Fiber One Bars–Epic Fail

The mornings can be hectic getting ready for work, rousing a 5-year-old for Kindergarten, and calming a preteen in outfit crisis. I hit the grocery last week in hopes of grabbing something healthy for the kids to eat quickly if that unexpected event put us in time crunch mode. Wow, I should have used my fooducate app at the store before bringing these goodies home. They get a “D” rating which is downright awful. Who knew? Read those labels!

Contains controversial artificial colors

For dieters: FoodPoints value is 2

Controversial additive BHT present

Serving size unusally small

Dare you to count how many sugar— ings here?

NUTRIENTS

	Value	My Daily Value
Calories	90 Kcal	?
Total Fat	2.5 g	?
Saturated Fat	1 g	?
Trans Fat	0 g	?
Cholesterol	0 mg	?
Sodium	80 mg	?
Total Carbohydrate	17 g	?
Dietary Fiber	5 g	?
Sugars	5 g	?
Protein	1 g	?

INGREDIENTS

Chicory Root Extract, Rice Flour, Sugar, Whole Grain Oats, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Milk Chocolate Chunks (Sugar, Whole Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate Liquor, Soy Lecithin, Milkfat, Salt, Natural Flavor), Honey, Puffed Wheat, Palm Kernel Oil, Glycerin, Roasted Peanuts, Maltodextrin, Canola Oil, Cocoa, Peanut Butter (Peanuts, Salt), Soy Lecithin, Salt, Nonfat Milk, Malt Extract, Whey, Natural Flavor, Reduced Minerals Whey, Peanut Flour Partially Defatted, Cellulose Gum, Fructose, Color (Yellows 5 & 6 Lake, Red 40 Lake, Blue 1 Lake and Other Color Added), Baking Soda, BHT and Mixed Tocopherols Added to Retain Freshness.

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Whole Food 2 Comments

Why I Hate Diabetic Educators!

No offense. It’s not their fault. We don’t teach them real nutrition nor do we teach any healthcare providers real nutrition. For years, out of standard of care compliance, I have referred my diabetics to educators to learn how to eat and balance carbs/proteins. For a very few patients, scared enough by the actual diagnosis, the diabetic education is all they need. They forge head on counting calories and planning meals. They check their sugars and put an obsessive compulsive plan into action. Here’s the real problem. We haven’t really taught any of these patients that they can reverse their disease by eating whole foods (including fruits) without counting every calorie and carb. It wasn’t until we started our wellness program that we were forced to take into account that most patient’s don’t have time to count every carb, weigh every meal, read every label. This plan is really hard for most with busy schedules and complicated lives. Eating whole, non-processed food straight from the earth does not raise your blood sugar. It’s nothing like the low-fat, low carb, processed foods that continue to deteriorate the body with additives and artificial substances. Most dietitians and doctors are recommending these without really knowing the potential danger. This is where we are erring with these diabetics; telling them to get sugar-free, artificially sweetened products instead of eating real fruit is a mortal sin committed against curing their disease. Sure, we may control their sugars but ultimately, we haven’t done any thing to provide them real nutrition and reverse their disease process. Consider looking into “Forks Over Knives” and “Hungry for Change” if you are a newly diagnosed diabetic–you are in charge of your own destiny and unfortunately you may have to take matters into your own hands.

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Crazy Sexy Kitchen–by Kris Carr

I can’t wait for this! I think I have a girl crush on Kris Carr because of her fabulous fun-loving attitude and charisma–watch the trailer to her new book which is available to order at her website http://www.kriscarr.com

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Angela in Body, cancer, Diet, disease, Mind, Nutrition, Organic, vegan, Whole Food Leave a comment

Factory Farmed Dairy

Why am I drinking cooked milk from an unhealthy cow that only lives 42 months on a factory farm before being turned into fast food hamburger meat? These animals are fed so poorly with pesticides, herbicides, gmo grains, antibiotics, and animal remnants that they are lucky to live that long. Then we drink the milk from these “healthy” specimens and eat their dead bodies on the fly on the way to football games? It’s amazing we last more than 42 months. MILK-it does the body good? Not. Instead of “Got Milk?” ————— “Got Veggies?”

