I read the site about the meat Jim, thanks for that...

I was wondering if it is the meat being consumed now, in this day and age, that has all the cancer-possibilities, or if meat always caused cancer, before all the additives, estrogen, pollution, hormones etc came along? (a great book to read is 'my Year Of Meats 'by Ruth L Ozeki)

from the site you posted:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/health/report-links-some-types-of-cancer-with-processed-or-red-meat.html?_r=1

The panel defined processed meat as those “transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation.” It said there was sufficient evidence based on human research — mainly large observational studies — that processed meat could be added to its Category 1 classification, along with a broad range of substances such as mineral oils, estrogen, ionizing radiation and diesel engine exhaust.

I know that eating raw meat can cause other problems...(like worms... :(

Cooking at high temperatures or with the meat in direct contact with a flame can produce certain types of carcinogens, but the report said there was not enough data to support conclusions about whether the way meat was cooked affected cancer risks or about whether it was better to eat it raw, which carries its own risks.

And surely our ancestors had to prepare their meat for winter and hard times, I was just wondering if they ever had cancer, but I guess that would be impossible to know...very interesting and enlightening though..

About the Green Tea and other tea we get here - ALL our tea I think comes from China... (all the Chinese brands you mentioned) Green tea actually makes me nauseous...this really is depressing isn't it....I would love to try the green tea you mention but that is not available here.

and Jim. Your doggie... how beautiful....same as with Carol's - I will get a poodle when I get a dog - if ever - again...still too sad after loosing Rufus my gentle giant...

Strawberry Hill, those teddy bears are so cute! I love the way they've been stacked, with the one at the top with it's arms spread open wide as if flying!!

I love grapefruit, and I have an old grapefruit tree that wouldn't even flower to produce it's fruit, but now, after 2 years of giving it nutrition, and a while ago, also wood ash, to keep the ants and aphids away, it is full of blooms and small fruit :-)

http://jim-murdoch.blogspot.co.za/2013/07/my-year-of-meats.html

a great blog in case the book is not readily available

I need some advice on thrips...one of my new roses came with that in the blooms and now more blooms are showing signs....please, any advice will be so much appreciated. I don't want to use any poisons....I remove the blooms and get rid of them in plastic bags in my trash...not many, but I want to prevent more...no weeds growing around my roses, only garlic, Thyme and Oregano...will Mint-mulch help against this?

100.4 Fahrenheit here today....

Strawberry Hill, I read this in a previous post in your organic forum:

Frederic Mistral is known as "Mr. Thrips" due to its light pink and baby-powder scent, which attract thrips. On the 2nd and later years, I gave Fred sulfate of potash, gypsum, plus chicken manure, and no more thrips.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3253239/organic-solutions-to-pests-and-diseases-in-plants

should I give my roses organic (well matured) chicken manure? how much per plant?

Maybe my horse manure (without lime) is not okay for them?

another question...should I water when it's this hot? Or rather stick to a good soak in the mornings only?

Jess: wow! you have a grapefruit tree? I love the scent of grapefruit. One of the reason why I like warm tea is the delicious smell. I kept sniffing the tea-bag, such minty-flavor. When my husband makes Stash vanilla nut-creme tea ... the kitchen smells like vanilla desert !! I don't have roses to sniff in the winter, so I sniff tea.

Pumpkin pie sounds good, but I gross the entire family by making 2 pumpkin pies, froze them into tiny-bits .. kept offering to them everyday until they get sick of it. Pumpkin-pancake is better than pie, it's much firmer & and smells just as good with pumpkin-spice. I no longer make pumpkin-pie, but I make oatmeal-pumpkin-muffin, will post the recipe later if anyone is interested.

Manure analysis by two University Extensions revealed MUCH higher calcium zinc, boron, and copper in chicken manure than horse or cow manure. These trace elements are known to TOUGHEN plants tissue, makes it hard to thrips to suck on. Chicken manure is salty & higher in nitrogen, best used in rainy & cool weather. I don't use chicken manure when the temp is over 80 F, or 26 C.

In hot & dry weather, I use twice more gypsum than sulfate of potash to lower the pH of my tap-water, since calcium is known to help plants cope with heat and drought. Gypsum has low-salt index of 8, compared to higher salt index of 43 for sulfate of potash.

The chickity doo-doo I use has NPK 5-3-2, plus 9% calcium. Then I add sulfate of potash. What I notice about calcium & sulfate of potash & trace elements in chicken manure: the stems become tough, I have to use a heavy-duty steel-scissor to cut blooms for the vase. The reason why people add calcium, zinc, copper and boron to chicken-feed is they want the eggs to be firm-shell, so eggs don't break.

Calcium has the most firming effect on plants. Calcium citrate is added to canned food to make fruits firm. The bok-choy ( green vegetable) I planted next to my limestone-based-patio .. that became so tough and fibrous, I could not eat that, let alone some insects.

