REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE ON THE ICE ROADS

By Barry, BC, Canada
Jescon Transport, 100 Mile House, BC

I am getting a little tired of hearing about the ice roads out of Yellowknife, and how wonderful it is.
I hauled those roads in the winter of 2004 into 2005. Snap Lake, Diavik, Lupin,and Jericho mines were some of my destinations. I worked for the main trucking company on those roads at that time.

During that season, one truck and driver went thru the ice and the driver died. It was a very low paying job at 24 cents a km. and doing 15 to 30 km an hour. Well, you do the math.

Any tying down loads, fueling, repairs, stuck in blizzards or anything else outside of driving, I did not get paid for.
The food was pretty much non-existent and when you found something, usually sandwiches at checkpoints like Lockhart or Lac de Gras, you had to load up as there would not be much more.

Trucks were 20 years old and you drove wrapped in your sleeping bag to keep the cold out.
I eventually quit with about 20 other guys. I then flew from Yellowknife to Edmonton and hired on with a company driving a hay shaker moving oil rigs.

The pay was $35/hour and time and a half after 10 hours on that job, and there was no shortage of hours. I was able to make some money there to make up for my terrible ice road experience.

This translates to a company truck driver earnings of between $30,000 to $40,000 CDN in about 3 months, with very little out of pocket expenses other than some snack foods to help pass the time….pretty decent money for a few months of driving.

Liver Cleanse, Flush Gall Stones

This is not an easy cleanse but we do it once or twice a year.
A doctor recommended it to me bofore I would take any medication for fatty liver that could also be the reason for gall stones. I was offered pills but it turned out I didn't need them.

DO IT when you have 2 days to take it easy at home. The day of the Flush you will not eat and the day after it will take a few hours before you can distance yourself from the bathroom.

I needed 500 ml good quality olive oil, ( remember, you need to be able to swallow it so light virgin is best!)
some fresh lemon juiced, for the Flush itself.

I neede to prepare myself a week ahead.
Here is how:
For 1 week prior I drank almost 2 Liters of apple juice a day that is supposed to soften up the environment of the liver.

The day before I ate lighter non-fat food and drank laxative tea. There are other ways you can clear bowel contant, like drinking Epsom salt mixed in water. (1 tbs in 1 cup, ice cold for easier swallowing) Pico-Salax is an oral Purgative that you need to use with care.

On the day of the Flush I didn't have anything to eat and stopped drinking 2 hours before I started it.

I keep the olive oil in the fridge but I took it out a half an hour before I started the preparation because the oil gets more solid in the fridge.

Before 6 PM I got ready and squeezed some lemon.

So each drink would contain 1 tbs lemon and 4 tbs olive oil. I mix it right before I drink it and when I can bear no more the taste, I keep a little bit of honey to kill the aftertaste. (Only to taste, not more)

The schedule to drink this potion is every 15 minutes 8 times.

I started at 6 PM so it followed by one at 6:15, 6:30, 6:45, 7 PM, 7:15, 7:30, and 7:45.

Meantime I watched TV laying on my right side.

When I took the last one, I went to bed and tried to sleep on my right side. (Although I have no idea if I was successful throughout the night)

It started to flush out after I got up so I had a peaceful night.

YOU might want to start the habit of looking down to see what's in the toilet bowl to determine how it goes.

For the first couple of times I could see blackish small clutters and later on these became more greenish and were lighter until there was nothing else inside. As I said, it can take all morning to be in close proximity to the toilet.

The clutters are partly the cholesterol that would cretae gall stones.

DON'T FORGET to rehydrate! That is the most important thing. 

Start eating light food like fruit juice and then whole fruit. After that you can resume eating but keep it light to begin with.

UPKEEP is important.

I put Milk Thistle into my first glass of water in the morning.

I have Mint Leaves in our Lemon Drink.

I cook with Turmeric. (You can buy Turmeric in capsules as well)

FOOD that keep the liver healthy:
GARLIC

BEET and CARROT

CABBAGE (check out my Cabbage Soup)

WALNUTS (add them to my WHEATLESS BARs and to NUT MIX)

LEMON, LIME, GRAPEFRUIT ( my Lemon Drink)

LEAFY GREEN Vegetables ( Fresh Salad)

OLIVE OIL ( we use it for salad dressing)

AVOCADO ( I make my own guacamole and use it as salad topping)

APPLES ( an apple a day...)

