Saving Her Life with Powerful PH!

It was early spring when our kitty's health began its slow decline. A rampant, urinary tract infection had been discovered, then, unmoved by the injectable antibiotic that had worked, two years earlier. Tiggy's hyperthyroidism, in a revised, powerful 2014 edition, was now at the center of this latest cruel intrusion into her life. This chronic 'killer' would begin to show us how truly cunning it was at killing our kitty, slowly, by literally 'eating' her to death. She weighed 8 pounds then, 2 pounds less than normal. ... (Left to die by the side of the road in winter -11 years ago - Tiggy now faced a new death threat to rival any other).

With a specialist's 'anorexic' diagnosis and inconclusive tests, we were left to deal with a medical crisis of untold dimension, whose treatment protocols seemed unclear. (Normal cells in her tiny body were acting pathogenic, I soon learned.) She'd rejected her YD prescription diet, in the canned version, earlier this year. I couldn't blame her. It looked and smelled awful. (Why can't 'they' pretend to be cats and then ask, "Would I like this crap for the rest of my hyperthyroid life?”) The YD dry version, for thyroid health, was still O.K. but rarely touched during daytime hours. (She had accepted it as a part of her night-time eating ritual.) ... A frantic search for high grade premium foods, with little or no iodine, was now underway. Getting her to eat anything to gain weight was crucial for her recovery. Raw cat food was offered, early on, in the hopes it would be the miracle cure we were looking for but, alas, after only two days, she refused it.

By the beginning of the summer, Tiggy's weight had plummeted 2 more pounds. ... She now weighed 6 pounds. Visits to my local pet store were soon becoming desperate attempts to find answers and food she could and would eat that might outsmart her hyperthyroid gland. ... She craved fish until its heinous, 'poisonous' intent was made clear: she would vomit, soon after, or the next day, its iodine content, a constant threat. Thirty types of meats dinners/dishes, within a five brand range, one organic, were tried, enjoyed, then ultimately refused. I was running out of time and 'inventory.' ... (My gut was telling me a story I did not want to hear! Was this the way it was going to end?) ... Veterinary medicine was keeping her alive, for now.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Tiggy was acting. I was reacting. Her enigma status stymied even her doctor of 11 years. ...  “Give her yogurt. It aids in digestion”, was all he said that morning, in late summer of 2014, as I entered, Global Pet, the store with such friendly, helpful staff. This simple, innocuous statement of fact became a pivotal moment in my life. ...  His wife then added, “If she believes that the food she is eating is making her sick, you must switch  immediately.” “Cats do not like to eat food they have already touched with their saliva” I was reminded. I listened, in rapt attention, ever so mindful of what these store owners, a dynamic duo working in tandem, were saying. They had been in the pet food industry for decades and had pets themselves. They just knew and understood. Fresh water, food variety, as necessary - mostly chicken based canned,  YD dry food, one layer at a time, all in very clean bowls, became my daily obsession.

By mid-September,Tiggy had lost another pound, weighing a paltry 5 pounds and facing certain death by starvation. ... Then the cavalry arrived! ... From the very beginning, we 'd been ever so fortunate to have the professional 'ear' of a family friend, 'Paul',  pet owner, veterinarian, scientist, professor and forensic animal pathologist, in his ever evolving stellar career. He's the author of numerous scientific papers and handbooks on the subject of animal toxicologic pathology. Having Paul guide us through this medical mystery was both an honour, comfort and a respite from the storm. His counsel changed the focus of this medical crisis for me, in an instant. "Sometimes, antibiotics can interfere with recovery and that hydration, and probiotics -pH-, as found in yogurt, are the all-important stars in healing and recovery," Paul would remark, many times. PH is that delicate balance of gut bacteria in the body. ... We must never underestimate its profound influence on human and animal health, he would remind me!

At 5 pounds and holding, Tiggy remained sensitive to touch and temperature. It was painful for me to watch. Petting her neck was akin to touching a razor's edge; her spine, like the long protruding edge of a serrated  bread knife. One morning, she went missing, momentarily. I envisioned finding her dead, having hidden under a sofa. In her fragile, weakened state, meowing was almost impossible. I wept, imagining the worst, but found her close by, waiting to be airlifted to safety. The elephant in the room, however, was still her malevolent hyperthyroid gland. I knew. She was eating but not gaining until the 'cure' arrived in an orange and white 500 gram container called Greek Yogurt. With 11 grams of protein, 9 grams of fat, this fermented dairy product was making history with Tiggy's life. She began to gain weight, as she licked this new creamy food with delight.

Yogurt is her life now, the appetizer before every meal and sometimes the meal itself. As Paul said to me  more than once, “PH  is often overlooked' in treatment protocols. I thought for a moment, then realized “ It is always overlooked” Laboratory results rarely concerned him. He would know. It was the overall health picture that mattered more, over time. Being a forensic-pathologist, he was faced with solving a health mystery with living tissue, a slight departure from his normal routine. "Look for Lactobacillus or Acidophilus on the label." he said. (My yogurt had one.) I had been supported by three 'experts' who guided me through a crisis, with no end in sight. They all knew! They just knew! Paul made it all make sense. I now understood: we had gone beyond conventional veterinary medicine to a place where no man had gone before. ...

Most cats would have died, I was told, and most owners would not have bothered to find a solution to the crime. By November 23, our precious little girl weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 8 ounces, strong, playful and acting like a cat with a mission statement. Traditional treatment protocols had kept her in a perpetual holding pattern for months. ... What helped Tiggy win the race, however, was plain, high fat, Greek yogurt, with its magical, medicinal pH factor. Paul explained the profound power of PH on health. It literally changed my life and gave Tiggy back hers!!

