speaking of food-ishness...

so, i'm all excited because i ordered 40lbs of assorted elk, buffalo, and goat meat cuts a couple of weeks ago, and it came in last night (mild delay in filling my order, so i opted to wait a week instead of substituting a cut).  and filled up my freezer completely. :-)  i ordered from this place:

http://www.elkusa.com/ and i am just saying... go, give them some business, cause they're great guys.  anyway, i order these 'exotic meats' when i can afford it because they're healthier - lower fat content, and no Bovine Growth Hormone.  my body is pretty sensitive to the chemicals i put in it, so i'd rather *not* put in 'extras' like BGH, because knowing me, it's part of my issue-set.  and it's not enough just to buy 'organically grown beef'at the store, because unfortunately no matter how well the farmer treats his cattle, the slaughter houses often inject BGH and other chemicals at the last minute to fatten the cows.  so if you're trying to avoid this particular 'extra', the best bets are to buy direct from the farm (and i do mean 'direct' - as in, buy and slaughter your own cow or go in on one), or find an supplier that specializes in the more 'common exotics'. 

'hidden chemical crap' is why i'm so big on gardening.  i'm trying to learn to grow my own produce, and to do so consistently and well enough from season to season to supply me with most, if not all, of my fruit and vegetable needs.  eventually, i'd even like to learn how to can and preserve my fruits, veggies, and herbs.  i've been slowly implementing different phases of this project for a while:  i've known since college that the processed stuff you buy isn't always good for you, and i've also known that modern medicines sometimes have more side effects than they're worth*.  so i began researching herbal remedies and moved on into the idea that it'd be nice to also know how to can and preserve my own foods, so i could better control my intake of chemicals. 

i've been feeling pretty good about my garden, even if it's not as successful as i'd want in some areas, both because i've discovered how much fun it is to grow things and because even if i produce just 1 strawberry a year, it's the *best*-tasting strawberry i have all year.  however, i know i still have a lot to learn, and i'm still dependent on store-bought items while i do so, so i've always got half-an-eye out for articles about the chemicals we ingest via food and drink.

yesterday, dracephalen posted some links about aspartame essentially being toxic.  this totally makes me grumble, and not because he's wrong.  the truth is, i'm addicted to diet coke, and i'm not sure i can wean myself from it.  and big chunk of that is, i'm not sure i *want* to wean myself from it, and actually wanting to change is a big part of that battle.  but, if the articles he linked to me are correct, then i seriously need to start lowering my intake as much as possible.  if i understand the articles correctly, and looking at my own behavior, i don't believe i have 'acute', or immediate-reaction allergies/ problems to aspartame.  on the other hand, as much diet coke as i drink, i'm *certainly* at risk for long-term aspartame poisoning.

and evidently, one of the symptoms of aspartame poisoning is difficulty losing weight/ obesity.  the articles weren't clear on why this might be so, but afaik, there are two probable mechanisms:  one is that aspartame sparks 'hungry' feelings, and not realizing the connection, people over-eat.  i can handle that, and i'm constantly working on my diet, in terms of improving *what* i eat, and not eating big servings.  the other probably mechanism is an interference with insulin production/ food absorption.  that's a much more serious problem for the overweight thing, and most definitly requires an absolute reduction in total amount of aspartame ingested.  and that would be much more difficult for me, psychologically, to deal with. 

right now, i don't have enough information to go forward with this, but there is one thing i can do: switch which bottled water i drink to one that doesn't contain aspartame. (i checked the brand i usually buy last night, and it does, unfortunately, contain aspartame.)  i'm not sure i'm going to fing one that satisfies my preferences, because i prefer carbonated flavored water, since flat water ends up tasting too much like the plastic bottle.  eesh.  but i really need to try to find something to switch too, because if i can lower the amount of aspartame i ingest, even if i can't bring myself to do away with it completely, it'll be better for my body.  and that's what it's all about.

-bs

*almost forgot my note on medicines:  i'm not advocating a rejection of western medicine and western medical techniques, here, and i'm certainly not a medical doctor, so, you know - take this advice for what it's worth.  what i'm saying is that i prefer a blend of eastern, traditional folk, and western medical traditions, because if the overall goal is 'better quality of life', each has their own strengths to contribute.  however, no one tradition is the end-all be-all of any system, and each individual should taylor their personal 'blend' to themselves.  remember, we're all unique, just like everybody else.