HEALTH NEWS ~ OCTOBER

Happy Fall Everybody! For those of you who live in areas where the colors change -- aren't they lovely? I love this time of year where it is warm during the day and cool at night. It is my favorite time of year!

Here is a great recipe to try and it is very simple and quick. Carob is very tasty and is good for you as well.

Fudge

½ c. honey

½ c. chopped walnuts

¼ c. carob powder

1 T. Roma or Caffix (or any coffee substitute)

½ c. almond or peanut butter

¼ c. soy supreme soy milk powder (this can be left out but the consistency is better with it)

½ t. real salt

Mix all together with hands and kneed. (wearing a disposable glove works well) Add soymilk powder to form stiff dough, form into balls. Chill.

 Carob is not an empty calorie food. It has 8 % protein, some B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, manganese, chromium, copper, and nickel.

Carob comes from the carob tree which is grown mostly in the Middle East. It belongs to the legume family and produces long pods which are dried and ground finely to produce carob powder.

Referred to in the Bible, the carob pods helped sustain John the Baptist during his wilderness sojourn and are often called St. John’s Bread.

In order to achieve a fine chocolaty flavor with excellent nutritional value and the absence of harmful stimulation, use carob powder in any recipe calling for cocoa or chocolate.

CAFFEINE IS A DRUG and this information is VERY IMPORTANT.  Here are some facts about it…When we drink caffeine it pulls water out of the system.  We need to drink enough water (½ of your body weight in ounces, plus 16 ounces during your first hour of waking up) every day and cut out ALL caffeinated drinks.  Our body is made up of mostly water, (70-80%) so we need to drink more water.

One of the organs most rapidly affected by caffeine is the brain. Almost 99% of the caffeine that is filtered by the kidneys is reabsorbed. Caffeine must be metabolized to be eliminated from the body.

Caffeine affects many of the body’s organs.  It constricts the blood vessels, speeds up the heart, and stimulates the brain, stomach, kidneys, ovaries, and testes.

Symptoms of excessive caffeine include sleep disturbances, headache, tremulousness, jitteriness, anxiety, light-headedness, irritability, depression, rapid heart beat, skipped heartbeats, rapid breathing, diarrhea, stomach pains, heartburn, frequent urination and muscular tension.

Persons, who drink 1-5 cups of coffee per day, have a 50% greater chance of heart attacks than do non coffee drinkers. It is 110% greater for those who drink 6 or more cups per day.

Withdrawal symptoms are common among those who try to quit caffeine. The first to occur is usually a headache, which may develop as soon as 18 hours after the last dose of caffeine. Other symptoms include drowsiness, inability to concentrate, lethargy, yawning, depression, nervousness, and nausea. These can last for 2 weeks or more.

Pregnant females and newborn babies metabolize caffeine very slowly. High doses of caffeine have been associated with an increase in cleft palate and malformations of extremities in experimental animals. So caffeine should definitely be avoided during both pregnancy and nursing.

NOW LET’S EVALUATE CHOCOLATE with a judgment as to its suitability as a food. Chocolate has caffeine in it and more. LISTEN TO THIS…

Chocolate requires additives to mask bitterness, so a large amount of sugar is necessary to make chocolate palatable. Then they add milk, cream, or oil to eliminate the unpleasant grainy consistency in chocolate. This makes an unhealthy food and WILL obstruct digestion, and cause fermentation.

There are natural contaminants in chocolate. Most cocoa beans are produced in countries where sanitation levels are FAR below those generally practiced in the USA.

The pods are cut from the tree, piled up in the yard of the farmer and fermented, a process which takes from 3-8 days. During this process, people walk over the piles, insects, rodents, small animals and other living things make their nests in piles and many types of contamination may occur during this primary part of the manufacture of chocolate. At the peak of fermentation, the temperature builds up which promotes the growth of bacteria and molds. It has been shown that large quantities of aflatoxin, the cancer producing agent from the molds, can be produced in cocoa beans. This fermentation process is ESSENTIAL for the development of the chocolate flavor. After the fermentation the seeds are sun dried or kiln dried and then ready to be shipped to the chocolate manufacturers where they are roasted and ground to make a chocolate liquor somewhat like soft peanut butter. In this stage, bacterial contaminants multiply. 

The FDA ALLOWS in chocolate and chocolate liquor up to 120 insect fragments per cup or 2 rodent hairs per cup. Four percent of cocoa beans may be infested with insects and still carry the blessing of the FDA. Visible or solid animal excreta must not exceed 10 milligrams per pound. For chocolate powder or pressed cakes there must not be more than 75 insect fragments in 3 T. of the powder! Most individuals who believe to be allergic to chocolate themselves are in fact allergic to the animal parts that are in it. 

As for me, because of those 2 things alone, I have banished chocolate from my diet forever! Fortunately for us chocolate lovers, a good substitute is available that has a much more favorable manufacture and is processed under greater sanitary conditions...and that is carob. Carob is naturally sweet. It does not require fermentation to develop its flavor. It is a rich source of pectin, which aids in digestion and elimination. Pectin is in the group of indigestible complex carbohydrates commonly called fiber.  The pectin in carob is useful for arresting simple diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. It settles the stomach and like all fiber, helps take up poisons and toxins in the intestine and eliminate them from the body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says…“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

“He (Satan) well knows that is it is impossible for man to discharge his obligations to God and to his fellow-men, while he impairs the faculties God has given him. The brain is the capital of the body. If the perceptive faculties become benumbed through intemperance of any kind, eternal things are not discerned.” Review and Herald, Sept. 8, 1874

Let’s obey God’s divine plan to eat healthy. You wouldn’t put sugar in your gas tank or soda pop in your transmission. Then let’s not put caffeine in our bodies when God has told us not to. May God bless you as you strive to feed your body healthy according to His manual. God made our bodies and He knows best what to put in it.