Archive for December, 2007
December 31, 2007 at 7:31 pm
· Filed under General ·Tagged colon cleansing, Flax
When I first started writing about using flax to fight the war on constipation, I was unaware how many people subscribe to the theory of colon cleansing. For the most part, colon cleansing is likened to good hygiene and keeping your inner body clean. The theory goes on to argue that a clean colon will reduce all types of ailments including: fatigue, weight gain, ache (if I’d only known that when I was a kid), bad breath, irritable bowel syndrome, and many more. Usually, the people talking about this practice use dietary aids and supplements. There’s even a site dedicated to rating colon cleansing products.
Not everyone agrees with this theory. Dr. Bernard Levin argues that the cleansing phenomena is all about selling products. Could be. I’ll let you decide. But the general idea of keeping my bodily waste moving along in the fast lane does make sense to me. I would, however, prefer to achieve this result through eating natural foods than swallowing pills. That’s not to say anything bad about these product; rather, I’m just not a pill guy. (My wife will tell you she has to force feed me vitamins.)
So, what does constipation actually means? I had never really pondered this question until I learned that a friend averaged two or so bowel movements a week. That’s right, two times a week! Needless to say, I gave this friend a bag of flax for Christmas. I doubt she will ever fall into the colon cleansing craze, but I do think being a little more regular wouldn’t hurt.
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December 28, 2007 at 8:25 am
· Filed under General ·Tagged Flax
I have to admit that I had a lot — and I mean a lot– of trouble today writing about the benefits of regular bowel movements. If you didn’t catch my post yesterday, I promised to write more today about why a clean colon makes one healthier. My difficulties in completing this task were two-fold. First, there’s a ton more information (and a horde of opinion) out there on the subject, and I had difficulty condensing it into a meaningful essay. Second, being able to pen poetically verse about the subject completely escaped me. I should have known this would be a tough case.
I’ve reached the conclusion that my task is greater than my time today, so I will postpone it until this weekend. I will, however, offer one important piece of advice about subject of using flax as a means of maintaining regular bowel movements. And that is, drink a lot of water with your flax. By a lot, I means 5-8 glasses a day. Drinking water is important because when you are dehydrated and eat flax, constipation will be the result. To be honest, I can’t say with any certainty why this is, but I can tell you from experience that this is the case.
I offer this advice as a bit of compensation for my inability to fulfill yesterday’s promise. If all goes well, the extra time and effort afforded to me this weekend will prove the necessary ingredient in helping me creating a meaningful essay on why one should clean out his/her colon.
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December 27, 2007 at 3:18 am
· Filed under General ·Tagged Flax, healthy foods fiber, nutrition
A while back I asked John what’s the best reason to use flax and he replied, ”It cleans your colon out and makes you regular.” That was not the answer I expected, but flax is full of fiber, and it does do a great job of “tuning up” the body’s plumbing system. Actually, John’s response shouldn’t have surprised me because he loves to tell a story about the first person he gave flax to. Now this was back in the day when John was giving flax away rather than selling it. One of those people receiving a package of flax was Ethel, a former neighbor of John’s. Ethel had moved off the farm and into town (Howard, SD) some years earlier, so they didn’t see each other regularly. But they had known each other for years; Ethel was 94 years old, and John had known her since he was 8-9 years old himself. One day, Ethel gave John call and asked him to come to town because she had baked him a sour cream pie. John told her he’d come to town any day for a pie, but asked why he deserved it? She explained that she had been talking a laxative for 40 years, and the flax he gave her had eliminated her need for the medication. She thought that was enough reason for baking John a pie.
Ethel became a regular user of flax. In fact, I’d heard from other people in Howard that she championed flax almost as much as John and Virginia. Unfortunately, Ethel won’t be able to pass on this story herself anymore. She passed away a few months ago at the ripe old age of 104.
So, what’s the big deal about being “regular”? Depending on one’s age, it probalby has varying degrees of importance. Over the next few days, I hope to share a little more on what others have to say about how cleaning out your colon makes you healthier. Hope you’ll tune in for some more.
PS – I can’t hardly believe that I’m writing about being regular.
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December 21, 2007 at 8:33 pm
· Filed under General, Local Foods ·Tagged Flax, healthy foods, Local Foods, seafood. omega-3
Flax is not the only great source of omega-3 oils for health conscious individuals. Most people are probably aware that fish fits in the same healthy foods category. The only problem is that its tough to get quality, fresh seafood in this part of the Midwest. For those of you who know what I’m talking about, you may want to check out Sioux City’s Firehouse Market.
