Momentum Despite Resistance

Changing your lifestyle meets resistance from the outer world in odd and surprising ways.

Anyone trying to lose weight is well aware of this resistance! One's very own body seems to rise up like Darth Vader standing in your pathway. Like a monster in your dreams, former unhealthy choices hound the best laid plans. Hunger, cravings, comfort foods, and well meaning friends and family seem to come out of the woodwork carrying temptation on a platter ... a very 'yummy-looking' platter. Help! the dieter is heard moaning, as he/she crumbles again. And asks me, "What momentum?"

To achieve momentum despite resistance, the hopeful healthy soul could use some back-up. Self awareness, educated support, clever strategy... all are truly beneficial. But in my journey to health at a new phase in my life the last decade, I hit upon something almost akin to magic! that made this whole temptation thing see-through, basically stealing my habits' power away. Hunger. ...as in Real satiation! I mean to say, satisfying my body's hunger. Let me explain...

I knew that, since my teens, I had not actually felt real hunger anymore. My teen years is the timing of when the whole low-fat fad became promoted. My family, being good folk that wanted to support health for the whole family, fell right in with the new protocols. Of course they did! Low fat options were somewhat limited initially, but the big labels got busy filling the gaps. Shortly thereafter, my athletic teen body started putting on weight! Heaven forbid! I was a follower of Seventeen magazine! Fat was simply wrong, so I set about dieting at the tender age of 14.

Long story short, my own cycle of dieting, weight gain, dieting began.... but also, a constant search for the true healthy way to eat. I tried everything, vegetarianism, veganism (12 years of it), pescatarianism, fruitarian, fasting regularly, Atkins & South Beach, macrobiotics, more.... the list is too long! Through it all, I never actually experienced real hunger again (yep, even fasting). Years later, after nearly starving myself for years, and more overweight than ever!! I took a good long look at myself in the mirror before my birthday. I did not recognize this body. Thinking of my kids as well as personal goals, I made a covenant to get after nutrition research more deeply yet.

Deep research meant current research as well as research into the history of how we arrived at the current conflict between research, disease, lifestyle, regulatory bodies, and food manufacturers. As I read, I followed a mostly macrobiotic style of eating and worked hard at losing weight, working out, exercising, and firmly refusing temptation. Still I only lost 9 and 1/2 pounds in a year. Meanwhile, I discovered this thing called Banting; also known as High Fat Low Carb (HFLC), ketogenic diet, and a host of other names. Suspiciously, this sounded so much like how my family ate BEFORE the low fat fad took off. When my spouse took off for a long work trip, I took the alone time to try out Banting.

Bottom Line: In the following four months, I lost 40 pounds.

Holy Moly! Now I remembered hunger... NOT from starving but from satiation! Real satiation of my body's nutritional needs. Happy satiation that made cravings disappear! Satiation that made when and how much to eat vividly obvious.  Coinciding with this wonderful experience, energy returned, mental clarity returned, frequent illness and allergic inflammation became minimal now, and the chronic pain of an old back injury with its associated fibromyalgia and rheumatism dialed down to very tolerable.

Lifestyle Modification Support (LMS) has been sharing the research some years now in these blog pages. So, I will not take this blog to go over it right now. But I would like to share a heartfelt post from someone who has recently experienced success. This share comes through the twitter community that is very active around HFLC (See Richard Lesar's happy tweet in the photo below). I also would like to share some of the resources 'out there' of medical and nutritional experts spreading this way of eating in detail.

The last thing I want to share is, as ridiculous as this is going to sound, I actually already knew of how to use ketogenics for medical reasons. In my nursing and medical practice, I referred certain patients to specialists who advised this very diet to manage epilepsy, inflammatory conditions, diabetes, and rapid weight loss management for those scheduled to go through bariatric surgery. But as I described above, my own body's long journey away from balanced health had become a monster I could only run from, rather than face. I had to turn around and face my monster directly, with dead seriousness. What is it going to take for you? to stop running scared and make a controlling decision to face down your overwhelming reason for dieting?

I wish you all the Best in your goals of rediscovering Balance. If I can answer questions or help you find what you are looking for to accomplish your goal, please contact me and ask. I am honoured to help.

Photo of Richard Lesar’s excellent results taken and used with Richard Lesar’s permission.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/

https://www.dietdoctor.com/authors/dr-jason-fung-m-d

http://www.total-health-fitness.com/blog/tim-noakes-diet

http://realmealrevolution.com/

Remember: Be Well and BE Happy!

~ J. Still MSN/FNP

FAT - the old New Truth about healthy eating

Number 1 Cause of Obesity? Watch video

Smile... there is always a way to find balance! [Photo by Wylan Werth]

What is UP with the news lately? How to make heads or tails of it? Eat Fat? not sugar.... and Sugar DOES cause obesity, and can lead to diabetes, hypertension, poor immune response, as well as contribute to a host of other diseases "on the rise" since the 1960s. As usual, all the news stories can become a bit heady. Stick to the basics. But what are the basics anymore? (Be sure to click on the orange lettered link above the kewt kitty photo! for a very informative video by Dr Robert Lustig about fat's role in Your Good Health).

And read labels! Another necessity to be healthy??? The trick on us has been exposed. Reading labels is the only way to get ahead of eliminating sugar from your diet. But no worries! Right here in this blog, and in the blogs of many many others sincerely doing our best to get the info in your hands and the healthiest food In your body, the science is revealed. Food manufacturers can rename sugar and even place it lower in the ingredient list by splitting up the types of sugar they added to a food substance to trick your tongue and brain into ...WANTING MORE.

Bottom line: In late 1950s, early 1960s, some research about the impact of eating sugar was brushed under the rug. The sugar industry paid some influential folk to say that fat is the problem-causing substance, not sugar. [ See these links as well as others provided throughout Lifestyle Modification Support : Sugar Lobby Paid Scientists to Blur Sugar's Role... and JAMA's articles ] Then food manufacturers got busy! Changing food into food substances that would be so addictive (as the lab rats revealed) that people just could NOT get enough became as easy as train robberies in the old wild west!