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Angela in Body, cancer, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Intimidated by an Eggplant

So I received an eggplant in my Green Bean Delivery organic veggie bin and I had no idea what to do with it. I have ordered eggplant parmesan out at a restaurant before and liked it. However, my novice cooking skills have made me quite intimidated to buy one and actually cook it myself. Not to mention my girls have automatic scowl mode ingrained when they see a plate that isn’t filled with mac-n-cheese or pizza. Here is a great recipe by Irene Young passed down by her mother Linda from the village of Mesta, Xios, Greece.

Linda’s Summer Vegetables

1 lb eggplant cut into chunks

1 zucchini, cut into chunks

sea salt

olive oil- 1/2 cup

1/2 lb trimmed, fresh green beans

2 large potatoes diced

2 large bell peppers diced

2 large carrots sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 medium onions

6-8 mushrooms

2 lbs ripe tomatoes quartered

1/2 cup parsley chopped

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean eggplant and zucchini and cut into chunks and salt—then let sit for 1-2 hours–this is called bleeding the eggplant which helps take the bitterness out of the meat and draws the moisture out so that the eggplant doesn’t absorb too much liquid when cooking.

2. Pat the eggplant dry and saute in olive oil. Then add a dash more oil and add the green beans, potatoes, peppers, carrots and mushrooms; cook for 15 minutes and then add onions and garlic; cook 5 minutes and add tomatoes and parsley; cook for 10 more minutes.

3. Place the vegetable mixture in an oven-safe dish. Cover and bake for 45 min at 350 degrees. Add cheese and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Nutrition, Organic, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Hipocracy- You Betcha!

What was my last meal?

Grass fed beef and veggies–yeah!

What is my next meal?

A big ‘ole chicken quesedilla from my favorite mexican restaurant La Hacienda!

Hipocracy you may say. But , I have an unhealthy relationship with mexican food. I can tell you exactly when it dates back to . In medical school, my roommate and I were chronically stressed and frankly probably clinically depressed because we literally lived and breathed medicine. We had no time for socializing were buried in books almost every waking hour we weren’t in class. Grabbing takeout mexican food and watching Jerry Springer episodes(yes we felt validated and normal seeing their dysfunction lives) on the weekend was a special treat to anticipate. So I have formed a comforting connection with eating mexican to make me feel good. It’s unhealthy but not necessarily a toxic coping mechanism. So I choose never to break that strategy for fear that the deprivation of my lifelong habit would allow me to pick up an even more toxic habit (ie doing drugs or something). Like relationships between people, the relationships we have with food can be healthy, unhealthy, or downright destructive. Many of my patients often exhibit signs of the latter, as many relate to food as medication, a best friend, or an escape from reality. Without understanding these relationships, making long-term dietary changes can be impossible. I choose the lesser of the evils and try to maintain insight into why I am making that choice. I am choosing to eat poorly tonight but I’m not going to make that choice again for a while. This is my one wild night then back to the books and the goal at hand! No different then medical school–you gotta stay on course for the goal at the end. Unfortunately, the health goal doesn’t end with a diploma or a degree–it’s a lifelong journey in vitality.

Here is a nice interview excerpt by Christa Orecchio, a clinical nutritionist that works on breaking programming lying at the root of unhealthy eating habits.

You can find more Real Food information on Sean Croxton’s site http://www.undergroundwellness.com

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Exercise, Humor, Nutrition, vegan, Whole Food Leave a comment

Chew that Gum!

Thanks Kevin for helping me choose a healthier alternative to my chewing gum fetish! I have always been a huge fan of chewing gum because I come from a family of excessive talkers! Yes, I do have a habit of running my mouth to extremes! But a fear of bad breath also drives my need for chewing gum. Thankfully, Kevin has some good alternatives to some of the sugar free gums for us to try.

The Truth About Chewing Gum

One of America’s favorite passtimes and quick fixes for bad breath, chewing gum is a daily ritual for millions of americans. Ever wonder what is in the gum you are chewing or what effect it has on your health?

Quick Stats

More than 100,000 tons of chewing gum being consumed every year.
Every year over 374 trillion sticks of chewing gum are made.
In the next 5 years, over 1 million metric tones of chewing gum will be produced.
The Chewing Gum Industry is profitable market. The world’s chewing gum industry is estimated to be worth approximately US $19 billion.

Potential Health Benefits of Chewing Gum.

