You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2009.
NH Group 2007 Calendar by StarrGazr, on Flickr
Cost of food per person per day: $2.09. I’ve started socking away some of the food budget savings to pay for winter CSA memberships. I am utterly sold on their value!
Relevant books read or re-read: Dinner at the New Gene Cafe: How Genetic Engineering Is Changing What We Eat, How We Live, and the Global Politics of Food by Bill Lambrecht
Energy Level: High. I went back to work part time this month and was amazed that my body was able to provide the boost of energy I needed to accomplish this. I am being careful to provide it the good, healthy food it needs and plenty of rest, but I haven’t had to rely on caffeine to get me through an afternoon anymore. What a blessing!
Visible health improvements: I am noticing a very gradual but steady reduction in my allergy symptoms. I remember how thrilled I was when Claritin hit over-the-counter status, but that is nothing compared to crossing it off my shopping list for good! This spring and summer has been a very severe allergy year because of early and near constant rain (this Southeast city had more rainy days in May and June than Portland, Oregon) and even people who don’t normally experience allergies are carrying purse packs of tissues. But as the months pass and friends’ and neighbors’ allergies are still going strong, I notice I am rarely sneezing, rubbing my brow from sinus headaches or eyes from itchiness.
Other notes: My weight held steady this month despite a road trip and more hours sitting at a computer working. I’ve been able to wrestle my schedule into submission a little better, so we aren’t relying on processed food as much as last month. It really does require a dedicated time each day to think through pressing demands and possible open moments. I find I’m living much more deliberately now than ever before. That is not to say I’m scheduling every moment (like I could even try to with my crew!) but I am striving to use each moment to its best use. Sometimes that best use is reading aloud to a child, sometimes it’s napping and sometimes it’s doing early prep work for meals.
This month also brought other physical challenges: my husband’s back problems reached a point where he wasn’t able to sit in his chair to work. He works at home also, so I was able to rig him a comfortable place to work. Daily trips to the chiropractor and physical therapist aren’t doing our budget any good, but they are definitely helping him. John finished writing a novel this month (a 30-day, 30,000 word writing project he undertakes every July) and is also down in the back from too much sitting and not enough exercise. Two of the girls have caught the seasonal cold, although it is much milder than is generally being experienced in the community.
Despite all these changes and new challenges, my state of mind is uncharacteristically upbeat. I feel like the cloud that’s been hanging around me for the last ten years is beginning to dissipate. This is most welcome!
When I was a kid, my sister used to eat Almond Joy candy bars. I didn’t like the almonds, so I’d eat Mounds. The rich, dark chocolate and coconut were so yummy together. And I loved the commercial jingle:
Sometimes you feel like a nut
Sometimes you don’t
Almond Joy’s got nuts
Mounds don’t
because…
Sometimes you feel like a nut
Sometimes you don’t
So, when I read the recipe for Coconut Pie Crust in Nourishing Traditions, a vision came to me. A Mounds Pie: dark chocolate pudding in a coconut crust. The angels sang to me as I started thinking through the recipe.
I started with the Coconut Pie Crust recipe, which is just coconut oil mixed with shredded, unsweetened coconut and 
prebaked for about 30 minutes at 350°. While that cooled, I made my “free” chocolate pudding, but switched out melted 2-2 ounce squares of dark, organic, fair-trade baking chocolate instead of cocoa powder. I also substituted coconut oil for the butter and reduced the honey to 1/3 cup.
Perfection. Rich, creamy and not-too-sweet. Heart healthy fats, antioxidant-rich dark chocolate, and digestion-enhancing enzymes.
I suppose if allergies weren’t an issue, tossing some chopped crispy almonds in would make an Almond Joy pie. But I’ll tell you, this is hard to beat.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Cheeseslave, Living with Food Allergies blog carnival, Make it from Scratch blog carnival, The Bare Cupboard blog carnival.
A class action lawsuit was filed this week by a New Jersey man with the support of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The lawsuit aims to force Denny’s Restaurants to disclose on menus the amount of sodium in each of its meals and to place a notice on its menus warning about high sodium levels.