So, if you cannot get enough of that food you are eating, ask yourself, what about this experience is any different than being hooked on drugs, alcohol, or gambling? We do have the chemistry to become an addict. We also have consciousness, if we wake up and decide that: balanced and healthy, life might actually be doable. If we do decide we have at least an obligation to do the best we can do, we can make an effort to use REAL science to return to health. And realise something really sweet.... You have been doing your best. But misleading information has been hand-fed to you. Question authority! Do NOT take my word for it. There is so much information now, there is not far to go to find it. The video that I began this article with, Dr Robert Lustig's third episode on "The Skinny On Obesity" is made for regular people to listen to and understand. And go to your search engine and start looking up things like "Whole Fat" and "The Sugar Problem"...

One more thing, before I go. I cannot reiterate enough that low fat products have LOADS of Sugar in them! Look up the many other names for sugar that can be used on the ingredients lists of foods. STOP eating low fat foods! That is, stop eating them, if your goal is to lose weight and, literally, feel much much better.

Be Well, friends

Janet's Eye on the media

Holiday Eating Tips:

 These ideas are smart AND balanced for Anyone! <3 Be healthy and happy this celebratory time of the year! All the very Best to you and Yours!!

These ideas are smart AND balanced for Anyone! <3
Be healthy and happy this celebratory time of the year!
All the very Best to you and Yours!!

http://realmealrevolution.com/real-thinking/seven-ways-to-bant-like-a-christmas-champ-this-season?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=14december16_mailer

Why You Want to Break Your Sugar Addiction

Hah! you harumpf, I have no such desire... I love sugar. Yes, you and anyone that has been persistently ingesting sugar, knowingly or unknowingly, definitely have learned to "love" sugar! And currently, you may be pulling off remaining free of disease, illness, obesity, and/or discomfort. Meanwhile, within your body, sugar is busily converting your metabolism. Oh please! do NOT take my word for it! Just educate yourself on the facts.

As a Medical Provider in California, we educated the parents of children to NOT give fruit juice, ever, to their children. Yep, fruit juice. Contemplate the evolution of humans. Sugar was a rare commodity in nature; and when it did make an appearance, it was quickly gobbled up by many different species. Then, all of a sudden in history, sugar became wildly available...in many different types and forms. However, human physiology does NOT adapt that suddenly to environmental changes. Sure, we had a way to take care of the effect of glucose in our bodies, but we had not developed a way to keep the body constantly metabolising the effects indefinitely.

I have chosen this particular report of the "dirty science" that went down in the 1960s, financially brought to you by your friendly sugar industry! because it is going to be easier to read for the non-science crowd. There are also many links to documents and the peer reviewed reports on the whole history in this particular article I've chosen to share with you. Over the next few years, I truly hope this will become common news. In the meantime, I will keep adding info and links here in the blog.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/07/the-sugar-conspiracy-robert-lustig-john-yudkin

Bees on our wild berries in the backyard.

Always, BE Well! in spirit, mind, heart and body.... Balance is the key. ¬BIG LOVE from janet

Protect Your Gut! for your gut protects you...

Pearl the Golden... loving the sands and Ocean... origin of our elemental bodies.

If you are reading this site for the first time, you either are wondering when I might get off this subject!! Or you are curious as to how I could be making such a claim as this: Protect Your Gut! for your gut protects you...

I am including yet another review of the ongoing, ever blossoming revelations, of research on just how vital our gut's ecology is to our physical well being. In fact, there is an increasing body of data to support that the microbiome of the gut is very much the contributor to our mental well being as well.  So, please, dear readers, read these shares and contributions on the widespread expansion of knowledge regarding the intricacies of how to support your intestinal health in order to improve many many types of symptoms you may be experiencing... especially this upcoming winter season in the northern hemisphere.

And, always, dear readers, Be Well!

From Shann's Chuckling Goat site.... "Scientists have found that supplementing with probiotics can: 

1. Shorten the duration of cold by two days
2. Lessen severity of cold symptoms by 34%
3. Result in a higher quality of life and fewer missed school days 

"Probiotics are secret weapon for fighting symptoms of the common cold in college students, study suggests."  - University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)."

See the article on Medscape:

The Rise of the Microbiome: The Relatively Short Road From Hunch to Hype to Hope

by John Watson, posted September 12, 2016

http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/rise-of-microbiome?src=WNL_infoc_160914_MSCPEDIT_TEMP2&uac=89108HN&impID=1196444&faf=1

A High Fat Diet Reverses ALL Coronary Risk Factors

A High Fat Diet Reverses ALL coronary risk factors...why? This video presentation is a simple (and therefore, hopefully, easy to understand...let me know) update on some of the latest research backing up the already well known regarding vagaries of nutritional counseling. In the video, Dr Noakes shares a number of recent resources on this topic.

Take-home points:

• Obesity is a brain disorder
• Obesity has specific causes from our modern diet
• Diabetes is compounded by the same dietary conditions
• FOLLOW THE MONEY to see why our current food supply has changed
• Gliaden/gluten in wheat may be the cause of a wide range of chronic diseases with currently unknown causes
• A High Fat diet reverses ALL coronary risk factors
• Lipid count is unrelated to your risk of heart disease
• Examples of a high fat diet changing bodies

And more.....

Did you open the infographics from Lifestyle Modification Support's Welcome page? Most of them are specifically related to this topic, such as http://www.stilljanet.com/blog/984-2 and http://www.stilljanet.com/blog/got-skim-milk-maybe-a-recipe-for-obesity-and-cancer-talking-back-scientific-american-blog-network

You might also want to investigate Leaky Gut Syndrome further ... http://www.leakygut-syndrome.com/

A great place to get started on cooking and eating truly healthier .... enjoy a peek at Theresa Niccassio's website, YUM at: http://yumfoodforliving.com/

See the resources:

Davis, William (2011). The Wheat Belly. Can also read more from several places: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWheatBelly to get you started!

Noakes, Tim (2014). The Real Meal Revolution. Enjoy this link to his book:  retrieved from http://realmealrevolution.com/

Rothberg, MB. (2013). Coronary artery disease as clogged pipes: A misconceptual model; from Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes; 6: 129-132.

