Science is real . . .

This morning, I woke up with this song in my head. Not a bad way to wake up, really, and I don't think I'm complaining exactly. It's just that when the Os find a song or CD that they really like, we end up listening to it day in and day out for days on end. And sometimes, too much of even a good thing is simply too much.

And I do admit that I happen to like this particular CD - Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants - more than any of our former favorites, though I have to say that Raffi's Bananaphone is still high on my list.

One of the songs on this CD is about how everything is made of elements. Big O has been very curious about this - incessantly asking if this or that is made of elements. Generally speaking, the answer, as the song implies, is that everything is made of elements.

Leave it to Big O to find a loophole. At one point he asked if shadows are made of elements. Clever. Later, he asked if electricity is made of elements.

Homeschooling sure is interesting around here. I'm going to have to get all my old text books out and start studying before this kid really stumps me.

Notes on eating apples

A few days ago, the Os were eating a snack of apple slices. I had scooped out the seeds with a melon baller and left them on the side of the plate as I sliced up the apple. As they were eating, Little O decided to pick up one of the balls with the seeds in it and started to put it to his mouth. Big O stopped him and explained to him that he should not eat the apple seeds. The conversation went something along these lines:

Big O: Stop O! You don't want to eat the apple seeds. That wouldn't be good.

Little O paused, setting the little ball of apple core down.

Science Mom: It's true, O. Most people do not eat the apple seeds.

Big O: Yeah. And if you eat them, you'll have an apple plant start to grow in your belly.

Science Mom: Oh, I don't think that would actually happen. The seed would probably just leave his body in his poop.

Big O: Nope. A seed needs water and sunlight to grow and O drinks water.

Science Mom: But how would he get sunlight into his belly with the water and the apple seeds?

Big O (not missing a beat): Well, Mom, he could just open his mouth.

How does one argue with that kind of logic?!

What a day!

The other day, the Os' t-shirts from Little Green Star arrived. Big O was thrilled and wanted nothing more than to immediately put it on straight out of the envelope! He wore it the remainder of the afternoon, christened it at supper with an accidental splat of ketchup, and wanted desperately to wear it to bed, ketchup stain and all!

It was a big mail day for Big O - that very same day he also received an invitation to a good friend's birthday party. He is always happy to receive his own mail, and opening this letter became even more exciting when he realized it was his very own invitation to a party! He did not let go of that invitation for days - and I'm still finding little bits of red and orange fringe around the house. The party is a week from Saturday - Big O has been trying to decide what kind of present to give his friend, and I have been thinking ahead about GF/CF/EF/SF snacks and cupcakes to send along with the boys.

Little O was excited about his Little Green Star shirt, too. He's cleverly paired it with his bandana pants on many occasions in the few days since the shirts arrived!

Thanks to a good friend for teaching me how to sew this pair of bandana pants - she kindly supplied the bandanas, too!

P.S. - You still have time save 30% on an order with Little Green Star - the offer to readers of The Science Mom is valid until November 30, 2009.

Back at the Bench!

For a couple of years now I’ve been dabbling in homemade fermented foods and beverages. After we’d given up milk/casein (the third time around . . .), I was pretty bummed about it and decided we’d give raw cow’s milk a chance. Many milk-intolerant persons seem to do well with raw dairy, some even claim raw dairy healed their leaky gut and cleared them of their food intolerance(s). That’s when I decided to make my first cultured food – raw cow’s milk yogurt.

It was a daunting, yet exciting experiment.

Daunting because it was raw milk. I grew up with pasteurized milk. As a kid, I learned to thoroughly sniff the contents of the carton before each use to make sure the milk didn’t smell “funny.” (The funny thing is, it probably smelled funny from the day we bought it compared with raw milk!)

It was also daunting because I knew the effects milk/casein can have on Big O – excessive mucus production, raging ear infections, tantrums (and who wouldn’t tantrum when their head is stuffed with mucus and ear drums perforate due to the pressure of an infection?!), and, the dreaded constipation leading to the withholding cycle.

Daunting as it was, it was also exciting. Exciting because making raw milk yogurt was a new experiment for me.

I felt like I was back at the lab bench again. I don’t often miss being at the bench, but on occasion I get a little nostalgic about it. I miss seeing beautiful data appearing before my eyes. I miss pouring the perfect sequencing gel that transferred without tearing and produced tight, straight bands. I miss developing unstreaked, unquestionably clear westerns. I miss pulling out centrifuge tubes to find sweet little blobs of nucleic acid. I miss taking micrographs at 2:00 a.m. singing along with Matchbox 20 blaring and waiting anxiously for the film to be developed later that day to find that I captured sharply defined histological features. I was good at the bench and I miss the satisfaction of producing clear data.

This was an experiment at the bench (a.k.a., my kitchen counter) and I hoped I’d be good at it, too.

I read instructions from a variety of sources and came up with my own protocol. I loved that Big O could be involved in making it and sharing in the wonder of microbiology as it transpired in reused baby food jars in our oven. And, like my old days at the bench, the data produced in this kitchen experiment were good. Really good. Cream on top, tart and smooth underneath. Raw milk yogurt perfection!

But, a short while after consuming our first few bites of data, the detrimental effects that milk/casein have on us began to rear their ugly heads. I had a migraine coming on and Big O was coughing at night and started getting congested. I knew before Big O's constipation kicked in that we would not be able to continue with the raw milk, fermented or otherwise.

Disappointed as I was, I had caught the ‘bug’ for growing bugs in my own kitchen and seeing how they transformed foods was fascinating! I believe that consuming live, active cultures as the main source for probiotics in one’s life is very important. With cultured milk products out of our repertoire, I turned to other fermented foods.

