Notes on "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

I am currently reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and am thoroughly enjoying it. Like Nina Planck's "Real Food" it dives into the history and make up of what we eat. I know I am biased, since I am an avid meat eater (although can't always afford to be), but small things like the fact that we (humans) produce in our stomachs an enzyme specifically designed to break down elastin, a type of protein found in meat and now where else, and that our metabolism requires specific chemical compounds that can only be gotten from animals (like vitamin B-12) confirms my belief (or preference) that eating meat in moderation is natural and healthy. One thing that I am learning from "The Omnivore's Dilemma" is that the difference of grass fed and grain fed meat, may be the difference between it being healthy or not. Studies show that grass fed meats and poultry do not have the same problems leading to cardiovascular disease, and have a higher content of omega-3, which plays an indispensable role in human health, especially in the growth and health of brain cells. It makes me wonder how many of our health problems are really ones that we can easily avoid if we pay more attention to what we eat, and eat more naturally in ways that God intended for us to. He obviously created us this way, why fight it?
-Andres

the 12 days of Christmas

what a holiday season for us! we enjoyed pretty much all of advent with the abuelos in town. the abuelos villa were here the first week of decemeber and the abuelos stell arrived the 19th and were here for about 10 days. and then tío carlos and jenn arrived just in time to celebrate the new year with us. antonio (and the rest of us) miss everyone so much! we couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate this christmas season than surrounded by our loved ones.

on the first day of christmas, our nephew john david was born! he was over 5 weeks early but is doing GREAT! he was never even admitted to the nicu and was able to go home with my sister 2 days after being born. he is evidence of the power of prayer. for weeks my sister had been struggling with cholestasis and they had already planned on inducing her 2 weeks early. we all prayed very hard that little john continue to grow and thrive. i guess 2 weeks early was not early enough it turns out. we are all very excited to meet the newest tiny little miracle in our family!

we only wish the 12th day of christmas was as joyful as the first. a dear family friend suffered a massive heart attack on new year's eve and the doctors have given him a worse than poor prognosis. but we all saw the power of prayer when it came to john. and miracles do happen. so we continue to pray.