Just ran across a nice southern article about eating the leaves as salad, and painting the skin with the toxic berry juice. I have been taught to use an alcohol extract of the root as a "lymphogogue" meaning it is supposed to stimulate lymph movement, or at least a strong immune response. Far as I know there is no science to support this use. The juices of the root are very strong and caustic, and it should not be handled with bare hands.

absorption iz stomach (25%)
metabolized to acetaldehyde by stomach and LI
rate limiting enzyme: gastric alcohol dehydrogenase
men have more of it than women, per pound body wt
metabolism of ethanol-->acetaldehyde-->acetate
one NAD+-->NADH with each of above oxidation rxns
drinking binge w/o food intake-->high NADH relative to NAD
and of course you remember that NADH is made from niacin, vitamin B3
alcohol abuse is the most common cause of thiamine deficiency, B1

( biochemistry, nutrition and pathology notes, merged with black book feb 2013Collapse )

Mercola sent out this warning. In his article he has an assortment of options for the person who would like to take action to prevent this outcome. Here:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/03/13/unlabeled-aspartame-use.aspx?e_cid=20130313_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130313
(*new tag for aspartame)

There are no poisons, only poisonous doses.
--Paracelsus

This is an old quote, but it comes fresh on my reading today that the FDA has reduced its recommended dosing for Zolpidem, that is, Ambien. Turns out, many people still had a lot of the drug in their blood in the morning, when they needed to function. Of course we the people already knew that. Women process the drug more slowly. And it also interacts in an unpleasant way with opiates. Many times modern medicine is guilty of overdosing people, especially as we get older and our liver and kidney function decline. So when in doubt, take the smallest possible dose, and if you're into homeopathy, take none and call it some.

A yes vote would require labeling of genetically modified foods and food ingredients. If you don't live in California, you may not know what a big deal this is. The Yes effort is a grassroots effort that I learned about by way of my friends in Cali and from Dr Mercola. There are six major funders of the No campaign; they are the six largest pesticide companies in the world. Fifty countries label GMO foods, but the US lags behind because of our close ties to megabusiness.

The latest news is that the pesticide companies (Monsanto et al) are attacking Dr Mercola personally. Dr Mercola's post details the plethora of nonsense they have propagated in order to confuse voters.

Unfortunately, when people are uncertain they tend to vote NO, but what we really need is a YES vote on this one. So tell your friends in California. It will do them no harm to require GMO products to be labelled, and having the ability to choose which foods they consume would do good.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE RICE FINDING
**eat less rice
**vary rice products with other grains
**eat a varied diet and don't fret
**rinse before cooking
**cook differently: boil in excess water and then strain (removes 30% of inorganic)
**limit cereals to one serving/day esp for babies
**avoid baby formula containing domestic rice
( notesCollapse )

Did you know that they have genetically engineered corn to produce insecticides? Yes. You can't wash THAT off.

Here's a list of the Food and Beverage Companies which sell organic/natural products while simultaneously giving mountains of cash to the Monsanto-driven campaign opposing GMO labeling in California (Prop 37):

Kellogg’s (Kashi, Bear Naked, Morningstar Farms)
General Mills (Muir Glen, Cascadian Farm, Larabar)
Dean Foods (Horizon, Silk, White Wave)
Smucker’s (R.W. Knudsen, Santa Cruz Organic)
Coca-Cola (Honest Tea, Odwalla)
Safeway (“O” Organics)
Kraft (Boca Burgers and Back to Nature)
Con-Agra (Orville Redenbacher’s Organic, Hunt’s Organic, Lightlife)
PepsiCo (Naked Juice, Tostito’s Organic, Tropicana Organic)

Let's bust 'em one where it counts: in the pocket book. The only trustworthy organic product is the one you make in your kitchen from known whole food sources. OCA and Mercola are both calling for this boycott, and I for one am going to participate. It's a good season to eat from the garden anyway. My only concern is what I'm going to mix with my bourbon. =-]

here:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/761557?src=mpnews&spon=12