This Video Shows Exactly How Eating Organic Affects Pesticide Levels in Our Bodies

     

A new blood test for ovarian cancer proved to be 86% accurate

USA: Maryland man died of rabies from transplant

 (CNN) — A Maryland man recently died of rabies that he contracted from a tainted kidney he received in a transplant operation a year and a half ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Health care teams are now giving anti-rabies shots to three other patients who received organs from the same donor as the patient, the CDC said.

The Maryland man and three other people — in Florida, Georgia and Illinois — received organs from a person who died in Florida in 2011.

Doctors knew the donor had encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, when they harvested the organs. However, they didn’t know rabies was the cause.

South Africa: At least 28% of South African schoolgirls are HIV positive compared with 4% of boys because "sugar daddies" are exploiting them

At least 28% of South African schoolgirls are HIV positive compared with 4% of boys because "sugar daddies" are exploiting them, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has said.

He said 94,000 schoolgirls also fell pregnant in 2011, and 77,000 had abortions at state facilities, The Sowetan newspaper reports.

About 10% of South Africans are living with HIV, official statistics show.

Mr Motsoaledi has been widely praised for his efforts to curb the disease.

South Africa has run the world's largest anti-retroviral (ARV) programme since President Jacob Zuma appointed him health minister in 2009.

The number of HIV-positive people receiving life-saving ARV drugs more than doubled from 678,500 to 1.5 million after he took office, according to official statistics.

The government of former President Thabo Mbeki, who questioned the link between HIV and Aids, had argued it could not afford to roll out this treatment to all the South Africans who needed it.

The Doctors Shares the Inspiring Story of a Mother Determined to Get Her Hearing Back (VIDEO)

A mother hears her son's voice for the very first time. See the cutting-edge procedure that restored her hearing after 15 years of silence.

Chemicals banned in Europe still make their way into US foods

Have you ever tasted a soft drink so good you thought it should be illegal? In some parts of the world, ingredients used in beverages available across the United States are outlawed — but not because they’re dangerously delicious.

 

Drinks including Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Powerade and Squirt are all commonly available at restaurants and convenience stores across the US. If you’re overseas and thirsty for one of many products made by PepsiCo, Cocoa-Cola or the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, you might get something entirely different. Brominated vegetable oil, an ingredient used by those manufacturers in an array of beverages, is banned in locales like Europe and Japan.

The New York Times reports that around 10 percent of drinks sold in the US contain brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, but elsewhere things are a bit different. Beverages overseas are stripped of the chemical, used usually to help distribute flavor, with foreign health officials citing some serious medical concerns as the reason for the ban.

Sarah Kavanagh, a teenager from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, only became aware of BVOs recently while examining a bottle of Gatorade. A quick Web search had her rethinking what she drinks, though.

“I knew it probably wasn’t from an animal because it had vegetable in the name, but I still wanted to know what it was, so I Googled it,” she tells the Times. “A page popped up with a long list of possible side effects, including neurological disorders and altered thyroid hormones. I didn’t expect that.”

Most Americans are in the same boat, but the substance is still completely legal in the US.

“BVO is banned other places in the world, so these companies already have a replacement for it,” Kavanagh tells the Times. “I don’t see why they don’t just make the switch.” According to the paper, companies say the switch would simply cost all too much.

After becoming aware of the compound, she started a campaign on Change.org to help raise awareness of BVO. Since that petition was launched in November, she has collected over 205,000 signatures from others urging a federal ban on BVOs.

"I was shocked that they'd put their consumers at risk like that and that the FDA would allow something like that to be put in products," she tells the Chicago Tribune.

Brominated vegetable oil isn’t addictive and it hasn’t been proven to be fatal just yet. According to some studies, rodents subjected to the substance developed reproductive and behavioral problems.

"The FDA has been extremely lenient in evaluating food additives and it's almost impossible to get the FDA to ban an additive once they have approved it," Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest adds to the Tribune. "It's just not as public health oriented as it should be."

“I just don't think they're doing enough to protect the public's health with regard to food additives,” he says.

That one additive, BVO, certainly doesn’t seem safe to Kavanagh. On her Change.org petition, she notes that one of the elements of BVO, bromine, is used most often to make products flame retardant. It’s also been included in gasoline additives and pesticides, and was originally used as a general sedative until only a few decades ago. Scientific Americans says BVO “links to impaired neurological development, reduced fertility, early onset of puberty and altered thyroid hormones.”

