Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Kellie and Kahlua
Kellie is a painter and her new passion is taking care of her horses Kahlua and Lady Fairfax on the ranch near her home. I don't have the experience that she has with horses but I know to stay clear when I walk behind them and be as gentle as possible. As a child, a horse decided to take a dirt bath while I was riding it (I stepped off before I was smashed into a pancake) and once while riding down a steep hill on a cliff, I ended up hanging on the neck of the horse the entire way down. So, I am not going to sign up for the rodeo anytime soon. Perhaps I will go back and ride on one but for the day, it was a gentle walk around the property.
You could tell that I don't spend that much on at a ranch when I arrived in flip flops. I wore these same sandals hiking in national parks and stepping through the swamps in Alabama. I suppose next time I will have proper foot attire.
The day was beautiful. The horses were happy at the ranch and we came across several riders on the trail enjoying the moment. They really are amazing and beautiful creatures. Thank you for the wonderful day Kellie and Kahlua!For more images of the day, click HERE
Thursday, May 6, 2010
"Hello, Can I Take Your Picture?"
It's been a while since I went out and spent the day taking pictures. I thought it was about time to go out and see what I could find. Today, I went to Huntington Beach and to do my usual snapping away at things that looked interesting, but this time I was going to get out of my comfort zone of hiding behind the camera and actually walk up and talk to people. I know, scary...right?
It's not that I don't mind talking to people, it's just that you never know what you are going to get when you approach someone who is enjoying the day and who really didn't count on some woman coming up and asking to take their picture while they relax on the beach. I was completely surprised that every person I asked said yes. When you think about it, being at the beach in a swimsuit is one of the most vulnerable places to be for many people. I prepared myself for the, "get out of here lady!" or, "can't you see that I don't want to be bothered!" response. Perhaps because it was such a beautiful day that people didn't mind the attention. Whatever the case, it I was appreciative of it.
The way it should be.
Many asked why I wanted to take their photo and I explained to them that I like to take pictures and that I was doing it for practice, which is true. On my upcoming travels, I look forward to engaging with people more than I have in the past. I want to learn about their life, hear stories and document the "American life." The lives that many of us don't read about in the news or watch on television. I wanted to do that with my American Life Today blog, but this time I will run into people that might not have computers to share their story.
I look forward to sharing more images of, "hello, can I take your picture." Who knows, I might run into you! In that case, please say yes.
You can see more pictures from my day by clicking HERE.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Alumapalooza 2010
It's been a dream of mine to own one someday as you might have guessed by my "Airstream Dreams" blog and the blog about "life in an Airstream," when I camped with the Silver Sisters.
At first glance, you can see that these trailers aren't just like any trailer out there. They are unlike anything I've ever seen. The company is rich in American culture with Wally Byam leading the way to what the company and trailers are today. The day I first stepped foot in an Airstream is all it took to begin my life long love affair with these traveling pieces of art. I am hooked. I am in love with this beautiful home on wheels and I know that someday I will be living in one.
You've heard the expression, "love what you do, do what you love," right? I am fortunate enough to be able to say that I am doing just that. It didn't come easy and it took a long time to figure out what I really wanted to do enough to love it. With that said, I am getting ready to do so many exciting things that I am looking forward to in the weeks and months ahead.
I am so honored to be asked to be the event photographer for Airstream's "Alumapalooza" event at their factory in Jackson Center, Ohio next month. It's an exciting five day event filled with activities that all Airstream lovers will enjoy. They describe the event as: "over 20 talks, seminars, and demonstrations will be presented by Airstream staff, Airstream dealers, Airstream Life magazine contributors, and vendors. Lots of door prizes at Happy Hour every day, movies or live entertainment every night — plus live bands performing in downtown Jackson Center on three nights!" Sounds like fun to me!
I am grateful for this opportunity and I look forward to sharing more! If you are in the area, I hope you come out to the festivities! You won't be disappointed! Click HERE for more information on this exciting event.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Traditional Preparation Methods Improve Grains' Nutritive Value
Soaking or Germinating Grains
The most basic method of preparing grains is prolonged soaking in water, followed by cooking. This combination reduces the level of water-soluble and heat-sensitive toxins and anti-nutrients such as tannins, saponins, digestive enzyme inhibitors and lectins, as well as flatulence factors. It also partially degrades phytic acid, which is a potent inhibitor of mineral absorption, an inhibitor of the digestive enzyme trypsin and an enemy of dental health (1). This improves the digestibility and nutritional value of grains as well as legumes.