“By concealing an important material fact about its products—namely, that that these foods have disease-promoting levels of sodium—Denny’s is failing its responsibility to its customers and is in violation of the laws of New Jersey and several other states,” said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner.
In a perfect world, restaurants wouldn’t exist for the purpose of making money, but to provide us delicious, nutritious food. They would be totally honest about all their ingredients and methods, remain current on the best possible nutrition research and provide their services at a reasonable cost to those who need them. They would put our needs and interests above their own and immediately change anything shown to be detrimental to their customer’s health.
We don’t live in a perfect world. Restaurants exist to make money. This money is used to keep the lights on, employ and pay their staff, print their menus, buy their raw ingredients, and defend themselves in court. People who visit restaurants exchange their money for food. Until the food is consumed, the money stays in the customer’s pocket. Consumers have the power to decide where they spend their money.
Denny’s does not conceal sodium level information in their foods. Their website offers the same nutritional information for each of its menu items that would be available on a food label.
If a consumer regularly buys a frozen pizza at the grocery store that is properly labeled, but finds that the pepperoni has an ingredient that makes him ill, should he sue the food processor? The grocery store? The trucking company that brings the food to market? The information is on the label for a reason: so the consumer may make informed choices. Consumers who have health issues like hypertension need to be educated on making proper food choices and encouraged to seek out the information they need.
Aha, you say, but the information isn’t on the restaurant’s menu! Should each menu item be on it’s own half page so that there is sufficient room for the nutrition information and content listing? What about the existing holes in the labeling law? If MSG can be present in foods under five or six different names, would an ingredient list really be that much help? If a customer chooses not to help himself to the information available on the website, would they pay attention to the same material on a menu? What about information overload—where so much information is available that consumers learn to ignore it? Why stop at sodium for warning messages printed on menus? How about these:
“Warning: the meat in this item has been purchased from a Confined Animal Feeding Operation and been fed a diet that is inappropriate for its species and has received antibiotics, growth hormones and inhumane treatment.”
“Caution: the aspartame in this drink is an excitotoxin, which can lead to neurological damage.”
“Notice: the corn in the batter may contain genetically modified ingredients.”
“Consume at your own risk: this item is prepared using genetically modified canola oil, proven to increase the risk of heart disease.”
“Potential hazard: this food contains denatured proteins from having been exposed to microwave radiation.”
My point is that the information this consumer needed is available. Clearly, from the basis of his lawsuit, the consumer knew excess sodium was hazardous to his condition. The customer had the opportunity to discover ingredients and nutrition information before putting the Moons Over My Hammy in his mouth: on his home computer before the visit or at the restaurant during it. The customer chose not to look behind the curtain.
It is not my intention to defend a corrupt food system on the verge of collapse. I’m not justifying an “anything goes” mentality under the banner of capitalism. I merely wish to point out that the time has come for each of us to take personal responsibility for what we eat. Find out about the ingredients your favorite restaurant uses. If you don’t like what you find, don’t eat there. Write a letter, make a phone call, order healthier choices. The courts are not here to protect us from our own ignorance or denial.
Yeah, it’s gonna take time, forethought and effort. But not as much time, forethought and effort as planting, cultivating and harvesting your own vegetables, milking your own cows or slaughtering your own chickens. We need to be prepared to pay all the prices when we ask others to feed us.
This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade.
flu shot! by samantha celera, on Flickr
As a parent, I find I repeat myself often. The same ideas keep coming up as I raise my children—bits of wisdom that I’d like them to take into adulthood with them. One of those ideas is that the time to think a decision through is before a crisis comes. Knowing where you are headed and watching the road signs keeps you from having to suddenly cross three congested highway lanes and get off at an exit that took you by surprise.
The issue of the upcoming swine flu vaccination is one of those times. We’ve been here before, we seem to be going there again, and we need to think this thing through before the exit ramp gets here. Much has been written by many more capable writers than I, so I will direct you to their words and presentations.
- Do you know the facts of the 1976 swine flu epidemic-that-wasn’t? This report by the CDC is technical at first, but reinforces the supposition that the 1976 round was a result of several unique factors (previous immunization history, weather, other flu viruses circulating at the same time, etc.) that encouraged the outbreak and discouraged easy transmission.
