Once again something good is coming out of a bad thing.
The upside in this tainted-milk-from-China disaster is that women are realizing the merits of breastfeeding.
This is good because breastfeeding was becoming a vanishing practice here in the Philippines. In a forum last year, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said studies show that less and less Filipino mothers are breastfeeding because of the power of false, malicious claims being peddled by multinational milk companies.
Duque said 10 years ago, 65 percent of Filipino mothers were known to be breastfeeding. Now their number is down to 16 percent.
What is alarming is that bottle feeding has become a status symbol in the barrios. Once their economic situation improves (probably due to a member of the family working abroad), mothers immediately shift to milk formula for their babies. It’s a pity because study after study affirms that breast-fed babies have fewer illnesses and are better nourished than those who are fed other drinks and foods.
As everybody knows by now, milk from China has been found to contain melamine, an industrial chemical used by unscrupulous milk manufacturers as substitute ingredients and extenders. Melamine causes stone to form in kidneys. Four babies in China have died and some 54,000 children have developed kidney stones or other illnesses after drinking melamine-laced baby formula.
The Bureau of Food and Drugs last week banned 54 milk products that are being subjected for melamine substance test. Many are dismayed because many in the list are popular brands.
Milk from China has been banned in many countries including Europe. Because of China’s massive global trade and the practice of out-sourcing, the extent of the food contamination is mind-boggling. Associated Press reported that the Hong Kong government issued a statement last Friday it found traces of melamine in the products in Heinz baby cereal. Although Heinz’s main headquarters is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the baby cereal is manufactured in China. Heinz has ordered a recall of the product.
AP also reported that in Japan, the Marudai Food Co. pulled its cream buns, meat buns and creamed corn crepes from supermarkets a week ago after tests found traces of contamination in several products.
In Macau, Koala’s March cookies made by Lotte China Foods Co., a member of a Tokyo-based conglomerate Lotte Group, were found to have melamine at 24 times the safety limit.
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Two years ago, I reprinted an article by Allison Kaplan Sommer in an Israeli publication about lemon grass (tanglad) with my personal testimony that I have been drinking it since I survived ovarian cancer.
Sommer’s article said researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev discovered that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemon grass kills cancer cells in vitro, while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Citral is the key component that gives the lemony aroma and taste in several herbal plants such as lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), melissa (Melissa officinalis) and verbena (Verbena officinalis.)
According to one of the researchers, Dr. Rivka Ofir, the study found that citral causes cancer cells to “commit suicide: using apoptosis, a mechanism called programmed cell death.” A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to prompt the cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.
Lemon grass tastes pleasant but is a little bland. To make it a little more biting, try adding ginger (luya).
Someone also sent me this article about ginger by John Susan Saradon. It says that a recent University of Michigan study showed that when ginger was added to ovarian cancer cells in the laboratory, it caused the cancer cells to self-destruct (a process known as apoptosis).
In a separate study at the University of Minnesota, researchers injected colon cancer cells into mice that were bred to have no immune system. Half of these mice were routinely fed gingerol, the main active component in ginger. The researchers found that the mice that were fed gingerol lived longer, their tumors were smaller, and the cancer did not spread as widely as in the control group.
I got an e-mail from Arlene Zaldivar, senior secretary at The Hospital for Sick Children in California, saying she juices her ginger. “Two or three days a week, I juice an apple or two, some carrots, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, and a big piece of ginger root. The ginger gives the drink a great flavor and a powerful anti-cancer kick. I highly recommend that you try it,” she said.
Like tanglad, luya is so cheap. For P20, you can have week’s brew. Or if you have a garden, it’s so easy to grow them.
Let’s face it…not all mothers and women have healthy milk or enough milk to feed their babies. Some want to maintain the shape of their breasts because breastfeeding may disfigure or alter the beautiful shape. Therefore, cow’s milk is still very much needed. In the Philippines, we have enough carabao milk to feed the people. What’s needed is for the government to help the carabao milk industry. If it is successful, Philippine made carabao milk could even be exported in the future.
Let the mothers produce milk like cows do. Feed them grass. As Ellen recommends, lemon grass.
There is no doubt that there is no substitute for breast milk. In an ideal world, every baby gets colustrum, and breastfed for the first two years of age full time. Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world, especially in our country, where mothers need to work full time also, not all mothers are healthy to start with (what about those positive with HIV?), with breast infections, etc, etc.
I don’t believe its a matter of choice anymore but of necessity, the problem lies in “INTEGRITY” again(?) We have seen how we are so deficient in this, politically, economically, and now nutritionally? Why aftificially boost up protein content in milk? We had the EO51 before or the milk code, and there are responsible companies that produce, promote, and sell responsibly also. Why is there all of a sudden a proliferation of new brands, new companies, that seemed to come out like mushrooms? These brands went through BFAD right? These were tested before being allowed in the market right?