WHEATLESS GRAINS like quinoa that is a wholesome food on its own

And DRINK GREEN TEA.

YOUR FOOD IS YOUR MEDICINE

Some more reading on it: Flush Gall Stones Naturally

                                          Dr. Clark's Liver Cleanse

Lemon Drink/ aka his Vodka

The best morning drink you can have is some kind of lemon mix. Lemon water itself is good all day but we took it a step further to help digestion, fight weight issues and get natural vitamin C right in the morning.


Keep in mind that My Trucker is away for 5 days a week so I have to prepare everything efficiently.

I buy a bag of lemons and after juicing them I freeze it in an ice cube tray.

I buy real ginger and after grating it I freeze it in an ice cube tray.

I buy fresh mint that will last a couple of weeks.

We always have cayenne pepper we can use because of its properties to help metabolism.

I mix 1 ice cube of ginger,

2 ice cubes per 2 cups of water,

a few mint leaves per bottle and a shake of cayenne pepper before I bottle it.

You might have guessed that I prepare the drink for 5 days he is away so 500 ml (2 cups) per day gives 2.5 Liters or 10 cups of water with 1 cube of ginger, 10 cubes of lemon, a few leaves of mint and a shake of cayenne pepper. After mixing it well, I fill his water bottles. I don't actually keep the mint leaves in so I prepare it the night before to let it sit.


You might have noticed there is no sweetener in it. That's why he calls it his Vodka.

Why do these simple ingredients flush your body of toxins?

• Lemons 

Lemons are a great source of Vitamin C and Potassium. This is a virtually fat free food which punches a massive amount of flavor. Lemon aids in liver detox and alkalizes the body. Lemon juice is also a mild diuretic, so adding it to your water is going to help flush out those toxins. Dr Oz has had some great shows featuring this drink.

• Cayenne Pepper 

Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, which inhibits hunger and fat storage. Cayenne Pepper is also known for raising the body temperature and regulate blood sugar along with stimulates the circulatory system and aids digestion.

• Ginger 

Helps in digestion and Excess Gas and bloating. Helps to sooth your stomach. Ginger also Detoxifies and Disinfects the body. There are so many benefits to adding these three pieces to your water.

• Mint 

Among other things, mint helps Indigestion: Mint is a calming and soothing herb that has been used for thousands of years to aid with upset stomach or indigestion. Mint is thought to improve the flow of bile through the stomach, which helps to speed and ease digestion.


Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): The use peppermint oil has been found to be an effective and safe treatment for those suffering from abdominal pain or discomfort associated with IBS.

Wheatless Bars

Wheatless is gluen-free.

You might have heard about the benefits of avoiding wheat and you might have tried it and liked the feeling.
Here is a great feel-good recipe for snack that can replace traditional but harmful alternatives.

I give the ingredients in units. You can use one cup or a half a cup or as I do 2 cups at a time.
All ingredients should be raw: in natural state, no-salt, not roasted.

1    unit of Pumpkin Seeds
1    unit of Slivered Almond

1/2 unit of Flax seeds
1/2 unit of Chia seeds
1    unit of Coconut flakes
1    unit of Cashew pieces
1/2 unit of Cinnamon

I also use nuts and seeds that I have home. The more the merrier, right?
Sunflower seeds
Walnut pieces
Sesame seeds
I even blend in Fennel seeds because they are good for you!

I add shaved dark chocolate because we LOVE chocolate.

PLUS
2   units of dried apricots, dates or figs boiled with some water and pureed (with the water)
This is the sticky agent for the bars.

In a large bowl I combine all nuts and seeds, coconut, cinnamon, shaved chocolate.
I sometimes have to chop some of the bigger sized whole nuts so I put in the fennel seeds as well so they are not obvious.

I boil the dried fruit with the same amount of water and after it cools down

I mix the whole thing and add a little bit of honey.
I can use a unit of hazelnut syrup, even natural peanut butter.
Use your own discretion for the amount as long as it helps keep the bars intact.

At this point I divide it into two balls. Some of us in our family like it raw so I take plastic wrap sheets and roll it up. I keep it in the freezer as per our preference but it isn't neccessary.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
The other half is spread onto a baking sheet in a 1/2 inch layer. I cut it into bar sized portions and separate them just a bit so they would not join during baking.

Bake it for 20 minutes or until golden.

After it cools down I wrap them individually.

Try it and enjoy! Be creative and let me know how you improved it!