First, there was true saurkraut. Again, daunting at first - it is hard, as a former germaphobe, to leave certain certain foods out on the countertop for a several days before consuming them. But, I did it and it was good, too, though future batches saw more finely shredded cabbage and slightly less salt. As for the Os and saurkraut - Little O will devour it and keep asking for more, but Big O is not much of a fan. I still make fresh, raw, lacto-fermented kraut and usually have some in the fridge, but I continued in my search for that fermented food which both Os would enjoy.

I thought pickles would be a nice choice, so we happily planted cucumbers and dill in the spring. Sadly, the dill fizzled shortly after planting and our garden cucumbers were few and far between this summer, so we haven’t tried our hand at lacto-fermented pickles.

Our garden did produce some lovely Daikon radishes and we did shred and ferment a couple of them. Palatable as it was, I think one batch was a little too salty, and neither batch was something that I could envision any of us would be eating on a daily basis.

Knowing how much the boys love homemade “soda” (sparkling water with fruit juice), and the occasional cane sugar soda, I thought I’d try making non-milk kefirs using water grains. In the beginning, it was a little questionable – water kefir grains are quite finicky and I, feeling all scientist-cocky on the tails of my previous fermented food conquests, too quickly dabbled in changing up the water kefir protocol.

One early batch smelled so terrible that I couldn’t even bear to taste a drop. I immediately went back to the recipe that accompanied the water grains and we began making super tasty water kefir! Little O drinks it down like there's no tomorrow. He actually gets very unhappy when none is left in the jar or, even worse, when he sees the full jar but I have to tell him it is not ready yet. I only wish my grains were multiplying more rapidly so I could start a second (and third!) batch and dabble in coconut water and fruit juice kefirs.

The thing about the water kefir is that, deliciously sweet-tart and fizzy as it is, Big O simply does not like it either. I’m beginning to suspect his own intuition tells him to avoid these fermented foods. They certainly do seem to have an adverse effect on him. Any sort of probiotic in his diet – either fermented food/beverage or supplement form – seems to send him down the irritability/constipation/withholding path. Hypothesizing why this is would be whole other post – suffice it to say I’m thinking mercury/candida/GI dysbiosis and we need to take it slowly on the whole probiotic thing for Big O.

As soon as I get more batches of water kefir going, I’ll start dabbling in flavoring them with fruit and/or fruit juices to see if I can get a combination going that Big O will like.

Recently, I received a lovely kombucha scoby from a good friend and have started my first batch of kombucha. Big O has liked the commercial kombuchas in the past, and seemed to enjoy my friend’s kombucha sample she gave us when she gave us the scoby. A few more days and we’ll be tasting our first batch of kombucha home-brew!

Another (I suspect) successful experiment - we seem to have avoided mold growth and our baby scoby is coming along quite nicely. What's adorable is that the baby, which I expected to develop as a disc on top of the mother, is growing in the hexagonal shape of the brewing vessel! How fun is that?

Twinkle, twinkle . . .

An email appeared in my inbox last week that really brightened my day. It was from Victoria at Little Green Star. She found The Science Mom blog and emailed to let me know we had some things in common and to make a special offer to my readers (keep reading!).

Like myself, Victoria and her business partner, Kelley, are scientists and mothers. Both believe in taking steps to ensure that their carbon footprint is as light as possible. In Victoria’s words, they have a “passion for teaching kids about science, nature, and protecting the environment” – something near and dear to my heart as well.

In 2006, they launched Little Green Star to provide families with products that align with their sustainable values. Part of their goal is to facilitate fun dialogues between parents and children about protecting our natural resources and to inspire families to celebrate sustainable living.

Something that’s been on my mind a lot lately is the concept of sustainable clothing choices. I’ve learned a lot since Big O was born about our food supply and the need for a more sustainable food system which has led to my thinking about how to incorporate sustainability into other aspects of our lives. For example, after paying a little bit of attention to our consumer habits, we started putting only one less-than-full garbage can out on the curb each week as opposed to two or three overflowing cans per week. After paying a little bit more attention, we have greatly reduced the amount of recyclable materials that go to our curb each week and we compost or otherwise use nearly all of our garden and yard waste.

Until recently, it’s been pretty easy to clothe the boys using gifts and hand-me-downs, with some thrift store and resale shop purchases to supplement as needed. I have certainly made purchases of new clothing at retail stores, though I've been doing a lot less of this over the past year or so. I try to buy clothes made with cotton, and though I contemplate looking for organic cotton, I haven’t really worked very hard at finding items made with organic cotton (with the exception of Little O's newborn cloth diapers). I do hope that giving a used piece of used not-so-sustainably produced clothing a second life has at least been a small step in the right direction.

With sustainable clothing on my mind, it was perfect timing to receive Victoria’s email. Little Green Star offers a line of 100% organic cotton tee shirts and onesies available in sizes ranging from 3-6 months to 6T. Several adorable designs (printed with water-based inks) are available that put a fun spin on matters of science, nature, and our environment. Other products offered by Little Green Star include lunch totes, hats, and bibs, all made with 100% organic cotton.

After checking out Little Green Star’s website, I asked each O if they liked any of the shirts they saw. Big O got rather excited about the ‘crabby’ tee shirt (he also liked the ocean turtle) and Little O enthusiastically selected the “Bee Green” tee shirt.

Little Green Star has kindly offered a discount of 30% off of purchases made by readers of The Science Mom. Enter the code LGS30 before adding a product to the shopping cart and the prices will change to reflect the sale. Shop soon - this offer expires November 30, 2009!

