The Homeowners Power Act

A great post from Breakthrough Institute

Americans shouldn’t have to depend on a single unreliable utility for their power.

This antiquated system of energy generation makes us vulnerable to blackouts and natural disasters. The good news is that the millions of Americans who own their own homes can make, and store, their own electricity. Solar today in many parts of the country is competitive with natural gas at peak hours – the daylight hours when electricity is most in demand. The problem is that the utilities are blocking the American people’s right to make their own electricity and sell it on a free market.
The grid doesn’t belong to the utilities – it belongs to the American people. It was built by our parents and grandparents. Energy utilities must no longer be allowed to stifle entrepreneurialism by blocking Americans from selling their home-generated solar energy onto the grid. We need a Homeowners Power Act that allows home power generators to finance the cost of buying and installing solar panels by borrowing against future earnings from selling home-produced energy, and requires utilities to let homeowners sell the energy they produce onto the grid.

Grass Fed Meat: our true environmental savior

  I made reference to Nourished Magazine in an earlier post.  Today I read a great article on a subject I have given much thought to lately…”Why is everyone yelling about us becoming vegetarians to help the earth”?  We are not helping the earth by making ourselves sick by not meeting our nutrient needs.  Almost every vegetarian I know, and I know many (myself included from 1972 to 2005), is a carb junkie, living off of bread, grains, beans, fruit…all carbs.  Most veg-heads I know still spout the “soy is the greatest thing going” for humans BS. But it is cheap, has a very high profit margin.  I went round and round with a health food store owner recently who told me he does not eat soy, knows it is toxic…but will make no effort to educate his customers, or get it out of his deli, where it is in almost every dish (did I say it was cheap?)…from the veggie burgers to the soy mayo. See what Weston Price has to say about vegetarian diets here. 

Today I went to read the new Nourished Magazine and found this…  I couldn’t say it any better.

By The Nourisher

This article was originally published here and is part of the January 2009 round up.

How many times have you heard that we need to eat more vegetarian fare to curb Climate Change? Greepeace and even David Suzuki put it in their top ten actions we can take. It seems every green magazine I pick up, every green blog I read, I’m shamed for living as what my body is designed to be, an omnivore. This makes me feel very sad and a little angry. Here’s why:

1. The current population of cattle in the US is only marginally more than the numbers the Native Bison (or Buffalo) enjoyed before Europeans arrived: 96 million cattle have replaced most of the estimated 60 to 100 million Bison that existed in the 19th century. How could there be too many cattle now? This is how..
   The figures Suzuki and Greenpeace are working from actually reveal what industrial factory farming is using and outputting. The ancient practice of subsistence grass farming is a totally different picture. Much of the resources used for the beef industry are used in the production of grains fed to confined cattle. There is no reason for this except to boost the bottom line of ‘agricorp’ companies. No ruminant should be eating grain or soy. Industrial agriculture only does so because governments subsidize their feed.
2. It is very easy to throw about grandiose, knee jerk recommendations which get headlines but it is Greenpeace’s very followers who will suffer from living by them. I live in Byron Bay, some call it a vegetarian paradise. Australia’s modern affair with vegetarianism began right here, more than 30 years ago. Looking around me, I witness first hand the ravages such a diet leaves in it’s wake. Young, idealistic 20 something’s may not notice immediately the affects of such a diet. However, coming into their 50s and 60s now, I see many long time vegetarians; exhausted, overwhelmed and caffeine addicted from years of undernourishing themselves. (BTW It takes 140 Litres of water to make enough coffee for one cup. I challenge you to find a vegetarian who isn’t caffeine addicted. I haven’t yet.)
   Many lose their creativity and the naturally buoyant, positive attitude which is our birthright. Many wind up, infertile, unmotivated, ineffective and resentful without knowing why. Greenpeace needs robust, energetic, creative people to work with them toward change. Their recommendations threaten to deny them and our Earth of just this.
3. Grass fed, properly managed animal foods are actually a great way to sequester many billions of metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere.

To be more responsible, Greenpeace should recommend we boycott confined, grain fed animal foods and demand grass fed animal foods. Is that too complicated for our ‘dumbed down’ population?

