Sugar has the potential to reduce your body's defenses

I had a nutrition class in grad school where they taught us the natural carcinogens in some foods, showing that there was so such thing as a perfectly safe food for everyone.
We can tolerate some toxicity on some foods, so they set limits on known problems. Peanuts have a naturally occurring carcinogen and must be tested in America before they are used for peanut butter. Imported peanut butter may not have been strictly tested. I grew some peanuts one year in an unusually hot, long summer, roasted them and they tasted pretty good. Of course I couldn't test them. But they were natural! I shared them with my squirrels. Dorisena

I've never tried growing p-nuts and don't eat them because my anti-inflammation diet excludes them as they may be a source of mold being a ground nut, yet I spend plenty of money on whole in the shell raw unsalted p-nuts for my blue-jays who adore them. I may try growing them.

You should live as far south as Virginia to grow peanuts, and I live in Central Ohio. They are a long season, sandy soil crop, and you need a place to dry them before baking them. I have the sandy soil, but won't try it again. I don't buy much for the birds because there is enough for them on the farm. The squirrels go into the field, drag the corn to my front yard, and eat away. Then I have to pick up the cobs. In the winter I feed birds but not Blue Jays because they chase away the other birds. I never saw an anti-inflammation diet, but the allergist said I shouldn't eat peanuts. I have always eaten them anyway.
I do know that sugar makes my knees ache, however they have both been replaced. I am not going to give up milk, either. I ate peanut butter at night to cure my low blood sugar years ago and it worked. When our business burned down in the middle of the night, I sucked on peanut butter to keep from fainting.
Protein is the big help in both low and high blood sugar. Peanut butter absorbs slowly. Dorisena

You've been though many struggles and have learned much. Birds give many of us an enjoyable pass time when some activities are restricted due to health issues. I have favorite bird watching stations where I can sit quietly in my yard and also a favorite window seat in my homes so no need to go outside.
I know the Jays are nest robbers of eggs, they love the calcium they get from the shell but my main residence in the Ozarks is a bird haven. Yet they are such characters and so beautiful and I love the large family groups of jays that show up for their morning feast of p-nuts. The woods are loaded with nut trees and acorns, but they adore the p-nut and take them and stash them for the winter. We have abundance of Cardinals and finches year round, plus flocks of wild turkey. MO has the Bluebird as the state bird and I get the meal worms from my compost pile and the Bluebirds go"nuts" over them. We have a long list of woodpeckers and the dramatic pre-historic looking Pilated usually nest accross the street from me in the woods. Their bird call is very distinctive We have prolific native cone flowers the Gold Finch's feast on and I have seen flocks of Goldfinches in the hundreds. We have more Gold Finches than any other type of finch. Road Runners, Wood Thrush and Thrashers plus endless more year-round. In addition all the migrating birds: Robins, Indigo Bunting, various hawks and Bald Eagles, assorted water fowl and fortunately the geese just stay adjacent to the the lake shore and don't make it into my property- they are messy and destructive. Honestly I can't begin to list all the bird types. In AZ I get at least 100 Gambil Quail who come in for breakfast and I make a special peanut butter, corn meal and bird seed mix I mix up and put on a peanut butter feeder and the sparrows, finches and Thrasher's only get about a generous cup daily which is gone by noon. They line up for it! Enjoy your birds!

@dorisena

Great post and so true. The FDA has done nothing in regulating the use of NonGMO labeling but everyone is jumping on that bandwagon and confusing it with or choosing those non GMO products over organic. Your last sentence...I keep studying....is probably the most important part of your post. Read labels...know where your food is sourced...if at all possible. There are no easy quick answers but at least many more of us are aware. Beware supermarket hype.

FL Mary

I find this concept very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

@dorisena

I’m coming back to this topic late but sugar and wheat products absolutely cause inflammation which is why joints and backs hurt (not the only reason of course). Drastically cutting back on both is a must for everyone even if you’re not hurting.

FL Mary

@imallers Absolutely sugar is a enemy there was someone who post on here that is a diabetic that said her bl. sugar was all over the map but she wasn't eating either . Whoever this is Im sorry I forgot the name on the post I hope you are seeing your Diabetic Dr. as you should know it is important for diabetics to follow there diets and exercise the worse things are you eyes and feet to watch all the times since you don't want to have big problems here so listening to your Dr. We here are,nt Dr,s but try to help where we can . Sorry Mary to send this to you and I hope that person reads all the mail

thanks for sharing!