“I’m not a scientist, but if there are lots of suspicious things about putting a flame retardant chemical in Gatorade (most flavors don’t even use it!) then why would Gatorade want to put it in a product designed for people like me who are into sports and health?” Kavanagh asks on Change.org.

The petition, which needs fewer than 95,000 more signatures before it is complete, will be sent to Gatorade, PepsiCo and other American beverage companies. “Please stop deceiving consumers and remove this chemical from your products,” the petition insists.

US Deadliest flu in a decade - Lethal influenza outbreak ravages US

The US is experiencing its deadliest flu outbreak in a decade, prompting the city of Boston to declare a public health emergency after the virus killed more than a dozen people and left hundreds struggling to fight off the illness.

From Florida to Maine, emergency rooms across the nation are flooded with patients experiencing symptoms of the flu. Last January, Boston had seen only 70 cases of influenza. This year, the numbers have reached 700, with at least 18 dead in Massachusetts – and the number of cases is still on the rise.

“In the last two weeks alone we’ve doubled our number,” Dr. Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, tells CBS News. “So, if we continue at this rate to see new cases, we’ll have an explosion of flu in the city of Boston. We really need to get ahead of it at this point in time.”

Nationwide, the number of flu cases has more than doubled in the past month, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared 44 states are experiencing a widespread influenza. Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, with the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania seeing as many as 100 new patients a day that have flu-like symptoms.

Even south Florida has seen an unusually large number of cases, and the illness most recently killed a 6-year-old girl in Texas.

Across the nation, pharmacies have the liquid version of Tamiflu on backorder, prompting compounding pharmacies to start making their own versions of the drug.

But even the vaccines used to prevent further outbreaks are in low supply. Sanofi SA, which is the main flu vaccine provider in the US, announced Thursday that four out of six of its formulations of seasonal flu vaccines were sold out. 

“We use Cardinal Health as our drug wholesaler and we have a secondary. Both of those are running low,” Andy Komuves, a pharmacist at the Dougherty’s Pharmacy in north Dallas, says to Fox News. “Supplies are spotty. Some of that is because there is a huge demand right now and of course when these types of things happen you always get a little bit of hoarding going on too.”

US lawmakers are encouraging the American public to stay home if they experience flu-like symptoms and to get the vaccine if they haven’t already. With the vaccine now in short supply, though, it will become increasingly difficult to take preventative measures against the deadly illness. With flu season lasting until March or early April, the death toll is likely to continue rising. To combat the epidemic, the city of Boston is providing free flu shots this weekend.

“You have to think about an anti-viral, especially if you’re elderly, a young child, a pregnant woman,” said ABC News Chief Medical Editor Dr. Besser. “They’re the people that are going to die from this. Tens of thousands of people die in a bad flu season. We’re not taking it serious enough.”

US scientists: Diet drinks linked with higher depression risk

 Sweet beverages, and especially diet versions, could make you 30 per cent more depressed. Coffee, however, saves the day according to research by US scientists.

The study was conducted by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.

The research involved 265,000 people between the ages of 50 and 71, whose consumption of beverages like soda, tea, coffee, and fruit punch was monitored from 1995 to 1996. Ten years on, scientists questioned the participants again and found that 11,311 had been diagnosed with depression since 2000.  

The research results disclosed that those who consumed over four cans or cups of soda per day were 30 per cent more likely to develop depression, in comparison with those who didn’t drink the beverage. People who consumed four cans of fruit punch daily were 38 per cent more prone to depression than those who didn’t. On the other hand, those participants who drank four cups of coffee per day were 10 per cent less likely to face depression, compared with people who didn’t consume any coffee.

Furthermore the scientists discovered that the risk was elevated for those who drank the diet versions of beverages such as soda, fruit punch, or ice tea.

Shock findings in new GMO study (PHOTO)

 

 Eating genetically modified corn (GM corn) and consuming trace levels of Monsanto's Roundup chemical fertilizer caused rats to develop horrifying tumors, widespread organ damage, and premature death. That's the conclusion of a shocking new study that looked at the long-term effects of consuming Monsanto's genetically modified corn.