My Frederic Mistral was in a pot (zero calcium) and it was a thrip-fest. Then I moved to the ground, topped with horse manure on sawdust, and it was a thrip-fest. Latter years I didn't use horse manure, but put hard-clay on top ..that hard clay is VERY DRY in hot weather, made it hard for thrips to lay eggs. It's easier for thrips' eggs to hatch into larvae if there's FLUFFY & MOIST potting soil, or FLUFFY sawdust to hide.

Below link explains about thrips: " Two of their stages, the prepupal and pupal stages, are spent in the soil, growing medium and other friable material ... they will fall off the plant and drop to the ground .. Right tools like the predatory mite Stratiolaelaps scimitus.

Yellow sticky traps are one such tool. And if you’re using biocontrol agents to treat for or prevent other pests, which may be captured in yellow traps, then blue sticky traps are also very good at trapping thrips. Thrips, especially the larval stages, are, however, more difficult to count on blue traps.

Using a trap crop is also a great idea for thrips. Blue flowers, like asters, work well. So do many other flowering plants. You may also choose to incorporate plants such as petunias and fava beans. "

https://greenmethods.com/thrips/

With regard to watering: Since your roses are grafted on multiflora, I would water them DEEPLY, only once a week. Frequent watering will only help the thrips' eggs to hatch and keep their larvae alive on the ground. Nursery owner Frank Gatto ADVISED GIVING EACH ROSE 5 GALLONS, or 18 liters per week. I used to have a roommate with tons of house plants. She would water them once a week. When the top soil is dry, pests can't germinate. I would water grafted roses ONCE A WEEK in VERY HOT SUN, so the surface can dry out fast, that way eggs and larvae of pests can't thrive.

My Yves Seedling was free of pests for 3 years, until I topped with stinky-bone-meal & seaweed, plus fluffy horse manure .. it became a thrip-fest, plus I found a grasshopper. Stinky organics really attract pests like thrips.

Re-post some info. to show how higher pH soil has more calcium and magnesium available, and lowering pH makes calcium and magnesium less available. Too much phosphorus in cow manure also zap out zinc and iron, causing PALE thin leaves, more susceptible to pests' invasion.

The soil pH and composition does change the taste of the leaves. Early spring I bought a clump of Thai Basil at Menards. I split the clump into 2. One planted in alkaline clay soil near pH 8, and the other planted in clay mixed with acidic cracked corn (pH 4), plus cow-manure high in phosphorus ... this bear many flowers, but with black-spotted & pale and very thin leaves. I tasted one leaf, it was sour & bitter, see below, pic. taken Oct. 12:

The clump in alkaline clay (pH 8, has lime added) is much taller with healthy leaves, very little flowers. The leaves are thick, sweet, and delicious. We eat that weekly. See pic below, taken today Oct. 12:

I will quickly run out to put of the hosepipe...back in a sec :-)

JESS: since your soil is acidic, I dug up some info. from Clemson Extension, a University Soil Research, see excerpts from below link. Keep in mind that wood-ash has high-salt plus pH over 12, best used in cool & rainy weather:

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/other/soils/hgic1650.html

In highly acid soils, aluminum and manganese can become more available and more toxic to the plant. Also at low pH values, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are less available to the plant.

Rainfall also affects soil pH. Water passing through the soil leaches basic nutrients such as calcium and magnesium from the soil. They are replaced by acidic elements such as aluminum and iron. For this reason, soils formed under high rainfall conditions are more acidic than those formed under arid (dry) conditions.

Application of fertilizers containing ammonium or urea speeds up the rate at which acidity develops. The decomposition of organic matter also adds to soil acidity."

To raise soil pH, the above link recommends slow-released granular lime. "Wood Ashes: Wood ashes can be used to raise the soil pH. They contain fairly high amounts of potassium & calcium, and small amounts of phosphate, boron and other elements. They are not as effective as limestone but with repeated use, they can drastically raise the pH value of a soil, especially if the soil is sandy in texture. Ashes should not come in contact with germinating seedlings or plant roots as they may cause damage. Spread a thin layer during the winter and incorporate into the soil in the spring. Coal ashes do not have any lime value and may actually be acidic dependent on the source."

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/other/soils/hgic1650.html

We make some Turkey Burgers here Carol....After tasting those I dislike hamburger...lol

Our cat catches the moles etc.

Thrips, I wonder if our bright yellow flowered Marigolds might be attracting thrips? Maybe I need to change flower colors? Hummmm

My question led me to research and found this:

"""Orius insidiosus, a thrips predator, can be used to suppress thrips, but requires certain habitat plants to remain in greenhouses. Marigolds are supportive of Orius, but they are also extremely attractive to thrips."""

http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=ONE09-099&y=2010&t=1

Jim: good job on that research. I love that link !! Yes, marigolds are traps for thrips, but that need to be placed FAR AWAY from roses. In the same way, those Japanese Beetles-trap work, but need to be placed FAR AWAY from roses. Here's an excerpt from Jim's link:

" Two cautionary notes: 1) Large numbers of thrips will abandon wilted marigolds. 2) Marigolds outside intake vents appear to act as way-stations to guide migrating thrips toward the air intakes."

