You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2011.
We’re still putting some final touches on it, but by the end of March we’ll be launching a new website. We hope it will help our online visitors find out more easily what’s happening at the Centre. Everything about Carp Ridge services will be in one easy-to-navigate place. Take a quick peek at a few of the pages, coming soon to a computer near you:
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by Donna Dillman
Through the coaching process, you will deepen your learning, improve your performance, and ultimately enhance your life and the life of those around you.
If you are wondering what the value of personal coaching is, clients can be charged up to $100 for their one-hour session, but the true value really lies in the final outcome.
We can set up a time or to ask any questions that you may have prior to committing to a session. To make the timing easier to fit into busy schedules (like ours), the session can be over the phone.
And together we’ll make it fun!
Life-Career-Transformation Coaching, available for phone or in-person sessions at: 613-259-9988 or email: dillman54@sympatico.ca
Looking for the perfect place to relax?
Semi-private location, close to local shopping, hospital and golfing. Located in the Ottawa Valley, four hours from Toronto, two hours from Ottawa, and one hour to Algonquin Park.
Brand new home, sleeps six, three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, walk out basement. Smoke free.
Dock, canoe and kayak. $1,000/week.
Please contact Carolyn at 613-639-2002 or cmillard@xplornet.com for more info and availability.
by Marlene Powers Johnston
Carp Ridge Learning Centre had the opportunity to spend the day with the the television and filming crew of ‘CBC The National’ a few weeks back, and a story aired on March 7th about Environmental Education in Canada, which highlighted CRLC’s Forest Preschool.
The crew spent the day on site, experiencing the ridge and the cold winter weather, while following around five preschooler’s as they meandered and explored the wooded areas.
We are hoping this exposure willl increase the credibility and importance of this work, and will highlight the many educational and health benefits of sustainable and outdoor education. You can view the video that aired by visiting our homepage at: www.carpridgelearningcentre.ca
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Homeschooler’s Wilderness Program is accepting registration for our Spring Session. The day program is an outdoor-based holistic education experience for 7-12 year olds.
We focus on nature awareness and education, group and personal safety, leadership skills and mentoring, physical and emotional wellbeing, and learning sustainable practices.
Spring session runs
April 5th – June 23rd.
Weekdays available:
Tuesday & Thursday from 9:30am –3:30pm
Possible Activities:
- shelter building
- fire techniques
- cooking -folklore
- camping basics
- animal tracking
- wildlife viewing
- edible plants
Contact us, and get online registration forms at www.carpridgelearningcentre.ca
info@carpridgelearningcentre.ca
613-839-9315
Writing this blog right now is a good reminder for me that I’m not sick. I’m healing. Even though I am tired to the bone, with achey muscles, a runny nose, a scratchy voice and a persistent cough, all of which have been dragging on for over a week now, this is a good thing. I am healing decades of fear and my lungs are repairing the damage of all that stress and I should be doing as little as possible to allow this repair to take place. This is what German New Medicine teaches me.
It’s a strange perspective isn’t it? It seems strange to me at this particular moment and makes me realize that this is how my patients must feel when I blithely tell them that their symptoms are a good sign with great enthusiasm and confidence. It’s much easier to see from that side. . .
On the other hand, there is also the naturopathic perspective: this is the start of cleansing season, which naturally causes the expulsion of mucous, and I am run down, with low adrenals, liver and pancreas from decades of living stressfully. Which means I should be eating lightly, relaxing and resting as much as possible. Not resting enough has resulted in my symptoms continuing for this long.
Both perspectives are obviously true for me and the main point is to REST MORE. This is the part that I haven’t learned enough yet, how to put everything else on hold, (other than Felix of course), so that I can do the activity which will benefit me and those around me more than anything: restore my energy from medium to high. The investment in time would be more than paid back in improved relationships and productivity.
I know this intellectually. And at the same time, I am driven by the insecurity of never being enough and needing to prove otherwise through my achievements. Not particularly unique, I know. Over the years, I have chinked away at this sense of “devaluation” (German New Medicine term) with small steps toward better self-care. It’s time for another step, I’m just not sure what it is.
However, instead of cracking my fuzzy brain in public over this, I will take a nap before my next meeting and plan several days off later this week and over the weekend. I just need to STICK to it. This is much harder than not eating sugar for a year, grin! I’ll let you know next month how it’s going. . . .