The study has been deemed "the most thorough research ever published into the health effects of GM food crops and the herbicide Roundup on rats." News of the horrifying findings is spreading like wildfire across the internet, with even the mainstream media seemingly in shock over the photos of rats with multiple grotesque tumors... tumors so large the rats even had difficulty breathing in some cases. GMOs may be the new thalidomide.

It reported, "Scientists found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, developed mammary tumors and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females."

It goes on to say: "The animals on the GM diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. The researchers said 50 percent of males and 70 percent of females died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group."

Findings from the study

Here are some of the shocking findings from the study:

• Up to 50% of males and 70% of females suffered premature death.

• Rats that drank trace amounts of Roundup (at levels legally allowed in the water supply) had a 200% to 300% increase in large tumors.

• Rats fed GM corn and traces of Roundup suffered severe organ damage including liver damage and kidney damage.

• The study fed these rats NK603, the Monsanto variety of GM corn that's grown across North America and widely fed to animals and humans. This is the same corn that's in your corn-based breakfast cereal, corn tortillas and corn snack chips.

The Daily Mail is reporting on some of the reaction to the findings:

France's Jose Bove, vice-chairman of the European Parliament's commission for agriculture and known as a fierce opponent of GM, called for an immediate suspension of all EU cultivation and import authorisations of GM crops. 'This study finally shows we are right and that it is urgent to quickly review all GMO evaluation processes,' he said in a statement. 'National and European food security agencies must carry out new studies financed by public funding to guarantee healthy food for European consumers.'(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2205509/Fresh-fears-GM...)

Read the study abstract

The study is entitled, "A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health." Read the abstract here:
http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm

That abstract include this text. Note: "hepatorenal toxicity" means toxic to the liver.

Our analysis clearly reveals for the 3 GMOs new side effects linked with GM maize consumption, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, although different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. In addition, unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded.

Here are some quotes from the researchers:

"This research shows an extraordinary number of tumors developing earlier and more aggressively - particularly in female animals. I am shocked by the extreme negative health impacts." - Dr Michael Antoniou, molecular biologist, King's College London.

"We can expect that the consumption of GM maize and the herbicide Roundup, impacts seriously on human health." - Dr Antoniou.

"This is the first time that a long-term animal feeding trial has examined the impact of feeding GM corn or the herbicide Roundup, or a combination of both and the results are extremely serious. In the malerats, there was liver and kidney disorders, including tumors and even more worryingly, in the female rats, there were mammary tumors at a level which is extremely concerning; up to 80 percent of the female rats had mammary tumors by the end of the trial." - Patrick Holden, Director, Sustainable Food Trust.

UK: 60,000 patients put on death pathway without being told

 

Up to 60,000 patients die on the Liverpool Care Pathway each year without giving their consent, shocking figures revealed yesterday.

A third of families are also kept in the dark when doctors withdraw lifesaving treatment from loved ones. 

Despite the revelations, Jeremy Hunt last night claimed the pathway was a ‘fantastic step forward’.

In comments that appeared to prejudge an official inquiry into the LCP, the Health Secretary said ‘one or two’ mistakes should not be allowed to discredit the entire end-of-life system.

But Elspeth Chowdharay-Best of Alert, an anti-euthanasia group, said: ‘The Pathway is designed to finish people off double quick. It is a lethal pathway.

‘Mr Hunt has made a nonsense of the claim of his ministers that there is going to be an independent inquiry.’

The review follows a public outcry over a string of disturbing cases, highlighted by this paper, in which patients or their families were ignored.

The pathway involves withdrawal of lifesaving treatment, with the sick sedated and usually denied nutrition and fluids. Death typically takes place within 29 hours.

The 60,000 figure comes from a joint study by the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute in Liverpool and the Royal College of Physicians.

 

It found many patients were not consulted despite being conscious when doctors decided on their care.

Records from 178 hospitals also show that thousands of people on the pathway are left to die in pain because nurses do not do enough to keep them comfortable while drugs are administered.

An estimated 130,000 patients are put on the pathway each year.

Concerns have been raised that clinical judgments are being skewed by incentives for hospitals to use the pathway.

Health trusts are thought to have been rewarded with an extra £30million for putting more patients on the LCP.

Critics say it is a self-fulfilling prophecy because there is no scientific method of predicting when death will come.

Norman Lamb, the care services minister, launched a review in November, saying there had been too many cases of families not being consulted.

