Do You Use Nutra Sweet? Some Ideas to Ponder

Nutra Sweet is the artificial sweetener that it took Donald Rumsfeld help to get through the EPA after numerous failures, and many believe it is making people sick. Looking at FDA records, Nutra Sweet had a controversial start to get where it is today, but now, most diet foods contain it. Fortunately, some manufacturers are backing away from it since the public is growing more aware of the long-term effects of Nutra Sweet.

Nutra Sweet forms an alcohol that your body can't break down, which eventually turns into formaldehyde in your body and builds up over time. Many people believes this fact causes damages to the central nervous system, making some people mildly sick and others face major medical problems.

It is now being reported, as Glenn Beck takes a few weeks off for his health, that Beck drinks a large amount of Diet Coke, something I have been addicted to myself until forcing myself off of aspartame. I would store cases in my condo in Chicago stacked up on one another. Now I drink products with Splenda, which is reported to be safe.

Considering this, one journalist is looking into the possibility that Glenn Beck's constant consumption of Diet Coke, specifically the aspartame may be making him sick. Here's Kurt Nimmo:


On Friday, Glenn Beck announced on his radio show that he will be taking a brief leave of absence for medical reasons. “There is something wrong with my voice, and we’re not sure what it is,” Beck said, according to a transcript on his website. “They’re going to be doing CAT scans and MREs or MRIs and PET scans and they’re going to be doing blood work like crazy.”


In July, the Fox News host admitted that he is suffering from macular dystrophy, an eye disorder that causes vision loss. “Yes, I have a problem with my eyes,” Beck told an audience of 6,000 in Salt Lake City. “A couple of weeks ago, I went to the doctor because I can’t focus my eyes … So I went to the best doctor I could find… he did all kinds of tests, and he said I have macular dystrophy.”

Glenn Beck may not know it, but it is almost certain he is another victim of Rumsfeld Plague. On September 29, the New York Times published a long article about Beck. “His Mormonism forbids coffee, but he consumes a lot of Diet Coke and chocolate,” writes Mark Leibovich.

Coca-Cola began putting the “sugar substitute” aspartame in Diet Coke in 1982. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.

In 1999, the Independent on Sunday discovered that the maker of aspartame, Monsanto, uses genetically engineered bacteria to produce the “sweetener” at its U.S. production plants. Aspartame is made by combining phenylalanine, which is naturally produced by bacteria, with another amino acid. To make the bacteria produce more phenylalanine, Monsanto has genetically engineered them. “Increasingly, chemical companies are using genetically engineered bacteria in their manufacturing process without telling the public,” said Dr. Erik Millstone, of the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University, and a member of the National Food Alliance, told the newspaper.

Here’s what Glenn Beck needs to know — aspartame is linked to blindness. It is made up of 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic acid and 10% methyl alcohol. Methyl alcohol inevitably affects vision. Back when the government imposed prohibition on the country, thousands of people went blind due to the use of wood alcohol/methanol in spirits.

The late Dr. Morgan Raiford, a specialist in methanol toxicity, warned about the danger of blindness associated with the consumption of aspartame. “This product [NutraSweet] has some highly toxic reactions in the human visual pathway and we are beginning to observe the tragic damage to the optic nerve, such as blindness, partial to total optic nerve atrophy. Once this destructive process has developed there is no return of visual restoration,” Raiford wrote in an aspartame factsheet. “When this drug enters the digestive tract, largely the upper portion [the] aspartame molecule spins off a by product known as methanol or methyl-alcohol.”

Methanol “is an extremely powerful neurotoxin. It can produce blindness, it can produce cellular destruction in the brain and spinal cord in particular the optic nerves that has to do with our vision,” the neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock explained during a radio interview. In his book, Health and Nutrition Secrets That Can Save Your Life, Dr. Blaylock discusses a study explaining why diabetics who drink large amounts of aspartame drinks are more likely to go blind. Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness.

In addition to blindness, a report produced by the Department of Health and Human Services lists over 90 symptoms related to aspartame, including: migraine headaches, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain. The following chronic illnesses are triggered or worsened by ingesting aspartame: Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.

It is now estimated that over 6,000 food and drink products worldwide contain aspartame. “You might be surprised to learn about some of the foods you consume that contain aspartame. Besides the obvious products like diet sodas, there are many brands of chewing gum that contain aspartame. Most non-fat diet foods contain an amount of aspartame and the same goes for most sugar-free candy,” reports the FoodFacts website. Many brands of cereal, ice cream, yogurt, iced tea, powdered power drinks, nutritional bars, pudding, vegetable drinks, and many more food products contain aspartame.

