Everything might be ok if we simply listen and love each other

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September 17, 2021

The world can be a pretty scary place right now.

People are divided, and the future is uncertain. Whether it’s because of pandemic mandates, inflation, food security, climate change, new technologies, whatever.

In my opinion, a lot of the scariness comes down to politics. For example, let’s say a state has a “landslide” vote with 65% for and 35% against something, then the rules go in favor of the majority. But what about that 35%? That could be millions of people that feel shorted. Is the 65% considering the 35%? Typically not. That’s how politics in a democratic republic work.

The even scarier part is with your family and community. The divides right now are so strong. I’ve heard too many stories of people breaking up with family and friends. It’s really not ok. Your friends and family should be there to support you, no matter what, right?

All this aside, I have hope. So much hope. I truly believe everything will be ok if we can simply listen and love each other.

The past year and a half has been rough (to say the least). It’s as if we need to re-learn how to listen to each other. We need to re-learn how to empathize with each other. We need to re-learn how to love each other.

You see, when I have an opposing view to someone else, my beliefs and what I say may be harmful to them. I need to understand that. I need to listen and practice nonviolent communication over these really tough issues of today.

For example (and I know this is a BIG and HEATED example right now), let’s say that I am pro vaccine mandates, and I’m speaking to someone who’s pro medical freedom. I say, “Everyone should get the vax. If you don’t, then you only care about yourself.”

Even though I’m acting in what I think is the best interest for myself and everyone, that can be really harmful to them. Instead, I should step back and think.

Maybe it’s against their religious beliefs. Maybe they or someone close to them had a severe vaccine reaction at some point, and the thought of being forced to do it again triggers an anxiety attack. Maybe they are doing lots of other things to protect the health of others. Maybe they got the vaccine personally but believe wholeheartedly in medical freedom.

You could do the same exercise vice versa or on any topic. There could be so many reasons my views differ from someone else’s. But, unless we are able to have these hard conversations, we won’t get anywhere.

With any problem, there are an abundance of solutions. There’s really never one right answer. Let’s take a breath. Let’s take a step back. Let’s analyze what’s important and move forward together.

**At Miller’s, we are here. We listen to customers. We love you, too. We believe your choice is the right choice. Let’s build the next generation of healthy children together.**

What do you think? Anything troubling you recently? Anything on your mind? I’d love to hear from you.

Raw milk or fermented dairy and lactose intolerance. Why might it help?

I was misinformed. At some point, I read that raw milk contains lactase. As it turns out, this is not true! It is true that raw milk contains many live enzymes that are inactivated during pasteurization. But, what about lactase? I’ve heard many anecdotal stories from people who are lactose intolerant... but can handle raw milk or fermented dairy. If raw milk, yogurt, kefir, or cheese doesn’t contain lactase, then why is that?

Our bone broth tested negative-ish for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

