Be Your Own Advocate

Good Morning! Now that I am educating myself and listening to my body's needs and being very snobby about everything I put in my mouth, I feel a huge sense of control over my health and well being and am loving how I am feel! I have, for now, taken dairy, beef and chicken out of my diet and to be honest have never felt better. I am eating WAY more fruits and cooked as well as raw vegetables lots of whole grains. I will talk about the proteins in a bit. I was always bloated and was never very successful on the "porcelain thrown", if you know what I mean, but not anymore.

I feel leaner, although I am in shape and work out ALOT, I just feel cleaner and leaner! One huge change in my diet is I stopped drinking coffee. I liked coffee that didn't taste like coffee, I had to add vanilla or hazelnut creamer, Splenda, and whipped cream - the only super healthy thing about the coffee I would drink every morning was the cinnamon I would sprinkle on top. In traditional Chinese medicine Cassia cinnamon is used prevent colds, nausea, diarrhea, painful menstrual periods, and is also known to improve energy, vitality and circulation. Oh, I'll get my cinnamon fix, but sprinkled on my "steel cut" oatmeal in the morning - not on top of a mound of whipped cream.

Caffeine can cause headaches, digestive problems, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, anxiety and depression. It can raise stress hormone levels and can prevent the enzyme systems cleanse our body from doing their job. Decaf coffee has high acid levels, which makes your body create fat cells in order to keep the acid away from your organs. I drank mostly decaf coffee, maybe that's why I feel leaner!

I have been drinking mostly decaf green and herbal teas, sweetened with raw honey. I always was a tea drinker, but now that I know how healthy decaf herbal teas are for me, my tea drawer is overflowing with Organic Spring Jasmine tea, Decaf Lotus Green Tea, Organic Rooibos( like green tea Rooibos is high in antioxidants and flavonoids and has been shown to prevent heart disease, help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, prevent strokes, reduce the risk of cancer and slow the aging process!) I have been drinking this tea for a long time because I skimmed over an article about it being healthy, but never really knew all the health benefits. It is so enlightening when you really understand the health benefits of the foods you are eating and the negative effects of others. Most of the food companies out there don't really care about our health - we should care! So many of us don't care as much as we should!

There are more and more companies out there that do care. As I said before, you are best cooking your own healthy meals with lots of fruits , vegetables, whole grains and protein - whether you are eating organic grass fed cattle, or organic free range chicken, or tofu, Tempeh, or Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP) also know as Texturized Soy Protein (TSP) - You are always better making it yourself. Knowing you are eating organic fruits and veggies and knowing the oils and amount of salt you are using and staying as simple as as close to nature with your recipes is always the best bet. Making your own baked french fries with Avocado, Olive, Grapeseed oil or Sunflower and Safflower oils which may be considered two of the healthiest oils because they are higher in polyunsaturated fats, have omega-6 fatty acids, and high content of vitamin E. Coconut Oil is known to to be amazing for hair and skin, stress relief, weight loss, increased immunity, and proper digestion and metabolism. It has lauric acid which helps fight viruses and harmful bacteria in the body. You can also add flaxseed oil to salad dressings or shakes. Flaxseed Oil has omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids as well as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which the body converts into omega-3s (fish oil has more omega 3s).

Omega 3s help prevent heart disease, anxiety, depression, support our immune function and brain health, prevents arthritis, helps reduce fatty deposits on arteries, improves eye health and reduces the chances of ALL forms of cancer. Fish Oil is chock full of Omega 3 fatty acids! If you are not taking Fish Oil as a daily supplement, you should be! Just google fish oil's benefits and you'll be running to your local health market to buy in bulk. I have taken the fish oil pills, but I now "drink" a teaspoon in the morning and a teaspoon at night of "Carlson's -The Very Finest Fish Oil Omega 3s DHA & EPA" lemon flavor - it's a little hard to swallow because of the oil consistency, but does taste like lemon - not fish (maybe a slight aftertaste). I buy my kids "lil Critters" Omega-3 Gummy Fish - they love them and think they are just a regular vitamin!

Since I have been experimenting not eating chicken and beef, I was concerned about not getting enough protein. You get protein in everything you eat, but a way to add more or get a meaty flavor and consistency to foods is using what I mentioned above - Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP) also know as Texturized Soy Protein (TSP). I will talk about Tempeh next time, but I want to quickly mention TVP. I was at the Natural (a natural/health market) in Timonium, Maryland with my husband. Of course I did have to drag him in there for lunch. We went to the cute, small Vegan Cafe they have there and ordered the Vegan Chile. The chile had a ton of beans and nice heat, but it also had something in it that looked and tasted like BEEF! It was TVP - a soy protein. Of course I had to buy it - and make chile that night to recreate it, it was that good. I bought Dixie Diners Club "Ground Turkey Not" and "Ground Beef Not". It comes in 1lb bags that looks like bread crumbs. You just add hot water, it hydrates and looks and tastes (somewhat) like meat. I added to my chile and my kids and husband loved it!

TAKE AWAY:

Bought 2 more books - have no time to read but bought anyway - "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. and an amazing vegan cookbook called "Clean Food" by Terri Walters. Noticed at Starbucks yesterday ( I was getting tea!!) that they are carrying organic dried fruit by "Peeled Snacks", and gluten, dairy, wheat free 100% raw granola bars by "Two Moms in the Raw" as well as adorable 100% pure fruit squeeze pouches by "Peter Rabbit Organics" (which my 4 year old loved) Things are a changin - because we are demandin!!

BOOKS, SWEETENERS, COOKIES!

My carnivorous husband as I like to call him - or the "wild boar" as our close friends like to refer to him is about to kill me! Not only have I purchased a gazillion books on subjects ranging from "vegan cookbooks" to "health myths and misinformation" to "the truth about genetically modified foods" to "unbearable stories about what really happens in slaughterhouses" to "the raw food revolution" to "juicing cucumbers, parsnips, carrots, lemons and green bell peppers for beautiful skin, hair and nails". I said on my last entry I was laughing out loud reading "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, well last night I was bawling my eyes out reading their chapter about the horrid conditions and inhuman treatment that goes on in slaughter houses. How cows, pigs, chickens, are literally abused my desensitized workers. One thing I took away from that chapter is not only are these poor animals living and eating in filthy conditions and pumped with steroids, hormones and antibiotics but they are so scared and freaked out at the time of their death due to sometimes crazy, unnecessary torture that their adrenaline levels and blood pressure are so high - that's what we are putting in our body! I know I'd rather put a beautiful organic carrot fresh from the garden in my body than that! This really made me think! More information and hard to read reports about what really goes on inside slaughterhouses, as well as exposing the greed and profit of the meat industry and how the "USDA Inspected" safety stamps on meat is just a stamp, it has never been inspected, can be read in Gail Eisnitz's book "Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry". Food for thought!

