Our church has had multiple missions trips in the history of its existence and I believe that their most preferred way to raise the money that they need is to provide a fundraiser meal. I have attended several of these meals already and truly thought nothing much about them. They were well planned out and quite organized events and there was absolutely no reason why I would have had to think about them overly much, the missions trip maybe, but not the meal.
That all changed this past week. Our church is preparing for a trip to Thailand and obviously money was needed to be raised so they decided on a fundraiser meal. Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner they thought that it would be fun to do a themed event. I heard a lot of different ideas but eventually someone decided on doing a salad bar and naming it "Lettuce love one another." Thus began all the puns.
It's a missions trip for the youth of the church and even though Diane and I won't be going along we still chose to help with the bringing about of the big meal.
Decorations needed to made, food needed to be supplied, willing hearts and hands needed to be offered in service and Diane and I were simply happy to be of any help. On Saturday Eldon drove us over to the church and dropped us off. Diane and I hustled indoors (it was really cold outside) and we spent the entire evening chopping vegetables, making bread, and washing dishes. It was some of the most fun I've had in a very long time. All of my friends gathered around several truly long tables and chopped away at vegetables for hours. It was such a bizarre thing that I couldn't help but enjoy myself thoroughly. The conversations had between the adults overseeing all of us and the youth were highly entertaining. It was nice to realize that the elders of the church were every bit as lighthearted and human as the rest of us.
The pastor's wife, Diane, and I all cried together as we chopped onions.
Nevertheless, all of that work was just a taste of what would follow on the very next day.
On Sunday morning I had to get up early so I could bake cupcakes. Once we were all ready for church we left and Sharon and I nervously anticipated the event. We were to work in the kitchen and tend the food tables and serve anyone and everyone who needed any help of any sort.
Once at church we munched on doughnut holes as one of my favorite people taught us all how to greet and thank people in Thai. I can honestly say that our accents held a lot of room for improvement, nevertheless it was so much fun greeting people in Thai that no one was overly concerned with the little flaws in our performances.
As the church congregation filed into their seats we rushed to work. My first job was to set up the dessert table and so one of my friends and I set out on a mission (pun fully intended) to cover the surface of the pretty table with cookies and cupcakes until it overflowed.
Some members of the church stood around sipping coffees and watching all of us bustle around the place as we set up and I didn't mind it since I didn't really notice them until I ran into a bit of a difficulty.
We had large trays of cupcakes to carry out to the dessert table. Our job was to remove the lids from the trays and place the cupcakes onto lovely plates and arrange them in a pretty way. It was easy peasy until I had to remove the lid from a particularly old fashioned pan.
I tugged at the lid, I yanked on the lid, I pulled, pried, and poked, all to no avail. I glared down at the stubborn obstacle and then looked at my friend who was having a jolly time of arranging her desserts out of her well-behaved pan.
"You know, if I were in a movie some fine gentleman would come to my rescue." I told her mournfully. She laughed a little and nodded, but I was still stuck with my problem, or so I thought. Remember those church goers I mentioned that were just standing around, chatting, and watching us work? Well one of those members in particular, a blue eyed, bearded, middle-aged man had been watching my struggles and after my distressed statement he stepped up with a smile and offered to help.
He effortlessly removed the lid and I thanked him profusely. He walked away with quite a heroic air and I decided that fine gentlemen help damsels in distress every bit as much in real life as they do in movies.
The rest of the morning and several hours into the afternoon we worked, but never once did it feel like work. I had the best time ever and left the church having grown much closer to all of my friends and a bunch of other people I had never really talked to before. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at any fundraiser meal the same again. It's not just a nice array of food provided for donations, it's a whole team of people giving selflessly of their time and energy for a cause that they believe is greater than them.
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Monday, February 11, 2019
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Getting My Driver's License
The process of becoming a legally licensed driver was one of the most difficult and stressful things I've ever gone through in my life and I'm blessed because of that. I had so many little adventures during the eight to nine months it took me to become licensed and I thought it would be fun to do a blog post about my experience.