** From Straw: If someone put marigolds right next to a blooming rose, the thrips will go after the rose before the marigolds. All roses are pleasant smelling, even Knock-outs has a good scent in cool weather.

Straw, I'm going to make some changes next year with flowers...I never thought about all that sea of yellow attracting thrips...yeeeeeeeeeeee! AND I had blue petunias...

Google News today has this article on how dangerous sugar is to one's health. Here's an excerpt from below link:

"(HealthDay News) -- Cutting most of the sugar from a child's diet can immediately improve health, even if the diet still contains the same amount of calories and carbohydrates as before, a new study suggests.

Researchers put a group of 43 obese kids on a nine-day diet that severely restricted sugar intake, but replaced added sugars with starchy foods to maintain the children's intake of calories and carbs.

That diet caused immediate reductions in their high blood pressure and improvement in their blood sugar and cholesterol levels, the investigators found.

"Every aspect of their metabolic health got better, with no change in calories," said study author Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco. "This study definitively shows that sugar is metabolically harmful ..."

After just nine days on the sugar-restricted diet, virtually every aspect of the participants' metabolic health improved. Kids consumed the same amount of carbs, but their total dietary sugar intake dropped from 28 percent to 10 percent. "The study was set up to ensure that the subjects maintained their body weight," the group said, but "as the study unfolded, the subjects didn't. Thirty-three of the 43 participants lost weight -- a significant average of 2 pounds per person over nine days.

Blood pressure began to move toward normal, and levels of triglycerides and LDL ("bad") cholesterol decreased. Fasting blood glucose went down by 5 points, and insulin levels were cut by a third, the findings showed."

http://www.wxow.com/story/30364708/cutting-sugar-from-diet-boosts-kids-health-immediately-study

I put the water to run softly next to the grapefruit tree... :-) - It is an old tree I inherited when I moved in here...

smells soooooooo divine...

please mail me the pumpkin pancake recipe Strawberry Hill? Have to try that!!!!!!!! I've enjoyed the taste of pumpkin since was a child, and would have grown them if it wasn't for the monkeys and baboons around here.

There is a particularly delicious pumpkin called Thelma Saunders - small white heart-shaped beauty and when roasted, especially, with a bit of garlic added (inside the little house), with some green peppers (or any peppers) and -/ or marrows - I really love that...maybe I should get a real oven anyway....(until then muffins aren't a possibility either sigh...) except I won't be able to taste any 'home growns' anymore as long as I stay here.

(I see there are many more recipes for her in Google)

The weather is supposed to cool down severely within the next 2 days with some rain expected (from 38 C/110.4 F down to 15 C/59 F - strange weather...) - I will add some mature organic chicken manure then. How much would you advise me to use per plant? and I should water well immediately afterwards as well? (in case the rain is not enough)

and then I still carry on with the weekly nutrition with 2 x gypsum and 2 x potassium sulfate?

I will also add much more mulch plus I will get cover plants around the roses like petunias - the blues and whites.... can they be planted quite close to the roses?

no more frequent watering - I am so glad I asked and thanks so very much for the stunning info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately over here it just isn't possible to get hold of these beneficial insects like over there....and I don't see any ladybugs around anymore since th eheat started becoming bad...sigh sigh sigh..although I did see a few Ladybug larvae :-)

I read up about the sticky strips posted in the previous forum but I don't have the right conditions..yet...I will read up about it more. In the meantime I'm removing all spent flower heads.

my roses are actually burning in this hot sun the red rose (High Flyer) that started blooming first has black scorched rims on the petals. It is so sad to see that happening...Sally Holmes' petals are hanging down...poor Prince...he will be moved next week...

Something I won't ever buy again is bone meal... I tried the last bit I had as an experiment on the wild onions and I can see they're struggling, but it seems like nothing can beat them...(they are acid lovers so between my roses it will be impossible to get rid of them...one has to remove basically ALL the soil with them...)

I love Basil!!!!!!!! I will try and grow my own as well... Normally I do but I slipped up this year...maybe underneath a tree where they only get morning sun...That's a promise to myself, - plus they deter mosquitoes...why haven't I done that yet???????????

your Basil plant - planted in alkaline soil - looks amazing, so healthy and the leaves are green and shiny - I can smell that from here! :-)

my favorite salad: Basil leaves - fresh, with tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese...with a little bit of olive oil...maybe a tiny bit of Basil pesto added...if available...

oh wow thanks for that post Jim, I realize now if I plant Petunias it has to be FAR from my roses...also with the Marigolds...

which cover plants will then be best right next to my roses???????? (thinking about something to keep their roots cool)

why am I so addicted to sugar.... sugar and milk... double sigh..... :(

I had to slowly ween myself off of whole milks and sugar Jess...That approach worked for me...Replaced with eating more fruits & veggies... I still drink some milk (skim milk)...

I tried cold turkey many times but that made me sick because my body needed time to adapt to the changes...

I buy whole milk for my wife as she hates skim milk & 2% milk...lol... But she hardly drinks milk. Maybe 1 quart per week...