Some Facts about Grass Fed Meat

• Grazing land comprises more than half the total land surface of the Earth.
• Soil organic carbon is the largest reservoir in interaction with the atmosphere. It contains 82% of terrestrial carbon.
• Forests can be net carbon emitters in their early stages and take many years to reach their sequestration potential
• “An acre of pasture can sequester more carbon than an acre of forest.” We can offset the nations entire emissions, simply by planting more grass either as winter crops or instead of crops. – Dr Chistine Jones of the Carbon Coalition.
• “Soil represents the largest carbon sink over which we have control. Improvements in soil carbon levels could be made in all rural areas, whereas the regions suited to carbon sequestration in plantation timber are limited.” – Dr Christine Jones
• 50% to 66% of the historic carbon loss (42 to 78 gigatons of carbon) was created by the world’s poorly managed, degraded agricultural soils and is therefore ripe to become the world’s greatest carbon sink.

Difference between carbon farming pasture (right) and ordinary pasture: courtesy of the Carbon Farmer’s of Australia Association.

• Introducing carbon credits for grass farmers who manage their grazing so they actually sequester carbon will also help improve water retention and soil erosion issues.

Raising grain-fed cattle is resource-intensive. It takes more than 35 fossil fuel calories to create one calorie of energy from grain-fed meat. A cow must consume about 8 pounds of grain (3.6kg) in order to yield one pound of meat (450gm), grain which is grown with fossil fuels and pesticides. Much of the exorbitant water use in grain feeding CAFOs is for cleaning the tons of waste, waste that in grass farming is a vital resource for soil fertility. Why do this when you can just let the cow go on the grass? Answer: corporate ‘bottom line’ industrial farming.

The ‘methane cattle fart’ statistic we hear all the time is taken from the writings of Dr Andrew Moxey, a widely respected economist who exposed modern agriculture’s contribution to emissions. He says “methane from livestock accounts for 20 per cent of green house gas emissions”, but reading just a little further, you’ll find he also says: “nitrous oxide from fertilizer adds up to 26 per cent [and] carbon dioxide from ploughing up grassland is the major contributor…45 per cent“.

What is on the agenda of people who continually misquote Moxey?

What environmentalists are saying is we should eat the grains instead of the cattle. What they don’t realise is neither we nor the cattle need the grains. They don’t realise this because they’ve been indoctrinated into the idea that we can (and should) eat a grain based diet. No mind that our ancestors never did. No mind that following a grain based diet has brought us to the point where 8% of the western population suffer diabetes (this is expected to quadruple by 2050). No mind that by 2020, 80% of all Australian adults and a third of all children will be overweight or obese. 37% of American Children are already overweight and the CDC predict that figure will be 50% by 2020. It also predicts that the generation of children who are currently under 10 years old are unlikely to outlive their parents.

Even so the USDA still recommends we continue with the sudden diet change that they initiated post world war II. (Please note the USDA food pyramid is created by the US Department of Agriculture – not the US department of Nutrition nor the US department of Health.) Before their self serving dietary recommendations, humans had never tried to consume 6 servings of grain foods. That’s three sandwiches a day. We couldn’t grow, harvest and process that much grain by hand. Only with the advent of the petrol driven harvest combine and industrial processing (dollars for the new manufacturing giants of the 50s) could we even consider eating this much grain, let alone feed it to our livestock. So why is it now the only other option to vegetarianism?

Why are we so easily hoodwinked?

We’re given two options:

1. Eat animals who eat grains
2. Eat grains.

Why do we fall for this trick? Why are even the most intelligent and highly educated of us lead to believe these are our only choices? Here’s what I see:

It is very difficult to imagine a lifestyle other than one that is part of and supported by the industrial complex. Industrial agriculture and, sadly, feminism has ushered in a completely new perspective on money, farming and Nourishing our family. A perspective we find it hard to veer from. Building a life around dignified farming, a life where the labor of over half the tribal group – that of the women and to some degree the children – is not quantified by money, is beyond our comprehension. What used to be the asset and province of the family is now quantified by money. Today, we outsource feeding our family, maintaining our health and the even caring for our children. Meanwhile, grandparents are idle or busy entertaining themselves, alone – a phenomenon, never before witnessed by our kind.

Never before have we been so separated from the realities of our condition – so separated, we believe we can subsist in a purely vegetarian system delivered to us by an industrial food chain. We can easily swap messy meat and milk for soy and grain products, conveniently processed, packaged and stored at our local supermarket.

I find it intriguing that environmentalists don’t mention grass farming at all. Don’t they know about it? If non-organic agriculture makes more greenhouse gases than industrial animal farming, why are we not told to go completely organic and eat grass fed animals? Why instead are we fed messages of guilt and denial?

I believe we are seeing Christianity in it’s most obtuse manifestation: a generation of martyrs, suffering the ravages of vegetarianism. Saviors of our innocent Earth, putting her before themselves. Pity it doesn’t work that way. Our new martyrs are only weakening their bodies and their progeny, separating themselves further from agriculture and the land for yet another false doctrine. Martyrs they are but not to the environment, to the soy industry and to grain barons.