My very first driving lesson happened a little less than an hour after I got my permit. My Mum pulled into the parking lot of a nearby biking trail and she handed me the keys after showing me the gas and brake. I was absolutely horrified as I stared at those keys in my hand. I thought that it was a truly idiotic thing to give me, an overly dramatic teenager, the keys to the family's primary vehicle. As I looked around the parking lot and saw all of the potential ways I could destroy the vehicle I started sweating and couldn't breathe properly for quite a while afterwards.
I stomped on the gas a little bit harder than needed and so began the season of my life where I learned to drive. That first day, and for weeks afterwards I had a terrible time knowing how close I was to the edge of the road and taking curves was one of the hardest things ever. Instead of slowing down I'd stomp on the gas and send us hurtling around the bumpy bends on numerous little country roads hitting every pothole while I was at it.
There are two quite large stones positioned at the entrance of that little bike trail parking lot and the entrance just happens to be positioned right around a curve in the road, therefore the first few times that I entered the area I would stomp on the gas and go hurtling straight towards the big rocks. Somehow I always got the steering wheel turned just in time to avoid destroying our lovely little vehicle. I can imagine that my guardian angel was very busy while I was learning to drive.
Driving on big roads and interstates where the speed limit seemed ridiculously high was the thing that gave me nightmares. I remember very clearly praying one morning that God would give me as many situations as possible for me to practice my driving skills before I take my test and somehow I didn't expect Him to answer quite like He did.
That very same day I had to drive on a big interstate that was rather busy. It was foggy and it was raining lightly and I had many times where I had to slow down because of different people pulling out right in front of me. To make it more interesting I drove past our destination twice so not only did I get to practice turning around, the whole dreadful day was topped off with me backing down the driveway to my Dad's shop. While I appreciated how well the Lord provided me with scenarios of practice for me I didn't exactly ask for such things again.
I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and I had a lot of anxiety to deal with during those eight to nine months so while most teenagers view the road test as exciting and they just want their licenses already, I was a very timid person busily dreading my upcoming test with such anxiety that I was almost ceaselessly in prayer. I take things too seriously, I always have, and I took my upcoming test very seriously. Nevertheless, on the day when my driver's test was first scheduled I was woefully unprepared. I had tried parallel parking with mixed success and felt anything but confident going in on the big day.
I tried to be calm, I really did, but I was still quaking in my shoes. The driving examiner, bless his heart, was a very kind man, I can't really remember many details about him other than I recall him being extremely tall and talking rather loudly.
The first things I had to do were operating various vehicle controls. I succeeded rather miraculously because he told me to do something I'd never done before. When it came time to parallel park my stomach was in one gigantic knot, a gigantic throbbing knot.
I backed out of my spot and I recall being pleased that I remembered to look over my shoulders and all of that jazz, but when I pulled up to parallel park I knew that I wouldn't pass. I tried valiantly to park our vehicle and the dear examiner didn't say a thing as I tried and tried again.
Long story short, I failed and did a magnificent job of it. I didn't cry on the way home or any time afterwards because I was too busy thinking about the fact that I'd have to experience the whole wretched thing again.
After failing that once I devoted my life to doing as much as I could to preparing myself. I prayed almost ceaselessly, listened tirelessly to songs I found comforting, and practiced parallel parking again and again using the system that my dear Dad taught me how to set up using four buckets and various stick-y things. Day after day I spent hours practicing until it felt strange to not have a steering wheel in my hands.
After fourteen hours of parking practice the big day rolled around again and back I went to the driving center. The second time around I remember how much clearer everything felt, and how alert I was to everything. Things looked brighter, sounded clearer, and registered better in my mind. The test day was blessedly sunny and I smiled as much as possible and spent all of my time in the waiting room praying. Some people say that taking your driver's test isn't a big deal, to me it was huge.
When I saw who my driving examiner would be I was disappointed (in retrospect I see just what a blessing it really was) the man was middle-aged, a bit overweight, and grumpy, most likely because it was a warm day and he had a boring job. To his credit he spoke kindly in introduction and when Mum handed me the keys for the second time in that exact same spot I took them the first time, whispered a prayer under my breath, forced a smile with my lips and marched out the door little knowing that I was about to have one of the best days of my life.
