If you Label something it will scare consumers away…

Thing is, you won’t know if the food you’re buying in your grocery is GMO if industry gets its way.

Genetically modified isn’t labeled.  Unbelievable, but Jose Fernandez, State Department assistant secretary for economic, energy, and business affairs, actually said that if genetically engineered food were labeled it would scare consumers away.

“If you label something, there’s an implication there’s something wrong with it,” said Fernandez while he spoke at a CropLife International meeting.

CropLife represents Monsanto, DuPont and other biotech giants.  They’re all against labeling GMO food, and now you know why. [from Organic Consumers' Association newsletter, #299]

Much soy, and corn is genetically modified.  Unless the food product says, “Organic,” or “Non-GMO” you know it’s probably genetically modified.  I for one refuse to buy it.

My family and I have been eating these wonderful, smallish corn/wheat tortillas.  Our family loves them for quick meals with beans, rice, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese.  But I’m no longer purchasing them because I’m not sure of the corn.  I wrote to the company.  “The corn you use in your great tortillas, is the corn genetically modified?  I’ll let you know if they answer…

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WE LOVE EVERY NEW FAD.  IT’S LIKE THE PROVERBIAL “EATING AN ELEPHANT?”

How do you eat an elephant?

“One bite at a time,” as they say.

LATEST NEW TREND, DETOXING, IS LIKE THE PROVERBIAL EATING AN ELEPHANT

Grab the newest fad.   If it’s a new thing it looks exciting.  Not one bite at a time.  Let’s just do it!

We get excited about a new trend and go to it, no piecemeal for us.   If it’s a new fad we jump on the bandwagon NOW!

NEW PROJECT SOUNDS EXCITING, MAKE A TEAM

Empty the schedule, make calendar/Day Timer note, “Elephant eating,” get supply box with big knife, forks, water bottle…  Get a team.

First of the week.  Gather the team, and supplies.  Begin, one bite at a time.

Going great at first:  “It’s great to have a goal.  Finally got up courage to do this.” “Glad you guys are with me, part of something big!”

EXCITEMENT WANES AS WE SEE THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT

But…after 4-5 days, half of the team doesn’t show.  Excuses,  last-minute appointments, car breaks down, lost the big knife, mother-in-law getting married….

Elephant eating is a big job.  “It’s not as though I don’t have a million other things that take my time,”  “How big is an elephant?” “How many days…”

It’s not easy sticking with a project, especially one that will take a long, loong time.

WE ALL LOVE EXCITING NEW TRENDS AND FADS

We love fads as long as they don’t last too long.

In that way a fast/cleanse/detox is like eating an elephant.   The proverbial “40 days and 40 nights,” of lemon, water, and juices.

Master cleanses are like that.  BIG ELEPHANTS.  Fads everywhere.  T.V. advertising, the World Wide Web  Master  Cleanses,  Detox Programs.

We jump on the latest great idea, the magic health cure without taking our stressful schedules into account.   It’s just life, but every minute of every day is packed with activity.   We think it’s no big deal to add a detox.   We have little respect for what our body is required to do.

Problem is, we start and because we’re not educated about what is involved we don’t stick with the program.  Healthy living is about little changes to the daily routine, changes that, over time, support true health.  Habits that remain part of everyday life.

TOXIN BUILDUP SLOWS BODY SYSTEMS

Don’t get me wrong. I’m in favor of regular cleanse/detox.  John and I do a cleanse on a regular basis.

Toxins slow normal actions of our organs.  Cleanse systems (liver, kidneys, colon, skin, and lungs) don’t function 100% when sludge keeps them from working smoothly.   We gain weight, especially around the middle,  when our bodies can’t clean out toxins.  So, yes, do a detox/cleanse.

But pick a detox you can fit into your already busy, stressful life.  Begin slowly if you intend to take this regular habit into your healthy routine.

