My new Good Housekeeping magazine has an article about our overuse of antibiotics, making them ineffective for illnesses in many cases. And an article about a gal that ate a ground turkey burger, then got really sick. The burger made her ill, it was infected with salmonella. That caused her potassium level to drop to a dangerous low level, and required an iv treatment with Cipro., That likely saved her, but other normally used antibiotics are now useless. 40% of all who get sick with salmonella will be hospitalized. Health officials are concerned because antibiotics are used in the raising of farm animals, to prevent them from getting sick, but we ingest that and it takes out human resisitance to drugs. Using these medicines on animals gets them to market sooner. But it develops resistant strains of illnesses. The FDA has issued new guidelines that will hopefully help this issue. Look for chickens and turkey that are not raised on antibiotics. Try and stay away from overuse of antibiotics by yourself and your family, so if you do become ill, the antibiotics used will work. One thing you need to avoid is using antibacterial soaps. The triclosan used in them promotes drug resistance. Plain old soap and water are just as effective, and safer for you and your family. It looks like the US is getting close to ending the use of antibiotics in animals, other countries like Denmark have already done so and are seeing fewer resisitant bugs.
Got some ideas for your face and body this week. If you are prone to breakouts, make a mask with 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of honey. Cover your face, leave it on for 10 minutes and rinse. Will clear out those blemishes.
To whiten your teeth, mix 3 parts of baking soda with 1 part mashed strawberry and enough lemon juice to make a paste. Apply to teeth twice a week, let it set 20 minutes and brush off. Keep in the refrigerator.
If you have a sore throat, here are a few good ways to ease it. Hot water with lemon is easy, or boil some water and steep some sage for 10 minutes, strain and add some salt, Best of all, turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, so stir a spoon ful into warm water, add a good dash of salt and a little honey, and gargle with that.
Mother Nature has been on the warpath this week. We had some really warm days, in the upper 70s , causing me to go to short sleeves and barefoot in the house. Then a day later, we woke up to snow. It left fast as the ground was warm before it came down, but talk about contrasts. We are warming up again now, but the weather man expects a couple more snow events before April. Thishas been called " the endless winter," it sure seems to hang on. Things are looking green, leaf buds on trees, flowers blooming, gives hope that we may soon stay warmer than 30s at night.
The poisoned tomato fields are being prepped. All the bad stuff was plowed into the ground last fall, and now they are laying out the long plastic raised runs they plant tomatoes in. Be forewarned, they use all kinds of sprays, pick them green, ripen them in ethylene gas and pack them in BPH lined cans. Look for organic ones if you buy cans. I have switched to a paste in a tube, imported from Italy. Works well, tastes good and not grown with all the stuff ours are. Heard some warnings this week about Italian olive oil, seems they are cutting the extra virgin with soy oil to make more money. You may need to research your brand.
One of the odd things I have found in TN is the influx of Japanese beetles in the late fall. They look like lady bugs but are orange. And stink if you smash them. Normally they invade the house when the first cold weather sets in. This year they have come in all winter and are still doing so. So I am off to do battle with the vacuum. I spray Dawn mixed in water around the windows and doors, and it kills them, so there are mostly dead ones to clean up, but there are a lot of them. Wonder if they will leave when spring finally arrives.
Have a great week, enjoy family and friends, see you next time
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