I said in one of my previous blogs we'll hit upon natural sweeteners. As healthy as I thought I was, I just threw out all my Splenda Packets. I'm not going to even go into how bad Splenda, Equal, Nurta-Sweet, and Sweet'N Low is for you. Aspartame which is in Equal and Nutra-Sweet can actually be digested by the body - recent studies show that it can result in an accumulation of formaldehyde in the brain and can cause damage to your central nervous system and immune system - lovely huh? A few great natural sweeteners out there are Agave Nectar, Maple Syrup, Sucanat (sugar cane natural) which retains it's vitamins and minerals , Turbinado (100% cane sugar), brown rice syrup, made from fermented rice grain - good for the body's mineral balance, Stevia from the stevia or sugarleaf plant - (300 times the sweetness of sugar) good for people on low carbohydrate, low sugar diet, and Truvia which is made of Erythritol (natural sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in fruits and fermented foods) and Rebiana (from the leaf which is considered the best tasting part of the stevia plant), Xylitol (from US grown brich trees), Raw Honey( I buy Really Raw Honey - easily absorbed and known as a natural laxative), and Coconut Palm sugar (like brown sugar or molasses). I'm sure the list goes on, please feel free to recommend more!!

TAKE AWAY:

A great cookie recipe that I got from Candle Cafe Cookbook's is their Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, I changed it a bit and added a lot of yummy, healthy extras...I have shared these cookies with my friends, clients, class members - they have been asking me for the recipe - here it is!!

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup brown rice flour (I used quinoa flour)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 sea salt, fine grained

1/2 safflower oil (I used grape seed oil)

1 cup pure maple syrup (I used 1/2 cup)

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 tablespoon egg replacer - 1 part flaxseeds, 2 part warm water - blended in blender

the recipe then calls for 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used 85% cocoa chocolate bar chunks and/or dark chocolate chips)

I added shredded unsweetened coconut, dried cranberries, and walnuts (can use raw almonds)...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flours, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, 1/4 cup of water, maple syrup, vanilla and almond extracts, and egg replacer and stir well to combine. Fold in handful of dark chocolate chips/choc. bar chunks, dried cranberries, shredded coconut, walnuts...
2. Spoon tablespoons of batter on baking sheet 3 inches apart. Can flatter batter with back of wet spoon.
3. Bake until lightly browned - 10-15 minutes

ENJOY!!!

What works for your body!

Let me start today by saying there is SO MUCH INFORMATION out there about what is healthy and what is not healthy for you. So many books, articles, lecturers...claiming their ideas about food or food products are the best for you. Nobody knows what is the best for you except you and your body. As I said last post, I was at Philly Mania, a fitness conference in Philadelphia this weekend. I took a ton of classes including yoga, cycling, "curve step", Pilates, a "horizontal fitness" class- where most of what we did including lifting weights was in a plank position - (CRAZY), nutrition classes.... but the one big thing I came away with from the weekend is a simple phrase a great presenter said - "You are What you Absorb". We can all eat whatever we think is the healthiest for us - but we need to listen to and understand our own bodies because it doesn't matter how healthy we think we're eating, if our body doesn't "absorb" it's nutrients properly we can really be in trouble

One way to see if we are absorbing properly is to listen to our own bodies after we eat something. One is a "Mucus Reaction Test" developed by Shelley Summers, author of "Creating Heaven through your Plate". She talks about listening to your body and "respond to it with love to it's needs". Whenever you eat something your body cannot easily digest, it will go into a defense mode creating mucus. Mucus will surround the particles it cannot digest to protect the body from them and to help move it through the intestines and to stop your body from trying to absorb them. You can do this test yourself. After you eat something, wait to see how your body responds. It could take a few seconds or up to 20 minutes. If you get a runny nose, sneeze, or cough or have to clear your throat - you are having a mucus reaction and cannot properly digest that food.

Another more expensive, but more accurate test is a blood test. This test can tell if you have good blood levels of vitamin A or E for example, but your zinc and chromium levels are low. Although you may be a very healthy eater and take supplements, your body may not absorb a certain nutrient for various reason, ie. an over the counter drug can interfere with nutrient absorption. "The Pill" can lower vitamin E levels, acetaminophen lowers antioxidants, antibiotics can lower vitamin B. This test can help identify a problem before it becomes serious. These types of blood tests measure:

24 essential trace minerals, including Vitamin B12,

stomach acid levels, thyroid and adrenal status, total lipids and HDL, LDL & VLDL

fractions, anti-oxidant factors (rutin and hesperidin), and other values. Ask your doctor, it may be a great test to take! I have been laughing out loud while reading "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. They talk about taking ALL fake sugars out of your diet - for great reasons we all alreadyknow! Reach for the Agave Nectar, honey, pure maple syrup or Stevia - as we discussed before. Our bodies cannot digest these chemicals and the chemicals in these sweeteners. This book talks abouthow difficult it is for our bodies to digest animal flesh - you like the way they put it? . They actually call it "The Dead, Rotting Decomposing Flesh Diet". According to the authors, our alkaline saliva is not meant to break down animal flesh. Carnivores have acid saliva and can perfectly break down the nutrients in meat. Our enzymes, digestive tracts and organs are different than carnivores and our kidneys,colon and liver are unable to process animal meat. TAKE AWAY: Is chicken, eggs, milk, meat, fish really that bad for you? I'm not sure of that answer for myself yet - still digging a little deeper. Have I stayed away from pasteurized cow's milk, yes - do I feel better - yes! I have also been eating more nuts, fruits and vegetables and less chicken, I rarely eat red meat to begin with, do I feel better and slimmer - yes! I lunched with some girlfriend's today at ZIA'S CAFE in Towson, Md.I had a whole wheat wrap with grilled Tofu, sprouts and veggies. I loved it - felt so good after eating it! We drank "Kombucha" which is a Chinese Tea that is cultured for 30 days. It is completely Raw and is fermented like yogurt, kefir or sauerkraut. It is alive with active enzymes from healthy yeast and bacteria. Anything cultured or fermented is SO good for us. It contains liver detoxifiers, antioxidants, polyphenols, probiotics and free form amino acids. It burns body fat, stimulates metabolism and soothes digestion. We got GT's Multi-Green Kombucha. I will talk more about digestion, fermentation and enzyme supplements you can take with your meals. I will also get you those fun games to help your kids eat healthy and post my yummy, super healthy cookie recipe!

hello from Philadelphia

Hi all, I am at Philly Mania this weekend which is a fitness conference in Philadelphia. I am a personal trainer, Pilates instructor, "Barre" instructor (a fusion class that incorporates Pilates, Dance, Yoga and strength training with light weights and a ballet barre) as well as teach indoor cycling and a barbell class called "Body Pump", so I am here for the weekend getting the credits I need to continue doing what I love - teaching fitness classes! There are so many amazing, motivating instructors here as well as informative lecturers updating us on the latest trends in the industry. I took a new step class today called "curve step" which was amazing. The step was shaped like a curve and could be used both ways - as a "rainbow "- where you can step on or as a "smiley face" where our can balance inside...plus bands can be threaded through, in both directions and used for upper and lower body resistance work. It was challenging and really fun - look for "curve step"...you can follow the instructor Jeff McMullen on facebook or twitter and his website is www.jefffitnesspro.com.