INCLUDE PROTEIN TO RETAIN LEAN MUSCLE

A few tips for your journey:

• Always include protein when you’re cleansing.  During a detox you’re restricting calories, so your body might interpret that restriction as famine and lower your metabolism.  Without protein along with your detox drink, your body may take calories from lean muscle, not from stored fat.  Snacks can include boiled egg and a small green salad with lemon juice dressing, a handful of raw almonds, or celery sticks. This should go without saying, but avoid all processed foods which are mostly carbohydrate-based, and have no essential nutrients.

• When you’re not eating normal meals, you’re allowing your body to switch from digesting food to cleansing.  Respect and support your internal wisdom. Don’t ask your body to support heavy exercise.  You won’t profit from your detox.

• Cut back on exercise. An extended cleanse/detox can, if you allow your inner wisdom to guide, bring you to a “different” reality.  You might want to let that happen.  Some have noticed a more introspective, a more “spiritual” mood.  Respect that and take time to assess your life.  Instead of vigorous exercise, take a walk outside, in the fresh air noticing the natural world.

• Keep a journal.  If you’re serious about a healthy lifestyle, and if you believe your body has internal wisdom, you want to learn from yourself, and you’ll want a record of that learning, during this experience.

• Do not do any detox or cleanse if you have health problems, such as diabetes, unless you’re under the direct care of a physician.   This is very important.  Check with your doctor first.

John and I have what I think is a great routine.  We take 1/4 cup of Isagenix “Cleanse for Life” drink every night just before bed (2 hours without food between dinner and bedtime).

That way we’re cleansing all night as we sleep!   Regular cleansing routine is easy, and over time we’ve lost a lot of that bulge around the middle.

SHARE YOUR PRODUCTS AND IDEAS WITH US BELOW

Whatever product you use and either love/hate share your thoughts in the “Comments” section below and let’s learn from each other.   It’s much easier to find a routine and stick to it when you’re talking to others and sharing ideas.

Hope to “see” you below soon!

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CAN GMO AND ORGANIC EXIST SIDE BY SIDE?

Are you following the latest news about Monsanto?  It’s the latest in the battle.

The good folks at Monsanto are making headway in convincing our USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) to o.k. the planting of Roundup Ready (RR) alfalfa, despite complaints from scientists and organic farmers.  In fact, there scientists who work in the USDA object to the approval.

What is “Roundup Ready” alfalfa?  And, why should we care?

RR (Roundup Ready) alfalfa is alfalfa seed that has been genetically modified; we call it a GMO (genetically modified organism).  The genes of alfalfa seeds have been changed to accept the herbicide that’s in RoundUp weed killer.  That’s great for Monsanto, since they happen to sell RoundUp herbicide, and they want to sell lots of it.

FARMER SPRAYS HEAVILY, IF HE USES GMO SEED

The farmer growing alfalfa for cattle feed will spray his entire field heavily with RoundUp to stop all weeds that would compete with his alfalfa crop.  The spray will not bother the alfalfa because it’s been changed so RoundUp doesn’t kill it.  Genetically modified Roundup alfalfa will be sprayed with toxic weed killer, Roundup; more heavily by the farmer so he can eradicate all weeds that might compete.  He knows heavy spraying will not harm his alfalfa crop.

GMOs  SINGLE GREATEST THREAT TO ORGANICS

Since there’s no way to prevent genetically modified alfalfa seed from drifting into and contaminating other alfalfa fields, it does just that.  It drifts to other fields, producing seed different from natural strains of alfalfa. Alfalfa that grows from this seed will be genetically modified and will produce seed who genes are changed.

These crops, therefore, threaten the livelihood of organic farmers many of whom save seed from year to year, developing strains hardy for their ecological area.  There is no way to keep genetically modified alfalfa from contaminating organic alfalfa.

Genetic engineering, therefore, according to many, is the single greatest danger to organics.

NO ORGANIC ALFALFA, NO ORGANIC DAIRIES

If organic dairies can’t get a “clean” source of organic alfalfa for feed, organic food and dairies are out of business.  This threatens organic farmers and dairy people in our country, and further limits consumer
food choice.

