Dr. Arturo M. Volpe

This recipe comes from one of the many dedicated mothers I have the fortune to know.

1 cup of organic raw nuts (avoid peanuts, use any nuts you or your child like: almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, etc.)
4 cups filtered or spring water
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (read ingredient list carefully, as may be a hidden source of gluten)
4 teaspoons of raw honey or pure vegetable glycerin

Blend nuts in blender to a fine powder but don’t let them become a paste (you can use a small jar attachment that comes with some blenders for the nut blending instead of the regular large pitcher and make two small batches if necessary). Scrape out all nuts from blades and transfer to large pitcher. Add water, vanilla and sweetener to ground nuts and blend until smooth. If you desire a smoother milk, strain through a fine sieve (usually unnecessary unless the nuts have skins).

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A large population study just published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, January 1, 2003; 289: 49-55) confirms that autism is occurring at an
unprecedented rate. In fact, if all forms of autism are considered, more than one child in 150 is autistic. To put it in perspective, in the 1980’s this condition was estimated to affect less than one child in 10,000. This confirms that autism cannot be simply a genetic condition since there cannot be epidemics of genetic diseases.

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Most people I know have an intuitive sense that cancer rates are going up. This point, however, has been charged with controversy, with medical authorities holding that any apparent increase is due to earlier and improved diagnostic procedures. In fact, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has said for years that cancer rates are declining in the United States, but a large-scale new study published in the NCI’s own journal (J Natl Cancer Inst 2002 Oct 16;94(20):1537-45) reveals that a series of reporting delays and errors hid the fact that rates are, in reality, rising. For example, the study found that, once corrections are made for a series of statistical inaccuracies, the rate of breast cancer in white women has been going up by 0.6 percent each year since 1987. Melanoma has been going up by 4.1 percent per year and prostate cancer in men by 2.2 percent.

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Elaine Gottschall has a remarkable story to tell. At the age of only five, her daughter was diagnosed with an incurable form of ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is a disease of the immune system in which the body attacks the lining of the colon and, ultimately, destroys it. There was not much to rejoice about regarding the treatment plan: control the disease using steroids and sulfa drugs, both of which have serious side effects, followed by surgery to remove the colon, one piece at a time.

Mrs. Gottschall was a mother, not a medical expert, but when she was told that her daughter’s illness was in no way related to diet or digestion, she had trouble accepting this as fact. Although there were no support groups to turn to at the time, Mrs. Gottschall did not stop searching for a different answer. Two years after the diagnosis, physicians recommended surgery to remove part of her daughter’s colon. By that time Mrs. Gottschall had found a better answer from Dr. Merril P. Haas, a physician who had been treating a variety of digestive disorders using a diet he called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

This diet was different from any other in that it was highly selective as to the types of sugars and starches allowed. Her daughter’s condition improved quickly after starting the diet, and within two years she had completely recovered. A few years later she was even able to start eating normally without adverse consequences.

After this experience, Mrs. Gottshall wrote a book, now in its second edition and ninth printing, called “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” (available from www.amazon.com if not in your local bookstore). While explaining the diet in a mother’s terms, the book also contains more than 80 pages of delicious recipes, including an excellent one for homemade yogurt. More recipes can be downloaded from the thirteen websites listed in the book that are mostly supported by individuals whose lives were transformed by this diet.

It soon became apparent that the Specific Carbohydrate Diet could do much more than cure many cases of supposedly incurable digestive disorders. It also helped individuals with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, headaches, arthritis and other chronic disorders. In children, it helped hyperactivity as well as hypoactivity, autism, chronic constipation or diarrhea and even schizophrenia. In my opinion, for many autistic children it is a far superior option to the generally recommended gluten-free/casein-free diet even though it is not strictly casein-free.

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Elaine Gottschall has a remarkable story to tell. At the age of only five, her daughter was diagnosed with an incurable form of ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is a disease of the immune system in which the body attacks the lining of the colon and, ultimately, destroys it. There was not much to rejoice about regarding the treatment plan: control the disease using steroids and sulfa drugs, both of which have serious side effects, followed by surgery to remove the colon, one piece at a time.