After you’ve finished shopping, make sure to visit the “Explore” section of the Little Green Star website. The pages of this section are filled with resources to point families in the direction of more ways to enjoy nature and discover scientific educational opportunities. Their suggestions vary from local farmers’ markets to museums, beaches, and botanical gardens in cities around the country. They’d love your input, too! Drop them a line to let them know about great green sites and activities in your city or town.

We can't wait for our Little Green Star shirts to arrive - it will be great to see the Os sporting their first organic cotton tee shirts that convey our family’s green spirit in a whimsical, ecologically friendly way.

Please note - I have not received any free products from Little Green Star.

The Longest Birthday Celebration Ever

Big O turned five in September. I spent a lot of time contemplating how to celebrate his big day. When he turned two, we had a party with a handful of friends at Travel Town. For his third and fourth birthdays, we celebrated with friends in our local park. Each year seemed to see the parties expand in size and complexity.

This year, Grandma was going to be in town for Big O's birthday, so I had arrived at a decision to celebrate his birthday with a family excursion to Lego Land, followed by a small gathering for cupcakes and gifts. Just when I'd felt comfortable that this would be a nice, albeit simple (i.e., no large party with tons of children to feed and entertain), way to commemorate his turning five, our neighbor (an invitee to the small cupcake get together) asked Big O what he wanted for his birthday. Big O began talking, clearly not realizing that said neighbor was asking him what kind of gift he wanted. He described bounce houses (two - one smaller one for the little kids, and one bigger one for himself and his pals), bubbles, balloons, etc.

This was about one week before the Lego Land and cupcake gathering were scheduled to occur and my heart was breaking. I realized that I had made a rather selfish decision to save myself the trouble of having to live up the the past years' kid parties and instead of planning a smaller, less complicated kid party, I found an easier way out. After talking it over with the Professor, we decided to take a new easy way out and pay for someone else to do most of the party. I rushed to call The Little Gym and scheduled a mid-afternoon party with them. The timing was perfect - 2:30p.m. to 4:00p.m. The staff entertain the kids for an hour and feed them snacks and cupcakes for me. I supply the snack and cupcakes. A fruit platter, homemade gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free, soy-free chocolate chip muffins with homemade chocolate frosting, compostable plates, napkins and party hats, and I'm done.

And so, the celebrating began one Friday at Lego Land.

Great place!! We loved it and cannot wait to go back. Lego Land even had food we could eat - fresh fruits, Lara Bars, bunless burger and fries.

On that note, I have to say I was very impressed when I saw a sign on the burger kiosk mentioning that gluten-free buns were available. Of course, their GF buns had egg and casein in them, but still, it was impressive to see that so readily displayed. And I can say I've never been more impressed with a food service employee's response to my grand inquisition - he showed me ingredient labels (took bags and boxes right out of the freezer and let me read the label myself) and then offered to call the head chef to confirm. He remembered all four - gluten, dairy, soy, and egg - without even blinking an eye. I've been in rather fancy restaurants with seemingly caring, sincere, well-paid and well-tipped servers who have not been so thorough or concerned with confirming food ingredients. Now, if only Lego Land offered grass-fed, free-range beef burgers and organic fries with sea salt, I'd really be thrilled!

Two days after Lego Land, it was Big O's actual birthday. With Grandma still here, we spent the morning visiting with my cousin and his girlfriend who live nearby. Then, Big O had his first AYSO soccer game. After soccer, our neighbors across the street came over for sweet potato cupcakes with caramel frosting and to shower Big O with gifts, games, and love.

One of Big O's favorite activities is miniature golf, followed of course, by playing arcade games, collecting tickets and winning "prizes" (mostly of the likes of these). Grandma was up for a day of golf and games the day after Big O's birthday, so off we went for another round of birthday celebrating.

Because we were so late in deciding to do a party, we had to opt for our party at The Little Gym to occur the weekend after Big O's actual birthday - weekend number two of Big O's birthday fun.

One of my cousins and his wife live in Escondido and couldn't make it up the previous weekend but wanted to wish Big O a happy birthday as well. So, on Sunday after Big O's second soccer "game" we had yet another birthday celebration with them.

It's funny how what I'd planned to be the simplest birthday celebration for a five year old turned out to be nearly two weeks of birthday fun. It was actually all pretty easy, though. And so very worth it when, after all was said and done, the Professor and I asked Big O what part of his birthday celebration he liked best and he said "All of it!"

Little plastic things

Since early on in Big O's life, I've been concerned about plastic. Before all the hubbub about whether or not baby bottles or reusable water bottles were leaching BPA, I was worried about what I'd read regarding the off-gassing done by plastics.

I was continually dismayed at how difficult, and expensive, it was to find baby items and toys that were not made of plastic. I wasn't worried enough to ask that gifts not be clunky plastic toys (not to mention that most of the clunky plastic toys are also battery operated noisy toys). So, during his first couple of years, Big O received many a gift and hand-me-down that was plastic. I actually felt better somehow about the hand-me-downs - perhaps they'd already done most of their off-gassing before entering our home?. . .

Lately, the Os seem to be accruing a large number of tiny, plastic, cheap party favor-like toys and it's been very hard for me to watch. I could just not let them bring these things home, but generally they are cherished rewards for finding Joe-Joe the monkey at the grocery store or treasured gifts from our wonderful dentist who always wants to make the boys feel very special, and that puts Mom in a very difficult position. If I tell them they cannot have these things, it takes away from their conquest at the store or their special relationship with the dentist. So, I try to minimize the number of items we bring home (e.g., at the grocery store, I explain that the limit is one per child).

Eliminating these things from our home is actually not so hard. Most of the time, something breaks or otherwise compromises the toy and it gets thrown out. Sometimes, however, I aid in the disappearance of some of these toys when their presence becomes too concentrated in our house.

