It is a lovely day but I find myself stressed more than usual and I am not sure of the cause. One reason, may be the pigs. As the time to process gets closer my anxiety heightens. I am hoping that men will show up and help because it is too much for me. We have one more storm and then a couple cold days next week and then we are done, I am betting. We need cold days to hang them for 24 – 48 hours. But we just found out we can cut them up and pack them in an ice chest if needed. We will need to get more ice chests but that does make it doable. Our eventually goal of having a cold room in the garage needs to come sooner than later. Sigh…..Deep breath. See, I am human.
We did milked Missie last night because she was used to having Brisket nurse all day. We just took ½ gallon and she was fine, but this morning she was full. We got 5 quarts from her and will keep a close eye on her so she does not get mastitis. Does anyone know how long we keep them separated before we put them back together and he does not nurse? 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months? I hate keeping him separated without someone to play with, not that Missie played. They were usually within eye distance of each other but not cuddled up at all. He is in a corral next to her and she has access to a field (but it only has poor winter grass.) Oh, more learning curves.
Nutritional Information
One of the questions we got on our video on Phytates was the following:
“I am on calcium and vitamin D supplements as it was discovered I have osteoporosis in my spine with several fractures. I notice on the instructions it says not to have them within 2 hours of whole grains and nuts and seeds so if I soak and dry my nuts and seeds, I’ll be able to consume them with the supplements without any problem. Thanks for the info!”
Thank you for your question. One thing I can say is that we try to eat right and even when we do that, we find out that one food is sabotaging another nutrient. We try not to worry about that all the time but when you have a specific supplement you are taking, it is important to know that you are not taking it in vain. Phytates do bind calcium so it cannot be absorbed. By soaking the nuts, it seems you should be able to eat them anytime. However, nuts are not the only thing with phytates in them. High fiber whole wheat binds calcium. So, if you are eating whole grain cereal with milk, or macaroni and cheese, the calcium is being bound by the grains. Cooked beans also are high in fiber and phytates. If you eat a bowl of beans with a class of milk, the body cannot use the milk.
I have answers to some of these dilemmas.
Soaking beans for at least 12 hours and then rinsing well, will remove most of the phytates. Oh course, discard the water they were soaked in.
Soaking wheat and sprouting it, then dehydrating it and then grinding it will make the whole grain digestible and get rid of most of the phytates. If I buy my bread, I buy Dave’s sprouted bread. It is time I make my own. Okay, I see a video in the future. I bought the sheets to go in my dehydrator last year. I have just never done it. Trish from Willowcreek Homestead makes sprouted wheat to make bread for her family. I will revisit that. Perhaps we can do a collaboration video.
Using the calcium out of the package of Macaroni and cheese is not possible. You will need to sprout your wheat or whole grain and make your own pasta. I also have a pasta maker I have only used a few times. More learning ahead.
Now there is another acid called Oxalic acid which also causes an absorption problem for calcium. Surprisingly it is in Spinach. Spinach is naturally high in calcium but it is also high in oxalic acid. The calcium does not absorb because of the oxalic acid. Other foods that have oxalic acid are beet greens, rhubarb and sweet potatoes. That is okay. They have enough other wonderful vitamins; we just won’t use them for their calcium. So, if someone tells you, “Hey look at all the calcium in spinach”. Kindly say yep but it can’t be used by the body.
So, Yes, if you cannot take all the phytates out of what you are eating, then eat them 2 hours prior or 2 hours after your calcium and Vitamin D Supplements.