Questions and Answers

What is good about rapadura sugar compared to what's currently on our supermarket shelves?
Rapadura, also known as Muscovado, Sucanat, and there are a few more names.  The name depends on the country they are coming out of.

The sugar is the sugar cane juiced and then dehydrated.  There is no other process.  With raw sugar there are several processes which include heating, the adding of lime (clay), icing sugar and canola oil.  Then to make white sugar, the refinement takes the sugar to something that has no nutrition but is pure sucrose.

Rapadura is full of the nutrients that are found in the sugar cane. 

Can you give me any information about Goji Juice as it sounds wonderful according to all the Internet "ads" I can find.
It is a natural juice, it has the vitamins and minerals of the Goji Berry, I personally eat the Goji Berry. It is the next greatest healer, so all the ads say, but nothing replaces a good healthy diet.

I have heard you talk about calcium supplements and you said that there were two sources of calcium.  One, you said was a waste of time taking because the body doesn't absorb it.  You recommended (if one must take a supplement) using the second source.  Could you please tell me which is the better product - your advice would be much appreciated.
When you are thinking about taking a supplement you should always look at the source.  Consider that we eat mainly vegetables, grains, fruits and flesh with some dairy, nuts and seeds.  These are the best sources of Calcium.  Calcium from food or extracted from food.  The worst calcium you can buy is calcium from rock like dolomite.  I don’t like Calcium supplements that are isolated they are best extracted from food or combined with synergistic minerals.

I have tried making your bread recipe from Changing Habits, Changing Lives but I can't get it to rise!!! I use an organic premium bakers flour or organic wholemeal flour and I've tried adding more yeast, adding each ingredient by the tablespoon rather than using a cup of supermix, adding the nuts and seeds separately, adjusting the cooking time and water/flour quantities but have not yet had any luck. I use a breville breadmaker and the bread begins to rise but has sunk in the middle by the end of the cooking time. I just don't know what to try next... Do you have any suggestions?
Try using less supermix and more flour to replace the amount.  Some bread makers for some reason really struggle with the heaviness of the loaf.  Start with 1/4 cup super mix and the rest flour, then gradually build.

I was wondering if you have any suggestions on the purchase of a water filter for use in the kitchen as this is a new topic for me.
I have two types of water filters, one for under the sink which is a carbon filter, and I also have a water filter that I bought at the health food store which is ceramic with a ceramic filter, I take that in our caravan.  There is also another water filter that I suggest and that is the Nikken water filter, the water is very nice, just look it up on the web for Australian pages only, and see if you can find your nearest distributor. 

What do I do for allergies to peanuts. I was wondering if you could offer any suggestions for what we could substitute peanuts for in dishes such as sate.
I believe cashews might work OK, or even almonds.  Try any nut until you find one you like in place of the peanuts.  You can buy the nut butters such as ABC (almond, brazil and cashew) or just the butter like Hazelnut, almond, cashew butter etc.

Did your children receive their childhood vaccinations? How do you respond to people who aren’t prepared to accept or understand your beliefs? And, where should I be looking for information for and against vaccinations so that I can understand and justify my position and beliefs better?
I suggest you go to the following websites and get on their newsletters or subscribe to their magazines.

The Australian one is www.avn.org.au  (Australian Vaccination Network), they have a fabulous magazine, which is full of info on naturally bringing up your children, natural birth etc.
The USA one is www.NVIC.com  (National Vaccination Information Centre).  This was started by a Mum, who’s 2 year old was vaccinated had a severe reaction and is now Autistic and brain damaged.  She has many articles that link Autism to Vaccination as well as many other interested topics.  If you can get a copy of one of her talks they are most interesting.

I’d also look up Byron Child on the internet, they have a magazine and website that would be worth looking at.  I think the website is www.byronchild.com.au

To answer some of your questions, Chicken Pox is a child hood disease which helps improve the immune system naturally, all my children have had Chicken Pox and the last I heard it was not a life threatening illness, so I’m not sure why they are vaccinating against it.

I am not vaccinated (47) and my children 18, 16 and 13 are also not vaccinated.  They have never had an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory or painkiller in their life and nor have I.  I put that down to not being vaccinated and healthy living.  Once you get on the medical band wagon it is hard to get off it.  That is my opinion!!!  But I am not the only one with this opinion.   