But Mr Hunt yesterday suggested that concerns about the system were relatively minor compared with its benefits.

‘It’s a fantastic step forward, the Liverpool Care Pathway, and we need to be unabashed about that because it’s basically designed to bring hospice-style care to terminally-ill people in hospitals,’ he told LBC Radio:

‘I would be very sad if as a result of something that is a big step forward going wrong in one or two cases we discredited the concept that we need to do a lot better to give people dignity in their final hours because it’s something we haven’t done well.

‘Lots of people don’t want to die with lots of tubes going in and out of their body – they actually want to die in a dignified way.’

He added: ‘What should never happen is that people should be put on to that care pathway without patients being fully in the loop and their families and relatives being fully in the loop as well.’

Fr. John Romanidis: Mental illness and demonic possession in Patristic tradition

The definition of mental illness from a Patristic point of view is that people are mentally ill when the noetic energy they have inside them is not functioning properly. In other words, being mentally ill means your nous is full of thoughts [logismoi], not only bad thoughts, but good thoughts as well.

In other words, according to the Church Fathers, anyone whose soul has not been purified from the passions and who has not reached the state of illumination through the grace of the Holy Spirit is mentally ill, but not in the psychiatric sense. For a psychiatrist, being mentally ill is something else. It means suffering from psychosis or being schizophrenic. For Orthodoxy, however, if you have not been purified of the passions and have not reached a state of illumination, are you normal or abnormal? That is the question.

Who is considered a normal [i.e., spiritually healthy] Orthodox Christian in the Patristic tradition? If you want to see this clearly, read the service of Holy Baptism, read the service of Holy Chrism that is held at the Patriarchate of Constantinople [and in various other patriarchates] on Holy Thursday, read the service for the consecration of Church sanctuaries. There you will see what it means to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. There you will see who is illumined.

In all of the Church services, as well as the ascetic tradition of the Church, mainly three spiritual states are mentioned: (1) the state in which the soul and body have beenpurified from the passions, (2) the state in which the human nous has been illuminedby the grace of the Holy Spirit, and (3) the state in which the human soul and body experience theosis [deification, glorification]. For the most part, however, they speak about purification and illumination [the first two stages], since the Church services are expressions of reasonable [rational, logiki] worship.

So who is the normal Orthodox Christian? Can someone who has been baptized but not purified be considered normal? What about someone who has not yet been illumined? Or is it someone who has been purified and illumined? Naturally someone in the last category is a normal Orthodox Christian. [In other words, the only non-mentally ill, normal, healthy Orthodox Christians are those who have attained purification (purity of heart) and illumination by the Holy Spirit.]

So what makes a normal [spiritually healthy] Orthodox Christian different from the rest of the Orthodox? Is it dogma? Of course not. [Because all Orthodox Christians share the same dogma, but not all Orthodox Christians are spiritually "normal", i.e., healthy.]

Take the Orthodox in general. They all share the same dogma, the same tradition, the same common worship. A church sanctuary, for example, might hold three hundred Orthodox Christians. Of that number, however, only five are in a state of illumination, while the rest of them are not. The rest of them have not even the slightest idea what purification is. So this raises the question: How many among them are normal Orthodox Christians? Unfortunately, out of three hundred, only five are.

All the same, purification and illumination are specific conditions of healing that experienced and illumined spiritual fathers can recognize. So we have here clearlymedical criteria [spiritual illness or health]. Or maybe you are not convinced that these criteria are strictly medical? Consider the fact that the nous is a physiological human organ that everyone has. It is not only Orthodox that have a nous. So do Muslims, Buddhists, and everyone else. So all human beings have the same need for purification and illumination. And there is only one therapeutic treatment.

Or do you think that there are many therapeutic treatments for this illness? And is it really an illness or not?

Present-day Orthodox are hard-pressed to respond to these issues, because they have become so far removed from this tradition today that they no longer think of the Orthodox Christian way of life in the context of sickness and healing. They do not consider Orthodoxy to be a curative course of treatment, even though all the prayers are perfectly clear on this point. After all Who is Christ for Orthodox Christians? Is He not repeatedly invoked in the prayers and hymns of the Church as "the Physician of our souls and bodies"?

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Bulgaria: Bishop of Plovdiv, Nikolay - Surrogate motherhood is no different from prostitution

 

Surrogate motherhood is no different from prostitution, according to Bishop Nikolay, the radical Bulgarian Orthodox Bishop of Plovdiv.

