially Produced Edible food-Like Products” **, Which btw, often includes “Repurposed food waste”, as an essential ingredient along with Bacteria Poop labelled as Xantham Gum. It’s on a heck of a range of labels, used ‘cos it’s a cheap “Long Shelf Life Additive”. Don’t let this crap shorten your life - watch the fine print. Particularly on Big Brand low or nonfat dressings, sauces, mayos. These are frequently promoted as healthy weight loss aids. But they actually do the opposite. Ouch. Obesity…

** means ONLY that one can pass it through one’s body…..

Bugs love warm Ice Cream. Big Brand Ice Cream is adulterated with so many money saving UPFs that imitate the flavours of the old fashioned good stuff, to allow it to be shipped at a much higher temperature, getting refrozen at point of sale. Which saves an even larger amount of money. Q). How do they combat the high risk of bugs ? A). More additives.

I mentioned life experiences above. Foodwise, these include being an underpaid child laborer, doing backbreaking picking work on a farm, a few weeks in an unsafe and unsanitary factory making kids sweets for Big name Brands, and two stints in bread making where the ingredients included chalk powder, paper hats, cigarette butts and Urine. Also worked in Cafes and Hotels, which were less awful, but not what one would recommend.

OK, let’s move on……

During my (ongoing) research I discovered an important document on a method of Categorizing the processing of foods, good stuff to fake. It’s known as NOVA 4 Foods, and it is well covered by numerous websites. The important one is on the life work of C.A. Montiero who created the method. Other sites offer support and praise, yet a few point out discrepancies. Whilst this is expected within scientific debate, I noticed that the decriers were mostly from writers, already known to have vested interests in Big Food and Big Pharma. Now don’t allow this deliberate obfuscation to deter your own research. Montiero’s life story is a reassuring validation of his research, conclusions and the method itself. One doesn’t have to be a qualified scientist to read, understand and make judgements on any of this stuff. All one needs is common sense and ones own existing observations. We ain’t stupid.

The Categories are :-

Group 1). Unprocessed and minimally processed foods. Group 2). Processed culinary ingredients. Group 3). Processed foods. Group 4). Ultra-processed foods. It is group 4 where we need to be vigilant. Think about the vast sums of money (which used to be yours) that has to be invested to A) initiate tech advancement for UPFs, B) the infrastructure to create the foul stuff. C) Totally dishonest marketing to drive Overconsumption. D) Evading legal challenges. E) Profit. All without any consideration for improving our health, or our ecological systems. Each manufacturer competes on price with the others - a race to the bottom. That the whole B.F. Industry is also in competition for your money with Housing, Energy, Transport, Medicare, etc., where escalations in prices result in dwindling household food budgets. This is what drives the Fake food Industry onwards and downwards, infiltrating almost every item in the Chain Megamarkets.

Obesity served on a plate, side dishes of cancer and dementia, heart attack for desert. Mmmm Yummy on the label.

YES Dementia ! Just a few days on a UPF diet whilst diminishing one’s appetite control, lowers the adult basal metabolic rate - ie :- how many calories are burnt by a body at rest. Our brains are only 2% of our body weight but burn 23% of total calories (Babies 74%). A diet of nutrition poor UPFs leads to low satiation, ergo eating more crap, ergo weight gain, ergo muddy thinking, ergo lower IQs, ergo lower emotional control, ergo inability to cope with stress…. HOHOHO shouts Big Pharma “have some supplements, they rarely help much but boy ! they are profitable !”

Which brings me to Magnesium, a vital element in both Brain and Muscle health, yet seriously lacking in the Western diet. Researching these subjects brought the realization that I myself had a serious deficiency, requiring further fine tuning of my ever healthier diet. There’s more than enough RDI in certain nuts, seeds and unsweetened chocolate, mostly flavors I didn’t enjoy. After just four months of getting used to eating this good and natural stuff I now Do Enjoy them. Around the time, my Diabetes disappeared 7YA, came my 7 year old diagnosis of MA, for which the treatment was paracetamol, a mobility scooter and walking sticks. Six months ago the pain became debilitating, so back to the research. Thanks to the nuts and choc - I no longer need the scooter, and can manage longer distances with only on stick. Moreover I am achieving computer skills that were once beyond me, whilst studying to improve my French and electro-magnetic theory…….. Tip - I whip 35gr unsweetened pure chocolate powder with cold water and a banana. Gives me 64% of my RDI as a desert for my brain.

Food is something that each of us can take a closer look at, on a conscious self help journey with positive impacts for our families, neighborhoods and planet. But it can be time consuming to get deep. For instance - The above tip - 40gr daily is the max safe choc powder, so I keep it a bit below and skip some days. Then there’s the issue with calcium, like don’t drink this simple mix within two hours of consuming dairy, as the calcium will negate the magnesium benefits. Consume the other way round it’s seven hours. Nevertheless it’s worth the effort. Just research the papers that don’t sound like an advert, or believe labels with cartoons. Me, well I’m getting more interested as I go…. Recently I have been discussing, with friends and family the possibility of acquiring a piece of land, perhaps with tumbledown buildings to restore and mold into a base for projects such as :-

1). Alternative construction tech - Wind, Solar, Composting Toilets (I have a little experience) and natural insulation, extracting drinking water from air (researching). I already have a great deal of experience in standard construction work.

2). Experiments in growing highly nutritious chemical free foods in the face of climate change.

3). Yurt and tiny house construction, for guests and volunteers. (Designed and built a range of woodworks over a 13 year period prior to Exiting Brexit).

4). Developing a haven for Artists and also for Writers, particularly (not exclusively) for those who pen on these themes.

The best place seems to be S.W. France, where I intend to travel from next May to examine suitable sites, Posting intermittently “On the Road”

Our World is changing like never before. To survive, Our Global Society must also change like never before. We the people must ensure that it happens, n’est pas ? Making Food Great Again is an essential role in the battle to Heal Our World.

Yes, I Author !

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