We Need Farm Animals

Ask any organic or bio dynamic farmer if they can maintain soil fertility without animal manure.. lots of it. They’ll tell you no. As Mark Purdey, farmer and BSE expert puts it, “If the vegetarian vision is to gain precedence over our global agricultural systems, then chemical and biotech agriculture would boom to make good the shortfall of fertility lost once our livestock were annihilated.”

“The preservation of fertility is the first duty of all that live by the land. Leave the land in a better state than when you took it over.” – George Henderson.

Most urban Westerners have little understanding of the realities of farming. And this is the grain baron’s biggest asset. They now nod smugly at ‘environmental’ messages that scare us into eating more of their product. Heart Disease, Obesity, Cancer and now Global Warming is caused by meat eating? What Tripe. Truth is, the more grass fed meat from small, local farms we eat, the less money they make.

In following USDAs recommendations and indeed Greenpeace’s call to go vego, we can remain separated from the muck and mess of mixed farming. We can continue our sterile food mythology; purity through denial, from the dirty truth that animals must die for our sustenance. And most importantly for grain cartels and their government buddies, we can continue to work a 40 hour week so we can afford to buy their ‘healthy’ breads, tofu and soy yoghurt.. So we can afford to pay rising medical costs which inevitably line the pockets of Big Pharma. The very medical costs which are caused by eating from the industrial food chain.

We are lost in a maze of propaganda, designed to confuse and disempower us, purely for the economic benefit of the few. Unfortunately, environmentalists who recommend vegetarianism are just another group of well meaning individuals who’ve lost connection to the land and a physical experience of balance with her. Lacking this connection and living only in the mind, they have unwittingly become the mouth pieces of selfish agribusiness.

What’s the Alternative?

Luckily, we have all we need to make real changes to improve our footprint and our health and wellbeing. Our alternative can be summed up in one word. Re-localise.

The internet is our best ally and our courage, faith and strong bodies our best tools. Some expectations, personal politics and even some laws are still in our way, but no blockage we can’t remove, together with vision and resolve.

Imagine this:

You live in an urban environment where culture and agriculture have equal value. We’ve redesigned our cities into many small, walled villages so we can reconnect with our community, sharing sunny plazas with our fellow villagers where:

• children play under the watchful eye of the whole community,
• teens hang in semi-private enclaves,
• elders live on the plaza with access to family and careers and large open windows they can watch the village life go by,
• community gardens are shared among villagers
• food preparation, handicrafts, music and art workshops happen every other day, and
• no cars are allowed!

Imagine now, that every member of your village is part of a shared farming arrangement. You own your own animals and employ a farming family to care for your animals; paying them for the next season’s meat (and any other crops) in advance. Your farmer brings your food to you every week or to the marketplace along with other little tidbits you can buy for cash to spice up your larder. There’s no waste and no separation. Taking an active part in ensuring the quality, quantity and price of your food remains stable, you know your animals are treated humanely and cared for in a way that supports and does not degrade the environment. (Farmers who are paid a living wage are unlikely to harm their farmland or their animals and cutting out the many, many middle men in the current system will give them and their animals the standard of living they deserve.)

How much less fossil fuels, pesticides, fertilizers and plastic packaging could we spare our delicate ecology? Is localized, community supported mixed farming an answer to our climate woes? Can we create such a system?

It is possible. But government can’t do it for us. We’ve got to create it ourselves.

If you want to begin creating this reality, have hope, there are others, many others who want it too.

Start by reading this book: How to Build a Village by Claude Lewenz.

To specifically access grass fed animals through CSAs, subscriber to Herdshare.com and please don’t become vegetarian to save on greenhouse emissions, there are so many other, much better ways.

If you are in North Florida, as I am, check out- 

Grass Fed Meat and Good Ole’ Sunshine- Why we desperately need both- Daily!

The Miracle of Vitamin D

In April of 2006 a clinical observation published in Archives of Internal Medicine caught my attention. Dr. Anu Prabhala and his colleagues reported on the treatment of five patients confined to wheelchairs with severe weakness and fatigue. Blood tests revealed that all suffered from severe vitamin D deficiency. The patients received 50,000 IU vitamin D per week and all became mobile within six weeks.

Dr. Prabhala’s research sparked my interest and led to a search for current information on vitamin D, how it works, how much we really need and how we get it. The following is a small part of the important information that I found.

