I’m going to step up on my soapbox. I’m going to get political. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

As a human being and a consumer, I am positively outraged and aghast at the United States’ response to mad cow disease. If you stop and think about it, you may have noticed that we haven’t heard much about that in the last year or so. Has it gone away?

Of course not. Do not think for a minute we are protected.

I came across an astonishingly grim article from Vegsource, a vegetarian website that I have keep sporadic tabs on for many years. I am the first to admit this source is biased, but the information presented in the article is reportedly drawn from the USDA’s own reports.

According to presented statistics, between the years of 1998 and 2006, an estimated 777 cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (ie - Mad Cow) entered our national food chain undetected. This estimate is derived from examining the number of cattle slaughtered daily, the amount inspected, and cases found.

Last year, despite (or because of) growing concern of BSE risk in the United States, the USDA decided to SCALE BACK on mad cow testing, from 1000 cattle daily to 110 a day. Keep in mind over 70,000 cattle are slaughtered in this country every single day. The majority of these are processed in huge processing plants, where thousands upon thousands of animals become the various cuts of meat enjoyed by millions of Americans. The potential for contamination is ridiculously high; particularly among ground beef which, depending on the processing facility, may contain proteins from 300-1000 different cows in a typical patty. Please also note that while the United States was testing approximately 1% of their cattle, Japan and a number of European countries test 100% of their cattle. It isn’t like it cannot be done.

While the practice which creates mad cow — feeding cattle back to cattle — has been banned in this country since 1997, the USDA lags far behind in inspecting and ensuring this practice is not continued. The law does not prohibit the feeding of one species to another - for instance, downed cows may be fed to chickens, and these chickens can in turn be fed back to cattle. Given this disease can transfer from bovine to homo sapien, who’s to determine it cannot be passed to avian species as well? In a time of lagging profits due to concerns of cholesterol, saturated fat, and BSE, who is to say that a number of feedlots would not continue to sneak in some free food to cut operating costs? It isn’t like USDA inspectors are making spontaneous surprise visits.

Are you concerned yet?

If you consume beef, there are a number of things you can do to protect yourself and your family. It is absolutely imperative in this culture to practice what I call “defensive eating” in order to stay healthy and well because the industry and the government will not be doing this for us. Below are some steps you can take to prevent contamination:

1. Consume 100% grass-fed, free range cattle. These cattle are the healthiest because they consume a natural diet they can process (corn is difficult to process, increases digestive disorders and the risk of illness in cows). Know your sources (Thundering Hooves and Oregon Country Beef are a couple) and become intimately aware of where your food comes from.
2. If you can’t find grass-fed, look for cows which have been fed a 100% vegetarian diet. This may be corn or another grain, but keep in mind newspaper is “vegetarian”, and is a common filler in animal feed.
3. Grind your own beef. The best way to not ingest 300 cows in a hamburger patty is to have a butcher grind up a cut of beef before your eyes.
4. Eat less beef. Experiment with meatless meals every few days and see how it feels. Most people know at least one vegetarian - ask for a favorite recipe or idea for lunches and dinners.
5. Ask Questions. Be a detective. Ask your server where the beef comes from - not the supplier - the RANCH. Look that ranch up online. Just because the menu assures “all-natural beef” doesn’t mean a darn thing. Does the ranch disclose how the cattle are housed, fed, and slaughtered? If not, it probably isn’t pretty. Call them and ask more questions. Your concern will prompt change within the industry - especially among smaller ranches. Don’t underestimate the power of being an informed consumer.

Good luck out there, my fellow defensive eaters. We have a lot of homework to do!

t’s really criminal how the brain tortures us. My chocolate cravings have given way to macaroni and cheese. I did not grow up on the “good stuff”, but rather the boxed Kraft brand that is Cheeto-orange and probably stains one’s intestines.
Regardless, I have been wanting it all - boxed mac and cheese, frozen mac and cheese so I can put it in the oven and gnaw on the crispy burnt edges, and the ultra-greasy, mega-cheesy variety in the Whole Foods hot bar that, until now, looked positively disgusting (I’m not a fan of greasy food).

I had forgotten about the recipe from my vegan days for a cheese sauce until a new review for it was posted on Recipezaar. Now that it has come across my path again, I see rice elbow noodles and carrots in my future….

Shockingly Good Vegan Mac and Cheese Sauce

I obtained this recipe from someone named Tracy over the vast Internet, at a website I cannot recall since I was doing a search through many at the time. Combining the below ingredients sounds wretched, but it was shockingly good! Could this be Kraft’s secret?

