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It is time for another post about a recommended read, but this came across my desk today. This is a video clip, but I think the book mentioned will be my recommended read for this month. I know I want to check it out. This is a prime example of my basic philosophy–that processed food is not as nutritious as we are led to believe and it certainly isn’t equal to the unprocessed counterpart.
Check it out.
Time again for a 7-day challenge. Can you go seven days without eating nitrates or nitrites? Ni-what?
Processed meats like bacon, sausages, hot dogs, pepperoni, ham, lunch meat, and more contain nitrates and nitrites. According to this source, they are what make the meat pink, rather than an unappetizing gray. They have been linked to colon cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, decreased lung function, and for children born to mothers that eat a lot of processed meats–brain tumors.
So, check your labels, look for SODIUM NITRITE in the list of ingredients. This is where turkey hot dogs aren’t necessarily better for you. They have it, too.
But the good news is that at some stores you can find uncured products. They don’t have nitrates and nitrites. I’ve been buying my family bacon and hot dogs from Whole Foods and they taste great. In some parts of the country you will find uncured items in your regular grocery store. I haven’t seen them in mine, here in Oklahoma.
I will check back in at the end of 7 days and report on my findings.
Sunday night, 9:00pm, I passed out on the couch. There was no waking me. You would have thought I had drank a full bottle of wine, or perhaps a 6-pack of beer…NO, just some homemade peanut brittle!!!
I woke at 10:15pm and was very disoriented and felt sick. I was bloated, had swollen hands, and a slight headache. I went to bed, regretting my indulgence.
Why did I do this to myself? The thought that comes to mind is, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) My flesh is weak for a few things, one being my homemade peanut brittle. I even had some more last night. Not as much this time, but I did regret it and went to bed not feeling too great.
And wouldn’t you know it, I woke up this morning feeling a bit weird in my throat and a tiny bit stuffy.
You see, sugar weakens our immune system. It seems that the only time I get sick is when I slip and indulge in some sweet treats.
I thank the Lord for things like kombucha and coconut oil. By lunch time I was feeling 100% again. No more sugar for me, for a while.
How many of you are sick and tired every single day? Feeling bloated, groggy, headaches, lacking energy, etc.? This is what the wrong kind of food will do to us. It’s time to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us. Kick the junk and make some healthy changes.
This treat knocked me out because I don’t eat like this often, it really is rare. It’s when we eat like this all the time that we don’t realized it’s the food that is making us sick. Cut back on the sugar, eat good fats, like butter and coconut oil, cook your meal from scratch, and see if you start feeling better.
Little late here with my update on the trans fat challenge–been busy!
Well, trans fat is probably the number one thing I look out for. I avoid it like the plague. I don’t just look for the grams of trans fat listed on the label (it’s often not correct), I look at the ingredients list and check for partially hydrogenated oils. That’s the true tell. So, I don’t have a lot in my house that contains it. The only staple I can think of is flour tortillas. Some day I will get around to making my own, but for now I still buy them. However, I abstained during the challenge. 
My family wanted Oreos with our movie night. In the past I bought Newman’s Own Newmanos, because the cream filling was trans fat free. Since companies are now required to label trans fat, Oreos has reformulated their product. They couldn’t risk everyone knowing just how many grams of trans fat their product contained. So now I will buy them about twice a year. The other night I indulged in one cookie.
Other things that come to mind are peanut butter. I buy Smucker’s Natural because it truly only contains peanuts and salt. Don’t be fooled by the other brands that try to say they don’t contain trans fat. They do, and they’re loaded with sugar.
Many bread products have trans fat added to soften them–sandwich bread, hamburger buns and hot dog buns. Packaged cookies, cakes, and chips contain trans fat. Packaged cookie dough is a big one–it’s loaded, and also packaged biscuits and rolls. Make your own cookies and use real butter. Believe me, they will be much better for you!
I used to buy crescent rolls in a tube. Pampered Chef recipes call for this ingredient all the time. Well, not any more! Not since I found out about the trans fat! Packaged pizza crust, too. Make your own with my french bread recipe. It’s so very easy and much, much more delicious!