The weekend before Christmas

You think a truck driver only needs to drive? Wrong!

He and his whole family needs to engage in a full hour of snow shovelling before anybody can dream about driving!

Oh, no, the snow was cleared well on the roads, the drive-ways and yards. But only in the yards whose owners paid for SNOW REMOVEL ON A SUNDAY!

I guess a yard full of trucks have no need for that. They only work 9-5  Monday to Friday, aren't they? 

So, we arrived to have his truck picked up an hour early, to allow enough time for him on the road. Makes sense, isn't it? 

He put the shovels in so he could clean the sides of the truck - only if he could get into the driveway even!

My son is trying to get rid of the snow block made by the road cleaners.

 Task #1: try to get onto the driveway.

The road is more than ok, now give us some path to get the car in first.

 Task #2: Go through the snow and try to open this last century padlock secured, human-horsepower driven gate!
Task#3: Shovel, shovel! path for the gate and for the man in mission to recover his truck!

He is so good and patient. Not many people would have done it.

Task#4: Be a pioneer, make a path and find your truck.

The untouched Nature in an International yard. I guess, you are lucky if you have taken off a few weeks.

This path is called Pal's path for his honour.

 Task#5: You realize that you can't save the whole yard, so your mission is to take the truck and pray that it would cut through, only if you press the gas hard enough!

Don't block the way out, Mama! I might not be able to maneuver as I would like!

Wonder where it was? Whose yard and whose responsibility? I can tell you!

A servicing garage of a famous brand of trucks, with no plug-in option and apperently, no snow removal option. No wonder it's cheaper!

All-in-all he couldn't leave a second earlier although his load was done earlier this weekend. But he can be sure, the heavy-unpaid-labour is over!

Being Active is Only Human

...And being inactive is not very human at all. Humans became what they are today because of the ability to run on two legs for a long periods of time thanks to perspiration. There are other species on earth that are much faster or stronger but they can't run long because they overheat. Not people. Till about ten thousand years ago running the distance of a Marathon was an everyday thing. Our species survived as others did not from that period.
What does this tell us? Well unfortunately for you, it says that to keep healthy, you need to keep active. It's not so easy though, is it?
You actually have to plan and take an effort to make it happen. Walking and running daily is feasible even on the road. Yes it only takes willpower. And of course it is the hardest one because we are accountable for only to ourselves. And we don't want to disappoint ourselves, do we? This would be good to start to motivate us. Forget the doctors and the drug companies and take charge!
Become active, eat well and focus on doing your job well and you will live a long life.
Think and be your own boss above all bosses.

Thoughts on Sleep Apnea, Snoring, and Being Obese

Sleep apnea is a hot topic these days as so it should be. Screening it and keeping it under control will be mandatory in the US and soon after that Canada will follow.

Unfortunately or fortunately? the government or the employers cannot tell people straight into their face to live healthy. Why not? Not just because it would be against personal rights but because even doctors or scientists let alone politicians can agree what healthy is. If you are older than 30, you remember the fat free wave, the carb free wave, eat 6 times a day, eat 3 main meals only, eat when you feel hungry etc. So if you believe the latest diet what's right what not, you will probably have to change next year. Naturally professionals do learn from past mistakes and by now they have a much better idea of what is healthy. But by now enough time passed that huge corporations and the profit oriented food industry made us pick up bad habits and get addicted to sweets or greasy or salty food. All in all they already made the nation fat and they are globalizing it. So here we are, heavier employees have less energy, can harm their tendons and ligaments easily, develop premature illnesses that used to start after a ripe age when most of social duties are fulfilled like raising children and have enough years to retire. Having these conditions show up earlier and earlier strains the medical and social system to the point when our children's future standard of living will be jeopardized.

So officials have to go indirectly to get everybody make changes in their lives that ultimately increase the length of their own lives!

Sleep apnea screening is a step to help people live better, work better. Regrettably, people will only make changes when they absolutely forced to. People will always go with the easier, that is yes, lazier choices, requiring less effort. But when we are forced - well we'd better get started!

First, you snore.

first of all snoring will not disturb the snorer, only everybody else. The snorer will have a good night sleep if    

it's just that. However please note that snoring can have way too many reasons. Smoking raises the risk of snoring. 