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED

• Will GMO alfalfa put an end to the organic industry?

• With modified genes in the alfalfa gene pool develop super weeds that nothing will be able to control?

• When genes are changed to accept weed killer, RoundUp, will this develop dangerous allergens for humans and animals?

• When genes are spliced, for example, fish genes, into strawberries, will eating strawberries aggravate serious health conditions in people with fish allergies?

U.S. FDA HAS REQUIRED NO GMO STUDIES

Before allowing Monsanto to plant genetically modified alfalfa seed the Food and Drug Administration required

1. no tests by the biotech industry
2. no studies of potential toxicity
3. no studies of nutritional value of GMO foods.

U.S. ONLY DEVELOPED NATION THAT DOESN’T LABEL GMO

Amazingly, the U.S. is one of the only “developed” countries on the globe that doesn’t label GMO foods, even though a high percentage of soy, corn, cotton and canola planted in the U.S. in 2010 were genetically modified.

• 93 percent of soy
• 86 percent of corn
• 93 percent of cotton
• 93 percent of canola

Perhaps that’s a good reason to avoid Soy, Corn, and Canola products in the grocery unless they’re clearly labeled “GMO free.”

Most Americans want these foods identified in the grocery.  We don’t know what genetically engineered material is in our food or what those foods are doing to us, or might do to us, and to our families.

This is a big big topic that we’ll be talking on for a while.

If you intend to remain Healthy Beyond 50 you must know what you’re eating and where it comes from.

What do you think?  Let me know in the “Comments” section below.

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DETOX HELPS BODY CLEAN OUT TOXINS, CHEMICALS

People call it “detox,”  or “cleanse,” but the basic purpose is the same, to clean toxins.

Usually the detox/cleanse drink is made up of natural herbs that encourage the body to excrete substances it can’t use.  Our bodies have wonderful, built-in systems to remove chemical poisons, dangerous toxins, and impurities it can’t burn as fuel.

TOXINS SLOW BODY FUNCTIONS

In today’s toxic-laden world it’s important to give your body a break from digesting food so it can shift energy to built-in cleansing systems: liver, kidneys, colon, skin, and lungs.

OUR BODIES CRAVE SUN, FRESH FOOD IN SPRING

It’s a century-old practice in many cultures throughout the world.  Detox teas brewed from traditional plants “wake up” cells after the long, sluggish winter.

Even though our culture has abandoned the spring cleanse our bodies still demand that spring ritual.  Drive around town on one of the first warm spring days and what do you see?

Folks out jogging, bicycles everywhere, people walking dogs, throwing frisbees, lying on the lawn in the sun.  Anything, just to be out in the sun in spring.

At the first sign of a warm day I lie on my front porch (break from computer work downstairs in my home office) in the sun loving sensuous heat on bare skin.

Our bodies sluggish from indoor bundling up, crave fresh spring air and hot sun.   Spring rejuvenation, and our bodies follow the sun.

Internal organs need spring stimulation, too, after months of limited fresh food, higher calories, and heavy meals.

In the spring, traditional cultures brought the sun inside with teas and pot liquors of burdock, spring greens, collards, beets, and dandelion greens, aloe vera, lemongrass, peppermint, high in essential minerals.

WE CAN DETOX TODAY IF WE UNDERSTAND

But today!  Where to start?  Can we cleanse in today’s world?  Do we need to? Many want to, but have questions. Does it have to be difficult?  Is it safe?  Is it hard on the body?

These questions encourage a comparison of our lives today with those of traditional cultures in the past who made a regular practice of detoxing.

IS IT SAFE TO DETOX TODAY AS THEY DID YEARS AGO?

How is your life today different from life even 50 years ago when a spring tonic cleanse was commonplace?  Think through your lifestyle today before you hop into a detox.

Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

• We live different lives from traditional cultures of yesterday.  A 10-day fast using juices and water might have been easier for them but more difficult for us today.  Why?  Is there anything more we should know to support our bodies today?

• We live fast-paced, stressful lives without much relaxation. How can that affect our detox?