Last week, I posted about the Firehouse opening its doors and carrying Wunder Flax. Looks like they’ve got a great selection of seafood in addition to their local foods.
Because this seafood appears to be the good stuff, you may not want to bread it. But if you really like your fish breaded, I’d recommend adding some ground flax to the mix. My wife has done it with frozen fish, and I think its improved the dish’s flavor. If your like me, however, I’d savor the flavor of fresh seafood without the breading. You’ll still enjoy the benefits from its healthy characteristics.
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December 21, 2007 at 7:58 pm
· Filed under General ·Tagged Flax, rabbit, wildlife
John is probably one of the few flax producers who does it all: he plants, harvests, cleans, and packages his flax. After clean the cleaning process, he takes the stuff that doesn’t make the cut (which includes a lot of good flax), puts it in a bucket, and feeds the local wildlife. This rabbit apparently recognized the health value of the flax because he tipped the bucket over and camped out for a while. I figure he’s probably protecting his claim on the flax from the other animals. Either way, he’s still probably one of the healthiest rabbits around.
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December 20, 2007 at 8:58 pm
· Filed under General ·Tagged , arthritis, Flax, healthy living, omega-3, tendonitis
While dating my wife, I told her that I would never be able to wear a wedding ring because I had a disfigured ring finger. The cause if this disfigurement (actually my finger looks fine, I just can’t straighten it all the way) was tendinits in the middle joint of the finger. Initially, this affliction caused my finger to lock or catch whenever I tried to bend it, which was pretty annoying. My doctor said he could fix my finger with surgery, but I would always be susceptible to tendinitis in my the joints of my body.
Besides the irony of fixing the “I can’t bend my finger” problem with “I can’t straighten my finger” solution, the surgery was successful. The doctor was also correct in his prediction about future tendinitis issues, which I’ve learned to treat with ice, ibuprofen, and rest.For those who haven’t experienced tendinitis and don’t know what it is, let me explain. Any time you hear “itis” attached to a medical related word, you should think of inflammation. Tendinitis is inflammation of the tendon, bursitis is inflammation of the bursa, and arthritis is inflammation of the arthro (a Greek word for joint). On an aside, I’ve experienced bursitis as well. I’ve always feared the potential onset of arthritis. Using the logic that if I’m susceptible to inflammation in my tendons and bursas, I must be susceptible to inflammation of my joints as a whole as well. Someday I’ll have to research this a little more to see if there any proof to this logic, but for now it makes a lot of sense to me. So, what’s the relationship here with flax? Well, lots of sources suggest flax can help remedy the affects of arthritis. Best Health Tonic , Health & Wealth , Jade Butler, Body and Fitness and many other sources discuss the connections between flax and arthritis. Good Health Doctors even claim that a recent study shows “60% of rheumatoid arthritics were able to completely discontinue their non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and another 20% were able to reduce their dosages of NSAID in half” by introducing omega 3 and omega 6 oils into their diets.
Why is flax good for arthritis? Basically, it comes down to omega-3 oils; this wonderful oil helps to produce prostaglandins, which regulate the body’s anti-inflammatory response system. In short, it helps body keep inflammation in check. As a relatively new convert to the usage of flax, I hope it helps hold off the onset of arthritis, but I probably won’t know this for quite some time. In the short term, however, I’ll be very interested in seeing how helpful flax is at combating my occasional bouts of tendinitis.
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December 19, 2007 at 6:02 pm
· Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , Flax, muffins, recipe
If you are like me, you loving eating good foods during he holiday season. Virginia sent me the following recipe for muffins (it has flax it it), and I thought I’d share it with you. Hope you enjoy.
Flax, Cranberry, Orange Muffins:
1 cup of All purpose flour
1/3 cup of whole wheat flour
2/3 cup of ground flax seed
2 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1 Egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbs Orange zest
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, ground flax, baking powder and salt; mix well and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat together brown sugar and egg until sugar is dissolved.
Add the buttermilk and orange juice and the orange zest into the sugar and egg mixture and mix well.
Add dry ingredients and fold until moistened.
Add dried cranberries and walnuts – fold in.
Place batter in paper lined muffin pans. Spray the paper liners with vegetable oil spray.
Bake for 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Yield is 12 muffins.
This recipe has no oil.
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December 15, 2007 at 8:37 pm
· Filed under General ·Tagged Flax, linen, pennsylvania
Did I ever mention I’m a former teacher? Maybe that’s why I enjoy talking about the health benefits of flax; in many ways its teaching. One often overlooked part of being a teacher is that students cause teachers to learn as much as they themselves learn.