Teicholz, Nina (2014). The Big Fat Surprise. Information can also be retrieved from http://thebigfatsurprise.com/

How We Survived

How We Survived

¬jstill

Today’s hunt nearly cost us our two youngest stalkers, the promise of tomorrow lives in their strength and cunning. We have been without sufficient food for two days. How much longer can the young ones be convinced to share any harvest with all of us? I can only hope the gatherers succeeded in discovering a good supply of roots or our families may not remain alive to see another full year.

Astounding to imagine what survival entailed on a day to day basis in the formative years of our species’ evolution. Yet survive our species did, or we would not be overrunning the planet today. Was it merely persistence and blind luck? There are many theories; however, there is consensus that our intelligence assisted in our ability to learn from mistakes and discover what foods were the easiest and safest to rely upon to awaken to another day….by day …by day.

What if we had insisted on eating food-like substances with little or no nutrient value, would we have succeeded to the degree we realise now? When early hominids consistently ate lesser quality substances, they tended to sicken, starve or weaken so much so that their care became a burden. Some of these unfortunates did manage to reproduce, but courtship rituals for early hominids had to be much like all mammals reproduction rites: a display of the traits most likely to provide success for the offspring. In our case, physical prowess is vital but equally so, applied intelligence still stands strong.

Correct or not, the fact of our present survival insists that our sentience played an important role. This utilisation of problem-solving, memory, and experimentation is the outstanding feature of our species that we believe guides our choices even now. Without diving too deep into future conjecture, this article is to open discussion on the purpose of Lifestyle Modification Support’s choice of health articles. Because, in order to sustain our species’ survival record, we surely cannot leave behind all practical use of our intelligence!

Oxford Dictionaries defines intelligence as “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). Thus, the popularity of books, periodicals, videos, blogs and social media reflects our inherent appetite for knowledge. You might object that such mediums do not necessarily lend any credible information. Acquiring knowledge certainly requires astute discrimination of the source of information. Whether the information is empirically derived or the product of an active imagination lends further cred to its long-term usefulness. I have heard some argue that knowledge is useless if misunderstood or simply not applied.

Services page link

About page link

With all these implicit parameters embracing Lifestyle Modification Support’s intentions, the goal and purpose of all the health articles available in our website are to assist the individual with a steady source of defining research on balanced lifestyle, especially in the area of choosing Real nutrition to support your body’s intelligent chemical homeostasis. When you are healthy, your future and that of those relying on you is secured. Many readers are educated and practiced at application of knowledge; others require support. Please know that Lifestyle Modification Support is available to answer your individual questions; to speak or write for your educational events; and/or to provide professional advocacy/guidance on a case by case basis. The Services page and the About page offer contact details.

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References

Oxford Dictionaries (2015). Intelligence, retrieved from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/intelligence

Imagine Our World if We Taught It How to Eat

News from the

• European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2015

theheart.org on Medscape > Heartfelt with Dr Melissa Walton-Shirley

COMMENTARY

Imagine Our World if We Taught It How to Eat

Melissa Walton-Shirley

I attended a session yesterday at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2015 Congress entitled, "What should you eat to live a heart-healthy life?" By all accounts, accolades, and high-fives following the presentation, it was life-changing. Dr Neil Thomas (University of Birmingham, UK), Dr Steen Stender (University of Copenhagen, Hellerup, Denmark), Dr Simon Poole (Cambridge, UK), and Prof T Meinert Larsen (University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark)—all nutrition gurus and scientists—spent 67 minutes teaching us how to save the world. It was probably the most important series of the entire ESC 2015 meeting because they advocated for nutrients whose side effects are nil (for most) and are readily available for mass consumption (in most places). They demonstrated how a population of unsuspecting individuals could be sickened when a government allows a food supply to become tainted by commerce and ignored by politicians. They proselytized with proof and enthusiasm that we need to educate and legislate on the topic of nutrition to save millions upon millions of lives and dollars.

You may say I'm a dreamer

Dr Steen Stender dreams of a world without trans fat. He knows why it has been favored by the food industry: it's cheap, can hold its shape as a semisolid at room temp, has an ultralong shelf life, and stands up to repeated heating. Dr Stender also understands why the 2006 Nurses' Health Study published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated a 33% increase in the incidence of coronary heart disease when 5 g or more of trans fat per day is consumed. Its ability to increase LDL and decrease HDL levels is a negative double-whammy in the lipid arena.

Because Dr Stender stood up to big commerce, he is now a superhero in the world of trans-fat legislation. As chair of the Danish Nutrition Council's subgroup dealing with trans fats and health, he convinced the country of Denmark to approve a ban there effective January 1, 2004. It is now illegal for any food to contain more than 2% trans fats, and offenders face hefty fines and even incarceration. Proof of the downside of taking a hard stand on trans fat is the fact that he was sued after he outed the content of a favorite snack wafer. He likened the public's risk of consuming it to that of smoking 10 cigarettes per day. Sales plummeted, and the company sued him for $1 million. Then, in a stunning turnaround, in 3 months, it dropped the suit and removed 100% of the trans fat in its product.

The number of Danes who died from cardiovascular disease fell by 70% between 1985 and 2009. No EU member state has recorded a greater decline in mortality. Could the ban on trans fats in 2003 be the cause? Indeed, it seems that Dr Stender's dream for Denmark may have already come true.

But I'm not the only one

In my office, I have a copy of the Mediterranean diet pyramid at checkout for every new patient. Many established patients who suffer from metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, or obesity receive a second or even a third copy. I spend hours teaching the simple mechanics of nutrition. I stress that it's more impactful on longevity than any metal scaffold electively deployed into a coronary artery. I found a kindred spirit in Dr Simon Poole. His salient points came rapid fire, finding their mark and leaving quite an impression.