This information led me to a online magazine of a woman in Australia.  I was so impressed with what she had to say that I submitted my work to her for review.  She wrote back urging m,e to look into what Weston Price had to say about human nutrition.

Lucky me, (haha), I was on my couch for 7 months recovering from reconstructive ankle surgery.  This gave me the time to research to my hearts content (a rare thing!).  This led me to the discoveries of the Canadian-born dentist Weston A. Price. In his masterpiece Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price noted that the diet of isolated, so-called "primitive" peoples contained "at least ten times" the amount of "fat-soluble vitamins" as the standard American diet of his day. Dr. Price determined that it was the presence of plentiful amounts of fat-soluble vitamins A and D in the diet, along with calcium, phosphorus and other minerals, that conferred such high immunity to tooth decay and resistance to disease in non-industrialized population groups.

Today another Canadian researcher, Dr. Reinhold Vieth, argues convincingly that current vitamin D recommendations are woefully inadequate. The recommended dose of 200-400 international units (IU) will prevent rickets in children but does not come close to the optimum amount necessary for vibrant health. According to Dr. Vieth, the minimal daily requirement of vitamin D should be in the range of 4,000 IU from all sources, rather than the 200-400 currently suggested, or ten times the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Dr. Vieth’s research perfectly matches Dr. Price’s observations of sixty years ago!

Vitamin D From Sunlight.

Pick up any popular book on vitamins and you will read that ten minutes of daily exposure of the arms and legs to sunlight will supply us with all the vitamin D that we need. Humans do indeed manufacture vitamin D from cholesterol by the action of sunlight on the skin but it is actually very difficult to obtain even a minimal amount of vitamin D with a brief foray into the sunlight.

Ultraviolet (UV) light is divided into 3 bands or wavelength ranges, which are referred to as UV-C, UV-B and UV-A.  UV-C is the most energetic and shortest of the UV bands. It will burn human skin rapidly in extremely small doses. Fortunately, it is completely absorbed by the ozone layer. However, UV-C is present in some lights. For this reason, fluorescent and halogen and other specialty lights may contribute to skin cancer.

UV-A, known as the "tanning ray," is primarily responsible for darkening the pigment in our skin. Most tanning bulbs have a high UV-A output, with a small percentage of UV-B. UV-A is less energetic than UV-B, so exposure to UV-A will not result in a burn, unless the skin is photosensitive or excessive doses are used. UV-A penetrates more deeply into the skin than UV-B, due to its longer wavelength. Until recently, UV-A was not blocked by sunscreens. It is now considered to be a major contributor to the high incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers.  Seventy-eight percent of UV-A penetrates glass so windows do not offer protection.

The ultraviolet wavelength that stimulates our bodies to produce vitamin D is UV-B. It is sometimes called the "burning ray" because it is the primary cause of sunburn (erythema). However, UV-B initiates beneficial responses, stimulating the production of vitamin D that the body uses in many important processes. Although UV-B causes sunburn, it also causes special skin cells called melanocytes to produce melanin, which is protective. UV-B also stimulates the production of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH), an important hormone in weight loss and energy production.

The reason it is difficult to get adequate vitamin D from sunlight is that while UV-A is present throughout the day, the amount of UV-B present has to do with the angle of the sun’s rays. Thus, UV-B is present only during midday hours at higher latitudes, and only with significant intensity in temperate or tropical latitudes. Only 5 percent of the UV-B light range goes through glass and it does not penetrate clouds, smog or fog.

Sun exposure at higher latitudes before 10 am or after 2 pm will cause burning from UV-A before it will supply adequate vitamin D from UV-B. This finding may surprise you, as it did the researchers. It means that sunning must occur between the hours we have been told to avoid. Only sunning between 10 am and 2 pm during summer months (or winter months in southern latitudes) for 20-120 minutes, depending on skin type and color, will form adequate vitamin D before burning occurs.

It takes about 24 hours for UV-B-stimulated vitamin D to show up as maximum levels of vitamin D in the blood. Cholesterol-containing body oils are critical to this absorption process. Because the body needs 30-60 minutes to absorb these vitamin-D-containing oils, it is best to delay showering or bathing for one hour after exposure. The skin oils in which vitamin D is produced can also be removed by chlorine in swimming pools.

The current suggested exposure of hands, face and arms for 10-20 minutes, three times a week, provides only 200-400 IU of vitamin D each time or an average of 100-200 IU per day during the summer months. In order to achieve optimal levels of vitamin D, 85 percent of body surface needs exposure to prime midday sun. (About 100-200 IU of vitamin D is produced for each 5 percent of body surface exposed, we want 4,000 iu.) Light skinned people need 10-20 minutes of exposure while dark skinned people need 90-120 minutes.

