AlO-Lancastw Farming, Saturday, May 9,1987 OPINION Don’t Substitute Pills For Milk or Meat New studies of osteoporosis, a bone thinning disorder ex perienced by some older women and men, stress the importance of manganese in the diet and question the value of calcium supplements. “A recently completed two-year study of postmenopausal women showed that those taking 2,000 milligrams of calcium supplement suffered as much bone loss as those taking placebos,” says Dr. Sue Snider, University of Delaware extension nutritionist. “In contrast, women in the study who received estrogen but no supplemental calcium showed no bone loss.” Snider says this study, con ducted at the University of Copenhagen, emphasizes estrogen as the treatment of first choice for postmenopausal women but does not consider the effectiveness of increasing calcium intake throughout life. Adequate calcium intake is crucial at all periods of life, but especially when young. Studies of entire populations that drink milk versus those that don’t back this up. The milk-drinking populations have more bone mass. Osteoporosis causes 1.3 million bone fractures among American women annually. At greatest risk for this bone disease are older white or oriental women who are petite or thin and who experience an early menopause. Very elderly men can also be affected by the disorder. Other rish factors in clude excessive cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption, inadequate calcium intake and too little exercise. Other recent research shows that some vegetarians and elderly women with osteoporosis have remarkably low levels of manganese, a trace element Farm Calendar Saturday, May 9 Western Pa. Sheep and Club Lamb Sale, Mercer County 4-H Park, 6 p.m. Eastern Shore 4-H/FFA Spring Show, Queen Anne County 4-H Park, Centerville, Md. Monday, May 11 Annual Meeting, Dairy Sanitarians Association, Penn State University. Combined 4-H leaders banquet and Wayne County Extension Executive Committee Meeting, Bethany Methodist Church Hall, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 12 Berks County FFA Awards Banquet, 7 p.m., Kutztown Grange. UNCLF OTIS» CAN VOO HELP /V\E WITH THIS QUIZ v QUESTION? y necessary for the maintenance and rapid regrowth of bones. The study originated with a basketball star whose promising pro career was being jeopardized by broken bones, Snider says. His bones looked osteoporic and his blood, when examined, was found to have no manganese, half the levels of zinc and copper, but plenty of calcium. The athlete had been on a macrobiotic vegetarian diet for more than two years. Dr. Snider says that although many vegetables are a rich source of manganese the tannins and phytic acid in vegetables ap parently tie up the manganese and prevent its absorption. On the other hand, the small amount of manganese in meat is absorbed very well by the body. In fact, meat enhances the absorption of manganese from vegetables. Vegetarians, therefore, may be a risk for osteoporosis because in sufficient manganese is available from their diet. Other research on the role of manganese in bone maintenance led to the discovery that elderly women with osteoporosis have only one-fourth the manganese levels of healthy women of the same age. The effect of calcium sup plements on the absorption of trace elements is also under study. A University of Nebraska researcher has shown that magnesium and calcium supplements inhibit the absorption of manganese. Therefore, it’s possible that the same calcium pills taken to prevent osteoporosis may actually promote the disease. Therefore since manganese uptake by milk drinkers seems to be unaffected, we continue to question the value of substituting pills for food. Espeically for milk and meat. York/Lancaster Tree Fruit Meeting, Riverview Farms, Wrightsville, 6:30 p.m. Annual Meeting, Pa. Association of Milk Dealers, Hotel Hershey. Wednesday, May 13 Veterinary Nutrition Forum, Host Town Motel, Lancaster, 7 p.m. Speaker; Dr. Larry Muller, Penn State University. Huntingdon County Spring Homemakers meeting, Shaver’s Creek, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14 Lebanon County FFA Banquet, 7 p.m., Northern Lebanon High School. Safe Drinking Water Clinic, Dilworthtown Presbyterian WHATi? THE BE ECONOMICAL ENER&Y-PACKED FOOD ABOUND 1 ?’ ' V / « SUPE THAT 3 EASY! THE NOW IS THE TIME By Jay Irwin Lancaster County Agriculture Agent To Use A Starter Solution Gardening is a way of life for fanners and most suburban people. And if you want to give your garden a real boost this spring, use a fertilizer starter solution when you set out your plants. It’s easy to make. Just dissolve about 3 tablespoons or so of regular 10-10-10 or similar analysis fertilizer in a gallon of water. And, as you set out your plants, such as cabbage, tomatoes or peppers, pour some of the starter solution on the hole, stir the soil, put in the plant, cover the roots with soil, and you’ve got that plant off to the best start ever. - A starter solution makes plant nutrients available to young roots Church, 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 16 Fourth Annual Rhubarb Festival, Kitchen Kettle Village, Route 340, Intercourse. Armstrong County dairy princess pageant, Lenape Vo-Tech School, 8 p.m. Berks County dairy princess pageant, Berks County ag center auditorium, Reading. Sunday, May 17 Maryland Draft Horse and Mule Association Open Driving Schooling Show, Mt. Airy Carnival Grounds, Mt. Airy, Md.,9a.m. Annual Convention, Pa. Food Processors Association, Her shey Pocono Resort; continues through May 19. Tuesday, May 19 Ephrata Area Young Farmer monthly meeting and farm machinery, 7:45 p.m., Ephrata High School ag department. Wednesday, May 20 NW Maple Queen Contest, Michael Angelo’s, Route 6, Corry, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21 Mifflin County dairy princess pageant, Towamencin Fireball. Saturday, May 23 NW Keystone Junior Beef Classic, Fairgrounds, MeadviUe. W. Pa. Rabbit Breeders, Fairgrounds, MeadviUe. Upper Shore Dairy Princess Contest. Maryland State 4-H Dairy Bowl, Symons Hall, University of Maryland. immediately. Or, even better, you might want to buy a special starter fertilizer. These are specially designed complete fertilizers which are high in available phosphorus. Be sure to follow label directions on the container. To Control Flies Flies are a continual problem to keep under control on most farms. Successful fly control begins early, before flies become a problem. Best control results from using a variety of preventive and control measures. Flies have developed resistance to many chemicals. Therefore, it is beneficial to use several different classes of in secticides (i.e. organo phosphates, pyrethrines, etc.)