I spend quite a bit of time each week answering comments on my blogs, both old and new. I love answering comments and no question is ever a “dumb” question in my book. The only dumb questions are the ones that never get asked!
That being said, there are always a few comments each week that really grab my attention for whatever reason.
Here are the ones in the spotlight this week ….
Brilliant Comments
This from Ted, regarding the post There’s Nothing Smart About Smart Balance:
Sarah, thanks for the complete report on Smart Balance. You are certainly right about how the ads do fool many people. I’ve been using the gray mass (before coloring) for around 6 years now. I read your article on the subject matter and immediately threw it away. Thanks again.
You are very welcome Ted. I am so glad you immediately and proactively threw away that nasty Smart Balance! I very much hope that you replaced it with simple, wholesome, nutritious BUTTER. There is no substitute for butter and any health professional that tries to convince you otherwise has not researched both sides of the story and should be fired for incompetence (by you, that is!).
This inspiring comment from Peter S. regarding the Video: How to Make Whey:
Hello Sarah, I am a quadriplegic from a high school sports accident in the late 70′s. I have survived over 30 years by eating well and reading Adele Davis at first and later NAPD (Nutrition and Physical Degeneration). Your blog is a Godsend and I have tried to follow it by directing my assistants accordingly. We tried making whey but it took several days, almost a week, to achieve separation with farm fresh whole milk. The whey has a “funny” smell and a yellowish tint … Did I screw up?
Peter, I was thrilled to read your comment and your motivation to stay healthy despite your physical limitations was very inspiring!
Whey does tend to have a yellowish tint, particularly when it has separated fully and been strained thoroughly with no bits of cream cheese left behind. That “funny” smell is the usual smell that fresh milk has once it has fermented into a clabbered state. You most definitely did not mess anything up – you are right on track!
Next, this fantastic comment from BREE in reference to the post Ditch That Protein Powder:
The yolk carries 43% of the protein!!! and all of the vitamin A. the white carries magnesium and potassium.
Chalk this one up to the “we learn something new every day” file! I did not realize the yolk contains a significant amount of protein. Here’s the complete breakdown of egg nutrition in a chart on Chris Masterjohn’s fantastic Cholesterol and Health site that Bree also provided in her comment. Bree, thank you so much for sharing that factoid about eggs!
Boneheaded Comments
This sad comment from HCP on the post How to Resist Pediatrician Pro-Vaccination Tactics:
There is something I really do not comprehend about the anti-vaccine population…not one of you has a medical degree. Have you ever noticed that all physicians and nurses vaccinate their children. “Don’t go to a pediatrician???” Are you really suggesting taking your child to a family practice where they have not been properly school in pediatric illnesses? Don’t get me wrong…I have met some wonderful family docs in my practice, but they certainly are not specialists in the very different world of pediatrics vs. adult healthcare. I am just so flabbergasted at the comments and “facts” you think you know. 50 years from now, the world is going to be a very scary place plagued with illnesses we could have prevented. Thanks for putting my children in danger, your children in danger, and our children’s children in danger because of your ignorance. I am all about people’s rights, but I have to say….it may come to the point where we make vaccination a law. Because if you think about it, not vaccinating your child is an act of child abuse. End of story.
HCP, there are plenty of folks with a medical degree that are against vaccination. I personally know several medical doctors in my local area alone that are either against vaccination entirely or recommend at least delaying the vaccination schedule or doing shots one at a time instead of using multi-dose vials. One of the most popular posts on this blog is written by an MD: If You Are In Support of Vaccinations, Read This if You Dare.
As far as nurses being pro-vax, I know plenty of them who are vehemently opposed to shots. Over half of MDs and nurses did not give the Swine Flu jab to their own kids and did not even want it for themselves. The tide of public opinion is definitely swaying against the ever growing, “one size fits all” vaccination schedule, most especially by highly educated people and professionals with medical degrees,
When I first decided to not vaccinate my children 13 years ago, only 2-3% of parents refused shots. Now, 40% or so of parents are openly refusing, questioning or delaying shots. This will only continue given the skyrocketing cases of autoimmune illness that parents are realizing through their own research are actually cases of vaccine damage.
The head scratching support of the useless medical specialty called Pediatrics and the condescending tone of this comment leads me to think that it was written by none other than a Pediatrican. Also, the fact that the commenter called not vaccinating children an act of child abuse – typical Pediatric scare tactics. Just another reason to only go to Family Docs! Many Pediatricians are so brainwashed by their own perceived greatness that they have lost their ability to deal humanly with patients or to see the writing on the wall that what they have learned and believed about vaccines is, in fact, turning many children into autoimmune disease ridden zombies.
Definitely a hard pill to swallow which is why most of them stay in a perpetual state of denial and are being increasingly fired by their patients in favor of the more open minded Family Doctors and Osteopathic Physicians (DOs).