Source:Unknown but information can be found by searching the net for aspartame.

What is a Trotline, and can it Save Your Life?

A trotline consists of a long sturdy line with multiple drops of lighter line containing a hook. The hooks of the trotline are baited and the trotline is strung across a slow moving body of water. The ends of the line are tied to trees, low lying branches or stakes along the banks. The fisherman allows the line to remain in the water for 24-hours before pulling it. A properly constructed trotline will be long-lasting and productive.

Difficulty:
Moderate

Instructions
Things You'll Need

100-yard spool of 250-pound test braided fishing line
Box of lead split shot
Pliers
Box of swivels
50-yard spool of 50-pound test braided fishing line
Scissors
Fishing hooks
14-inch square cardboard bow
Utility knife

1

Pull 10- to 15-feet of line from the 100-yard spool of 250-pound braided fishing line and secure a split shot onto the line with the pliers.
2

Slide a swivel onto the line and down to the clamped split shot. Secure a second split on the other side of the swivel.
3

Move two feet down the line and secure another split shot, swivel and split shot. Repeat the process until you have the desired length and number of drops for your trotline.
4

Pull two feet of 50-pound test braided fishing line from the spool. Cut the spool with a pair of scissors.
5

Make a loop with the 50-pound test line. Tie an overhand knot to hold the loop.
6

Slide one end of the loop through the eye of the hook and push the other end of the loop through itself to secure the hook to the drop line. Slide the end of the loop through the swivel and swing the secured hook through the loop. Pull the hook to tighten the loop, securing the drop line to the trotline. Repeat the process for each swivel you placed on the trotline.
7

Cut slits into the top of a 14-inch square cardboard box with the utility knife. You need to have one slit for each drop line you placed on the trotline.
8

Coil the trotline into the 14-inch square. Push a drop line into each slit as it is about to enter the cardboard box to complete the construction and storage of your trotline.


Read more: How to Make a Trotline | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6578777_make-trotline.html#ixzz1VVeqa3ve

Dehydrating

I don't think I've discussed Dehydrating.... at least not on this blog. I taught a class last Tuesday and had a wonderful time experimenting with new items that I have dehydrated before. The following are the notes I handed out at class. The notes went with the lecture so I hope they make sense. Please feel free to ask for more details. You really missed a great lecture, if I do say so myself ~ Karin

DEHYDRATING

What is dehydrating?

Dehydrating, or drying, is the process of removing water from a material. The key is to remove enough water to prevent microbial growth for safety.

You can do this!

Drying food does take some know-how and a little trial and error but you can do it. Rule of thumb - it is better to over-dry a food than to under-dry it.

How you do it?

A simple dehydrator: Trays, Heat source, Fan, Size

Discussion of what can be done.

·         Applies, perfect starting point

·         Avocado, meats and fish not always suited because of high levels of fat. That being said, some veges, meats, fish need to be fully cooked before they’re dried. (compare old to new books)

·         Some need to be blanched - heat helps improve speed of drying

·         Some fruit (berries, apples, etc.) come with a waxy peel or finish, that’s to keep the moisture in. So these fruits need a pretreatment to break the coating.

·         Some berries need to be pureed because of their small segments. I learned the hard way.

·         Treat with ascorbic acid or fruit fresh to prevent browning.

·         Leather

·         Vegetables - if you’re not going to eat the vegetables raw normally, then you would cook it before you dry it.

·         Onion and garlic - outside or in garage.

·         Powders - cucumber

·         Jerky - you can experiments with flavors, but you need to make sure the jerky you make get preserved properly so that it is safe to eat. Lean cuts are best to make it last. The higher fat cuts do not dry property. The fat goes rancid and spoils the jerky. When drying blot the fat off with paper towels. With that being said they now recommend you cook your meat before drying it.

Storing the items

Always best to keep them:

in a cool, dry location, and

out of direct sunlight to maximize their shelf life.

Using the products

Some dried foods are typically eaten in their dry form. Fruit leather, berries, fruit.

Re-hydration - Some need to be soaked in water, some need to be heated.

References:

Utah State Extension Service

http://farmgal.tripod.com/Dehydrate.html

How do I dry? - http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/dry.html

http://dehydrate2store.com/

Edible Plants of the Western U S

Southwestern US Plants

[DWB states:] Thanks to wildcrafting.net.  Click on the highlighted name to get more information of the plants of interest from the site.  Wildcrafting.net indicates that these are all proven safe, but use this at your own risk.  RMSI is not responsible if you mistake the plant, or use the plant and suffer illness or death.