Chewing gum improves memory

Some suggest that chewing gum can help in improving memory and enhance cognitive powers. Research studies show that people who chewed throughout standardized tests produced significantly better scores than people who did not. Some attribute this to an increase in the stimuli produced in the area in our brain linked to memory, the hippocampus, when you continuously move your jaw. Chewing gum can also increases blood flow to the brain. Some studies have reported that blood flow to the brain increases by as much as 25 to 40 percent during gum chewing. Also the act of chewing speeds up our heartbeat and blood pressure just enough to wake up both left-and right hemispheres to work together.

Check out this site for one of the first studies showing actual evidence of this.http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2039-chewing-gum-improves-memory.html

Chewing gum reduces symptoms of stress

Research has shown that the rhythmic motion of chewing gum has a stress-reducing effect because relaxed and satisfied feelings. Psychiatrists and psychologists believe that chewing gum can help reduce tension and help to release nervous energy. Chewing gum may provide an outlet for frustration and irritation while also increasing alertness and concentration.

For more on this http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/119826.php

Chewing gum helps to manage weight

With a low-calorie count (5 to 10 per serving), chewing gum is an inexpensive snack. According to some studies, adults who chewed gum ate 36 calories less of the snack than adults who did not chew gum. Both regular and sugar-free chewing gum helped adults to eat less by helping to curb their appetite. The physical act of gum chewing may help to reduce your cravings for high calorie snacks. Some reports show that chewing gum can burn around 11 calories per hour. (IE not to be used in place of actualy exercise)

Chewing gum improves digestion

Chewing gum helps to improve intestinal motility and also helps to increase saliva flow which promotes more frequent swallowing. This helps to prevent reflux of acid from the stomach back into the throat.

Chewing gum improves oral health

The results of scientific research demonstrate that chewing gum is good for oral health and teeth specifically. Chewing gum increases saliva, which is the most important component of oral health and powerful protector of the oral cavity. Stimulated saliva corrects a potentially harmful environment using its high concentration of buffers, minerals and antibacterial components. That helps to flush sugars, food debris and decay-causing acids out of the mouth. Chewing gum also freshens breath, whitens teeth by reducing stains and preventing stains from accumulating and reduces plaque.

Potential Health Risks of Chewing Gum

The basic make up of gum: gum base, softeners, sweeteners and flavorings. Ever wonder what makes up the sweetener and flavoring part?

The Ingredients

Sweeteners are added to gum to give it that sweet flavor. Those ingredients are usually sugar, corn syrup and even beet juice. Sugar is probably the healthiest off all sweeteners. Sweeteners such as xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol and aspartame are also used, which have been linked to several long-term health effects that are also found in diet sodas.

Some gum ingredients are suspected to be carcinogens or have been linked to various health conditions. Sugar can cause cavities and lead to health issues such as diabetes, while aspartame, a popular artificial sweetener, has been linked to cancer, diabetes, and neurological disorders. Chewing gum containing such ingredients can have dangerous and long-lasting health effects.

What about Sugar-less or Sugar-free gum?

Sugar-free chewing gum has a number of dental benefits. Sugar free chewing gum doesn’t cause tooth decay. It demineralises tooth enamel and has an antimicrobial effect. Those who chewed sugar-free gum after eating had fewer cavities than those who did not. HOWEVER, Sugar-free gum often contains either aspartame or sorbitol, the first being potentially toxic and increasing your hunger, and the second becoming a dangerous laxative in large doses. For me, it’s very similar to comparing soda to diet soda.

Jaw Related Issues

One of the most common health issues related to chewing gum is muscle fatigue due to overuse of the jaw muscles. This is known to lead to chronic headaches. The action of chewing gum can also cause unnecessary wear on the cartilage in the jaw joint. Frequent gum chewers may be more likely to develop problems in the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ

My suggestion

Most health nuts will advise you to switch to something outrageous like licorice root, parsley, or chewing on a natural tooth pic. I actually believe the benefits outweigh the negatives in terms of chewing gum. I suggest looking for a gum sweetened with erythritol ( a natural sugar alcohol which has recently gained popularity because of its inclusion in a few mainstream stevia based sweeteners),stevia, or lastly xylitol at a natural foods store. Identifying products with no sugar additives or artificial sweeteners is important with all food selections and should not be any different for gum. While it is more expensive, this type of gum is more safe and less likely to cause adverse health effects. Make your pack last twice as long by chewing half a piece a day versus a whole piece.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions.