I look at health vitalistically not mechanistically.  In other words I treat the whole person not just the disease. 
 
Having said all that if I have a life threatening problem (accident etc.) then I will seek medical advise but for the most part our bodies are amazing and they can do extraordinary things given the right tools and allowing for no interference.

I suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome and wanted to know if you have much knowledge of this and what can help.
With irritable bowel I suggest you read my book and after you’ve started to make the changes, you need to then become specific to your needs.  I suggest soft food for a period of six weeks to help deal with the IBS.  Stewed apple, pear and fruits, no multi grain anything, if you are going to have nuts make sure they are very finely ground, only eat cooked vegetables, no salads, no packet cereal only well cooked porridge.  Slippery Elm before each meal would also help calm the IBS.    The soft food diet is like going back to a baby diet where the baby cannot chew, hope that makes sense.

I was wondering if you have any tips on how to control IBS. I have seen many naturopaths with some success but always seem to be battling this. At the moment I am focusing on cutting out wheat, but have noticed the IBS is much worse during menstruation. I am back to drinking slippery elm powder with warm water which seems to be working well.
IBS can be helped by not eating too much rough fibre as well as your wonderful slippery elm.  A soft diet is what I usually tell people to try with IBS.  That means stewed apple and fruit, cooked vegetables rather then salad, cooked grains (no raw).  Be careful of seeds and nuts; try them in a meal form more then whole.  Make sure you do not eat any raw bran and try not to eat too many food groups in one sitting.

What are your thoughts on vitamin D?
It is very important best place to get it is from the sun, with direct contact with skin and indirect through the pupil of the eye.

What can I do if I suffer from arthritis?
Arthritis is treatable, I suggest you get a copy of my book and start following the habit changes one by one.  As far as supplements go, yes glucosamine is good, but it is only part of the story.  Look up on the website about a company called Mannatech and look at the product ambrotose, read up on it, I believe it is more complete then glucosamine.  I am not one to take supplements except for ambrotose (in times of health stress) and colloidal minerals (TJ Clark is the best), go to your health food store and ask about it.

Apart from that food should be your medicine, cold pressed oils for your essential fatty acids, eggs for your protein, wheat grass for your vitamins and so on.

Just wondering what your thoughts are on the Silicone cookware that is now available everywhere.  I was wanting to replace some of my cake pans etc and thought these might be an alternative.
Like anything new I’m very wary until it has been out for some time and we know the results and if there are any health hazzards.  I haven’t purchased any of the silicon cook ware I am sticking to glass and stainless steel.  I haven’t heard anything against it but I’m waiting to see.

What can you tell me about additives?
In order for me to go through each number and tell you why it is bad I would need to write a book, so I’ve generalized here to put it into one or so pages.

Colours
102 107 110 120 122-129 132 142 150 151 155 160B.  Have many links to a number of conditions. The hyperactive Children’s Support Group has recommended the avoidance of all these colours as well as all the other numbers on this page.

Preservatives
Sorbates 200-203
Benzoates 210-213
Sulphites 220-228
Nitrates, nitrites 249-252 their role is to preserve but they are considered toxic and carcinogenic.
Proprionates 280-283

Antioxidants 310-312
TBHQ BHA BHT 319-321

Flavour Enhancers 620-625, 627 631 635
Additives that are disguised in many foods but always contain 621
Hydrolysed vegetable protein– contains between 30-60% MSG
Hydrolysed plant protein
Plant protein extract
Calcium caseinate and sodium caseinate
Autolysed years
Hydrolysed protein
Potassium glutamate
Yeast extract
Textured protein or TVP
Anything hydrolysed

(These are found in packaged soups, bouillion, stock, natural flavouring, malt flavour broth spices, seasoning.

