The Many Faces of Sugar

                                     Is Sugar Disguising Itself 

                                               in Your Food?

The Food & Drug Administration requires that all food products include

nutritional facts on their labels. This includes amounts of calories, fats,

carbohydrates, proteins etc. The FDA also requires that all ingredients found

in that product to be listed in order of greatest to smallest amount. It is

especially important to pay attention to this section of the label to know

exactly what you are putting in your body. 

Food companies have come up with discreet ways to insert ingredients into

their products by calling it by a different, less common name. For example, a

food may claim to have “No Trans Fats,” yet if you look on the ingredient list,

you will see the words “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated.” This is

code for TRANS FATS. This same phenomenon also pertains to sugar.

Most people know that eating large amounts of sugar is hard on the body.

However, what many might not realize is that products that often claim to be

“Sugar Free,” actually still contain sugar or sugar substitutes. This list

contains common names that sugar can be disguised as in the food you eat. 

                        -SUGAR BY ALL ITS ALIASES-

Sugar by any other name will taste as sweet:

 Barley Malt

Beet Sugar

Brown Sugar – Sucrose crystals coated with molasses

Buttered syrup

Cane Juice crystals

Cane Sugar 

Caramel

Carob syrup

Corn Syrup

Corn Syrup solids

Date Sugar

Diastatic malt

Dextrin

Dextran

Dextrose – Obtained from starch, corn sugar, corn syrup (liquid dextrose), grape

sugar

DiastaseEthyl maltol

Fructose – Fruit sugar.  Found in fruits, molasses and honey.  It’s 11⁄2 times as sweet

as sucrose, but provides the same number of calories.  Absorbed more slowly than

sucrose, so blood sugar doesn’t rise as quickly.

Fruit Juice Concentrate – May mean fruit stripped of all nutrients, flavors, and

colors to leave only refined fructose.

Galactose

Glucose – All sugars get converted to glucose in the blood.  Found in fruits, some

vegetables, honey and corn syrup.

Glucose solids

Golden Sugar

Golden syrup

Grape sugarHoney – Made of mostly fructose, honey is more a concentrated carbohydrate than

sucrose.

High-Fructose corn Syrup

Honey

Invert Sugar – A combination of sucrose, glucose and fructose.

Lactose – Milk sugar, a combination of glucose and fructose.

Malt syrup

Malto-Dextrin

Maltose – Formed by the breakdown of starches.

Mannitol  -A sugar alcohol absorbed more slowly than sucrose.

Molasses

Polydextrose

Raw Sugar

Refiner's syrup

Sorbitol – Sugar alcohol in fruits and berries.  Provides the same number of calories

as sucrose but is only 60% as sweet.

Sorghum syrup

Starch – Found in potatoes, grains, and breads.

Sucrose – Known as table sugar, white sugar, granulated sugar, powdered or

confectioner’s sugar.

Sugar

Turbinado

Xylitol – A sweetener found in plants and used as a substitute for sugar; it is called a

nutritive sweetener because it provides calories, just like sugar.

Yellow Sugar

Important fact: *White Blood Cells are adversely affected by excessive sugar consumption

Karen :)

Clearing up Food Confusion

Have you ever been confused by labels?  How do you know that what you're eating is really healthy?  Of course my motto is to buy organic whenever possible, but what about the difference between whole grain and multi grain for example? Is there a difference?  Or grass fed beef vs. grain fed beef?  Is there a benefit to one over the other?  Do you even consider or care where your seafood comes from, whether wild caught or farm raised?  If you're on a tight budget, which most of us are, how can you save some money when shopping for organic produce?   Well read on and hopefully this will clear up any confusion.

Produce

"The Dirty Dozen":

There are 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide count (or 12 fruits and vegetables you should buy organic) - peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, grapes, carrots and pears.

