Dragonfly News

The Official Monthly Newsletter of Song of Health
June, 2007

May 07 Newsletter
July 07 Newsletter

Welcome Subscribers, to Dragonfly News. We are excited about the opportunity to share interesting and helpful information with you in our monthly newsletter, which is available to subscribers only, on the website and automatically sent to you by email. If you did not receive this issue automatically, please notify us immediately.

What information would you like to have in your newsletter? Our goal is to serve you, to help you the best we can, so that you may achieve Great Health, Great Life. We invite you to help us accomplish this by telling us what you would like to see in the Dragonfly News.
Please contact us at: newsletter@songofhealth.com.
Thank you for your support.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ADDITIONS/CHANGES:

The following additions have been entered in the Food Categories Lists:

Egg page: Albumen
Potato page: Cellulose/Cellulose gum

An update to the Food Resource List is included in this issue on the last page.

POLLINATION AND ECOLOGY
By Dr. Letitia Watrous, N.D.

 
It is of great concern and interest that I write this article. In order for us as mankind to survive on this planet twirling around the sun, we must eat. And in order to eat, we must have plants to either sustain the animals we butcher or we must eat plants directly. Plants must propagate to survive. They propagate by pollination. Pollination can occur by wind but in most plants it occurs by an insect or critter of some kind moving pollen from one flower to another.

Now, most of us assume this occurs primarily with honeybees. Honeybees have been employed in orchards and fields to do this job for hundreds of years. But honeybees are not native to the Continental United States. They are imports from Europe. Honeybees are having a very difficult time surviving right now. It may be because they are so inbred that they have lost their natural defenses to mites and diseases, or the latest concern is the possibility of cell phone communications messing up their radar and they can’t find their way around anymore.

Well, whatever the reason, we are in dire straights if we don’t have pollinators to make our food. We have lost so much of the natural habitat of native pollinators that even when good meaning people decide to re-establish native grasses and plants to an area for rehabilitation, the plants won’t reproduce because the pollinators have not also been re-established. They have lost their habitat.

Kristal Watrous, my daughter, is a pollination biologist and has educated me somewhat on this concern. It is her mission to ensure we don’t lose our pollinators. Having an interest in this, I discovered a native bee, the Blue Orchard Bee (Osmia Lignaria) living in my screen door at Windrose Naturopathic Clinic. They have been there a number of years now. The furry little gentle black/blue bees have nests in the hollow metal decorative bars of the screen door going into the back office area. They pack in pollen from the Oregon Grape plants that bloom early in the Spring, lay their eggs in the metal bars and cover them with mud. The bee larvae winter over there and emerge in the first warm days of Spring… right when the Oregon Grape begins to bloom again.

So, this past year I put out bee boxes to see if I could increase the colony. It has been a great success. All of the 40+ nesting holes are full and packed with mud on the ends (as well as the 20 in the screen door). My intension is to take these full boxes to my 10-acre farm and start a new colony there to provide the pollination for my newly growing crabapple, hawthorn, and hazelnut orchard.

The Blue Orchard Bee is much more efficient at pollinating orchard crops, such as apples, cherries, pears, etc., than the honeybee. The Blue Orchard Bee is the right size, shape, and weight to carry more pollen and spread it out better with it’s furry little body. They will not be around to pollinate later garden plants, such as tomatoes or squash, however. By then they have already mated, built their nests, packed them with mud and left for the next generation to come out in the following Spring.

If you are interested in finding out more about Blue Orchard Bees or other native pollinators, please check out www.knoxcellars.com. You can order books and bee boxes from them. I recommend the first book my daughter gave me, “The Orchard Mason Bee” by Brian L. Griffin. You may also want to get the “Pollinator Conservation Handbook”, by The Xerces Society. I am currently reading, “ How to Manage the Blue Orchard Bee” by Jordi Bosch and William Kemp. Then, if you are really an entomologist (as I am), you can knock yourself out with “ The Bee Genera of North and Central America” by the Smithsonian Institution Press. (This is a serious text on bee identification, down to looking in a microscope at bee body parts to specifically identify your buzzy little helpers found in your yard/ farm. All of these texts can be ordered from Knox Cellars.