Speaking after a service in Plovdiv on the occasion of the arrival of holy relics of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, the parents of Virgin Mary, Nikolay mentioned surrogacy while commenting on a recent case in which Bulgarian heroin-addicts offered their newborn baby "on sale" in an online forum for EUR 5 000.

"Two days after I reminded the position of the Holy Synod [of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church] about surrogate motherhood, and I was duly abused, the media exploded with the news that a child was offered for sale on the Internet. All were indignant. But I am asking, what is the difference between the sale of this child, and the future legal surrogate mothers?" the bishop stated, referring to changes in the Bulgarian legislation, as cited by Darik Plovdiv.

Bishop Nikolay went on to quote the Bulgarian-Bulgarian dictionary on the meaning of "surrogate" as an "inadequate replacement".

"The child [of a surrogate mother] will not be a child, it will be an inferior product," he argued.

"If we now accept surrogacy, how can we reject prostitution, procuring, human trafficking? What are our arguments against these things because the principle is the same – doing business and freedom of agreement?" the Plovdiv Bishop said.

On August 15, Dormition of Mary, Bishop Nikolay spurred public debate after declaring that surrogate motherhood and celibacy are sins, and urging a crackdown on corruption in the adoption of children.

Olive oil, the very heart of the Greek Orthodoxy - Make your own aromatic oil

The sacred trait the olive tree enjoyed from antiquity was in the early Christian era, transferred to its product olive oil. Olive oil is mentioned both in the Old and New Testament. It became a mystical element. 

The most important of the sacraments, that of baptism, which seals the baptised as a servant of God, cannot be performed in the Greek Orthodox Church without olive oil. The infant is rubbed with olive oil from head to toe, immersed in water three times and then anointed with Holy Myrrh, which is a mixture of olive oil mixed and various other aromatic oils. Its preparation, most sacred, is the sole privilege of the Head of the Greek Orthodox Church. Colloquially, the unbaptised are often referred to as alathoti—unoiled, or unanointed.

Monasteries in Greece almost always include an olive grove. The olive crop secured the sustenance of the monks and the oil is necessary for the burning of lamps before the icons or for performing the sacraments. Today many monasteries bottle part of their olive oil and at times visitors can purchase some.

Greeks also make offerings of olive oil to churches and monasteries. To this day one still sees bottles of oil left in church by the faithful, used mainly to light the votives.

Virgin olive oil is also produced using mechanical means only, and has an acidity of up to 2 percent. 
Olive oil not marked “extra-virgin” or “virgin” is a blend of virgin and refined oil, the latter being produced at very high temperatures, causing it to lose many of its properties. Cold-pressed oil has been extracted in presses where the temperature is no higher than 27 Celsius, beyond which the oil loses some of its nutritional benefits.

Benefits

Over 95 percent of olive oil consists of fatty acids, particularly monounsaturated fats that help prevent arteriosclerosis and heart disease. A diet rich in olive oil improves the health of those suffering from hypertension, gallstones, stomach ulcers and rheumatic diseases.Contrary to popular belief, the nutritional benefits of olive oil are fairly heat-resistant, but it is better to add it at the end of the cooking time and in moderation, as it is high in calorie content.

Make your own aromatic oil

Add your favorite herb, peppers, garlic cloves mushrooms, orange or lemon peel (unwaxed, organic), sun-dried tomatoes, capers, chilies, cumin or allspice pods to add spice to your salad oil, or use a combination of these.Choose good-quality oil with a smooth taste, such as that from Mytilene.The spices should be fresh and the herbs very clean and dried with their aroma intact.Use sterilized and well-dried bottles.Once filled and the spice or herb added, close tightly and store in a cool dark place, never in the sun. The full flavor will be acquired after at least two weeks.For a milder flavor, remove the solids after two weeks and transfer the oil to a clean bottle after filtering it through a piece of gauze or a coffee filter.If you leave the herb in the bottle, remove it once it protrudes above the surface of the oil or the flavor could spoil.

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Foods of the First Century - Vegetables (Part 3)

Flatbead and Hummus with Olive Oil and Spices

Hello My Friend and Welcome.