- Do you know the history of the 1976 swine flu vaccine? This 60 Minutes report aired Sunday November 4, 1979. It was aired only once and then was relegated to the film vault. Thankfully, the internet has opened up that dusty vault and blogger Corganic has ventured in to bring us Mike Wallace, speaking to us across 30 years of unrelenting medical hubris.
- Do you know that those responsible for this year’s vaccine feel they are better prepared? This Forbes article has some interesting spin but can’t avoid the truth: “We won’t know that the vaccine is safe until it’s given to large numbers of people.”
- Do you know how quickly we are coming up on the 2009 vaccine? This news article says the first shots will go into adult volunteer’s arms in early August. It also says that barring “immediate side effects,” child studies will follow quickly.
- Do you know what others are saying? Kelly the Kitchen Kop has asked about the vaccine: “Will you get it?” The forum comments on this and each of the above links are telling. Many people don’t want this vaccine. Some will refuse it, even if it becomes mandatory. Some will be in line for the first round of vaccines. Most are just confused.
It’s important to do our homework and think these things through before the crisis hits. Each family must decide for itself, but refusing to decide is just deciding to wait until the health official knocks on your door.
UPDATE: Australia has begun its swine flu vaccine human trials. Because Australia has beat us to the punch, this will be an interesting case to keep an eye on.
UPDATE 7/26: Europe is rushing with uncharacteristic speed into approving untested vaccine.
UPDATE 7/27: Vaccine makers and federal officials will be immune from lawsuits that result from any new swine flu vaccine, under a document signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, government health officials said Friday, July 17.
UPDATE 7/28: The CDC announces on Wednesday, July 15 that the “flu shot” will actually be a series of at least three shots, four for some.
UPDATE 8/1: US health advisors agree that a full half of the US population should receive the vaccine.
UPDATE: 8/3: Greece has announced they will require the swine flu vaccine 100% of its population.
UPDATE 8/5: Novartis announces its “yearlong” vaccine trials began about 10 days ago. Yearlong trials: does that mean the vaccine won’t be available until next year or the vaccine will be released for widespread use before the trials are concluded. (Hm, take a guess.)
UPDATE 8/6: Citing the late availability of the 1957 and 1968 flu vaccines, the World Health Organization says that fast-tracked vaccines aren’t less safe. The 1976 vaccine is conveniently excused from the discussion.
UPDATE 8/10: While not specific to swine flu, this method of searching for flu-specific antibodies has long-term ramifications.
UPDATE 8/11: “It’s possible the government will begin a public vaccination campaign before all of the work of the trials is complete…” Eight US cities begin vaccine testing.
UPDATE 8/16: A letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health in Great Britain, has been leaked to The Mail. In it, health officials are warned of a potentially deadly side effect to the swine flu vaccine.
UPDATE 8/17: In South Carolina, “there will be a massive attempt to use schools as vaccination centers,” said state Superintendent Jim Rex.
UPDATE 8/17: The Obama Presidency is reviewing the quarantine rules put in place during the Bush administration.
UPDATE 8/21: No immediate red flags, that’s good. Infant and child testing begins.
UPDATE 9/1: Even those first in line for shots won’t have immunity until around Thanksgiving.
UPDATE 9/2: China’s swine flu vaccine will be a single dose.
UPDATE 9/2: Swine flu does not combine with other flu variants to form a “superbug,” as once feared.
UPDATE 9/4: Swine flu does not appear to be mutating, as once feared, but is still expected to affect “one third of the world’s population.”
UPDATE 9/7: Roche finds cases of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu.
UPDATE 9/8: German doctor warns of cancer risk associated with swine flu vaccine.
UPDATE 9/10: Researchers in the United States and Australia claim the swine flu vaccine takes effect within 10 days and only requires one dose.
UPDATE: 9/13: Sibelius says the first swine flu vaccines will roll out ready for use in early October.
This post is part of Fight Back Fridays, hosted by Food Renegade.