I also took a lecture from Irene McCormick (www.irenemccormick.com) called "Fear Factor Food - Kids Rule". It was about how to educate children on the importance of nutrition and how to "Wow" them with fun games that will allow them to explore different nutrition options. We really need to educate our kids about why they are eating what they are eating and give them options....peas or spinach, carrots or broccoli, yams or white potatoes (which yes white potatoes are healthy for you. They are full of nutrients, fiber, phytochemicals, iron, copper, potasium...) We have got to stop making one meal for ourselves and another (usually unhealthy) meal for our kids. They don't have an option, they should eat what is on the table. If they want something else, Irene suggested they can get up from the table and make it themselves. She did say don't deprive your children, offer some fun foods they like or have treats in the house for occasional snacks....because if we deprive them, they will sneak it in or find it somewhere else. The key is to educate them why certain foods are healthy and others are not. I couldn't stay for the game section, but will get a game or two from her and write about it later.

Ironically First lady Michelle Obama was in Philadelphia today taking her "obesity campaign" to Philly Schools. She said too many people around the country don't have a grocery store near them where they can get fresh food. She announced that more than $400 million in funding is in effect to bring healthy food retailers to underprivileged communities. So many of these families are buying their food from convenience stores right now, with very little access to fresh food markets.

TAKE AWAY:

Americans are "sitting" (including sleeping) for an average of 20 hours a day!! Sitting for prolonged periods of time is a health risk! It causes obesity, diabetes and heart disease and scientist claim it is as bad for you as smoking or over-exposure to the sun. Even if you exercise regularly, if you sit for prolonged periods of time you are at risk. If you sit at a desk for work, take the stairs instead of elevators, walk to grab lunch, have a meeting with someone on a walk rather than sitting in a conference room. Try to be active throughout the day - not just for one or two hours at the gym - you need to be active longer than your gym workout!

eggs...

I eat eggs. Usually egg whites, and always organic/free-range. I have bought a lot of Vegan cookbooks lately and do like baking sometimes using egg substitutes. I baked a few recipes last night from a great cookbook, "The Candle Cafe Cookbook" which I bought a while ago after going to Candle Cafe on 3rd ave between 74th and 75th in New York City. I just fell in love with the place, with it's awesome juice bar and amazing healthy cuisine. It is a Vegan Restaurant and they are dedicated to, and I quote from their website (www.candlecafe.com), "Bettering the health of the individual and the planet by serving food fresh from the farm to the table. Our Organic Vegan Cuisine is rooted in sustainability, eco-friendly practices, local farming and compassion for animals". I baked their "Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies" and "Britsy Brittles" which was almost like a granola cookie with oat flour, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, walnuts, raisins and dates. Both recipes called for an egg substitute which is 2 parts warm water in a blender, 1 part flax seeds. It becomes sort of like a gello and can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The chocolate chip cookies called for dairy-free chocolate chips, I used carob chips, but you can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate if you are not vegan. The cookies were really tastey - with out the eggs! I have also made their really yummy Portobello and Red Pepper Quesadillas - it calls for soy cheese, but I used grated white cheddar (yes I do still love my cheese!)

If you are going to eat or buy eggs - Organic, Free Range would be the best choice. Free-Range is not always organic, so make sure it says both! We talked about factory farming a bit, and basically factory farms have terrible conditions for chickens, if you have read about factory farming, watched "Food Inc" or watched "Meet your Meat" on YouTube you have seen the horrid conditions these hens go through for their eggs and meat.

Chickens and egg laying hens are the most abused of all the animals raised to slaughter in big factory farms. They are crammed by the thousands into sheds that are filthy and filled with their own excrement and never see the outdoors. They are pumped with antibiotics and hormones to make them grow unnaturally fast, many can't even walk and have broken bones because their legs cannot support their genetically altered large bodies, not to mention the abuse they go through before they are slaughtered. Egg laying hens are surrounded by nothing natural at all. They are in small confines and their beaks are seared close so they don't attack each other which happens when they go crazy in such small confines. It takes 34 hours to produce 1 egg and then they are often shocked into a another egg laying cycle by being starved for 14 days. Many die during this cycle.

Many people just won't eat animals that are abused like hens, but many buy organic because the chickens are treated more humanely and the eggs haven't been exposed to antibiotics, hormones or pesticides. Organic hens according to the guidelines of the "USDA's National Organic Standards" are:

1. Chickens must be fed organic feed (which improves taste, nutrition and health benefits of their meat and eggs) grown on land free of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and fed no animal by-products.
2. Must live cage free with access to the outdoors.
3. No antibiotics are allowed, unless there is an infection
4. The farmers must follow strict humane treatment of their animals - mistreatment of chickens or other animals could lead to a farmer loosing their organic certification - although there is a debate about mistreatment of organically raised hens....

If you just buy Free-Range chickens or often called "cage free" (not organic free-range or cage free), they can still be fed animal by-products, and treated with hormones and antibiotics. They are allowed to roam freely during the day, but are usually kept in sheds and henhouses at night.

So if you are going to eat eggs, the Organic Free-Range/Cage Free is not only the healthier choice nutritionally for you, but also a better choice to help make your case farmers to treat these animals more humanely!

TAKEAWAY:

I Started reading "Healthy at 100" by John Robbins which followed a study on finding the oldest and healthiest people in the world. This study was done by Dr. Alexander Leaf working for National Geographic in 1970. One group of people he followed were the Vilcabambans, a people famous for their long and extremely healthy life spans. They were from a small town in Ecuador's Andes Mountains. He studied these people who were amazingly heathy and vibrant at the age of 103. They did live in beautiful, warm, lush surroundings and were very active, but the older people of this village had no experience with processed food, artificial sweeteners or chemical additives. Vegetables were always fresh from the garden and eaten the day they were picked. Their diet was almost all vegetarian made up of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts and beans. They would eat milk and eggs, but very little and they ate almost no meat or butter. Their sweets came from figs, pineapples, watermelons, oranges or bananas.

I think we all know we should eat foods that are as close to nature as possible - cooking in our own kitchens, not buying foods wrapped in plastic or out of a box....

what's in my fridge now?

Wow, just organizing my fridge and there is very little room because there is not only "Horizon" Organic Cow's milk, but now "Almond Dream" Unsweetened Almond milk, "Silk" Unsweetened Soy Milk, and "SO Delicious" Unsweetened Coconut milk as well as "Silk" French Vanilla Creamer (which I'm sure is not that healthy) and my husbands "Organic Valley" Organic half and half, which he can't live without for his coffee. Not to mention my yogurt of choice (for now) Fage Strained Greek Yogurt and "SO Delicious" soy yogurt sweetened with Agave Nectar. I also got another yogurt made from grass fed cows called "Siggi's Icelandic style strained non-fat yogurt. This yogurt is just like the strained Greek Yogurt, really thick and packed with protein. I got the "orange and ginger" flavor as well as "vanilla" and "Pomegranate & Passion Fruit" for my kids and they do like it - it has a little funky taste, (probably because of the grass fed milk - we're not used to that) but the kids like it.