The "Clean 15":

There are 15 fruits and vegetables that have a low pesticide count (or 15 fruits and vegetables that are OK to buy non-organic) - Onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, mango, asparagus, peas, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, papaya, watermelon, broccoli, tomato, sweet potatoes.

Why Should You Care About Pesticides?

The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides. Of course, I recommend doing all we can to eliminate these chemicals as it pertains to our food and in that case, it requires eating organically grown foods. 

Will Washing and Peeling Help?

Nearly all the studies used to create these lists assume that people rinse or peel fresh produce. Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the skin. The best approach: eat a varied diet, rinse all produce and buy organic when possible.

Poultry/Eggs

Free range or free roaming, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture means producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

What is organic chicken?

Organic chicken is chicken that has only been fed organic grains, which means that no pesticides or chemicals were used on the farm to grow the grain in the last three years. The chicken must also never have been given antibiotics, drugs, or hormones to accelerate growth, though they will be given medicine should they fall ill. Also, the chicken must be given free range with access to outdoors and be treated properly.

Beef

Grass-Fed Beef:

The definition of grass fed beef generally means beef from cattle that have eaten only grass or forage throughout their lives, however some producers do call their beef grass-fed but then actually finish the animals on grain for the last 90 to 160 days before slaughter.

Grass-Finished Beef:

A more specific definition is Grass Finished Beef. Finishing is just another word for the time that cattle are normally fattened for the last few months before processing. Typically, feed lots finish cattle for 90 to 160 days on grain, usually corn, whereas, grass finished cattle are fattened on grass only, until the day that they are processed.

Grass finishing compared to grain finishing:

When considering the definition of grass fed beef, most beef animals have probably eaten grass at some point in their lives, but the important thing is that they're "finished", or fattened on grass, rather than grain, for the 90 to 160 days before slaughter.

During those few months of grain finishing the levels of important nutrients like conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega 3 decrease dramatically in the beef animal's tissues. It is in the finishing process that those levels and ratios drastically decline because of the grain feeding, and that is why it's so important to make sure that the beef you eat is not only grass fed, but grass finished.

Seafood

From both a nutritional and environmental impact perspective, farmed fish are far inferior to their wild counterparts:

Despite being much fattier, farmed fish provide less usable beneficial omega 3 fats than wild fish.

Due to the feedlot conditions of aquafarming, farm-raised fish are doused with antibiotics and exposed to more concentrated pesticides than their wild kin. Farmed salmon, in addition, are given a salmon-colored dye in their feed, without which, their flesh would be an unappetizing grey color.

Aquafarming also raises a number of environmental concerns, the most important of which may be its negative impact on wild salmon. It has now been established that sea lice from farms kill up to 95 percent of juvenile wild salmon that migrate past them.

The only downside to wild caught salmon is the price, often times up to $10 more expensive than farm-raised per pound...but, isn't your health worth it?

Snack Foods

Whole grain versus multi grain: Whole grain products contain all the parts of the grain: the germ, which is rich in essential fatty acids and B-vitamins; the endosperm, which is mostly starch; and the bran, which, of course, is high in fiber. In products made with refined grains, on the other hand, most of the germ and bran have been removed, leaving the starchy endosperm, which is the least nutritious part of the grain.

With foods like oatmeal, bulgur wheat, brown rice, popcorn, or quinoa, you're always getting the whole grain-and these are all great foods to include in your diet. It gets trickier with foods like breads, crackers, pasta, and tortillas, where the grains have been milled into flour. Then, it can be a little harder to tell whether you're dealing with whole grains or not.

It doesn't make it any easier that manufacturers go out of their way to make their products look and sound healthy, even when they aren't. They use molasses or food coloring to mimic the darker color of whole-grains. They add ingredients that create a dense, chewy texture. They use virtuous-sounding words like "stone-ground," "100 percent wheat," or "multi-grain." None of these things are a reliable indicator of whole grains.