Mrs. Gottschall was a mother, not a medical expert, but when she was told that her daughter’s illness was in no way related to diet or digestion, she had trouble accepting this as fact. Although there were no support groups to turn to at the time, Mrs. Gottschall did not stop searching for a different answer. Two years after the diagnosis, physicians recommended surgery to remove part of her daughter’s colon. By that time Mrs. Gottschall had found a better answer from Dr. Merril P. Haas, a physician who had been treating a variety of digestive disorders using a diet he called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

This diet was different from any other in that it was highly selective as to the types of sugars and starches allowed. Her daughter’s condition improved quickly after starting the diet, and within two years she had completely recovered. A few years later she was even able to start eating normally without adverse consequences.

After this experience, Mrs. Gottshall wrote a book, now in its second edition and ninth printing, called “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” (available from www.amazon.com if not in your local bookstore). While explaining the diet in a mother’s terms, the book also contains more than 80 pages of delicious recipes, including an excellent one for homemade yogurt. More recipes can be downloaded from the thirteen websites listed in the book that are mostly supported by individuals whose lives were transformed by this diet.

It soon became apparent that the Specific Carbohydrate Diet could do much more than cure many cases of supposedly incurable digestive disorders. It also helped individuals with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, headaches, arthritis and other chronic disorders. In children, it helped hyperactivity as well as hypoactivity, autism, chronic constipation or diarrhea and even schizophrenia. In my opinion, for many autistic children it is a far superior option to the generally recommended gluten-free/casein-free diet even though it is not strictly casein-free.

Tags: Chronic Fatigue
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Many of us have been surprised and shocked in recent years to learn about the use of mercury as a preservative in infant vaccines. But what if we discovered that this is just the tip of the iceberg? Yet another disturbing reality is that industry has used fertilizer as a way to dump toxic industrial wastes laced with PCB’s, dioxins, toxic metals and more. This practice has recently received the stamp of approval from our government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The full document containing the EPA’s ruling on the matter can be found at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WASTE/2002/July/Day-24/f18405.htm.

Although the document is fairly long, it is worth reading to grasp some of the intricacies of government thinking that can lead to the poisoning of Americans citizens. For example, the EPA goes into a detailed explanation of the difference between what they define as “sham” and “legitimate” recycling of toxic wastes. In “sham” recycling a toxic waste is simply dumped into a fertilizer. This is banned and punishable by law. In “legitimate” recycling, however, a desirable feature of the waste is identified before it is dumped, although it’s really the same waste we are talking about. For example, since zinc is desirable in fertilizers, if the toxic waste happens to contain zinc dust from an industrial process, the waste is considered acceptable and can be dumped legally.

Further into the document, the EPA claims it is powerless to limit this practice and that if it tried to do so, or made the practice more costly to industry by limiting how much poison
can be dumped this way, “such a regulatory approach would likely result in a complete elimination of hazardous secondary materials as a source of zinc to make fertilizers.” Frankly, that would be just fine with me!

Finally, the EPA points out that it received more that 1,000 communications complaining about its policy. Although the EPA is conscious of the adverse health effects of exposure to toxic chemicals, “with regard to fertilizers, much of this concern is apparently misplaced.” Of course the EPA does not quote any study to substantiate this claim, quite simply because no study was ever performed. Even though these are known poisons, for some mysterious reason it’s really OK for our fruits and vegetables to be grown in them.

As with mercury in vaccines, we have the power to put an end to this policy and I encourage all of my readers to write, e-mail or phone the EPA and your congressman to let them know what you think about their approval of growing our food in poison. This type of practice is affecting the health of every one of us, but especially our children. Today’s children are not only suffering a well-documented epidemic of autism, they are also dealing with a epidemics of cancer, ADD, ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes, asthma, skin disorders, etc. All of these conditions have in common one thing: they are caused by exposure to environmental toxins. Similar epidemics are seen in the adult population, but children are always the most vulnerable to the effects of environmental poisons. Although population statistics continue to show a trend towards longer life, most of the people now living to a ripe old age had their formative years long before today’s chemical soup was served!

Tags: Chemicals & Environmental Issues
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