The man began by telling me all of the usual things that all examiners do. I assume it was the Holy Spirit that made this introverted girl open her mouth and we weren't halfway across the parking lot when for whatever reason I asked the driving examiner if he liked his job. The robotic expression he had been using slid right off of his face and he laughed in shock. That unexpected question changed everything and he talked to me cheerfully from then on as if we had been friends for years.
All too soon I was told I have to parallel park, and I think that the Lord must have custom-made the examiner for me because he spoke the exact words I needed to hear throughout the whole process to calm me.
I pulled up to the parking spot with my turn signals clicking away steadily. I took a deep breath, turned my steering wheel sharply and the next thing I remember is the driving instructor telling me I did it. I sat there in jubilant surprise and I'm convinced that it wasn't me who did the parking. All I did was turn the wheel and I don't remember anything else from then on till the examiner told I did it. Maybe the Lord took over, who knows, what I do know is that I was told the parking was done perfectly and that I had parked in just one maneuver out of the legal three.
Everything else was just peachy. That seemingly abrupt question before we ever got into the vehicle had broken any crankiness that the man had had and the rest of the test was spent with us chatting merrily.
I felt such joy after parking. The man told me I had passed without a single mistake and I felt like I was flying as I told my Mum and then the exuberance I felt when leaving with my license in hand was one of the happiest moments in my entire life, probably the happiest aside from being born again.
I left the driving center that day having just gained a license, but now I see that the process of procuring a license didn't only provide me with a license, but also a much closer relationship with my heavenly Father. There are many things I can praise Him for in my life, and today's blog post talked about just some of the ways He's blessed me. Yes, God could have prepared me to pass the first time around, but I'm much closer to Him because of my initial failure.
My very first driving lesson happened a little less than an hour after I got my permit. My Mum pulled into the parking lot of a nearby biking trail and she handed me the keys after showing me the gas and brake. I was absolutely horrified as I stared at those keys in my hand. I thought that it was a truly idiotic thing to give me, an overly dramatic teenager, the keys to the family's primary vehicle. As I looked around the parking lot and saw all of the potential ways I could destroy the vehicle I started sweating and couldn't breathe properly for quite a while afterwards.
I stomped on the gas a little bit harder than needed and so began the season of my life where I learned to drive. That first day, and for weeks afterwards I had a terrible time knowing how close I was to the edge of the road and taking curves was one of the hardest things ever. Instead of slowing down I'd stomp on the gas and send us hurtling around the bumpy bends on numerous little country roads hitting every pothole while I was at it.
There are two quite large stones positioned at the entrance of that little bike trail parking lot and the entrance just happens to be positioned right around a curve in the road, therefore the first few times that I entered the area I would stomp on the gas and go hurtling straight towards the big rocks. Somehow I always got the steering wheel turned just in time to avoid destroying our lovely little vehicle. I can imagine that my guardian angel was very busy while I was learning to drive.
Driving on big roads and interstates where the speed limit seemed ridiculously high was the thing that gave me nightmares. I remember very clearly praying one morning that God would give me as many situations as possible for me to practice my driving skills before I take my test and somehow I didn't expect Him to answer quite like He did.
That very same day I had to drive on a big interstate that was rather busy. It was foggy and it was raining lightly and I had many times where I had to slow down because of different people pulling out right in front of me. To make it more interesting I drove past our destination twice so not only did I get to practice turning around, the whole dreadful day was topped off with me backing down the driveway to my Dad's shop. While I appreciated how well the Lord provided me with scenarios of practice for me I didn't exactly ask for such things again.
I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and I had a lot of anxiety to deal with during those eight to nine months so while most teenagers view the road test as exciting and they just want their licenses already, I was a very timid person busily dreading my upcoming test with such anxiety that I was almost ceaselessly in prayer. I take things too seriously, I always have, and I took my upcoming test very seriously. Nevertheless, on the day when my driver's test was first scheduled I was woefully unprepared. I had tried parallel parking with mixed success and felt anything but confident going in on the big day.