"Multi-grain" bread, for example, could be made out of several types of refined grains. Or, more likely, it's made with lots of refined white flour and small amounts of other whole grains.

(source: CBS News report)

Some additional points to consider are: Non-organic beef and chicken are fed growth hormones to make them grow bigger and faster, hence more profit.  They are also given antibiotics to prevent or treat infections as a lot of these cattle are in large confined feed lots. Chickens are in deplorable housing conditions.  The grain they are fed has not only been sprayed with who knows how many different pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, but it is highly likely that the grain itself is from Genetically Modified Seeds.   We have no idea the ramifications these seeds will have on our health.    GMO seeds are best to be avoided!!  Grain can also be tainted with antibiotics as an easy way to treat the animals. Non-organic produce can also be from Genetically Modified Seeds.  

To your health,

Karen :)

The Health Concerns of Microwaved Foods

Are you sacrificing your health in exchange for the convenience of a microwave oven?  Of course if these ovens were really harmful, our government would never allow them to be on the market would they?  Or would they?

Like radio waves or light waves that occupy a part of the electromagnetic spectrum of power (energy), microwaves are also a form of electromagnetic energy.  They are very short waves of this energy that travel at the speed of light, which is 186,282 miles per second!

In every microwave there is a magnetron, a tube in which the electrons are affected by magnetic and electric fields.  These produce micro wavelength radiation at about 2450 MGz or 2.45 GHz.   All wave energy changes polarity from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave and these changes happen millions of times every second in a microwave.    The "agitation" of positive and negative polarities creates molecular friction which heats up the food.  This friction changes the molecules in food.  Unfortunately, it also causes substantial damage to the surrounding molecules, often tearing them apart or deforming them.  This deformation is known as "structural isomerism" and the change in the molecular structure of the food is by the process of radiation.

Microwave energy from the sun and other stars is direct current based, while artificially produced microwaves, like those in the ovens, are produced from alternating current which forces a billion or more polarity reversals per second in every food molecule they hit.  Microwaved food contains both molecules and energies not present in food cooked in the way humans have been cooking food since the discovery of fire.  This was noted in Comparative Study of Food Prepared Conventionally and in The Microwave Oven, published by Raum & Zelt in 1992.

 Microwaving baby formula changes certain amino acids into neurotoxins (poisonous to the nervous system), and nephrotoxins (poisonous to the kidneys).
Dr. Lita Lee; reported in the December 9, 1989 lancet


In Oklahoma, in 1991, a nurse warmed blood in a microwave that was needed for a transfusion.  It killed the patient which then resulted in a law suit.

Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel was a food scientist for many years with one of the major Swiss food companies that does business on a global scale.  He was fired from his job for questioning certain processing procedures that denatured the food.  An article appeared in issue 19 of the Journal Franz Weber that stated the consumption of food cooked in microwave ovens had cancerous effects on the blood.  The research paper itself followed the article.    He was the first scientist to conceive of and carry out a quality clinical study on the effects microwaved nutrients have on the blood and physiology of the human body.
His study was done along with Dr. Bernard H. Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University Institute for Biochemistry.

Microwaving also creates new compounds called radiolytic compounds which are unknown fusions not found in nature. They are created by molecular decay as a direct result of radiation.
The weakening of cell membranes by microwaves creates impaired cells which then become easy prey for viruses, fungi and other microorganisms.

According to Dr. Lita Lee (book: Health Effects of Microwave Radiation - Microwave Ovens), changes are observed in the blood chemistries and the rates of certain diseases among consumers of microwaved foods.  Here is a sample of these changes:

*Lymphatic disorders were observed, leading to decreased ability to prevent certain types of cancers.
*An increased rate of cancer cell formation was observed in the blood.
*Increased rates of stomach and intestinal cancers were observed.
*Higher rates of digestive disorders and a gradual breakdown of the systems of elimination were observed.