I prefer to soak all grains and legumes for at least 12 hours in a warm location, preferably 24. This includes foods that most people don't soak, such as lentils. Soaking does not reduce phytic acid at all in grains that have been heat-treated, such as oats and kasha (technically not a grain), because they no longer contain the phytic acid-degrading enzyme phytase. Cooking without soaking first also does not have much effect on phytic acid.
The next level of grain preparation is germination. After soaking, rinse the grains twice per day for an additional day or two. This activates the grains' sprouting program and further increases their digestibility and vitamin content. When combined with cooking, it reduces phytic acid, although modestly. Therefore, most of the minerals in sprouted whole grains will continue to be inaccessible. Many raw sprouted grains and legumes are edible, but I wouldn't use them as a staple food because they retain most of their phytic acid as well as some heat-sensitive anti-nutrients (2).
Grinding and Fermenting Grains
Many cultures around the world have independently discovered fermentation as a way to greatly improve the digestibility and nutritive value of grains (3). Typically, grains are soaked, ground, and allowed to sour ferment for times ranging from 12 hours to several days. In some cases, a portion of the bran is removed before or after grinding.
In addition to the reduction in toxins and anti-nutrients afforded by soaking and cooking, grinding and fermentation goes much further. Grinding greatly increases the surface area of the grains and breaks up their cellular structure, releasing enzymes which are important for the transformation to come. Under the right conditions, which are easy to achieve, lactic acid bacteria rapidly acidify the batter. These bacteria are naturally present on grains, but adding a starter makes the process more efficient and reliable.
Due to some quirk of nature, grain phytase is maximally active at a pH of between 4.5 and 5.5, which is mildly acidic. This is why the Weston Price foundation recommends soaking grains in an acidic medium before cooking. The combination of grinding and sour fermentation causes grains to efficiently degrade their own phytic acid (as long as they haven't been heat treated first), making minerals much more available for absorption (4, 5, 6, 7). This transforms whole grains from a poor source of minerals into a good source.
The degree of phytic acid degradation depends on the starting amount of phytase in the grain. Corn, rice, oats and millet don't contain much phytase activity, so they require either a longer fermentation time, or the addition of high-phytase grains to the batter (8). Whole raw buckwheat, wheat, and particularly rye contain a large amount of phytase (9), although I feel wheat is problematic for other reasons.
As fermentation proceeds, bacteria secrete enzymes that begin digesting the protein, starch and other substances in the batter. Fermentation reduces lectin levels substantially, which are reduced further by cooking (10). Lectins are toxins that can interfere with digestion and may be involved in autoimmune disease, an idea championed by Dr. Loren Cordain. Grain lectins are generally heat-sensitive, but one notable exception is the nasty lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). As its name suggests, WGA is found in wheat germ, and thus is mostly absent in white flour. WGA may have been another reason why DART participants who increased their wheat fiber intake had significantly more heart attacks than those who didn't. I don't know if fermentation degrades WGA.
One of the problems with grains is their poor protein quality. Besides containing a fairly low concentration of protein to begin with, they also don't contain a good balance of essential amino acids. This prevents their efficient use by the body, unless a separate source of certain amino acids is eaten along with them. The main limiting amino acid in grains is lysine. Legumes are rich in lysine, which is why cultures around the world pair them with grains. Bacterial fermentation produces lysine, often increasing its concentration by many fold and making grains nearly a "complete protein", i.e. one that contains the ideal balance of essential amino acids as do animal proteins (11, scroll down to see graph). Not very many plant foods can make that claim. Fermentation also increases the concentration of the amino acid methionine and certain vitamins.