Maybe Straw can give you the reason as to why an addiction like that happens...

thanks Jim... I will wait for her response, I really need to try and leave the sugar and milk...and coffee....(bad bad bad!) I know....

Jess I had to fight the addiction of smoking cigarettes in my life also. That was a mind-set for me! I was ready to quit and I did cold-turkey! I haven't touched a cig in 12+ years!

I never had any other drug addictions thank the good Lord!

Food addiction would come and go all through my life. I fell off the wagon many times before but got back up and tried again and again! My weight varied from 200-254 pounds over the years...I weigh 224 pounds right now so still have a ways to go... I wear size 36 jeans now... Was up to near size 40 just alittle over a year ago...

Jim I am struggling with those cigarettes as we speak....felt too awful to even mention it before now......the coffee, sugar and milk is bad as it is already....and yes thanks to God that there aren't any worse addictions on top of these...

I take my hat of and salute you for being able to give that up! :-)

I feel severe anxiety even thinking about it...

My second (current) wife has MS but still smokes Jess... Its a real battle for her to quit also Jess...She tries and tries god bless her! She smokes less than a pack a day... She does eat good meals and hardly eats junk food at all so that helps fight her MS...

My son Mike (25) mother (my first wife) also smokes. My son always hated us smoking so never picked up the habit...

So hopefully you feel more comfortable talking about it now Jess if you wish...

We are getting lots of rain off that hurricane today so might get some minor flooding...

thanks Jim, this makes me feel better talking about it...a lot...

It took me a whole year to become used to the nausea smoking caused (when I started at the age of 22...), but I persisted. why oh why...

I am sorry to hear your wife has MS...

I hope the flooding doesn't happen Jim, I hope the hurricane passes by without too much damage...it sounds scary...Here we don't get such massive hurricanes....

I always try to find a remedy for any disease in homeopathy Jim...but it doesn't always help...I did have a look and found this site...but they mention this remedy which sounds like it has positive results, maybe you could look into this?

Gelsemium 200K

http://abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/1350/

and just a few other suggestions here

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9943/15-ways-to-help-treat-ms-naturally.html

but I'm sure you've been reading up a lot about this already and this will probably be old news...

Thanks for the links Jess...

My wife is in stage 2 MS... Walking problems, eyesight loss, sudden loss of all her teeth a few years ago... Fibromyalgia, most types of arthritis all through her body.... Her hands are crippled... etc. etc. I just touched the surface...

JESS: With regard to chicken manure: it's salty .. if placed too close to the crown that will burn. I always mix 1/2 cup of chicken manure with dirt on the lid of a garbage can (face-up), then top each rose with that. If you top with chicken manure only, it gunks up in one spot and will burn. Plus soil has beneficial bacteria to break down the manure.

With regard to petunia: it's big and gaudy enough to distract thrips from roses, plus smell good too. I plant petunias really close to roses for the past 4 years, no problems with thrips. Re-post what I posted in Oct. 2013:

Potassium make the blooms larger. I watered Annie L. McDowell rose with sulfate of potash, plus put gypsum (calcium sulfate) around Annie. The petunia next to Annie get HUGE, much bigger and deeper color than the ones not fertilized. Below are petunias and a vase of roses: Eglantyne, Stephen Big Purple, Bolero, and Angel Face. Picture taken October 11, 2013:

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, Nov 22, 13

Jim: I'm so sorry to hear about your wife stage 2 MS. I am praying for her now.

Jess: My kid prefers blueberry-pancake more than blueberry muffins. I really don't need the oven, but I won't give away my slow-cooker ... that $15 CROCK-POT can roast a yummy butternut squash, pumpkin, plus make the house smell so good. Will give you the link to my slow-cooker Pinterest later (need to organize that first).

I made pumpkin-oatmeal pancake (with pieces of pecans), and it was really good. I didn't have a recipe, but it's similar to the below (I used 2 whole eggs and almond milk, since I don't have cottage cheese)

HIGH PROTEIN PUMPKIN PANCAKE

1/3 cup organic canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 serving vanilla or cinnamon protein powder
1/2 cup egg whites
3 Tbsp cottage cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. If the mixture seems a little too dry or sticky, or if you want a wetter batter, just add a little more pumpkin or egg whites to the mix.

Put a nonstick pan on the burner at medium heat. Once the pan is hot, pour the batter into your desired pancake shapes.

When little bubbles start forming on the pancakes and they’re lightly browned on one side, flip the pancakes.

http://www.12minuteathlete.com/pumpkin-protein-pancake-recipe/

Jim: Congratulations on quitting smoking for 12 years. That's AWESOME. Thanks to the aggressive advertising of milk industry, the myth that we need cow milk perpetuates. WE ARE NOT babies who need to drink milk from a mommy, let alone a cow-mommy. I don't speak out on roses unless I do experiments first, but I would gladly speak on the issue of nutrition, which I read far more books than roses (20+ books on nutrition versus 4 books on roses).