I forgot to talk about coconut milk yesterday and my vegan friend also commented on my blog about Hemp milk, which I'll also touch upon as well. I drink "Zico" coconut water a lot (my cousin turned me on to it right before I did my first marathon two years ago) but have never tried coconut milk before. Coconut water is great because it's chock full of essential electrolytes, 15 times more potassium than a sport's drink, has low acidity and no fat or sugar added and gives you natural energy. It's touted as a "natural" sports drink. "Zico" makes a natural "flavor" drink (which I buy) as well as "passion fruit" and "mango". It's a great, healthy drink to help replenish the body after working out!

Ok, back to Coconut milk. I really like the taste of the coconut milk - I bought the "unsweetened" so it's not that sweet (we have to try to get away from added sweeteners to the products we buy) but it has a nice thickness with a semi-sweet, mild coconut taste. It is made from the meat of a mature coconut (while coconut water is made from young coconuts) which is high in oil and is very rich.

It does have 5g of fat and 50 calories per 1 cup serving compared to Skim milk's 0 grams of fat and 90 calories per serving, but has 15 mg of sodium and 0 grams of sugar compared to Skim milk's 130mg of sodium and 12 grams of sugar, but has only 1 gram of protein. The fats in coconut milk are recognized as "medium chain fatty acids" (MCFA) which are good fats. The two primary MCFA's according to the carton of coconut milk I bought are lauric and capric acid which are known to support the body's immune system It is naturally cholesterol free and a good source of calcium, vitamin A, magnesium, and high in Vitamin D and B12. It is another good alternative to dairy and soy. A couple of "Ayurvedic" (definition: Hindu system of medicine based on the idea of balance of the body through diet and herbal treatment and yogic breathing) benefits of coconut milk is it can be used as a laxative and for healing mouth and other forms of uclers.

Hemp Milk is another good alternative to soy and cow's milk. It is made from the seeds of the hemp plant and has only just begun to be sold in the U.S. within the past few years. The chemical THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) which is in marijuana is not in this milk, which I'm not sure is good or bad thing! It has all 10 essential amino acids, as well as omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, 4 grams of digestible protein, no cholesterol, and has 46% of RDA of calcium as well as vitamins A, E, B12, D, folic acid, magnesium, iron and zinc. The hemp plant is primarily grown in Canada, France, and China. More hemp is exported to the U.S. than any other country. The seeds cannot only be made into milk but can be eaten raw, ground into meal or sprouted. My kids like "Nature's Path" Hemp frozen Waffles - but we have not tried Hemp milk - yet!

You can go to the website below and enter your zip code to find out where you can buy "Living Harvest" Hemp Milk - there is plain, unsweetened, chocolate and vanilla varieties.

http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ExecMacro/livingharvest/home.d2w/report?hbtype=ppc&hbv1=google&hbv2=lhhempmilk&gclid=CPzI07qm9Z8CFWEO5Qod8SlyfA

I will tackle eggs next time I write and will talk about egg alternatives as well!

TAKE AWAY:

UPS came today with three books for me, "The China Study", "Healthy at 100", and "The Food Revolution". I will start reading and blogging about what I read from those books. Please feel free to read those books with me and give me your comments, thoughts, ideas....

Here comes the snow - again!!

Milk and More

Hey all, Happy Valentines Day! Last night I dragged my carnivorous husband to a great vegan restaurant on St. Pauls Street in Baltimore called "The Yabba Pot". It was quaint little place with a nice simple menu, a juice bar and off the hook vegan desserts! Who knew desserts could taste that good without eggs or butter! I met two wonderful girls, one who worked there and one who was dining with her fiance, both were vegans and chock full of information from great websites to recipe books to general reading about lots of the issues we are talking about. I will share that info with you as well!

My husband Scott and I dined on mashed sweet potatoes made with coconut milk, fried navy bean patties, curried white potatoes, an amazing raw kale dish with carrots and beets, fried cauliflower that tasted like fried chicken, a dish called king greens which was sauteed kale, cabbage and onions (I loved that dish so much I made for lunch today and served over polenta), and spicy lentil stew. Their desserts like I mentioned were so good -we had the lemon cake with amazing lemon frosting that was made with no butter, milk or eggs - need to get that recipe!

I talked about milk with my new friends and one of the girls makes her own milk out of almonds. I am not ready to make my own yet, but I took my new friend's advice and went out and bought Almond Milk today. Almond milk is a milky drink made from ground almonds. It does not contain cholesterol or lactose like animal milk. It is completely vegan. I bought "Almond Dream Unsweetened Almond Milk" I wanted to buy organic - but the only organic version was sweetened. It tastes really pleasant, like almonds. If I wanted to make it sweeter I could by adding a little honey, cane sugar, maple sugar or truvia/stevia myself. I always like to buy unsweetened and add my own sweetener if needed. We will talk about sweeteners later this week for sure. The girls I chatted with last night use Agave Nectar, which I like as well. The almond milk you can buy from the store is often enriched with vitamins and comes in not only plain sweetened and unsweetened, but vanilla or chocolate. If you want to make it yourself you would simply combine ground almonds with water and put in a blender. It is really good and almonds are super healthy, this may be my new staple for my morning cereal or the milk in my morning latte!!

There is so much out there about soy milk and if it's healthy or not due to it's estrogenic properties as well as processing at high temperatures. The best type of soy to eat is fermented soy, but unfermented soy milk has it's health benefits as well. As I discussed before, it has the same amount of protein as cow's milk, although little digestible calcium, but is usually enriched with calcium carbonate which humans can digest. Soy milk, like Almond milk has little saturated fat and no cholesterol. It also contains isoflavones which are organic chemicals that have health benefits such as protection against breast cancer, prostate cancer, menopausal symptoms, heart disease and osteoporosis. The healthiest bet with soy milk would be to drink it in moderation and buy Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk. Other types have added sugar which is not that good for you. Fermented soy has a higher nutrient level than unfermented soy because it is not processed at high temperatures. Fermented soy products are miso, tempeh (you can buy at health food stores or even Giant, the brand I buy is Lighlife Organic tempeh Three Grain, made with brown rice, barley and millet - or of course make yourself), naturally brewed soy or tamari sauce, whole soybean powder and fermented soy yogurt which is full of the friendly bacteria lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus - which are live and active cultures. You can of course make your own soy yogurt, there are lots of recipes online - have at it!

Another type of milk is Rice Milk. Rice milk is processed from usually brown rice and is usually unsweetened. Some brands may be sweetened with sugarcane syrup. It has more carbohydrates than cow's milk, but does not has a significant amount of calcium or protein. It has no cholesterol or lactose, and is usually fortified with calcium, vitamin B12, B3 and iron. Store brands will have not only unsweetened Rice Milk but also vanilla, chocolate and almond flavors. I will try it, this may be good for shakes before a workout because of it's high carb content. Rice and Almond Milk are both good alternative if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to soy.