6 servings

15 min 10 min prep

1. Blend all ingredients together in a Vitamix or blender.
2. Pour into pan and stir until boils and thickens.
3. Take off heat and pour into rice noodles, over broccoli or potatoes, etc.

This video of Peter Jennings comes from Dr. Mercola’s website. I’m not a huge fan of Mercola - he tends to be a bit in-your-face and extreme in making his point. However, this video is fantastic and offers an eye-opening connection between politics, food choices, and our nation’s health.

Click here!

Your lifestyle may play a huge role in your tendency for migraines and headaches. To get down to the root of your specific triggers, you may want to keep a headache diary. Click the link below for information on how to keep a headache diary.

How to Keep a Headache Diary

I must take a moment to give great thanks to Jŏcalat, my chocolate savior the last month. Proudly labeled soy, dairy, and gluten free, this little bar has become one of the few sources of chocolate I can find. I’m not a big fan of the bitter cacao, and anything made with chocolate chips is doomed to be laced with soy lecithin. In a classic display of human psychology, a food which I did not have frequent strong cravings for before has suddenly become the Itch I cannot seem to scratch.
I chalk it up to a mix of expected and unexpected stressors over the last 4 weeks that markedly increased the desire for sweetness in my life. It’s only compounded by strict dietary protocol I am currently following. Whatever the origin, that nagging desire for chocolate is quelled with Jŏcalat. Not only that, but with ingredients so pure and natural* they sound almost holy, I can’t even feel guilty afterward!

*The above bar contains organic dates, organic walnuts, organic, fair-trade certified cocoa mass and organic cocoa powder. The nuts add healthy fats and minimize the blood sugar spike from the natural sugars found in dates. No one flavor overpowers another so the end result is an enjoyable, portable bar that doesn’t melt, isn’t overly sticky and is one of the purest products you can find! Other flavors are Chocolate Coffee, Chocolate Mint, and Chocolate Orange. Also try LaraBar’s Cocoa Mole and Chocolate Coconut and report back on what you think!

Since I’ve recently had to revamp my diet, I’ve found a few goodies I keep going back to:

• Blueberries! I averaged 3 pounds a week for much of July and August. It was heaven!

• My favorite breakfast right now: toasted rice bread with cashew butter and ginger jam. Tastes as decadent as it sounds!

• My favorite snack: air-popped popcorn spritzed with Napa Valley Toasted Sesame and Garlic oil and tossed in salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

• Lara Bars: Gluten, Dairy, and Soy free - they are very handy to have in the car.

I haven’t always been a marathon runner. In fact, I wasn’t even a regular runner until I was in my 20’s. I didn’t play any sports in school, my parents weren’t physically active, and there was no role model for me follow into a world of fitness. My journey into physical activity was about as organic as it gets – after my 15 year old heart was broken for the first time, I had an overwhelming urge to run away from everything. There was an anxious twitch that overtook my body and my agitation was directed out on a trail. So I ran for a bit, and I felt better. Like I might be able to wake up the next day and live a bit longer.

I remember the first morning I ran to my high school without stopping. It was just before it got too cold to run in Alaska. The total distance was probably about 2 miles and it was the first runner’s high I’d ever experienced. I felt like I could do anything! After my adolescent heart was crushed, I desperately needed to feel that power. I signed up for weight class in gym that year. I saw exercise as a way out of hurt and a way back to accepting myself in the face of rejection.

I continued to take gym every quarter for the rest of high school. Kickboxing, advanced weights, step class, and so on. I began using the family gym membership. I was enough of a regular that one of the group fitness instructors told me I was a “natural” and I should look into personal training.

And here I am.

I write this because some of you have never been “fit”. You may tell yourself that you aren’t good at it, it’s been too long, you are too old, you don’t belong. The only reason I never ran track in high school is because I told myself I wasn’t good enough. In order to even be good enough to make a high school team, I should have been running in junior high. Or elementary school. I told myself it was too late for me. I never even bothered to look into tryouts, because I “knew” I’d never make it and I didn’t want to face that rejection. At 16, I was a washout. Past my prime. Put me out to pasture!

I now see how ridiculous that is. I hope you do, too. We are only limited by the barriers we lock ourselves into. My last year in high school I volunteered at a hospital with dietitians to make sure nutrition was the right career choice for me and I met a woman in her 60’s doing her internship – she had decided in her late 50’s to make a career change. Whenever I tell myself it’s too late for me, I think of her.

It never has to be too late.