Artificial Sweeteners
951 Aspartame is the most complained about food additive.  Linked to many health problems including cancer, asthma, depression, hyperactivity and seizures.
More artificial Sweeteners and other Sweeteners  (linked to cancer and other disorders)
952 954 955 965 966 967 958 951
High Fructose Syrup, Corn syrup

Soy Protein Isolate – found in most high protein foods, like protein bars and protein powders (read last paragraph of page 147
Textured Vegetable Protein TVP
Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil and Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil – due to trans fats and processing to create an oil that doesn’t go rancid
Margarine (beware the new 1% trans fat, they are substituting it with saturated fat, up to 30%

I recently tried your gluten-free bread recipe from your Changing Habits, Changing Lives Cookbook.  Unfortunately, my Sunbeam breadmaker didn't handle it and couldn't knead the dough, so the loaf didn't turn out very well and wasn't properly cooked.  I realise that the recipe is designed for a Panasonic machine.  [I have been able to use the Orgran gluten-free breadmixes successfully in my machine].  However, I'd like to try your recipe again and have some questions you may be able to help me with.  I've only recently started experimenting with alternative flours due to a wheat intolerance. 
Try mixing the dry ingredients first by hand and then the wet ingredients then add them together and mix them your self thoroughly then put them into the bread making, add a bit more water to make the mixture less thick.  The less thick the dough the more light the bread.

The recipe uses 1 1/2 cups rice flour.  I used brown rice flour, but I've noticed that the gluten free recipe in my breadmaker's instruction book uses a mixture of white and brown rice flour.  Would a mixture of white and brown rice flour work better, and if so, what proportions? 
I definitely use a mix of white and brown and more white then brown, 80/20 it makes the loaf lighter, there are so many other goodies in there that I’m not worried too much about some Vitamin B deficiencies.

I also have an allergy to soy, so in place of the soy flour in your recipe I used besan flour, which I believe comes from chickpeas.  As I also have a problem with digesting chickpeas [as in hommus], I would prefer to use another flour.  Do you have any suggestions for what I could use in place of soy flour? 
You could use amaranth, quinoa, tapioca etc.

I mixed the sunflower seeds in with the dry ingredients, however my breadmaker beeps during the cycle when fruit and/or nuts can be added to any recipe.  Would it be better to add the sunflower seeds later during the cycle? 
That sounds like a great idea, but I don’t think that the sunflower seeds are going to make a huge difference added before or after.  Add dried fruit also to the mixture that creates a yummy bread.

I couldn't get arrowroot flour, so used tapioca flour, which apparently is very similar. 
Yes they are similar and lately I’ve found that the arrowroot flour has additives so I’ve been making my own tapioca flour, but buying it is just as good.

You suggested baking the bread for 3 hours. My breadmaker instructions suggests cooking gluten-free bread on the "rapid medium" setting which is only 2:48 and the bread was still sticky inside, but was OK when toasted. Would you suggest trying a different setting on the breadmaker? 
Is there a four hour setting???  If so go for the longer setting.  Or you could try mixing the bread yourself, letting it rise and then putting it in the oven for 30-40 minutes and missing the bread maker completely.

I was recently told about glyconutrients and supplements called Mannatech, which work based on scientific research into cells in the body. I am very interested to hear your opinion of these products and if you would consider using them
I’ve used Ambrotose (Mannatech) in the past and I’d use it again.  I love the philosophy and science behind the product.

Quick question re Soy Lecithin and your thoughts as it is in this really nice organic chocolate from Green and Blacks. Is it an OK form of soy to eat? Otherwise do you know of any good chocolate that has no added nasties?
All chocolate makers, including the ones I consider good are putting in the soy lecithin for an emulsifier, I don’t know of too many who don’t but the little bit they put in won’t be bad as long as you watch all other soy additions to prepared food.

Do you think your recipes and lifestyle change may help us a family?
So to answer your question, firstly I understand completely about the time you want to and can spend cooking. I’m the quick cook, there is only one recipe in my book that takes time and that is the cinnamon rolls and they are worth every minute.  Other then that all my meals are quick and easy. 

I’m not a nutritionist that does not allow yummy foods, chocolate cake and cookies are on my good list.  The main difference with my cook book is that is uses only natural ingredients, no technology foods what so ever.  I think you should read my book Changing Habits Changing Lives so that you understand what is a good food and what is a bad food.

