MGTutoring.com. A Rational Perspective on Education.

January 30, 2013

Stay Away From Grains

Filed under: Biology,Child Development,Education,Exercise, Health & Nutrition,Parenting,Science — Administrator @ 12:10 pm

In “Beyond Celiac: Study Sheds New Light on Obesogenic Effects of Gluten – Are PPARs & Bacteria Both Involved?” (12-25-12), they write:

Bottom line: The study at hand provides a good reason to limit your intake of ‘healthy whole grains’ and other gluten containing foods, regardless of whether you suffer from celiac or not. Whether the established detrimental effects of gluten on the integrity of the intestinal wall and the increased leakage of bacterially produced endotoxins from the highly unfavorably changes in the gut microbiome in response to the high fat diets (Hildebrandt. 2009) are part of, or even the primary cause of these observations still has to be elucidated. The same goes for strategies to counter the translocation of the endotoxins across the gut lining (cf. ‘Shedding some light on the leaky gut’) and the dose response relationship between the total amount of gluten in your diet and its effects on your metabolism. With 7% of pure gluten, it goes without saying that you would basically have to live of wheat in order to get to anywhere similar amounts of gluten in the diet… that said: Is it possible that the effects occur only in the presence of the high fat diet? After all, this alone has been shown to favor a pro-inflammatory gut microbiome.

For your health and for your children’s health, avoid grains. Focus on meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Pastured, organic products are the best; buy from a local farmer with good farming practices, if you can.

Another Reason We Need Better Education

Filed under: Animals,Biology,Culture,Education,Logic,Science — Administrator @ 12:07 pm
In “What’s Behind the Campaign to Condemn Raw Diets for Pets?,” Dr. Becker says:
Following on the heels of the AVMA’s condemnation of raw pet food came a similar position statement by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) that it “does not advocate or endorse feeding pets any raw or dehydrated nonsterilized foods, including treats that are of animal origin.”
…
What the AAHA neglects to mention is the GI tracts of dogs and cats evolved to handle heavy bacterial loads from food. Your pet’s body is well equipped to deal with heavy doses of familiar and strange bacteria because nature built him to catch, kill and immediately consume his prey.
Your dog or cat’s stomach is highly acidic, with a pH range of 1-2.5. Nothing much can survive that acidic environment – it exists to keep your pet safe from potentially contaminated raw meat and other consumables. And in addition to the acid, dogs and cats also naturally produce a tremendous amount of bile. Bile is both anti-parasitic and anti-pathogenic. So if something potentially harmful isn’t entirely neutralized by stomach acid, the bile is a secondary defense. And your pet’s powerful pancreatic enzymes also help break down and digest food.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
Cats and dogs eat raw in nature — but raw is not recommended? Wow. Unbelievable. They advocate foods that injure and destroy the health and lives of our pets. They advocate feeding foods that have massive recalls because of contamination. They need to learn to reason, to use logic, and to be objective. Thank goodness for people like Dr. Becker!

January 24, 2013

Learning: Get Your Diet Dialed In

Filed under: Biology,Child Development,Education,Parenting,Psychology — Administrator @ 10:52 am

Sean Croxton wrote recently on Facebook:

Did you know that the gene that expresses Down’s syndrome becomes active in the absence of the mineral zinc. Cystic fibrosis is caused by a deficiency in selenium in the pregnant mother, and cleft lip is caused by not enough vitamin B12.

Want your children, your loved ones, and your self to optimize your learning ability and psychological health? Eat right. Do Paleo/primal/Weston A Price.

January 18, 2013

Learning Problems?

Filed under: Biology,Child Development,Education,Exercise, Health & Nutrition,Homeschooling,Parenting,Psychology,Science — Tags: — Administrator @ 1:16 pm

Is your child having learning or behavioral problems? The issue could be the grains in his or her diet. Read “A Gluten for Punishment: the Whole Grain Assault on Health” (12-5-12) by Nathan Daley, MD, MPH for more information.

An excerpt:

Individuals with the silent version of the disease are just as likely (or even more likely) as those with symptomatic celiac disease to develop or have osteoporosis, lymphoma of the small bowel, and other autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (hypothyroidism), and perhaps even dementia[2],[3],[4],[5],[6],[7],[8].

Additionally, certain symptoms or disorders like constipation and bloating, diarrhea, gastroesophageal reflux, fatigue, depression, skin rashes, muscle aches and muscle damage, neuropathy (nerve dysfunction, especially motor and sensory dysfunction), migraine headaches, seizures, kidney disease (IgA nephropathy), type I diabetes, infertility, and mouth sores may be present but medical providers may fail to suspect an association with gluten[9],[10],[11],[12],[13],[14],[15],[16],[17],[18].

January 15, 2013

Scientific Analysis

Filed under: Culture,Education,Homeschooling,Logic,Science — Administrator @ 3:00 pm

Here is what we should be learning to do in school. As it is now, unfortunately, students are told pre-digested ideas; they are not informed how the ideas were developed; principles like Newton’s laws of motion are presented as commandments; abstract, complex ideas in biology are, to students learning them, empty words to memorize. Students should be taught how an idea derives from the evidence of the senses and what chain of reasoning was used to develop it. (Teachers should push back (as much as possible; they should not jeopardize their jobs or career or family) on the philosophic ideas and values requiring them to teach Platonically. If we had only private schools, their job would be much easier and their teaching much better.)