According to Russian researches, there is a 60-90% decrease in food value in all food tested due to a marked acceleration of structural degradation.
 Some of these changes involved a decrease in bio-availability of vitamin B complexes, vitamin C, vitamin E,  and essential minerals.  Our bodies cannot afford such destruction of these important vitamins and minerals!

The following is a conclusion based on research from the Swiss, Russian and German scientific clinical studies:

*Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term brain damage by "shorting out" electrical impulses in the brain

*The human body cannot metabolize (break down) the unknown by-products created in microwaved food

*Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved food.

*The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual (long term) within the human body.

*Minerals, vitamins and nutrients of all microwaved food are reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down.

*The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens.

*Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths.  This may help explain the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in the US.

*The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.

*Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph gland and blood serum alterations.

*Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability and a decrease of intelligence.

Russian experiments showed that a human did not even need to ingest the material substance of the microwaved food substances in order for it to have a negative effect upon the welfare of humans.  Even exposure to the energy field itself was sufficient to cause such adverse side effects that the use of these ovens were banned in the Soviet Union in 1976.


(above material reference: GCNM)


     "Microwave ovens are in 84 percent of America's homes, and industry spokespeople claim they are completely safe. Industry standards are enforced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which allows some leakage of microwaves from these ovens (which the industry calls negligible).
     A body of evidence suggests that the leaching of toxic chemicals from plastics, adhesives, inks and browning trays may be occurring in the superheating within a microwave oven. Some of these chemicals may mimic hormones, thereby disrupting the endocrine system. FDA tests done in 1988 found that the microwaveable "heat-susceptor" packaging used to brown such foods as pizzas and waffles can release chemicals into the food in as few as three minutes of cooking.
     Les Borodinsky, an FDA chemist who worked on the study, noted that the "functional barrier" packaging of these microwaveable products did not seem to effectively prevent chemical leaching. This worries some experts, who note that traces of carcinogens have been found in microwaveable packaging. The industry doesn't deny some chemicals migrate, but says there is no health hazard, and points to studies that have affirmed the technology's safety. Critics complain that many of the studies were financed by the industry itself."
The Environmental Magazine, Sept-Oct., 2004
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This appears to be the case of "consumer beware", doesn't it?  Are you willing to pay the price for this modern "convenience"?   It seems to me more like a convenient way to fast-track to disease.  You're worth the time it takes to prepare your food the "conventional" way.... your oven.... even for purpose of reheating your foods.

Bon Appetit!

Karen :)

Holistic Disease Prevention and What Constitutes a Healthy Lifestyle

Holistic Disease Prevention and What Constitutes a Healthy Lifestyle

In the realm of holistic health, there are many available options that can help a person achieve wellness and vitality.   The biggest obstacle as it pertains to personal health is a person’s own mindset.  Since the body has an innate ability to heal itself as it constantly strives to maintain homeostasis, we can cooperate with our body by adapting to a lifestyle that compliments our own wellness plan.  A whole food diet that focuses on optimum nutrition and food combining; the use of supplements and essential oils; limiting our exposure to chemicals; the art of Yoga; Energy Medicine and Chiropractic care, are some of the ways that constitute a healthy lifestyle to maximize our efforts in Holistic disease prevention.  Let’s look at each individual aspect in detail.

The foods that we eat have very big implications on our health.  Not only do we have to be mindful about the types of food we eat, whether processed or raw, refined or whole, ‘natural’ or organic, but we also have to consider how it was grown or raised.   Our diet alone has the ability to create either wellness or disease. To understand its positive or negative effects on our bodies, let’s look at what a lack of nutrition can do to us.   Nutritionist Dr. Patrick Quillin says that one of the primary causes of cancer is poor nutrition:  an excess, deficiency or imbalance of any nutrient.   Additionally, here are three reasons why he uses nutrition in cancer treatment:

1. To avoid malnutrition.  Forty percent or more of cancer patients actually die from malnutrition, not from cancer.

2. To reduce the toxic effects of chemo and radiation.  He explains that properly nourished patients experience less nausea, malaise, immune suppression, hair loss, and organ toxicity than patients on routine oncology programs.