 Snoring, like all other sounds, is caused by vibrations that cause particles in the air to form sound waves. For example, when we speak, our vocal cords vibrate to form our voice. When our stomach growls (borborygmus), our stomach and intestines vibrate as air and food move through them.
While we are asleep, turbulent airflow can cause the tissues of the nose and throat to vibrate and give rise to snoring. Essentially, snoring is a sound resulting from turbulent airflow that causes tissues to vibrate during breathing. 

When we are asleep, the area at the back of the throat sometimes narrows. The same amount of air passing through this smaller opening can cause the tissues surrounding the opening to vibrate, which in turn can cause the sounds of snoring. Different people who snore have different reasons for the narrowing. The narrowing can be in the nose, mouth, or throat.Who are those most likely to have it?

• Overweight or right at being obese (have BMI of 25 or more)
• Males (What can I say? Most truck drivers are.)
• Smokers (I don't know the statistics but I would guess it's a huge percentage.)
• Have a thick neck (Yes, either fat or muscles)
• Having a receding chin.
• Do you still have your tonsils? They can enlarge and cause the inability to breath.

Your airway may be blocked or narrowed during sleep because your throat muscles tend to relax more than normal. Your brain in REM sleep maybe telling all your muscles to relax and muscles and the soft palate loosens too much.

It's not permanent if it's your allergies or your nose is congested. 

Work on it!

What about sleep apnea?

What is it that you experience if you have it?
You just don't have a restful sleep. It doesn't mean you actually wake up but because you cannot breath in your resting beauty sleep, your brain pulls you out of this deep sleep and puts you into a shallow sleep to make you breath.That will eventually make you tired not just the next day but it will accumulate to a point you will feel sluggish and lousy.

Like obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea is more common in males and people over the age of 65. However, unlike obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea is often associated with serious illness, such as heart disease, stroke, neurological disease, or spinal or brainstem injury.

While a diagnosis of sleep apnea can be scary, it is a treatable condition. In fact, there are many things you can do on your own to help, particularly for mild to moderate sleep apnea. Home remedies and lifestyle modifications can go a long way in reducing sleep apnea symptoms.

Lifestyle changes that can help sleep apnea
Lose weight. Some people find that even moderate to severe sleep apnea can be completely corrected by losing excess weight. For others, even a small amount of weight loss can open up the throat and improve sleep apnea symptoms.
Quit smoking. Smoking is believed to contribute to sleep apnea by increasing inflammation and fluid retention in your throat and upper airway.
Avoid alcohol, sleeping pills, and sedatives, especially before bedtime, because they relax the muscles in the throat and interfere with breathing.
Avoid caffeine and heavy meals within two hours of going to bed.
Maintain regular sleep hours. Sticking to a steady sleep schedule will help you relax and sleep better. Apnea episodes decrease when you get plenty of sleep.

Bedtime tips for preventing sleep apnea

Sleep on your side. Avoid sleeping on your back, as gravity makes it more likely for your tongue and soft tissues to drop and obstruct your airway.
Try the tennis ball trick. In order to keep yourself from rolling onto your back while you sleep, sew a tennis ball into a pocket on the back of your pajama top. Or wedge a pillow stuffed with tennis balls behind your back.
Prop your head up. Elevate the head of your bed by 4 to 6 inches or elevate your body from the waist up by using a foam wedge. You can also use a special cervical pillow.
Open your nasal passages. Try to keep your nasal passages open at night using a nasal dilator, saline spray, breathing strips, or a neti pot.

Throat exercises to reduce sleep apnea

Studies show that throat exercises may reduce the severity of sleep apnea by strengthening the muscles in airway, making them less likely to collapse.
Press tongue flat against the floor of mouth and brush top and sides with toothbrush. Repeat brushing movement 5 times, 3 times a day.
Press length of tongue to roof of mouth and hold for 3 minutes a day.
Place finger into one side of mouth. Hold finger against cheek while pulling cheek muscle in at same time. Repeat 10 times then rest and alternate sides. Repeat sequence 3 times.
Purse lips as if to kiss. Hold lips tightly together and move them up and to the right the up and to the left 10 times. Repeat sequence 3 times.
Place lips on a balloon. Take a deep breath through your nose then blow out through your mouth to inflate balloon as much as possible. Repeat 5 times without removing balloon from mouth.

What would happen to McDonald's...