"If patients with coronary artery disease came out of the office of a practicing physician or cardiologist not on a statin, you could argue that's a negligent practice, but I'd argue that most have no advice on diet. I lay down the gauntlet. We as physicians need to emphasize diet," he began. He then lauded Dr Stender by saying, "Steen has done remarkably well with his government. Our secretary of state wanted to make an impact. We were shuffled into a room to discuss how to decrease mortality in 2.5 years. We emphasized "brave legislation" (hinting at labeling, reduction in trans-fat content, and education). The reply was a terse, "Well, we don't do social engineering." Someone in the group argued, "If you look at eye-level in a market at the packaging of chocolates for children . . . if that isn't social engineering, I don't know what is."

He made the salient points that simple things like irrigation of olives decreases the antioxidant content of olive oil, which can ruin even good foods. When UV light replaces natural sunlight, it can be impactful. Furthermore, he consumes up to 50 cc of olive oil per day and recommends frying fish in it and pouring it on pasta. He doesn't count calories.

I quickly asked the expert if anything about my usual dietary recommendations could be improved. I told him that I advocate for cutting in half the consumption of bread, sweets, potatoes, pasta, and rice and to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. I recommend a maximum of four eggs per week and no more than one serving of red meat per month.

Dr Poole replied, "I don't discourage consuming pasta if they drizzle olive oil on it because it lowers the glycemic load. I'd die without having red meat once per week but the portion is very, very small," he said, pointing to a small portion of the palm of his hand. "It's always grass fed," he added and quipped, "I always know what my food ate." Further critiquing my recommendations, he added, "I would go for more than five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Butternut squash, for instance, and cucumbers are fruits of sorts. As for eggs, they are back on the menu."

His friend Dr Aseem Malhotra (Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Camberley, UK), who was standing nearby, added, "Following an MI, for mortality lowering, a high-fat Mediterranean diet is more effective than aspirin, statins, and coronary stents." It was a statement thrown like a fastball toward home plate, its implication staggering and dead on target.

Dr Poole concluded his presentation today by stating, "We need broader professional leadership and access to resources. Education is key. We need to take responsibility."

I hope someday you'll join us

Dr Neil Thomas emphasized the importance of respecting the many randomized controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of the Mediterranean and DASH diets to reduce all cause mortality. The impact of uneven recommendations and the impact of the media's influence cannot be underestimated. He cautions against supplements, stating that, "The media regularly reports on omega-3 fatty acids for prevention and treatment of CV disease, but there are no interventional studies that demonstrate a reduction in mortality. The US Preventive Services Task Force found no evidence of a positive effect of any nutritional supplement. Although there was a 7% reduction in all-cause mortality in one study that included vitamin D, those studies included simultaneous calcium supplementation. Those with vitamin D alone are all negative," he said, then added, "There are two larger trials upcoming that will be definitive regarding whether it's beneficial." He concluded by saying, "With regard to beta carotene, as soon as you start giving it in interventional trials it actually increased the risk of death."

Dr Thomas Larsen is studying multiple dietary combinations like high- or low-glycemic-index diets combined with higher or lower fatty- and protein-content diets. According to the DIOGENES trial, he noted, patients who followed a low-protein and high-glycemic index diet were more likely to gain weight. He then added, "High-protein diets, not low-glycemic-index diets, are the most promising for regulation of fat mass and abdominal height." He concluded that based on the Diogenes diet and others, "a high-protein, low-glycemic-index diet may have additive effects to improve body-weight regulation, is more successfully maintained, and may be more likely to lower CVD risk factors if followed long term."

And the world will be as one

I challenge you take this information into your exam rooms tomorrow. Bring along a copy of the Mediterranean diet pyramid. Talk to patients about how adding extra virgin olive oil blunts the glycemic index of whole-wheat pasta. Advocate against unfounded claims for dietary supplements. Strike up a conversation with your local congressional representatives. Imagine how we as clinicians and practitioners can change the world one conversation at a time, one politician at a time, and one act of legislation at a time. If you can see the future, you can make it happen. Imagine how the world would eat and live if we all did that tomorrow. Just imagine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, imagine a world where wellness is revered and respected again!

Thank you, Melissa Walton-Shirley, for one of the most exciting and inspiring reviews I have read in some time!!

Photo by yaruta/iStock / Getty Images

6 Anti-Inflammatory Powerhouses

6 Anti-Inflammatory Powerhouses

Clean eating can put out the fire that's making you sick.

By Editors of Prevention August 24, 2015

Chronic inflammation has been associated with an increased risk of arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and cancer. Sure, some inflammation is good—like the acute kind is a form of self-protection, your body's immune response to a cut or pathogens entering the body. Chronic inflammation, however, means that your body is constantly producing immune cells, which can damage the body. This harmful inflammation is a result of never-ending stress, being overweight, or a diet high in things like sugar, trans fats, and various toxins.

But while the wrong diet promotes excessive inflammation, a diet rich in clean foods can help reduce it and its harmful effects on your body. The following foods in particular are anti-inflammatory powerhouses:

Spices and Herbs
Herbs and spices like basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, turmeric, peppercorns, ginger, and cinnamon are loaded with all sorts of antioxidants that have even been found to reduce pro-inflammatory compounds that build up on meat during grilling. And ginger and turmeric, in particular, have been linked to joint pain relief. Add them to marinades, dressings, spice rubs, and teas for a dose of health and flavor.

Soy
Soy can reduce the inflammation marker C-reactive protein, which is linked to cardiovascular disease. Incorporate clean sources of soy into your diet, such as tempeh or edamame.

More: The Top Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Cold-Water Fish
Salmon, black cod, sardines, and anchovies are full of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon is a particularly good choice—its rosy pink color comes from carotenoids, which also have anti-inflammatory properties.

Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are high in vitamins C and E and the carotenoids alpha- and beta-carotene, all of which reduce inflammation and promote healthy, vibrant skin.

More: 11 Weird Things Inflamming Your Body

Walnuts
Walnuts contain alpha- linolenic acid--an omega-3 fatty acid that reduces inflammation and is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Tea
Green, black, and white teas contain free radical-fighting catechins, which have recently been associated with reduced muscle inflammation and a speedier recovery after exercise.

