Dragonfly News

The Official Monthly Newsletter of Song of Health
July, 2008

NEW! Click here to download
a printable version of this newsletter.

August 08 Newsletter
June 08 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. We send it to you in both .doc and .pdf forms.

If you did not receive this issue at your email address, please notify us immediately. We may need you to update your current email address with us.

Important notice: a food resource update, dated June. 08, is included at the bottom of this newsletter. It will also be emailed separately to you and will be added to the list on the website soon.

THE FOOD RESOURCE LIST IS NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINTABLE VERSION. JUST GO TO THE FOOD RESOURCE LIST, GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND CLICK ON "SOH RESOURCE LIST PART 1 AND PART 2 FOR THE LATEST VERSION IN .PDF FORM.

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2007 ISSUES OF DRAGONFLY NEWS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON CD.

Subscribers’ cost is only $14.95, non-subscribers, $49.95 plus shipping. This CD is a valuable compilation of articles by our renowned doctors, whose work in their field is highly regarded among their colleagues, patients, and professionals in other circles. Along with all the other information offered, this collection is a great opportunity for students and others seeking reliable research resources in our field.

WHAT INFORMATION WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER?
Our goal is to serve you. Please help us by sharing what you would like to see in the Dragonfly News. We also invite you to share your favorite recipes with us.

You may contact us at: newsletter@songofhealth.com

SUBSCRIBERS SPOTLIGHT
STORIES, COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
share your story with others.

SUBSCRIBERS, please. . . help others by sharing your story with us and allow us to publish it in the next issue of Dragonfly News and Subscribers’ Testimonials, now on the Song of Health website. We have this opportunity to help those who still suffer but are not confident that our dietary lifestyle will work for them. By hearing and reading about how our lives were dramatically changed we can help them to step through the door toward wellness. WE WOULD BE HONORED TO INCLUDE YOUR STORY about how you came to follow the Dr. Carroll Food Intolerance way of life. We reserve the right to edit for grammar and spelling correctness, however we will not change your story content.

IF YOU PREFER US TO HELP YOU WRITE YOUR STORY, WE WILL BE HAPPY TO. JUST ASK!

Please email your contribution to webmaster@songofhealth.com. Thank you for helping us to achieve our goal of reaching out to as many people as possible in order to offer them hope.

A note of encouragement: A subscriber was concerned that her story was uninteresting. There is no such thing as a boring, uninteresting story! We are here to support each other and every contribution helps, no matter how small or large the content. Please don't let that stop you!

QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED:
The following questions were emailed to us since the June newsletter.

Carlee asked:
I want to ask how xylitol figures into the sugar category.

Reply by Dr. Watrous:
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol made from birch tree bark. It is undigestible fiber fermented into something sort of sweet tasting. It does not "test" sugar, but I also don't recommend it as a sugar replacement because the side effect of this chemically altered tree bark is diarrhea. That is why it is being used in all chewing gum and is useful at preventing tooth decay.... it gives bacteria in the mouth diarrhea, thereby killing the bacteria and preventing cavities. This is much like the concept of spraying liquid soap on roses to kill aphids...gives the aphids diarrhea and they die of dehydration.
Dr. Tish

From Genevieve, July 01, 2008
Hi, there! I'm really enjoying your site and my membership--you're helping me to work with my food issues and still enjoy eating!  Thank you! I was wondering if you knew of any instant gluten flours that are free of potato (and dairy, which I'm sure won't be a problem)? Thanks again--keep up the good work! Genevieve

Reply from Sandra Strom, CEO
Hi Genevieve,

Thank you for your very supportive words. It is always great to get the feedback about how our work is benefiting you. And you are most welcome! We love the interaction.

The following is copied from The Forum on the website regarding questions asked about gluten and potato. The gluten tested so far has tested positive for potato because it is used as an additive with the wheat. I don't believe it makes a difference whether it is instant or not. It would be helpful if you could send in a sample to be tested. Dairy...Again, it would be best to submit the product in question for one of the doctors to test. Let me know if this helps. Wish I could give you better news. I am in the same "Potato" boat.