Another problem with grain protein is it's poorly digested relative to animal protein. This means that a portion of it escapes digestion, leading to a lower nutritive value and a higher risk of allergy due to undigested protein hanging around in the digestive tract. Fermentation followed by cooking increases the digestibility of grain protein, bringing it nearly to the same level as meat (12, 13, 14, 15). This may relate to the destruction of protease inhibitors (trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid) and the partial pre-digestion of grain proteins by bacteria.
Once you delve into the research on traditional grain preparation methods, you begin to see why grain-eating cultures throughout the world have favored certain techniques. Proper grain processing transforms them from toxic to nutritious, from health-degrading to health-giving. Modern industrial grain processing has largely eschewed these time-honored techniques, replacing them with low-extraction milling, extrusion and quick-rise yeast strains.
Many people will not be willing to go through the trouble of grinding and fermentation to prepare grains. I can sympathize, although if you have the right tools, once you establish a routine it really isn't that much work. It just requires a bit of organization. In fact, it can even be downright convenient. I often keep a bowl of fermented dosa or buckwheat batter in the fridge, ready to make a tasty "pancake" at a moment's notice. In the next post, I'll describe a few recipes from different parts of the world.
Further reading:
How to Eat Grains
A Few Thoughts on Minerals, Milling, Grains and Tubers
Dietary Fiber and Mineral Availability
A New Way to Soak Brown Rice
The most basic method of preparing grains is prolonged soaking in water, followed by cooking. This combination reduces the level of water-soluble and heat-sensitive toxins and anti-nutrients such as tannins, saponins, digestive enzyme inhibitors and lectins, as well as flatulence factors. It also partially degrades phytic acid, which is a potent inhibitor of mineral absorption, an inhibitor of the digestive enzyme trypsin and an enemy of dental health (1). This improves the digestibility and nutritional value of grains as well as legumes.
I prefer to soak all grains and legumes for at least 12 hours in a warm location, preferably 24. This includes foods that most people don't soak, such as lentils. Soaking does not reduce phytic acid at all in grains that have been heat-treated, such as oats and kasha (technically not a grain), because they no longer contain the phytic acid-degrading enzyme phytase. Cooking without soaking first also does not have much effect on phytic acid.
The next level of grain preparation is germination. After soaking, rinse the grains twice per day for an additional day or two. This activates the grains' sprouting program and further increases their digestibility and vitamin content. When combined with cooking, it reduces phytic acid, although modestly. Therefore, most of the minerals in sprouted whole grains will continue to be inaccessible. Many raw sprouted grains and legumes are edible, but I wouldn't use them as a staple food because they retain most of their phytic acid as well as some heat-sensitive anti-nutrients (2).
Grinding and Fermenting Grains
Many cultures around the world have independently discovered fermentation as a way to greatly improve the digestibility and nutritive value of grains (3). Typically, grains are soaked, ground, and allowed to sour ferment for times ranging from 12 hours to several days. In some cases, a portion of the bran is removed before or after grinding.
In addition to the reduction in toxins and anti-nutrients afforded by soaking and cooking, grinding and fermentation goes much further. Grinding greatly increases the surface area of the grains and breaks up their cellular structure, releasing enzymes which are important for the transformation to come. Under the right conditions, which are easy to achieve, lactic acid bacteria rapidly acidify the batter. These bacteria are naturally present on grains, but adding a starter makes the process more efficient and reliable.
Due to some quirk of nature, grain phytase is maximally active at a pH of between 4.5 and 5.5, which is mildly acidic. This is why the Weston Price foundation recommends soaking grains in an acidic medium before cooking. The combination of grinding and sour fermentation causes grains to efficiently degrade their own phytic acid (as long as they haven't been heat treated first), making minerals much more available for absorption (4, 5, 6, 7). This transforms whole grains from a poor source of minerals into a good source.
The degree of phytic acid degradation depends on the starting amount of phytase in the grain. Corn, rice, oats and millet don't contain much phytase activity, so they require either a longer fermentation time, or the addition of high-phytase grains to the batter (8). Whole raw buckwheat, wheat, and particularly rye contain a large amount of phytase (9), although I feel wheat is problematic for other reasons.
