I've created this thread for general info on cavities that is not necessarily 100% raw.

Here is a testimonial from Maria, the creator of The Green Smoothie Challenge website and a former 95% raw vegan:
http://www.curetoothdecay.com/private-lessons/testimonial-maria.htm?awt_l=8I5JN&awt_m=3u9ERc2eiE2pPFS

The raw vegan diet with green smoothies was giving her dental problems and other health issues after some early success. She read Ramiel Nagel's book, Cure Tooth Decay, and added bone broth, raw butter, raw fermented cod liver oil, raw kefir, and organ meats to her diet, with rapid and amazing dental health success as well as overall health success.


I have found some of Ramiel's tips to be beneficial myself.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-school-lunch-restrictions-041120110410,0,4567867.story?page=1

So much for this being a "free country." Admittedly, it sounds like the food that most of these kids were bringing from home was pretty crappy.

For many CPS parents, the idea of forbidding home-packed lunches would be unthinkable. If their children do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals, such a policy would require them to pay $2.25 a day for food they don't necessarily like.

That's the ol' American cheapness when it comes to food at work again. Heaven forfend that a parent have to spend more than $2.25 a day on a child's food. LOL

"We don't spend anywhere close to that on my son's daily intake of a sandwich (lovingly cut into the shape of a Star Wars ship), Goldfish crackers and milk," education policy professor Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach wrote in an email.

Of course, lovingly cutting the sandwich into the shape of a Star Wars ship cancels out the damage from the toxins. LOL

The below articles discuss a Website survey that asked why ex-vegetarians returned to meat eating. It's not scientific, of course, but it is intriguing. I thought I'd do a poll here and see how our results compare.

Interestingly, the ex-vegetarian interviewed for the Psychology Today article eats raw meats. Of course, the writer calls it "a bit extreme."

Why Do Most Vegetarians Go Back To Eating Meat? For most people, vegetarianism is temporary phase. Why?
Published on June 20, 2011 by Hal Herzog, Ph.D. in Animals and Us
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animals-and-us/201106/why-do-most-vegetarians-go-back-eating-meat

Staci wasn't always so fit. In her early 30's, Staci's health started going downhill. After twelve years of strict vegetarianism, she began to suffer from anemia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and she experienced stomach pains for two hours after every meal. "I was completely debilitated," she tells me. "Then I changed the way I ate."

"Tell me about your diet now. What did you have for breakfast today?" I ask.

"A half pint of raw beef liver," she says.

Ok....Staci is a bit extreme in her carnivory -- these days she prefers her meat raw, and she eats a lot of it. But the transformation from hard-core vegetarian to meat-eater that Staci illustrates is surprisingly common. Indeed, according to a 2005 survey by CBS News, three times as many American adults admit to being "ex-vegetarians" than describe themselves as current vegetarians.

Most Vegetarians Become Ex-Vegetarians?
Posted by Tom Naughton
http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/06/30/most-vegetarians-become-ex-vegetarians/

Besides not being heated and chemically refined like HFCS is
(see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yfIMbv_f0Q&feature=related),
here is another reason why the lab studies on HFCS don't apply to raw whole fruits like berries:

Anti-glycative and anti-inflammatory effects of caffeic acid and ellagic acid in kidney of diabetic mice.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010 Mar;54(3):388-95.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19885845

"Protective effects of caffeic acid (CA) and ellagic acid (EA) in kidney of diabetic mice were examined. CA or EA at 2.5 and 5% was mixed in diet and supplied to diabetic mice for 12 wk. Results showed that the intake of CA or EA increased renal content of these compounds, alleviated body weight loss, decreased urine output, increased plasma insulin and decreased blood glucose levels at weeks 6 and 12 (p<0.05). The intake of these compounds dose dependently reduced plasma blood urea nitrogen and elevated creatinine clearance (p<0.05). CA or EA at 5% significantly decreased the levels of plasma HbA1c, urinary glycated albumin, renal carboxymethyllysine, pentosidine, sorbitol and fructose (p<0.05), and significantly diminished renal activity of aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase, as well as suppressed renal aldose reductase mRNA expression (p<0.05). CA or EA dose dependently lowered renal levels of IL-6, IL-1beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) (p<0.05). Furthermore, CA or EA dose dependently down-regulated tumor necrosis factor-alpha and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 mRNA expression in kidney (p<0.05). Based on the observed anti-glycative and anti-inflammatory effects, the supplement of CA or EA might be helpful for the prevention or attenuation of diabetic kidney diseases."