I was asked about cow's milk yogurt vs. cow's milk and if it is a healthier option. It is a healthier option because it has the "good bacteria", the live and active cultures that take up some of the milk's sugar (lactose), converting it into lactic acid - giving it that tangy taste and is digested easier. The live cultures in yogurt may prevent intestinal problems and even colon cancer. Like I said before, you can mix yogurt with water to make yogurt milk, which some believe if you are going to drink dairy is a healthier alternative to cow's milk.

TAKE AWAY:

The girls I was talking to at the Yabba Pot (remember they are vegan) suggested a few great books/websites...here they are:

Books: Skinny Bitch - the whole series, The Kind Diet, The New American Diet, Fast Food Nation, Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Websites:

the Post Punk Kitchen Website (www.theppk.com),

http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php,

http://www.themeatrix.com/

and http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home

(this site helps you find markets and restaurants that use local sustainable organic products and

"Meet Your Meat" a youtube video narrated by actor Alec Baldwin, which is hard to watch - but shows the cruelty of the animals that are raised to be slaughtered for the meat we eat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIjanhKqVC4

happy reading and surfing!

until tomorrow.....

The Skinny on Milk

Let me start by saying I drink Organic Skim Cow's milk and Soy Milk. I don't drink milk as a beverage, but when I want cereal or a latte I'll use cow's milk or soy milk, but I only buy organic. I was drinking only Soy Milk for a while, but heard something about plant estrogens (phytoestrogens) or isoflavones that have a structure similar to the hormone estrogen. They can bind to estrogen "receptors" and have estrogen like effects on the body. But the more I read recently about the clinical studies, this really is a myth. The isoflavones in soy food do not affect levels of testosterone or estrogen. I am a proponent of soy. The soy is made from the beans of the green soy bean plant and is high in protein and is considered nutritionally equal to the protein found in animal foods because it has all the essential amino acids of protein, complex carbohydrates, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins & minerals such as calcium, folate and iron. I will talk a bit about soy later.

I am on this journey of learning about what is in the foods we are eating with you, and we will all make our own educated choices after we learn more. We will make these choices based on what we believe is the healthiest choice for us and our families.

There are so many negative affects of cow's milk, I honestly had some idea, but really didn't know the whole picture. We are the only mammal that drinks milk after we are weaned. Not only do we continue to drink milk, but we drink another animal's milk. Human Breast milk has the perfect amount of fats, proteins and vitamins for not only protecting us from diseases and bacteria but for brain development and strong bones. I knew that each animal's milk is optimal for it's young, but I didn't know cow's milk has 3x more protein and almost 4x more calcium than human milk, because naturally it is made to be the perfect food for a calf that will grow up to be many times larger than a human.

Cows milk contains 118 mg of calcium in every 100 grams, compared to 33mg of calcium/100 grams in human milk, but cow's milk contains 97 mg of phosphorus/100g compared to 18mg of phosphorus in human milk. This is important because minimum recommended ratio of calcium to phosphorus for humans to get the adequate calcium intake is 2:1. When the ratio is too high - as it is in cow's milk, we can't absorb the calcium and it will actually drain calcium away from our bones. Ironically cow's milk is marketed for building healthy bones, but it's very high in phosphorus and may actually be causing osteoporosis. Our bodies can only absorb 30% of it's calcium due to it's mineral make-up.

Also, if we ingest more calcium and protein than we can absorb, it will result in excess waste which puts stress on the liver, intestines, lungs, kidneys...One more thing about cow's milk vs. human milk. The fat contents are similar, but cow's milk has 48% less natural carbohydrates and almost 300% more sodium.

By simply removing dairy from one's diet, people found all of these health issues (and more) cleared up:

• asthma
• ear infections
• acne
• digestive problems (gas, bloating, cramps, diarrhea)
• ovarian tumors, cysts, fibroid tumors
• hardening of arteries
• bedwetting
• menstrual irregularities, cramps, heavy flow....
• infertility
• prostate cancer

Now let's talk about pasteurization. Studies have shown that if calves were fed on pasteurized milk from their own mother cow - they would die within six weeks. There is a big debate over Raw Milk (I have very healthy neighbors that will only drink raw milk from pasture-fed goats).

I did order a quart about a year ago from a local farmer they use. It is an acquired taste - it does taste like grass! My neighbors and I know lots of others believe that children should only be fed clean raw milk after they are weaned from human milk. Who knows, I may try it again!

Pasteurization is done to kill certain disease carrying germs and to prevent the souring of milk. This is done by heating the milk to 145 to 150 degrees F. But by heating it at such a high temperature a lot of the nutrients are killed as well. The irony is after being pasteurized to prevent souring - germs multiply quickly in the milk because the "lactic acid bacillus" (an important probiotic) is killed as well. Pasteurization not only destroys part of the vitamin C contained in raw milk but also turns the sugar of milk (lactose) into "beta-lactose", which is not as thick and becomes more soluble and is absorbed quicker by the system leaving us less full. It also destroys 20% of the iodine that is in raw milk.

All of our milk (except raw milk) is pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized as well as homogenized (which became a popular practice in the 50s). If milk isn't homogenized, the milk fat proteins will separate from the rest of the milk - the cream or fat would rise and settle on the top. Milk is an oil and water combination, it doesn't stay mixed. Homogenized milk is run through small tubes usually during the pasteurization process to keep the fat and liquid molecules together. This process also is used to take some of the milk fat out to create skim or 2% milk.

If you are going to stick with cow's milk - go organic vs. industrial, non organic. Organic cow's milk does not have the recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) that is used to increase milk production in cows (up to 20%). The cows are not treated with antibiotics, and there is no use of fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides in their fields. Non organic cows are fed gelatin (taken from hooves of cattle and other animals), fats, oils, grease and tallow (from cattle and other animals), poultry and poultry by-products, rendered pork protein and rendered horse protein. None of these can be fed to Organic cattle.

Now another debate is whether cows - organic or not, should be fed corn or grass. In the past, all beef was grass fed, but now almost all cattle is "feedlot" (fed in landless environments) corn fed because it is faster and more profitable. 70 years ago steers were about 5 years old when they were slaughtered, today they are 14 or 16 months. The industry is using corn, protein, supplements, antibiotics, and bovine growth hormone to take a calf from a birth weight of 80 lbs to 1200 lbs in a little more than a year! Cows are meant to eat grass - you can make an informed decision from that little bit of info. Not to mention the inhumane treatment of the cattle not only being confined in small dark quarters, medicated and being fed the cheapest food but also being poked with electric prods, run over with machinery and held up with fork lifts to pass inspection.