There's medical doctors and scientists who did the experiments already to prove that cow milk is BAD for us adults, esp. for men. The thick book, "The China Study" by Dr. Colin Campbell (professor of biochemistry at Cornell University) gave plenty of lab-results performed on rats that prove cow-milk-protein made tumor grow larger. The book by chairman of Harvard Medical School (Dr. Walter Willett, M.D.) sounded the alarm on milk and calcium: at least 5 separate studies linked high-calcium consumption from dairy products to prostate cancer in men.

My best friend had an ovarian tumor more than decade ago, which they removed. She kept on drinking cow-milk and the tumor came back as ovarian cancer. They did a second surgery to remove. There's a hormone added to cow milk which promote tumor-growth. One pays DOUBLE-THE-PRICE to get organic milk (without the rbGH hormone added) in America. Some info. from the below link:

http://rense.com/general26/milk.htm

" MILK'S BASIC CONTENTS *ALL* cow's milk (regular and 'organic') has 59 active hormones, scores of allergens, fat and cholesterol. Most cow's milk has measurable quantities of herbicides, pesticides, dioxins (up to 200 times the safe levels), up to 52 powerful antibiotics (perhaps 53, with LS-50), blood, pus, feces, bacteria and viruses.

CANCER FUEL Of those 59 hormones one is a powerful GROWTH hormone called Insulin- like Growth Factor ONE (IGF-1). By a freak of nature it is identical in cows and humans. Consider this hormone to be a "fuel cell" for any cancer... (the medical world says IGF-1 is a key factor in the rapid growth and proliferation of breast, prostate and colon cancers, and we suspect that most likely it will be found to promote ALL cancers). IGF-1 is a normal part of ALL milk... the newborn is SUPPOSED to grow quickly! What makes the 50% of obese American consumers think they need MORE growth?

MONSANTO AND rbGH (Posilac) Monsanto Chemical Co., maker of fine poisons such as DDT, agent orange, Roundup and more... spent around half a billion dollars inventing a shot to inject into cows... to force a cow to produce MORE milk. Unfortunately, they created *FIVE* errors in their Frankenstein Posilac (rbGH) shot that direly affected all test animals... but that important report (Richard, Odaglia & Deslex, 1989) has been hidden from everyone under Clinton's Trade Secrets act. The Canadians read enough of this report (before it was stolen) to reject rbGH for their country. Monsanto's Posilac creates additional IGF-1 in milk: up to 80% more. "

CALCIUM The calcium in cow's milk is basically useless because it has insufficient magnesium content (those nations with the highest amount of milk/dairy consumption also have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Proof? How about a controlled study of 78,000 nurses over a period of 12 years? Read more about it at: http://www.notmilk.com/deb/030799.html Article on the 78,000 nurse study

Cows milk has three times the calcium as does human breast milk. No matter, neither are very usable because in order to be absorbed and used their MUST be an equal quantity of MAGNESIUM . Per the USDA 8 ounces (one cup) of cows milk contains: Calcium, Ca mg 291.3 Magnesium, Mg mg 32.7

Q: What happens to the: 59 hormones, scores of allergens herbicides, pesticides, dioxins up to 52 antibiotics When made into cheese? A: Everything gets concentrated. When made into butter? A: The allergens get lost: but the dioxin's and pesticides and antibiotics remain in the fat. In the digestive system? A: Steroid hormones survive, as do dioxins and antibiotics.

http://rense.com/general26/milk.htm

My next door neighbor works at an ice-cream-plant. I was about to buy more ice-cream for my kid, but I glanced over the fence, and decided NOT. A friend already told me how ice-cream turned her parents into obesity, so that's NOT a surprise. I gained 20 lbs. from my cheese & cow milk & sweet addiction when my kid was a toddler. I still remember making quesadilla (tortilla with cheese) every night, and went through 2-bags of shredded cheese per week just for myself !! It took 1 year of zero cheese, zero sugar to lose that 20 lbs,

My sister already warned me about how cheese made her fat, and she had to exercise like mad to lose weight. The link is right: "What makes the 50% of obese American consumers think they need MORE growth?" We don't need growth-hormone in cow-milk, we are already HUGE !!

http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition_tips/nutrition_tips_understand_foods/dairy.html

3. Cancer

Several cancers, such as ovarian cancer, have been linked to the consumption of dairy products. According to a study by Daniel Cramer, M.D., and his colleagues at Harvard,12 when dairy product consumption exceeds the enzymes’ capacity to break down galactose, it can build up in the blood and may affect a woman’s ovaries. Some women have particularly low levels of these enzymes, and when they consume dairy products on a regular basis, their risk of ovarian cancer can be triple that of other women.

Breast and prostate cancers have also been linked to consumption of dairy products, presumably related, at least in part, to increases in a compound called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I).13-15 IGF-I is found in cow’s milk and has been shown to occur in increased levels in the blood by individuals consuming dairy products on a regular basis.16 Other nutrients that increase IGF-I are also found in cow’s milk. A recent study showed that men who had the highest levels of IGF-I had more than four times the risk of prostate cancer compared with those who had the lowest levels.14

4. Diabetes

Insulin-dependent diabetes (Type I or childhood-onset) is linked to consumption of dairy products. Epidemiological studies of various countries show a strong correlation between the use of dairy products and the incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes.17,18 Researchers in 1992 18 found that a specific dairy protein sparks an auto-immune reaction, which is believed to be what destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas."

http://www.nutritionmd.org/nutrition_tips/nutrition_tips_understand_foods/dairy.html

Our frosts killed most of rose blooms in our yard and in this town but I seen a few bushes today that survived the frosts...