3. To bolster immune functions.  There is an abundance of data linking nutrient intake to the quality and quantity of immune factors that fight cancer. (1)

Cancer is just one disease that can be brought on by poor nutrition.  The other two diseases that top the charts are heart disease and diabetes.  It’s interesting to note that these diseases are not caused by bacteria, but rather nutritional deficiencies and chemical toxicity.  The National Center for Health Statistics gave the ten leading causes of death in the U.S. for the year 2006:

            1. There were 631,636 deaths from heart disease.

            2. There were 559,888 deaths from cancer.

            3. There were 72,449 deaths from diabetes. (2)

Alzheimer’s disease ranked just below diabetes with 72,432 reported deaths.   There are certainly other maladies besides the diseases just mentioned, that are just as important to consider when contemplating our diets.  Osteoporosis, chronic fatigue, arthritis, fibromyalgia, IBS, high blood pressure to name a few, are very good reasons why we need to take a serious look at the foods we eat. The Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health acknowledged, “What we eat may affect our risk for several of the leading causes of death for Americans, notably, degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of caner. These disorders, together, now account for more than two-thirds of all deaths in the United States.” (3)

________________________________________________________________

(1) Patrick Quillin, Ph. D., Boosting Cancer With Nutrition

(2) National Center for Health Statistics, 2006 "Leading Causes of Death" (web address: www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/1cod.htm

(3)Alternative Medicine, The Definitive Guide, second edition

________________________________________________________________

This blog was taken from my thesis, and I will share my thesis with you in its entirety, 

as I feel it contains valuable information.  I hope you find it useful and beneficial.

Thank you for reading.

:) Karen.

~The Ideal Diet & Proper Food Combining~

                       

I have had people give me strange looks when I talk about proper food combining.  It is a foreign concept to most, however it is very important as it pertains to our intestinal health, which is paramount for the optimum assimilation of nutrients.  Be honest. Do you really think about what you eat, or do you just eat to fill your hungry belly?  Have you actually thought about whether the food you eat is alive or dead?  

Well read on, and I hope this helps you to understand a little bit more about the ideal diet and the proper combining of your food.  

For this blog, I decided to take an excerpt from my thesis.                                                                                                  ~~~~~~~~

Foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients can create longer and healthier lives, although this isn’t the only criterion for judging food.   It should also be low in unhealthy fats, salt and fast-releasing sugars.  It should be high in fiber and alkaline forming foods and the most desirable sources of protein are non-animal sources.  Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and whole grains are foods full of vitality.  Vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, peas and sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants which are molecules intimately involved in the prevention of cellular damage by protecting them from unstable molecules known as free radicals.  Fruits, peppers and broccoli are rich in vitamin C and other phytonutrients.  Seeds and nuts are rich in essential fatty acids.  Both protein and complex carbohydrates can be found in beans and grains.  A diet that aims to create wellness should consist of at least half, if not all, of foods such as these with attention to variety.

A whole food diet consists of foods with the least amount of processed, adulterated, fried, or sweetened additives. The optimum diet should include far less animal fat, animal protein and processed foods, and far more vegetables, fruits and whole grains.  Protein sources can come from beans, lentils, rice, quinoa, and soy to name a few.   A diet rich in plant foods offers the best defense against disease because they are rich in antioxidant nutrients like vitamin C, beta carotene, vitamin E and cancer-fighting substances known as phytochemicals which can be found in fruits, vegetables and grains.  Over one hundred phytochemicals have been identified.  They are biologically active compounds that act as antioxidants, immune system boosters and hormone stabilizers. 