There is a huge debate between raw milk vs. pasteurized/homogenized milk. You can get organic grass fed cow's milk if you want a healthy milk with all nutrients intact and you still want your cow's milk. You can turn to pasture fed organic goat's milk if you don't want the ill effects of cow's milk, but still want animal's milk. Goat milk is actually the milk of choice in most other parts of the world, more so than cow's milk because they are inexpensive and take up less space. Goat's milk is also the closest to human milk. Goat's milk is a complete protein - which means it contains all of the essential amino acids and it contains less fat and more vitamin A, protein and riboflavin than cow's milk. Goat's milk is also easier to digest. Studies have shown that half of people that are lactose intolerant can drink goat's milk. Cow's milk contains an enzyme called "xanthine oxidase" - when this enzyme enters our body it can create scar tissue on the heart and can cause high cholesterol and eventually arteriosclerosis (which is when fatty materials are deposited on the walls of the arteries, they thicken and can block the arteries). Goat's milk does not contain this enzyme.

Soy milk contains vegetable proteins which can be more easily absorbed with less loss of calcium through the kidneys - like with dairy protein - like we talked about. Soy does not contain lactose (75% of the world's population is allergic to lactose) but does have preboitic sugars that actually boost immunity and help decrease toxins in the body. Cow's milk can increase your cholesterol, soy protein can actually decrease cholesterol levels. The FDA recommends 25 grams of soy protein to help lower the risk of coronary heart disease. Fewer chemicals are present in soy products and it has no cholesterol and is low in saturated fat and sodium and has high dietary fiber as well as manganese and thiamin.

Cow's milk, goat's milk, soy milk....we covered most of the basics. I will talk about almond milk and rice milk later....If any of this struck a chord with you, research further and figure out what would be the best milk for you and your family. In Janie Quinn's book, she takes organic yogurt and adds water to make yogurt milk because yogurt is "predigested", the milk molecule is broken down so there are low levels of lactose. I have done this, especially for my shakes.

TAKE AWAY:

If you haven't seen Food Inc. - this documentary talks about factory farming, as well as other issues such as the use of pesticides, genetic engineering, farm worker protection, sustainable foods and more, you should definitely see it.

A Little History about Me

Later today I will tackle Milk and Eggs (really this time I really will).

Before I do I want to tell you a little bit about my history and why I have such a passion for healthy eating. First of all I am the youngest of 4 siblings - they were 7, 9 and 11 when I was born - so quite a gap. My mom was at that time what you would call a health nut. We never had sodas in the house, never had sugar cereals or even white bread. I always remember my mom ordering a half of sandwich and maybe a cup of soup when we went out to lunch and always eating cottage cheese and lots of fruits and vegetables. My friends will corroborate that when I would visit them, I would just shovel in the chips, bagel dogs, Tab and licorice as fast I could before anyone could stop me. I was always thin and played sports in High School, but of course in college I put on a few pounds especially when my friend and I went to Sonoma State in Northern California for a "semester away". We would help out friends on their Vineyard tying up the grape vines and would in turn be fed pasta. Needless to say we ate lots and lots of pasta and drank lots and lots of wine. Well at that age we basically ate and drank everything and anything - especially if it was free!

While I was in college, my mom got Breast Cancer which I thought at the time she would just miraculously beat and that would be it. She did beat it for a while and we all thought we dodged that huge scary bullet, but it came back in the form of Bone Cancer. This was a very aggressive form of cancer and her life expectancy was not very long. I was about 27 at the time and my sister Carol and I decided to get very radical with our own form of treatment which was going to be a "macrobiotic" diet for my mom. My mother was already juicing a ton - she would make herself carrot, beet, parsley, ginger, celery cocktails everyday. Carol and I read about a woman named Christina Pirello who cured herself of terminal cancer through a "macrobiotic" diet. So we bought her book back in 1997 called "Cooking the Whole Foods Way". We would make her miso soup for breakfast because according to the author miso's natural fermentation process creates a combination of enzymes that strengthen and nourish the intestinal tract. The best quality misos are fermented for over two years. We went out to a specialty market to find "wakame" which is an edible seaweed that has "life giving properties" - proponents of raw foods and macrobiotic diets use this sea vegetable a lot. There was no "raw foods" revolution when my sister and I embarked on this type of cooking, so it was very hard to find the ingredients we needed such as "kombu", another healthy Asian seaweed chock full of minerals, Azuki Beans, Burdock, a vegetable that is known to clear the bloodstream of toxins and can also be used as a topical cream for eczema, acne and psoriasis. This book had cooking methods such as "kinpira" and "Nabe" and ingredients such as Mochi, Kasha, Quinoa, Tempeh. We were to say the least overwhelmed and way over our heads, but we cooked quite a few dishes for our mom and as we watched her eat the Miso Soup or Pressed "Raw" Salad with Chinese cabbage and umeboshi vinegar we really felt we were healing her. Unfortunately she died a year later and we lost a very sunny, positive force in our lives. I just pulled out that food stained book this morning and can't wait to try a recipe or two again - 10 years (or so) later and it feels like it was just yesterday my sister, mom and I were shuffling through that book!

My family and I also had the great misfortune of loosing my brother Doug Pellicano a year and a half ago to a heart attack. He was only 49 years old and died instantly from a blood clot. I believe life style was part of the reason for his death. Although he was an amazing, selfless, happy, positive person he wasn't the healthiest eater and he was a smoker. I do think his death could have been prevented if he had made healthier choices. I hate that my brother is a statistic but Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and University of Toronto have studied premature and most likely preventable deaths - this is what they concluded for annual deaths caused by various factors:

• smoking: 467,000 annual deaths
• high blood pressure: 395,000
• overweight-obesity: 216,000
• inadequate physical activity: 191,000
• High blood sugar: 190,000
• high LDL cholesterol: 113,000
• high dietary salt: 102,000
• low dietary omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000
• high dietary trans fatty acids: 82,000
• alcohol use: 64,000 (some from drinking and driving)
• low intake of fruits and vegetables: 58,000
• low dietary poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000

Although he died way before his time, my brother had a great life is whole heartedly missed everyday!

But being raised in a healthy household and learning "raw" cooking methods out of survival instincts and realizing what big food corporations put in food that can cause premature deaths has definitely contributed to my journey here today.

TAKE AWAY:

Our bodies are beautiful machines, every body part has a function and really must work together seamlessly for a healthy, disease-free, pain-free life. We really can control everything we put in our mouths. It takes work, like everything else. We cannot rely on convenience. They say the kitchen is the heart of the home - it truly is in so many ways. Not just a gathering place for family and friends, but a place to gather the best ingredients to help our family thrive. We spend a lot of money on houses, cars, education, vacation....all of that means nothing without health and vitality! Spend the extra money on free-range organic chicken, grass-fed beef, buy organic fruits, vegetables, milk...

I will cover all of these foods in depth and as promised will hit on eggs and milk later today - I am learning as I research as well I'm not liking a lot of what I'm reading!

A few years ago I did the entire Dr. Perricone 28 day cleanse and learned a ton from his book about "Super Foods". His book is called "The Perricone Promise". The recipes are simple, healthy and easy to follow. It is a very user friendly book and a great launching pad to start eating a healthy diet.

still snowed in......

