Supplimental Vitamin E is derived from SOY!

WHAT?  How in the world did this tid-bit of information manage to get past me until now?  As the mother of a food allergy child, I immediately wondered if people with food allergies will react to supplemental Vitamin E derived from soy.  Here is a forum on the topic:

http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=622

This is just a reminder to all of us that deal with food allergies that allergens lark in secret places.  With all the fancy names that scientists are coming up with to disguise the ingredients, we have to be on our A game so we don't have accidental exposures. 

Here is a great link to a list of ingredient names to be aware of for specific food allergies:

http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcetopic.php?topic=food-allergens

And here is a review on how to read a food label.  This is a good review for everyone!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nutrition-facts/NU00293

And here is a good guide for reading labels for people with food allergies:

http://foodallergies.about.com/od/signsandsymptoms/ht/labelreading101.htm


I use the motto "If you don't know whats in the food, then don't eat it."

Brooklyn’s Food Allergy Skin Testing Update:

I promised Brooklyn over a year ago that I would never make her go through skin testing for food allergies ever again.  Last week, I reluctantly broke that promise.  We had a scheduled appointment with her allergist to see if she has grown out of any of her food allergies.  Bad news:  The doctor talked me into doing this skin test.  Good News:  She outgrew some allergies! 

Looking at the picture, the two big welts in the center of her back are peanut and walnut.  Her levels on the blood tests and on the skin tests are still very high, so it is suspected that she is still extremely allergic to those nuts.  But….she has tested negative on both blood and skin tests for almonds, cashews, coconuts, and pistachios.  This is great news since she once tested positive to all tree nuts.  Eggs are still the big unknown.  Her levels have slowly decreased with eggs but they are still registering as an allergic response during testing.  We are used to eating vegan baked goods now and having an egg allergy, in a way, protects her from accidentally eating nuts in baked goods.  That is the most common way that nuts are accidentally eaten, baked goods. 

So, I wanted to post this experience since many of you are going through the same thing.  The testing is horrible on Brooklyn but put in perspective, it’s a little thing that can change our life for the better.  We are starting with coconut as the first re-introduction.  I bought a coconut but am yet to talk Brooklyn into trying it.  My years of pounding the idea into her that she can’t eat coconut is making it hard and scary for her to try something she was told to never have.  She is old enough to be aware of how huge this is.  I will let you know how it goes with the re-introduction of these new foods.

Now, I am on a mission to find almonds that are NOT processed with peanuts or other tree nuts.  If anyone has information on where I could find those, please share.  I am thinking I will have to go straight to the farmer, but it will be worth it to add those into her diet. 

Finger Limes- Check these out!

I love when I learn about a new food I have never seen before.  I got introduced to this citrus fruit last week.  My friend handed me one and said there are “little balls of goodness” inside.  Like a kid in a candy store, I cut into the finger lime and this is what I discovered:

“Ewww. Fish eggs”, I said.  Yes, they do look like caviar, but they don’t taste like it.  Those little balls of goodness are actually called vesicles.  They have a slight “pop” when you bite into them, then a rush of tart, sour, and sweet.  The first bite I puckered like when I eat sweet and sour candy, but I couldn’t stop eating them because of the texture.  They are so fun to eat.  To eat them, cut like I did or even just cut one in half and squeeze all the little vesicles straight into your mouth.  Plus, since they are a citrus fruit, they have all the health benefits as other citrus fruits. 

Finger limes originated in the Australian bush, but are making their way slowly across the world.  They come in a variety of colors including yellow, orange, purple, red, brown, and black or a combination of colors as the ones I ate.  

Small finger lime farms are popping up around the United States.  The only commercial sized farm I could find that is growing them is called Shanley Farms in California.  Here is there website so you can learn more about finger limes and how you can get the opportunity to try them:

http://www.shanleyfarms.com/Page_2_QD6G.html

Olive Oil- Buyer Beware!

Olive oil is a big business right now.  With all the health benefits being reported in the media and the hottest chef’s using it on cooking shows; Americans have jumped on the olive oil band wagon without even blinking an eye.  The many uses and mild taste make it a great cooking oil.