Adapted from Eat Clean, Stay Lean

Article retrieved from: http://www.rodalewellness.com/food/6-anti-inflammatory-powerhouses?cid=NL_RNDF_2170216_09072015_6_Anti-Inflammatory_Powerhouses_title

Eating Processed Foods

Eating Processed Foods

.....from NHS Choices

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/goodfood/pages/what-are-processed-foods.aspx

Processed foods aren't just microwave meals and other ready meals. The term 'processed food' applies to any food that has been altered from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or convenience. This means you may be eating more processed food than you realise.

Processed foods aren't necessarily unhealthy, but anything that’s been processed may contain added salt, sugar and fat.

One advantage of cooking food from scratch at home is that you know exactly what is going into it, including the amount of added salt or sugar.

However, even homemade food sometimes uses processed ingredients. Read on to find out how you can eat processed foods as part of a healthy diet.

What counts as processed food?

Most shop-bought foods will have been processed in some way.

Examples of common processed foods include:

• breakfast cereals
• cheese
• tinned vegetables
• bread
• savoury snacks, such as crisps 
• meat products, such as bacon
• "convenience foods", such as microwave meals or ready meals
• drinks, such as milk or soft drinks

Food processing techniques include freezing, canning, baking, drying and pasteurising products. 

Dietitian Sian Porter says: "Not all processed food is a bad choice. Some foods need processing to make them safe, such as milk, which needs to be pasteurised to remove harmful bacteria. Other foods need processing to make them suitable for use, such as pressing seeds to make oil.

"Freezing fruit and veg preserves most vitamins, while tinned produce (choose those without added sugar and salt) can mean convenient storage, cooking and choice to eat all year round, with less waste and cost than fresh."

What makes some processed foods less healthy?

Ingredients such as salt, sugar and fat are sometimes added to processed foods to make their flavour more appealing and to prolong their shelf life, or in some cases to contribute to the food's structure, such as salt in bread or sugar in cakes.

This can lead to people eating more than the recommended amounts for these additives, as they may not be aware of how much has been added to the food they are buying and eating. These foods can also be higher in calories due to the high amounts of added sugar or fat in them.

Furthermore, a diet high in red and processed meat (regularly eating more than 90g a day) has also been linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer. Some studies have also shown that eating a large amount of processed meat may be linked to a higher risk of cancer or heart disease. 

What is processed meat?

Processed meat refers to meat that has been preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives. This includes sausages, bacon, ham, salami and pâtés.

The Department of Health recommends that if you currently eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red and processed meat a day, that you cut down to 70g a day. This is equivalent to two or three rashers of bacon, or a little over two slices of roast lamb, beef or pork, with each about the size of half a slice of bread.

However, it's important to remember that the term "processed" applies to a very broad range of foods, many of which can be eaten as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

How can I eat processed foods as part of a healthy diet?

Reading nutrition labels can help you choose between processed products and keep a check on the amount of processed foods you're eating that are high in fat, salt and added sugars.

Adding tinned tomatoes to your shopping basket, for example, is a great way to boost your 5 a day. They can also be stored for longer and cost less than fresh tomatoes – just check the label to make sure there's no added salt or sugar.

Most pre-packed foods have a nutrition label on the back or side of the packaging.

This type of label includes information on energy (kJ/kcal), fat, saturates (saturated fat), carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt. It may also provide additional information on certain nutrients such as fibre. All nutrition information is provided per 100 grams and sometimes per portion of the food.

How do I know if a processed food is high in fat, saturated fat, sugar or salt?

There are guidelines to tell you if a food is high or low in fat, saturated fat, salt or sugar. These are:

Total fat

High: more than 17.5g of fat per 100g
Low: 3g of fat or less per 100g

Saturated fat

High: more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g
Low: 1.5g of saturated fat or less per 100g 

Sugars

High: more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g
Low: 5g of total sugars or less per 100g

Salt

High: more than 1.5g of salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium)
Low: 0.3g of salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium)

For example, if you are trying to cut down on saturated fat, try to limit the amount of foods you eat that have more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g.

If the processed food you want to buy has a nutrition label that uses colour-coding, you will often find a mixture of red, amber and green. So, when you're choosing between similar products, try to go for more greens and ambers, and fewer reds, if you want to make a healthier choice. 

However, even healthier ready meals may be higher in fat and other additives than a homemade equivalent. That's not to say that homemade foods can't also be high in calories, fat, salt and sugar, but if you make the meal yourself, you'll have a much better idea of what's gone into it. You could even save yourself some money, too. 

When cooking food at home...

For tips on how to eat healthily on a budget, read our healthy recipe ideas and check out the Eat4Cheap challenge.

Page last reviewed: 01/06/2014

Next review due: 01/06/2016

Another janet's eye on the media share....

Are You Eating Good Fats or Bad Fats?

Are You Eating Good Fats or Bad Fats? (Infographic)

May 19, 2015 / By Heart & Vascular Team

http://health.clevelandclinic.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/15-HHB-423-Dietary-Fats-Infographic_FINAL.pdf

For years, we’ve heard that saturated fatis bad for our hearts and that unsaturated fat is good. But experts’ views on dietary fat are changing. It’s easy to be confused. Learn which fats you can eat more of and which fats to avoid. And enjoy useful tips on heart-healthy eating, cooking and shopping from preventive cardiology dietitians Julia Zumpano, RD, LD, and Kate Patton, MEd, RD, CSSD, LD.

Are You Eating Good Fats or Bad Fats? #infographic

5 Food Additives You Should Avoid

Processed food has become more American than apple pie. But chemical additives in the food, if consumed in large quantities, may be a health concern. Here are five additives you should avoid.

Source: 5 Food Additives You Should Avoid | Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

5 Food Additives You Should Avoid

August 17, 2015 / By Heart & Vascular Team

Food additives prohibited

“Mmm, sodium nitrate.”

When is the last time you heard someone say that? Right before you sunk your teeth into some juicy sodium nitrite?

Probably not.

People typically don’t consider the chemicals in their cuisine. However, additive-laced processed foods have become more American than apple pie.

Americans spend 90 percent of their food budget on processed food, claim some sources. It’s more convenient. It can be less expensive. But is it as healthy?

Dietitian Kate Patton and intern Sara Saliba of Cleveland Clinic’s Section of Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation explain.

What is processed food?