I was recently reminded of this when a 10th grade student at Norristown H.S in eastern Pennsylvania wrote John Wunder a letter. She explained that her geography class was studying the various geographic regions of United States. (Did I mention that I was once a geography teacher?). She went on to say that they had studied how flax was used to make linen and wondered if John could send “something related to flax…to show the importance of the grain industry to the State of South Dakota.” Apparently, all the students in her class were securing “artifacts” from around the US.
This brings up a several questions that required me to do a little research: First, why didn’t I know flax was used to make linen — a type of cloth that is usually associated with quality? Wikipedia tells us that at some point in history textile manufacturers substituted their cotton and hemp clothes for flax linen. In other words, they stole the name. My guess is that flax producers wouldn’t allow that to happen today because it really does encroach on flax linen’s brand equity.
Second: Why does flax make quality linen cloth? Linen has definitely been around awhile. The ancient Egyptians made flax linen, the people of Western Europe made flax linen, and the early American colonists made flax linen. It’s apparently a durable cloth because flax straw consists of long fibers with glue-like properties. The fibers thus bond into a very durable cloth that does not break down easily. This does not surprise me because John has always said that he can’t hardly get rid of his flax straw because it doesn’t degrade like wheat or grass straw. Linen is also a “cool” cloth — something tough for me to get excited about on a day like today when the forecasted high is 24 degrees.
Third: Why isn’t there more clothing today made of flax? The answer appears to be cost of production. Turning flax into cloth is time and energy intense. In today’s world that translates into money, and its more profitable for farmers to raise corn and beans — at least in this part of the world.
And that brings me to my last question: South Dakota really isn’t known for its flax production. Corn and soybeans dominate here. So, why did Kristen want to know more about flax raised in South Dakota or for that matter how the heck did she find John Wunder’s name? The Internet couldn’t answer these last questions, but maybe Kristin will read our blog and venture an response.
True to their good-nature, John and Virginia rushed off whole flax plant, roots included, which John had pulled from the field this fall. With the Christmas mailing frenzy, I doubt Kristen has received the package yet. When she does, I hope she will read a little more in this blog about how flax is a great health food.
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December 14, 2007 at 8:12 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged Flax, grocery store, healthy living
One day we learn about Wunder Flax being sold in a “local foods” markets n Sioux City, IA, the next we hear about Wunder Flax in a Denver suburb grocery store.
Joe Bartmann e-mailed me a picture sent to him by his brother, Paul Bartmann, from Johnstown, CO. As you may know Joe wrote about our new Wunders of Flax Blog on his family’s Bartblog. That was Tuesday. On Thursday, brother Paul was shoping at the Hay’s Market grocery store near where he lives in Johnstown when the green and gold Wunder Flax logo caught his eye. It captured his attention only because Joe had posted the logo on his blog. Paul had to snap a picture of the flax on the store shelf, which I’ve posted, and he even bought his first bag.
From what Joe tells me, Paul’s wife has been after him to get on the flax kick for some time; but like me, he’s probably been too lazy to be healthy. It’s great to learn that a little blogging can help make one person a little healthier. Now hopefully, Paul and his family don’t take as long as I did to make flax a consistent part of their diet. Thanks for the information Paul. Hope to meet you someday.
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December 14, 2007 at 2:17 am
· Filed under General ·Tagged Flax, iowa, local food market, natural foods, sioux city
Last Monday, John received a phone call from Pat Garrity, executive director of the Floyd Boulevard Local Foods Market Cooperative in Sioux City, Iowa. A co-op of food producers, the business is just renovating an old fire station and wanted some Wunder Flax for the shelves of their local food market. Since John was making a delivery tour of northwest Iowa, he decided to drop off a few cases with Pat.
I discovered from the Firehouse Market blog that the store is opening its doors for the first time on Saturday, December 15. Not a lot of other information there right now — but I would imagine getting the store ready is more important than blogging. I do hope that they share more about their project in the future because I’m very interested in the local food theme.
During my time doing community development work in Howard, I dabbled in that arena some, largely without success. The concept of healthy foods being grown by friends and neighbors is very attractive to me, however, and I think it has a bright future. And now with souring energy prices, eliminating the need to transport food halfway around the world just to get food in grocery stores of our communities makes financial sense.
If you are looking to learn a little more about local markets, I’d encourage you to check out the Local Harvest website. The Sioux City Journal ran a nice article on the Floyd Boulevard Local Foods Market, which you can read in full here. And if you know of more local food resources, I’d encourage you to share them. But most importantly, if you are in the Sioux City region, get out and support the Fire House Market.
Fire House Market
1211 5th Street
Sioux City, IA 51101
(712)-224-3533
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