• Living healthy beyond fifty demands we clean out accumulated impurities.  How is our cleanse different from what we would have done years ago, when really young!

• If we eat anything processed our body will accumulate “sludge.” Frankenfood (food that’s not really food, no nutrition, empty calories that clog bodily systems.)

• We have, oh, so many more toxins in our environment.  Bodily systems work hard every day today and may need more support than was true in the past.

• Most of us know close to nothing about detoxing.

• Many of us don’t get as much sleep as we need.  Why is that important when we’re cleansing?

I’d like to talk through each issue one by one, and I’d like your input.  Whatever product you’re using or thinking of using, feel free to share with all of us your experience.

John and I routinely use “Cleanse for Life,” an Isagenix product, but whatever you use let us all know about it.  Results, bad experiences.  Was your cleanse hard?  How hungry did you get?  Did you continue to exercise while you were cleansing?  How long a detox did you do?

We can talk about all that.  So, until next time, do a little research and share with all of us!

P.S. Next time: Juices, lemon, water for “40 days and 40 nights?”  How’s that going to fit today’s schedule for most of us?

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“What foods go along with the Acai Berry diet?”

Melissa asked that question on the blog.  I think she’s trying to loose weight and wants to know what would be helpful to eat while she’s on an Acai Berry diet.

WEIGHT LOSS: WILL POWER NOT THE ANSWER

One thing I know for sure: “If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you know that will power isn’t enough: Crash dieting never works against deeply primal instincts…Our hunter-gatherer ancestors survived by…” eating whatever was available.  Those genes still operate in us.  Crash dieting/lowering calories signals to our bodies that we’re dangerously close to starvation.  Survival kicks in and the body lowers metabolism. 

Back then, what was available was just food: real food, natural off the tree, from the bush, out of the ground.   Raw, minimally cooked, unprocessed, no chemicals added.

Our bodies are designed to function on such a diet.  Natural Whole foods.

Little shift here. 

One of my favorite columnists is Martha Beck.  She writes a regular column in “Oprah.”   I’m quoting and paraphrasing extensively from her most recent, “The Buying Diet,” “Oprah,  March, 2011, pg 47-50.  Her advice applies to her topic, overconsumption, but also equally well to our topic weight loss.

EATING FLIPS PRIMAL INSTINCT SWITCH

“Thousands of years later…eating still flips the switch that tells our primitive lizard brains we’re well supplied for hard times…” relax, there’s abundant food; we’re not starving. 

To remain healthy, overweight, we want to flip that switch that lets our body know we’re not going into starvation mode.  We don’t want the body mind to try to “save” us by lowering metabolism.  It’s wise to not limit calories so drastically the body will interpret this as starvation.  It will, then, lower metabolism and not burn stored fat.

We want to eat abundantly, but without eating foods that don’t really nourish.  When processed foods without real nutrition are the bulk of our diet, our bodies crave more to fill that lack.

SUCCESSFUL “DIET” IS MOSTLY WHOLE FOODS

Give your body food as close to its natural state as possible, still containing essential nutrients.  Cook minimally, eat some raw, mostly vegetables, healthy meat, some fruit.

Avoid processed food in containers with labels.  Food with labels (except for labeled produce) is processed.  Avoid it.  It’s not nourishing your body, and will cause cravings.  It contains sugar to make it taste good.  Gradually cut down on sugar consumption.

Unprocessed food is the food your body must have for best operation.  When your body is supplied with essential nutrients, cravings are minimized.  (Minimized over time.  Be patient.)

FLIP THE SWITCH TO ABUNDANCE

Beck recommends three steps break an unhealthy pattern:  “There are three steps to accomplishing this:

“First, avoid deprivation.  Focus on abundance.”

Eat more food.  Love those berries.  With them eat raw, whole foods.  Eat lots of it.  High quality protein: check on organic meats from family farms and farmer’s markets.  Whole grains, vegetables.  Get enough high-quality protein. Drink lots of water. 