I tried to be calm, I really did, but I was still quaking in my shoes. The driving examiner, bless his heart, was a very kind man, I can't really remember many details about him other than I recall him being extremely tall and talking rather loudly.
The first things I had to do were operating various vehicle controls. I succeeded rather miraculously because he told me to do something I'd never done before. When it came time to parallel park my stomach was in one gigantic knot, a gigantic throbbing knot.
I backed out of my spot and I recall being pleased that I remembered to look over my shoulders and all of that jazz, but when I pulled up to parallel park I knew that I wouldn't pass. I tried valiantly to park our vehicle and the dear examiner didn't say a thing as I tried and tried again.
Long story short, I failed and did a magnificent job of it. I didn't cry on the way home or any time afterwards because I was too busy thinking about the fact that I'd have to experience the whole wretched thing again.
After failing that once I devoted my life to doing as much as I could to preparing myself. I prayed almost ceaselessly, listened tirelessly to songs I found comforting, and practiced parallel parking again and again using the system that my dear Dad taught me how to set up using four buckets and various stick-y things. Day after day I spent hours practicing until it felt strange to not have a steering wheel in my hands.
After fourteen hours of parking practice the big day rolled around again and back I went to the driving center. The second time around I remember how much clearer everything felt, and how alert I was to everything. Things looked brighter, sounded clearer, and registered better in my mind. The test day was blessedly sunny and I smiled as much as possible and spent all of my time in the waiting room praying. Some people say that taking your driver's test isn't a big deal, to me it was huge.
When I saw who my driving examiner would be I was disappointed (in retrospect I see just what a blessing it really was) the man was middle-aged, a bit overweight, and grumpy, most likely because it was a warm day and he had a boring job. To his credit he spoke kindly in introduction and when Mum handed me the keys for the second time in that exact same spot I took them the first time, whispered a prayer under my breath, forced a smile with my lips and marched out the door little knowing that I was about to have one of the best days of my life.
The man began by telling me all of the usual things that all examiners do. I assume it was the Holy Spirit that made this introverted girl open her mouth and we weren't halfway across the parking lot when for whatever reason I asked the driving examiner if he liked his job. The robotic expression he had been using slid right off of his face and he laughed in shock. That unexpected question changed everything and he talked to me cheerfully from then on as if we had been friends for years.
All too soon I was told I have to parallel park, and I think that the Lord must have custom-made the examiner for me because he spoke the exact words I needed to hear throughout the whole process to calm me.
I pulled up to the parking spot with my turn signals clicking away steadily. I took a deep breath, turned my steering wheel sharply and the next thing I remember is the driving instructor telling me I did it. I sat there in jubilant surprise and I'm convinced that it wasn't me who did the parking. All I did was turn the wheel and I don't remember anything else from then on till the examiner told I did it. Maybe the Lord took over, who knows, what I do know is that I was told the parking was done perfectly and that I had parked in just one maneuver out of the legal three.
Everything else was just peachy. That seemingly abrupt question before we ever got into the vehicle had broken any crankiness that the man had had and the rest of the test was spent with us chatting merrily.
I felt such joy after parking. The man told me I had passed without a single mistake and I felt like I was flying as I told my Mum and then the exuberance I felt when leaving with my license in hand was one of the happiest moments in my entire life, probably the happiest aside from being born again.
I left the driving center that day having just gained a license, but now I see that the process of procuring a license didn't only provide me with a license, but also a much closer relationship with my heavenly Father. There are many things I can praise Him for in my life, and today's blog post talked about just some of the ways He's blessed me. Yes, God could have prepared me to pass the first time around, but I'm much closer to Him because of my initial failure.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
X ~ Xanthan Gum
I'm supposing that after you read the title you must have thought something along these lines "Oy, a health post." Or maybe you thought something more like, "A heath post, goodie, let me go fetch my note book." Whatever you might have thought, rest assured that I shall not spend hours and hundreds of paragraphs raving about the wondrous glories of xanthan gum, in fact, for that matter, I shan't even spend a second talking up xanthan gum, but rather I shall bash it most heartily.