Thank you to Kristal, my ever-loving daughter, fellow entomologist, and ecologist. You are saving the planet, one pollinator at a time.

SHARING EXPERIENCES
By Sandra Strom, CEO

HONORING OUR TRUE HEALERS

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Northwest Naturopathic Physicians Convention, which was held in Portland, Oregon. I have always felt a deep admiration for the true healers who have helped me throughout the years; weaving through the fields of naturopaths, massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists and even allopathic medical doctors and dentists. Through many years and dollars of experience with countless types of medical professions I have come to realize that there is a major difference between practitioners and healers in any professional field. There are tile setters and there are artisans.

After witnessing to what extent our naturopaths must continue to further their education every year by attending required conventions and classes for credits, and the intense diversity of information that they are exposed to, my regard for naturopathic physicians has been elevated to an even higher level than before.

The lectures first began with a speaker discussing “Allergy and Autism,” and that is about the extent of all I understood. Whatever scientific language he was speaking in left me sitting with my brain in “duh mode” and bored me to nodding out. I was thinking, “uh-oh, I’m in trouble. I don’t understand and I’m about to spend the next three days in a fog.” What I did get out of his lecture was confirmation that what we ingest, whether it is through food, vaccinations, etc., has a direct correlation with our medical condition.

Although I was the layperson listening to the lectures that followed, I was actually able to get something out of most of them. There were so many great speakers, representing their specialized fields of treatment. Dr. Hal Blatman, M.D. and Dr. Henry Heimlich, M.D. were a couple of doctors in the allopathic field that were honored speakers whose work crosses over to natural methods of healing.

Dr. Hal Blatman, the current President Elect of the American Holistic Medical Association, is a nationally recognized specialist in myofascial pain and is known for his work in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Myofascial pain “is caused by tension deep within a muscle that is referred by the nerves to other areas of the body, making it difficult for the patient to identify the origin of their own pain.” It can cause numbness and tingling, burning pain and radiating pain. Myofascial pain can also cause such symptoms as tinnitis (ringing of the ears), imbalance, dizziness, vertigo, sweating and salivation. Dr. Blatman’s treatments and diagnoses of pain-induced conditions embrace methods that differ from the standard treatments of traditional medicine. He does employ certain traditional medical treatments along with holistic therapies, such as dietary changes, exercises and acupressure. Depending upon the patient and diagnosis, he may suggest proven alternative therapies or non-drug pain treatments in order to stimulate the mind and body’s natural healing power. Hands-on treatment is based on identifying and working on trigger points, to aid in relief of localized and referred pain. If there is a problem in the muscle there will be a problem in the joint, and vice versa. Whatever the patients’ cause of pain, Dr. Blatman emphasized, “food trumps all.”

Dr. Henry J. Heimlich, age 87, is best known in the non-professional world for his “Heimlich Maneuver,” the method for treating choking victims. His creative and innovative endeavors began in 1945, while stationed in China as a member of the U.S. Navy during World War II, when he conceived an effective mixture to treat victims of trachoma, an incurable bacterial infection of the eyelids that was causing blindness throughout Asia and the Middle East.

