Which Veggies to Buy?

What about buying organic? Found these tips today and wanted to share!

Buying Organic

Publications as varied as the Wall Street Journal, in its 2007 When Buying Organic Makes Sense and When It Doesn’t, and Consumers Union, in its 2006 Tips on Buying Organics Without Breaking the Bank, recommend seeking out organic meats when possible.

• Milk. Pesticides and other man-made chemicals have been found in human breast milk, so it should come as no surprise that they have been found in dairy products. While any residues detected have been rare, and of low concentration, milk is of special concern because it is a staple of children’s diets. Organic dairies cannot feed their cows with grains grown with pesticides, nor can they use antibiotics or growth hormones like rGBH or rbST.

• Coffee. Many of the beans you buy are grown in countries that don’t regulate use of chemicals and pesticides. Look for the Fair Trade Certified Organic label on the coffee package or can; it will give you some assurance that chemicals and pesticides were not used on the plants. It will also mean that fair prices were paid for the end product in support of the farm and that farm workers are treated fairly.

• Peaches. Multiple pesticides are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: watermelon, tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.

• Apples. Scrubbing and peeling doesn’t eliminate chemical residue completely so it’s best to buy organic when it comes to apples. Peeling a fruit or vegetable also strips away many of their beneficial nutrients. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: watermelon, bananas and tangerines.

• Sweet bell peppers. Peppers have thin skins that don’t offer much of a barrier to pesticides. They’re often heavily sprayed and victim to pesticides commonly used to keep them insect-free. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: green peas, broccoli and cabbage.

• Celery. Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the chemicals that are used on conventional crops. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: broccoli, radishes and onions.

• Strawberries. If you buy strawberries out of season, they’re most likely imported from countries that use less-stringent regulations for pesticide use. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: blueberries, kiwi and pineapples.

• Lettuces. Leafy greens are frequently contaminated with what are considered the most potent pesticides used on food. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.

• Grapes. Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically. Vineyards can be sprayed with different pesticides during different growth periods of the grape, and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape’s thin skin. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: blueberries, kiwi and raspberries.

• Potatoes. America’s popular spud ranks high for pesticide residue. It also gets the double whammy of fungicides added to the soil for growing. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: eggplant, cabbage and earthy mushrooms.

• Tomatoes. A tomato’s easily punctured skin is no match for chemicals that will eventually permeate it. Can’t find organic? Safe alternatives: green peas, broccoli and asparagus.

Over 30 drugs in one body!

Recently, I was talking with one of my colleagues who is a well-versed wellness coach and nurse who shared with me how she had found an old friend through Facebook. She was thrilled to reconnect with her friend, but dismayed to find out she was having serious health challenges, in a wheel chair and taking more than 30 medications each day. With only 5 medications, it is known that there will often be side effects simply from the combination of meds. Of course, each medication depletes one’s vitamins and minerals along with whatever potential side effects from the drug itself. This woman is holding onto life with a tattered thread! My hope is that it’s not to late to adjust her habits and adopt a program that will put her on a healthier track.

A few days later, one of my friends who is 70 and in really great health from following a great health program was talking with a loan advisor. When he found out how old she was, he was astonished, thinking she was about 35 from the strength of her voice over the phone. He told her that he wanted whatever she wanted to recommend for him, no kidding. 

The lesson re-learned for all of us is that prevention with healthy eating and supplement habits along with a great exercise program will enliven every day as well as add years of healthy living onto your life.

One of my favorite sayings is “Health is an active pursuit, not a passive result.”

Let me know if you have any health questions you haven’t been able to get answered!

Health freedom in the U.S. is being tested again as authorities attempt to force parents to give flu vaccines for their children in pre-schools in New Jersey. 

“Children who have not received the flu vaccine are to be excluded from attending, unless they can provide proof that they are in the process of getting a dose of the vaccine within two weeks after the deadline, the state Health Department said.”

Parents are understandably concerned as officials take the parenting decisions away from them and potentially expose their children to hazardous ingredients in vaccines. 

A helpful blog regarding vaccines for your reference:

http://blog.novaccine.com/

Best of health in 2009!

Could it be the glue….ten?

From one of my health practitioner friends after I wrote out to my e-list about issues with gluten that often go untraced….she wrote back:

My symptoms were heart palpatations in the Summer 2006. [Heart palpitations are also a symptom of peri-menopause.] I saw a naturopath in Autumn 2006 because I knew I was getting symptoms after eating wheat. She did an ALCAT test, drawing blood and sending it to a lab. You can read about ALCAT testing @ www.alcat.com. 