Hope your seasonal change is smoother than mine,
cheerfully in spite of it all,
Katherine
by Katherine Willow ND
Two people asked me recently about soy products in relation to the topics of hyperactivity and breast cancer. They also wanted to know what was a good dairy substitute if not soy.
Soy is an interesting topic, as it is one of those quintessential health foods which is rapidly falling out of favour.
Several decades ago in North America, soy seemed like God’s gift to vegetarians as a source of protein with 19.5 grams per 100 gram serving of tempeh — although less than half of that for tofu. Whole communities grew up around eating soy instead of animal products and the soybean was made into everything from milk to ice cream to cheese to fake meats.
Fast forward to today where we have learned that soy is probably one of the unhealthiest foods we can choose for the following reasons:
- Being high in phytates, soy binds with minerals, especially zinc, and prevents them from being absorbed and used in our bones and elsewhere.
- Soy consumption can lead to digestive discomfort, bloating and gas due to blocking an enzyme called trypsin that breaks down protein.
- The high level of plant estrogen, isoflavones, interrupts normal hormone levels and can cause a heavier menstrual flow, cramping, infertility and a lowered libido in men. Soy has been used by monks in monasteries in the east for that very reason!
- Soy infant formulas can feminize boys and accelerate puberty in girls.
- Isoflavones also lower thyroid function, leading to fatigue, low energy, depression, hair loss, poor skin, weight gain and diminished sex drive.
- Haemagglutinin in soy is clot-promoting, causing red blood cells to clump together.
- Soy is a frequent allergy and so could be a cause of hyperactivity, although this is not specifically presented in the research I have seen.
As for the question about the plant estrogen or isoflavones causing breast cancer, all the studies I have seen so far say the answer is inconclusive. My personal opinion is that it doesn’t and I wouldn’t worry about eating a little soy a few times a week, especially if it is fermented as in tempeh, natto and miso, or even a little soymilk once in a while if one tolerates it well. A detailed article which addresses this topic can be found at: www.vegetarian_nutrition.info/vn/soy_breast_cancer.php
If you are surprised by and unfamiliar with the negative claims about soy and would like to examine some of the evidence and reasoning, I would suggest you look up the following resources:
1. ‘Nourishing Traditions’ by Sally Fallon
2. Dr. Mercola’s website: www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm
Now let’s explore replacements for soymilk.
I would agree with avoiding cow’s milk for regular use that if you are a healthy adult, however I do recommend raw cow’s milk from grass fed cows for children and youth and adults who need a build-up of strength if they don’t have a sensitivity to it. Although it is illegal in Ontario to sell raw milk (hopefully not for too much longer), one can obtain it by joining a cow share. Similarly, one can acquire raw goat milk, which is easier to digest for many people.
A version of cow’s milk that may suit you is to dilute a good quality yogurt, optimally made with whole raw milk and bacteria, with water to taste. This is called a lassi in India and is very refreshing.
There is quite an array of plant-based milks other than soymilk in cartons on health food store and even grocery store shelves made from rice, almond, hemp and oat. I wouldn’t recommend them as optimal for regular consumption, although they are convenient, as they are too processed, usually contain some form of sugar and are not as vital as something you make yourself. Here are some possibilities:
a) Almond milk: blend soaked skinless almonds with 3-6 cups water depending on how you like the texture; you can add stevia as a harmless non-sugar sweetener; Sally Fallon recommends using fermented liquids and has recipes in her book mentioned above.
b) Rice milk: Sally Fallon has a recipe for fermented rice milk and you can make a simple unfermented version just by blending cooked rice and water
c) Tahini milk: one of my favourites to use in cereals or over fruit; plop some tahini (sesame butter) into your cereal bowl and slowly add water to make a paste, adding more water to make “milk”—it’s delicious, simple and nutritious!
d) Try the same procedure with any other nut butter ie almond, sunflower or cashew for variety.
e) Consider introducing some fermented non-milk drinks into your life for the exceptional health benefits they provide. All long-lived cultures included fermentation.
Please don’t think you have to be too rigid with your diet. A gradual move toward optimal is usually best for most of us unless we are dealing with a serious health issue, in which case you might want to move a little more quickly.
Food Fights, part 12
(previous ‘Food Fights ‘ posts are in the Archive section)
Editor’s note: Karen Secord went to Guatemala for the month of February and helped build cook stoves for the Guatemala Stove Project based in Perth, Ontario. She also visited community outreach & service programs while there, bringing supplies donated by the Carp Ridge Learning Centre and other organisations.