Posted from The Forum:
Gluten is not in potato, and potato is not in gluten. Gluten is in several grains: wheat, barley, rye, corn, oats. Potato flour is often used as a substitute for gluten containing flours.
...all gluten that is added to wheat flour is a potato starch. Dr. Zeff

…A good baking whole wheat flour will contain its own gluten and none will be needed in addition to make a nice raised loaf of bread. Wheat Montana flour has high natural gluten content and does well, with either their Prairie Gold (hard white wheat) or their Bronze Chief (hard red wheat). A pastry flour, as in a soft white wheat, doesn't have enough protein or gluten for good bread but is lighter and often used for finer pastries, bagels, English muffins or pie crusts.

Further response to Dr. Zeff's answer by Dr. Watrous:
Flour naturally contains gluten, this is true. Potato starch is only carbohydrates and contains no gluten...however, the gluten protein they add to baking flour contains potato starch as a filler. I don't know of any baking gluten that is added to bread that is not potato. Hope this helps. Dr. Tish

One trick for getting the gluten to work in whole grain breads is to let the bread rise a third time instead of just twice. Let rise, punch and knead, let rise, punch, knead and shape, let rise, then bake. That extra rising really helps to make the bread lighter.

In Health, Sandra

MAKE YOURSELVES HEARD!

Please post your replies to our other subscribers at THE FORUM.
Thank you.

Why Buy Local Foods?
By Dr. Caryn Potenza, N.D.

Of all the choices of where you can go to purchase your food, is there an advantage to buying locally? To answer that question simply, yes. Local foods are often fresher, healthier, and require less fossil fuel to produce, package and get to the market. These benefits not only help you and your family have a healthier lifestyle, but they also help to support your local farmers and community.

Foods that are grown locally are often healthier for several reasons. First, if they are grown close to where you live they are often fresher, containing more vitamins, minerals and enzymes because these foods are grown and harvested in their prime. A locally grown food requires less time for transportation and therefore decreases the need for more preservatives to maintain freshness. When a food is produced by a large-scale manufacturer, many preservatives are added to extend the shelf life of that product because of the time it takes to distribute. Large-scale producers often have the need to use more pesticides, chemicals, antibiotics and growth hormones in order to grow and raise their foods than local farmers. Locally grown foods are often grown in less quantity and usually distributed within a smaller radius than industrial grown foods. Industrial foods can be distributed all over the country or the world. This can cause safety concerns because a contaminated batch of food can be potentially spreading disease worldwide. Lastly, regarding the food intolerance testing that Dr. Watrous, Dr. Zeff, and I do, there is less of a chance that your food will be altered, or “test poorly,” if you buy it from a local, organic producer because of the above mentioned concerns.

Foods that are grown locally require less fossil fuel for distribution. Most industrial foods are transported hundreds or thousands of miles to get to the standard grocery store. It has been documented that in the U.S. the average grocery store’s produce travels 1500 miles from the farm where it was produced to your home (*Pirog and Andrew). It was also found that even though broccoli can be grown within 20 miles of the average American’s home, most broccoli travels 1800 miles to get to the supermarket (Pirog and Andrew). This is ridiculous. Not only are we contributing to environmental problems such as global warming, acid rain, smog and air pollution by using more fossil fuel, we are also not supporting our local farmers and economy. The rising cost of gas and oil is dramatically affected by supply and demand and, when we buy locally, we can reduce the demand for fossil fuel, thus keeping costs lower.

Buying locally helps support sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is not only a healthier choice, but it is more environmentally friendly and supports our local farmers and community. Take the time to find out where to buy locally produced foods. A great website that I found is www.sustainabletable.com. They help you find local produce in your area and talk in depth about sustainable agriculture. The www.eatwellguide.org is another site that assists people in finding local stores and restaurants that sell and use local foods in their establishments. They also provide a list of farmers and farmers’ markets in your area.