Latitude and altitude determine the intensity of UV light. UV-B is stronger at higher altitudes. Latitudes higher than 30° (both north and south) have insufficient UV-B sunlight two to six months of the year, even at midday. Latitudes higher than 40° have insufficient sunlight to achieve optimum levels of D during six to eight months of the year. In much of the US, which is between 30° and 45° latitude, six months or more during each year have insufficient UV-B sunlight to produce optimal D levels. In far northern or southern locations, latitudes 45° and higher, even summer sun is too weak to provide optimum levels of vitamin D. A simple meter is available to determine UV-B levels where you live.

Vitamin D From Food

What the research on vitamin D tells us is that unless you are a fisherman, farmer, or otherwise outdoors and exposed regularly to sunlight, living in your ancestral latitude (more on this later), you are unlikely to obtain adequate amounts of vitamin D from the sun. Historically the balance of one’s daily need was provided by food. Primitive peoples instinctively chose vitamin-D-rich foods including the intestines, organ meats, skin and fat from certain land animals, as well as shellfish, oily fish and insects. Many of these foods are unacceptable to the modern palate.

For food sources to provide us with D the source must be sunlight exposed. With exposure to UV-B sunlight, vitamin D is produced from fat in the fur, feathers, and skin of animals, birds and reptiles. Carnivores get additional D from the tissues and organs of their prey. Lichen contains vitamin D and may provide a source of vitamin D in the UV-B sunlight-poor northern latitudes.

Vitamin D content will vary in the organs and tissues of animals, pigs, cows, and sheep, depending on the amount of time spent in UV-B containing sunlight and/or how much D is given as a supplement. Poultry and eggs contain varying amounts of vitamin D obtained from insects, fishmeal, and sunlight containing UV-B or supplements. Fish, unlike mammals, birds and reptiles, do not respond to sunlight and rely on vitamin D found in phytoplankton and other fish. Salmon must feed on phytoplankton and fish in order to obtain and store significant vitamin D in their fat, flesh, skin, and organs. Thus, modern farm-raised salmon, unless artificially supplemented, may be a poor source of this essential nutrient.

Modern diets usually do not provide adequate amounts of vitamin D; partly because of the trend to low fat foods and partly because we no longer eat vitamin-D-rich foods like naturally reared poultry and fatty fish such as kippers, and herring. Often we are advised to consume the egg white while the D is in the yolk or we eat the flesh of the fish avoiding the D containing skin, organs and fat. Sun avoidance combined with reduction in food sources contribute to escalating D deficiencies. Vegetarian and vegan diets are exceptionally poor or completely lacking in vitamin D predisposing to an absolute need for UV-B sunlight. Using food as one’s primary source of D is difficult to impossible.

Vitamin D Miracles

Sunlight and vitamin D are critical to all life forms. Standard textbooks state that the principal function of vitamin D is to promote calcium absorption in the gut and calcium transfer across cell membranes, thus contributing to strong bones and a calm, contented nervous system. It is also well recognized that vitamin D aids in the absorption of magnesium, iron and zinc, as well as calcium.

Actually, vitamin D does not in itself promote healthy bone. Vitamin D controls the levels of calcium in the blood. If there is not enough calcium in the diet, then it will be drawn from the bone. High levels of vitamin D (from the diet or from sunlight) will actually de-mineralize bone if sufficient calcium is not present.

Vitamin D will also enhance the uptake of toxic metals like lead, cadmium, aluminum and strontium if calcium, magnesium and phosphorus are not present in adequate amounts. Vitamin D supplementation should never be suggested unless calcium intake is sufficient or supplemented at the same time.

Receptors for vitamin D are found in most of the cells in the body and research during the 1980s suggested that vitamin D contributed to a healthy immune system, promoted muscle strength, regulated the maturation process and contributed to hormone production.

During the last ten years, researchers have made a number of exciting discoveries about vitamin D. They have ascertained, for example, that vitamin D is an antioxidant that is a more effective antioxidant than vitamin E in reducing lipid peroxidation and increasing enzymes that protect against oxidation.

Vitamin D deficiency decreases biosynthesis and release of insulin. Glucose intolerance has been inversely associated with the concentration of vitamin D in the blood. Thus, vitamin D may protect against both Type I and Type II diabetes.

The risk of senile cataract is reduced in persons with optimal levels of D and carotenoids.

PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) has been corrected by supplementation of D and calcium.