If you are a loyal user of xanthan gum then I apologize in advance for any offense I might inflict but I simply needed to let more people know about my discovery. Prepare yourself, for here I go, about to rant.
My Mum agreed to join me for forty days (I wanted much more, but that was all she committed to) of an extreme health adventure, we ate absolutely no gluten, no soy, no sugar, you name it. What we did eat was many strange things, we used much oat flour, countless egg whites (I know they're not strange, I'm just listing things here) coconut flour, neufchatel cheese, kale, zucchini, coconut oil, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, and yes, xanthan gum. You name it, if it was "healthy", we were there. And amidst all of that crazed health pursuing, we became obsessed, it was pure insanity. We couldn't go a minute without thinking about food, and our bodies began to pay the price for such extreme "health". Our minds felt very fragile, like a single sharp poke could break us.
Eventually my Mum and I got a major reality shock upon realizing that this wonderful life that God had given to us was being wasted, on obsessing over food. Reading scriptures brought to light how absolutely insane it was to concentrate so much on food, which is meant to be but just a trivial necessity in our lives, it doesn't hold a candle to the life God has planned for us.
After that realization, my Mum and I converted back to eating food, real food. We ate gluten, we ate dairy, and we ate sugar. We enjoyed every bit of it and still do. My Mum and I discovered the absolute secret to eating for optimum health and happiness. You can eat absolutely everything (junk food is not that terrific though, so we avoid that, but that's just common sense) the only catch (and it's insanely easy, not really a catch at all) is that you must simply eat everything in small portions. Like our motto which is "Eat everything, just not everything of everything."
Our happiness and zest for life returned with eating normally again. And best of all, obsessing over food is no longer in existence. We didn't realize just how much food had taken over our lives until we started eating anything again.
I know that so many people have very many fads that they follow, (don't get me wrong, I don't think that all food studies are bad, though most are extreme) and my Mum and I followed them all, and we are taught by nutritionists everywhere that the fads we follow are for optimum health, but think on it. So many people say Stevia is good for you ( I'm sure I've really plunged into the deep end by bringing up this subject) but it's along the lines of serious drugs. If you ever research it a little you'll notice that people stopping Stevia had extreme withdrawal symptoms, but they say that it's so much better for you than sugar since it comes from a plant. Well, sugarcane is a plant. Now I will readily agree that raw sugar is most definitely better for you than just regular old sugar, but my point is that Stevia can no longer hold it's plant prowess over sugar.
And more about Stevia. Many, many, many (I can't even stress how many people) think Stevia is the only way to go and they rave about it's weight loss benefits but I did a little research myself and it happens to be that Stevia DOES mess with you. Here is what I found, and I'm quoting it. "Our bodies don’t quite know what to do with these calorie-free sugar substitutes. Tricked by the sweet taste, the body activates the insulin response and ushers out glucose from the bloodstream to make room for the incoming sugar load…but no sugar ever enters. To stabilize blood sugar levels, the body then releases the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which set to work retrieving stored sugar (in the form of glycogen) from liver and muscle tissue. When this process is continually activated, our adrenal glands burn out, our immune system is weakened, inflammation increases, and thyroid function is disturbed. If your body doesn’t have enough glycogen stored, it can’t convert the inactive thyroid hormone T4 into the active thyroid hormone T3. What happens when your thyroid function is out of whack? Weight gain…hair loss…and fatigue! In fact, numerous studies have shown that rather than contributing to weight loss, artificial sweeteners like stevia actually cause weight gain!"
So now that I've vented myself on that I shall actually get to the point of my post. Xanthan Gum. My Mum did research on it and came up with horrifying results. I'm sure a lot of you how black molded vegetables look. And the fact is that to make Xanthan Gum, the producers let just such mold grow on corn, and certain beans and scrape off the slime from underneath (also known as the feces from bacteria.) Then they dehydrate it, grind it into a powder and sell it labeled as a gluten free baking assistant and thickening agent sourced from plants. That bacteria isn't even good for you though and it's proven by how you aren't allowed to feed Xanthan gum to children as it may prove fatal, or at least inflict severe damage. I don't know about you but that was enough for me and I was left terrified because I had eaten a good bit of Xanthan gum, the fact that it was bacteria feces didn't help to settle my stomach either.