When I help in the disappearance, the item generally gets relegated to the garage and placed in a box full of toys we will be giving away. Many times, I even question the giving away part - if I don't want my child playing with this junk, should I really pass these along to other children? I realize that not everyone (not many?) are as concerned as I ,and perhaps I'm overly concerned, so I'd rather see these things be enjoyed by someone and have a second life than to go straight to the landfill. Actually, I'd rather they never have been made, but I don't suppose the demand for these little toxic cheapies will go away any time soon.

Now, if only I could find a wooden remote control car (with wooden, solar powered remote, of course). . .

I'm Free!

Free of amalgam fillings that is.

Yes, they're all out. The last one came out on August 2 and the final permanent crown will go in this coming Sunday. Wahoo!

I wish I could write more - but I'm feeling a little sleep-deprived and rightly so. I've begun chelating using the "Cutler protocol" - frequent, low-dose chelation. I'm taking a low dose of DMSA every 3 to 4 hours, including at night. Tonight marks the end of two weeks of chelation and I'm going to keep up the continuous chelation for as long as I can.

Many people using this protocol only chelate for about three or four days (around the clock) and then take an equal number of days off. The most compelling reasons I found to take days off between "rounds" of chelation were the possibility of feeling worse "on-round" and the need to get more sleep than a couple of 3 or 4 hour blocks each night.

I am thrilled to find that I am a lucky one who does feel better on-round. And, I figure I'm a mother of two young children and a busy body who checks email and works on the co-op stuff until the wee hours anyway, I'm pretty used to getting very little sleep. The first few days of chelating, though, I hardly slept. I was too worried I'd miss the alarm and miss a dose (which requires, according to the Cutler Protocol, one to stop the "round" and wait several days before starting again).

Now, I'm getting sleep in two 3 or 4 hour stretches a night, on a good night. It's not perfect, but it's not so bad either. I'm so anxious and excited to get this mercury cleared from my body as quickly, but safely, as I can, that I just don't want to stop. I know eventually, I'll be so tired, I will miss that alarm and sleep right through. For me, I think that will be the signal to stop this round and take a break.

For now, I'm off to take my next dose and embark on my first of two 4 hour (I hope!) stretches of sleep!

More soon. . .

Six down, two to go

I have been plotting and scheming how to accomplish safely having the toxic amalgam fillings taken out of my mouth since we first received Big O and my urine porphyrins test results in January 2008.

I have spent a lot of time researching mercury toxicity and amalgam dental fillings. I have spent a lot of time learning about safe and unsafe methods of removal of mercury-containing dental amalgam. I have spent a lot of time debating in my own scientific mind whether this was all a bunch of hoopla or if it was truly possible that the amalgam fillings that have been in my mouth since my childhood have been slowly emitting toxic mercury into my body over the years and that this amount of mercury was stealthily affecting my health. It has been upsetting me to think it was possible that the stores of mercury throughout my body were pulled into my womb, infiltrating my placenta and my growing baby’s tissues during my pregnancies.

It’s been nagging at me that the dentist in Virginia that replaced an old amalgam while Big O was but a few-months-old-nursling was completely in compliance with currently accepted protocol in the U.S. Stupidly Naïvely, the only thing I thought to ask about was the anesthetic. This dentist assured me that not even the anesthetic would be problematic in my breastmilk, but that if I wanted to pump-and-dump between my appointment and feeding Big O next, this would be more than sufficient to protect my baby from any harm done during my dental visit.

After learning what I’ve learned as a non-dental professional about mercury in amalgams, I have been in awe that it could even be possible that that dentist can truly be so naïve about the harm not only to my newborn breastfeeding baby, but to myself, with the reckless ADA-approved amalgam removal. (The FDA had added a warning to it’s website - which, by the way, has now been replaced with a much less direct and inconclusive notice regarding a recent FDA decision.)

And then, after a lot of curiosity and wondering, I learned more and I got angry. Really, really angry. This is MERCURY we are talking about. Mercury. As in ‘mad as a hatter’ mercury. As in brain damaging, lethally toxic mercury. And it is put it in children’s mouths in the form of amalgam fillings in the U.S. to this day. It is a disgrace.

I cringe to think how often a new amalgam is placed in a child’s mouth each day in our country. I cringe to think of how often a new amalgam filling is placed in American’s mouths each day. I cringe to think of how often an amalgam filling is improperly and unsafely removed each day.

My mouth was full of them. My earliest memories of going to a dentist involve getting cavities drilled and filled. I used to get tense and grasp the arm rest on the chair, and stare at the lights on the ceiling while in the dentist’s chair – from start to finish. I remember having shavings and bits of metallic stuff stuck to my tongue and scratching my throat. I remember swallowing little pieces as I tried not to gag during the procedures.

As an adult, the fillings began to require replacement due to their age and more recently developed decay. During the first few replacements with dentists who took no amalgam removal precautions, before I knew enough, I can remember having large pieces of amalgam slide far back in my throat to inescapably be swallowed. I would scream inside my head – suction!! suction!!!!!! please, suction back there!!!! But with hands and drills inside my mouth, no words, or even sounds, would actually be created and those toxic bits of metal slithered down to make their way through my GI tract. (At least I hope they made it through and did not get stuck somewhere in there along the way. I’ve read one story of someone who had an amalgam stuck in their gall bladder, confirmed via x-ray.)

And, to think, I didn’t even realize or appreciate the atrocity of what was happening. Until now.

Six down, two to go. Saturday will be the day that the final amalgam filling comes out and the only crown I currently have will be replaced. (The crown must be replaced because there is a very good chance that there is amalgam underneath it and to eliminate all metal from my mouth.) It has been taxing – a strain on my body and a drain on our budget – but I am so looking forward to being amalgam-free and beginning my chelation journey.