While picking up a treat to keep me awake during a long drive, I saw this sign at Starbucks:
Well, if our definitions of “Real Food” are similar, this would be a great new development. I came home, looked up the provided nutritional information on the website and found that although the ingredients are coming much closer to real food than they have in the past, they still have a way to go. Here is the ingredient listing for Banana Walnut Bread, the pictured food:
BANANAS, WHEAT FLOUR, ENRICHED (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL), WALNUTS, EGG, CULTURED BUTTERMILK, BAKING SODA, NATURAL FLAVORS, SALT.
Bananas: Hard to misinterpret “bananas.” They probably aren’t local, organic or fresh, and could be irradiated, but they are bananas and not banana flavoring.
Wheat flour: This does not mean whole wheat flour. It means flour made from wheat. In the grocery store you would find it in a bag called Unbleached Flour. The FDA says, “We note that wheat flour should not be labeled as a whole grain flour because wheat flour is a synonym of flour (§ 137.105), and thus, the bran and germ have been removed.” In other words this enriched flour has to be enriched because so much has been taken from it.
Sugar: Beet sugar? Could be. Cane sugar? Maybe. Genetically modified sugar? Almost certainly. If it doesn’t specific “organic,” odds are the sugar listed on any processed food label you hold is genetically modified. It is at the very least, superprocessed and bleached, robbed of all that could redeem it from being just a sweetener.
Vegetable oil (soybean oil): “In 1997, about 8% of all soybeans cultivated for the commercial market in the United States were genetically modified. In 2006, the figure was 89%.” With this rate of increase, it seems likely the soybean oil in most processed food has been genetically modified. Between the uncertain effects of GMO food, the phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors, phytoestrogens, vitamin B12 analogs, free glutamic acid (MSG) and aluminum that soy contains, there is much cause for concern regarding consumption of soy products.
Walnuts: A good, healthy ingredient containing a lovely polyunsaturated oil that is beneficial to health. Sadly, because of their oil, walnuts begin to go rancid very quickly after removing them from their protective shells. The antioxidants that are naturally present in the nut are destroyed by cooking. The handling of the nuts prior to their use in the final product is not discussed by the ingredient information provided.
Egg: Ah, if only “egg” meant “egg.” Surely by now you know better. “Dried whole eggs, frozen whole eggs, and liquid whole eggs may be declared as eggs,” says the FDA’s Code of Federal Regulations. If the egg has been dried, it contains oxidized cholesterol which contributes to heart disease. Dried eggs are the method most preferred by manufactures as frozen and liquid eggs require refrigeration and are thus more costly to transport and store. But, the label isn’t specific so we don’t know for sure.
Cultured Buttermilk: No longer a by-product of buttermaking, cultured buttermilk is regular milk to which a bacterial culture has been added. We do not know from the ingredient listing the quality, safety or even contents of the starting milk product, (many reduced fat milks contain dry milk powder which also contains the oxidized cholesterol we were warned about in the “egg” listing above) but I feel relatively comfortable assuming that raw milk from grassfed Jersey cows was probably not the source of the starting milk.
Baking Soda: I am not aware of any issues with baking soda.
Natural Flavors: Ah, a fun ingredient indeed! The FDA defines “natural flavor” as:
The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter.
Interesting, but not terribly helpful. Because the labeling law is broad, it is impossible for the consumer to know if the “natural flavors” are derived from eggs, dairy or other allergens. This may not be a big deal in your family, but it is in mine.
Salt: Salt is an important part of a healthy, traditional diet. Refined, dead, chemically produced, iodized salt is an invitation to high blood pressure. Again, because the ingredient label is not specific, we can’t be 100% sure, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say the salt used is probably not unrefined salt.
So all these “real foods” are baked up in the oven right there at my local Starbucks, right? In non-teflon pans that won’t flake off fluoride particles or steam toxic gas into my food? Handled by safety- and health-conscious workers who didn’t come to work sick today because they desperately needed the money? Held at a safe temperature while awaiting sale? Hard to say.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of a nice slice of banana nut bread with my coffee. I’d probably even buy a slice at Starbucks if I were really in the mood for it. But calling this recipe “real food” just pushes the envelope of honesty and is the nutritional equivalent of greenwashing. And if I get a serious craving, I’ll whip some up at home where I can control exactly what I use:
Real-er Food Banana Walnut Bread
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 9x5x3 glass loaf pan and dust with flour. Blend together 2C freshly ground whole wheat flour, 1t baking soda and 1/4t sea salt and set aside. Mix together 1 pastured egg, 1/2C maple syrup and 1/2C melted coconut oil until combined. Add the flour mixture and blend briefly. Add 2T buttermilk, 1/2t organic vanilla extract and 3 overly-ripe organic bananas that have been mashed, mixing until combined. Fold in 1/2C chopped crispy* walnuts. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then remove from the pan.