It's cold and rainy for the past 2 days. Thank God I ate cereal & RAW almond milk on Monday night, so I didn't nap on Monday when it was sunny ... I got lots of leaves from the neighbors. Last night I ate cereal & RAW almond milk before bed-time, slept well, didn't need a nap today.

Still kick myself for NOT checking the web-often regarding my kid's acne ... internet info. are constantly updated. My brother is a dermatologist, M.D. I knew about the connection between dairy products and acne ... I read that in a book written by an M.D. a decade ago. But I could not find any info. on-line last year when I googled "milk and acne". My kid had bad acne, her blood tests showed high-testosterone. Finally the link between dairy and acne is confirmed by WebMD, and most recently by dermatologists.

Thanks to JESS who encouraged me with organic foods .. I made brownie for my kid, but used almond milk instead of cow milk, I also cut out her twice-a-day ice-cream habit. Her face is finally clear of pimples after 2 years of bad acne. Some info. from below link:

http://www.naturalnews.com/024613_milk_acne_blood.html

At least three large-scale studies reported in the American Journal of Dermatology found a link between drinking milk and acne. NaturalNews reported about a study that found those who drank two or three glasses of milk a day had 44% higher chance of developing severe acne. Milk contains dihydrotestosterone (DHT) precursors, including 5a-pregnanedione and 5a-androstanedione. Milk and IGF-1

DHT is not the only way milk can cause acne. Milk contains an array of powerful growth hormones.

Insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is one of the growth hormones found in milk. IGF-1 is problematic for acne victims for two reasons. It increases sebum production, and it stimulates the growth of skin cells. The faster the skin cells grow the faster they also die. That means more dead skin cells to block the pores. Consequently it also leads to faster aging of the skin.

Drinking milk significantly increases insulin levels, as dairy industry`s own studies confirm.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/024613_milk_acne_blood.html#ixzz3puEaoh5p

The link between milk and autoimmune diseases like MS was known since 1992. Here's an abstract from government website:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1291895

Correlation between milk and dairy product consumption and multiple sclerosis prevalence: a worldwide study.

Malosse D1, Perron H, Sasco A, Seigneurin JM.

Laboratoire de Virologie, Faculté de Médecine, CHRU, Grenoble, France.

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) epidemiology suggests that different factors are involved in the clinical expression of the disease. Alimentary cofactors have already been considered, but mainly theoretically. We have studied the relationship between MS prevalence and dairy product consumption in 27 countries and 29 populations all over the world, with Spearman's correlation test. A good correlation between liquid cow milk and MS prevalence (rho = 0.836) was found; this correlation was highly significant (p < 0.001). A low but still significant correlation was obtained with cream or butter consumption (rho = 0.619 and rho = 0.504, respectively). No correlation was found for cheese.

My husband's Mom had breast cancer and mastectomy when she was in her 40's. There's zero breast cancer in my family history, only diabetes. This thread is useful for my daughter, who inherits the gene from my husband's family-history. Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. has a good article on the link between dairy products and cancer/tumor growth, see below:

" Recently, a Harvard researcher gave a provocative talk on the association between cancer and cow's milk and other milk products. The scientist, Ganmaa Davaasambuu, M.D., Ph.D., a native Mongolian, noted that ingestion of natural estrogens from cows (particularly from pregnant cows) in milk may be linked to breast, prostate, and testicular cancers in humans. All are "hormone-dependent" tumors, meaning that they need sex hormones to grow.

Dr. Davaasambuu cited a study comparing diet and cancer rates in 42 countries that showed a strong correlation between milk and cheese consumption and the incidence of testicular cancer among men age 20 to 39 – rates were highest in high consuming countries such as Switzerland and Denmark and low in Algeria and other parts of the world where people eat less dairy. She also linked rising rates of dairy consumption to the increased death rates from prostate cancer and noted that breast cancer also appears to be linked to milk and cheese consumption.

Dr. Davaasambuu emphasized that natural estrogens are 100,000 times more potent than environmental estrogens and that today's cow's milk is particularly rich in them. The principal reason is that dairy farmers now milk their cows about 300 days per year. For much of that time the cows are pregnant, and as pregnancy progresses, the estrogen content of their milk increases.

Another of Dr. Davaasambuu's studies showed increased hormone levels among Mongolian third-graders after a month of drinking commercial milk from the United States.