As fermentation proceeds, bacteria secrete enzymes that begin digesting the protein, starch and other substances in the batter. Fermentation reduces lectin levels substantially, which are reduced further by cooking (10). Lectins are toxins that can interfere with digestion and may be involved in autoimmune disease, an idea championed by Dr. Loren Cordain. Grain lectins are generally heat-sensitive, but one notable exception is the nasty lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). As its name suggests, WGA is found in wheat germ, and thus is mostly absent in white flour. WGA may have been another reason why DART participants who increased their wheat fiber intake had significantly more heart attacks than those who didn't. I don't know if fermentation degrades WGA.
One of the problems with grains is their poor protein quality. Besides containing a fairly low concentration of protein to begin with, they also don't contain a good balance of essential amino acids. This prevents their efficient use by the body, unless a separate source of certain amino acids is eaten along with them. The main limiting amino acid in grains is lysine. Legumes are rich in lysine, which is why cultures around the world pair them with grains. Bacterial fermentation produces lysine, often increasing its concentration by many fold and making grains nearly a "complete protein", i.e. one that contains the ideal balance of essential amino acids as do animal proteins (11, scroll down to see graph). Not very many plant foods can make that claim. Fermentation also increases the concentration of the amino acid methionine and certain vitamins.
Another problem with grain protein is it's poorly digested relative to animal protein. This means that a portion of it escapes digestion, leading to a lower nutritive value and a higher risk of allergy due to undigested protein hanging around in the digestive tract. Fermentation followed by cooking increases the digestibility of grain protein, bringing it nearly to the same level as meat (12, 13, 14, 15). This may relate to the destruction of protease inhibitors (trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid) and the partial pre-digestion of grain proteins by bacteria.
Once you delve into the research on traditional grain preparation methods, you begin to see why grain-eating cultures throughout the world have favored certain techniques. Proper grain processing transforms them from toxic to nutritious, from health-degrading to health-giving. Modern industrial grain processing has largely eschewed these time-honored techniques, replacing them with low-extraction milling, extrusion and quick-rise yeast strains.
Many people will not be willing to go through the trouble of grinding and fermentation to prepare grains. I can sympathize, although if you have the right tools, once you establish a routine it really isn't that much work. It just requires a bit of organization. In fact, it can even be downright convenient. I often keep a bowl of fermented dosa or buckwheat batter in the fridge, ready to make a tasty "pancake" at a moment's notice. In the next post, I'll describe a few recipes from different parts of the world.
Further reading:
How to Eat Grains
A Few Thoughts on Minerals, Milling, Grains and Tubers
Dietary Fiber and Mineral Availability
A New Way to Soak Brown Rice
Our "Non-Human Children" Exhibit At The Expo
I was invited by the organizers of the "First Fridays Long Beach" to showcase some of my dog photographs for their "non human children" exhibit at the Expo located in Bixby Knolls this Friday. The Expo has a different theme each month and this month they are focusing on our relationship with the animals that we love and I am thrilled to show some of the pictures I've taken of dogs throughout my travels.
As you might have guessed, I am an animal lover and I especially love dogs. My dog, Max and I travel together and he's been the subject of many photographs on our trips when I get bored of taking pretty pictures of landscapes. I love taking pictures of dogs and especially when their personality shines through the image. 
The event is held this Friday night from 6pm-10pm at the Expo in Long Beach. There will be activities all along the street as well as some amazing artists there displaying work and doing live demonstrations. Along with my dog photographs, I will have additional images displayed of Long Beach.I hope to see you. If you are unable to make the event, the art will remain on the walls for a month.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Goal Completed: Take A Photo Editing Class
One of my biggest problems with taking pictures is that I take so many and have a hard time letting go of some that are questionable. Of course I waste time wondering if I will ever need that photo again. One of my main goals in taking this class was to learn how to sort and manage the pictures I do take and edit enough so I am not lost in the sea of thousands of pictures that are not organized. It would be nice to know exactly where something is on my computer.
I'm still on my free trial edition of Lightroom and I'm not sure if I will keep it but if the work flow is streamlined, I think it will be worth the cost.
The day was beautiful so I took a stroll along the boardwalk after class. It was nice to be able to check another goal off the list of my 39 Goals for my 39th year list. Of course, I left class and took about 100 pictures of birds on the beach. Baby steps...
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