Karen kept a blog where you can read her diary and see other great photos.
Some of her trip photos are included: 1, Karen & friend Marg on their last night in San Pedro. 2, Raw macadamiam nuts. 3, Market in Guatemala. 4, Mother feeding her boy, who has cerebral palsy. 5, Little boy at local market. 6, “Feeding day” in La Pinada school. 7, Fruit market stall. 8, A Guatemalan face.
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by Karen Secord
The Facts are Nothing but Facts, or, Be Careful Who You Emulate
It’s funny how food is everything.
As I’m writing this I realize how incredibly ridiculous it sounds. Of course food is everything. Without it we wouldn’t survive. It is the fuel that gives us the energy to walk through life with a zip in our step. . . or not.
So I sit and ponder.
Yes, it goes without saying that food is everything. But what I really want to say is that food is EVERYWHERE.
But maybe saying “food” is really a misnomer. Because real food is not everywhere. Real food offers nourishment. It grows toward the sun out of fertile earth or hangs majestically from tree branches. Real food is the combination of natural ingredients thoughtfully used to create an infinite number of body-building taste sensations.
Real food nourishes our body, mind and soul.
That statement alternates between sounding corny and old fashion, hippy’ish and new age. Regardless, I have never been more convinced of its accuracy than I am today. I have lived it, felt it, fought it, breathed it in and vomited it.
Five years ago I weighed 304 pounds. One year ago I weighed 272 pounds. Today I weigh 154 pounds. I think I know a little something about the power of food — real or not.
Reality Check Fact #1:
My consumption of real food diminished as my weight increased.
I grew up in the heyday of processed “foods”. It was a time when television exploded and visual advertising joined corporate greed to invent a thirst for the obscenely unhealthy, a thirst so all-encompassing that it could not be quenched. We followed along, believing if it was said on television, then it was surely true.
Reality Check Fact #2:
The mere thought of a treat evokes visions of mouth-watering, nutrient-deficient sugary/salty/greasy tidbits.
I grew up associating the word “treat” with something sweet or extra or not an everyday thing. It was special; special in a good way. The only constant was that “treat” was always food — my Aunt Bi’s gooey Nanaimo squares, 10-cent chocolate bars from the “plaza”, lollipops from good behaviour in class, and burgers from the A&W drive-in.
Reality Check #3:
Education gave me another chance at life.
My education. The education of others. An educated society. Make no mistake I owe my healthy well-being, as it exists today, to all of the above.
So, I was dismayed, disheartened, saddened to tears — and beyond — to see history repeating itself in Guatemala.
At a medical clinic in San Juan we were told that diabetes is approaching epidemic proportions.
A Central American country with a population of approximately 15-million, Guatemala is a study in contrasts. Here the vast majority of its people — creative, talented, amazingly friendly and beautiful— live in abject poverty. Like the land they inhabit, they are forgotten, neglected, abused, and lost. They are also grossly undereducated.
In the simplest of terms Guatemala, as a developing country, is emulating the worst of us. The collective Western us. The us that means me and you.
Guatemala is us in our pre-recycling, pro-plastic, industrialization phase. . . only worse. Because our version of “modern” has reached them, haunts them, has tricked them into believing the propaganda of irresponsible corporations like MacDonald’s and Coca-Cola.
Thus, pornographic amounts of unnecessary packaging are dumped everywhere. Life-sucking pollution extinguishes beauty. Over-fed yet malnourished, commercialized children mindlessly devour the over-processed unfood contents of school-side tiendas. And gratuitous violence goes unchecked.
In rural Guatemala women grow vegetables. Luscious fruit, the likes of which we have never seen in Canada. . . thick juicy mangos, sweet tangy pineapple and big bodacious oranges. They take them to the market to sell. But they become a commodity for daily income, not a food consumed by their children.
For many families soda pop replaces clean water, because pop is more readily available. And because it is what they believe defines success. Television has a tight grip on them, as it did on me in my youth.
Thick black exhaust spews from the back of almost every “chicken bus” (dangerous mass human transport that gringo’s avoid if they know what’s good for them).
Illiteracy is rampant. Schools require fees and uniforms and books and parents able to pay. No one seems to care if children don’t attend. Class sizes average 70 students per teacher. Creative thinking is not encouraged, repetition is.
March 31 marks the one year anniversary of my forced-food-consumption-turn-around. My wish for 2011 is that health education becomes a priority in countries like Guatemala, so that they don’t repeat the mistakes I have made, we have made.