So if you're wondering what my Mum and I did about the whole "gluten is horrible for you deal," well, we laughed in its face. One of my friends (who has a gluten intolerance) went to a doctor recently and he told her that for most people all a gluten intolerance is, is just a deficiency of magnesium and certain vitamins. With such deficiencies you can't digest gluten. The cure? You can reap healing, life changing results by simply eating a well balanced diet. Think the old-fashioned food pyramid. And adding missing vitamins.
I had read an article written by a woman who claimed that the rising of gluten intolerance is because of hybridized grains. I couldn't believe how obvious the actual reason is. Think on it, in most cases gluten intolerance is merely a nutrient deficiency. That deficiency comes from not eating as God made us to. With so many crazy fads out there with whole swarms of naive people following them it's obvious that we have many many more deficiency possessed people who think they're doing themselves good by eating the way they do. With those deficiencies they can no longer digest grain because they have harmed their digestive system unbeknownst to them. So how could they fix those deficiencies? By healing their gut and eating as God made us to.
Food is not complicated, God made it that way so we can follow him with a whole heart, soul, and mind. Savoring every bite will likewise let you savor every moment of life.
Please know that I honestly, from the bottom of my heart did not mean offense to anyone at all, trust me, I've been there, done that, with fads. I just hope that I can open at least one person's eyes to the greater picture in life. To go from dreaming to waking up and seeing all of your glorious surroundings. If I can do that to one person through this post, than I shall feel that my life's purpose has been fulfilled. I had no intentions of rambling on for so long (and getting heated various times) so now I think it would be a wise time to bow out gracefully with a few scripture verses. (Please know that Jesus said the following words.)
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment.
Mark 7:18-19 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
There are more Bible verses, but this post is quite long enough. Maybe someday I'll share my Bible study on food, eating, and sickness.
If you are a loyal user of xanthan gum then I apologize in advance for any offense I might inflict but I simply needed to let more people know about my discovery. Prepare yourself, for here I go, about to rant.
My Mum agreed to join me for forty days (I wanted much more, but that was all she committed to) of an extreme health adventure, we ate absolutely no gluten, no soy, no sugar, you name it. What we did eat was many strange things, we used much oat flour, countless egg whites (I know they're not strange, I'm just listing things here) coconut flour, neufchatel cheese, kale, zucchini, coconut oil, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, and yes, xanthan gum. You name it, if it was "healthy", we were there. And amidst all of that crazed health pursuing, we became obsessed, it was pure insanity. We couldn't go a minute without thinking about food, and our bodies began to pay the price for such extreme "health". Our minds felt very fragile, like a single sharp poke could break us.
Eventually my Mum and I got a major reality shock upon realizing that this wonderful life that God had given to us was being wasted, on obsessing over food. Reading scriptures brought to light how absolutely insane it was to concentrate so much on food, which is meant to be but just a trivial necessity in our lives, it doesn't hold a candle to the life God has planned for us.
After that realization, my Mum and I converted back to eating food, real food. We ate gluten, we ate dairy, and we ate sugar. We enjoyed every bit of it and still do. My Mum and I discovered the absolute secret to eating for optimum health and happiness. You can eat absolutely everything (junk food is not that terrific though, so we avoid that, but that's just common sense) the only catch (and it's insanely easy, not really a catch at all) is that you must simply eat everything in small portions. Like our motto which is "Eat everything, just not everything of everything."
Our happiness and zest for life returned with eating normally again. And best of all, obsessing over food is no longer in existence. We didn't realize just how much food had taken over our lives until we started eating anything again.