I hope to find time to write more about the actual amalgam removal process that I’ve been going through (with a wonderful holistic dentist) and to certainly keep you posted on the mercury chelation/detoxification process. Stay tuned.

Colorful observation

Yesterday, the boys were coloring and I observed something very interesting. Little O seems to really notice that the coloring pages have outlines of distinct objects, individual parts to color. He's two and a half. He does not stay within the lines, per se, but he clearly tries to color objects on the page as if each is an individual entity.

Big O was never one to color 'within the lines' or to even notice that a coloring page was anything more than a blank canvas. This is something I love to observe when he colors - shear disregard for anyone else's impression of what should be. I embrace it and figure there is no need to interrupt his creativity to explain to him that the generally accepted "norm" is to color within the given lines. Why? Why do we feel so compelled to instruct children to color within the lines? It's not like I did not have the urge in the beginning to suggest he try staying in the lines, but for whatever reason, my intuition told me to stop and think about it before saying anything.

There were times I had to really bite my tongue when I've heard someone make a comment to him, such as "Oh, you almost stayed in the lines" or "That's nice, but next time try to stay in the lines more." Most have been very polite and considerate in their attempts to teach Big O to conform to the conventional coloring page wisdom, which I do appreciate. In return, instead of requesting that the critics keep their coloring restrictions to themselves, I just try distracting Big O by asking him what color he was using or if he wanted some tape to hang up his masterpiece and encouraging him to keep coloring however he likes.

Before today, I sort of figured Big O's coloring style was common among all young children until the 'coloring rules' are explained and the child learns otherwise. But yesterday, Little O's coloring inspired me to wonder a bit more about this.

I'm sure there are lots of ways to analyze this coloring observation and what it might mean or imply about the Os - their personalities, their artistic abilities, their intelligence, who knows what scientists of all sorts might say in this regard? The mother in me overrules the scientist in me on this one - she's cheering them both on and looking forward to watching their artistic sides continue to evolve with as little analysis and interruption as possible.

Happy coloring, boys!

Our Own Sauce

One evening, not long ago, Big O was helping cook supper when he looked at the label on a jar of spaghetti sauce (for GF spaghetti, of course. . .) and declared to me that if we had the items pictured on that label, that we could make our own sauce. I told him that we definitely could and that I hoped we would be able to make our own sauce from the tomatoes, garlic, basil, and onions that are growing in our own back yard. (Mushrooms - yeah, I'm gonna leave those to the experts and buy them at the store!)

He's been avidly watching the progress of our garden. He and Little O have enjoyed some sweet peas right off the vine lately. A small handful of pea pods a day for a while. They've also sampled the basil on numerous occasions, and harvested a few cucumbers and a couple of daikon radishes. (They weren't too keen on the daikon radish - I'll be curious to see what these radishes taste like after fermenting for a while.)

Not long ago, tomatoes began to appear on our tomato plants, small and green at first. Some of the pear tomatoes began to ripen, turning yellow and bursting with juicy flavor. The mariglobe and jubilee tomatoes were still green, but getting larger every day. Big O saw these bigger, rounder green tomatoes begin to take on a little bit of and orangy-red hue and got very excited. He exclaimed that soon we'd be able to make our own sauce!

Last night, I was watering the garden after the Os had gone to sleep and I picked our first three marglobe heirloom tomatoes. I should've waited to let the boys pick them, but I just couldn't wait! They looked so inviting and delicious! There are dozens (if not hundreds?) more plump tomatoes in various shades of green, yellow, and reddish-orangish-pink, so the boys will have plenty to pick, too.

Though the smaller tomato did not last long, I've managed to hold back from devouring the other two just yet. Another day or two on the vine might have been in order (I always get overly-eager with the first few ripe tomatoes of the season!), so they'll be on the window sill for a short spell.

We've still got plenty of fresh basil growing. As for the garlic and onion. . . I am pretty sure we planted these way too late in the spring - and I'm not sure how productive these will turn out to be. But maybe I can get some organic, local (as in, within Altadena!) garlic and onion by swapping some of our home grown goods within our neighborhood produce exchange group.

Of course, unlike what Big O saw on the label of the jar of sauce, we'll need a few more than two tomatoes. My prediction is that we'll be making our homemade sauce for gluten-free spaghetti by month's end . . . if we can manage to not gobble up all the tomatoes straight from the vine!

What will you vote for?

Have you heard of this movie - Food, Inc.? I haven't seen the film yet, but hope to do so soon.

Watch the movie’s trailer. If you do nothing else with regard to your food choices, please consider stopping for a moment and thinking about the food you are eating each day. Do you ever wonder where it came from? Meat does not magically appear in the refrigerated shelves of the grocery store in organized cellophane-wrapped packages filled with special gasses to make it look "fresh." Fruits and vegetables might travel fifty miles to your grocery store, or five thousand miles. There's a story behind each piece of produce and each package of meat.

When you give your child (or yourself!) a bowlful of conventionally grown blueberries – do you know that you’re not only giving them one of their five or more servings of fresh produce a day? Those conventionally grown blueberries are also providing our precious little ones with residue from 48 different pesticides. How about residue from 52 different pesticides on that juicy peach that was not organically grown? What about the effects these chemicals have on our environment and eco-system? Have a look the "What's on My Food" website.

A while back, the U.S. government commissioned a committee to study the effects of pesticides in the diets of infants and children. This committee issued a document in which they state that children’s bodies, not surprisingly, process these toxins differently than adults and that they believe more studies should be done specifically on the exposure of children to these toxins.