“Processed food has been altered in some way from its natural state,” says Ms. Patton. “Often, that means it has been treated with additives – substances that add color, enhance flavor or increase shelf-life, for example. Additives are not necessarily bad. Most foods do require additives to prevent spoilage and maintain their nutritional value.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved thousands of additives for use in food. But while consuming small amounts is safe, it may be warranted to limit the amount of these foods you consume.

What’s so bad about food additives?

“People should eat a healthy diet, rich in fresh vegetables and fruits. Eating a diet rich in processed foods is linked to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer,” says Ms. Saliba.

For example:

Preservation

• Sodium nitrites help stabilize, flavor, and provide a bright red color to meat. When the meat is heated at high temperatures or combines with stomach acid, sodium nitrite can produce nitrosamines, which is linked to an increased risk of pancreatic and colorectal cancer.
• Sulfites are a popular preservative that many people are sensitive to; and can aggravate asthma and deplete vitamin B1 (thiamine). These additives have already been banned from use on fresh fruits and vegetables in the U.S., but are still present in other foods. (Look for these ingredients on the label: sulfur dioxide, potassium bisulfite, sodium bisulfite, sodium sulfite.)
• Trans fats is a type of fat added to foods to extend its shelf life or improve the consistency. It increases LDL or bad cholesterol, which increases the risk for heart disease.

Flavor Enhancers

• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) enhances flavor and texture in Asian foods, soups and other processed foods. Many people are sensitive to MSG. People with MSG sensitivity can experience nausea, breathing problems and other reactions. It also adds extra sodium, which can elevate blood pressure. (Look for these ingredients on the label: natural flavoring or hydrolyzed vegetable protein).

Artificial Colors

• FD&C yellow #5 and #6 has been linked to hyperactivity in children. It can cause severe allergic reactions, especially in people with asthma. Food dyes come from chemicals, so try to choose foods that are in their natural state and color.

How can you avoid unhealthy additives?

The best way to eat healthy is to:

1. Buy more fresh foods than processed (or “convenience”) foods. Farmers markets are good places to shop.
2. If fresh foods are not available, choose frozen fruits and vegetables without any additives.
3. Avoid prepackaged, pre-cooked meals. Cook your own meals so you know what is in your food.
4. Check food labels. Don’t buy products with known additives, and beware of other ingredients you can’t pronounce.

“By following these tips, your food will be healthier and more nutritious as well as fresher and more naturally flavorful,” says Ms. Patton.

References

American Cancer Society

The World’s Healthiest Foods

Sustainable Table

Healthy Eating Politics

Schlosser, E. (2002). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Break Your Sugar Addiction in 10 Days (Infographic)

Do you have a sweet tooth? Most of us will overindulge at times. But the more sugar we consume, the more we want, says Mark Hyman, MD. However, the good news is that people can break the sugar addiction in 10 days. Here's how.

Source: Break Your Sugar Addiction in 10 Days (Infographic) | Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Break Your Sugar Addiction in 10 Days (Infographic)

May 21, 2015 / By Family Health Team

How to break your #sugar addiction in 10 days. #infographic

Do you have a sweet tooth? Most of us will overindulge at times. But the more sugar we consume, the more we want, says Mark Hyman, MD. However, the good news is that people canbreak the sugar addiction in 10 days. Here’s how.

How to break your #sugar addiction in 10 days. #infographic

What Eating 40 Teaspoons of Sugar a Day Can Do to You

“That Sugar Film” takes a look at what happens when you give up fresh foods for sugar-laden processed foods.

Source: What Eating 40 Teaspoons of Sugar a Day Can Do to You - The New York Times

Please open the above links to see That Sugar Film's website chock full of information vital to rebalancing your health! and to read the full article from the New York Times. Also check out LMS Welcome page link to Dr Hyman's plan to break your sugar addiction in 10 days.

"THIS is what I'm talking about...." ~janet

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brought to Lifestyle Modification Support by janet's Eye On the Media 

20 Names for Nasty MSG

"Food manufacturers just love it when you can't stop with a single serving. For them, it is the sound of cash registers ringing in sales. But what does this mean to us? It means that somehow the food is now in control. Somehow it has been manipulated to cause you to overeat."

Source: 20 Names for Nasty MSG | Rodale Wellness

20 Names for Nasty MSG

This ingredient can make you fat and sick in so many ways.

By Jayson Calton, PhD, Mira Calton, CN July 30, 2015

Food manufacturers just love it when you can't stop with a single serving. For them, it is the sound of cash registers ringing in sales. But what does this mean to us? It means that somehow the food is now in control. Somehow it has been manipulated to cause you to overeat.

Monosodium glutamate is the go-to add-in to create this desired effect. So much so that this menacing flavor enhancer is found in almost all processed and packaged foods in the United States. MSG-induced obesity is such an accepted concept in scientific circles that when studies require obese animals, the first thing they are given is MSG. Scientists in Spain found that giving laboratory rats MSG increased food intake by 40 percent.

MSG works as an obesogen in three distinct obesity-inducing ways. The most obvious way is that it intensifies the tastiness of any treat, and this makes you desire it even more. Second, MSG has been shown to make us leptin resistant. Remember that leptin is the hormone that makes you feel full. Why would you ever put down a snack if your brain never gets the message to stop eating it? Finally, MSG causes the secretion of insulin, your fat-storage hormone, which drops your blood sugar and makes you hungrier faster.

More: 4 'Healthy Food' Offenders

However, this ingredient also reduces our micronutrient levels because it is an excitotoxin. This means it can cross the blood-brain barrier and overexcite your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain damage to varying degrees and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, and more. It's true--and your micronutrient levels pay the price because your available antioxidants are used at an accelerated rate when trying to repair MSG brain toxicity.

Rather than performing other important functions in your body, available antioxidants—such as vitamins C and E and selenium—are called on to repair the damage. Additionally, magnesium, chromium, and zinc are all very important protectors of neural cells, so their use is also accelerated in the presence of MSG.