I know that so many people have very many fads that they follow, (don't get me wrong, I don't think that all food studies are bad, though most are extreme) and my Mum and I followed them all, and we are taught by nutritionists everywhere that the fads we follow are for optimum health, but think on it. So many people say Stevia is good for you ( I'm sure I've really plunged into the deep end by bringing up this subject) but it's along the lines of serious drugs. If you ever research it a little you'll notice that people stopping Stevia had extreme withdrawal symptoms, but they say that it's so much better for you than sugar since it comes from a plant. Well, sugarcane is a plant. Now I will readily agree that raw sugar is most definitely better for you than just regular old sugar, but my point is that Stevia can no longer hold it's plant prowess over sugar.
And more about Stevia. Many, many, many (I can't even stress how many people) think Stevia is the only way to go and they rave about it's weight loss benefits but I did a little research myself and it happens to be that Stevia DOES mess with you. Here is what I found, and I'm quoting it. "Our bodies don’t quite know what to do with these calorie-free sugar substitutes. Tricked by the sweet taste, the body activates the insulin response and ushers out glucose from the bloodstream to make room for the incoming sugar load…but no sugar ever enters. To stabilize blood sugar levels, the body then releases the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which set to work retrieving stored sugar (in the form of glycogen) from liver and muscle tissue. When this process is continually activated, our adrenal glands burn out, our immune system is weakened, inflammation increases, and thyroid function is disturbed. If your body doesn’t have enough glycogen stored, it can’t convert the inactive thyroid hormone T4 into the active thyroid hormone T3. What happens when your thyroid function is out of whack? Weight gain…hair loss…and fatigue! In fact, numerous studies have shown that rather than contributing to weight loss, artificial sweeteners like stevia actually cause weight gain!"
So now that I've vented myself on that I shall actually get to the point of my post. Xanthan Gum. My Mum did research on it and came up with horrifying results. I'm sure a lot of you how black molded vegetables look. And the fact is that to make Xanthan Gum, the producers let just such mold grow on corn, and certain beans and scrape off the slime from underneath (also known as the feces from bacteria.) Then they dehydrate it, grind it into a powder and sell it labeled as a gluten free baking assistant and thickening agent sourced from plants. That bacteria isn't even good for you though and it's proven by how you aren't allowed to feed Xanthan gum to children as it may prove fatal, or at least inflict severe damage. I don't know about you but that was enough for me and I was left terrified because I had eaten a good bit of Xanthan gum, the fact that it was bacteria feces didn't help to settle my stomach either.
So if you're wondering what my Mum and I did about the whole "gluten is horrible for you deal," well, we laughed in its face. One of my friends (who has a gluten intolerance) went to a doctor recently and he told her that for most people all a gluten intolerance is, is just a deficiency of magnesium and certain vitamins. With such deficiencies you can't digest gluten. The cure? You can reap healing, life changing results by simply eating a well balanced diet. Think the old-fashioned food pyramid. And adding missing vitamins.
I had read an article written by a woman who claimed that the rising of gluten intolerance is because of hybridized grains. I couldn't believe how obvious the actual reason is. Think on it, in most cases gluten intolerance is merely a nutrient deficiency. That deficiency comes from not eating as God made us to. With so many crazy fads out there with whole swarms of naive people following them it's obvious that we have many many more deficiency possessed people who think they're doing themselves good by eating the way they do. With those deficiencies they can no longer digest grain because they have harmed their digestive system unbeknownst to them. So how could they fix those deficiencies? By healing their gut and eating as God made us to.
Food is not complicated, God made it that way so we can follow him with a whole heart, soul, and mind. Savoring every bite will likewise let you savor every moment of life.
Please know that I honestly, from the bottom of my heart did not mean offense to anyone at all, trust me, I've been there, done that, with fads. I just hope that I can open at least one person's eyes to the greater picture in life. To go from dreaming to waking up and seeing all of your glorious surroundings. If I can do that to one person through this post, than I shall feel that my life's purpose has been fulfilled. I had no intentions of rambling on for so long (and getting heated various times) so now I think it would be a wise time to bow out gracefully with a few scripture verses. (Please know that Jesus said the following words.)
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment.
Mark 7:18-19 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
There are more Bible verses, but this post is quite long enough. Maybe someday I'll share my Bible study on food, eating, and sickness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)