Category: Diet

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How do you get good health when you lead a Fast Food Lifestyle?

In the 1950s, a movement was created to free the housewife of all the long hours of work it took to run a household. New gadgets abounded which helped her to cook and clean. If you look at the ads of the day, we find the latest modern convenience being advertised with this goal in mind. New types of dryers, new types of cookware, portable TVs, coffee makers, vacuum cleaners, etc. etc. Portable TVs seems to enable the housewife to watch TV wherever she was and thus be able to see the latest TV ads telling her what else she could buy to free up her time.

There were ads for new types of fabrics that you don’t have to iron. There were ads for the latest cleaning agents that cleaned things with less work. Little is said about the toxins that were added to the cookware, fabrics and cleaning solutions, but it makes things quicker.

Then the food industry caught on. Although already delivering canned and frozen foods, they started developing packaged foods, processed foods, instant cake mixes, instant coffee, and other instant types of beverages which helped shorten the time being spent on cooking. Nothing is said about what is added to the foods to keep them on the shelf longer or to enable them to be instant, etc. etc. but time spent cooking was shortened.

Then in the 60s, fast food restaurants opened up. Now you could herd you family into the local restaurant and for a minimum expense feed them. Of course, you were actually feeding them minimal nutrition as well, but it saved time.

So, yes, now that we are used to this, how do you reverse it and actually get food that is healthy but doesn’t take a long time to prepare. I’ve tried buying cooked foods at my local health food store, which is better than elsewhere but tends to be redundant, doesn’t really give you the foods that you want to eat, and you have to check the small print next to the printed of the food to be certain there isn’t something in the food that you don’t feel good about putting in your body. I’m always looking for evaporated cane juice which seems to be considered an okay way to assimilate sugar, or for the various names that MSG is called.

Yes, we are going to have to use those modern gadgets to figure out if they can make our cooking faster (mixers, food processors and vegetable juicers do help), but we really do have to confront preparing foods to get the most out of what we put into our mouths.

To your health,

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Is Organic Produce Worth The Extra Cost? by Gretchen Scalpi

Found this article and wanted to pass it forward.

Is Organic Produce Worth The Extra Cost?

We all know it’s better to eat more fruit and vegetables. But concerns about the safety of conventionally grown produce versus organically grown always comes up as well.

When produce is organic, it means that it has been produced without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides. There are some compelling reasons why people choose to buy organic produce. The main reason to eat organic produce is to avoid the pesticide residue left on foods. Hands down, organically raised food is better for the environment. Absence of pesticides results in healthier soil, water, and wildlife. Buying organically grown produce supports small farmers and contributes to biodiversity.

Some people choose organic produce because they believe it has a higher nutritional value than commercially grown produce. The comparisons of nutritional content between food organically grown and conventionally grown produce, however, shows little difference. Consider also that much of the produce we buy today is not always locally grown. We have many fruits and vegetables to choose from year round because they have been shipped from other parts of the country (or the world). The fact that a fruit or vegetable is organic does not necessarily translate to nutritional superiority simply because it’s organic. If shipped from far away, it may already be past its nutritional peak.

For many health conscious families, the purchase of organic produce is cost prohibitive. As much as they would like to eat more organically grown food, they simply cannot afford the higher cost. Most of us have a food budget and have to make choices about what we buy, and perhaps a compromise is what’s called for. There are two things you can do to take advantage of organically grown produce as much as possible.

Buy local organic produce when it’s in season. In many parts of the USA, that means taking advantage of certain fruits and vegetables during the warmer months when available. Freezing or canning local organic produce is a possible option for when those items are out of season.

Buy conventionally grown produce from the “Clean 15” list, and organic only for those foods that are on the “The Dirty Dozen” list. The Dirty Dozen are the fruits and vegetables which have the largest amount of pesticide residues, and the Clean 15 have the least amount.

The “Clean 15”:

Onions
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet potatoes
Sweet onions

The “Dirty Dozen”:

Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Domestic blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported grapes
Lettuce

When the warm weather arrives again, make a habit of visiting your local farmers’ markets and buy local organic produce throughout the season.

© 2013 Gretchen Scalpi. All rights reserved.

Gretchen Scalpi is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. She is the author of “The Quick Start Guide To Healthy Eating”, “The Everything Guide to Managing and Reversing Pre-Diabetes”, “The Everything Diabetes Cookbook, 2nd ed.” and “Pre-Diabetes Your Second Chance At Health”. Use your organic produce in the recipes from her book “Quick Start Recipes For Healthy Meals” available at http://gretchenscalpi.com/quick-start-recipes/.