Can you imagine what would happen to McDonald's or Tim's if everybody learned the truth about the harm and danger these places hold to every one of us. Cheap processed food, cheap spicing up with salt, using corn syrup for sweetness that will eventually destroy our health but gets us addicted enough will provide good profit to those corporations.
Imagine all the people... living active and in health...
Imagine all those countries... spending less on sick care and more on raising everybody's life standard...
Imagine all those children... playing active and getting smarter...
Imagine all the women... without the threat of cancer becoming happy active grandmothers...
Imagine all those men... still going strong in their late years providing the family with wisdom...
Imagine all the drug companies... switching to test and control healthy clean food without pesticides and additives...
WOW, This'll be the day that I die... happy and content.

When you eat too much you gain fat

Isn't that simple? Eat and live in moderation and sensibly and there will be no problems.
Use food for something else than nutrition or keeping your body healthy, trouble is on the way.
So break the fast and have your breakfast, eat some lunch and your supper. You might not need much in between but in case you do, have some fruit or nuts.
So what happens when you have a coffee date? Then you go to the movies and watch the game on TV.  You have a latte and a slice of something, in the movies you have your soft drink and pop corn, during the game you have a slice of pizza and a beer. You deserve it after a hard day. And what you end up with is double the calories that you would have needed otherwise. Using up the calories? Well, unless you do hard physical work  all day, sitting or standing around at work, sitting in the cinema and in front of the TV will not use up much.
I sometimes call North Americans the Dessert Nations. When I was a child, my grandmother used to love making delicious cakes and delights for us. But only on the weekends. During the week lunch and supper consisted of soup and legumes, or some simple main course, for breakfast some hot cocoa with a slice of bread or such.
Overweight children were very rare. Not every class had an overweight child. Size eight was the regular size that is now probably size four in the US today. There had to be a health reason like hormonal imbalance for the kids to be fat.
And now? Clothing sizes had been adjusted so we wouldn't feel so awful all at ones that instead of size 14 it only shows size 10. People are not at all well dressed and they do not know how to match their clothing with their natural colours and personalities. Why? They are more sluggish with less energy and it wouldn't even look good on them anyway. Just check the people on the streets. They are not at all those ones that eastern countries used to envy having a comfortable lifestyle.
So let's change that. NOW.

The so called FOOD PYRAMID

UH! After a Scandinavian 1972 model the US developed their own food pyramid model that showed the food choices and proportions we should eat. They have been trying to improve it since 1992. A newer variation is the Healthy Plate.
I have some problems with this.
Who could eat consciously and in scientific proportions of essentials molecules and by counting building blocks?
Nobody. It's like when we are told don't think about something. In that moment you have already thought about it and it's too late. We get hungry, and before we know it we eat. Sometimes if we listen to our body we eat what it needs such as the first fresh strawberries that still has the flavour of the sun, the seasonal water melon, the fresh peas or the small new potatoes that is so good with parsley. Our body lets us know that it is getting low on some nutrition so please, fill up. Hopefully you listen and respond well.
We are all different. In North America we came from many different countries and culture, only a few years or decades, maybe a hundred years tie us together with our neighbour. We are all people of the same species so why would it matter?
It does matter. Our own survival depends on the survival mechanisms our own ancestors developed, where they had been, how they survived. They passed it on through their genes to many generations and finally to us.
This is what we need to know and listen to. A few hundred years back it was no problem at all in close knit communities. But now?
I can't even advise you to go to your mother because in North America mothers have been part of the convenient, processed food generations. But try to find out where your grandparents and their parents came from and how they lived.
Did they live in Asia and ate fish rice and vegetables but no dairy or beef?
Did they come from Middle Europe and had a lot of pork and potatoes, some basic vegetables, seasonal fruit, apple and nuts all year around?
How did they prepared their meals? Try that!
All millions of species on Earth have survived for hundreds of millions of years by passing on the knowledge, the habits to the new generations. They didn't have to know why they just ate the right stuff and survived.
So if dairy doesn't agree with you maybe you shouldn't have it. If pork is too heavy for you maybe you should eat something else. No fancy meals, or exotic plants that promise magic power because it is the best for the people that has had it for hundreds of years.
As my father used to say, eat modestly and sensibly and it will be fine.

The Fat You Eat is not the Fat You Carry

We can't - and believe me, you don't even want to eliminate fat from your diet. It is very important to become and stay healthy. 

Vitamins A D E and K are fat soluble which means they can only be digested when fat is present. (So when you take multivitamins or vitamin pills of this sort, you need to take them with food that contains some fat.)

