This is an actual advert from the Soda Pop Board of America.

It looks a bit shocking now, but soda companies have not improved on their ugly marketing techniques. There just not quite so blatant about how they push their products on kids, to get them hooked for life.

Below is the text on the poster.

How soon to start?

Not soon enough.  Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and “fitting in” during those awkward pre-teen and teen years.  So, do yourself a favor.  Do your child a favor.  Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness.

Fenugreek is both a herb and a spice. The seeds are used as a spice and the leaves used as a herb.

Fenugreek seeds exert hypoglycemic effects which can benifit dibetes by increasing insulin secretion from the pancreatic cells.

Go to this link to read more on pancreatic diabetes http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/10/715

History of treating diabetes with fenugreek:

Fenugreek was an ingredient in Lydia Pinkham’s vegetable compound, which was a marketed as a cure for “female problems”.

Fenugreek is still used for treating many conditions but the best documented are the positive effects on diabetes, although it has been used in this way for centuries as it has been used more recently in controlled studies showing hypoglycemic effects on animals.

Fenugreek has been noted to be more effective on treating diabetes than metformin, which is the most popular anti diabetic drug un the USA.

Cautions:

Although I would usually opt for, and suggest a natural foodstuff , opposed to prescription drugs there does seem to be cause for some caution with this one. I am not suggesting that it may be a good idea for anyone with diabetes to try adding lots of fenugreek into their diet. Especially not recommended for pregnant women due to it’s oxytocic effect which can cause premature births by inducing labour.

Fenugreek is also an anticoagulant so don’t use this spice for medical reasons if you are on any blood thinning medications.

Below is copied from Wikipedia’s

Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound

Of the five herbs in Lydia Pinkham’s original formula:

• Pleurisy root is diaphoretic, anti-spasmodic, carminative, and anti-inflammatory.
• Life root is a traditional uterine tonic, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, and emmenagogue used for amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea.
• Fenugreek is vulnerary, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, tonic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, and hypotensive.^[12]
• Unicorn Root was used by several Native American tribes for dysmenorrhea, uterine prolapse, pelvic congestion and to improve ovarian function.^[13]
• Black cohosh is an emmenagogue, anti-spasmodic, alterative, nervine, and hypotensive and is used traditionally for menopausal symptoms.^[14]

Of the newer additions, motherwort is a nervine, emmenagogue, anti-spasmodic, hepatic, cardiac tonic, and hypotensive. Piscidia erythrina (Jamaican dogwood) is an eclectic remedy that has been found effective for painful spasms, pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and ovarian pain.^[15] Licorice is anti-inflammatory, anti-hepatotoxic, anti-spasmodic and a mild laxative. Gentian is a bitter, sialagogue, hepatic, cholagogue, anthelmintic, and emmenagogue. Dandelion is a potassium-sparing diuretic, hepatic, cholagogue, anti-rheumatic, laxative, tonic, and a bitter.^[16]

From a box of her medicine

Lydia Pinkham Memorial Clinic in Salem, MA

(It is often suggested by the alternative medicine community that black cohosh (and a purified version, Remifemin) really do provide relief from symptoms of menopause. A report by the Natural Standard, which performs evidence-based reviews of alternative therapeutics, says:

Black cohosh is a popular alternative to prescription hormonal therapy for treatment of menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood problems, perspiration, heart palpitations, and vaginal dryness. Initial human research suggests that black cohosh may improve some of these symptoms for up to six months. However, most studies are not well designed and results are not conclusive.

The report gives the evidence a “B” rating, “good scientific evidence for this use.”

In a day when the mainstream treatment of these conditions was sometimes surgical removal of ovaries—with a mortality rate of 40%—it can be argued that at the very least Pinkham’s remedy followed the sound medical principle of “first, do no harm.”

Back to my thoughts:

I can well believe that fenugreek could play a part in rectifiying some ” womens troubles “.  when I first started making my fenugreek coleslaw, which some friends have said ” is the best coleslaw they have ever eaten” I can rememver commenting more than once that more hormones seemed to be effected, but it was in an enjoyable way.

My fenugreek coleslaw recipe:

I am sure you can by ready sprouted fenugreek from some health food shops, but I buy the seeds and sprout them at home. Sprouters are fab and one in your kitchen can produce salad all year round.

So, for the coleslaw, in a large bowl toss in a couple of handfulls of fenugreek sprouts, add 1 large red onion very finely sliced, grated carrot and some mayonaise ( hopefuly  made from free range egg’s ).Then just season and toss.

Delicious on a baked tattie or on oatcakes as a snack.

If pregnant and overdue you may wish to have a large bowlfull.

This post is hopefully going to spread the word a little about information on a section of the film Foodmatters. If you click on the link below you can either watch a trailer of the film or pay $4.95 for a one off, online viewing or buy the DVD. The film makers James Colquhoun and Laurentine Ten Bosch welcome the information in this film to be passed on due to it’s importance to peoples health, and the reasons why some of the content in their film is not commonly practised.

http://www.foodmatters.tv/?gclid=CJH6kPqCtJUCFQs2QwodwE0FQQ

I would like everyone I care about to see this film, but even if they did would all of them change the way they eat or the way they approach treatment for an illness? Most probably not.

One person in particular in the film gave a couple of stories to grab my attention. That was Andrew W. Saul Ph.D who is a theraputic nutrition specialist & author.

He tells how he learnt of William J McCormick and Fred R. Klenner MD and their knowledge of using high dosages of Vitamin C to cure illness in the 1940’s.

Andrew W. Saul did not learn about this in med school, why would he ?

Would there be much more need for medical school in the future if healthcare was nutrition based ?

What I just found:

I just gooled Mc Cormick and Klenner to see if there was a newspaper article that could be referred t;o. I did not get that far as I found that the top article was entitled ” The pioneering work of Frederick Robert Klenner MD ” written by guess who? Andrew W. Saul

Here is the article http://www.doctoryourself.com/klennerbio.html

Niacin, alcoholism and depression:

Andrew Saul talked about Bill Williams the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Bill Williams worked with Dr Abraham Hoffer MD.

Hoffer and Williams became good friends. But Bill Williams suffered from severe depression.

Dr Abraham Hoffer suggested to his friend that he took 3,000mg of Niacin ( Vitamin B3 ) a day and it helped him feel better.

Bill Williams then suggested to alcoholics, that they took niacin for the depression and addiction and the majority who tried the niacin treatment experienced great improvements.

Williams then wanted Alcoholoics Anonymous to use niacin and vitamin therapy.

The medical profession rejected that idea, and so  to this day the AA to this day does not recommend vitamin therapy.

Phychiatrist does not recommed vitamin therapy:

The other story Andrew W Saul gave to express the effective use of Niacin for depression was this:

There was a suicidal lady in her 50’s who lived with her family.  She was severely depressed, always sitting alone, eating alone and spending most of her time just sitting in the corner in an uncommunicative state.

Her family asked about nutrition and Andrew W. Saul mentioned Dr Hoffers work with Niacin. Saul said that 3,000mg per day was Hoffers dosage, but  their daughter should have ” as much as it takes to make her  better”

At 11,500mg of niacin a day, the lady was sitting eating with the family as if nothing had happened. They took her to the psychiatrist so that he could see her in her ” well state” and the pshychiatrist said that the levels of niacin they were giving may be harmful, and to stop the vitamin treatment that had made her better.

Zero death toll:

There are not even enough deaths from niacin intake to equate to even 1 death per year.

Which would you feel safest with, for treating depression?

Taking 11,500mg of Niacin, or the usual prescribed doses of amitriptalyne, or prozac . Both drugs can cause suicidal tendancies !