iHerb - where I go for vitamins

I've been ordering most of my supplements from iherb lately. The prices, for the most part, seem to be better than I can find locally, and I like that they have a large selection of freebies that you can get with your order. Plus free shipping is a plus, too. It's a site without a lot of flash and dazzle, but it's got a decent selection of products, and I think I've been able to find 90% of whatever I was looking for.

If you check out iHerb, you can use code YUZ753 to get a $5 off credit (at least, I think so. This is what the site says.) Shameless self-promotion, I know, but hey, why not.

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Will Americans follow orders to take flu shots?

I've been reading on a number of sites about the possibility that the swine flu vaccine will be mandatory by law. I'm not sure if there's any ground to this, but considering that vaccines are mandatory for public schools, colleges, and even some pediatric clinics, this isn't completely unthinkable. I ride the fence on the vaccine issue: I think there can be some advantages, but at the same time, the current schedule is pretty heavy, and I wonder if scientists have really done a thoroughly-comprehensive study of these drugs and the effect that they have on the body, also factoring in environmental conditions. I do not believe that any vaccines should be mandatory, though, and that individuals should be free to opt out of receiving them, so it can be a little frightening reading some of these articles.

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FDA Declares Mercury Amalgam Fillings Safe for All

The FDA declaring mercury fillings to be safe is highly questionable to me. I've heard some mixed things from, of all people, my own dentist. We talked about about mercury fillings, and while he does believe there can be some risk to these, the likelihood of these leaking is rare. The other thing he mentioned is, to have mercury fillings removed involves wearing down remaining tooth material to get them out. They don't just melt out, but you need to wear away the tooth further to get these out. So there's a trade-off involved there. Frankly, the idea of a mercury-based item situated in one's teeth does not seem like a good idea. My understanding is that it's mercury in vaccines that also causes these products to be suspect as well.

This gets into the area of heavy-metal detox, which is a new subject that I'm just beginning to research now. I've heard of a few foods that help remove toxic metals from the body, and I also know that fasting is supposed to do the same thing as well. I'm curious to learn more about what one needs to do to get toxic metals and chemicals out of the body.

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Stir-fry veggie dish from "Iron Monkey"

The film "Iron Monkey" featured plenty of goofy kungfu action and silly dialog, but during one scene in the film, the hero is shown making some very tasty-looking food, such as this dish here. Best I can judge there's some red pepper, green onions, mushrooms and greens at work in this dish, and it looks very tasty! I wish that the film had included a recipe...

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Apple Cider Vinegar Cures: a wealth of information

I found a site that has a ton of good information about apple cider vinegar and various cures it offers.

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Ten Things You're Not Supposed to Know about the Swine Flu Vaccine

Ten Things You're Not Supposed to Know about the Swine Flu Vaccine is an article worth checking out. Especially alarming is the fact that this vaccine has been rushed out the door and, apparently, not tested on any humans.

I don't understand the hype over this. From what I've read, this is only really a concern for immune-compromised individuals, but I keep hearing about this in the news like it's something catastrophic. I'll keep following this, because I'm curious what's going to happen with this disease vaccine.

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Hot dogs warning labels and musing about flexitarianism

Fox news had an article about an anti-meat group pushing for cancer labels on hot dogs, and it's interesting to see stuff like this, because I don't think they are too far off. Warnings about limiting consumption might not be a bad idea - plus I'd like to see some warning labels about the sodium nitrates you generally find in Oscar Mayer products (I know that Oscar Mayer does make some meat products without nitrates, such as some of their hot dogs and bacon, but I haven't been able to find these at the store in a long time. Not sure if Walmart/HEB just aren't carrying these anymore, or if Oscar Mayer discontinued these particular brands.

In any case, I'm a content flexitarian: I try to go easy on the meat, and I enjoy mainly salads, vegetables, raw milk/yogurt/whey, as well as soaked/fermented grains... but don't tell me not to eat beef, chicken, eggs, or seafood, as I greatly enjoy these as part of my meals from time to time. I try to find natural grass-fed beef (generally a little more expensive, but worth it) for foods like tacos and chili. Natural chicken can be tricky to find (Whole Foods has it, but Whole Foods isn't close, or cheap, for that matter.)

I'm contentedly a flexitarian. I considered, and researched, vegetarianism and veganism in college, and determined that both of these were not the ideal direction. For one thing, I just enjoy the satiety that meats provide, that veggies just cannot. There are times I want meat, and a carrot just won't substitute (and I avoid soy proteins like the plague these days, per sites like this one, among others. The big thing that turned me off of the strict vegan direction was the inability of finding natural sources of vitamin B-12. You only get this from animal products, which just goes to show that we were designed to ingest animal products as part of our design. But because of the makeup of our digestive system, we also aren't designed to consume huge portions of meat, either. Unlike carnivorous lions and tigers, we have systems that slowly break down and absorb nutrients from foods, making vitamin-rich plant foods far more ideal than non-stop beef for dinner. Flexitarians, I also seem to recall reading (but I don't have a link to add here) generally outlive vegetarians and vegans, because of things like B-12 (I need to research into this more. It's a blog, so I'm not being graded for this stuff...)

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Farmed Fish May Eat Your Brain?

I thought that this was an interesting article at Natural News, basically identifying a link with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) (aka mad cow disease) and how it's finding it's way to farmed fish. I try to avoid farmed fish anyhow, since I've read it's generally not as healthy (with some exceptions, such as the farmed fish sold by Whole Foods, which have higher safety standards) but all the same, I prefer to purchase fish that's caught wild. Walmart, of all places, sells a decent wild salmon fillet for about $6, which isn't bad considering it's salmon, it's wild, and it's a large enough portion to feed the fam.

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Teeccino coffee

I'm currently a fan of Teeccino coffee, namely the hazelnut blend. This is a great-tasting coffee, without the caffeine. It's got a fascinating, rich flavor, and it's loaded with unique ingredients like organic roasted carob, organic roasted barley, and chicory root, etc. I've only been able to find it at health food stores, some grocery stores and some sites online, but it's worth finding.

For the longest time I was drinking Seattle's Finest (Hazelnut blend again) and this is good, but I could do without the caffeine. Usually it would be a weekend drink, and I'd drink tea during the week while working. I still down a lot of tea, but now I've been including more of Teeccino during the week as well, since it doesn't have the caffeine.

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