For healthy skin and hair as well as maintaining regular body temperature and healthy cell functions we need fat.

But what kind of fat? Meat with white chunks or spots full of fat or lard, butter, heavy cream, so you get it for sure? Or the fully man-made margarine that used to be a butter substitute during the war when food was scarce? Definitely not!

Humans up till about ten thousand years ago needed fat to survive the ice age of the time when they had to walk and run a marathon-a-day to find and kill their prey. That prey was wild, lean with strong muscles itself.

Do you run many miles a day to find and kill your prey and try to share it and save it for later? Do you eat strong wild game? Oh, no? The animals you eat only live for some months or maybe a year, stay idle and artificially blown up to maximize its size so it would provide the most profit in the shortest period of time. 

Not very appetizing. 

So the fat we need is plant based  in small amounts.

Nuts, beans and legumes, good oils like olive oil, avocado gives you what you need. 

Remember, fat calories are more than twice as much as carbohydrate's or protein's. 9 calories per gram, so you need only a small amount to satisfy your daily needs.

THE FAT YOU CARRY

Remember, our body builds makes its own building blocks. Your fat that you gain under your skin or around your organs can originate from proteins, sugary food as well as grains or carbohydrates. The body is a great factory that can create its own building blocks from almost any combinations. It transforms fat you eat or even protein you don't need to simple sugar for energy and then when you are covered as far as energy goes, it will store the excess in fat cells that will be released in need for energy so it will become sugar again at that time. 

We not just need to eat though, we want to eat often and at every occasion to eat when we socialize, entertain, go anywhere. There is no way we would ever go without food for days. The longest fast is during the night when we sleep so we usually don't eat so when we wake up we break the fast very fast not to go hungry.

So we pile up fat everywhere our body can store it. Bulge here and there, oops, we begin to have a hard time to bend, we might walk funny because our thigh are so close they are rubbing each other, we grow breast like bulges on our backs and it is only the outside. Meantime our organs are getting imprisoned by fat all around them. So they fight and finally they get exhausted and fail. So you go to see a doctor where you want to be repaired when your cure is in your hands and mouth. So is your toxins and poison. 

So you decide. Fat or lean, healthy or sick, energetic or sluggish. I guess that is democracy too when you have all these choices.  

Protein Sources (formerly only known for meat)

 Every cell of our body needs protein for staying healthy. Although most people only associate proteins with muscle and body building and as such it is considered almighty good. BUT STOP!
Each and every cell of our body contains some protein and the number is in the trillions. The protein structure is distinctive to every species. It works many ways. Our body itself creates its main elements called amino acids while we digest our food. Our digestive system takes all that we eat apart and rearrange it to our body's needs. So even if we eat some animal proteins that we need exactly the same way, in our system all that protein is taken, dissembled and reassembled into amino acid sequences we need just at that moment. So don't think that you eat animal meat you get more proteins you need than if you ate plant based protein. Your wonderful body-factory assembly line will do its work anyway. Remember, you will never know what each of your cells need at the moment but your body will!
How much you need minimum? You need not count anything if you eat your nuts, beans and legumes. But there is such a thing as TOO MUCH PROTEIN.
This might become simply fat, so instead of muscle building you just get overweight.
Our excretory system will try to get rid of excess protein so you pee it out. But it can get worse. It can add to building blood clots that will lead to heart and cardiovascular problems.
When you eat a plant based diet your body can metabolize most of the food so you need not worry about your cells or muscles. When you want to get stronger just exercise more and eat you nuts beans and legumes. They are delicious!
Meat? Well, your ancestors had no other way of surviving droughts, ice ages, only if they followed the herds and ate them. There were times when there was simply not enough plants available to survive. Eating whatever we could wherever we could meant life or death at the time. Just like pigs, you might say? Yes. But our original diet did not include meat and our system still did not fully accommodate this alternative. it was good enough until we found better.
And now we have. We don't need to starve in this part of the world so we can clean ourselves and rid our body of cancer causing toxic food.
So, poultry, beef and pork: we will let you become chickens to live over 15 years, turkeys of the wild, cows that will only need to feed their own calves and not mature people, and pigs that resemble our biological system the most so it looked like we committed cannibalism!
REMEMBER TO EAT EVERYTHING IN THEIR NATURAL RAW FORM? CAN YOU DO THAT WITH MEAT? (Oh, you say you like tartar beefsteak? Yukky! )

