Tasty Bytes

Just because it’s “Organic” doesn’t mean it’s good for you. The big food conglomerate marketeers are cashing in on the fact that most people figure if it says it’s organic then it must be good for me. 

Don’t be fooled! 
Organic sugar is still sugar. Organic or not – it’s refined, has virtually no nutritive value so is still an ‘empty’ calorie. 
What really chaps my hide is the little containers of organic yogurt marketed to babies. One major brand has 16 g of sugar per serving or approximately 1 tablespoon – that’s 14% of a serving. How is that healthy? 
Whole grains? Just what does that mean? You can’t tell me that Trix is now a health food because it’s made with whole grains! 
No Trans Fat! So what? It’s still fried in a vat of oil and made with refined ingredients. 
Need fiber? How about eating an apple or an orange? It’s so much better for you than a glass of clear fiber. And cheaper on the pocket book too! 
Ok, enough ranting. Eat whole foods!

Studying nutrition is great fun. We are learning about macronutrients now – Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats. The other night, a few friends and I discussed heart health over dinner of ironically hamburgers and fries. I decided to put together a short list of what makes for heart healthy eating… 
Heart Healthy Eating 
Nutrients found to reduce cholesterol and saturated fats in the blood and arteries. 
Lecithin – keeps cell membranes pliable; transports fat in and out of cells
Choline – lipotropic agent that controls fat metabolism, speeds metabolism of fat through the liver; constituent of Lecithin. Important for brain and nerve function
Vitamins E, C – Antioxidants; aids in fat metabolism and protects tissues from free radical damage, helps reduce inflammation
Niacin – a B-complex vitamin; helps reduce cholesterol and fats in blood
Bioflavonoids – bright pigments in fruits and vegetables work with vitamin C to strengthen blood vessel walls
Plant fiber – reduce fat in blood and prevent hardening of arteries
Omega 3 Fatty Acids – of note types EPA and DHA are two important ones. All types help cardio health – cleans circulatory system of cholesterol and fat deposits; decreases stickiness of platelets, reduce blood viscosity, lower lipid levels, lowers cholesterol levels, reduce clotting, lower blood pressure, encourage blood flow to tissues damaged by poor circulation, reduce irregular heart beats 
Foods
Lecithin – beans, especially soybeans; cauliflower, grapes, peanuts, liver
Choline – peas, sprouted beans
Niacin and Vitamin E – whole grains
Vitamin C – sprouts, cabbage, parsley, bell peppers, citrus
Bioflavonoids – citrus peel, cherries, blueberries, grapes, green tea, ginko
Plant fiber – whole grains: especially rye, quinoa, amaranth, oats; fruits and vegetables
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
· Fish – salmon, anchovies, sardines, mackerel, butterfish, tuna, halibut, herring (7-10 oz/week). Or cod liver oil.
· Plant – flax (2-4 T ground seed or 1 T oil/day), hemp, chia seed, pumpkin seed, soy, tempeh, walnut
· Dark Green Vegetables – kale, collards, chard, parsley, cereal grasses (wheat and barley grass)
· Meat – grass fed beef; lamb, bison
· Dairy – raw milk or cheese from grass fed cows, goat, sheep
· Microalgae – spirulina