Among women, milk consumption has been associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer in both the Nurses' Health Study and in a 2005 study from Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400175/Does-Milk-Cause-Cancer.html

There's more than one research backing up the STRONG link between MS (multiple Sclerosis) and milk .. but the link between MS and gluten is weak:

http://www.direct-ms.org/sites/default/files/MSandFoodProteins.pdf

" Substantial scientific evidence points to proteins derived from dairy products as being involved in the MS disease process. An epidemiological study showed a very close correlation between the prevalence of MS in a country and the amount of milk consumed in that country. Subsequent immunological studies demonstrated that protein fragments from milk closely resemble parts of proteins associated with myelin. It was further demonstrated that these “mimicking” milk proteins can activate autoaggressive immune cells that are sensitive to myelin and that persons with MS carry much higher amounts of milk-sensitive T cells than do healthy controls ... Gluten has been identified as the cause of two autoimmune diseases, celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. It has also been implicated in neurological diseases including one called gluten ataxia .. The evidence linking gluten to MS is NOT strong. "

Here's a registered dietician recommendation " It is not a coincidence that your daughter's RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) symptoms began to lessen with avoidance of dairy. Casein, the protein found in all animal milk, is associated with autoimmune conditions such as RA. Avoidance of dairy in the setting of autoimmune conditions is often recommended."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/intelligent-nutrition/201002/dairy-acne-and-autoimmune

My wife actually hates milk and will not eat ice cream... She mainly only uses milk for cereals...

Garran is here for a visit! He's doing good!

He's so cute, like a little doll !!

Jim - chicken burgers...that sounds like a great idea!

Jess - I'm so addicted to sugar too. Double sigh. I love, love, love, love your white, heart-shaped pumpkin. I never knew they could be like that. Wow!

I've never smoked, but I feel that my sugar addiction is just as hard to beat. I may be wrong, smoking is probably a lot worse. I feel that I will never be able to not want sugar. It's a drug whispering in my ear.

Jim - my sister always says that people who suffer more in this world, will shoot straight to heaven, because they've had their purgatory here. That may be trite, but having suffered lots myself, I take heart in it. Your wife sounds like she's suffering lots, but thank goodness she has you. And now she has us to pray for her.

We' had frost here too with night time temps of -6C (21.2F). Yet my roses still have nice flowers. Maybe it's because they're higher up from the ground and the frost??

Garran looks like he's never been sick a day in his life!! So healthy looking!!! Way to go Garran!!!

Carol

Thanks! Garran is visiting until Friday... :-)

Turkey Burgers Carol not chicken....lol

Jim: Garran is an angel, I love his peaceful sleep .. he seems like an easy-going guy, with a great attitude: "I don't care, I'm happy."

I googled "sugar addiction and vitamin deficiency", the 1st site suggest eating eggs (the most nutritious food, with ALL B vitamins, chromium, and vitamin D).

The second site SF-gate, stated: "Magnesium deficiencies can lead to cravings for sugar or chocolate. The recommended dietary intake is 400 milligrams per day, but many Americans consume less dietary magnesium than they should, notes Carol Simontacchi, C.C.N., M.S. on the Diabetes Information Library website. Good food sources of magnesium include nuts, beans, spinach and whole grains. "

I have been taking magnesium for years and stuff myself with nuts & greens & whole grains ... that doesn't work for sugar-craving !! I agree that eating eggs for breakfast help with sugar craving. I have been eating 2 eggs everyday for the past month, except for yesterday ... I skipped my eggs & had to eat one Fig Newton out of sugar-craving.

Eggs is the most complete nutrition: high in vitamin D & all vitamins, esp. B12 and chromium. The best way to cook eggs is to heat a frying pan with a bit of olive oil until hot, crack the eggs, but leave the egg-yolk intact & shake the pan to spread out the egg-white. Cover for 2 min. on medium heat. Turn off heat, and leave there for 1 more min (covered). That way the egg-yolk is runny (more nutritious & more Lecithin & less cholesterol). Vitamin D in eggs helps with blood sugar-control.

"A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the short-term effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on insulin sensitivity in apparently healthy, middle-aged, centrally obese men."

www.natmedtalk.com/diabetes/3646-vitamin-d-insulin-sensitivi ty.html

Livestrong.com listed chrominum deficiency as #1 cause of sugar craving. When I had my RAW almond milk with brewer's yeast (high in chromium), plus buckwheat honey ... I could go for hours without hunger, and zero cravings.

Chromium

If you are like 90 percent of Americans, your diet is low, but not deficient, in chromium. . A chromium deficiency may cause intense cravings for sugar. Natural sources of chromium include lean meats, pork kidney, asparagus, cheese, molasses, brewer's yeast and whole grains. The recommended daily intake for men is 30 to 35 micrograms daily, and 20 to 25 micrograms for women.The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that the chromium you obtain from food is safe, but excess chromium supplements may interfere with blood sugar control and cause irregular heartbeat and liver damage."

http://www.livestrong.com/article/496016-sugar-cravings-are-a-sign-of-which-mineral-deficiency/

JESS: Craving for beta-carotene rich food like pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potato is normal in smokers. Those food are essential for lung=tissue healing, inflamed by smoking. I read a true story of an ex-smoker, he quit for the entire year ... was really temped to smoke in a restaurant, but a craving for pumpkin-pie took over when he saw "Today special: fresh pumpkin pie". He asked the waitress for that, she said they are out. That was a big let-down, since he knew he would be tempted to smoke later. Thank God the waitress came out to give him a piece of pumpkin-pie which she saved for herself.