Think abundance in your food choices. Abundance of good nutrition. Prepare vegetables you like and enjoy them.  Baked sweet potatoes with real butter.  

In my morning shake (undenatured whey protein), I add couple of spoonfuls of canned organic coconut, maybe a tsp. of organic cocoa powder or a tsp. of cinnamon, perhaps berries.  Don’t avoid good, natural fats such as olive oil, organic butter, avocado, coconut, and grape seed oil for cooking.    I avoid manmade fats because some are unstable, breaking down to products difficult for the body to digest.  As far as I’m concerned margarine is off the list.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM TEMPTATIONS

“Second, shield your brain from temptations that trigger unconscious overeating,” Beck. 

Just say, “No,” to buying it. Don’t bring processed food home. Nutrients that will spoil have been removed from processed foods for a long shelf life.  Your body, however, needs those nutrients, so it will crave more food.  How many bananas can you eat in a sitting?  Two or three and you’re full?  How about potato chips…   

SPLURGE TO FLIP THE SWITCH TO ABUNDANCE

“Third, learn to splurge moderately to keep yourself feeling well-supplied without being deprived,” Beck.

Maybe it’s time for a dish of favorite ice cream for dessert.  Buy the good stuff.  I know it costs more.  You do, however, get what you pay for. 

Look for brands that use milk from dairies that don’t feed hormones.   Check labels. You might see something like, ”Without antibiotics, synthetic hormones and persistent pesticides…”  on the carton.

Did I answer Melissa’s question?  In a roundabout way, I guess. 

Build habit patterns for good eating in natural, whole foods that you prepare yourself. 

Don’t drastically limit calories. 

Give yourself a treat on a regular basis. 

You’re not just trying to loose weight, are you?  Aren’t you in this game for the long-haul?  Building health that will carry you for many years into the future? 

Good luck with it, and let me know how you’re doing!

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BIG NEWS, LITTLE BERRY

Melissa asked in the comment section of the blog about the Acai Berry diet. 

“What kind of diet do you guys think I should be on while taking acai berry and what workout plan works the best with it?

It’s all over the Internet.  The Acai Berry diet.  Even Dr. Oz on Oprah’s show, touted the health benefits of the Acai Berry , from the Brazilian Amazon rain forest. 

He’s right. 

The Acai Berry contains anti-oxidants and, like many berries, many of which grow in the U.S., Acai Berries support the body’s natural cleansing.  It’s that cleansing action that aids weight loss.

You can find all sorts of Internet claims for the Acai Berry:

“I lost 30 pounds in 3 months.”

“I lost 20 pounds in 2 months.” 

Some use the Acai Berry diet alone, some take it with a colon cleanse.  (Ever done a colon cleanse?  Had fun, did you?  I didn’t think so…)

The Acai Berry has become big business, along with African Mango, for quick, no-effort, weight loss.

Many berries, though, are high in anti-oxidants.  Berries are good for you.  They

• neutralize free radicals,
• reduce belly fat, (the fat stomach)
• promote urinary tract health,
• preserve vision,
• support brain health. 
• With their high fiber content they even dissolve “bad” cholesterol,
• control constipation,
• fight cancer. 

WOW!  It’s an impressive list! 

Red, blue, and black berries do all this.  They’re really good for you!

This includes Acai berries, but also more common blueberries.  Those little round blue berries are in every produce section in the country.  And, blueberries come from a lot closer to home than either African mango or Acai Berries!

What’s with this fascination with exotic berries?  We’re looking for the magic potion which will answer our obesity fixation without personal sacrifice?

Does it bother you at all that this magic potion comes from a distant rain forest?  The berries are imported, even though we have farmers growing healthy blue berries right here at home?

Acai Berries are sustainably grown.  Right?  Or are we contributing to destruction of the rain forest with our purchases?

They’re shipped from Brazil to the U.S.  How far is that?  What resources are used to get those berries to our plates?

We Americans are fascinated with quick, health gimicks, especially when they promise easy solutions that don’t involve personal sacrifice. We’re easily motivated by advertisers with astoundingly exaggerated weight loss claims.