Those poor vampires in Transylvania…they are having a hard time sucking blood out of victims here in America due to artery clogging ingestion of trans fats. It wasn’t so bad when we used natural saturated fats (in moderation of course) – this phenomenon of artery clogging began in the ’20’s and ’30’s when mortal men decided to tinker with nature. First a little background on fats…they are not the big bad wolf! We need fat – Did you know our brain is 60% fat? Every cell membrane in our body needs fat – but not any ol’kind of fat. We especially need Essential Fatty Acids which are found in polyunsaturated fats like fish oils, seed oils, egg yolks, and vegetable oils. But wait! Yes we even need the vilified Saturated fats. There is indeed a delicate balance of all types of fats that we need so there is a danger in low fat diets. 
Well, there is one kind of fat we definitely don’t need or want… What are trans fats? 
Trans fats are fats that are the mirror image of 99% of the fats found in nature. 
How are trans fats made?
Trans fats are formed when making hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats. It’s a by product of the process used to make liquid oils into more shelf stable solid fats. In a nutshell, you take your relatively healthy liquid unsaturated fat and put it into a huge vat will some copper or aluminum catalyst – seal up the vat, add lots of heat and pump in hydrogen gas. Viola! Trans Fat are formed! The effects on the human body… 
A fat that your body no longer recognizes…your cell membranes may become a little friendly with these foreigners but things will get lost in the translation and as a results many important metabolic processes will be compromised or worse yet not happen at all! In fact there have been numerous studies that implicate trans fats as playing a major role in the increase of cancers and cardiovascular disease. And, after being refined and hydrogenated, trans fats have little nutritional value. Remember those essential fatty acids that your body needs? Eating trans fats won’t give you those essential fatty acids. However, your brain knows that you still need those fatty acids so you will crave and eat until you get enough. Now we have entered the land of excess calories and we know what that means…the battle of the bulge…and a new wardrobe. 
To make matters worse…most fried foods are fried in hydrogenated fats. Though hydrogenated fats are built to be more stable, the high frying temperatures for long periods of time will oxidize the fats. Oxidized fats mean rancid fat which means free radicals. Free radicals are not welcome intruders in our bodies as they can do damage to our delicate cells – especially those in our cardiovascular system. 
Why do we have Hydrongenated Fats in the first place?
Follow the money trail… Margarine, made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, is a cheap alternative to butter. 
Hydrogenated fats do not oxidize (become rancid) as readily thereby extending the shelf life of foods such as crackers, cookies, peanut butter, snack bars and the list goes on… It was once thought that saturated fats from animal sources were the main cause of heart disease. The assumption that followed was – since polyunsaturated fats were the healthy fat then saturated fats made from polyunstaturated fats must be ok. No one looked closely at the trans fats that was created by hydrogenation. This was and has been the accepted thinking even though there have been numerous studies from as early as the 50’s that discount the theory that saturated animal fats cause heart disease. 
What can you do? Avoid trans fats by avoiding hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats. Read your labels. 
Sources: 
www.altmedcabinet.com/heart_disease.htm 
www.bantransfats.com www.nypress.com/14/18/news&columns/humanfollies.cfm 
www.nursingceu.com/NCEU/courses/diet/ 
www.treelight.com/health/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html 

Ah, my joints complain when the cold weather rolls around. Lately my fingers have been aching – using my hands as much as I do this is very inconvenient.  

I had heard lots about Glucosamine as a supplement that helps osteoarthritis and other joint ailments but never really paid much attention. One day during a Costco shopping run I had a chance to try one of their liquid glucosamine supplements and though I’ve heard it takes up to 30 days for the stuff to work, by the next day my fingers were not sore at all! I was still a bit skeptical but my fingers had been hurting for months so to have even a day’s relief was…well a relief.  

A few days later my fingers were hurting again. Ok, I said to myself, “This stuff is worth a try” so I let my fingers do the googling to do a bit of research. Liquid was the best for best absorption and the quality of the glucosamine was important. I found a liquid pharmaceutical grade product and put in my order.  

I must be tres sensitive because at half the dose (yippee I get to save $) I have found remarkable results. Not only do my fingers feel fine so do my poor knees.  

The scientific literature also supports the use of glucosamine for joint health – see Dr. Michael Murray’s book the “Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements” for more information or do a search on the internet. Dr. Murray warns of the use of NSAIDS (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs eg. Aspirin, ibuprofen, acetometaphin, etc) as they have been found to inhibit cartilage repair and in fact hasten the destruction of cartilage.  

I’m a believer – glucosamine works for me and I encourage you to give it a try.

I enrolled in a Holistic health program a month ago and am studying heavily this weekend for a quiz on Tuesday (yes, writing this blog entry is a form of procrastination.) The foundation for the program I am in is “Eating for Health.” Appropriate isn’t it? – given my love of food and eating.  

The “Eating for Health” model is founded on the principle that we can feed our body’s nutritional needs with high quality, nutrient rich foods. If we do, then we will be able to live a long and healthy life. Makes sense to me. In the ideal world, all we would need to do to maintain our health is to eat a varied diet of high quality whole foods. The need to down pills to fix this ailment or that would be vastly reduced. The need to fill up on synthesized vitamins and minerals would be left only to those who choose to ignore their body’s call for say broccoli and instead indulge in mint chocolate chip ice cream (Hey, it’s green!)  