I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of The Weekly Comment Spotlight. I will be reading every single comment over the next week to put together another thought provoking edition to be posted next Friday.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
|
|
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
And I’m sure the world will be a very scary place when a few generations from now everyones a mutant from all the processed garbage, synthetic chemicals, and genetic engineering done by the previous generations.
Humans evolved with viruses and germs and by taking a “scorch the earth” attitude towards them we’re making ourselves ill and upsetting a natural balance that needs to exist for good health.
Hey, if that person’s kids are getting the vaccinations and they work how are we putting their children in danger? I had someone tell me that not giving my child alternating tylenol and motrin for a fever was child abuse. Whatever people. Giving them something that keeps their body from working and making them sick for a longer period of time is more like child abuse.
I’ve never treated a fever and my kids have never had one lasting longer than 18 hours. Coincidence? I’ll go with…no.
Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama\’s last post: Monday Health & Wellness- Got Eggs
Good point. These are desperate arguments from desperate people who don’t have the facts on their side to support their point of view so they resort to personal attacks instead.
I am loving these Weekly Comment Spotlight posts Sarah! Thanks!
I love these weekly comments! I admire your clear and logical rebuttals! You go girl!!!
Lori\’s last post: Flank Steak Fajitas
I’m with you that the vaccination comment was pretty bone headed.
As we always say in our house, the Western Medical Profession is filled with Doctors of Medicine, NOT Doctors of Health. They are fantastic at prescribing meds, but terrible at keeping you out of a situation where they might be called for.
People can be so ignorant. I can’t say I’m 100% either way (vaccination or not), however I do see the potential risks with either decision (if of course you’ve taken the time to research the risks, as it seems HCP did not). Either way, to vaccinate or to not vaccinate is such a personal decision. It’s beginning to rank up there with religion and politics. I think in several years we’ll have a more conclusive answer when we can study the difference between adults who had vaccinations and those who did not.
I am new to your blog, having just come across it this past week, so I did not read your post on childhood vaccinations. However, reading that last boneheaded comment, I feel the need to speak up. We are relatively new in the area where we live and did a lot of asking around for good recommendations in finding doctors for our family. Our son’s pediatrician came highly recommended, but there were several flags that always made me uneasy. This past year she said it was time for our son’s vaccination updates. He’s 10. He had always been vaccinated in the past, but as I am learning more I had some questions for the doctor, not being sure that I wanted to go that route. There was no room for discussion with her and the conversation even felt threatening to me. I promptly found him a new doctor – the same family practice physician that both my husband and myself use. I was astonished at my son’s first visit with her. She gave him a much more thorough examination than he had ever received from any of his previous pediatricians. He has had an issue from the time he was a toddler that we have even had seen by specialists that, due to her care, is finally being resolved by a chiropractor. As far as the vaccinations are concerned, I was actually able to have an open discussion with her about it and said that she felt he was too young at this point to receive the next round of immunizations, anyhow. She gave me information, told me to research and said that we’d decide in a year’s time. She said that she would support our family’s decision either way we choose. We’ll never go to a pediatrician again.
Pam M\’s last post: If You Love Your Children
Pam, thank you for sharing this story. Parents have a much better chance of quality care and open minded discussion with Family Docs versus Pediatricians. Not saying there aren’t some excellent Pediatricians out there, but they are few and far between compared with Family Docs who seem to have the human touch and a better bedside manner as well as a broader knowledge of medicine than Pediatricians – a specialty that was created specifically to promote and administer vaccines.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: The Weekly Comment Spotlight
My daughter in law is an RN at a very large hospital here in California. She just earned her BSN a year ago and had several classes covering vaccines. Guess what? The teacher/nurse who taught it strongly suggested not giving your children all those vaccines at once and as far as hand sanitizing, recommends against the constant use for children. They do need to build up their immunity after all. My daughter in law signed a waiver for several years so that she did not have to take the flu shots, but last year, they really cracked down at her hospital. Either take the shot, or wear a mask during your entire 12 hour shift! Now she is in her second trimester of her first pregnancy and I’d imagine the OB/GYN will demand she be vaccinated and of course the baby’s doctor will demand the new baby be also. UGH! I’m so glad I didn’t have this pressure raising children. Just the few vaccines they gave my babies in the ’80′s was hard enough. What an awful thing for parents to have to endure these days.
Wowsers. It always makes me shake my head when people say stuff like that. I just saw on facebook the other day the daughter of a friend of mine just came down w/Chicken Pox. One of the comments was someone said something like “wow, people still get that?!” and my friend said “yeah, AND she has all her shots!” I wanted to say something so bad, but figured whatever I said would probably not be well received.
Becky\’s last post: Scriptures for Pregnancy and Birth
Still not loving your decision to refer to the unenlightened as Boneheads.