But……Yes, there is always a “but” these days.  I am sad to say that olive oil is now on the buyer beware list.  Please read these 2 recent articles about imitation olive oil and mafia-type schemes going on in the olive oil billion dollar industry and how to avoid buying “bad” olive oil.

Article #1:  http://news.yahoo.com/italian-olive-oil-mostly-foreign-imports-report-085510704.html

Article #2:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-hottest-new-grocery-scam-could-be-lurking-in-your-pantry-right-now.html

This is Scary! Food Industry Secrets Exposed

Please read this article or even a portion of it to get what its about: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/orange-juice-moms-secret-ingredient-worries/story?id=15154617

When I saw the article about Orange Juice having "secret ingredients", I wasn't surprised one bit.  I have learned so much about the food industry and the implications of mass production of food that when I read something like this, my cynical nature says to myself, "Yep, figures they are doing something sneaky".  I am sure that most of you saw the recent articles about apple juice containing high levels of arsenic.  Now the most common brands of orange juice contain a secret flavoring that doesn't have to be put on the ingredient label.  I would love to think that these are isolated incidents and are the only ones of their kind.  I would love to think that the processed food is actually "safe" but its not.  Most of the stories about chemicals and toxins in the food processing system never make it to main stream media.  Those stories are bad for business. The industry affected usually pays off the media so the news ( or rather the truth) doesn't hit consumers. How many people want to eat a cantaloupe after people were dying of listeria?  Here is an article written years ago ( so this is a long standing problem) about a few of the food industries secrets:

   http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diet/articles/2008/10/17/10-things-the-food-industry-doesnt-want-you-to-know?PageNr=1

And now, after reading this article about orange juice, do you want to go out and get a glass of Minute Made orange juice? I am sure Minute Made's PR team is working on damage control as we speak. 

 Instead of having a glass of orange juice, eat an orange or fresh squeeze the juice yourself.  It even tastes better that way.  Try an apple instead of apple juice. 

A great book about the food industry and food in general is :

  "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324318583&sr=8-1








Please be an aware consumer and know what food you are putting into you and your families bodies.  Your health will be the reward.  And maybe together we can stop the food industry from being sneaky and making us sick. 

Chia Seeds Are Not Just For Chia Pets- YOU CAN EAT THEM TOO!

 I first learned that Chia Seeds could be used for more than growing a Chia Pet when I read the book “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall.  (side note*  that is a great book I highly recommend reading).  Back to Chia Seeds-  After I read the book and learned about Chia Seeds through internet searches, I followed suit of the many people who wanted to add Chia Seeds to their diet and ran to the store to buy some Chia Seeds.  Well, I didn’t literally run but I drove and purchased the Chia Seeds so I would have the energy and added nutrition to run.

 What is unique about Chia Seeds is that they provide a complete protein whereas most plants don’t.  Chia seeds contain all 9 essential amino acids.  They also contain fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids among other vitamins and minerals.  Here is some nutritional info and uses for the Chia Seeds:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/318361-chia-seeds-protein-value-and-nutritional-value/

 Here is a great blog that gives great recipes and ideas for using Chia Seeds.  Pick up the book “Born To Run” and you will be inspired, just like I was, to add them into your diet:

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/tarahumara-pinole-chia-recipes/

Coconuts- The Truth You Should Know About Coconuts

First, please view the following video before you read this blog post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0AOGeqOnFY

Very educational, wasn’t it?  Well most of it was educational except the “if you eat too many coconuts, you will be fat.”  That is so WRONG!  The truth is the complete opposite. 

 I’m going to tell you the story of how the coconut got its bad rap. 

Once upon a time (well to be specific, the 1950’s in the USA) there was 1 researcher.  The researcher fed rats some fully hydrogenated coconut oil.  The rats’ cholesterol levels significantly rose.  Therefore, all of America was informed that coconut oil contributes to developing cardiovascular disease and is a dreadful artery-clogger.  The End.

By “The End”, I mean that it was the end of coconut oil use in America, until recently.  Before that study came out, coconut oil was a regular staple of the American kitchen. 