Crispy nuts are freshly removed from their shells, soaked overnight in 1/2t sea salt then left to dry in a low oven or food dehydrator at less than 150°F. This process spares the enzymes in the nuts, and deactivates anti-nutrients they contain.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Going home! by zerobatsu, on Flickr
Being two states separated by both my parents and the in-laws, our lives are frequently punctuated by weekend road trips. In past years, these trips meant two or three days of solid junk food. You know you’ve overdone the junk when you can’t find a fast food joint the family can agree on because “we JUST had that!”
My husband’s side of the family had their reunion this past weekend and we made the trip up. In preparation, I packed some orange sections, a dozen boiled eggs, two loaves of artisan bread, some organic peanut butter which I premixed with homemade fruit puree, a whole bunch of carrot sticks and a big bottle of water. That was enough for the two meals we ate on the road getting to our destination. I also made up some vinaigrette dressing to take along so I could have a good, healthy dressing for my salads.
The next day was Saturday and with the help of Local Harvest, I was able to locate a farmer’s market just three miles from our hotel. I don’t sleep well away from home, so it was easy for me to be at the market when they opened at 8:30 AM. I picked up a half gallon of raw milk, a half gallon of fresh pressed orange juice (not local, but from oranges pressed on site), a quart of black cherry tomatoes and a pound of raw milk cheddar curds. That, along with the leftover bread from yesterday was a most delicious and healthy start to our day.
The reunion luncheon was held at a local steakhouse and we went off-the-wagon for that meal, enjoying all kinds of edible food-like substances from the buffet. The major chain grocery store provided the makings for our light dinner: organic lettuce, tuna, local goat cheese and blackberries in whole wheat pita bread. The continental breakfast served in the hotel lobby the next morning leaned toward white bread for toast, six kinds of cereal and lots of coffee, so I opted for a few leftover cherry tomatoes and a half a pita bread while I packed our bags and loaded the car. At the restaurant, I talked the waiter into asking the cook to scramble my eggs in BUTTER and bringing me some real cream for my coffee for breakfast. Before we checked out of our hotel room, we bought, washed and readied an organic bell pepper, head of lettuce and cucumber. That salad made for a delicious lunch on the road home. Dinner was fast food we could eat with a minimum of cleanup once we got home.
I learned a few things this trip:
- It only takes a little junk to upset our tummies. I guess we’ve been “spoiled” by good food!
- It doesn’t hurt to ask. You might not be able to convince the cook to make your eggs in butter, but it’s worth a shot. And, getting the waiter’s cooperation and help is golden and deserving of a big tip.
- Meals that have a healthy portion of protein and fat keep us feeling full longer than meals that rely heavily on carbs. That’s important on the road where snacks might not be easily available.
- The worst behavior from the kids came right after the non-food meals. Something I’ll have to plan around for our next outing, but good to know.
Splat by greenbroke, on Flickr
When I was a kid, we always drove on vacation. We drove to see the redwoods. We drove to see the Grand Canyon. We drove to see the ocean. We drove to see the mountains. We drove when we moved, from California to New York to Louisiana to New Jersey to Denver to California to Oregon to Tennessee. When I was a kid, we could go 100 miles between fill ups. When I learned to subtract, it was my job to keep track of the mileage because the gas tank indicator was broken on the Chevy Impala. I learned pretty quickly after I messed up once and had to walk a whole mile with Daddy to fill up the gas can while my sister sat in the car with Mom.
When I was a kid, every time we stopped for gas we had to scrape the bugs off the windshield. When I got tall enough to reach halfway across the car, it became my job to clean the windshield while Daddy pumped the gas. I remember counting the carnage of bug splats before I’d clean them off. Driving past farmland was the messiest, through towns the cleanest. Sometimes we’d even watch as the bugs would splat against the glass and make comments about the green, yellow and brown remains. Hey, it’s what we did before there were DVD players in cars. Sometimes the radio wouldn’t have a single station the entire length of its AM band and we had to do something to entertain ourselves.