More: Make Your Own 'Instant' Cup of Noodles

Can you imagine how many other essential bodily functions may not be able to be performed properly because food manufacturers snuck MSG into the recipe? Kick it to the curb by watching out for these ingredients that could harbor MSG:

• Autolyzed yeast

• Autolyzed yeast protein

• Calcium glutamate

• Carrageenan

• Glutamate

• Glutamic acid

• Hydrolyzed corn

• Ingredients listed as hydrolyzed, protein fortified, ultra-pasteurized, fermented or enzyme modified

• Magnesium glutamate

• Monoammonium glutamate

• Monopotassium glutamate

• Natural flavors (ask manufacturers their sources, to be safe)

• Pectin

• Sodium caseinate

• Soy isolate

• Soy sauce

• Textured protein

• Vegetable extract

• Yeast extract

• Yeast food

Adapted from The Micronutrient Miracle

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Janet's Eye on the media.........

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What Food Manufacturers Don’t Want You To Know

healthy family 3

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/what-food-manufacturers-don-t-want-you-know-pantry-principle GreenMedInfo reviews a few of the dangerous ingredients commonly used in processed food today and described in the book, The Pantry Principle, by Mira Dessy (2013). If you are like some folk, the term "processed foods" has little meaning. Let me be specific: processed food refers to convenience food or as wikipedia writes, "tertiary processed food"...in other words, someone else made it and sold it to you in a package usually, and/or often made the item from packaged ingredients. The idea became popular, in the 60s pretty much, when women started "leaving home" to add to the income of their families by taking work outside of housework. Nowadays people have come to prefer food made by strangers, as I call it.  There is an insidious reason for that preference.  And the reasoning has been purposefully thought out and manifested by those profiting from sales of processed food. But the important thing for you is how the heck do I know what is healthy and what isn't???

I was surprised and pleased to read the Collins'  Dictionary definition: "foods that have been treated or prepared by a special method, especially in order to preserve them; Pure food is safer and more filling than processed food <and>diets high in refined and processed foods." (Collins 2014). This preservation has taken extreme direction in our modern world, traveling from the innovative idea of keeping food through the winter months to now providing food with shelf life of many many years. Why don't we notice that the food we eat has lost its nutritive value and its native flavours? That which makes processed food remain looking good! baby! also includes ingredients meant to distract us from the lack of nutrition by creating addiction to the food-like substance. Why I use the word, insidious, is that ultimately the outcome of making processed food your primary source of nutrition is not pretty...not pretty at all. 

Mira Dessy spells out very easy to understand principles to update your thinking on how to be healthy, how to actually lose weight, and how to feel good again about your body... and I say, if you feel good about your body because it is healthy, you do feel good about life, about living. The GreenMedInfo article quickly shares some particular "uh-ohs" to watch for on labels. I hope the article might be a teaser for you to find your way to more....

Read : Mira Dessy's book: The Pantry Principle; go to her website Grains and More; read Hungry for Change or watch the engaging and chock-full of helpful tools Hungry for Change video; check out more contemporary sources of valid facts and resources, such as bodyecology.com ;  Dr Mark Hymen's book The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now! ; check out Holford and Burne's Food Is Better Medicine Than Drugs; Eating for Beauty by David Wolfe; and so many more ....

And remember... "Processed foods are made for long shelf-life, NOT for long human life!" (Hungry for Change 2012).

References:

Collins Dictionaries (2014). www.collinsdictionary.com

Colquhoun, J. and ten Bosch, L. (2012). Hungry for Change. HarperOne: New York NY.

Dessy, M. (2014). Grains and More website, retrieved from: http://grainsandmore.com/

Dessy, M. (2013). The Pantry Principle. Versadia Press: The Woodlands TX.

Gates, D. (2014). 10 things the processed food industry doesn't want you to know. Retrieved from the Hungry for Change website at: http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/10-things-the-processed-food-industry-doesnt-want-you-to-know

Holford, P. and Burne, J. (2006). Food is better medicine than drugs. Piatkus Books: London.

Hymen, M. (2012). The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now! Little, Brown and Company: New York NY.

Vangness, R.D. (2014). 10 things the processed food industry doesn't want you to know and body ecology's 2 powerful tools to help you fight back. Retrieved from bodyecology's website at: http://bodyecology.com/articles/10-things-processed-food-industry.php#.VIhjdTGsV8E

Waldman, H. (2014). What food manufacturers don't want you to know: The Pantry Principle. Retrieved from the GreenMedInfo website at: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/what-food-manufacturers-don-t-want-you-know-pantry-principle

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2014). Convenience food. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convenience_food

Wolfe, D. (2009). Eating for Beauty. North Atlantic: Berkeley CA.

Brain Food; Continuing the dialogue on how to make a healthy brain

Janet's Eye on the Media

"Your brain thrives on fat and cholesterol" and the products that are fat-free are depriving you of needed nutrients. Lifestyle Modification Support (LMS) has been talking about this the past year.... I hope you will consider the information seriously. Look up the references and many many articles addressing this issue.

Here is another book on the topic and the source of that quote above: Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers by David Perlmutter and Kristin Loberg. Found on amazon.com at :

http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar--Your-Killers/dp/031623480X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375704621&sr=8-1&keywords=GRAIN+BRAIN

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Some times reading the daily news feeds on health, the scene resembles a battlefield.  There sure seems to be a lot of contenders for the battlefield! Scrutinizing the players more closely with an eye to motives, one could get the impression that the real prize is money .... not providing the most efficient path to whole health. Meanwhile, folks are also making a living providing you with information...well some are. Might I make a suggestion? always read the books and articles remembering what the authors stand to win by promoting their viewpoint. This is no critique on the book above or any information in the news today in particular. I mean this caution honestly.

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Patient-centered healthcare planning begins with You educating yourself and making a commitment to directing your care, and life therefore. Another way to say this is: taking the helm of your healthcare direction means being accountable to your awareness and decisions. . . . which includes changing your mind when you learn new data and sift it through your discerning brain.  So I am describing an ongoing process or a "way of life"... an active occupation of being responsible.