A good example of how to think is found in Dr. Becker’s “Study Results Can Sometimes Be Misleading” (December 12, 2012). She writes:

As soon as the University of Illinois study was published, online media outlets picked it up and ran articles with headlines like: “High-protein diet may be unhealthy for kittens,” and “High-protein diet not so good for kitty’s belly. Kittens fed a high protein diet have less beneficial gut bacteria than those who eat a more balanced diet.” 2
…
The biggest factor to consider is that the two diets used in the study were, unfortunately, dry food formulas, which means they were seriously deficient in a nutrient felines MUST get from their diet — moisture. We also know most dry pet foods are cooked twice: once when the protein is rendered (turned into meal), and a second time when the kibbled mixture is extruded to form small, crunchy nuggets. This extreme processing also changes the structure of proteins and destroys vitamin A, vitamin E and the B-group vitamins, at a minimum.

Next we have to wonder about the protein source used in the dry food diets. It was unnamed in the study abstract, so we don’t know whether the food contained animal protein, a less biologically appropriate protein (for example, from a plant), or a combination. Generally speaking, dry pet food made with animal protein contains rendered meat by-products, which are more difficult for pets to digest than human grade meat.

(more…)

January 11, 2013

Speed Reading

Filed under: Education,Homeschooling,Reading — Administrator @ 1:20 pm

Jim Kwik’s speed reading program is one that Sean Croxton recommends. I have not done the course, and don’t know much about it. I’m letting Sean speak for it. Kwik Learning’s ten foundational principles are:

1. People are inherently capable of genius.

2. Our brain can perform at extraordinary levels when properly used and trained, but our brains do not come with an owners manual.

3. Our 20th century assembly line, “one size fits all” education, has left us ill prepared for our fast paced knowledge economy.

4. Exponential technology has led to an unprecedented data explosion, the gap between what we need to learn and the slow pace people learn it, has created massive information anxiety and overwhelm.

5. School teaches ‘what’ to learn (math, history, science, etc), but not ‘how’ to learn.

(more…)

SAT: Reading Comprehension

Filed under: Education,Homeschooling,Reading,SAT, ACT, ETC. — Administrator @ 1:19 pm

Majortests.com has 14 reading comprehension selections you could use to practice for the SAT. There are also, of course, plenty of books you could buy to get reading practice.

January 9, 2013

Grammar Documentary

Filed under: Culture,Education,Language — Administrator @ 12:09 pm

Grammar Revolution: good project!! And they’re so cute!!! Look at those smiling, young, bright, cheerful faces!!

They say:

Most schools today don’t teach grammar, and we are quickly becoming a society that doesn’t understand the structure of its own language. Why?

Why is learning another language the first time most of us are introduced to grammar?
What happened to grammar education?
Is it important to learn grammar?
Does studying grammar help with writing?
Everyone has passionate opinions about grammar. Were judgmental (oops, I mean we’re) and we’re self-conscious. Some of us love the subject. Some of us hate it. Teachers debate whether to teach it and how to teach it. Linguists debate the nature of language change and the nature of grammatical rules. We use grammar every day, so it makes sense that we all seem to regard the subject as important and worthy of debate.

Grammar Revolution will change the way people think about the subject of grammar.

The film’s mood will be positive, and its theme will be simultaneously simple and eye-opening. We’ll explain why grammar is no longer taught in most schools. We’ll show that understanding grammar is important and that learning it can be easy. Along the way, we’ll also correct misconceptions and address the difficult questions at the heart of today’s grammar debates.

January 6, 2013

The Benefits of A Good Teacher or Tutor

Filed under: Culture,Education,Homeschooling,Philosophy — Administrator @ 11:59 pm

In “NBER Report: Great Teachers Are Worth $400,000 A Year” (Huffington Post, 12-22-2010):

How much is a good teacher worth? Some would say they’re priceless, but recent findings in the National Bureau of Economic Research’s The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality, is a bit more exact. The report, written by Eric A. Hanushek, suggests that quality teachers with 20 students are worth $400,000 more in the future earnings of their students than an average teacher, annually.

Hanushek examines how the quality and effectiveness of a good teacher can impact a student’s future success and how this achievement can effect future economic outcomes for the country as a whole.

According to his calculations, it isn’t just that good teachers are worth a lot when considering our economic future as a country; alternatively, bad teachers are costing us trillions. Hanushek says that by exchanging the bottom 5-8 percent of crummy teachers with average teachers, the United States, as a country, could jump up the ranks to top in math and science, generating an astounding $100 trillion in present-day value.

Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

January 5, 2013

Grammar Book

Filed under: Education,Homeschooling,Language,Recommended Books — Administrator @ 2:06 pm

Elizabeth O’Brien, of English Grammar Revolution, is, to preserve some history of grammar, republishing the 1900s book The Child’s Picture Grammar by S. Rosamond Praeger.

Picture from English Grammar Revolution’s Website. 

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