Julie, as I explained in last week’s Comment Spotlight post .. the comments are boneheaded. I am not calling the people themselves boneheads. Being politically correct is not what this blog is all about. We call it what it is here.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: The Weekly Comment Spotlight
Count this RN in the crowd that doesn’t vaccinate, and I take my child to an MD who also doesn’t…..I think you are right on track Sarah and think some people just don’t see the world as it really is….love the series!
As far as the “unenlightened” are concerned, who’s responsibility is it to become “enlightened” if not their own? If one chooses to stay ignorant, as in not aware of the facts, why not a call it as it is. That is a choice as is all else so why be so polite about it.
The night before my son came home from the hospital (2 1/2 months premature), his nurse and I were talking. She told me she agreed with our decision NOT to give him HepB, she thought it was a ridiculous and worthless vaccine for a newborn baby. Not to mention the fact that they offered it when my son was less than 5 pounds, and not even “due” yet. No way.
Sarah – Love your comments. You give me courage to rebut boneheads! Do you have time to comment on this: http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/10/berezow.e.coli.raw.food/index.html?iref=allsearch
Thanks – K
If a pediatrician accuses you of child abuse for not vaccinating on the current schedule, ask the doctor if he or she will personally (1) guarantee the vaccine will not harm your child and (2) guarantee the vaccine will actually prevent your child from contracting the disease in question.
Sarah, I am so eager to try some of your wonderful recipes. But we have a problem here. For medical reasons we cannot use ANY sugar in this household. We can only use xylitol or stevia. Would you please include in your recipes a note about how to make a stevia substitution? We would so much appreciate that!! Thanks you. Ocoee
I just wanted to note that not ALL DOs are actually open-minded. You need to ask questions of them just as you would any doctor. I chose a DO to deliver my first baby for this very reason and she was incredibly medical-minded and forced many unnecessary interventions on me, leading to an unhappy birth experience. She was very much “my way or else” and even told me at one point that if I didn’t want my water broken, I could just go home, because “this is a hospital, we move things along here.” We ultimately switched to a practice of CPMs and have our babies at home now.
Just saying…a person’s degree is no guarantee of their frame of mind. Always, always ask. And SWITCH immediately if needed!
Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama\’s last post: Monday Health & Wellness- Got Eggs
I must tell you about an incident concerning the comment that “all pediatricians and nurses” vaccinate their kids. My daughter took her new baby to her first checkup and was kind of harassed by the doctor for her decision in not vaccinating. I was with her, and took the baby out to the vehicle while my daughter set up the next well-check appointment. The nurse there took my daughter aside and told her not to let him bully her, that she (the nurse) had never had her son vaccinated and he (now 21) was fine! And, that the doctor had actually lied to my daughter about “it being policy” for them to give all babies their vaccines. She said there were a number of parents who had elected not to. The nurse also asked my daughter not to say anything because she could get fired for telling her that!
I think that it’s not accurate to put doctors or nurses, or parents for that matter, into “pro-vax” or “anti-vax” categories. I think a lot of doctors and nurses have supported vaccinations, but they are starting to see how out of control it has gotten in the past 5-10 years. They want to do what they feel is in the best interest of the patient, or child, but they are starting to see a lot of red flags regarding the amount of vaccinations that are now being recommended.
Our 5 kids have very limited vaccinations. We have a great doctor, who is a general practitioner (not a pediatrician) and is regularly voted as one of the best doctors in Arizona (and he is not an alternative doctor, just a regular DO). He has been so patient and understanding with our decision not to vaccinate. He gave me some great literature that was very neutral, just stating the facts (it’s hard to find completely honest information regarding vaccinations on both sides of the argument. I very much trust his opinion and he has told me the ones that he feels are really necessary and the ones that are not. He did not give his own kids the Hep shot in the hospital.
I have also had contact with doctors who are the complete opposite, mainly an ER doctor that had give my son 33 stitches. My son did get a tetanus shot that day because of the type of injury he had and he had not had his DTP previously to this. But, I feel like that ER doctor was less than honest with us about the vaccinations and tried to basically scare us into getting some other vaccines for our son at the ER that night (including threatening to call child protective services because of neglect. Of course he didn’t because he knew he was completely in the wrong and didn’t have a leg to stand on). That is one of my biggest problems with the pro-vaccine arguments is that sometimes it’s just plain lies. I don’t know how many time I’ve heard on the radio that you have to get your child vaccinated to attend a public school in AZ and that is just plain not true. My kids have attended public without vax’s, you just have to sign a waiver.
I just wish there could be some honest discussions about these issues. And if they ever do make it a law that we have to vaccinate our kids, Heaven help us.
I enjoyed reading your take on the issue, Lanise. Thank you for sharing.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: The Weekly Comment Spotlight