If you’re committed to the Acai Berry diet, though, or a diet including other berries, what foods should you include and what sort of exercise will bring best results?  Melissa’s question again,

“What kind of diet do you guys think I should be on while taking acai berry and what workout plan works the best with it?”

Let’s talk about that on the next post!

Stay with me,

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What’s the hardest part of healthy eating?  Fixing the food!  That’s what.

1. Do you know what’s healthy? 
2. If you’re eating whole food, real food, someone is fixing it.

Maybe YOU do know what’s healthy, but it’s obvious that many Americans are not eating healthy.  Diabetes, and obesity in the U.S, so someone out there is not eating healthy whole food.

Before we get going you should know that many of my ideas about healthy eating come from Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, et al) and Dr. Mercola’s newsletter (www.drmercola.com). 

We’ve heard this same old advice so many times we no longer take it seriously. So, for the purpose of this article we’ll zero in on just a few ideas that seem to me, pivotal points for eating well in today’s fast-food culture.

• Eat vegetables and whole foods
• Not too much sugar, and really watch the fructose
• Eat breakfast, but be careful of what you’re eating.

Michael Pollan is famous for the “eat real food” phrase.  He doesn’t consider anything in a package, especially if it has a label with “health claims,” ”real food.”  (This doesn’t count produce with those little sticky labels on their sides.)

Real food is close to how it grows in nature.  Part of your diet should include raw foods, fruits and vegetables in hand or in salads.  You don’t have to make a big deal over this.  I’m not saying we should eat everythng raw, although there are those who recommend raw for a healing diet.  Carrot and celery sticks for lunches and dinner.  Cucumber slices, radishes.  When I grew up we had carrot and celery sticks every night with dinner.  My mother’s habit food.

It does mean, though, that most of what we eat for dinner/lunch will have to be cooked by someone. 

This is America’s soft underbelly–why we’re vulnerable and unhealthy.  We’ve gotten out of the habit of preparing meals.  Noone’s cooking.  Meals are something we throw, already processed, into the microwave to heat. This is our problem.

There has to be someone in the family willing to prepare meals.  Without that person you’ll eat processed food from which most of the nutrition has been leached and to which preservatives and sugar have been added for palatability.  Much food value has been removed.  Is that why processed foods have nutrition labels…

That’s the family discussion you’ll have to have.  Who will be major domo food-preparer/organizer?   

Get a crock pot.  I use mine several times a week.  Weekly grocery shopping centers around one meal I prepare in quanity on the weekend.  It’s enough food to go for a few meals so get a big crock pot.  They’re around $20-30.  Make soups, stews, spaghetti.  Teach the kids to make soup.  Cook a chicken and vegetables in the crock.  Serve as is one meal, add canned tomatoes and Italian seasoning and serve over pasta for a second meal, and then make soup with what’s left.  That’s the idea. 

You’ll save money on groceries.  With commodity prices rising you’ll want to buy in bulk anyway, whenever you can.

Share some of your ideas with the group here.  We’re a creative bunch, but we often don’t plan ahead. If you’re not looking ahead you’re going to get caught when food prices really rise…

P.S. Don’t tell me you don’t have time to prepare food. When food prices rise high enough, you’ll begin to notice, and you’ll have to start fixing your food.  Start thinking about it now.

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Fluoride Not Recommended for Children

Recent study in China notes lower IQ in children drinking fluorided water.  The Fluoride controversy still lives!

I’m reluctant to come out directly for or against controversies using “black-and-white” language to state clearly my opinion.  That’s not always a good thing. I write with the assumption people are free to investigate and make up their own minds, so I present what I see, allowing you to make up your mind.

BLOG COMMENTS ASK ME TO BE COURAGEOUS

But a couple of comments last month regarding my article on fluoride in the water system to prevent tooth decay made me wonder whether my standing on the fence is a good approach.  Both commenters wondered why I hesitated to give a definitive answer to the question.  “Is fluoride dangerous to health?”