Boxed cake mix contains trans fat and canned icing is pure trans fat and sugar. Think of it as a can of Crisco with sugar and flavoring added. I do not eat store-bought cakes anymore and trans fat is the reason. If you invite me over for a party and see that I do not partake of the cake, don’t think I have immense will power to avoid junk food. I have just read about trans fat and what it does to your body and it totally turned me off to store cakes. I make my own and enjoy them fully! Click here for my chocolate cupcake recipe.
I could go on and on about trans fats. Learn to check your labels. Cook with butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. Start making more things at home from scratch. Take your babysteps and checkout The Trans Fat Solution by Kim Severson for more information. I don’t agree with everything in this book (she mentions using soy protein, for example), but her information on trans fat is wonderful. And she has good information about coconut oil, too. The informative part of the book is only 31 pages, the rest are recipes. It’s available at my local library, it might be at yours, too.
…of my motto here at All Things Health.
If God created it, it is good for me; if man has changed it then it is bad for me.
If we start to think in those terms choices become clear and we can end all this confusion. The more you read about nutrition the more you will see contradicting opinions. One group says saturated fats will kill you, another group says they will heal you. Who do you trust?
I Timothy 4:1-5 says that in the last days a great apostasy will take place and people will preach that we should abstain from foods that God created. Well, the vegetarian/vegan movement has been preaching that for a while now, that we shouldn’t eat meat, some go as far as abstaining from anything remotely associated with animals such as honey (because it’s made by bees). That really narrows your choices. Doctors are telling us that saturated fats and cholesterol will clog our arteries and that we shouldn’t eat red meat very often. Many people won’t eat eggs because of the cholesterol. Nutritionists will tell you that you can increase your protein intake with protein powders and protein bars. If we have ailments we are given pills, be they drugs or mega-vitamins. How can we cut through all the nonsense? Verse 4 and 5 – EVERY creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Now I think that a lot of people have taken these verses to mean that they must pray at every meal and ask God to bless the food they are about to eat and they think that this means it won’t harm them. There are natural laws of sowing and reaping, just like the natural law of gravity. We can’t throw a ball up into the air and pray that God will keep it up there. It’s going to come down because of the natural law of gravity. We can’t ask God to bless our processed non-food and expect that we won’t reap unhealthy lives from consuming it.
Deuteronomy 6:16 says, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God”. Jesus quoted this verse when the devil tempted Him to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple. We can not knowingly do things that we know will hurt us (or bring us bad health) and expect God to protect us. God will not be mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).
When we choose foods, we must ask ourselves, “How far has this food (or supplement) come from God’s creation?” In your babysteps toward healthier eating, try to start thinking in those terms.
This article was originally published on this blog on August 20, 2007.
Are you ready for another challenge?
This month, the challenge is to cut out hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils for 7 days. Check your labels, you might be surprised to learn what foods contain these oils.
Partially hydrogenated oil is the same thing as trans fat. The problem is that a lot of packages claim 0g of trans fat per serving, but it really is anywhere from 0 to .49g. The FDA allows the manufacturer to claim 0, if it is less than .5. Well, half a gram doesn’t sound bad, does it?
Let’s think about it this way, though. When was the last time you just ate 1-oz. of chips. If you have a scale, try weighing out 1 ounce. It isn’t much. Most of us eat more than one serving of most foods at a time. The manufacturer makes that serving size so small so that they can hide how much trans fat and/or sugar the item really has. So, then you are really eating possibly 1.5g of trans fat, every time you enjoy those chips. Studies show that even 2 grams of trans fat a day are dangerous.
If you normally cook with Crisco, use butter instead. Butter is a very healthy fat. It has had such a negative connotation for far too long. Click here to read about that.
Click here to learn more about hydrogenated oils.
I will check back in at the end of the 7 days and report my results. See you then!
Don’t buy fake substitutes! We learned here what is in Cool Whip. It’s loaded with trans fat. When I was a kid, I had a real thing for Cool Whip. Now that I’m grown and I read my labels, I won’t touch the stuff! It just grosses me out to realize it’s just Crisco that is whipped. Have you ever noticed how it never changes if it’s left out at room temperature? I have noticed it on a spoon in the sink, the morning after serving a dessert, and it hasn’t melted like real whip cream will. And it is hard to rinse off a spoon–because it’s grease!