I understand that many people are overwhelmed already, with trying to follow their specific food intolerance diet, but it is important for all of us to understand that it’s not only what we eat that is important but also where our food is raised and comes from. We are all connected…from the type of soil that is used to grow our food, to the types of seeds that are used in planting and the environment in which it is raised, to the place where it is sold, to the person who takes it home to feed and nourish their family. We are all part of this circle, and choosing to skimp on one part will weaken the whole system.

In Health,
Dr. Caryn Potenza

*Pirog, Rich and Andrew, Benjamin. “Checking the Food Odometer: Comparing Food Miles for Local Versus Conventional Produce Sales in Iowa Institutions.” Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, July 2003
Resource: www.sustainabletable.com

SHARING EXPERIENCES
By Sandra Strom, CEO

“Finding And Using Information on The Website”

For the last few weeks I have been sharing question and answer correspondence with Ellen, among others. Ellen is a new subscriber and recent traveler on the Carroll Food Intolerance path. She has brought to my attention, once again, how confusing all of this is to someone who has just begun to understand the importance of refraining from even the tiniest amounts of foods we are intolerant to and the need to be aware of hidden ingredients often not listed in packaging. For this purpose is why our doctors are willing to test questionable foods for everyone, then we, in turn, e-mail the results to you and publish them in the Food Resource List on our website. It is a good time to review how to find and use the vast amount of information furnished at Song of Health.

First, let’s walk through the Food Categories section.

Each food intolerance group that a patient is tested for has its own page. The categories of the Carroll Food Intolerance Test are: Dairy, Egg, Fish, Fruit, Grain, Honey, Meat, Mine Salt, Potato, Soy and Sugar. To find what foods fall in a specific food category, click on the “Food Categories” icon, located on the left side of the web page. This will take you to the introductory page. Then click on a food category from the list at the top of the page, for example, Potato. This will take you to a page that lists all the known foods – and derivatives – that test potato. This information is the first step in the process of figuring out what the heck is in our food! This is where you will discover that guar gum tests positive for potato, or that cream of tartar tests positive for fruit. This will take some of the mystery out of reading ingredient lists on packaging. If guar gum is listed as an ingredient, then that product will test positive for potato…end of that mystery.

REMEMBER, IF SOMETHING IS STILL QUESTIONABLE, CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY, EITHER BY EMAIL OR GO TO THE FORUM AND POST YOUR QUESTIONS IN THE CATEGORY THAT YOU THINK FITS BEST.

Although we work hard to be prompt in answering, we ask that you give us 24 hours to respond.

Next, we review aspects of the Food Resource List.

Click on the “Food Resource List” icon, also located on the left side of the web page. This will take you to the introductory page of the list. We cannot emphasize strongly enough that it is very important you read and understand the information on this page. The Food Resource List is a guide only. When in doubt, we always suggest to send a product sample in to be tested for specifics.

Once you are familiar with the introductory page information, at the bottom of the page click on “Continue to List” and the Food Resource List Key and Index page will come up. At the top of the page is the “Key For Result Codes.” This should be self-explanatory, however if you have trouble understanding it, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you. Categories are listed in alphabetical order.

A printable version of the Food Resource List is now available. Go to the bottom of the Food Resource List Key and Index Page and follow the instructions. Due to the length of the list, we have divided the printing process into two parts.

Per subscribers’ requests, we added the column "TESTED FOR" to Food Resource List updates. We agree that the resource will be more helpful knowing what the foods were actually tested for as well as the results. This way you will know if a food was tested for potato, for example, and the RESULTS column will verify whether potato is a hidden ingredient. Also…Some of the updates that are directly emailed to you list where the products may be purchased. We are not able to include this column on the website edition due to lack of column space.

Prior to the new format of including the "Tested For" column this information was not always available, so it will be blank in the entries. Also, some entries will state "contains..." These tests were done prior to the inception of the Song of Health website and the information was furnished primarily to the patient for their specific requests. The doctors kept records of the test results but not what was "tested for" nor the dates tested. We decided to furnish the incomplete information anyway, as a little is better than none. For a complete analysis we suggest you submit the food in question for testing. Please see Food Lab Test.

