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. 

The Peanut Allergy Epidemic and Vaccinations- Are They Related?

The case keeps getting more and more convincing that peanut allergies and vaccinations are related somehow.  Please read this article about a study project done by a teenager with a peanut allergy.  I think this relationship needs to be studied more and not overlooked as a possible cause to the peanut allergy epidemic:

http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/vacandpea.htm

Also, there is book that looks at this issue.  I found it well worth the read.  Here is the link on Amazon:

The Peanut Allergy Epidemic: What’s Causing It and How to Stop It by Heather Fraser

http://www.amazon.com/Peanut-Allergy-Epidemic-Whats-Causing/dp/1616082739/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321032319&sr=8-1-spell

Check out my paper on vaccinations that is located up above on the tabs titled "Vaccinate: Yes or No"

Synthetic vs. Natural Vitamins

I wanted to post the difference between natural and synthetic vitamins so when you are making decisions about what to eat, then you know what you are putting into your body.  Almost all vitamins that are in processed food are synthetic because most vitamins that were natural occurring are destroyed during processing.  Also, most vitamins in the supplement form are also synthetic, although you can find vitamins that are derived from whole foods.  If you are unsure about whether the vitamins in your supplements are synthetic or natural, then contact the company who makes them or sometimes that information will be on the label or posted on the company website.

One more thing before I get into the difference is that most vitamins have what are called Upper Limits or UL for short.  The UL’s are set because getting too much of certain vitamins can actually be a bad thing.  Having an imbalance of vitamins can deplete other vitamins, be toxic, and cause serious health problems.  For example, the UL for Vitamin A is 3,000 micrograms/day for an adult.  Over time too much Vitamin A can cause bone density to be reduced, serious birth defects because it causes abnormal cell death in the spinal cord, permanent liver damage and abnormalities, blurred vision, headaches, muscle issues, abnormal pressure in the skull, just to name a few.  UL are set mainly for supplementation that has become so popular.  It is nearly impossible to exceed or even come to close to Upper Limits when getting vitamins from whole foods.

Synthetic Vitamins:  Synthetic vitamins are made using coal tar derivatives.  They are made in a lab and have the same chemical structure as the natural form of the vitamin.  And are cheap to make.  But they are just that, vitamins, and that is it.  People have to be careful that Upper Limits are not being exceeded so that the vitamins are not damaging their body.  Synthetic vitamins can be good though.  When used in products like Plumpy’nut, they have helped bring starving children back to health.  They have also helped in areas where major vitamins and minerals were lacking in the food supply.  Also they help people who lack vitamins or have trouble absorbing vitamins due to ill health conditions.  Or even with major deficiencies like when Vitamin D deficiency is causing Rickets. 

Natural Occurring Vitamins:  Natural Occurring Vitamins occur in whole foods.  Vitamins do not act alone in the body.  There are enzymes, accessory nutrients (with vitamin-like actions), phytochemicals, and more.  In whole foods, they are in perfect combination and amount to produce the correct biological effect once inside the body.  In the long run, when just the vitamin is present, without all these other co-factors, then the vitamin cannot do its job properly.  In the book “The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods” by Michael Murray, ND, he states, “ More and more research indicates that accessory nutrients, although most are not considered “essential” in the classical sense, play a major role in preventing and treating illness….Some of the most important phytochemicals are plant pigments, such as carotenes, chlorophyll, and flavonoids.  Although these phytochemicals work in harmony with antioxidants, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium, they also exert considerably greater protection against cancer than these simple nutrients do.”