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Nutritional Deficiencies Can Cause All Sorts of Problems

Recently, I came upon an article in the NY Times about B12 deficiency and the types of symptoms it can create.    An interesting part of this article  is the many different diagnosis that were possible.   Fortunately, the deficiency was found and the patient recovered.

Today, I was shown an information about Depression and D3.   I’ve talked about Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Depression, and this is a different deficiency.    It is good to realize that they both can create this type of symptom.

Vast numbers of people have suffered through depression at some point in their lives. Depression takes a huge toll on individuals and has significant social and economic costs.  What if foods could be a key to helping people lift out of depression and reduce anxiety?   Nutritional Deficiencies

Never underestimate what vitamins deficiencies can do.

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Healthy Eating

I’m always on the go and often go to Whole Foods to buy some prepared hot foods that I don’t mind eating.  That’s not all the economical and is restricted to what they offer on that day.

In an earlier blog post about the Fast Food Lifestyle and Health I was doing research on how to eat healthier while trying to save time.   Well, I haven’t gone through all the recipes out there to see how many of them I would trust, but I did find a good healthy cook book.   It is just out, is available on Kindle and has a lot of really good recipes that uses food that actually helps to burn fat…. in case you are interested.   The doctor feels that you don’t lose weight to be healthy, but get healthy to lose weight.   Healthy bodies don’t store fat.

I got the recipe book and haven’t gotten through all the recipes yet where I can evaluate them, but thought I’d pass it on as something you might be interested in.

The Book is called “Healthy Fat Burning Recipes” by Dr. Eric Berg and can be found on Amazon.   You can also find his other books there. 

Check it out.

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Nutrition & Health – What is Good Nutrition?

Nutrition is an important subject, although often ignored by most medical doctors as secondary, somehow relegated to something that comes about by just normal day to day eating.   I’ve never been certain how they think that you can get enough nutrition from fast food restaurants, or the supermarket processed foods that most people consume.   Some doctors are catching on and recommending supplements but sometimes their understanding is limited in scope.   I keep asking when the subject will be reintroduced into medical schools so that we can have truly educated health care physicians in the medical field. (Did you know that homeopathy & herbal medicine was taught in medical schools before 1920?).

An example of ignoring nutrition was when a friend had gallstones, and her doctor wanted to remove her gallbladder. . II thought that the doctor would at least give her a diet which restricted some of the poor food choices she made, but no, he said she didn’t have to change her diet despite not having a gallbladder.   I was never sure why he didn’t think that diet had anything to do with gallstones.

Here is an article on nutrition that was published in “EzineArticles.com  which gives you a overview about nutrition and supplements.   Nutrition & Health

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Grains – Are they good for you?

A lot of us know we can’t eat wheat. There are those who have “celiac’s disease” and then there are those who know that wheat and other grains just don’t agree with their digestive system.

There are many drugs available for the symptoms that are created by the problems many people have with digestion. And one has to ask the question, are these drugs necessary? Or is it something that I ate?

Here is an article on Grains

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Why all of a Sudden is Everyone Deficient in Vitamin D?

I saw this title and immediately wanted to find out what it said.  I had noticed this change where people were taking mega doses of vitamin D and it was even prescribed by their medical doctor.   I then checked Dr. Oz’s take on it and he said “Most people are deficient in this crucial cancer-fighting vitamin. Find out how this supplement superstar helps to prevent 3 different types of cancer.”

Funny, talking about a vitamin as a preventative.   Perhaps, we should just build good health and not worry about “disease” and what we should take to try and ward it off.

Then I listened to Dr. Berg’s video which  explained how vitamin D worked and what relationship it had with other vitamins.   It is very much worth the time to understand this.

You can find it here Vitamin D

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Grains – Are they good for you?

A lot of us know we can’t eat wheat. There are those who have “celiac’s disease” and then there are those who know that wheat and other grains just don’t agree with their digestive system.

There are many drugs available for the symptoms that are created by the problems many people have with digestion. And one has to ask the question, are these drugs necessary? Or is it something that I ate?

Here is an article on Grains

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Do you use Artificial Sweeteners? Are they Healthy Replacements for Sugar?

A lot of people use artificial sweeteners because they have heard that sugar is bad for them but love things sweet.   Are they doing the right thing?

Artificial sweeteners have their own problems.   Here is a list of them with links to articles on their relationship to your health

Sugar Substitutes

Is there anything you can take to sweeten up you coffee or use in your baking.   It appears that Stevia is the best option.  Stevia is a herb that used in very small amounts make a great sweetener.  It comes in packets, or drops and works well.

Here is the definition:

Stevia: Made from the leaves of a Paraguayan herb, and usually found in powder form, it is 300 times sweeter than sugar. A little goes a very long way (obviously). It’s non-caloric, which is generally considered a plus.