Vitamin D plays a role in regulation of both the "infectious" immune system and the "inflammatory" immune system.

Low vitamin D is associated with several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis, Sjogren’s Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroiditis and Crohn’s disease.

Osteoporosis is strongly associated with low vitamin D. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis respond favorably (and rapidly) to higher levels of D plus calcium and magnesium.

D deficiency has been mistaken for fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or peripheral neuropathy.

Infertility is associated with low vitamin D. Vitamin D supports production of estrogen in men and women. PMS has been completely reversed by addition of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. Menstrual migraine is associated with low levels of vitamin D and calcium.

Breast, prostate, skin and colon cancer have a strong association with low levels of D and lack of sunlight.

Activated vitamin D in the adrenal gland regulates tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate limiting enzyme necessary for the production of dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine. Low D may contribute to chronic fatigue and depression.

Seasonal Affective Disorder has been treated successfully with vitamin D. In a recent study covering 30 days of treatment comparing vitamin D supplementation with two-hour daily use of light boxes, depression completely resolved in the D group but not in the light box group.

High stress may increase the need for vitamin D or UV-B sunlight and calcium.

People with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s have been found to have lower levels of vitamin D.

Low levels of D, and perhaps calcium, in a pregnant mother and later in the child may be the contributing cause of "crooked teeth" and myopia. When these conditions are found in succeeding generations it means the genetics require higher levels of one or both nutrients to optimize health.

Behavior and learning disorders respond well to D and/or calcium combined with an adequate diet and trace minerals.

Vitamin D and Heart Disease

Research suggests that low levels of vitamin D may contribute to or be a cause of syndrome X with associated hypertension, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Vitamin D regulates vitamin-D-binding proteins and some calcium-binding proteins, which are responsible for carrying calcium to the "right location" and protecting cells from damage by free calcium. Thus, high dietary levels of calcium, when D is insufficient, may contribute to calcification of the arteries, joints, kidney and perhaps even the brain.

Many researchers have postulated that vitamin D deficiency leads to the deposition of calcium in the arteries and hence atherosclerosis, noting that northern countries have higher levels of cardiovascular disease and that more heart attacks occur in winter months.

Scottish researchers found that calcium levels in the hair inversely correlated with arterial calcium—the more calcium or plaque in the arteries, the less calcium in the hair. Ninety percent of men experiencing myocardial infarction had low hair calcium. When vitamin D was administered, the amount of calcium in the beard went up and this rise continued as long as vitamin D was consumed. Almost immediately after stopping supplementation, however, beard calcium fell to pre-supplement levels.

Administration of dietary vitamin D or UV-B treatment has been shown to lower blood pressure, restore insulin sensitivity and lower cholesterol.

The Battle of the Bulge

Did you ever wonder why some people can eat all they want and not get fat, while others are constantly battling extra pounds? The answer may have to do with vitamin D and calcium status. Sunlight, UV-B, and vitamin D normalize food intake and normalize blood sugar. Weight normalization is associated with higher levels of vitamin D and adequate calcium. Obesity is associated with vitamin-D deficiency. In fact, obese persons have impaired production of UV-B-stimulated D and impaired absorption of food source and supplemental D.

When the diet lacks calcium, whether from D or calcium deficiency, there is an increase in fatty acid synthase, an enzyme that converts calories into fat.

Higher levels of calcium with adequate vitamin D inhibit fatty acid synthase while diets low in calcium increase fatty acid synthase by as much as five-fold. In one study, genetically obese rats lost 60 percent of their body fat in six weeks on a diet that had moderate calorie reduction but was high in calcium. All rats supplemented with calcium showed increased body temperature indicating a shift from calorie storage to calorie burning (thermogenesis).

The Right Fats

The assimilation and utilization of vitamin D is influenced by the kinds of fats we consume. Increasing levels of both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in the diet decrease the binding of vitamin D to D-binding proteins. Saturated fats, the kind found in butter, tallow and coconut oil, do not have this effect. Nor do the omega-3 fats. D-binding proteins are key to local and peripheral actions of vitamin D. This is an important consideration as Americans have dramatically increased their intake of polyunsaturated oils (from commercial vegetable oils) and monounsaturated oils (from olive oil and canola oil) and decreased their intake of saturated fats over the past 100 years.

In traditional diets, saturated fats supplied varying amounts of vitamin D. Thus, both reduction of saturated fats and increase of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats contribute to the current widespread D deficiency.