Over the past few months a bunch of people asked us if we tested our bone broth for toxic heavy metals. When we get the same question a lot, we of course look into it. My first question was --- Is there an issue with toxic metals in bone broth? As it turns out, yes, there "can" be an issue! Heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. We need the "good" heavy metals to thrive: iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc. But, we can 100% do without the toxic heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, etc. Too many toxic heavy metals can lead to a host of pretty awful issues: nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, cancer, endocrine disruption, kidney damage, and so on. Our body is designed to excrete heavy metals through urine (and a little bit through sweat, hair, and breastmilk too)... but only so much. There's a limit. If you're overloaded, your body will store those heavy metals in your bones, blood, tissues, and organs. Similarly, if an animal is exposed to heavy metals via food, water, air, dust, or soil, those heavy metals accumulate in the bones. Maybe the farm's soil or air is contaminated from a nearby factory. Maybe the pipes for the water has lead solder connecting them. Maybe the feed a farm is buying was grown on contaminated soil or processed on contaminated equipment. And, of course, a main purpose of bone broth is drawing out as much as possible from the bones. If there are heavy metals in bones, they will make their way into the broth. This is especially true when you pre-soak with apple cider vinegar and simmer for 48 hours to make it thick and gelatinous (like our broth). And that led me to my second question --- Should I be concerned about every bone broth? Where is the fear coming from? Well... it seems it might be a little political. There was a study done in the UK in 2013 that scared a lot of people. It's titled "The Risk of Lead Contamination in Bone Broth Diets". This study found high levels of lead in organic chicken bone broth, which is quite concerning. And, in fact, this one study is still cited in articles written today! Let's dig a little deeper. Let's go farther than the short abstract. Here are the broths tested in the study and their test results for lead: (9.5 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus skin and cartilage(7.01 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus bones(2.3 parts per billion): Broth made from tap water plus meat(0.89 parts per billion): Tap water alone cooked for the same amount of time as a control. But, they only used organic chicken from one farm. And, there's zero information about that farm, their practices, the feed, and the broth recipe. Did they use vinegar or wine in the broth? Was the chicken's water contaminated with lead? What was the quality of the feed and the soil? Were the chickens raised indoors or outdoors? So many unanswered questions! All we get is that it was one "organic chicken" that created a lead issue with broth. Another curious thing is that the broth with skin and cartilage contained more lead than the broth made with just bones. Bones are where lead is stored, so why wouldn't the broth made with bones only contain more lead? It's an odd result. Moreover, the abstract of the study specifically called out "bone broth diets" like GAPS and paleo. They even go so far as to write, "In view of the dangers of lead consumption to the human body, we recommend that doctors and nutritionists take the risk of lead contamination into consideration when advising patients about bone broth diets." That's quite curious. Why are they worried about these diets? Are the researchers anti healing through food? Who funded the research? Is it political? My opinion? This study is not comprehensive. It does not speak to all bone broths. But it does cover a potential issue if the water or animals are overloaded with heavy metals. What I glean from this study is that we need more research. We don't need fear to spread and people to stop drinking broth from this one study. Regardless of whether the fear was fabricated or legit, we tested our bone broth anyway. After all, it's always nice to validate that your food choices are as clean as you think. For Miller's, here were my concerns before testing: What if there's mercury in the fishmeal in our chicken feed?What if the soil that our animals live on is contaminated?What is the well water that the broth is made with is contaminated?What if the Celtic sea salt has lots of heavy metals? We got the test results back. I was super excited. But, I was also confused. At face value, it appeared that our bone broth tested NEGATIVE for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. You can find the test results right here! You'll notice that, for every sample, the results are "<0.01 mg/kg" and "<0.02 mg/kg". I asked the lab what the "<" means. They said that it indicates their limit of quantitation (LOQ), the lowest concentration that can be accurately tested using the test procedure in that sample type. So the results simply report that none of the metals tested were found in the sample above the specific reporting LOQs. Whether or not they were present below this LOQ is information that is not provided by the test. When talking to the lab, I told them what we needed and assumed that this test would go below a 1 ppb. So, when the results came in, I assumed that a "mg/kg" was the same as a part per billion (ppb). Ummm... that math wasn't write! A "mg/kg" is actually a part per million (ppm). That means that the test we ran had results saying that the broth had less than 0.02 ppm (or 20 ppb) of arsenic and lead. And, it had less than 0.01 ppm (or 10 ppb) of cadmium and mercury. For some reference, the EPA says that less than 15 ppb of lead is safe in drinking water. Not saying that I agree, but it's a good reference point. These results are good. It means the broth definitely isn't overloaded with toxic heavy metals. But, it's not good enough!!! We need to test again! We really need to a lower LOQ. We need to know the results with an accuracy of as low as 1 ppb. It looks like the lab we sent the original samples to doesn't have an LOQ that low. So here I am on the hunt for a lab to do it again. As soon as I can, I'll send samples in again and paying for more expensive testing to get the info you deserve. Stay tuned! I hope to have the new results in by the end of April 2025. Do you worry about toxic metals (or other junk) in your food? Where have your fears stemmed from? I'd love to hear from you. You can comment below (no account required) or contact us 😊 ----- Sources The risk of lead contamination in bone broth dietsBone Broth and Lead Toxicity: Should You Be Concerned?Bone Broth and Lead Contamination: A Very Flawed Study in Medical HypothesesBone Broth, Collagen, and Toxic Metals: A Research Review

Celebrating the Heritage of Corn on National Popcorn Lovers Day

You've probably heard a lot about GMO corn and its controversies, but did you know that corn, or maize as many Native Americans call it, is a cherished heritage food? Let's take a closer look at corn and learn about its history.

Everything might be ok if we simply listen and love each other

The world can be a pretty scary place right now.

All this aside, I have hope. So much hope. I truly believe everything will be ok if we can simply listen and love each other.

Even though I’m acting in what I think is the best interest for myself and everyone, that can be really harmful to them. Instead, I should step back and think.

**At Miller’s, we are here. We listen to customers. We love you, too. We believe your choice is the right choice. Let’s build the next generation of healthy children together.**

More from the blog

Raw milk or fermented dairy and lactose intolerance. Why might it help?

Our bone broth tested negative-ish for heavy metals 🥳 NATURAL AND CLEAN

Celebrating the Heritage of Corn on National Popcorn Lovers Day

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