A list of books I have recently read

The Vitamin D Solution by Michael F. Holick
*Very important information on the hormone that we all lack.

No Wonder My Parents Drank by Jay Mohr
*Very funny and surprisingly touching and inspiring.

I Will Carry You by Angie Smith
*A sad and touching book about the loss of a child. Wonderfully written.

How Do You Tuck in a Superhero by Rachel Balducci
*A fun read about a family with 5 boys.

Stay Home, Stay Happy by Rachel Campos-Duffy
*Wonderful book about the ups and downs of staying home with the kids.

Dental Health

I finished reading Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel a few days ago. It discusses the reasoning behind tooth decay and how mainstream dentistry has it wrong. Or is at least misguided.

His basic take on tooth decay is that it is caused by lack of nutrition in the body. Basic nutrients (like phosphorus, calcium and magnesium) are limited or unavailable from the diet so the body takes them from bones (teeth) or wherever it can. He rejects that tooth decay is solely due to bacteria in the mouth. Instead the teeth reflect the health of the rest of the body.

So with this thought the way to cure (or prevent!) tooth decay is with a proper diet. What does this include? Fresh organic vegetables, grass-fed meats, free-range eggs, whole raw dairy products and limited consumption of organic fruits and soaked/sprouted nuts, seeds, and grains. Very similar to a primal way of life.

This is a MUST read for everyone, particularly parents with young children, and especially parents with children already showing signs of tooth decay.

Additional information about Nagel and his book can be found here.

1918 Flu Pandemic

I read The Great Influenza by John M. Barry at the beginning of the year. Wow, did it scare me. But it was very, very interesting and has convinced me of the importance of vaccines.

There is new light on why so many people may have died so quickly and so violently. Aspirin overdose.

The Journal of the American Medical Association suggested a dose of 1,000 milligrams every three hours, the equivalent of almost 25 standard 325-milligram aspirin tablets in 24 hours. This is about twice the daily dosage generally considered safe today.

The pharmacology of aspirin is complex and was not fully understood until the 1960s, but dosage is crucial. Doubling the dose given at six-hour intervals can cause a 400 percent increase in the amount of the medicine that remains in the body. Even quite low daily doses — six to nine standard aspirin pills a day for several days — can lead to dangerously high blood levels of the drug in some people.

Hmm. Quite an interesting lead. It's very possible that some people took 2, 3, even 4 times the recommendation to avoid death from the flu. As they say in the article, it's probably not the reason for most deaths but can explain some, particularly deaths of the young and very healthy.

Danny Dietz

I need to re-read Marcus Luttrell's book Lone Survivor. It is an awesome depiction of how our Navy Seals fight abroad for our freedoms here in the United States.

Danny Dietz was one of his fellow Frogman who showed incredible bravery and gave the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow Seals and for our country. He was also raised here in Colorado and has a memorial in Littleton.

Dietz will soon have a highway named after him.

Read the book and thank God that there are men like him!