I really enjoy Japanese seaweed salad. Could you please advise if is good or bad for you, it is the green one. Should I avoid iodised salt?
I wouldn’t use iodised salt but rather sea salt with crushed seaweed which gives you all the minerals you need including iodine.  It is good to cook with this salt as well as when the salt is dissolved the minerals are more easily used.

My friend is allergic to most raw fruits, nuts, tomatoes, malt and white flour. Can you suggest some alternatives from your book?
Always have cooked fruit, if seeds are ok use seeds instead of nuts, leave tomatoes out no substitute that I can think of, I don’t think I cook with malt and use the substitute flour instead of white flour.

My mum is using a product marketed as 'Perfect Sweet' is this a natural product or is it as bad as the artificial sweeteners do you know anything re this product.
Perfect Sweet is called Xylitol.  It is a sweetener based on an essential sugar.  While some experts say it is good to eat I don’t like it, I’ve actually tried it once and all my family got diahorrea.  Perhaps used in minute amounts it would be OK but in my opinion anything that is designed by science and technology and is not made by nature is suspicious.

I am lactose intolerant but manage yoghurt and small amounts of cheese easily. I was using nuttelex until I read your book but am now confused as to what would be best to use as a spread and in cooking apart from butter?
Ghee is a good option.  But butter is good too, if you can’t tolerate it then ghee might work as it is a clarified butter.  For toast I often use avocado or nut butters (cashew, almond etc)

I am very cautious with my 7 and 1/2 month old boy in regards to foods, and give him no dairy (apart from yoghurt which I make myself and cheese) or wheat. He is predominantly breastfed but has a small amount of soy formula before he goes to bed each night as a top up (spent last week at sleep school and this seems to be the best way to manage night waking with him). He originally used to drink goats milk formula but took a real dislike to it several months ago and will now only drink soy formula or water from a bottle. Should I be concerned about the small amount of soy formula that he is drinking or try and change his extra milk drink and what to? (I'm not happy to give him cow’s milk anything).  
I don’t like soy formulas but it is not about me it is about what you feel comfortable with.  Please Google the following ‘Soy and Mary Enig’ read the information and then make up your own mind if you want to continue to feed your son the soy formula.  Alternatives are fresh goats milk rather then the formula.  I know it is hard and it sounds like you’ve gone to a lot of trouble to make sure your son is sleeping and thriving 

We eat tofu about once a fortnight which my son likes when I mash it with goats fetta, quinoa and vegies to make little patties and grill them. It's a good quality organic non-GMO tofu but I'm not sure if he should be having this either? 
The tofu is fine, it is fermented and a little bit will do him no harm

My question is about milk alternatives for myself. I usually drink Bonsoy soy milk (about 1L per week) but have also now started having almond milk and alternate them. I can only find Pure harvest almond milk where we live and don't have time to make my own. Is this the best option for me or is there a better one I should keep an eye out for? 
I make my own almond milk it is quick and easy.  Used blanched almonds soak them over night, vitamize and then put the milk through a muslin cloth if you don’t like the texture.  Otherwise what you are buying is perfect.

Just out of curiosity and from the point of view of diabetics (I am a type 1)…how do we avoid artificial sweeteners?
I’m sure you know how to monitor your sugar, so why not do some very small experiments with rapadura sugar.  I know that current wisdom is for diabetics not to indulge in artificial sweeteners as even they increase blood sugar.

Please be so kind to advise me though on oils. I regularly use extra virgin olive oil, cold pressed madadamia and organic coconut oil in my cooking but am wondering what mild flavoured oil is best to use for general purpose which won't break the bank! I steer well clear of the refined vegetable oils but wondered if just regular olive oil is ok? I have a Rizolli one at the moment which states that it is "pure olive oil" - is this likely to be refined?
The first press or cold pressed is the best oil to buy that won’t break the bank.  As long as you know where the oil has come from and has very little processing you should be fine.  If you heat the oil and take it to smoke point, no matter what oil you use it is no good.

In regards to products that claim they are Gluten free, whats the benefit to this or is it only useful for people who are allergic?
We have so many coeliacs diagnosed in Australia that gluten free has become a marketable product.  Not all gluten free products are healthy; you need to read the labels to make sure it is real food.