Listed among his many successes:
In the 1950s, a month after completing training in general and chest surgery, Dr. Heimlich conceived the first total organ replacement in history – a procedure to replace the esophagus. It is used today to overcome birth defects of the esophagus.
Inspired by helplessly watching a soldier die from being shot in the chest during World War II in China, Dr. Heimlich developed a chest valve device to drain blood and air from the chest cavity. He is considered a hero for helping to save the lives of thousands of soldiers shot on the battlefield in Vietnam by using the Heimlich Chest Valve. Today more than 250,000 Heimlich valves are used worldwide each year to treat patients with chest wounds, or following surgery.
In 1974, Dr. Heimlich published findings on what was to become the Heimlich Maneuver. A week later, the first choking victim was saved by the method. Since its introduction, the Heimlich Maneuver has saved over 50,000 people, in the United States alone, from choking or drowning. Per Dr. Heimlich, “…Since up to 90% of drowning victims’ lungs are filled with water, and given the safety of the Heimlich maneuver and its proven ability to expel fluid that blocks the airway, the Maneuver should be the first step applied in drowning resuscitation to ensure the airway is clear. The Heimlich maneuver should be performed until water no longer flows from the mouth, which usually occurs after two to four applications over a period of a few seconds.” The American Medical Association has since waffled in agreement as to whether this method of treating drowning victims is most effective, yet many more lives have been saved by first eliminating fluid from the lungs before administering air, mainly by cardio-pulmonary-resuscitation (CPR).

The list of accomplishments of Dr. Heimlich continue, as do those of many other heroes in the medical world, both naturopathic and allopathic, who have followed their dedication and inspiration to help. Their innovations outside of the accepted medical box have more often been challenged, disputed and rejected by the medical world than embraced. They have often been threatened with rejection and ostracized by their colleagues, even chanced having their licenses revoked. Yet through their courageous persistence we have greatly benefited.

Dr. Otis G. Carroll and Dr. Harold Dick were inspired, tenacious healers who, in spite of the treacherous behavior lashed at them by members of the medical profession and the U.S. government, continued to perfect and perform the Carroll Food Intolerance Test. I consider them and their protégés heroes. I will always honor, promote, and be grateful and indebted to these doctors and all of our true healers.

NEW RECIPES

MAIN DISHES

VEGETARIAN WHEAT GERM LOAF
(Adapted By Sandra Strom, CEO Song of Health from The New York Times
Natural Foods Cookbook by Jean Hewitt)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 cup walnuts, pecans, cashews or almonds, finely ground
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup grated cheese, preferably cheddar
¾ cup tomato juice, or ¼ cup catsup (preferably homemade) and ½ cup water
3 eggs, well beaten
2 mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1 leek, very finely chopped (or 1 red onion)
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. marjoram (oregano, rosemary, lemon thyme, savory, basil may also be used)
1 tsp. rice mirin (optional)
¼ tsp. liquid aminos or salt to taste
1 6-oz. can tomato paste

Mix together the nuts, wheat germ and cheese. Add remaining ingredients except for tomato paste and mix well. Turn into an oiled 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch loaf pan. (Olive oil is preferred.) Spread the tomato paste all over top of loaf. Bake 45 minutes. Serve in slices. Serves 4.

Optional: Serve with Mushroom Cream Sauce (see below).

SAUCES

MUSHROOM CREAM SAUCE
(Contributed by Sandra Strom, CEO Song of Health)

2 Tbsp. butter or oil
2 Tbsp. flour or arrowroot powder
½ cup mushrooms, diced
1 cup milk (or grain milk or part Half and Half)
few grains salt to taste
Optional: 1 clove garlic, finely diced or pressed
2 Tbsp. rice mirin

Melt butter in saucepan on medium heat. As soon as the butter is melted, carefully skim the fat off the top, using a spoon. This clarifies the butter and keeps it from burning. If using garlic or mushrooms, add to the butter and sauté. Add the flour and mix well, coating evenly. (The butter/flour mixture only is called a roux.) Slowly add milk and salt, constantly stirring until sauce is thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add rice mirin if using and stir evenly. Serve over food immediately. Yields 1 cup.

NOTE: To make CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP use 2 cups milk. Use garlic and increase amount to 2 cloves.

Together, we strive for. . .
GREAT HEALTH - GREAT LIFE!

Song of Health Webmaster