Aged Garlic and two failed attempts; Top 5 Supplements you should be taking; list of what is in a school lunch and a growing concern with our youth
aged garlic not so simple to make, are you taking these supplements?, what is in our children's school lunch?
Sporadic Substacks for Now
I am trying to keep my substack posts to once weekly, but they may be sporadic. I am working on my dissertation proposal… It has been an all-consuming process, so I may miss a post from time to time.
Making Aged Garlic
From everything I read online, making aged garlic in a slow cooker is easier and more affordable than buying it.
Not so in my case
Ages garlic should be soft, chewy, and mildly sweet
I am curious if these online sites are scammers or if I cannot follow straightforward directions. Based on what I am reading, my slow cooker may be too high, even on the warm setting.
Attempt #1: place whole garlic in the slow cooker and stay on warm for 4 weeks.
My Result: hard-as-rock black garlic.
Attempt #2: wrap the garlic in saran wrap, then two layers of foil, and place in a slow cooker on warm for 4 weeks.
My Result: same as attempt #1
Attempt #3: I have yet to try attempt #3. I read to wrap it again, but this time put it in the dehydrator for 4 to 8 weeks at 140 F. I read another post to put the garlic wrapped in saran wrap into mason jars and put that into the slow cooker. I don't know if I want to keep my appliances on again for that long.
Have you had luck making black-aged garlic?
If so, what method worked for you?
This may just have to be a food I buy rather than make.
Recipes online state the garlic will get hard as a rock around week 2 but to be patient and keep it in the slower cooker and allow it to transition from hard as a rock to soft and spongy. Each time I kept my garlic in for 4 weeks, it was still hard as a rock. It also said one garlic bulb might cook faster than several in one slow cooker. Since I used one bulb, perhaps I kept it in too long.
Top 5 Supplements Everyone Should Take
What supplements should I be taking? It is a popular question. Your supplement needs will vary based on your health, but here is a list of the basic ones most people need.
All products should be reputable, quality brands and not some drug store, dollar store brands, or owned by a Pharmaceutical company. It's an oxymoron to me-a drug manufacturer needs you in a state of ill health for them to profit and yet is making a supplement to support your health. I am hesitant to purchase products from a company that makes both.
Many quality brands have been sold to larger corporations such as Nestle and Bayer. Pfizer owns Caltrate, Centrum, and Emergen-C. Nestle owns Pure Encapsulation, Wobezym, Douglas Labs, Garden of Life, Nuun, and The Bountiful Company. Bayer owns One a Day and Care Of.
A quick search can tell you who owns the supplements you use. I have mentioned before some examples, such as Nordic Naturals and Terry Naturally or their professional line, Euromedica. These brands are privately owned.
Multivitamin/mineral: To cover the basics, including B vitamins, calcium, selenium, and iodine. Poor quality multi v/m will have lower nutrient amounts and difficult-to-absorb forms.
Vitamin D: Vitamin D is important for your bones, immune health, lung health, and mental health, to name a few. Start with a baseline vitamin D level to know how much you require. Use the vitamin D calculator at grassrootshealth.net to determine the dose to reach optimal levels. How much you need also depends on a few factors, including how much extra body fat you have, how much mid-day sunlight exposure your bare skin gets without sunscreen, where you live, and your skin tone. The vitamin D level best for you depends on your health status. A general range is 40 ng/ml to 80 ng/ml unless you have cancer which may require a higher D level. Restest your vitamin D level 6 months later. Only trace amounts are found in food.
Magnesium: Magnesium is involved in hundreds of bodily enzymatic processes, so it is critical for your health. It promotes a calm and relaxed mind and is useful in stressful conditions. Even the healthiest eater may struggle to get enough magnesium since it is depleted in our soil from the lack of crop rotation. A general all-purpose form is a glycinate or bysglycinate chelate. Avoid magnesium oxide since it is very difficult to absorb. Citrate will loosen bowels. Ranges may be anywhere from 500 mg. to 2 g. daily. This will depend on your needs.
EPA/DHA: Promotes balanced omega ratios since people tend to consume a large number of omega-6s which contributes to an inflammatory state. Inflammation is at the root of many chronic health issues. This is another marker that I would get tested for. You can do a blood spot test, mail it in, and use their calculator to determine your desired dose. A general rule of thumb is the more inflamed your body is and the more processed oils you consume, the more you may need. Many people need 1-2 grams daily of EPA/DHA combined. If you use a non-fish source, you may absorb less and take a higher dose. Preferred sources are fish, krill, or algae. On a day you consume a fatty fish source such as Alaskan wild-caught salmon, skip the supplement dose.(Omegaquant is where you can order at-home tests). Also, ensure your doctor runs the c-reactive protein (CRP) test, a marker of inflammation (but cannot tell you where you have inflammation). You want the number under 1 and close to zero.
A recent article on krill versus fish oil versus fish can be read at https://anh-usa.org/krill-vs-fish-oil-vs-fish-which-is-best/
Probiotic: Your gut health is critical for immune support, lung health, brain, and mental health. A healthy individual may not need one or may be able to take a probiotic 1-3 days per week and incorporate fermented foods, yogurts (not the Dannon-sugar-coloring-dye-kind), herbs, and spices. Others may benefit from a daily probiotic. If you have been taking the same probiotic long-term, mix it up and use a different brand for a while. A probiotic label should indicate genus, species, and strains, and the number of viable organisms (should be 1 billion or greater).
What other supplements you need depends on your health. A person with thyroid issues may need to add in more selenium, someone going through a stressful time may need more magnesium and an adaptogen, and someone else may need a proteolytic enzyme for cardiovascular issues.
Figuring out the correct dose, the best time of day, with or without food, etc., can be very challenging. For instance, an omega-3 supplement may not benefit you if you take a low dose without a fat-containing meal.
Contact me for a consult if you need help creating the best supplement plan, so you do not waste time on unneeded supplements, the wrong amounts, the wrong forms, and inferior brands.
School Lunch: What Your Kids Are Really Consuming and Why do 45% of school-age children have chronic health conditions?
A recent Epoch times video claimed that 45% of all school-age children in the U.S. have at least one chronic health condition, such as asthma or ADHD. This number is frightening because if it is 45% now, what will it be 10, 20, or 30 years from now?
When I was young and went on field trips, the teacher did not have a bag of medications for each student she needed to bring along. Many years ago, when I attended school field trips with my children, I was amazed at all the inhalers and other medications the teacher was carrying-a large bag full. That was 18-20 years ago. Even if you do not have kids or your kids are adults now, this affects all of us.
Go to momsacrossamerica.com for a better view of the infographic I posted here to show you what is in a child’s lunch. It contains much more than calories and macronutrients, but not the good stuff.
The downside: people of lower socioeconomic standing may not have a choice, and children depend on school meals, including a free breakfast. We need to do better with what we provide to our children, and the school meals set kids up for health issues.
Source
https://www.theepochtimes.com/why-nearly-45-percent-of-american-school-aged-children-suffer-from-chronic-health-conditions_5018710.html?utm_source=ref_share&utm_campaign=copy&rs=SHRLGPST