FLUORIDE, A TOXIN, IS A POISON

So, o.k. I’ll give you my opinion.  Fluoride is a toxin.  Because it is toxic it’s dangerous to health. John and I don’t use fluoridated tooth paste.

U.S. 1 OF ONLY 8 COUNTRIES WITH FLUORIDE

The United States is one of only 8 countries that adds fluoride to its water supply.

“97% of western Europe has chosen fluoride-free water . This includes: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland. (While some European countries add fluoride to salt, the majority do not.) Rather than mandating fluoride treatment for the whole population, western Europe allows individuals the right to choose, or refuse, fluoride.”

Europe believes citizens should pursue what they themselves believe will make them healthy.  That’s not the government’s job.

I took the former quote directly from the Fluoride Action Network’s website.  Read it for yourself at http://www.fluoridealert.org/

LOWER IQ IN CHILDREN WITH FLUORIDE

Fluoride is a neurotoxin which means it affects nerve cells.  A recent study of two separate villages in China correlated fluoride in water with diminished IQ in school children.

That study is also reported on the Fluoride Action Network’s website, http://www.fluoridealert.org/  It was pre-published by Environmental Health Perspectives, December 17, 2010.

“Fluoridated water should not be used or added to infant formula, foods, or drinks intended for babies 12 months of age or younger in order to avoid dental fluorosis.”  That’s also on the website.

We could talk about where this idea came from, that fluoride in water prevents tooth decay, but that’s not the point of this article.  No doubt someone benefits from the addition of fluoride in America’s water supply, but that’s not my concern right now.  I just know I want as little fluoride in my body as possible.

Each of us gets to decide. It is annoying to me, though, that someone, other than those affected, gets to decide what’s healthy and add it to America’s water.  I’m interested in your opinion.  I’m interested in what you think, so, leave a comment.

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We’re making Christmas cookies!    These are Peanut blossoms.

I suppose most families have traditional foods this time of year.  John’s family was famous for Christmas cookies: green spritz wreaths decorated with tiny red berries–real works of art, powdered-sugar snowy Mexican wedding cakes, red-sprinkled shortbread, peanut blossoms, and tangy lemon bars. 

Mexican Wedding Cakes

Made with butter!

I don’t bake as much as I used to, but when I take time to make holiday cookies I use butter.  None of the chemical concoctions manipulated to taste like butter.  I use the real thing or I don’t bother. 

Since this is a blog devoted to healthy living, (Healthylivingbeyondfifty.com/) why, you might ask, am I devoting an article to baking Christmas cookies with butter?  Actually butter is something we should talk about.

A couple of Michael Pollan’s rules for healthy eating, “In Defense of Food,” are

• Eat Food.  ”Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number…”
• “Avoid food products that make health claims.”

(You know Michael Pollan…”The Botany of Desire,” “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and “In Defense of Food.”)

Pollan means you should eat things your body recognizes as food, not chemical concoctions stirred up in a lab by white-coats who have never touched a cow, let alone milked one.  Processed foods make your liver work overtime trying to break up and excrete the toxins they contain.

Your body recognizes butter.  It knows what to do with it.  It’s just butter, and, hopefully, it’s organic without antibiotics or hormones which very often are part of the cow’s food and which are, once again, toxic to our bodies.

What about Pollan’s second point: health claims?  What’s wrong with health claims? 

Whole foods don’t come with written health claims. There’s no list of health benefits on the side of an orange or apple, ribe eye steak,  or an onion.

If it’s packaged with health claims on the side of the box it’s probably processed.  If it’s processed most nutritional value has been removed because nutrients are the part of food that spoils and shortens “shelf-life.”  Shorter shelf life means lower corporate profits.

Look at a package of breakfast cereal.  Natural, essential-for-good-health nutrients are removed so the cereal can sit forever on the shelf.  To sell you on buying it, though, the sides of the box will be plastered with health claims for the few chemical vitamins that have been added back to replace lost nutrients.

