"Preferred PLUS"

(WARNING- this is a very controversial post!)

This is Husbandman, my very own superhero, who has just attained "Preferred Plus" status. That is, we recently opted to obtain a life insurance policy for him and the premium is determined by the individual's level of health. Premiums for the "Preferred" status were quoted to us because Husbandman "is a healthy guy." But no one gets "Preferred Plus". At least no one has gotten it from this insurance office in over a decade.

Well, we recently got word of the results of his physical and this is what "Preferred Plus" looks like. Fully decked out in a home-tanned goat hide. Want to know how he got that way being a full-time desk jockey and a weekend warrior on the homestead??? Read on.

First and foremost, we ignore the FDA. We've done a LOT of reading of studies NOT funded by the FDA or big agribusiness and have learned to do almost the polar opposite of what the FDA says to do. For example:

1) Drink raw milk and lots of it. And since we have goat milk which is naturally homogenized, we drink it with full fat... about 6-8% butterfat. Playing "Russian Roulette with our health"? We'll take our chances.

2) Eat eggs, lots of them, almost every day. Often raw. No eggbeaters here. Give us all the real cholesterol you can. Cholesterol is not the enemy. It forms on arteries to protect them from damage from other things, such as sugar, antibiotics and various toxins.

3) Eat real butter. We'd rather eat home-churned raw butter, but even store-bought butter is better than smart balance. Vegetable oils go rancid extremely quickly... at the heat of body temperature. Not to mention that all those oils are made from genetically modified crops, thoroughly sprayed with round-up and then packaged in a BPA-laden plastic containers.

4) Eat meat, even red meat. Now, we're not huge meat eaters. We eat meat for dinner about 3 times a week. But if we roast a chicken, I'll get those 3 dinners from the single chicken. And the meat we eat is all grass-fed and organic.

5) Eat meat slaughtered in an "uncontrolled" area. We slaughter our chickens, goats and sheep right here at home, in the back yard, open to the great outdoors and all the "horrible bacteria" that the natural earth can throw at us. Compare that with what you can contract in a super sanitized hospital. We're careful with our meat and cool it in an ice bath immediately after slaughter, but it's certainly not done on stainless steel tables that have been bleached to high heaven. We actually let plain soap, water and sunshine do all our sanitizing for us.

6) We do all cooking with coconut oil which is an evil saturated fat! Coconut is a rare oil that can be heated without going rancid and so maintains its healthy benefits even after cooking. If we use olive oil, we add it AFTER the foods are cooked (if they will be cooked) so that it maintains it's benefits.

7) We're not exercise buffs. I ran a marathon once but can now barely run a mile. I like to ride my bike with kids in tow but I'm certainly not conscious to get my heart rate to that optimum level. Husbandman, as stated before, is a desk jockey and benches a computer mouse. He sometimes goes for pre-dawn walks with God in the morning, but he's purposefully not breaking a sweat. Also, his corrected clubbed feet don't make for the world's greatest athlete. But he works hard every Saturday morning shoveling mulch, hauling lumber, tilling ground, etc... just before he spends the afternoon cramming his brain for his licensing exam. We'd like to exercise more, but there are too many other demands on our time.

8) We never eat soy-based pseudo health foods. (Naturally fermented tofu would be fine though)

9) We don't take medicines unless absolutely necessary. We have no primary care physician. Shoot, I only recently got health insurance at all. Husbandman has had antibiotics once and nothing else since his prescription acne meds in high school. (He has a great complexion now.) We do overdose on vitamins rather regularly though. When someone has an ailment, we search a publication that the American Medical Association refuses to publish... and get great results.

There are a few things we do right, according to the FDA as well though.

1) We drink only water and herbal tea regularly... and we drink a LOT of water. I drink a quart first thing in the morning and another just before bed, and a quart or 2 between. Husbandman is sure to drink at least a half gallon a day. And Husbandman is teetotaler against all caffeine and alcohol. I enjoy an occasional cup of Joe much to his chagrin.

2) We sleep a lot. We have no tv to keep us up late. We're usually in bed by about 9 or 10 and sleep till about 5 or 6.

hmmm... I guess that all we do right according to the FDA. Oh, maybe the fruits and veggies thing... what is it? 5 a day the color way? Yeah, I'm sure we do that. He eats 3 servings of fruit just in his lunch.

Now, I know this comes across as prideful gloating... as yes, it is. I'm glad to have a measure of proof of our health to show all the nay-sayers. We repeatedly hear "You eat eggs every morning? I'd hate to see your cholesterol level!" Or "Raw milk? Don't you know that can kill you?" Or "I wouldn't touch your eggs with a 10 foot pole. I want the Publix stamp or approval." Or "Just wait till you get sick eating that chicken." Or "Goat? Are you serious? You eat goat?" Or "You're going to get so fat drinking whole milk!" Or from the other side: "You don't feed your chickens organic grain? Then why bother? They're no better than traditionally raised." Or "Your soil is so bad your vegetables aren't going to be nutritious."

So, while there are still many strides we want to take in our health so that 50 years from now he's STILL "Preferred Plus", we're very glad to have this tiny tidbit of proof that we're on the right track. And for FDA followers, take note that those with "skin in the game", ie: insurance companies, are placing their money on NATURAL foods as opposed to all the "heart smart" foods and drugs.