So make it from scratch instead. It really only takes about 5 minutes and tastes fabulous!
1 cup heavy cream (I use raw)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tb sugar
This make about 2 cups of whipped cream. That is plenty for our family of four (with leftover). If you need more, just double this recipe.
I have learned that cream will not whip very well if it is too shallow. So don’t use a big Tupperware bowl. I use one of those square Ziploc disposable containers. This way, when I whip just one cup of cream, it is deep enough to whip in the air.
I fit a collar of foil around the bowl to catch the splatters of cream.
Whip the cream and vanilla on high until thickened, but not stiff. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and keep beating until it’s as thick as you want. I like my whip cream really thick (thicker than in the photo), but you have to be careful. If you whip it too much, it will separate into butter and whey.
The only disadvantage I see of real whipped cream to Cool Whip is it’s ability to keep. This will keep for a while in the fridge, you can make it ahead, but I’ve noticed it’s a bit runny the next day. Not sure if it would re-whip. I usually make it as close to serving time as I can.
Enjoy!
[Concerned about the saturated fat? Click here.]
I am going to post a list, every month, of ingredients. These ingredients are found in a common packaged food item. Tell me what you think it is and in a few days I will reveal who is right.
Here is our September item:
Ingredients: WATER, CORN SYRUP, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (FROM MILK), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, XANTHAN AND GUAR GUMS, POLYSORBATE 60, SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR).
Well, our first challenge has concluded, going without high fructose corn syrup for seven days.
How did you do? Was it difficult? Was it easy? Were there any food items that you were surprised to see HFCS on the ingredients listing?
Well, on day 1, I noticed that the sandwich bread I buy for the family (I don’t eat it), contains HFCS. It’s really hard with sandwich bread. Most of them contain trans fat. This was one I found without trans fat, but they put HFCS in it.
I tried making homemade bread for my family. I even compromised and made it mostly white. (I figured mostly white, made at home, was better than a loaf with HFCS, trans fat, and numerous dough conditioner chemicals and preservatives.) It was delicious! But after about two days, it gets crumbly and stale tasting. It doesn’t stay soft as long as store-bought bread. So my family refused it.
On day 2, I was feeding my kids yogurt with their breakfast. We make our own yogurt from raw milk. I eat it plain, my daughter has recently switched from plain to having it with honey, and my son likes strawberry jam in it. I buy all-fruit jam, specifically to avoid sugar and HFCS. I checked the Yoplait label at the store and sure enough, it contains HFCS. I’m so glad we cut that out years ago. The kids do get it as a treat once in a while. But that’s what it is, a dessert, not a healthy breakfast.
On day 5, I goofed! We were having homemade hamburgers, french fries, and strawberry shortcake. I kept thinking, we’re doing good, because we’re making the shortcake from scratch, no HFCS there! Well, I was in the middle of my meal and it dawned on me that I was dipping my fries in Ranch dressing and I had ketchup on my burger!!!!!! Yes, both of those items have HFCS in them. And guess what else?!? The hamburger buns. It just goes to show how many items contain HFCS these days. It is hard to escape. I am not at the place, yet, of making my own salad dressing and ketchup. Some day, but not yet. Occasionally I do drizzle my salad with red wine vinegar and olive oil. This encourages me to do that more often.
Well, the rest of the week, we were in the clear. Let me know how you did!
If you haven’t noticed already, I highly recommend Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, with Mary Enig. This book is available at my local library, it just might be available at yours.
This book opened my eyes to a lot of things. But I must say that the first time I checked it out, I was overwhelmed and didn’t even read it. It is so thick. Then I learned that it is mostly recipes. The portion on nutrition is only the first little bit, maybe 60 pages. That was doable to me. I have read that portion, now, over and over, each time gleaning new information.
The authors cover everything you need to know on the subject of fats, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, and more.
This is a general resource that everyone should check out, whether you’re just starting to eat healthy, or you grind your own wheat and make your own bread.
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