If you’re an omnivore, do you ever think about the animal that was harvested for your meal? Should it matter how it was raised? If it was given chemicals (hormones, antibiotics, etc.)? If it was fed food that was genetically modified, pesticide-laden, and not what it would normally eat in it’s natural environment? If it never saw sunlight? If it was confined to a small space barely the size of its own body? If it lived it’s life standing knee deep (or higher) in manure sludge? Would any of those things affect your decision about which conveniently packaged piece of meat to purchase?

Perhaps these things wouldn't matter for some people - of course opinions will vary. To me, the significant step is taking a moment to think about these issues and decide what one is comfortable with in regard to food production and acquisition.

An interesting thing to keep in mind is that the money we spend on food is essentially equivalent to a vote for the kind of food we want to keep in demand in our country. You are 'voting' every time you purchase a food item.

I'm working toward voting more frequently for sustainable, local production of earth-conscious, whole, fresh produce and humanely, sustainably raised animal products. I try to vote for fairly traded, worker- and environment-friendly coffee, chocolate, and other imported food items. I hope these votes will support local farmers and stimulate the local economy. I vote to feed my family fewer toxins.

It’s not easy in our society – we have to take extra steps and spend a little extra money to make this kind of a statement and vote for these kinds of foods. The two conventional grocery stores that are about a mile from my house do not carry much in the way of organic produce and there’s not a speck of humanely, sustainably raised meat in either place.

There’s a specialty organic, vegetarian store about a mile away also, but they aren’t open all the convenient hours of a traditional store and we are omnivores, so this shop cannot fulfill all our grocery needs. There’s a farmers’ market almost any day of the week within a few miles’ radius of us, but of course, their hours are also limited and navigating the crowded booths and tents with the Os in tow is sometimes quite tiresome.

So, yes, it can be a bit less convenient to obtain sustainable, whole, real foods, and sometimes I have to pay a bit more than I would for “conventional” foods. And, I’m not perfectly consistent about it yet.

Some days I just cannot find a way to make it to one of the stores that offers more natural and environmentally friendly food choices. I sometimes cringe when I find myself meandering the aisles of one of the more conventional stores. Not necessarily because so many of the offerings that line the aisles are called “food” but are filled with artificial flavors and artificial colorings, preservatives, and in other ways highly processed (but that’s certainly part of it). I know that even just the few dollars I’m spending on a couple things to ‘get me through’ until I can shop in a more sustainability-minded store is sending a message that I wish it did not send.

Hoping to help solve my own conundrum and to promote shopping for sustainable foods, I’ve spent the past one and a half years helping out on a committee that is researching the feasibility of creating a cooperative grocery in my area. Our store will be community owned and focus on supporting our local economy and offering sustainable and practical choices. It will still be a while before our store becomes a reality.

In the mean time, I am trying to shop at farmers’ markets more often, to order more items in bulk through local buyer’s clubs, and to depend less on the conventional stores. When I have extra from our garden, I like to participate in a community home-grown produce exchange group. Recently, I went in on an order for half of a grass-fed, free range, sustainably, and humanely raised cow with two other families and have a freezer full of beef that will last the summer, and perhaps into the fall.

There are options. The more we vote for sustainable crops and humanely, sustainably produced animal products in our food system, the more we will increase the demand and lower the costs of obtaining these items.

It’s all about taking a moment to stop and think about what food means to each of us, possibly altering some perceptions about what convenience really is, and considering what we want to say with our food votes.

More information:
Food, Inc. – the movie
What's on My Food - Pesticide Action Network
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children - Committee on Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, Board on Agriculture and Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council
The Meatrix movies (I, II, II½)
Store Wars

It has been too long. . .

Too long since I've posted here. And too long that I have had a toxic substance slowly leeching into my body every second of every minute of every hour of every day since my early childhood.

What was to be a short, new post to say hello and express my happiness over the way things are progressing on the amalgam removal process (starting on Monday!), quickly became a page full of babbling about not only my personal issues with mercury, but also about the overall travesty that is still going on in our country with the use of dental amalgams. And that was only the introduction to my proposed new blog entry.

So, I decided to put that one on a back-burner for another few days to let myself "simmah down" a little before returning to write more on my little amalgam rant story. When I can approach the topic again with less fury, I will try to present a somewhat articulate position on the dental amalgam safety debate.

For now - have a look at the FDA's "Questions and Answers on Dental Amalgam" page updated on May 1, 2009.

Even the FDA states:

Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses. When amalgam fillings are placed in teeth or removed from teeth, they release mercury vapor. Mercury vapor is also released during chewing.

And - did the FDA really pose this question -

(5) What is the current exposure to mercury for patients? For professionals? What would be the reduction in exposure associated with the use of alternative materials?

to be addressed for their "future analysis of benefits and costs" regarding the regulation of the use of dental amalgams?

My answers would be, in this order, TOO MUCH, TOO MUCH, and unless I'm missing something, the reduction would be, uh, I don't know, 100%. . . . I do make at least one assumption in answering that third part of the question - that the "alernative materials" do, in fact, not contain mercury. Of course, as long as there are people with amalgam fillings, they will be continually exposed to the vapors. As long as people with amalgam fillings go to the dentist (and/or are the dentist), dental professionals will also be at risk for exposure.

Alrighty. I've been up too long. It's getting early (it is well-past "late"), I better get some rest before the Os wake up in a few hours. More to come. . .

Mondays, migraines, and mercury

The past two weeks have been a bit quiet here at The Science Mom and you may have noticed that I've missed two of the proposed regular weekly posts - originally the "Sunday Surprise," later the "Monday Surprise." I wish I could say we've been at the beach the last few weeks, but the truth is that the last two Mondays were not so great for me - migraine the Monday before last and something strange going on this past Monday.