- not to be con fused with methods of application (residual sprays, baits, feed ad ditivies, etc.) By using a variety of in secticides, flies that are resistant to one might be killed by another. Of equal importance is the prevention of fly breeding places. In other words, keep the premises clean. If feed is spilled, clean it up, scrape yards and alleys several times weekly, clean pens and box stalls weekly and incorporate manure soon after application. To Beware of “Bargain” Electric Motors If you attend sales or are given the opportunity to purchase electric motors at bargain prices, make sure you buy something you THE COST AND POWER OF LOVE May 10,1987 Background Scripture: Hosea 2:2 through3;s. Devotional Reading: Jeremiah 31:31,34 We don’t have all the details that we might like to know about the Book of Hosea. When God says to Hosea in 3:3,“G0 again, love a woman who is beloved of a paramour and is an adultress...,” is this the same woman, the harlot Gomer, whom God commanded Hosea to marry in chapter 1? If it is Gomer, is this the same story told twice or does it indicate that, sometime after the birth of their three chUdren, Gomer ran away from Hosea and became a harlot once again? We’d love to know the answers to those questions, but aU we really need to know is found in what the Book of Hosea does teU us. This woman - we might as weU call her Gomer and assume she is Hosea’s wife - has not only sought to find love in adultery and prostitution, but in the process she has lost her freedom and has become a slave. Once again, Gomer symbolizes the people of Israel. Like her, they have been unfaithful to the Lord. As she has gone from one lover to another, looking for something she never found with them, so the people of Israel have worshipped the gods of Canaanites, the Baals, who always promised a satisfaction they could not reaUy give. r •• BEST Economical Energy-packed Food -• /' fZ can use. Often a motor is pur chased and the buyer finds it’s not usable. Before completing such a pur chase it is wise to read the name plate. This will tell you if the motor is single or three phase, the hor sepower, shaft speed, voltage and amperage. If it is a single phase motor, be sure the horsepower does not exceed that allowed at your farm. Your power supplier will be able to provide this in formation. To Check Your Dog For Parasites Most all farms have a dog or two around as pets and for security purposes. In either event, now is a good time to check for parasites. Fleas become a special problem during the spring. The eggs they laid in the fall that were not killed by insecticides may have been dormant over the winter. Then in the warmth and moisture of the spring, these eggs hatch. Numerous treatments exist for fleas such as flea and tick powders that contain carbaryl. One ap plication won’t eliminate the problem. You must also pay at tention to your pet’s environment. Aerosol sprays work well for treating living areas. You may not be aware that your dog has fleas, especially with a long-haired dog. Just roll the dog on its back and look at the belly where the hair is thin. You can usually spot fleas in this area. The analogy of infidelity and adultery is appropriate for our own times. On the personal level, we all see the evidence of this phenomenon in our society. It has become so common as to be regarded as “commonplace.” The covenant of marriage has become considerably weakened in today’s world. But his analogy is also a spiritual reality in our world as well. We may not think there are any Baals day’s world as well. We may not think there are any Baals today, but there are: all of us are tempted to seek the fullness of life in things - money, success, power, technology, etc.- rather than in God. The story of Gomer and the people of Israel is our story, too: like Gomer and Israel we too “pursue... lovers, but (do not overtake them” (2:7)- trying to find what can only be found in God. We too can be “bought back” by the power of God’s redeeming love, but we must first realize that that kind of love, like the redemption of Gomer and Israel, has a price. What does that love cost? For one thing, it costs God a love that persists and endures even when the recipient of that love betrays and rejects it. This is not a ‘Til scratch- your- back- if-you scratch- mine” kind of love that is the basis of so much human “loving.” It is the kind of love with which God pursued the unfaithful people of Israel; “I will allure her... and speak tenderly to her" (2:14). In Jesus’ life that kind of love cost a cross. That kind of love also costs the beloved something, too, for although God “loves us while we are yet sinners,” it is only when we realize how low we’ve fallen and turn to God again that this redeeming love of God can restore us. Hosea forsaw the day when Israel would say, “I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now” (2:7). There is another cost inherent in this kind of love: although God’s love redeemed the people of Israel, there were consequences of their infidelity: “For the children of Israel will dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim” (3:4). When there is repentence and forgiveness in a broken marriage, the redeemed relationship must be strong enough to bear the consequences of the past. God’s love is strong enough to pay the cost. And ours can and must be too.
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