The words that stand out to me in that story are FULLY HYDROGENATED.  Now, if you don’t know what that means, please take the time to read my last blog post about it:

http://shesnotnuts.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-you-desperately-need-to-know-about.html

Harvard scientists later proved that the coconut oil made the rats have high cholesterol because it had been FULLY HYDROGENATED.  The essential fatty acids, that many people are deficient in, are taken out of the oil.   Essential Fatty Acid deficiency has now been linked to high cholesterol levels, among many other major health problems.  That’s why they sell “Fish Oil with Omega’s” and milk “With Omega’s”.  I know everyone knows what Omega 3’s and 6’s are these days.  Since margarine is so popular and it’s fully hydrogenated, many people have essential fatty acid deficiency.  I will do a blog next week about the Omega’s because they are a whole topic in themselves. 

Here is an article about coconut oil and its mistaken nutrition claims of the past.  It has some really great health information about how coconut oil can help people lose fat and more.   Please read it:

http://www.sntr.com.au/index.php/healtharticles/65-coconutoildrmercola.html

Here is the truth about coconuts:

Coconuts are not a nut.  They are actually the seed of a fruit of a coconut palm tree.  The fat of the coconut is what makes it so great.  The coconut contains a “health-promoting medium-chain saturated fat” (p.421) that is only found in one other place, human breast milk.  It has a GOOD KIND OF SATURATED FAT.   This kind of fat is converted in the body to a kind of fat that actually “eliminates lipid-coated viruses, such as Cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex 1, HIV, Hemophilus, influenza, measles, the Vesicular stomatitis virus” … “In addition, not only does this fat inactivate H. pylori, but the organism, which has become resistant to a number of antibiotic drugs, appears to be unable to develop resistance to coconut’s natural microbials”(p.422)  I had to quote all of that because I could go on and on about the viruses and fungi and yeast that this fat kills or inactivates.  The list is even longer than the one I just gave.  In today’s day and age, antibiotic resistance is becoming more and more common.  People’s bodies are not built to fight these infections without the proper nutrition and antibiotics are starting not to work.  The coconut sounds like a life-saver, just maybe. 

Besides giving you one of the most health beneficial fats, the coconut is very nutritious.   Coconuts are a good source of copper, manganese, zinc, and selenium.  They provide water, carbohydrates, and protein.  They contain Vitamin C, folate, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium.  They have been known to sustain human life on an island for a very long time.

In the Philippines, the coconut palm is referred to as the “Tree of Life”

And this is why:

Uses of a coconut

*Cannon ball to shoot at pirates (that we learned in the educational video up top)

*Floatation device ….check out studies being conducted on human migration and evolution based on coconuts being used as floatation devices. Very interesting stuff.(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110624142037.htm)

*The roots are used for intestinal disorders

*The flowers can be used to treat dysentery, urinary infections, diabetes, and leprosy

*The fibers of the trunk are used as a diuretic, for tapeworm treatment, and to soothe the throat

*The shell is burned and made into a medicine used to treat skin disorders and relieve toothaches

*The sap of the palm acts as a milk laxative

*The oil is used for cooking, in Ayurvedic medicine, coconut oil is used to repel lice (then saturate the hair in mayonnaise and that will suffocate the lice and kill them.  Just an FYI)

*The coconut is made up of about 50 percent water so you can drink it

*The coconut can also be your friend if you are deserted on a remote island (example: Tom Hanks in Castaway)

Ways to incorporate coconut into your diet

*Shredded coconut (make sure to read the label because it’s often highly sweetened and preserved with propylene glycol which is an ingredient in anti-freeze).  Shredded coconut can be added to so many things or just eaten plain.

*Coconut milk is good in many dishes such as curry dishes, soups, stir fry’s.

*Make your own coconut milk by putting the “meat” (insides) of the coconut in a blender or food processor with water to make desired consistency.

Tips for buying and storing coconut

*Don’t buy shredded coconut preserved with propylene glycol

*Don’t buy HYDROGENATED coconut oil since all of the beneficial fat has been removed and    hydrogenated oils raise cholesterol

*When buying canned coconut, be sure to buy WHOLE, because low-fat is another way of saying it’s been HYDROGENATED

*Same goes for coconut oil.  Don’t buy HYDROGENATED coconut oil. 

As Dustin Hoffman once said, “The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk”.  Cheers to that!

Sources:

“The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods” by Michael Murray N.D.   (great book to have in your collection)