In my younger years have promoted and sold infant formula and we knew what was in in it, the protein content, fat ratio, mcts, even the competitors’. These milk products are also produced reflecting the buying capacity, economy and premium, full protein and mild, lactose-free, semi-elemental, hypoalleranic, etc. Starter formulas are not promoted (tv, print, radio) but directly to prescribing physicians (not even to mothers).
If we are to look for safeguards, we need to look to those who actually do the “safeguarding” who stamps “okay” to these products, and while we’re at it, just take a look at all these new, strange imported products mushrooming lately – who allowed all these? Certainly not the mothers, not even the fathers, not the consuming public definitely? Unscrupulous businessmen perhaps? but can they do it by themselves?
Si Gloria kaya may gatas pa?? Safe kaya ang gatas ng Reyna?
Breastfeeding and its benefits are very well known here in the country. We have more mothers who breastfeed their infants specially in the rural and slum areas. Only those with health and medical reasons should not breastfeed. But not to breastfeed due to cosmetic reasons is not good. But for mothers to breastfeed they should likewise be well-fed to be able to make more milk for the infant. This is where breastfeeding starts to falter. The lack of the right food on the table due to its prohibitive cost is a hindrance to breastfeeding.
Citral from tanglad and gingerol from luya to fight cancer – the big C? I planted tanglad in our front yard for cooking purposes specially for gata and sinigang. Neighbors and passerby partook of our tanglad. Unfortunately some just started pulling our taglad clumps without taking care not to uproot the whole plant. So I replanted them in our backyard. I put five tanglad stems in 3-4 liters of boiling water for 5 minutes and steep it for another 15 minutes after boiling. Them I let this cool and keep it in the ref. I take the tanglad tea as my drinking water drinking about a liter and a half a day. It is refreshing and said to keep in-check blood pressure. Fighting the big C is a welcome bonus.
Kabute, that’s what happened also to the ginger I planted in the province. Neighbors just pull out the whole thing instead of just getting a part of the root to allow it to continue growing.
Let us not forget the wonders of coconut. It is far better as an extender for filled milk. I grew up with it. Besides, it gave us that all cure VCO or virgin coconut oil. Most doctors hesitate to confirm its wonders or even mention it. China is considering now of importing coconut derivatives to replace melamine and even grow it right there.
Let us not forget the wonders of coconut. It is far better as an extender for filled milk. I grew up with it. Besides, it gave us that all cure VCO or virgin coconut oil. Most doctors hesitate to confirm its wonders or even mention it. China is considering now of importing coconut derivatives to replace melamine and even grow it right there.
BTW, I share lemon grass, malunggay, siling labuyo and sometimes kabute all growing robustly along my fenceline.
The virgin coconut oil has proven very effective, health wise.
Breastfeeding mother’s are becoming a thing of the past, but, i know a very little mother, who’s milking our country, the Philippines.
cmgbx777, i like that. hehehe.
Valdemar and bitchevil, coconut oil and other coconut products are very much desired by china. China has been importing from coconut producing countries such as our Pilipinas large volumes of coconut fiber (cococoir) from coconut husks. The Visayas is a large producer of decorticated coconut husk and a large portion of this is exported. Cococoir is use by china to fight soil erosion and desertification. They also import young coconuts or buko which they love for its refreshing taste and medicinal properties (good for the kidneys and urinary problems). But china has been anticipating this growing demand for coconut products that it has started plantring coconuts in southern china in large tracts of land. It won’t be surprising if one day china becomes a player in the world market of coconuts.
cmgbx777, i like that, too. hehe.
Lorelie fajardo, golez’s female counterpart, both barkers of gloria has spouted the goat’s milk is a better alternative to cow’s milk. She was quoting a CLSU study on goats milk. As if she has found the solution to the melamine milk scare. While it is true that goats milk may be better than cows milk, goats milk costs more. Moreover, goats produce much less milk than cows. Hence you need to raise more goats. The Philippine breed of goats are inferior producer of milk. You have to upgrade the native goats with superior foreign breeds to be able to produce more. And even upgraded goats are nor sure to produce more milk. It takes a longer time to crossbreed goats to be able to create a crossbreed that will produce large quantities of milk. The is also the question of being able to acclimatize the foreign breeds of goat to Philippine conditions. Lorelie fajardo is being dishonest with us. She pretends to care for the welfare and health of us Filipinos by saying that we drink goats milk instead of cows milk. When in fact it will take a long long time to even see goats milk produce in the Philippines in the market shelves. I don’t even think she has tasted goals milk and even drinks it regularly. What gall to tell us goats milk is better than cows milk.
Jun Lozada knows goat-breeding doesn’t he?
The only goat that breeds is Neri, according to Jun.
goat’s milk is not good for drinking, however cheese from goat’s milk is very good. as i said before, this fajardo is a shame to all novo ecijanos.
The only thing Neri can breed is contempt. Borjer’s P200M bribe can’t even buy him an ovary.
Neri’s ovary has already been removed. So, it’s safe sex for him.