As I am a university student I do live on a pretty strict budget, could you please give any tips for some quick healthy snacks?
I make all my own foods, cakes, muesli bars etc.  It is far cheaper then buying them.  I love dips and cut vegetables, which is in my cook book, how I preserve them and make them.   I also have lots of recipes in my past newsletters so look them up on the website.

Someone told me that low fat foods are not so good because chemicals are used in the process of reducing the fat content. We don't eat much in the way of processed food but do enjoy low fat organic milk and low fat Philadelphia cream cheese and also I sometimes buy lite grated cheese. So... is it true that chemicals are used to reduce the fat? If so...I guess the lesser of two evils is the fat?
Most low fat milk is merely milk that has had the fat skimmed from it.  When you leave milk without homogenization you can skim the fat off the top and it leaves low fat milk.  As long as your low fat milk is not homogenized then I would say that it is as good as normal milk.  I’m not sure about the cream cheese but I’d say it is on much the same principle.  Not sure how they do the cheese.  I only buy deli cheese and then I grate it myself in the Thermomix.  I don’t buy grated cheese as they add chemicals to it to make it not clump together.

Annette Sym in her book "Symply too good to be true 2" says that trans fats occur naturally in dairy products. That's a bit of a worry....is is true?
As for the Trans fat in dairy products.  Yes in nature there is a very small percentage of trans fats, around 1%.  This is a very small amount that will not affect your health.  It is the products like margarine, hydrogenated vegetable oil etc that contain large amounts of trans fats. 

I am interested in what oil I can substitute for the softer butter.
Just use a light olive oil, sometimes I use avocado other times apricot kernel.

Is there any natural or otherwise product that you can add to the bread to make it last longer/fresher?
To make the bread more moist what can you add?
Is there any particular brand of bread maker better than the others?
I’m not sure what bread recipe you are using, but if you are using mine then decrease the amount of supermix to just a few tablespoons and replace with the unbleached organic flour.  Slowly add more and more until you are happy with the outcome!  I use Panasonic but I think they are all good.  Bread that you make from scratch and without using a bread mix will never be like that in a store.  The additives make it more moist and last longer.  This is what we are trying to avoid to create health.  Chemicals and Additives can make food taste very good, but definitely not healthy.

And who researched the vaccine? The manufacturers themselves did. Two clinical trials were conducted, one by Merck and the other by GlaxoSmithKline. The trials were very similar in design outcome but differed mainly in the origin of the recombinant vaccine. Merck’s ‘Gardasil’ is a capsid (outer shell of virus) protein that forms a virus-like particle totally lacking DNA and was produced using transgenic yeast (a genetically-modified vaccine containing virus-like protein particles from HPV types inserted in to yeast cells). The US FDA warns that “females who are allergic to yeast or to any component of the vaccine should not receive Gardasil.(2) Other ingredients include aluminium, sodium chloride, polysorbate 80 and borax. GlaxoSmithKline’s ‘Cervarix’ HPV vaccine is still going through the approval process, which is due to be completed April 2007. This vaccine is also a capsid protein for the same strains, but was produced using a baculovirus propagated in insect cells.(3) It contains 225 micrograms of aluminium-based adjuvant to increase the immune response. The age of the study group was 15 to 25 years, but the approved target group for the
vaccine is 9 to 26 years. The Merck study group lasted four years while the
GlaxoSmithKline study lasted two years and three months. In phase one of the trials, there were only 768 vaccinated subjects in the Merck study and just 560 in the GlaxoSmithKline study. Subjects received a single intramuscular inoculation.