Trans fatty acids, found in margarine and shortenings used in most commercial baked goods, should always be avoided. There is evidence that these fats can interfere with the enzyme systems the body uses to convert vitamin D in the liver.

Vitamin D Therapy

In my clinical practice, I test for vitamin-D status first. If D is needed, I try to combine sunlight exposure with vitamin D and mineral supplements.

Single, infrequent, intense, skin exposure to UV-B light not only causes sunburn but also suppresses the immune system. On the other hand, frequent low-level exposure normalizes immune function, enhancing NK-cell and T-cell production, reducing abnormal inflammatory responses typical of autoimmune disorders, and reducing occurrences of infectious disease. Thus it is important to sunbathe frequently for short periods of time, when UV-B is present, rather than spend long hours in the sun at infrequent intervals. Adequate UV-B exposure and vitamin-D production can be achieved in less time than it takes to cause any redness in the skin. It is never necessary to burn or tan to obtain sufficient vitamin D.

If sunlight is not available in your area because of latitude or season, sunlamps made by Sperti can be used to provide a natural balance of UV-B and UV-A. Used according to instructions, these lamps provide a safe equivalent of sunlight and will not cause burning or even heavy tanning. Tanning beds, on the other hand, are not acceptable as a means of getting your daily dose of vitamin D because they provide high levels of UV-A and very little UV-B.

If you have symptoms of vitamin-D insufficiency or are unable to spend time in the sun, due to season or lifestyle or prior skin cancer, consider adding a supplement of 1,000 IU daily. Higher levels may be needed but should be recommended and monitored by your health care practitioner after testing serum 25(OH)D. 1,000 iu can be obtained from a concentrated supplement or from 2 teaspoons of high quality cod liver oil. Both Carlson Labs and Solgar make a 1,000 IU vitamin-D supplement naturally derived from fish oil. (Do not attempt to obtain large amounts of vitamin D from cod liver oil alone, as this would supply vitamin A in excessive and possibly toxic amounts.)

Supplementation is safe as long as sarcoidosis, liver or kidney disease is not present and the diet contains adequate calcium, magnesium and other minerals.

Adequate calcium and magnesium, as well as other minerals, are critical parts of vitamin D therapy. Without calcium and magnesium in sufficient quantities, vitamin-D supplementation will withdraw calcium from the bone and will allow the uptake of toxic minerals. Do not supplement vitamin D and do not sunbathe unless you are sure you have sufficient calcium and magnesium to meet your daily needs. Weston Price suggested a minimum of 1,200-2,400 mg of calcium daily. Research suggests that 1,200-1,500 mg is adequate as a supplement for most adults, both men and women. (Magnesium intake should be half that of calcium.)

An excellent source of calcium in the human is bone broths.

Expensive "chelated" calciums are not necessary if vitamin-D status is adequate. Taking calcium without sufficient D may cause other problems. Vitamin D controls the production of some calcium binding proteins, which are critical to normal calcium utilization.

Patients on vitamin-D therapy report a wide range of beneficial results including increased energy and strength, resolution of hormonal problems, weight loss, an end to sugar cravings, blood sugar normalization and improvement of nervous system disorders.

A paradoxical transient and non-complicating hypercalciuria (more calcium in the urine) may occur when the program is first initiated. This resolves quickly when adequate calcium and other minerals are consumed. Two other temporary side effects may occur during the first several months of treatment. One is daytime sleepiness after calcium is taken. This usually resolves itself after about one week. The other condition is the reappearance of pain and discomfort at the site of old injuries, a sign of injury remodeling or proper healing, which may take some time to clear up.

Toxicity Issues

Vitamin programs usually omit vitamin D because of concerns about toxicity. These concerns are valid because vitamin D in all forms can be toxic in pharmacological (drug-like) doses. The dangers of toxicity have not been exaggerated, but the doses needed to result in toxicity have been ill defined with the unfortunate result that many people currently suffer from vitamin-D deficiency or insufficiency.

While vitamin D is stored in body fat, storage is not sufficient to maintain optimum blood levels during winter months. A single exposure to UV-B light will raise levels of vitamin D over the next 24 hours and then return to baseline or slightly higher within 7 days. Historically our requirements for D were satisfied by daily exposure to sunlight and/or daily intake from food. Lowfat diets and lack of seafood in the diet further contribute to the current worldwide insufficiency of vitamin D.

Sunlight on the Inside

If any nutrient incorporates the properties of sunlight, it is vitamin D. The healthy "primitive" peoples that Dr. Price observed not only had broad, round, "sunny" faces, they also had sunny dispositions and optimistic attitudes towards life in spite of many hardships. Typical food intakes for peoples who have not been "civilized" range from 3,000 IU-6,000 IU. Modern intakes are paltry in comparison. The standard American diet provides vitamin D only in very low quantities.