  Please be careful.

Plant	Edible	Flower Color	Fruit Color
Acacia greggii catclaw acacia	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Allium acuminatum tapertip onion	Yes	Purple	Black
Allium textile textile onion	Yes	White	Brown
Amelanchier alnifolia Saskatoon serviceberry	Yes	White	Red
Amelanchier utahensis Utah serviceberry	Yes	White	Red
Amelanchier utahensis var. utahensis Utah serviceberry	Yes	White	Red
Avena sativa common oat	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Balsamorhiza hookeri Hooker's balsamroot	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Balsamorhiza macrophylla cutleaf balsamroot	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Brassica juncea India mustard	Yes	Yellow	Black
Brassica rapa field mustard	Yes		Brown
Caesalpinia gilliesii bird-of-paradise shrub	Yes	White	Black
Caltha leptosepala white marsh marigold	Yes	White	Brown
Camassia quamash small camas	Yes	Blue	Brown
Celtis laevigata var. reticulata netleaf hackberry	Yes	Green	White
Cichorium intybus chicory	Yes	Blue	Brown
Claytonia perfoliata miner's lettuce	Yes	White	Brown
Crataegus erythropoda cerro hawthorn	Yes	White	Black
Cucurbita foetidissima Missouri gourd	Yes	Yellow	Yellow
Elaeagnus angustifolia Russian olive	Yes	Yellow	Red
Elaeagnus angustifolia Russian olive	Yes	Yellow	Red
Elaeagnus commutata silverberry	Yes	Yellow	Red
Ephedra nevadensis Nevada jointfir	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Ephedra torreyana Torrey's jointfir	Yes	White	Brown
Epilobium glaberrimum glaucus willowherb	Yes	Purple	White
Fagus grandifolia American beech	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Geum rossii var. turbinatum Ross' avens	Yes	Yellow	Black
Geum triflorum old man's whiskers	Yes	Purple	Brown
Helianthus annuus common sunflower	Yes	Yellow	Blue
Helianthus tuberosus Jerusalem artichoke	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Heracleum maximum common cowparsnip	Yes	White	Brown
Hordeum vulgare common barley	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Hordeum vulgare common barley	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Juglans nigra black walnut	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Juniperus monosperma oneseed juniper	Yes	Orange	Purple
Lomatium cous cous biscuitroot	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Lomatium macrocarpum bigseed biscuitroot	Yes	White	Brown
Lomatium triternatum nineleaf biscuitroot	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Lycium pallidum pale desert-thorn	Yes	Purple
Malus sylvestris European crab apple	Yes	White	Red
Medicago sativa alfalfa	Yes	Purple	Brown
Microseris nutans nodding microseris	Yes	Yellow	White
Mirabilis multiflora Colorado four o'clock	Yes	Purple	Brown
Najas flexilis nodding waternymph	Yes	Green	Green
Nolina microcarpa sacahuista	Yes	White	Brown
Nuphar lutea ssp. polysepala Rocky Mountain pond-lily	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Opuntia polyacantha plains pricklypear	Yes	Yellow	Red
Perideridia gairdneri Gardner's yampah	Yes	White	Brown
Pinus edulis twoneedle pinyon	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Pinus flexilis limber pine	Yes	Green	Brown
Pinus monophylla singleleaf pinyon	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Prosopis pubescens screwbean mesquite	Yes		Brown
Prunella vulgaris common selfheal	Yes	Purple	Green
Prunus americana American plum	Yes	White	Red
Prunus pumila sandcherry	Yes	White	Black
Prunus pumila var. besseyi western sandcherry	Yes	White	Black
Prunus tomentosa Nanking cherry	Yes	White	Red
Prunus virginiana chokecherry	Yes	White	Black
Punica granatum pomegranate	Yes	Orange	Red
Pyrus communis common pear	Yes	White	Yellow
Ribes aureum golden currant	Yes	Yellow	Red
Ribes cereum wax currant	Yes	White	Red
Ribes hudsonianum northern black currant	Yes	White	Black
Ribes lacustre prickly currant	Yes	Purple	Black
Ribes montigenum gooseberry currant	Yes	Red	Brown
Rosa nutkana Nootka rose	Yes	Red	Red
Rubus idaeus American red raspberry	Yes	White	Red
Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus grayleaf red raspberry	Yes	White	Red
Rubus leucodermis whitebark raspberry	Yes	White	Black
Rubus parviflorus thimbleberry	Yes	White	Red
Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra Pacific willow	Yes	Green	Yellow
Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa red elderberry	Yes	White	Red
Secale cereale cereal rye	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Secale cereale cereal rye	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Senecio hydrophiloides tall groundsel	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Shepherdia argentea silver buffaloberry	Yes	Yellow	Red
Shepherdia argentea silver buffaloberry	Yes	Yellow	Red
Shepherdia canadensis russet buffaloberry	Yes	Yellow	Yellow
Sidalcea neomexicana salt spring checkerbloom	Yes	Purple	Brown
Simmondsia chinensis jojoba	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Sorghum bicolor sorghum	Yes	Brown	Brown
Sorghum bicolor ssp. bicolor grain sorghum	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Taraxacum officinale common dandelion	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Tragopogon porrifolius salsify	Yes	Purple	Brown
Triteleia grandiflora largeflower triteleia	Yes	Blue	Brown
Triticum aestivum common wheat	Yes	Yellow	Brown
Vaccinium membranaceum thinleaf huckleberry	Yes	Purple	Black
Vaccinium scoparium grouse whortleberry	Yes	Red	Red
Vaccinium uliginosum bog blueberry	Yes	Purple	Blue
Zea mays corn	Yes	Yellow	Yellow