Today we return to our ongoing series on the foods of the First Century…the items that Jesus, the Apostles and those first Christians consumed.  As we have already seen, TV and the movies seldom portray an accurate image of that era. And so it is with the food also.

All too often they’re either shown gathered around a campfire gazing hungrily at a side of lamb mounted on a spit. The alternate is having them sitting in hovels scooping glop out of unglazed bowls. True, Middle Eastern people often eat with their fingers or use flatbread in place of a spoon, but the region has a diverse and rich cuisine that goes far beyond glop. At the end of this series I plan to devote a post to what foods they didn’t have, but for now, let’s not be too quick to sell them short.

As always, we’ll start with the Bible.

Beans (2 Samuel 17:28; Ezekiel 4:9) These would have been Fava beans, also known as broad beans or horse beans. Like all beans they can be eaten fresh or dried and reconstituted later. The beans can be sautéed in olive oil with garlic and or onion then mashed and eaten on bread. Favas are also cooked with onion and parsley and served as a stew. Mashed, they become a substitute for chickpeas in hummus.

A Carob Tree

Carob isn’t mentioned in the Bible, but would have been available. The carob tree (Hebrew: חרוב‎ ḥaruv; Greek: χαρουπιά haroubia), Ceratonia siliqua, is a species of flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the pea family that is native to the Mediterranean region. It is cultivated for its edible seed pods. Carobs are also known as St. John's bread; according to tradition St. John the Baptist subsisted on them in the wilderness. Carob was eaten in Ancient Egypt and used as a common sweetener before the arrival of sugar. Though not named, carob may appear in the Bible. The Prodigal Son wanted to eat the pods he fed the swine…most likely carob pods.  

Fried Chickpeas

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, have been cultivated in the Middle East for 7,500 years and would have been one of the vegetables of ancient Israel that isn’t mentioned in the Bible. Chickpeas are most commonly associated with hummus, however, they can be eaten fresh or dried for storage. Sprouted seeds are eaten as a vegetable or salad. Young plants and green pods are eaten like spinach. The leaves yield an indigo-like dye. Flour made from dried chickpeas when mixed with water and olive oil can be baked into a thin, crispy cracker.   

Cucumbers (Numbers 11:5) Cucumbers would be enjoyed fresh in various ways just as they are today. Pickled, they would keep for a long time in a crock of vinegar.  

Gourds (2 Kings 4:39) This passage from Kings tells the story of a man finding a wild vine, gathering gourds from it, and chopping them into a stew. It goes on to say they were poisonous. Elisha purified the stew so it could be eaten. Clearly the gourds must have been green or they couldn’t have been sliced. The gourds I’m familiar with can be dried and their hard outer shell used for a number of purposes…dippers, bird feeders, bird houses, rattles or shakers, decorative hangings, etc. I’m confident that gourds were used a dippers and so on, but much more skeptical that they were eaten. 

Leeks (Numbers 11:5) I’ve always thought of leeks as the onion’s kinder, gentler cousin. Both plants belong to the same family. Unlike the onion, leeks don’t form a tight bulb. They are typically eaten in soups and stews. Dried, they can be rehydrated or chopped fine and used as an herb.

Multi-Colored Lentils

Lentils (Genesis 25:34; 2 Samuel 17:28; Ezekiel 4:9) Lentils, along with beans and peas, are in the pulse family… seeds of plants belonging to the family Leguminosae, which gets its name from the characteristic pod or legume that protects the seeds while they are forming and ripening. Pulses are a valuable food source because they contain a higher percentage of protein than most other plant foods. Dried lentils store very well. They are easier to prepare than dried beans since they require no pre-soaking and cook in an hour or less. They can be cooked into a simple stew, or spiced up with onions, peppers and cumin and served on bread, or sprouted.  

Onions (Numbers 11:5) Onions can be pulled from the ground when immature and eaten green. Mature they can be used fresh or hung to dry for storage.

Peas, or field peas as they’re known, would have been another food of the First Century. Peas are one of the oldest cultivated crops and wild varieties can still be found in parts of the Middle East. Pease can be eaten fresh, or dried and stored. Another pulse, they are high in protein.

We mentioned pulses, or legumes, earlier. Legumes provide food, medicines, oils, chemicals, timber, dyes and ornamental garden plants. Legume products include carob, senna, gum arabic, balsam, indigo and licorice. The next post in this series will look at Grains.