The test results showed that I was gliadin-intolerant. Most people have never heard of gliadin; it is a precursor to gluten and also a vegetable protein. Because it is so unfamiliar, I eat a gluten-free diet. Within 2 months of removing gluten, I released 30 pounds of [water] weight, and ceased to be allergic to cedar pollen and oak pollen. I used to get a 24-hour delayed reaction to dairy allergies. Now I get them within the hour – which has allowed me to know exactly what my true allergies are. The palpitations only surface when I eat something I shouldn’t, or too much of something processed like white rice.

I tested negative for celiac, but by that time, had already been off wheat/rye/barley/oats for over 5 months, so that may not be a true test. We’ll never know, because I’m not willing to get heart palpitations to find out. 

Thank you for bringing the gluten matter to the world’s attention.
Be well, 
Shannon

What Have You Got to Lose?

Angela Stokes, author of numerous books on eating raw foods was interviewed today by CNN Health. As she She reported that she weighed 300 pounds and was unhappy and unhealthy. She was so shut down emotionally, she couldn’t even talk with anyone about it.  A friend showed her a book on raw food and the very next day, she embarked on a new diet, and indeed, a new life!

She’s now down to 138 and has maintained her weight and diet for 4 years! What an inspiration. She encourages people to just begin putting more fruits and vegetables in their diet and aim for 50% live foods. She admits being 100% raw can be socially challenging, but increasing your diet to more raw foods is easy for most anyone to do. Choosing raw is a great option, focusing on superfoods, and/or choosing for your metabolic type is helpful too. We have worked with clients who have made any of these choices.

Also, on the food and weight loss front — watch Mike on Youtube report in weekly on his “fat loss” with a new whey peptide technology. Some of my friends have used this too and are having consistently good results. So much sense to focus on targeting fat and NOT weight! One of my friends lost 5″ in her belly and went from size 14 to size 10 in three months. She was most excited about is losing alot of the fat along her backside! Consider a way to lose at least 2 times as much fat as lean instead of most diet programs where people tend to lose a pound of lean for every pound of fat. Did you realize as you age, it’s more difficult to keep good a strong body composition with more lean than fat. What’s your current ratio? What would you like it to be? If you’re dieting, consider measuring as more important than the scale! It’s not so much how much you weigh, as how much lean you’re keeping and generating while losing fat!

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfrNS9rVxDM

 

and

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e88DaQXj8U

8 week summary — great before and after!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF3mKrPyyKc

What about those GE foods?

From Organic Consumers….even rats can smell bad food!

“Lesson of the Week:

School Lab Rats Freak Out on GE Food 
Schools in Wisconsin are showing kids the dangers of genetically engineered (GE) junk food with some unique science class experiments. Sister Luigi Frigo repeats the experiment every year in her second grade class in Cudahy. Students feed one group of mice unprocessed whole foods. A second group of mice are given the same junk foods served at most schools. Within a couple of days, the behavior of the second group of mice develop erratic sleeping schedules and become lazy, nervous and even violent. It takes the mice about three weeks on unprocessed foods to return to normal. According to Frigo, the second graders tried to do the experiment again a few months later with the same mice, but the animals have already learned their lesson and refuse to eat the GE food.”

Chocolate Silk Pudding Cake

I tasted this on a recent trip to Florida. This was an adaptation from a pudding recipe that Marty “cooked up.” It’s amazing. Ingredient amounts depend on the size of avocados being used. So taste while you mix to get it right for your palate. 

Chocolate Silk Pudding Cake

CakeCrust:

Mix about equal amounts of walnuts and dates in food processor until small chunks. I used about 3 handfuls of nuts and about 12 dates.  

Pudding Mix:

 

• 5  large or 6 small/medium avocados (need only 2-3 if you are in Florida and can get those giant size avocados)
• 1 1/2 c. – 2 c. agave1/2 – 3/4 c. raw cocoa powder
• 1/4 – 1/2 coconut oil (liquid, not solid)
• 4 Tablespoons Vanilla
• Cinammon and/or salt to taste if desired

 Blend liquids and oils first.  Then add cocoa and then the avocados. 

Mash crust mixture into bottom of  a spring form round pan.

Add pudding mix and store in freezer. Enjoy!!! It is scrumptious. You can serve directly from freezer and keep leftovers in freezer as well.