The migraine last Monday was surely brought on by a night of mostly-care free dining.  Friends wanted to take us to dinner to celebrate that the Professor is now a tenured member of the faculty (yay!).  I decided to only worry about gluten, keep it simple (ha ha), and try to enjoy the evening out.  

I truly did enjoy the evening out.  The food was fabulous - a yummy tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, a tasty filet with casein- and egg-laden accompaniments, fine wine, and good company.  It truly was wonderful to be out with good friends and enjoy a meal without thoroughly grilling the server and/or chef. I give lots of kudos to our server and the chef that night for seeming to be quite well-versed in all things gluten.  I don't think I'll "let loose" like that again any time soon on account of the repercussions I experienced, but it was a lovely evening.

I could go on and on with my theories of what in the world was going on this recent Monday.  I first thought I was still getting over the migraine and having a little added fatigue from Little O's late night/early morning wakings twice this weekend.  I was fatigued.  Very sensitive to light. Having a hard time keeping a train of thought going.  

I started to think maybe it was viral as it felt as though a cold sore was coming on.  (Interesting observation:  the other times I've had a casein "infraction" in the past year or so, one of the repercussions has been getting a cold-sore - as though it taxes my immune system in a way that allows the virus to emerge again.)

Taking some lysine and Olive Leaf Extract seemed to be helping, so I'm thinking the latter hypothesis is a more reasonable candidate.

I can say that I don't even have to look at the clock to know when I need to take my next dose, I start feeling badly - tired, brain fog, grumpy - and the tingling of the emerging cold sore comes back.  I can't thank the parents at the various autism/bio-med Yahoo! groups enough.  

The Os are not on the autistic spectrum, but some of Big O's digestive issues and our mercury issues have led me to these groups and those parents are brave, smart, and caring.  They openly and generously share their personal experiences (both positive and not so positive) with the various biomedical and natural remedies out there.  Without their collective help, I would never have thought to look to Olive Leaf Extract and Lysine for helping my body beat down a virus. Shoot, I'd have never even agreed to try these things without seeing such extensive anecdotal evidence produced by these families.  Thankfully, here I am, trying it out, and experiencing results!

But, there's this other pesky little thing lingering in my head - quite literally in fact - mercury.  It's in my mouth - lots of it.  It's in my body according to a urine porphyrins test.  It's in at least Big O's body (also determined via urine porphyrins testing) and I'm fairly sure if we tested Little O we'd see his body has some, too.  

It makes me sad, angry, frustrated, worried.  The Professor and I want to have more children, but there's part of me that just cannot enter another pregnancy with so much mercury in my body.  Thankfully, the Os are truly amazingly healthy and happy little boys. They are intelligent, kind, rambunctious, energetic, adorable, handsome, special people.  They are. I know this and am grateful.

But, there are little things that I am certain can at least, in part, be blamed on the mercury.  It's nearly impossible for me to articulate and every time I consider trying, I realize how trivial most parents would think my concerns to be.  I realize this.  I do.  But I also know there are things mercury is doing to their (and my) bodies that are less than ideal.  It's that whole mother's intuition tainted by science thing again...

The thing is, I am on the cusp of having the opportunity to have my amalgams removed finally and to begin chelating myself, and hopefully at least Big O.  It's an expensive endeavor - both in terms of money and in terms of health.  (It is truly unfortunate that children are still burdened with these mercury laden dental fillings.)  It should, and I believe will, ultimately result in better health.  But, it can be a tough road.  

I have this constant battle in my head about the next baby.  The Professor points to our two perfect little boys and wonders why I am concerned about having another before removing amalgams and chelating.  Sometimes I wonder, too.  But, the bottom line is that in my heart and way down deep, I know I know too much now.  No, we aren't getting any younger and I realize that as I push closer to 40 before having another baby our risk of issues like Down's syndrome and other chromosomal conditions increases.  But, I also want to be happy about being pregnant.  Enjoy it. Savor it.  I want to enjoy breastfeeding again.  Relish in providing my baby with the most natural, healthy nourishment intended just for her (yes, of course I'd love to add a girl to our brood!).  But, as long as there is mercury running rampant in my body,  I will have an underlying degree of guilt and concern throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding. 

Aside from that, mercury toxicity can manifest in many ways and can take a slow toll over time.  Who knows how my health might be in two or three years?  If I got pregnant this month, I would not be able to have my amalgams removed and chelate until I'm finished breastfeeding.  That could be at least two, probably three or more years.  By then, maybe my health would really decline, who knows?

I think I'm at peace with taking a year off from trying to have another baby to get myself to at least a lighter mercury load.  I'll be 38 this year in November.  If I get amalgams out and chelation under way by, say, June, I might be in position to work on getting pregnant again by next June or July.  Yes, our chances of certain complications will increase over the next year.  But I still think the benefits of removing the mercury from my body before getting pregnant again outweigh the risks of not getting the mercury out before getting pregnant again.

Perhaps the weekly "surprise" post will now evolve into the random update on our mercury eradication process. . . .  

An experiment - GF/CF/SF/EF Shepherd's Pie

I had not envisioned doing much talk about cooking on this blog.  I do a lot of it and I usually enjoy it, but I'm no cooking expert.  I wish I had more time to devote to cooking, but I suppose I could make that if I were to give up time spent doing some other things (like trying to write a blog entry now and then...).  =)

Anyway, though I do not expect to be posting "our food" here very often, I sometimes wonder why people feel badly or sad for us when they find out what we do not eat.  The only time it really gets 'in the way' is when we try to eat out, which of course is such a big part of American life.  But I try to not focus on what we cannot eat, and think in terms of what we can eat.  It's a lot easier that way, and seems more positive for the Os as they grow up with our diet.  