Flour, Oil and Fat

Good morning all! I'd like to first make a correction. I said in my previous post Spelt is Gluten Free -it is not. Spelt has gluten, just like wheat, but spelt contains more protein than wheat and the protein in spelt is easier to digest. For some people allergic to wheat, they may be able to tolerate spelt. Spelt flour has a high nutrient content and has a nuttier and sweeter taste than whole wheat flour and can be used to replace whole wheat flour in your cookie or bread recipes...I use it a lot and of course buy spelt bread not only because it's healthy but because I think it taste great! There is also spelt pasta. It is not an alternative for a gluten-free diet - it does have gluten.

While we are on the subject of flour - another great flour is Kamut originating from Western Asia. It is rich in protein (30% more protein that wheat), magnesium, zinc, vitamin Bs and vitamin E and unsaturated fatty acids. It is grown organically and has not been refined or has been through genetic improvements. It tastes sweet and buttery. The kernels can be cooked like rice, or couscous. Try using Kamut instead of whole wheat flour in your recipes as well!

Last flour I want to talk about is Quinoa - i have been using this for a lot of my cookie recipes for the past year. Mostly the recipes from Janie Quinn's book "Essential Eating". I actually braved the storm to go to Wegmans yesterday to buy Quinoa flour for my favorite recipe from her book "Quinoa Flake Cookies". Organic Quinoa is native to South America, it is also very high in protein and high in dietary fiber as well. It has a mild nutty flavor. Quinoa is gluten free so it can be used safely in gluten-free diets - but always double check because it can be processed in a facility that contains gluten! Not only can you get Quinoa in a flour, you can buy it in flakes (like oatmeal) as well as millet which cooks like rice - all so so good for you and great tasting!

I have had both Spelt and Kamut store bought pastas by Edan Foods

http://www.edenfoods.com. They make a Kamut & Buckwheat Rigatoni, Organic 100% whole grain as well Kamut and Quinoa pasta..check out their website. This is such a better way to eat pasta - most of the pastas out there are made with refined flour. Go for the multi-grain pastas such as quinoa or flour from Jerusalem artichokes, spelt or even soy because they are higher in protein, fiber, zinc and iron.

OK finally onto "Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil" or "Trans Fatty Acids". Fats are necessary for optimal health and well being. Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are really "essential" for normal brain function and nervous system activity, hormones, glandular function, digestive-tract operation, cell wall function, joint mobility, immune function, bone repair, and the list goes on. These essential fatty acids (usually contained in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils) are necessary for a perfect functioning body.

Up until the 1970s food producers used coconut oil to get a butter consistency and flavor to food. Then Coconut oil was replaced by a process called "Hydrogenation". This is a process of heating an oil and sifting hydrogen bubbles through it to make it thicker and more dense. If you fully hydrogenate it you will make a solid fat out of the oil. When it is partially hydrogenated, is it has a consistency of butter (only cheaper) or shortening. The Hydrogenation of oils removes the essential fatty acids such as polyunsaturated fatty acids like linolenic acid (omega 3s and omega 6s). The reason food companies don't use these healthy fats is because they have a shorter shelf life and become rancid when stored too long. So the food industry removed these healthy essential fatty acids and use Trans Fatty Acids for the sole purpose of prolonging shelf life of processed foods and to trick our taste buds to make these foods taste better through texture - with no concern for the health of the people eating it. A Harvard study concluded that Trans Fats could be responsible for 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year! Trans Fatty Acids are in so many store bought items we buy - you can't pick up very much from the isles that doesn't have it. It has significantly contributed to obesity, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Trans Fats have been compared to poison, it not only produces disease overtime because your body cannot absorb much less recognize it and it often inhibits proper body functions like blood sugar levels, immune response, reproduction and of course #1 Heart Disease..... It also interferes with the body's ability to ingest and use the good fats - which are essential to life! Like refined flours, the food industry has taken all the nutrients out of a perfectly good oil and modified it for their monetary needs.

There is so much information, so many studies - it is overwhelming. But bottom line - stay far far away from "Partially Hydrogenated Oils"/"Trans Fatty Acids".

TAKE AWAY:

According to Cindi Moore, MS,RD Director of nutrition therapy at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Food and Drug Admin. The top 10 "Trans Fat" Foods to stay away from are:

1. SPREADS - Margarine, non-butter spreads, shortening

2. PACKAGE FOODS - Cake mixes, bisquick - make it yourself!!!!!

3. CANNED SOUPS - again make it yourself with fresh ingredients

4. FAST FOOD - lots deep fried in partially hydrogenated oil

5. FROZEN FOOD - frozen pies, waffels, pizzas, fish sticks....

6. COMMERCIAL BAKED GOODS - look for those that use butter instead of margarine

7. DONUTS

8. CREAM-FILLED COOKIES - I buy Late July Organic Vanilla Bean with Green Tea Cookies - not trans fat, or high fructose corn syrup -healthy alternative to the "oreo"

9. COOKIES AND CAKES - From SuperMarket bakeries

10. POUND CAKE

Get back to old-fashioned home cooking! Try to stand up for your health and don't buy anything with Trans Fats - they are making more and more really good products (if you don't have time to cook) with out Trans Fats...I will let you know what I find!

Once last Take Away...I was on the search for a great cracker that didn't have Enriched flour and found an amazing, really healthy cracker at Wegmans called "Doctor Kracker Klassic 3 Seed Snackers - they are Organic and have 14 grams per serving of Whole Grains. The simple ingredients are: "Organic whole wheat flour, organic what flour, filtered water, organic oates, organic sunflower seeds, organic flax seeds, seas salt, organic sesame seeds, yeast, organic barley malt syrup (not sure how good that is for you).

My very very healthy neighbor turned me onto a raw flaxseed bread that I made with her at her home and used her dehydrator to make - but you can bake in oven at a very low temperature. It is super healthy and really tasty and you can add what you like to the recipe...here is the recipe she gave me...

http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/showthread.php?t=847

you can make it sweet by adding dried cranberries or cherries, dates instead of the savory with garlic.

Another two amazing healthy cookie recipes I found and made for my friends are "ultimate whole wheat chocolate chip cookies" (you can always swap out for another type of flour)

http://www.wholegraingourmet.com/recipes/43-cookies/69-ultimate-whole-wheat-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

and "Healthy Oatmeal Cookies"

http://www.wholegraingourmet.com/recipes/43-cookies/58-healthy-oatmeal-cookies.html

Let me know if you try any of these recipes....

