Peanuts Cause Alzheimer’s Disease

Roland Hedley of Fox News reported today that researchers in the Department of Human Medicine at Michigan State University School of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences have determined that Alzheimer’s Disease is caused by eating peanuts. In a rigorous analysis of the dietary habits of more than 3,500 patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, they found that peanut consumption is inversely related to age of onset of Alzheimer’s. The higher the consumption of peanuts, the earlier the subjects in the study developed the disease. Those who never ate peanuts did not develop Alzheimer’s at all!

The cause of Alzheimer’s, it appears, is a fungus that grows inside the shell of all peanuts called trichophyton rubrum. Coincidentally, this is the same fungus that grows under toenails, causing dermatophytic onychomycosis or tinea unguium. Patients who chewed their toenails were at much higher risk of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Some toenail chewers developed Alzheimer’s as early as 16 to 18 years of age.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a controversial preliminary ruling that peanuts are a toxic substance that will be banned for human consumption. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has objected to the rule, demanding that it also ban animal consumption of peanuts.

The governor of Georgia, which is the nation’s number one producer of peanuts, also condemned the FDA’s action. The governor’s office released a statement that the 75-year-old governor had eaten massive quantities of peanuts all his life and had suffered no ill effects. “I’m no scientist,” Gov. John Deal proclaimed, “But I’ve eaten – What do you call those little beans that come in shells? – all my life and no government official is going to take my gun away from me. Georgia will secede from the union before it gives up its peaches.”

Pres. Barack Obama, who is known for serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at White House luncheons, stated that he is switching to Nutella to protect official guests. Ted Cruz, Republican candidate for president, said, “I’m no scientist, but if old people stopped eating peanuts there would be no problem.” Donald Trump, also a Republican candidate for president, stated, “I’m no scientist, but we need stop allowing diseased, criminal Mexican peanuts into this country.”

Contributed by Guest Blogger Moon Mullins

My Family’s Favorite “Norwegian” Thin Pancakes

My daughter asked me to make a special family treat for breakfast this morning–thin pancakes. This breakfast is always special in our family. My grandmother, who was dearly loved, would surprise us with thin pancakes on holidays when everyone was together. Because she was Norwegian, we always referred to them as Norwegian Thin Pancakes. Making them is a connection for me to an earlier, happy time, as I hope it is for my children. Despite being easy and inexpensive, thin pancakes are real gourmet fare.

Similar to crêpes, these pancakes can be spread or filled with fruit, whipped cream, jam, jelly, butter, sugar, cottage cheese, pudding, or any combination to make a delicious breakfast or dessert. By cutting down on the sugar and filling them with vegetables or meat, they make an interesting dinner dish. The pancakes can be frozen for later use or the batter can be kept for up to a week in the refrigerator or several months in the freezer. It is wise to practice these before trying to impress your in-laws, but two or three batches can turn a tyro into a master pancake maker.

Ingredients:
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
4 jumbo (or 5 large) eggs
2 to 3 c. 2% or whole milk (can be sour)
2-3 T. butter (to be used in the pan and to eat on the pancakes)

Implements:
10″ well-seasoned black iron skillet or crêpes pan
Large, rounded, non-serrated table knife or long, narrow spatula (I use a stainless steel implement that looks like a large tongue-depressor.)
Ladle or spoon to measure two ounces of batter at a time
Plate covering sauce pan filled with boiling water to keep pancakes hot until served.

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl with a large sturdy spoon to make a heavy dough without lumps. I add one egg at a time until all of the flour has been worked into a doughy mass similar to bread dough, then work in one more egg. Stir and gradually add milk until the batter has the consistency of heavy cream.

Heat skillet until drops of water sprinkled on it sizzle. Place a very small pat of butter (just enough to coat the bottom) in the skillet and spread the butter with a rolling motion. If the butter turns brown before you can add the batter, the skillet is too hot. Gently pour two ounces of batter into the skillet and spread the batter to coat the bottom with the same rolling motion. In about 35 seconds, the pancake will be ready to be turned. Run the knife around the edge of the pancake and gently work the knife under the pancake. If the pancake is ready to be turned, it will be slightly brown on the underside and will not stick. After turning, the pancake needs only about 15 seconds before it is done. Flip the pancake onto the hot plate. I start serving when I have six or eight pancakes ready. Allow three to four pancakes per person, so the above recipe will serve about four.

The pancake should be less than ¼” thick, supple, and only slightly browned. If the pancakes tear too easily, that usually indicates that the batter is too thin or was made with too few eggs. If they are difficult to roll, that indicates that they were cooked too long. Happy eating.

I would like to add a note about the black iron skillet. I am not a Luddite; I am comfortable with most new things. But I never, ever use non-stick cookware. A well-seasoned black iron skillet is the world’s most useful and durable cooking implement–food does not stick and it is easy to clean. Just rinse the pan with very hot water and use a scouring pad to remove any food that does not rinse away. Do not use soap! By cooking in a black iron skillet or pan, you avoid the danger of noxious chemicals from non-stick surfaces and actually add iron to your diet.