Alas, most of us have been in this battlefield of life – bombarded and compromised by pollutants, toxins, food additives & preservatives, insecticides, herbicides, antibiotics and growth hormones. Not to mention the stresses of everyday living – all these things take their toll. To top it off, we are then lured by advertisers that say we really do need those artificially flavored blueberry Shrek fruit rolls. Some things we didn’t know about and some we willingly let in – all these foreign substances that open us up to illnesses or allow our ‘bad’ genes to spring to life.  

As I pondered and studied it hit me – a sort of mystical “woo woo” feeling came over me. Sitting in front of my computer, surrounded by notes, I felt this sudden connection to nature. Wow, we are a part of nature not apart from nature. Get this – Nature provides the ‘perfect’ vehicles for our survival in the whole foods around us. Through our disconnect – our, oh so busy lives – we have forgotten to listen to our bodies, trust in the instinct that tells us what particular nutrient rich food we need in this moment. 

Furthermore, where does this need to control and make our food supply ‘safer’ come from? Why do we feel the need to douse our food with chemicals, play with its genetic material, pump it up with synthetic growth hormones, pummel it with microwaves, fumigate it with noxious gases and figure out ways to make food last longer than the average human life? Is it through man’s arrogance and ignorance that we shun the simplicity of nature – that it’s already here in all it’s perfection – that we just need to be still and listen. How have we allowed ourselves to squander these gifts of nature? Have we succumbed to the dark side? Does it always have to do with greed? Big corporations working in concert – mega food conglomerates, chemical manufacturers, biotech companies, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, the medical establishment. They all feed on each other – heck, they all feed on us! Turning our flesh and blood into corporate profits. Holy Cow! I’m depressed…Quick – get me some St. John’s Wort!  

Thank goodness there are options – you know there are always options. We can choose to make changes. If we just start taking those small steps in the right direction, we can create a new paradigm for ourselves, our families and our communities.  

Here are some things I’ve done over the past month. As my budget has allowed, I’ve incorporated more locally grown organic foods into my diet. I’m preparing more whole grains, eating a lot more seaweed, sprinkling ground flax seeds on fruit or green salads or fried rice or whatever. I’m cutting back on refined foods, sugar and processed foods – oh no my cereal… And, I’ve stopped using the microwave to heat up my food. Has it made a difference? I think so, time will tell as I starve the bad habits and feed the good. I’m learning to listen to what my body needs rather than what it wants – trying to choose the healthy alternative. There are many more changes to come, that is for sure!  

Jeez, how’s this for procrastinating…back to studying…

Many of us are trying to make better choices in our diets. I’m currently enrolled in a nutrition program and the subject of wild or farmed fish came up. So what’s better? I guess it just depends…what I learned is that there is more to each point of view than simple blanket statements. To make a choice, we have to put in a bit of thought and educate ourselves.
Yes, I suppose ‘wild’ may be better but you have to check that the fish is not on a seafood watch list that indicates that particular species is overfished. You can find this information online at various sites such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  But then, you do still have to worry about fish from polluted waters that may be contaminated with mercury or pesticides.  What’s the alternative?
So what about ‘farmed?’ Our instructor brought up a good point here…there are farms with good practices and there are farms with bad practices. Gosh, there sure is…so don’t lump all farmed fish into the same basket. Chickens are raised on farms after all and we can make a good choice by buying organic or free range chicken so why not with fish?
‘Wild’ or ‘Farmed?’ It just depends…for myself I only buy fish from a reputable fish market – a market who’s staff can tell you exactly where the fish is from. And I do try to read up on what’s on the “Best Choice” list from the Monterey Aquarium site. I do prefer wild fish for the flavor but recently tried an organically fed salmon and it was good. 

My instructor’s feeling is that one to two servings of fish a week is more beneficial than detrimental to your health as long as the fish is from a good source.
What are the benefits of fish? Fish is a great source of protein, fish is low in saturated fat, fish from cold ocean waters are high in Omega 3 fatty acids which the typical diet is severely lacking, and fish is a good source for trace minerals. One caveat is that the farmed fish may not have significant amounts of Omega 3’s depending on their diet – some farmed fish are fed a lot of grains along with fish meal where as wild salmon eat other fish.
So with a bit of knowledge you can go out there and enjoy a few servings of fish a week without harm.