These were followed by a larger study involving 20,541 women aged 16 to 26 years. The participants were followed up for only 14 days after receiving either the vaccine or the placebo (containing aluminium). Reactions included: headache, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, fatigue, abdominal pain, dizziness and myalgia (muscle pain). Autoimmune problems reported were juvenile arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and reactive arthritis. There were five reported cases of babies with congenital birth defects being born to women who had had the vaccine within 30 days of becoming pregnant. No long-term study has been conducted of its safety or of possible interactions with other vaccines administered at the same time. If cervical cancer vaccine is used in conjunction with Hepatitis B and/or DTP vaccines, it is going to be even more difficult to assess the overall impact on the woman’s health in the short term or the long term. Also, the vaccine has not been evaluated for carcinogenic (cancer causing) potential.(4) Approved are three doses of HPV vaccine to be given over six months – the first dose at
the elected date, the second dose two months later, and third dose six months after the first dose (according to MIMS). Millions of women and girls around the world will be targeted for this vaccine, but these studies cover less than 0.01% of the population that it will be marketed for. The vaccine studies had screened all the recipients and had studied mainly “young women who had not been exposed to any of the four HPV types in the vaccine”.(5) The US National Cancer Institute website states that no one who received all three vaccine shots developed an HPV-16 infection. However, “twenty-two women in that group did develop cervical abnormalities that can lead to cancer”. Also, the “vaccine offers no
protection against other types of HPV infections that can also cause cervical cancer. In addition, “it's unknown whether the vaccine's protection against HPV-16 is long-lasting,” and finally, “it does not prevent HPV-16 infection already present at the time of vaccination from progressing to cancer”.(6) Health authorities are warning that use of this vaccine does not suggest that there will be an end to Pap smears, but possibly these could be undertaken less often than the recommended every two years. Incidentally, Pap smears are known to be inaccurate and can produce a wide range of false negative results, which was the reason for the HPV study – see the Pap test.(7)(8) The Department of Health and Ageing reported recently “that Australia has the second-lowest incidence of cervical cancer and the lowest mortality rate from cervical cancer in
the world”.(9) State and Federal governments in Australia spend more than $90 million annually screening women for cervical cancer. Australia will now spend $436 million making the vaccine free for girls and women aged 12 to 26. There is talk of vaccinating young boys too. Can the vaccine cause a cancer to progress? Suppose the vaccine is given to someone with undetected cancerous lesions in the cervix or someone already carrying the HPV virus before they get the vaccine? What then? Sadly, investigations into other possible causes of cancer – for example, the contraceptive pill, lubricants and spermicides and other toxic substances such as in personal care products – are ignored or not researched. Very little consideration, if any, is given to nutrition, lifestyle, emotional wellbeing, proper breathing, good sleep, exercise and hydration which can all play an important part in preventing or recovering from cancer.

Research published in 2003 concluded that deficiencies of selenium and zinc might be risk factors in developing cervical cancer.(10) It seems illogical and too simplistic that a vaccine can prevent cancer. I suggest that this
vaccine is another delusional hope for reducing the risk of cancer, and a great generator of revenue for the vaccine inventors and manufacturers. Vaccination is not compulsory in Australia and is not required for school entry. There are no financial penalties for not vaccinating. Patricia Bohackyj, Vaccination Information Network. Her phone no. is 0422 933 993. She is also a contact for Vaccination Information South Australia (Illawarra area, NSW), go to website www.visainfo.org.au

REFERENCES
1. National Cancer Institute U.S. National Institute of Health
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/cervical/HealthProfessional/page3
2. US FDA Product Approval Information – Licensing Action ‘Gardasil’ Questions and Answers
http://www.fda.gov/cber/products/hpvmer060806qa.htm
3. “HPV gene into insect cells using a virus called baculovirus which infects insect…”
http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/current_research/Cervical_Cancer_Vaccine/
4. National Cancer Institute U.S. National Institute of Health
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/cervical-cancer-vaccine1102
5. Source: CDC HPV Questions and Answers. http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm.
6. National Cancer Institute U.S. National Institute of Health
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/cervical-cancer-vaccine1102
7. 5 to 35% inaccuracies with the Pap smear tests Wikipedia, online encyclopaedia.
8. A false positive Pap test means that a patient is told she has abnormal cells, but the cells are actually
normal. A false negative Pap test occurs when a specimen is called normal, but the woman has a significant
abnormality that was missed.
9. Original sourced from www.blooberg.com Australia to subsidise Merck Cervical Cancer Vaccine
(Update2) by Vena Poljak and Gemma Daley; see also Medical Journal of Australia (MJA)
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/185_09_061106/wai10809_fm.pdf
10. The website for the Cervical Cancer and HPV Vaccine Immunisation Awareness Society is
http://www.ias.org.nz/pdf/cervical_cancer_and_the_hpv_vaccine.pdf