From South Bend,

Kevin

kdeeth21@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/#!/kdeeth

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5619079

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Posted on September 16, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Exercise, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Fooducate

In this world of technology overload, I have found a positive to my smart phone that is quite helpful. FOODUCATE is a fabulous app for all our wellness patients and website followers to use. Here is a little information about this app and how/why to get started using it. It not only grades nutritional content of the items at the grocery store, it allows you to scan the barcode and get the information right on your phone. Then you can search for alternative, healthier options based on their suggestions. It’s ingenious! Why didn’t I think of this first?

http://www.fooducate.com/

Get the Fooducate mobile application and use it to:

Automatically scan a product barcode
See product highlights (both good & bad)
Compare products
Select better alternatives
Dig deeper and learn more about food and nutrition

Features:

Created by dietitians and concerned parents
Uses your mobile’s camera to effortlessly scan UPC barcode
Over 200,000 unique products and growing daily
Simplified information helps you make better choices
Works on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android OS version 2.2 and up

This is what is nice about this app

You get to see the stuff manufacturers don’t want you to notice, such as

excessive sugar
tricky trans fats
additives and preservatives
high fructose corn syrup
controversial food colorings
confusing serving sizes
and more…

Read the labels or let fooducate do it for you. And remember, eat your veggies people. Eat your veggies!

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food 2 Comments

BPA—Read the Label

Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that acts like the hormone estrogen in your body, is used to create the epoxy linings of canned food. BPA is a chemical created over 70 years ago as a drug that was intended to promote healthy pregnancies. It was never used as a drug so the food industry saw no problem adding it to a wide range of products, including canned food linings and plastic food containers. Low levels of BPA exposure have been linked to abnormal development of reproductive organs, behavior problems in children, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic changes resulting in diabetes.

BPA is generally used to keep fats from becoming rancid. It is most commonly found in butter, meats, snack foods, cereals, dehydrated potatoes and beer. It is also used to preserve food color and flavor so it’s added directly to many packaging materials.

Eat Your Veggies! Eat Your Veggies!

Just another reason to avoid it if it’s in a box, package, or can! Shop the perimeter of the grocery! It goes a lot faster and you don’t have to curse under your breath at the lame geeky people who spend 10 minutes reading the label of a product and then putting it back. You know they didn’t take the time to read the Oreo label, but when it comes to buying their pasta–they only want whole grain! Check out this excerpt from Mayo Clinic regarding how to avoid BPA products.

Seeking out BPA-free products. This may not always be easy to do, of course. Some manufacturers label their products as BPA-free. If a product isn’t labeled, keep in mind that most aluminum cans or bottles have linings that contain BPA, while steel bottles or cans don’t. Polycarbonate plastic is generally hard, clear, lightweight plastic. It often has the No. 7 recycling symbol on the bottom.
Microwave cautiously. The National Toxicology Program advises against microwaving polycarbonate plastics, although the American Chemistry Council says this is safe. The plastics can break down over time, possibly causing BPA to leach into food.
Wash safely. The National Toxicology Program advises against washing polycarbonate plastics in the dishwasher using harsh detergents, although the American Chemistry Council says this is safe.
Use alternatives. Use glass, porcelain or stainless steel containers for hot foods and liquids instead of plastic containers.
Cut back on cans. Reduce your use of canned foods since many cans are lined with BPA-containing resin.

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Monsanto Evils

This post is for Cindy–a dear patient and friend who has been suffering from a debilitating illness since 2001. She has been to Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, and to all of the top specialists in the fields of neurology, rheumatology, infectious disease, dermatology, oncology, cardiology, and pulmonology. Geez–I think we hit every field of medicine. However, I promised Cindy that I would never stop looking for what may actually be making her sick! I recently did an ALCAT test on her to find that she has a severe intolerance to GLYPHOSATE. Ba Bam!!! Ironically, if you have been following the news lately, you are aware of The Monsanto Company who exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. Allegedly, many of monsanto’s seed products are genetically modified to make them resistant to the Monsanto produced agricultural chemicals such as Round Up herbicide. They also allegedly produce recombinant Bovine somatotropin. Yes, I know What??? It is a synthetic growth factor injected into cows to increase their milk production. Watch this trailer for more information. And watch out Erin Brockovich because if I cure Cindy by getting her off of Monsanto products—I’m casting Channing Tatum in the movie!