White Rice and "Stone Soup"

The other day, while remembering the children's classic, Stone Soup, I began thinking the absurd. Strangely enough, could white rice be the modern day equivalent to the stone in Stone Soup? ... 

In the fable, Stone Soup, hungry travelers arrive at a village looking for food. No one, however, wants to help. The strangers' only hope lies with a stone, a pot, and an incredible imagination. ... As the villagers watch, with curiosity and delight, they are told how much better the 'soup' would be if each person in the town would contribute something to the 'aromatic' mixture the strangers are cooking. Of course, there is no real soup until the villagers share their morsels of food, one by one, into the 'soup' pot, to the absolute joy of the hungry travelers.

In the last few years we have been told to stay away from white foods because of their harmful effects on our health. ... White foods are of no benefit, we are reminded, time and time again. They are of no nutritional value- much like the stone in Stone Soup! 

Is white rice, the current dietary focus, now a needless food, outright? There is, of course, wild rice, brown rice, calrose  rice, and red, to name a few of the many types of rice. But my attention is on white rice, the many white types available, that we buy, repeatedly. It is an affront to human dignity, however, to take aim at this much maligned yet life sustaining white food that has fed and continues to feed billions of the world's population. 

It seems to me that once the 'secret' got out that we were getting fatter and unhealthier, the detectives on the case decided to find out why and decided to place all of the blame on white foods. It would create the perfect scapegoat they were looking for. Under the guise of 'new and improved taste sensation', we also have ingenious attempts to manipulate us into buying reformulated products as if they have been made nutritionally superior. That is not always the case. We are foolish in our thinking. 

Are 'redesigned' recipes simply a ploy to house more sinister additives, preservatives, colours, chemically created flavours for us to eat more of and enjoy? Could be. Are we enticed by the exciting colourful label or the happy, smiling family in the television commercial? Is white rice a plague in our diet like these laboratory created foods? It is up to us to improve rice's health benefits through our personal 'tampering' efforts!. ... Is it a food that beckons, ''fix me". I'm ready.

Years ago, while watching a program about the food industry, the head of a Canadian regional grocery association representing this industry, commented that 10,000 new products were made every year. I thought for a moment. How could that be? There are only 5 food groups: - fruits/ vegetables/ breads/meats, fish/ dairy- more if you place beans/legumes in a separate category. Over a period of 5 years, that would be 50,000 new products. How does that happen unless we go outside of mother nature's garden for that sinister creative touch! We seem to fault white foods for ill health while allowing sinister creativity to invade the kitchen via the fun foods we buy from the grocery or frozen food aisle.

I enjoy basmati, calrose and jasmine white rice.. Painting a tale of woe if I deign to eat this 'universal' white carbohydrate staple is unfair and makes a mockery of history, its people and the food that has fed the earth. Rice is grown not factory produced. Though I have a low functioning thyroid, I am quite cognizant of this gland's unique properties. It has fed the world with a myriad of fruits and veggies steamed or fried with it.  Healthy eating is the name of the health game. including ingredients to offset the malaise inherent in white rice is waht we strive to achieve. 

My cupboard is full of spices while my left-handed brain is full of ideas. When I make cabbage rolls, I use a mixture of jasmine and basmati rices, heavily spiced with turmeric (the brain spice) in the water with 'healthy' textural taste sensations of onions, garlic, celery, as travelling companions with dill, a common addition. Experimentation should be the goal.Wow! Flavour is through the roof and I did not use a stone in making this 'white' dish. 

My father would only eat cabbage rolls made with buckwheat kasha. I never did. The only way I eat this incredible grain is with sautéed onions with butter added. It is a meal unto itself! Rumour has it that this incredible grain separates itself from others as it has both incomplete and complete protein for a balanced diet. It probably saved the life of my preemie son, born over 3 months in 1979. I was sick daily and non-stop but buckwheat kasha allowed me to reign in emissis to 'save a life'. 

It behooves all of us to take our food choices seriously, at all times. Our highly processed 'modern' diet seems to exclude 'real' spices and turmeric, in particular and many times the box in which our favourite food is contained simply lists 'spices' on the side panel of the box to mask its secrecy, perhaps? We have a right to know all of it, in detail.

Cauliflower is white. Green onions, leeks and parsnips are white, too. Onions and garlic, the super foods of our diet are also white and are considered a probiotic in their raw state! One of the newest kids in the white food neighbourhood, is white beans, considered another food superstar as it supercharges metabolism and alters carb absorption. Funny, all of these white foods were born that way yet some of them are added, many times, to increase the nutritional status of many 'colourful'  vegetables for dinnertime enjoyment! 

Though a mix of colour is the goal of a healthy diet, let us not shy away from white foods.  We can alter their nutrient status, if necessary. Though white rice might be considered taboo, let it be known it is made by mother nature as well and many times, is 'polished'  by the food industry behemoths to 'clean it up', thereby making it more appealing to us. (Also the outer leaves of lettuce, romaine and cabbage are removed to look pretty. I'm sorry but those leaves can be full of nutrients) 

In French cooking, we have the 'mother' of white foods, the béchamel sauce. The French are noted for healthy lifestyles, including red wine, artisan baguettes. Their diets are balanced and the 'white' sauce, 'white' French breads, baguettes are simply side dishes to the meal, not the meal itself! ... White foods are not to blame for our ill health. We are!

The travellers in Stone Soup might have been somewhat deceitful in their purpose, but they certainly managed to get a whole village to gather together to contribute to the  awesome wholesome goodness of their originally nutritionally devoid insipid stone soup. Well, from where I stand, white rice doesn't even come close. We just need to respect its glorious past then cook it with intention and integrity!