Here is a link that describes more about Synthetic vs. Natural Vitamins:

http://www.chetday.com/naturalvitamin.htm

Source:   “The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods” by Michael Murray, ND, page 136

This is a great book.  Here is the link to it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Healing-Foods-Michael-Murray/dp/074348052X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320862816&sr=8-1#_

Is Your Diet Helping or Hurting You and The Blue Zone Book

I keep tabs on the latest diet fads that are in the media.  Maybe it’s my background in anthropology or my line of thinking that strives to find simple solutions to problems using information from the past.  Sometimes the way they did things in the past was better and should have never been messed with.    I don’t know, but I seem to be able to put two-and-two together without doing 1000 years of school to get a double PhD in Whatever or from conducting a Quazillion dollar research study. 

Some of the latest diets I have read about include:

* The Paleo diet, where you eat like you are from the Paleolithic time. 

* The Nordic Diet where you eat things that people in cold regions eat, like fish, nuts, and berries.

*  And don’t forget about the good old classic Mediterranean diet. 

Ok, are you ready for the two-and-two I put together:  All of these diets have the same basic principles:

1.       Eat locally (all have a name that places them in a specific region)
2.       Eat fresh whole food.

  That’s it!  No calorie counting, keeping food journals or agenizing over measuring everything you put into your mouth.  Just cut out the processed food.   Plant a garden, grab some eggs and a goat from Farmer Joe and you are on your way to a healthy diet.  Ok. Well, maybe it’s not that easy now-a-days.

 

For thousands of years, people lived off the land closest to them. They didn’t eat bananas from Peru to get enough potassium, unless they lived in Peru.  They didn’t eat kiwis from New Zealand to get enough vitamin C, unless they lived in New Zealand.  I know you get my point.  They ate FOOD, fresh from their garden outside of their house.  They milked the goat that was hanging out in their front yard for milk and cheese.  They handmade the bread or tortillas from the flour they just ground in their kitchen.  They didn’t eat processed, packaged food like substances that were made with synthetic vitamins and chemicals which were created in a lab.  I call that “Dinner in a Box and Salad in a Bag” eating.  My great-grandma lived until she was almost 90 years old.  And I think the only reason she passed away then is because of her broken heart that missed my great-grandpa.  She lived her life healthy as a bull.  And she had a garden in her yard almost her entire life.  That seems to be a common story among the older (wiser) generations. 

So you see, it’s simple.  You don’t have to spend tons of money on diet books and journals.  Just eat what Great-Grandma ate and you will see a difference.  Get rid of ideas like diet soda pop is a diet food.  Studies have shown that it makes people gain weight just like regular soda pop.  Cut out soda pop and anything that is processed.  I know that’s the hardest part.  Our lives are so fast paced.  Who has time to cook?  But once you learn to make time, your health will reward you.  The key is to Make It Simple!  Think simple meals with whole food ingredients.    Nourish your body.   Knowing that you are making yourself and your family healthier with food will change your life.  It changed mine and Brooklyn’s life. Maybe the acne you have always had will suddenly clear up.  Or maybe the stomach aches that constantly plague you (which used to be my case) will finally go away. Putting real nutrients into your body does miraculous things.  Plus, for families with food allergies, you don’t have to read labels on whole foods or worry about undeclared allergens.  What you see is what you get.

 It’s important to find your kitchen groove. I always put on some Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole when I cook.  Music is calming to me.  Maybe it’s a glass of red wine while you cook or the kitchen can be a “no kids allowed” zone.   Creating the pleasure of cooking wholesome food is half of the best part.  The other half is getting to eat it!

  Also, I have a book coming out at the beginning of the year that will help you out with what to cook when you have a busy schedule and limited budget.   Keep an eye out for that.

  In the meantime, please read this book.  It’s not a diet book but it will give you some insight into what centenarians (people living past 100 years old) have been eating their whole life.  You will see that pattern of simplicity in the food choices of these people.  I hope it inspires you in your meal planning and helps you realize that eating healthy doesn’t have to be so hard.   And you can live to be 100 without the latest diet guru or fad!

"The Blue Zones- Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest" by Dan Buettner

 Here is the link on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Zones-Lessons-Living-Longest/dp/1426207557/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320440508&sr=8-1