The first step towards redressing some of the ills of civilized life—from depression to road rage, from cavities to osteoporosis—would be to get more light, inside or outside. Vitamin D adds sunlight to life from childhood through the golden years. In nonagenarians and centenarians high levels of vitamin D in the blood and normal thyroid function were the strongest markers of health and longevity.

Eat only grass fed meat, eat free range eggs and chicken, get plenty of green leafy veggies and get out in the sun and play!!

How to Live to a Ripe Old Age still Alive and Kickin’

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, centenarians are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population.   30% of a person’s longevity is determined by genetics. Which means the other 70% is up to us, determined by our lifestyle choices.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way a majority of American lives will go. The Centers for Disease Control predicts that over half of us will spend our final years in a nursing home, medicated and unable to care for ourselves.  Unless, that is, we make some changes to become better nourished, more active and less stressed.

Fact is, many of the simple decisions you make every day will determine whether your later years are marked by dependence, disease, and lack of mobility… or you are still dancing in your seventies, traveling the world in your eighties, and horsing around with the great-grandkids through your nineties.

That said, here are seven decisions you can make today that will help you make it to your big one-zero-zero birthday in fine shape:

1. Eat your fruits and vegetables, which are loaded with anti-oxidants.

Our bodies are constantly challenged by "free-radicals" – substances in the food we eat and the environment around us that cause the oxidation and breakdown of our cells.  Without the protection you get from antioxidants, these free-radicals can cause a domino effect of cellular damage that becomes the pathway for cancer, aging, and a variety of diseases.  A healthy diet that’s rich in antioxidants will help your body neutralize these free-radicals as they occur. There are plenty of excellent nutritional supplements on the market. But your best antioxidant protection, by far, comes from a diet that includes a variety of whole fruits and vegetables.

2. Eat an all-natural all organic Traditional Human Diet.

Whenever possible, choose foods that are grown organically, without the use of pesticides and herbicides, and avoid genetically modified foods. If you eat meat, insist on animals (free-range poultry and grass-fed beef and bison) raised on their natural diets.  Eat only grass-fed beef, free range chickens that are grown organically.  If you eat fish, eat only cold water fish and eat it only one time a week.  Avoid grains and all dairy food.  Add meat stocks to your diet.  Increase your intake of healthy saturated fats such as coconut oil and butter, make sure they are organic.

3. Get in motion.

There are many studies showing that resistance exercise (i.e. weightlifting and calisthenics) increases muscle size and strengthens bones. This is especially important as we get older, because the loss of muscle mass and bone density is a common "side effect" of aging. Resistance exercise also increases stamina, reduces fat, and rejuvenates the hormone systems.

Some health advocates recommend longer, controlled forms of exercise, but Dr. Al Sears – who specializes in anti-aging medicine – favors shorter but more intense workouts.

4. Stretch your joints.

In my personal experience, there’s nothing better for beating the aches and pains of an aging back, shoulders, joints, etc. than a combination of yoga and Pilates. To get the most from these popular programs, get instruction from an instructor who has therapeutic experience – and push yourself to become increasingly flexible.

5. Brain Cells; Use ‘em or lose ‘em.

The brain is often likened to a muscle in that it gets stronger with exercise. I’m talking about exercise like doing crossword puzzles (a personal favorite of mine), word games, learning a new language, keeping a journal, and working actively on a business or hobby.

Brain cells talk to each other through chemicals known as neurotransmitters. "Think of the chemicals as squirrels leaping from one tree to another," says Gene Cohen of the Center on Aging. "If the adjacent trees have more branches, it’s easier for the squirrels to leap from tree to tree." And, in fact, The New York Times cites studies indicating that if you stimulate your brain, you can increase those important contact points by as much as 20%.

6. Reduce your stress.

The simplest way I know of to reduce stress is to make a list of the 10 things, people, or situations that are aggravating you. Then decide to change your response to them, as that is all that you have control over.

7. Learn to relax and play…

I am not talking here about plunking down in front of then TV each night…  I am talking about the kind of relaxation that feeds our soul, truly relaxes us, enhances the quality of our lives….my choices are gardening, yoga, dancing, papermaking, fiber arts….  Get in touch with that list in the back of your mind, things you’ve always wanted to do..and make them happen…

Remember, the goal isn’t just to get to a ripe old age, you want plenty of energy to be able to play, dance, garden, be happy, give to others…