Foods That Contain Ellagic Acid
http://www.ehow.com/about_5066489_foods-contain-ellagic-acid.html#ixzz1PkA5WqmN
"Ellagic acid is found in the following types of foods: raspberries, pomegranates, strawberries, raspberry seed extract, raspberry leaves, and grapes."

I've been buying medium large rather than extra large or jumbo eggs for a while, based largely on intuition and educated guessing. I finally got round to researching it and it looks like my intuition was on target, if these claims are true:

Buying large eggs is cruel, shoppers told
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article5884068.ece
> “I prefer medium eggs,” he said. They taste better, are less watery and don't run off the plate.”
> “Selectively breeding hens for high productivity, whether larger eggs or larger numbers of eggs, can cause a range of problems such as osteoporosis, bone breakage and prolapse."

Surprisingly, even Kevin Coles of the British Egg Industry Council admitted that "when it comes to creaminess, consistency and flavour, size really does matter." (Egg-cessive? Large eggs are painful for hens to lay, claim experts. What's more they're less tasty. So should we stop shelling out for them? By MARCUS DUNK, Last updated at 8:17 AM on 12th March 2009, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1161370/Egg-cessive-Large-eggs-painful-hens-lay-claim-experts-Whats-theyre-tasty-So-stop-shelling-them.html#ixzz1Oz4bMOg3)

Here's more:

Which Eggs Taste the Best?
http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/which-eggs-taste-best

"...according the egg guru Moses Wolfe of Petaluma Farms in Petaluma, California.  If you’re looking for eggs with the best taste and the lightest texture, those would be pullet eggs, laid by hens less than 1 year old.
The very best qualities are those laid before the young chick reaches the ripe old age of 31 weeks.  Because the bird is young, the eggs are smaller than those laid by the 1-2 year-olds.  They may be pee wee, small, medium, or large eggs, but not extra-large or jumbo.  These eggs not only taste great but make soufflés rise higher and omelets come out fluffier.  Jumbo eggs are from older hens. These eggs, Wolfe explains, “age more quickly, losing quality, taste, nutritional value and recipe performance."

If I want large eggs I tend to buy duck eggs (or goose eggs, when they're available). Duck eggs are my favorite eggs taste-wise so far, I think, and they are supposedly richer in omega 3 FAs and nutrients than chicken eggs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-EaOqA9akc&feature=feedlik
Interestingly, Ron Paul mentioned raw milk among other things he thinks people should be able to choose.

I don't drink raw milk myself, but I support people's right to do so.

Lex, I don't know if you want tangents like this in your journal, so I'm creating a separate thread for it.

I'd like to play devil's advocate re: your views on simplicity and not treating food as entertainment. Do you think there's much value for a substantial number of people in the "special" foods advocated by Weston Price, Stephan Guyenet, Aajonus Vonderplanitz, the Inuit and others, beyond the meat/fat/organs you eat (ex: raw fermented cod liver oil or mammal brains or fatty wild fish, raw fermented foods, easily-digested foods--especially for the sick and elderly, making sure one gets enough K2/iodine/Mg/etc., omega-3-rich foods like fish eggs for infants and pregnant women, ...), or is this unnecessary complexity for nearly everyone? I lean toward the former view, though maybe my own experience biases me and I'd like to run my amateur thoughts on this through a good skeptical filter.

AFAIK, you don't like to spend a lot of time reading and puzzling over such things, so I've kept this short, but if you need or want more explanatory details, let me know. And if you'd rather not delve into this, I understand. Thanks.

Where do we go from here, embrace Kurzweil's future in which human beings try to transform into immortal cyborgs, or try to re-humanize ourselves by adopting a way of thinking and acting that embraces antifragility? I think the answer is obvious, but what do you think?