Tips on Harvesting Honey

John's Beekeeping Notebook

Tips on Harvesting Honey

18 Things a Beginning Beekeeper Should Know to Help Things Run Smoothly on Extracting Day

The following suggestions are offered for the benefit of beekeepers with a few hives who do not have a permanent honey house. They are meant to supplement the information in books where everything seems so simple and easy. Many beekeepers, including myself, have learned some of these self-evident truths the hard way.

Honey is sticky. It will drip. Every doorknob, shoelace, telephone and radio button that is touched while uncapping or handling wet frames will become sticky. Walking spreads the honey around on the floor.

Solution:

A bucket of water to rinse hands and a dishtowel are essential in the extracting room, especially if you are married and want to stay that way. Turn on the fan and radio, and get everything else ready, before getting all sticky. The garage, basement, barn or porch are usually better places to extract than the kitchen, providing you can keep the honey clean. Watch the kids.

Bees in the extracting room are attracted to light. Straggler bees left in the supers will find their way into the extracting room and will tend to fly towards a window or light bulb.

Solution: A small exit near the top of a window will allow them to return to their hives if they are nearby. If the hives are not nearby and you have a lot of bees in the room, hanging a few drawn frames near the top of the window with a caged queen will provide a place for them to settle and create a nice nucleus colony when you’re done. A vacuum cleaner hose is an alternative. Don't extract directly under the only light bulb in the room.

Bees away from their hive are not inclined to sting. Bees carried into the extracting room in supers are normally extremely gentle, with no brood or queen present. However, they are very adept at stinging the finger that accidentally crushes them while picking up a frame or super. Beware.

Household items can serve as good alternatives to supplies found in beekeeping catalogs.

A serrated bread knife makes a good uncapping knife. Use a sawing motion. No need to heat it. Change directions if it catches the wood. Some beekeepers really like using a hot-air electric paint stripper to quickly melt the cappings, but I haven’t tried it.

Kitchen strainers, nylon paint strainers, and women’s nylon stockings can serve as good honey filters. Clean ones, of course.

Tupperware and Rubbermaid both make good plastic containers to hold honey and cappings. Honey is acidic, so don’t use items such as aluminum and galvanized steel that will react with the honey acids. Stick with plastic, stainless steel or glass.

While there is a good household substitute for most extracting equipment, there is no good substitute for a good centrifugal extractor.

Let the honey settle. Honey that rests for a few days after extracting will not leave tiny bubbles around the rim of a jar. Be patient. Almost all debris left in the honey after filtering will either float or sink within a few days. A spigot just off the bottom of a container will prevent both floating and sunken debris from being accidentally bottled.

If there is no nectar flow, bees will rob honey. If the honey in an extracting room is more appealing than local flowers, the neighborhood bees will try to feast on it and tell all their friends. Extracting is best performed in a closed screened room such as a garage, basement or barn, or outside after dark. I heard a story about a guy that brought some supers into his basement to extract the next day, but he left a window open. The next day he found that his bees had brought half the honey back to their hives.

Uncapping is easier with only 8 or 9 frames spaced evenly in a 10-frame super. The thicker comb means almost no scraping with the fork. After bees have drawn out the foundation the first season, return only 8 or 9 frames into each extracted super to make the next crop easier to uncap. Uncap all the way down to the wood on the top and bottom bar, regardless of how far the comb in drawn out, so the comb will be nice and even next year.

