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What's Your Poison

This is an excerpt (pg. 233) from Raw Food, Real World by Matthew Kenny and Sarma Melngailis. It is an amazing recipe book, but beyond that, it is filled with incredible "health" tips.

Cutting Out Coffee

It might be hard to picture beginning a morning or ending an evening meal without coffee. As a beverage, it really isn't that old: coffee was only first embraced in the thirteenth century by somnolent Arab monks who couldn't keep their minds on their prayers. From there, it was introduced to Europeans in the seventeenth century. Despite its common acceptance in our lives, coffee--and the caffeine it contains--might just be one of the biggest threats to our continued good health, both physical and mental.Stephen Cherniske, in his seminal book Caffeine Blues, calls caffeine a "biological poison used by plants as a pesticide," noting that "caffeine gives leaves and seeds a bitter taste, which discourages their consumption by insects and animals. If predators insist on eating a caffeine-containing plant, the caffeine can cause central nervous system disruptions and even lethal side effects. Most pests soon learn to leave the plant alone." (This is why; incidentally, it's dangerous for your pets to eat commercial chocolate, which can contain large amounts of caffeine.)Unfortunately, humans are the most persistent of pests, and we've found ways to make irresistibly palatable what is essentially a psychoactive drug that impairs us; the so-called "stimulating" effect of caffeine is merely your body stepping up the system to flush the poison out as quickly as possible. In fact, coffee beans were first employed as a drug to "detoxify" the sick. Caffeine has a similar chemical make-up to morphine, nicotine, and cocaine, to which very few of us with non-bling celeb status would be proud or solvent enough to admit an addiction. But it's not uncommon for us to claim that we can't function without our coffee.
Aside from being addictive, coffee is damaging to the liver, which has to detoxify the caffeine in it. Decaffeinated coffee is not an a-okay replacement. Decaf also contains a variety of damaging chemicals, including the same cancer-causing agents found in barbecued foods. And the decaffeinating process itself often uses chemicals.Still, if the necessary organs can process moderate amounts of caffeine and related substances, why should we go cold turkey on coffee? Perhaps because daily doses of caffeine have been implicated in the following: gastrointestinal disease, sleep disorders, malnutrition (it drains the kidneys of the ability to hold onto calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc), headaches and depression. Plus, every cup of coffee is a glass of body-refreshing water you didn't drink.

Comments

haleylang said…
I think I'm gonna cry (said clutching my morning cupajoe :) Seriously though, I'll work on that- some day. One bad habit at a time!
FitterTwit said…
I know... I quit drinking coffee, but that's not to say that I still don't splurge once in a while (freakin Starbucks!)

Past 7 Days....

Gorgous Leaves Bundle Revisited

Yestday's Freebie Friday on a Monday projects were so fun and this set is SO BEAUTIFUL in it's simplicity!  It reminds me of a long-retired stamp set from Stampin Up!.  I was inspired to re-create the projects that I made with it once upon a time.  So here we go.... SIMPLE projects when you need a quick "hello" or an even quicker heartfelt sympathy card: I was DEFINITELY on a Bumblebee and Cajun Craze kick yesterday!  I can't stop/won't stop!  LOL!  To be fair... I had extra leaves die cut and didn't want anything to go to waste!  A quick speckle backdrop in Bumblebee then a quick "hello" greeting from the Biggest Wish in Cajun Craze with the Cajun Craze leaf popped up on a Basic White cardbase.  PERFECTION! Okay, as with yesterday's projects, the sentiment is from the recently retired SAB Delicate Dahlia's set, but you could use ANY sympathy sentiment you have in your stash.  Unlike in the past when I had to mask off the center rectangle...

So Lame

So over at Paper Vineyard, the challenge was to create a birthday project and it COULDN'T be a card.  I've personally been creating WAY too many cards lately so I was happy to try my hand at something new..... only I didn't. :(  Instead, I was busy preparing for last week's Cricut Swarm.  Now, while I missed creating a project specifically for our Birthday Non-Card challenge, I figured the cupcake box that I made would fit the bill PERFECTLY for a birthday-themed project.  The box also has an insert for a cupcake to fit inside.  I made it with my Cricut (cuz of the whole Cricut Swarm bit) and while I ADORE this box, I sort of had a little melt down making it and I decided that this is the last Provo Craft product I will ever buy.... let me share why (read through to find out the cartridge I used for this project)! Most of you know that I DESPISE Provo Craft.  I hate that the Cricut is a one-of-kind product that I loved....

BACK To Halloween.... WHEW!

Okay... BACK to Halloween gifting this week!  We're makin more goody boxes using The Cutest Halloween Bundle again this week, we are also featuring the tags and labels dies from the July - December 2021 Mini Catalog (lovingly dubbed "the holiday mini").  I've got to admit, this bundle really is the cutest and I'm having SOOOO much fun playing with it simply because of how easy it is to work with.  The fact that the punch ALSO punches out the images from the DSP makes this one a super-huge winner for me.  I mean.... three goody projects in under an hour!?!  That's right!  This week's Freebie Friday On A Monday was actually recorded in under 40 minutes!  SO DOABLE to get ready for Halloween gifting!  As always, the link to the free PDF with supplies used and measurements is below the last pic and if you place a $35 or more from my online store (click "Shop With Me" in the banner at the top of this blog) using this week's Host/Hostess code  GHRG...