Ray Kurzweil in 30 Nov 2010 Time Magazine interview: "Ultimately we're going to recreate the full powers of human intelligence in a machine. By my reckoning we're about 20 years away from that threshold. .... By the time we get to the 2040s, say 2045 we'll be able to multiply human intelligence a billion fold. That will be a profound change that's singular in nature so we use this term [of singularity]. It will be a profound transformation, but it really is what human beings are all about. Human beings transcend our limitations. We make ourselves stronger, we make ourselves smarter with our tools, and that's really what the singularity will do."

(N)anotechnology, for example nanorobots, little blood-cell-sized devices like our white blood cells, but nonbiological and more capable, they'll keep us healthy from inside and that'll give us ... more time. Eventually we'll be able to ... access the information in our brains that makes us who we are. (U)ltimately we'll be able to greatly extend human longevity. The sky's the limit.

Kurzweil in The Sun, 24 Sep 2009: "If we want to go into virtual-reality mode, nanobots will shut down brain signals and take us wherever we want to go. Virtual sex will become commonplace. And in our daily lives, hologram like figures will pop in our brain to explain what is happening. So we can look forward to a world where humans become cyborgs, with artificial limbs and organs."

Nassim Taleb, in Antifragility: <<was just reading in John Gray’s wonderful The Immortalization Commission about attempts to use science, in a post-religious world, to achieve immortality. I felt some deep disgust—-as would any ancient do--at the  efforts  of  the  “singularity thinkers (such as Ray [Kurzweil]) who believe in humans’ potential to live forever. It is the same kind of deep internal disgust that takes hold of me when I see a rich eighty-two year old man surrounded with “babes”, twenty-something mistresses (often Russian or Ukrainian). I am not here to live forever, as a sick animal [nor, presumably, as a cyborg]. I am here to die a heroic death for the sake of the [tribe*], produce offspring (and prepare them for life and provide for them), or eventually, books. Then say goodbye, have a nice funeral in St Sergius (Mar Sarkis) in Amioun, and, as the French say, “place aux autres”, leave room for others>>

*Note: I replaced a controversial, loaded term liable to distract from Taleb's main points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BUYbEgOZt4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3bu_7Bfatg

Dental health of dentists' children in Mongolia.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12834383

Can you guess who had the better dental health--the children of Mongolian dentists, or rural Mongolian children?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXpvsAYyiLY&feature=player_embedded








"[Dog] Exhaustion is characterized by lethargy and also the tongue, if it is hanging out to the side, they are OK, but if it is hanging out very far to the front, they need rest. The further out the tongue hangs the more tired your dog is." Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_long_can_a_dog_run_per_hour#ixzz1Fwuk628n

-->"I think the open mouth and extended tongue help with air intake or aerodynamics ... Or at least it looks cute."--the photo taker

"when running I find it easier to control my breathing if i run with my tongue out and to the side.  Sounds (and looks) a bit silly but this controls how much air i try to GASP in." (http://www.google.com/url?q=http://community.active.com/thread/118071%3Bjsessionid%3DB7A471C5AEA580DCEF48173135B0BEEF.node0&sa=U&ei=G0B1TbulL4KBlAeShqVV&ved=0CCIQFjAH&sig2=QVsShV3zhbLOSntbt2eGCA&usg=AFQjCNF7d54nvETFBNj3hMvQCxA3bAlhlw)

I suspect that these people are on to something, because I seem to get more oxygen intake while running with my tongue out. The more winded I am, the farther my tongue goes out. I have no idea why having the tongue out would help with oxygen intake, though. It's puzzling.

What can we learn about health and longevity from James Sisnett, age 111, his 11 children and the people of Barbados?

A Lot to Be Learnt from the Elderly
The Barbados Advocate
23 Feb 2011

.... Barbados is said to have the second highest percentage of centenarians in the world....

'Our centenarians can teach us a lot. We have a rich heritage based on the contributions and sacrifices their generation have made to help Barbados develop to a nation we can be proud of. Many of them will tell you that they have reached the ripe age of 100 through a diet of ground provisions, hard work and faith in God... May that be food for thought.' -- Steven Blackett, Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development.

Centenarians honoured
http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/centenarians-honoured/
"Nearly 30 Barbadian centenarians were recognised today, including the world’s second oldest man 110-year-old James Sisnett."

Bajan Secrets To Living Long
http://barbadostravel.squarespace.com/journal/2005/9/7/bajan-secrets-to-living-long.html

.... How come Barbados? Ever since Japan and Barbados were placed at the top of global rankings of nations with most centenarians per capita, people have been asking that question.