Those Fruits and Vegetables: YOU NEED CARBS

Our base food has always been and always will be those greens and beautiful coloured wonders of the plant family. Easy to digest, full of vital vitamins and nutrition, less calories that make us fat, clean our body and keep it in top shape. There has been no harmful effects shown from plants. So we can enjoy them without feeling guilty.
One rule of thumb though: use them as fresh and unrefined and unprocessed as possible! It is a good rule to follow for everything.
Eat them as salads, smoothies, peel them, slice them, bite them.
Don't forget the spices that you can use fresh or dried.
Onions, garlic are the base of cooking but healthy in raw form as well.
Nuts should be essential part of our daily meals or snacks. Raw!
Beans and legumes fresh or dried to cook or juiced. Think about soy!
Different cereals and starches belong to the pants family too. Eat them as close to raw as possible which means no refined flour! You can use your own mill to make your own flour for your own bread. You just need to buy some equipment and finally you will know exactly what you are eating!
Believe nobody that says you will be undernourished if you eat plant based food!
Most of the people in North America are way undernourished although they are mostly overweight or simply obese. The umpteen times more calories still do not provide the minimum amount of vitamins, minerals and -surprise! - good fat or useful proteins either. They just stain and clog their systems and make them expire way too soon.
To get good service and life time warranty for your system you have to switch your service provider to the plant family. They will look after you and provide maintenance that will not need extra expensive fixing and mending!
And it was a free advertisement that will only benefit all of us at the expense of nobody. Win-win and enjoy!

We don't have to live in a garbage dump or do we?

I often wonder.
When I was pregnant with my third child and my other two sons were 6 and 8, we used to walk a lot. One time there was a big fridge carton box on the road between two pedestrian crossings, cars could hardly get around but nobody bothered to pick it up. So when I stopped the car flow and took the box there were eager people to help. Not before. Same happened when some glass bottles were broken in the middle of the walk path. We went into the store just a few meters away and asked for a broom and a pan. Some more faces reddened. When we go to a cafe they still pick up their cups and return everything where they belong. We even take the recyclables home if there is no recycling there.
Of course that was in a different country at different times. Now we are here in Ottawa; in a big city with big mess.
I couldn't care less about people eating and smoking while driving, it's their car and their mess. But when gallantly they roll the window down and throw their butt or McD. bag to our windshield, that bothers me. These people not only act juvenile but they are irresponsible enough to be parents too. Ouch!
As far as I know the city has a good garbage removal system, there are many public garbage cans, butt out stations and recycling places but I wonder if most of the population knows what they are for.
I wonder how it is that they were born here in Canada, raised and educated here and still live in the stone ages where it was custom eating with fingers (MacDonald's) not knowing what a table and plates are for, spit wherever they please, pee on the side of the road towards the cars and this is the point you can bet I don't want to  see more of anything else they do!
Do you ever wonder why we have our environment full of bacteria and viruses and we are getting addicted to antibacterial hand lotions?
Can you spot the connections?
TRUCKERS, PLEASE! You are on the roads all the time. That is your workplace. Everybody likes to take care of their own work environment. So please set a good example and find the trashcan. When smoking, leave your butts in the designated sand box. We don't actually have to see a butt bed instead of a flower bed. Support recycle stations. Did you know that only a few percent of plastic bottles are recycled and the rest goes to the land field? Every week Americans throw away so many bottles they could go around the planet 5 times if we put them end to end!
Responsible ways to handle our excess materials may just help ourselves in the long run. Has responsibility become a scary word by now? Have we become so ignorant and careless that we just trash our world?
Just to remind us everything and everybody on Earth comes from nature and after being used ( eaten, pooped, shed, created, used, stored, thrown away etc.) goes back to the air, the earth, water and will become US again, YOU AND ME. The earth is a huge recycling system where every atom has been going around and around for over 4 billion years. They had been part of the first fish, the dinosaurs, trees and have been within the volcanoes as molten rocks.
Do you know what is missing from teaching the water cycle? Yes, we were taught it goes from the oceans to the clouds and it rains again down to the rivers and underground wells, resurface again or with an earthquake it goes under for a few million years where it again gets mixed with lava and creates fertile soil where we eventually grow our crops and by that we get the precious water again within us. WOW!
Isn't it majestic and makes you humble?
It does with me. I awe and serve this earth that is our greatest emperor and nurturer of all times.
Amen. So be it.