This past weekend we drove well over 300 miles to and from a family reunion. We drove through miles and miles (and MILES) of farmland, mostly corn, almost all GMO corn.* In the mid-July heat, I was expecting lots of bug splats on the windshield. During the entire trip, there was only one bug splat. One. The lack of splats probably would have escaped my notice if not for that one. It was loud and colorful and rather surprising when it happened. It got me thinking. Where are the bugs?
*How do I know the crops were GMO? It took a little research, but by noting the names and numbers on the signs posted by the fields, I could research what the crops were. There were visual signs as well: perfectly identical, perfectly green, stalks growing in perfectly weed-free soil. I saw a couple organic farms too: the occasional yellowed stalk or variations in height were the give-away signs even before the signs painted on the barns told me they were non-GMO crop fields.
After a morning at the pool when we need something fast and cool for lunch, Fruit Soup is our go-to meal.
It’s easy: three ingredients tossed in a bowl. It’s economical: you can even sneak the “heel” of the loaf of bread in and no one is the wiser. It’s cool: there’s no stove or oven to heat up your kitchen. It’s local: use your Farmer’s Market finds of seasonal fruit at its best. It’s kid-friendly: kids can choose their own fruits and even make it themselves. And we aren’t even going to go into delicious because you have to try it to believe it.
Take a piece of bread and tear it into a bowl. Cut up your favorite fruit and add that to the bowl. Pour raw cream over the top. Eat. With some combinations, a little local, raw honey drizzled over the top might be preferred. You don’t want to use cheap white bread for this, it will turn to glue in the bowl. But if you have an eater who balks at rough, brown bread, this could be the dish to sway them!
This post is part of Pennywise Platters Thursday, hosted by The Nourishing Gourmet.
In their July, 2009 edition of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the ADA has refined their position toward vegetarianism:
“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.”
This is a disturbing and sad development and shows just how far from the world of good science the ADA has fallen. Consider these facts:
* Vitamin B12 that can be used in the body occurs only in animal-based foods.
* B12 deficiency has been found in babies being breastfed by strict vegetarians.
* Ability to assimilate B12 declines with age.
* Carotene in vegetables is normally converted to Vitamin A in the upper intestine, but only if there is fat in the diet. That’s fat (animal) not oil (vegetable). Take animal products out of the diet and the body is left without the ability to create this strong antioxidant and anti-cancer defense.
* Trace minerals like cobalt help our bodies use the iron and other essential vitamins and minerals, and occur most generously and in most usable form in animal foods.
* Babies fed a vegetarian diet are subject to deficiencies of B12 (necessary for proper brain and nervous system development), zinc, folic acid, calcium, B2, protein, calcium and calories.
My favorite quote on vegetarianism comes from The Milk Book by William Campbell Douglass, MD:
“There is no society in the world that is entirely vegetarian. The Hindus in India come closest. …the greater percentage of the population, who subsist almost entirely on vegetable foods, suffer from kwashiorkor, other forms of malnutrition, and have the shortest life span in the world.”
At no time in her life does a woman’s body need nutrition more desperately than during her childbearing years. Her children and grandchildren are shortchanged if she skimps on healthy food during these years. Pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood—these are not the times in our lives to be engaging in risky nutritional fads.
Why should we care what the ADA says? Their own website says this about them:
“The American Dietetic Association is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.”
That the “world’s largest organization of nutrition professionals” is advocating such a dangerous diet for people whose diet matters so greatly provest that the are not at all “commted to improving the nation’s health” and that the “research, education and advocacy” they practice is in dire need of reexamination.
Shame on the ADA for this ill-conceived position!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Cheeseslave, because vegetables are real food, but so are meats, eggs, dairy and animal fats.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesays, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
I’ve never been a fan of the heat. As the temperature rises, my body becomes more and more unwilling to function. My memories of living in Louisiana as a seven-year-old mostly revolved around watching the other kids play outside while I ate cherry jello (my mom’s remedy for upset tummies) and sat with an ice pack on my head. As an adult, I returned rather unwillingly to the South. My body reacts much the same way to the heat as it did as a child: nausea, headache, lethargy, dizziness. Summer is a very long season for me.