After all, while it is understandable that Okinawa in Japan with its sophisticated medical care, vast resources, and enviable lifestyle can be number one the answers to why an upper middle income Caribbean country with a population of 270,000 people would have about 108 centenarians, giving it a per capita rate of one for every 2,500 –people seem elusive.

What makes the issue so compelling is that the two wealthy North American nations, the United States and Canada, have a per capita rate of one centenarian per 10,000 people.

Now a leading Canadian newspaper, the National Post, has come up with some possible answers.

"A good start might be Bajan water," suggested the Post in an article headlined: Many Rivers To Cross, Why So Many Barbadians Live For More Than 100 years?

The paper stated, "the only volcanic island in the Caribbean, Barbados' coral limestone filters water to a healthy state of 'hard' calcium rich drinking water similar to that of Okinawa."

Next, it may be the fish Barbadians like to eat, "a plentiful harvest of fresh fish". ....

These parasite-like organisms and bacteria seem like good candidates for symbionts that have co-evolved with humans and may potentially provide benefits to humans that host them:

Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus (hookworm; acquired through the skin of the feet by walking barefoot near human or dog feces or contaminated soil; Jasper Lawrence put his asthma into remission with hookworm)
Taenia saginata (Beef Tapeworm)
Taenia solium (Pork Tapeworm)
Mycobacterium vaccae (soil bacterium acquired by ingesting soil, particularly soil fertilized with cow dung)
Human whipworm (Trichuris trichiura or Trichocephalus trichiuris) (a roundworm obtained by ingesting moist soil)
Lactobacillus reuteri (acquired from meat and milk products)

---*---

Helminthic Therapy: How to put your Asthma, Colitis, IBD, Crohn's or Multiple Sclerosis into remission with hookworm.
Jasper Lawrence
http://www.asthmahookworm.com/


Meat in the human diet: an anthropological perspective.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Meat+in+the+human+diet:+an+anthropological+perspective.-a0169311689

Taenia saginata Taenia sag·i·na·ta n. A tapeworm that is parasitic in humans and is acquired by eating infected beef that is insufficiently cooked and T. solium use humans exclusively as their host, indicating a substantial period of co-evolution and meat consumption by humans and their ancestors. (17)


Taenia saginata (Beef Tapeworm)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taenia_saginata

Taenia saginata, also known as Taeniarhynchus saginata or the beef tapeworm, is a parasite of both cattle and humans, causing taeniasis in humans.


Taenia solium (Pork Tapeworm)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taenia_solium


Hookworm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookworm

The hookworm is a parasitic nematode that lives in the small intestine of its host, which may be a mammal such as a dog, cat, or human. Two species of hookworms commonly infect humans, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus. A. duodenale predominates in the Middle East, North Africa, India and (formerly) in southern Europe, while N. americanus predominates in the Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, China, and Indonesia. Hookworms are thought to infect more than 600 million people worldwide. The A. braziliense and A. tubaeforme species infect cats, while A. caninum infects dogs. Uncinaria stenocephala infects both dogs and cats.

Mycobacterium vaccae (soil bacterium)

Getting dirty could prevent depression
By Telegraph Correspondent
Published: 12:01AM BST 02 Apr 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1547346/Getting-dirty-could-prevent-depression.html


Human whipworm (Trichuris trichiura or Trichocephalus trichiuris) (a roundworm obtained by ingesting moist soil)

Whipworm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipworm

Trichuriasis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichuriasis#Transmission


Lactobacillus reuteri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus_reuteri

Raw Milk Cheesemakers Fret Over Possible New Rules
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
Published: February 4, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/business/05cheese.html?src=busln

Federal regulators are considering whether to tighten food safety rules for cheese made with unpasteurized milk — and the possibility has cheesemakers and foodies worried that the result will be cheese that is less tasty and not much safer.

The new proposals, which are expected in the next several months, come after a very tough year for this country’s fast-growing gourmet cheese industry, marked by recalls and two multistate E. coli outbreaks that sickened nearly 50 people.

....

The primary pathogens that now cause illness associated with cheese, like toxic forms of E. coli and listeria, were either unknown in the 1940s or not of great concern.