You know….the stuff in Tea, Coffee, Red Wine…and some White Wines too.  How do I know?  I have been really sick from ingesting them. Who knew that Chardonnay had all that Oak in it????

Tea with Cream

I have devised a plan to drink my Tea though.  I am so hooked on drinking Tea.  I do not care if I have it hot or cold.  I love it as my drink.

I do have to put cream…or some kind of dairy product…in it, to drink it though.

You see when I was still in University in Michigan, I studied a bit of Botany.  I did a project on Oak and one of the things I found out in my research of Oak was that it contained Tannins.  Most people already know that but the part that was helpful knowledge here for me, was that Tannins bind to proteins.

Now I have some information I can work with.  If  Tannins bind to proteins, then when I make a cup of Tea for myself,  I put in my required amount of raw sugar and then I put a healthy helping of milk or cream in it as well. This means when the proteins in the milk reach the Tannins, the Tannins bind to the proteins in the milk and combined they are a different compound. This means that when my physiological immune system detects that I have ingested something into my esophagus, it will detect a compound not of  Tannins, but of Tannins already combined with something else and not readily available for an allergic reaction. I have taken care of my problem of being allergic to my favorite drink substance.

It is also easier on my stomach….Hold on here just a minute…I must go and make myself some Tea….I will be right back.

Okay, there now.  Well, it does seem to help me…..besides the Tannins, Tea has those great bioflavanoids. Tea is just full of antioxidants. No, I do not drink the Green Tea as my main Tea.  I am so partial to Tetley Tea….It is the only one that does not seem to be so strong and bitter like the others.  I must say though, Bigelow makes a great Green Tea that is Peach flavored, that even men like the taste of.

My Iced Tea with Cream always looks like Kaluha and Cream ;-P

I also managed to find a White Wine that I could drink. You gotta love German wine.  Well, at least I gotta love it because it is all I get to have.  I love my Piesporter Michelsberg, my Liebfraumilch and my Riesling.  It goes well with the foods I eat.  All of the foods I eat.  haha. I do not have it very often but it is very nice when I do.  Many people say they are too sweet, but I do not taste the sweet in them like I do in the Zinfandel and other White Wines that I have tried.  I think Pinot Grigio tastes like rubbing alcohol, a bad taste for me.

About now you are saying, how do I know if I am allergic to Tannins?  That is not surprising because most people never talk about some of the lesser known allergic reactions, like rage.

Rage or aggressiveness is definitely an allergic reaction.  Not all rage and aggression, but even with someone who gets drunk and then becomes very aggressive to the point of rage.  Sometimes it is because they are allergic to what they are drinking.  If a man, or woman, drinks Whiskey and becomes enraged, then when they drink Rum or Vodka and pass out in the corner like a teddy bear, there is a distinct possibility they are allergic to what the Whiskey is made from or has in it.  Most Whiskey is aged in an oak container, hence it is full of  Tannins.  Jameson Irish Whiskey is the only Whiskey I have ever heard of that is not aged in an oak container.

My point here is that we need to know about these allergies.  And especially right now when companies like Ajinomoto OmniChem are making  Tannins especially to put into juices, soft drinks, lemonades.  Ajinomoto OmniChem  have been making state-of-the-art food-grade Tannins  for 50 years that are widely used as stabilizing process-aids in the brewing industry, but are also recognized worldwide as benchmark products is the wine industry.

They are not the only company doing this but something that so many people might be allergic to and do not even know it does not sound like a good idea to me.  Maybe I am the odd one here but I think not.  I believe there are many people who have allergic reactions they do not even know they are having.

It is just that I read this article about them now going to be putting these Tannins into more products.  What can I say.  I absolutely must go totally organic now.

From learning about alternative energy sources to healthy vitamins and minerals in our food, Mother wants to help you all.  , Learning what foods are good for us and which foods we should avoid is a very good thing to teach your children, however many people do not.  For some reason it is not taught in the public school systems, and some parents do not even know themselves.

Living In The Forest

One of Mother’s Sisters can go out into the woods where she lives, and exist without taking anything with her to eat. She knows what plants to eat and which ones not to eat.  She even likes to eat possum, rabbit, and raccoon.  Of course the art of killing to eat an animal is not as easy as it sounds.  There are plenty of books written on the subject though.

When Mother is asked about what to do for someone and their health, she turns to homeopathy first because it has helped Mother the most, without side effects.  Mother seemed to get into trouble most times she was prescribed medicine from her MDs.  It kind of seems like she was drawn into this love of learning how to stay healthy.  Mother had to find alternative medications to what she needed to solve because she was always having a reaction to the doctors pills.  She would get a bad reaction usually.  Some kind of allergic reaction would creep up on her after she took medicines.  Sometimes even an immunological reaction would happen, or she would find she was unable to breathe.  All bad signs for health.

Now Mother just wants to spread the good words of how to take care of problems when a doctor is not available or learn how to stay healthy.  She has learned how to keep herself healthy and prevent all these unnecessary doctor visits. (There are some however that must be made).

Most of all, the knowledge of how to prevent illnesses is all the rage theses days and it seems many people have taken up following the same path as Mother had to go in her lifetime.

Now Mother has even more people to share her knowledge with in the world.  Mother truly enjoys helping others.

Peas Growing Live

I loved my beans and my peppers, my peas and my tomatoes.  My peas had such a hard time making to the kitchen because I would eat them while I was in the garden. But my butternut squash was the most interesting plant.  I stared in awe at the great big leaves and the little tiny gourds when they bloomed out of the flowers.

This is the most satisfying thing I had ever done.  The lettuce was out of this world…..fresh lettuce was heavenly.  And plenty for me to tell the neighbors to come by and grab some lettuce when they needed some.

My most striking crop to grow was my cucumbers.  They

Freshly Picked Peas from the Garden

were the ones that made me think I had not done this properly.  They were such a lighter color inside and oh my, they were good.  I never managed to make pickles but I did think about it.  I was in college with a full load in my thirties, competing with all those 18 year old kids in my classes, and I was working a 40 hour a week job in the laboratory for the state, I did not have time to make pickles as badly as I wanted them. I got up extra early every single morning to water my plants before I went to my classes or to work. and I watered, or pruned them, in the afternoon in between classes and work, or after work.

I love having my hands in the dirt.  I guess that is why when I was a child, my favorite toy was a spoon to dig in the dirt…I could have more fun with a spoon than anything that was from the toy store.

Red Hot Chile Peppers

As I got my red chile peppers grown and picked, I then put them into the dehydrator so that I could have red pepper flakes.  That worked all fine and dandy until I put them into the blender  and opened the blender without a face mask over my nose, eyes and mouth…What a whiff of fire I got in my mucous membranes that day.

I can find so many things to grow and eat and cook with.  This is something I may never get over and must have for the rest of my life.  I must have my garden of food.