Propolis sticks to shoes and almost everything else. Extracting is a great time to clean propolis off the box edges and frame-rests, but if they are going to be scraped it is best to cover the floor with old cardboard, newspaper or a plastic painter’s tarp so there won’t be little propolis reminders of the extracting experience. Wax isn’t quite as bad.

Butyric acid (Bee Go) really stinks. It works great, and is the best way for most hobby beekeepers to clear bees from the supers. The bees don't get as angry as brushing or blowing them, but that smelly fume board belongs behind the garage or near the fence when you're done. The chemical bottle belongs in a plastic bag inside an old coffee can or something else that won’t tip over; this is stuff you do not ever want to spill. The almond-smelling Benzaldehyde smells better and works okay in cooler weather, but it still belongs outside. Bee escape boards work okay too, if you can install them the day before extracting, have enough escapes for every hive, and don’t have too many holes between the boxes where the bees can enter and rob the honey. My equipment is old and leaks.

Extractors, uncapping tanks and other extracting equipment are best borrowed or shared. Most hobby beekeepers will only use their extracting equipment one or two days each year. The rest of the year it typically gathers dust in an attic, garage or basement. Thus it is very practical and economical for several beekeepers or a beekeeping association to share equipment. The expense is avoided, and it eliminates the need for storage space. So borrow or share, and use some of that money saved to buy a few of the nice non-stick polyurethane candle molds. If you must buy, a good quality hand-crank 4 frame extractor will suit most beekeepers better than 2 or 3 frame models, since it reduces the spinning work and thus greatly shortens the extracting time.

Extracting honey is best accomplished with two people. One person uncapping frames while the other spins the honey. Very efficient and the conversation can be good. It’s not very stressful to a relationship either, unlike hanging wallpaper. If you have clean wax from an earlier extraction, a side candle-making operation is an effective use of time since candles take time to cool.

Warm honey flows best. Warm honey spins out of the comb faster and more thoroughly than does cold honey in an extractor. Warm honey also strains faster through a filter. Honey at 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 c) or higher will be extracted most easily. This is normally not a problem in the summer, but in cool weather a light bulb under a stack of supers overnight can provide a lot of heat if the escape of the heat is controlled. Don’t melt the wax!

Extracted honey absorbs moisture from the air. Uncovered honey also catches insects, so keep the honey covered.

Sufficient honey containers are needed on extracting day. Enough containers need to be on hand when extracting, so it is good to learn how much capacity you’ll need before extracting. In rough numbers:

a. A shallow super will typically yield between 25 and 30 pounds of honey, or 2 to 2 ½ gallons.

b. A medium (6 5/8”) depth super will typically yield between 35 and 40 pounds, or 3 to 4 gallons.

c. A full-depth box will typically yield between 60 and 70 pounds, or 5 to 6 gallons.

Actual yields vary due to the number of frames, how well they are extracted, age of comb and other variables.

Wax cappings hold a lot of honey. Wax cappings typically hold 10% or more of a beekeeper’s honey crop. Cappings should be drained of honey through screening. After draining, the cappings wax can be melted into a block. Melting is best accomplished using a solar wax melter, or by heating the cappings in an inch of water in an old pot. Feed the honey-water back to the bees.

Solar wax melters really do work well – use double-paned framed window glass and build around it. Alternatively, the cappings can be left outside for the bees to feed on and then thrown away.

Utensils that are used with melted wax will not be used for anything else. Melted wax leaves a waxy film on every pot, spoon, dipping cup or strainer it comes into contact with.

Crock pots with an inch of water are good for melting cappings that have been drained of honey, but the pot will never be the same. Old crock pots are also near-perfect for melting wax during candle making, and they are often available at garage sales. Heat to between 150 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit; no need to boil.

Bad comb and rotten boxes should be replaced while extracting. Extracting provides the perfect opportunity to cull bad combs, frames and boxes that need paint or replacing. Have replacements on hand on extracting day. When short a few frames, frame feeders (also called division-board feeders; the kind that normally replace a frame or two) can be put in the empty spaces in the supers so any burr comb built there will be inside the feeder where it will actually be useful to prevent drowning when it is time to feed.

Let the bees clean the “wet” empty supers after extracting. Whether intending to return the supers to the bees or store them off the hives, the bees do a great job of drying supers after extracting. A stack of supers can be placed on a hive, over an inner cover that has a hole, and they will usually be dry the next day. Best to put them on the hives late in the day, to reduce robbing.

Every beekeeper has unique conditions, and there are many good beekeepers that use different methods, so enjoy experimenting with what works best!