In Memory Of Summer... by zu78
I determined to discover some real food strategies for getting through the 90° days which started this year in March. I work toward centering meals around light foods which are easier to digest and won’t tax my body. We eat foods with a higher water content like fruit to make sure dehydration isn’t a problem. We search out foods that feel cool in our mouths, like cucumber and mint, to give us a psychological boost. Many meals we eat are consumed cold and prepared in ways that force as little heat into the house as possible. And guess what? All these appropriate foods are local and in season now, right when we need them! How convenient!
- Dawn rarely breaks below 80°, so for breakfast we often eat fruit soup. It’s just a piece of local, organic fruit, cut up and tossed in a bowl with a piece of torn up bread and covered with milk.
- When I clean out the refrigerator before going grocery shopping, if there’s some overripe fruit needing to be used, I’ll toss it in the blender and freeze it in an ice cube tray. The cubes are then ready to toss into smoothies and slushes. A couple fruit cubes in a bowl with a spoon beat storebought popsicles any day of the week.
- If I find a really good price on local fruit, I’ll stock up and process it in a juicer, freezing the juice in one set of small cubes and the pulp in another set. The juice cubes make great kefir soda and kombucha flavoring, and the pulp is wonderful added to smoothies, pancakes or butter to spread on toast. After a glut of local lemons this year, I have enough lemon cubes in the freezer to make instant frozen lemonade all summer.
- Leftover meats are tossed onto main dish salads for most of our lunches. It only takes a little meat or cheese to add enough protein to a big salad to tide us over all afternoon. The amazing bounty of seasonal foods this time of year keep the salads always changing and never boring!
- Instead of using the oven or stove, my crockpot gets a workout this time of year for dinner meals.
- My bread machine does its work in the garage where the hot air vents directly outdoors instead of into my kitchen! Someday I’d like a solar oven for baking bread. Why let all that free solar power go to waste while I spend dollars on electricity to do the same thing?
- Digestion raises my body temperature a lot, so I try to incorporate lots of high enzyme foods into my diet. The enzymes help the process so my body doesn’t have to work quite as hard. Sprouts go on salads, homemade lacto-fermented pickles sit next to meats, homemade lacto-fermented pickled peppers (my favorite) go on buttered bread, in salads, or just plain on a fork!
- Drinking water in the hottest part of the day tends to make my nausea worse, but sipping a little kombucha or coconut kefir makes it better. I make sure there’s something always fermenting on my counter for tomorrow’s beverage.
- My ice cream maker gets a daily workout, usually making a fruit sorbet to top off our dinner meal. I find ice cream too heavy for me when it’s too hot, but a fruit-only sorbet is light and refreshing. One of our favorites is watermelon. Take the fruit out of the rind, remove the black seeds and blend it until it’s smooth. Now just toss it into an ice cream maker and let it run until the mixture is frozen. You can use pineapple with coconut milk for a pina colada sorbet, or a blend of whatever fruits are locally available and ripe. Peaches? Cherries? Be sure to taste your slurry before freezing it because most of the time sweetener is not even needed when using local fresh fruit.
- And ice cream isn’t too heavy if it’s the meal instead of the dessert. In a trick I learned from Kelly the Kitchen Kop, we will sometimes have an ice cream meal. One scorcher of an afternoon, we had ice cream for lunch. I supplemented my meal with a couple spears of broccoli that had been steamed then refrigerated in a homemade raspberry vinaigrette. My daughter asked if she could have broccoli, too. I told her “Yes, you may have a green vegetable, but not until you finish your ice cream, young lady!” We had a good laugh about that.
The biggest change this year has been my attitude. Instead of complaining my way through yet another 100° day with 70% humidity, I’m thinking, “Ooh, it’s gonna be a scorcher. What cool treat can I mix up for this afternoon?” It’s become a creative outlet and welcome challenge to think my way through rather than just sit there stewing in my own juices.
The Dark Side of Fat Loss