Haven't forgotten about milk and eggs - next i promise!

great feedback from followers

When I receive comments or suggestions I want to pass them along to you all - so here are a few ideas/suggestions. One of my Vegan friends Jimmy wants me to check out Java Green, he said it's the healthiest place to eat in DC - www.javagreencafe.com. He is also helping them open a new gourmet vegan full-service restaurant in Dupont Circle this spring that will have classes and workshops in the future - so keep an eye out. Another follower Kimberly invited me to a "Raw Foods made Easy class in March which I plan on going to - and of course will blog about. The invite talked about how we turn to drugs and doctors but we can improve our overall health very easily by eating more raw fruits and veggies. We can prepare meals by using raw foods (fruits, nuts, veggies, seeds, etc.). If we did this we would consume less processed, refined and over cooked foods that are adding to our poor health. In this class I will learn more about Enzymes which according to Raw Food Experts are the "catalyst to life and every function in our body and they are only present in raw foods". I am going March 2nd and will for sure write about the recipes we make. Once example we will be making is Raw Burritos (taco meat made from walnuts) and Sour Cream made from Cashews....interesting huh??

Another friend told Lisa told me she uses the cinnamon Ezekiel Bread to make her kids french toast. Another follower Andi eats lots of super foods like nuts, beans, berries, flaxseeds and chia seeds (which trust me we'll talk about) as well as soy for her regular diet. We will talk about soy as well because I know there are pros and cons. She suggested reading "The China Study" by t. colin campbell about a plant based diet that will help reduce the risk of all diseases and help fight aging, I plan on reading that and "Skinny Bitch" which a lot of you suggested as well!

Going back to Refined flours and Enriched flours - it's hard to find a good cracker that doesn't have it. I am on the search - but one that is in my pantry is the "kavli 5 Grain" Crisp Bread - it may not be the tastiest, but it's a cracker made with whole rye flour, wheat bran and mixed cereals (oats, wheat, barely, rye and millet)- with water and salt - pretty healthy!! Just put something yummy on top!

I will write later about the 3rd ingredient on my box of Italian Bread Crumbs - "Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil".

Next Ingredient to Dissect!

Ok, one addendum to add to my last post...Spelt Puffed Cakes - Agave Sweetened. As I mentioned earlier spelt is naturally higher in vitamins, minerals and amino acids than commercial wheat - another great product are these puffed cakes - they're like the good ole rice cakes except they are spelt and are sweetened with Agave Nectar or Agave Syrup which is a great natural sweetener. It most often comes from the Blue Agave plant but comes from lots of other types of Agave plants as well, which is like a cactus and is in the volcanic soils of Southern Mexico - same plant tequila comes from - bonus! It is like honey, a little less thick. There are lighter and darker varieties of agave nectar from the same plant. The sap from the plant is heated at low temperature so most raw food enthusiasts consider it a raw food. It has a really nice sweet taste. I actually used it in my coffee this morning because I threw out all of my Splenda packets (God only knows what's in that little packet) and was very happy with the taste! My next step will be to order organic coffee for my Keurig - but that's a whole other conversation! We will talk more about sweeteners and natural alternatives later as well - just check out the Spelt Puffed Cakes - you'll like them!

Ok- next ingredient on my box of Wegmans brand Seasoned Bread Crumbs is High Fructose Corn Syrup - we all have heard of it and see it in soft drinks, fruit juices, jams, cereals, Manwhich sauces, breads, bacon, beer, pasta, protein bars and so many other processed foods. Basically fruit has a ration of 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Fruit contains fiber that slows down the metabolism of fructose and other sugars. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is made from corn and is made my changing the sugar (glucose) in cornstarch to fructose - another type of sugar. It is soluble, mixes easily into foods and is very cheap to make. Natural sugar has sucrose and fructose binding together to be better digested. Because of the added HFCS to products that already have sugar or fruit juices more fructose is added to our diets. We are eating more fructose today than ever before. Pure fructose has no enzymes, no vitamins and minerals and can actually deplete the body of its micronutrients. It can effect the way our heart uses important minerals like magnesium, copper and chromium. HFCS can also raise blood cholesterol levels and cause blood clots. It can also effect the body's immune system effecting the natural job of white blood cells so it cannot fight infections. I read so many other ill effects high levels of fructose can cause to the body such as diarrhea, interfering with oral contraceptives, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, particularly in children ....But the one fact is it may be one of the leading causes of obesity today! A lot of companies are going back to using beet and cane sugar which was mainly used as a sweetener before HFCS was introduced in the 80s. But whether it's beet and cane sugar or HFCS it is high, empty calories with little or no nutritional value. If I had to choose one over the other - beet and cane sugar for sure.

Take Away:

Try to cut out the added sugars, go for the natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables. Fruits and Veggies have vitamins and minerals, not empty calories!

Look at labels - if it says "glucose, maltose, sorbitol and mannitol - that food has added sugar. Move on, don't buy it!

Try to not use a lot of sugar in your coffee or tea - we'll talk about maple sugar, honey....later

Add your own fruit to your yogurt, instead of buying yogurt with fruit added. Buy low fat or fat free organic yogurt and add honey, or pure organic maple syrup (it digests better than sugar) and tastes great mixed in yogurt..."SEVEN STARS FARM" makes the best organic yogurt, it's a biodynamic dairy. They also make Maple Yogurt - yum!

Stay away from sodas or juices with all that sugar - make a non-fat fruit smoothie with fresh or frozen fruit. If you did want to buy your kids soda for an occasional treat try "Jones Pure Cane Soda" and no GMOs (genetically modified organisms) - their website http://www.jonessoda.com/files/pure-cane-sugar.php - but still has lots of sugar....

Bake your own sweets - there are so many great recipes that call for really healthy flours like Quiona, barley and use maple sugar or maple syrup as the sweetener with dried cranberries or cherries to add more natural sweetness - I have so many recipes...will share....

your homework is to look up biodynamic....

takeaways!

At the end of each of my posts, I will leave you with a takeaway!

From my last post I ended with bread and wanted to leave you with a great bread that has sprouted flour. Sprouted flour is made from sprouted grain that most bodies digest as a vegetable rather than a starch. I learned about "sprouted flour" from a great cookbook my sister Carol turned me on to called "Essential Eating - a Cookbook" by Janie Quinn. Janie wrote this book to "enable the body to ease, not disease". Her passion is "healing the body through cooking and eating good food that is nutritious, easy to digest, great tasting and chemical free". The bread that I buy is called Alvarado St. Bakery Sprouted Barley Bread - 100% whole grain - made with Organic Grains. Their website is http://www.alvaradostreetbakery.com/breads.html they have lots of other types of breads to choose from and you can feel really good about eating them - they will not stress your pancreas to digest and taste really good (can also buy at Health Markets). Another type of bread I eat is Sprouted Spelt bread. Spelt bread is a grain-bread that is closely related to wheat. but it does not contain gluten which is a form of protein which a lot of people are allergic to. Even if you are not gluten intolerant it is a great substitute for wheat and has more B vitamins than any other of the wheat grains. Sprouted spelt would be the best! Here is a good recipe for spelt bread http://coconutandquinoa.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/sprouted-spelt-bread-with-seeds/ and Janie Quinn's book has a great recipe for Sprouted Spelt Bread as well as Spelt Zucchini Bread. But you can also buy at Whole Foods or other Health Food Stores. Of course the Ezekiel breads are sprouted and great for you as well and you can buy this brand of sprouted bread in the frozen section at Giant. But as we know it's always better to make ourselves!