Increasing the consumption of essential fatty acids (EFA’s) has many health benefits as well.  These benefits include a reduced risk of heart disease and a reduction in triglyceride levels and blood pressure. EFA’s also assist the body in the transfer of calcium into the tissues where it is utilized by the cells, and reduces the pain from arthritis as they have a systemic anti-inflammatory effect on the body.

Another interesting point to make about the “ideal diet” is food combining.

There are many different factors that determine a person’s dietary needs and that need will change from person to person.  Some things to consider when designing a nutritional plan are food allergies, lifestyle, religious beliefs, age and physical condition.   With that said, there are five food-combining principles to keep in mind. 

1. Eat fruit by itself, with no other foods.  Fruit is a powerful detoxifier.  It has a high percentage of water and does not need much time to be digested.  It acts like an intestinal broom, keeping the intestinal walls clean and clear and it also helps to lower blood cholesterol.  If fruit is consumed after a meal, it ferments in the stomach, causing bloating and gas.  This is why it should not be eaten as a desert after a meal.  For optimum digestion and nutrient absorption, eat fruit first thing in the morning.

            2.  Proteins, in the form of animal proteins, and starch should be eaten separately since different digestive juices break down these two food sources.  The enzyme ptyalin, found in our saliva, breaks down starches beginning in the mouth, while proteins need the power of hydrochloric acid and the enzyme pepsin, found in the stomach, to properly break it down.  Ptyalin is not effectively produced in the saliva when proteins and starch are eaten together, therefore the starch is not predigested in the mouth, so when it enters the stomach and begins to ferment, it produces gas. It takes twice as long for proteins to digest in the stomach before being released into the small intestines. Starches are being held up as the stomach works to break down the protein.  When this happens, the food begins to decay and the nutrients that are meant to nourish our cells are actually destroyed in the decaying and fermenting process.   

            3. Eat protein foods alone or with vegetables.  Since there is a very high water content in vegetables they are relatively easy to digest.    The enzymes of the vegetables enhance the digestion of protein, plus vegetables can actually be broken down in either an alkaline or an acidic environment.

            4. Eat starches alone or with vegetables.  Vegetables can be digested in an alkaline environment because they don’t require their own special digestive juices. Therefore they make a well-suited match for starches because they don’t complicate the digestive process.

            5.  Do not drink with meals.   Liquids dilute the digestive juices that are needed to break down food, which hinders proper digestion, therefore drink fluids between meals.

To summarize these five steps: eat meat with a salad or steamed vegetables; eat starchy foods like potatoes and pasta (preferably whole grain pasta) with a salad or steamed vegetables; eat fruit in the morning; and if you like sandwiches, have a grilled vegetable sandwich on whole grain bread.

           While it’s very important to pay attention to the sorts of foods we eat and their proper consumption, we should also pay just as much attention to how that food was grown and prepared before it ever reaches the table. The issue of tainted meats and dairy products from hormones and antibiotics as well as food that has been genetically engineered and treated with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides has become a very big health concern.   Processed foods are also of concern because the processing takes most of the nutrients out of nutrient-rich foods, therefore the very thing your body needs, it does not get.  Synthetic vitamins and minerals are then added to make up for the loss of nutrients during processing; yet our bodies do not process these synthetic “nutrients” or recognize them as a food source.   Processed foods often contain hidden sugars, salt, harmful fats and harmful chemical additives to enhance taste and color as well.  These sugars, salts and flavor enhancers are not only unhealthy; they dull our taste buds to natural flavors.  As a result we are drawn to eat more processed foods to get the taste we want, and the vicious cycle begins.  This is another reason to eat a diet rich in organic whole foods that have not been processed or cooked.

~~~~~~~~~

Just remember to eat as close to nature as possible.   If you do that, you will be eating food that contains life, as opposed to dead food that has either been over cooked, or put in a bag or box with the capacity to sit in your cupboards for 2 years or more, without spoiling!

*Interesting fact: Your stomach needs to produce a new layer of mucous every two weeks or it would digest itself.

Keep it natural!

:) Karen