If I were to be honest, I do miss cheese.  I do not miss other dairy products really, just cheese. And I have indulged in cheese on occasion the couple of months.  Probably three times.  No, it was probably four.  I have to say, it only lived up to my expectations, my memory of what it was like to enjoy cheese, one of those times.

And I wish we could eat eggs.  It would make gluten-free baking a lot easier and they are such a great source of protein and many other good things.

But, the truth is that I have very little desire to go back to eating gluten, milk/casein, soy, or eggs because I have seen the benefits and improvements in myself and my children.  And, more significantly, I have seen the setbacks and discomforts after an infraction.  My ears are still stuffy and 'bubbly' sounding, I have been tired and grumpier than usual after the last cheese indulgences (two of those aforementioned incidents were in the past few days).  Oh, and, yeah, the bowels have noticed, too.

I digress.  Sometimes I think people really wonder exactly what we eat - as if it were some strange gruel that our food choices have been reduced to.  It is simple, but it's not gruel.  

Fruits, vegetables, chicken, beef, pork, sometimes fish, home made baked treats, rice bread, rice or corn based cereals, coconut milk ice cream. . . various combinations of the above and other items like cocoa/chocolate, corn chips, potato chips, guacamole, salsa, hummus, rice crackers, etc.  We chose to buy organic and/or sustainable products as much as possible and I am continually seeking out ways to affordably acquire humanely raised and organic meats.

Supper can be as simple as bun-free burgers with roasted rosemary potatoes and raw carrot sticks.  Or, on days when I get a little more creative with the meat, potatoes, onions, fresh carrots, and frozen peas, I experiment with things like Shepherd's Pie.  I used the chicken left over from the previous night's roasted chicken.  I got the potatoes into boiling water and then sautéed the onions and carrots a bit, added in some home made chicken stock (à la Nourishing Traditions) that was in my freezer, and stirred in some potato starch to thicken.  I added in the frozen peas and chicken and poured the concoction into a casserole dish.  The potatoes were mashed with olive oil, coconut milk, garlic, and salt, then spread on top. I baked the whole thing a short while and served.  It wasn't bad for gruel.

Monday Surprise . . . . #1

It's official. . . The weekly surprise feature is moving to Mondays (shhhh. . . don't tell me - as long as I think of it as the Sunday Surprise, I'll surely be able to get one posted by Monday!).

I hope all the mommies and "like-a-mom" women out there had a lovely weekend and Mother's Day!  I am sure a lot of moms out there are receiving lovely gifts from their children and spouses.  My guess is that some of these gifts are for pampering Mom - day at the spa/salon, lotion/shower gel gift baskets, and other beauty products.  This was my inspiration for today's Sunday Surprise - skin care and beauty products.

When I first found I was responding to being gluten-free, I was surprised and a bit disappointed, but it was also serendipitous because I was beginning to feel differently than I had felt in at least my adult life.  And it was wonderful!  It was as if I found out what it was like to feel "good" - what "normal" must feel like for others.  

Though I was enjoying this new aspect of my life, I was not looking forward to the burden that I thought adding GF to our already CF/SF/EF (and at that time corn-free) diet would impose.  That said, I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to comply with the diet, because the return was so great on my investment.

The one thing I chose to not believe in the beginning of this journey was that gluten (or our other problematic foods) in topical products like shampoos, soaps, and cosmetics could actually be a problem.  I had read both sides of the story.  The "Mother warriors" and devout adult GF'ers were saying that gluten in ANY thing that comes in contact with the body (via ingestion or topically) was a problem.  The mainstream medical sources were saying that gluten was only a problem in items that are ingested and the only concern for topical gluten exposure was for small children who might stick fingers in their mouths after topical exposure, or perhaps, ingest enough by putting their mouth on mom or dad who had used a topical gluten-containing product.

In the beginning, I sided with the mainstream medical viewpoint, probably mostly because I wanted/needed to in order to not feel overwhelmed with the process of eliminating gluten from my life. Now I know that those who wrote the mainstream medical viewpoints I had come across were not, in fact, themselves gluten-intolerant.  Otherwise, they'd have known that using a topical product that contains gluten does cause problems for a gluten-intolerant person.

I saw my hairstylist shortly after having gone gluten-free and I did not even think twice about the products she would use.  I only indulge in a hair cut once in a while and I was just really looking forward to escaping into a different world for a little while and emerging transformed and feeling glamorous - if only for a few hours before returning to the mommy zone.  I distinctly remember feeling dazed and overly exhausted for a couple days after that visit.  

After that visit, I decided to take a look at my own products at home.  I wondered if it were possible that some of my topical products were the culprit of my being "glutened" rather than my food.  My shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel were all free of our irritating foods (gluten, milk/casein, soy, and egg) already.  That was good! But, a couple of the hand soaps in our house were not free of our allergens and some of my cosmetics seemed to have questionable ingredients.  After phasing these things out, I did notice a difference - I was feeling "glutened" less! 

A few months later, I went back for a hair cut, this time armed with the list of allergen-containing products from Aveda. (Kudos! to Aveda, by the way. I emailed with my query about gluten in their products and they quickly responded with a list that detailed a variety of allergens present in their products.)  My fabulous stylist used only "safe" products and, well, wouldn't you know it, not only did I feel glamorous when I left, but I did not experience the "down" I'd felt after the last haircut.  

Every once in a while, after being out and washing my hands in public bathrooms using whatever soap is made available, I start to feel junkie again.  Sure, it could be something sneaky in the food at the restaurant rather than the soap in their bathroom, but I will never know.  So, for me, when it comes to getting glutened (or "caseined," "egged," or "soyed"), I say better safe than sorry!  I'll tend to believe the non-mainstream medical view and live without gluten, milk/casein, soy, or egg in ny topical health and beauty products!