Some mis-guided advice tells us to avoid butter because it’s a saturated fat that will raise “bad” blood cholesterol and also cause weight gain. According to Dr. Mercola butter slashes heart attack risk in  half.

Gaining weight?  You’re more likely to gain weight on simple carbohydrate foods, processed foods containing simple carbs, and toxins your liver can’t break down for excretion. 

Natural saturated fats such as coconut and butter are stable.  Some vegetable oils, on the other hand, turn into unstable compounds that aren’t good for your body. 

Butter is especially good when it comes from cows eating green grass because it contains a compound that helps build muscle rather than store fat, and it has an excellent ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids.  It contains many fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K) and essential minerals difficult to get in our depleted western diet.  I always buy organic butter (Organic Valley brand) because it doesn’t contain those antibiotics and hormones.

Holiday baking is one of the fun things we do.  John is in the kitchen right now perpetuating the family tradition.  I think it’s lemon bars today.  Our two grandsons will be here next week, and they check out the cookie area where we stack the tins.  Father Daniel parses out the cookies or they’d finish them all in one fell swoop, I’m sure.

Have fun baking and sharing with friends and family. 

P.S.  Oh.  If you want to check out Dr. Mercola’s article on butter here’s the link.  More nutritional information that I quoted here.  http://bit.ly/hC84kQ

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The World’s Toxic.  Is Your Body Toxic, Too?

All of us are aware of poisons and toxins in our environment.  We hear about factory waste, car exhaust, polluted water, polluted oceans.  Not just T.V. and Radio.  It’s common knowledge for us who live in the 21st century.  It’s one of those ubiquitous facts of our lives.  Unavoidable.  Even children know.

What Exists in Our Environment Exists in Our Bodies

Many see the environment as separate, “out there.”  They don’t realize that what’s “out there” is also “in here,” inside our bodies, a part of every cell.

No matter how much we exercise, wash, shower, eat organic fruits and vegetables, our bodies absorb pollution because toxins are everywhere. 

In the bathroom, showering, fixing breakfast in the kitchen, driving to the grocery in the car, mopping, vacuuming, dusting the house. Every activity takes place in our toxic 21st century environment.  Poisons that surround us are also within us. 

Possible 116 Chemical Toxins in the Human Body

We’re walking, talking toxin carriers.  Toxins. We’ve got lots of them.  Some estimates put the toxic load in each one of us at over 116 chemical compounds. 

Toxins Are Present in Every Activity 

We wake in the morning wash face, shower, apply makeup and shave, brush teeth, drink water, and brush hair.

Unless you carefully read labels of personal products before you buy you’re exposing your body to toxins proven to increase cancer:

Parabens, PTH, pthalates, chlorine, mercury, aluminum, and fluoride in water, toothpaste, shaving cream, cleansing products, cosmetics, fingernail polish, and hair spray. 

Processed Food, Cleaning Compounds Dangerous to Health

Preparing breakfast you’ll encounter PaH PCBS, and nitrates in bacon and sausage, and antibiotics and hormones in meat and milk.

Cleaning the kitchen you’re using manmade chemicals DECA, BDE, PBDES, Phenols, Chlorine, Ammonia, and Formaldehyde which make up common cleaning solutions.  Many chemicals are impossible for the liver to break down and send to kidneys, skin, lungs, and colon for excretion.  They accumulate in the body in fat and water deposits

Products containing flame retardants, lead, heavy metals, Disphenols, Pthalates, PDBE, and BDE, all of which increase cancer risk, can be found throughout the house in furniture, paint, bedding, pajamas.

Driving the car, you’ll run into Triclocarbans, bisphenols, phthalates, phenol, and more chlorine, ammonia, and formaldehyde.

Fruits, vegetables, meat, soda, desserts add pesticides, herbicides, Dioxins, BHA, BHT, Phosphoric Acid, Bisphenol A (BPA), Preservatives, and Coloring Agents toxins to the load.

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That’s you and your children.

Share with me and others in the comments below what YOU do to avoid toxic compounds.  What products do you buy? I have a few suggestions which I’ll share in a future post.

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