 

John B. Payne, Attorney
Garrison LawHouse, PC
Dearborn, Michigan 313.563.4900
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 800.220.7200
law-business.com

 

©2011 John B. Payne, Attorney

 

 

Let Them Eat Salad–and Steak

My recent post about Angus beef was based on the assumption that it is OK to whack animals and eat them. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals would argue that I am the moral equivalent of a producer of “crush” videos because I eat meat. I agree that meat producers like Tyson Fresh Meats, which raise their animals in inhumane cages or feedlots, packing their food with hormones and antibiotics, are run by greedy fiends. However, it is possible to raise and slaughter animals humanely.

Meat animals—kine, swine, poultry, sheep, and so forth—are part of the food chain. They are the natural prey of feline and canine predators. It is no more inhumane to kill a steer and eat it than it would be to let it roam around wild to be killed and eaten by a pack of wolves or a cougar. It is cruel to raise animals in cramped cages or pens where they cannot move, are forced to stand in pools of excrement, and are force-fed hormones and antibiotics. However, it would be similarly cruel to allow them to breed indiscriminately in the wild so that they overload their habitat and die of disease and starvation.

Vegans seem to think that if we stop raising animals for the table cows and pigs and sheep will live in sunny pastures, cared for by loving vegetarians and attentive veterinarians. That is a pipe dream. In the absence of a demand for meat there would be no suitable habitat for grazing animals because ranchers would have no financial incentive or means to establish pastures. Pigs would become foraging marauders that would need to be kept out of cities and towns with substantial fences extending at least a half meter into the ground. Outside of protected areas, they would be dangerous. Sheep would probably fare better and create fewer problems, but they would still be subject to sickness and food shortages because no one would care for them.

Our domesticated meat animals are far different from their feral progenitors. If farmers stopped raising them, the species would die out or struggle to survive in the wild. Is that preferable to humanely raising them for their milk, eggs, meat and leather?

The objective should be to stamp out factory farming, not stop the consumption of animal products. Write your legislator today: not to make it illegal to eat animals, but to ban raising them in ways that are abusive to the animals, destructive of the environment, and unhealthy for the consumer. Oh, and pass me another grass-fed hamburger.

 

John B. Payne, Attorney
Garrison LawHouse, PC
Dearborn, Michigan 313.563.4900
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 800.220.7200
law-business.com

 

©2010 John B. Payne, Attorney

 

 

Say “Angus” Like It Means Something

Driving by McDonald’s today, I noticed that the store was advertising “Angus” hamburgers. Restaurants, grocery stores, butcher shops (yes, there are a few left) and fast-food joints are touting “Certified Angus Beef” as if that meant something. In fact, whether a steak or a hamburger comes from an Angus steer or a Brahmin, Blonde d’Aquitaine, Charolais or Hereford, makes no difference at all. The important question is: What was the animal fed?

Any information technologist—or any half-way bright high school sophomore—is familiar with GIGO, garbage in, garbage out. The brand of computer is irrelevant to the quality of the result of the computation. Analysis of experimental data is only as good as the quality of data, itself. The computer can be a Dell, a Compaq, a Toshiba or a Commodore 64. If the data is good and the computer is capable of running the program, the result will be reliable. Feed in gibberish and the result will be gibberish.

Animals are the same. Feed an animal the right food and it will grow healthy and strong. Feed it garbage and it will be sickly and weak.

Cattle naturally eat grass. They have a multi-stage digestion system. The grass they eat goes into a pair of stomach chambers where it is softened. The solid part is regurgitated and chewed again so it can be digested. Cattle that are grass-fed are healthier and their meat is healthier to eat. Raising cattle on corn and other grains may be more “efficient” in that they gain weight more quickly and are fatter, but they must be fed massive doses of antibiotics to curb the proliferation of noxious bacteria due to the fact that they are eating the wrong food. Furthermore, feeding cattle grain changes the omega 6 and 3 ratio from a healthy 3:1, to a very unhealthy 24:1. The essential omega 3 and 6 fatty acid ratio in grass-fed beef is similar to that found in fish.

According to the New York Times, “Beef from grass-fed animals has lower levels of unhealthy fats and higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are better for cardiovascular health. Grass-fed beef also has lower levels of dietary cholesterol and offers more vitamins A and E as well as antioxidants.” Tara Parker Pope, “Switching to Grass-Fed Beef,” New York Times, March 11, 2010. She also points out that “meat from animals raised entirely on grass also had about twice the levels of conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, isomers, which may have cancer fighting properties and lower the risk of diabetes and other health problems.”

Pasturing cattle is also more humane and better for the environment than cramming them into feedlots where they eat grain laced with antibiotics and hormones and stand in pools of urine and excrement. The unhealthy conditions of feedlots contribute to food-borne illnesses like E coli.

Finally, grass-fed beef tastes better and does not cause that bloated, queasy feeling caused by a large portion of grain-fed beef. There really is a difference.

For more information, search for “grass-feed beef” on the Internet. Grass-fed beef is available at the following Michigan meat retailers:

Agemy & Sons Inc.
14730 Champaign Road
Allen Park, MI 48101-1617
(313) 382-3636

C. Roy, Inc.
444 Roy Dr.
Yale, MI 48097
(810)387-3957

Great Lakes Meat
810 Court Street
Cheboygan, MI 49721
(231) 627-7401

If you know of additional sources for grass-fed beef, please provide that information in a comment to this blog post.

 

John B. Payne, Attorney
Garrison LawHouse, PC
Dearborn, Michigan 313.563.4900
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 800.220.7200
law-business.com

 

©2010 John B. Payne, Attorney