My tip to beat "sweet taste". I chew on 1/4 of a piece of sugarless gum after a "meaty dinner". Meat always induce a craving for sweets after-meal. But I couldn't care less about sweet after eggs & toast for breakfast ... I just want something sour, like grapefruit afterwards. Also something intensely flavorful & fragrant like herbal tea helps. Mint-tea, high in magnesium, helps to control the urge for desert.

Even when I didn't get into herbal tea, I enjoyed so much when hubby brewed herbal teas at night: some of the flavors perfumed the entire house, like Mandarine Orange tea, Apple Chamomile tea, peppermint tea, chai tea, vanilla creme, and peach tea.

I'm going to buy more herbal-tea today (only $1 per week consumption). If someone ask me what's the most enjoyable thing you consume this month? Besides peanut-butter on toast, I would say the mint-tea I bought, which the wrapper smells good, and even the cup smells good afterwards. I would give up roses before I give up herbal tea like mint ... that freshens one's breath & body.

What are the most enjoyable things you consume this month?

My Petunias are here and I started putting them into the soil around the roses, it looks beautiful...

Jim, Garran is just the most beautiful baby... I am so glad he's there till Friday, make the most of every second......so glad to hear he is doing good! Thanks so much for sharing that photo with us...

But very sad to hear about the advanced stage of your wife's MS...I'm really so sorry to hear that....will keep on praying for you, your wife, Carol and her daughter, Strawberry Hill and her little girl...Cameron...

Strawberry Hill, your roses and the huge Petunias are lovely....what an inspiration you are - with roses and health....and many many thanks for the pumpkin pancake recipe....I bought some pumpkin as well...will try that asap... :-)

many thanks for the info on chicken manure... Does that mean one cup per rose, mixed with the dirt? Will add this over the weekend...

Seems like we might just get rain in a few day's time...The veld is dry and yellow, I feel so sorry for the wild animals....no water anywhere in their normal brooks...

Carol, the photo of Thelma Saunders was Googled unfortunately :-)

but - you will love the taste...promise...I hope you can find some seeds, pumpkins are easy growers...

I think what I had today, after another terribly hot day, was really enjoyable...but not 100% healthy...especially after reading about how bad cow's milk is... I know and knew it's bad...but alas...I will have to study it again...yes, so many things are promoted as 'good for us' just to have it sold at a profit...but to come back to what I had just now for dinner... :-)....

One (big) scoop creamy ice cream, one (big) scoop peanut butter and one scoop honey...

Euphoric... :-)

Immune to snake bites!!! What a great defense. I love the look of him. Such a pretty animal!

Straw - you would give up roses for tea!!! Really?? :) ?? Wow, you like tea!!

Carol

Wow! cool badger pics & link Jess!

Tonight is trick-or-treat here....Its been a busy day...lol

Trick or treat....

Oh my goodness do those two ever look alike!!! Are they siblings?

Good costumes!

Carol

Yep siblings...lol

Oh how I LOVE that 'little monster'!!!!!!!!!! and the cute little spider-Cronos... :-)

that must be such fun....

Also a lovely little horse hanging on the doorknob ...

Thanks for these photo's Jim...it cheered me up to see their beautiful and innocent faces...

About the Badger called Badgy - in one scene in the movie (documentary), he enters a deep hole where an African warthog hangs out, and his people-friends hears this huge noise, chaos! they are sure he's dead...seeing that the warthog is totally deadly with those huge tusks...after a short while, here the warthog comes running out - blood everywhere...now they're really sure he's kaput...short while later, here comes Badgy - full of blood...they take him home, wash him looking for wounds...

not a scratch on him...

Wow!! That's tough! I had no idea.

Carol

(photo from internet)

but they're still very cute...wish you could get hold of that DVD :-)

Badgy looks fearless!

JESS: Thank you for the pics. & neat info. about Badger .. I really enjoy learning about the animals in South Africa. One cup of chicken manure per bush is TOO MUCH. In a British rose forum, a lady burnt her roses by using chicken manure once a month. In my cold zone, I use chicken manure VERY SMALL amount when the temp is cool & rainy.

Folks use Rose-Tone (has chicken manure) once a month for roses in pots. But that has only 1/6 chicken manure. I would use only 1/2 cup, 1 cup would be too salty. I killed a rose by mixing 1/2 cup of chicken manure in the planting hole. When chicken manure touches the root, it kills the root, best to dilute ONLY 1/2 cup with soil before spreading around the bush.

I started a new thread, "10/30/15: Bad habits, good habits, rose & health tips, recipes."

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3473294/m=3/10-30-15-bad-habits-good-habits-rose-and-health-tips-recipes

I'm glad you enjoyed the story about Badgy Strawberry Hill, and many thanks for the info on chicken manure...I will do this exactly as you advice....

It's cooling down now which means it's an excellent opportunity for this application.