Remember, we do our best to be as accurate and complete as possible, however, as two-leggeds we are apt to miss something. If you recognize a need for a correction, please bring it to our attention immediately by emailing us as manager@songofhealth.com. It is for the highest good of all of us that we help each other and we greatly appreciate your input.

The Forum is a fabulous resource and your interactive opportunity.

Share information with your fellow subscribers and the staff of Song of Health, ask the staff of Song of Health questions, make suggestions and/or comments, ask fellow subscribers to help with ideas and their experiences and share recipes.

To go to The Forum, click on “Forum” at the top left corner of the page. There are a number of categories set up. Choose a category that you feel best fits your entry. Create a thread, then follow the easy directions.

Remember to go into The Forum often to see if any new information has been added. Quite often, when a question is emailed to us, we will then include the information in The Forum for everyone to benefit.

There have been recent significant changes in the managing of Song of Health. We hope this will facilitate quicker responses to your questions, both from The Forum and through contacting us by email.

Subscribers’ Testimonials is a simple,
painless way for you to help others.

We keep you anonymous by using first name and first initial of last name only. The more we reach out and share our stories, the better the possibilities for others to succeed in getting well.

Check out Goods and Services.

Here is where you will find a listing of physicians, other professionals and companies who support the Carroll Food Intolerance way of life. We will also continue to list pertinent reading references as we find them. Once again, if you find an interesting reference that you believe is compatible with our work, please inform us.

The Recipes section is free to the public.

However, we make new recipes available to our subscribers in the newsletter one month prior to publishing them for everyone. Recipes submitted in The Forum will usually be published in the following issue of the newsletter.

Get the most out your subscription by surfing through all the pages of Song of Health. There is so much to read and we continue to add information and improve on our services.

We honor our webmaster, Shawn, for the beautiful graphics and colorful layouts. He has taken my visions and dreams and created a fabulous reality.

We take this moment to honor all the First Nation people who were the first to contribute and sacrifice much on this soil, so that we may all defend the right to be free and to walk side by side in peace. We also send special prayers to our men and women who are serving in the armed forces and unselfishly giving of themselves.

May you all be blessed with a very safe and happy Fourth of July.

In Health,
Sandra

NEW RECIPES

Salads

PECAN SPINACH SALAD
(Contributed by Karen Tressler, Healthy Transitions Life Coaching)

10 oz spinach
1/4 cup pecans
1 scallion, sliced thin
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup maple syrup
Salt and pepper

In small skillet, toast pecans over low heat until roasted (they give off a toasty odor).  Be careful not to burn them.  Set aside.

Place olive oil in skillet at medium heat and add scallion.  Cook until soft.
While scallion is cooking, place washed cleaned spinach in large bowl with room to toss.

Clean, core, and chop apple (I like Granny Smith for the tartness but any will do).  Add apple to spinach in bowl.

When scallion is cooked and soft, add 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/8 cup maple syrup and bring mixture to boil. 

Pour over spinach and apple, and toss.
Sprinkle with pecans as garnish.
Makes four servings. 

Note: I usually mix the salad and dressing and then separate into individual bowls before adding the pecans and serving.  Best served immediately while dressing is warm.

FOOD RESOURCE LIST UPDATES

Use the codes below to translate the Results Column

HOW TO READ THE FOOD RESOURCE LIST AND USE THE KEY:

As items are submitted and tested by Doctors Watrous and Zeff, they are then added to the Food Resource List on the Song of Health website. We compile the updated lists to email to our subscribers as well.

The items are listed per category. By listing the date tested, you can be assured of the most recent updates. Under the “Tested For” column, “All” signifies that the product has been tested for all food categories included in the Carroll Food Intolerance Testing method. In some cases, you will see ingredients listed in the “Results” column that are not included in “Tested For.” This is because the ingredient has been listed on the packaging, or it is obviously in the stated category. We will furnish where to purchase a product when the person submitting it has stated from where they purchased.

If you have any questions, please contact us at: manager@songofhealth.com

Dedicated to Heilping You Achieve. . .
GREAT HEALTH - GREAT LIFE!

FOOD RESOURCE LIST UPDATES
JUNE, 2008

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

Song of Health Webmaster