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To maintain a discerning mind requires a well nurtured brain. A healthy brain mind is the key to enjoying life, the "feeling" of being alive, many tout. Makes sense to me, and even further, my own experience is that when those around me are healthily vital, alert and discerning, and capable of interacting spontaneously in given situations and circumstances, I benefit, the people I care about gain much in expanded awareness, and the ever expanding world grows and evolves in front if us by our own volition. I am stating, (I am certain your discerning mind has caught by now), my motivation for sharing this information, nearly all the information in the Lifestyle Modification Support (LMS) blog. And I am also explaining to you why it is so important  that you care about your brain's health.

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 A curious observation of healthy vital folks is that they seem to love, thrive on, life, and its challenges. While those that are "tired" and describing they just want to stop thinking or working at the end of the day (some the beginning or middle of their day sadly) appear to censor aspects of life, especially anything challenging.  Why, this one wonders. Some of you are answering, well that is normal, isn't it? We work all day; we get tired; and we go home to eat, drink, and sleep. IS this normal? Whose normal? When did this become normal? What else was going on historically when this picture became normal? A few points to contemplate. I am not here to do all of your homework; I am here to stimulate your attention.

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If you are too tired to desire the healthy and engaging challenges of life, what can you do to wake up your brain? Should you want more out of your life, how can you make active movements towards creating the aliveness you enjoy? LMS has been sharing references all along this ongoing discussion and its many permutations and we are so happy to continue doing so.  But bottom line today is: please consider that you really are what you eat. With some foods/chemicals, time on the particular element or food must be lived to realize the changes ... both healthy and fatiguing.

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To realize a healthy and vital brain, eat the foods that feed your brain; avoid the "foods" that starve the brain or otherwise disable its continued vitality. Pretty simple. Oh, except for knowing what that means literally in what to buy and eat from your market or favorite food server/restaurant. So let's keep up on what is happening in the world of nutritional research today.... (I always ask for and enjoy feedback). I mean real and valid research rather than pseudo-science that has become popular among the biggest "food" (and drug) sellers today. To date, research from around the world continues to reveal that many modern foodlike substances sold in packages as food in your local grocery store do not contain valuable and needed nutrients for your body. The sellers of these foodlike substances even openly state that providing health is not their business, rather making money is their primary incentive (The extraordinary science of addictive junk food, Moss; 2013). What, then, is healthy food? the other part of the question and the only part that matters to me....getting real food for my brain. Another article on why fat-free might as well be called eating cardboard, addictive cardboard truly, cardboard all the same... is Dr AnneMarie Colbin's blog  "Fat-free Food: A Bad Idea at: http://www.foodandhealing.com/articles/article-fatfreebad.htm

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Lifestyle Modification Support will continue to add articles on good food for your brain from many sources. Meanwhile, scroll down the front page of LMS to reread the articles shared already on how fat is required for brain cells to function. For a really adorable article, easy to read and understand, on how our brains evolved via fat, read The Human Brain from the Franklin Institute at:  http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html . Or read Brain Food: Good Fats Better for Memory on LiveScience at: http://www.livescience.com/20429-good-fats-good-brain.html . For those of you preferring a more scholarly diatribe but brief, check out Dr Gary Wenk's article in Your Brain On Food titled Dietary Fats That Improve Brain Function at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-food/201205/dietary-fats-improve-brain-function .

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I sincerely hope this helps you get started, if you only just catching up to this conversation.

Always, stay awake and alive! and feel free to contact me personally or via this blog to share your thoughts, concepts, questions, or concerns.

I Am,

Janet Still FNP

Got Skim Milk?: Maybe a Recipe for Obesity and Cancer

Got Skim Milk?: Maybe a Recipe for Obesity and Cancer | Talking back, Scientific American Blog Network.

Okay, what did I tell you?

I do not exactly appreciate the "I told ya so" comeback; yet, sometimes it is all one can say! Research that is scientifically valid will continue to back these conclusions (in the linked story/article), because the logic is sound as well as the makers of said products have openly admitted that they are not in the BUSINESS of health, they are in the BUSINESS of selling food items. Please go back and read my previous posts, if you are wondering where I am coming up with my viewpoint. And finally, research will validate these findings because, simply, foods in their natural state have evolved alongside of our gastro-intestinal (GI) systems. New foods created in labs for dubious ends, such as profit, will require some time to integrate into our cellular metabolic processes. Let me see.....how long did it take for us to adjust to wheat, for example. I use that as my example because some will say that we have not actually finished integrating the use of wheat in our GI systems.

Just checking in. Many more immediate and up to the minute news posts are on the facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lifestyle-Modification-Support/107128452736585?fref=ts

Keep contacting me with all of your ideas and questions. I enjoy hearing from you.

Eat Whole Fat, Real Fat, for Health

Eat Whole Fat, Real Fat, for Health This post has taken far too long to be written! because my mind had the idea that one post could contain this topic. Then I recognized that this piece of the nutrition puzzle today continues from the previous posts about junk food addiction. And this topic regarding "good fat vs bad fat" is more than one post. So here we go - - -!

You say, wait, I have to eat a low fat diet because I have a weight problem. I say, you have a weight problem because you are malnourished...and eating low fat foods is contributing to your body's hunger for Real Fat so needed by all of our bodies, including rather importantly the brain part of our bodies. Please be reassured: this is NOT your fault that you keep eating foods that are not providing the real nutrients! Remember the previous post about junk food addiction? As you can see, all these posts for a few months fall into this topic.

Have you heard of the documentary, Hungry For Change? I mention the video, which can be streamed on Netflix and viewed on YouTube, because I understand that having imagery while hearing information gets the information into some folks' brains. [Planning to start making videos to go with the main posts in Lifestyle Modification Support for those of you that get more out of eye contact.] Hungry For Change breaks down in simple terms how the food we are eating is not really food in the real sense...but "food-like products." Hrmmm what does that mean?

I am going to anticipate your questions about this topic, beginning with a brief discussion today on whole fat versus low fat or non-fat. Please contact me all the ways that you do to ask your burning questions. The fat question is what instigated this post. In the past, I have spoken of how much sugar is clandestinely added to nearly every processed food you buy and eat. [Processed = anything prepared by someone you never met somewhere else. Examples? everything from cake and biscuit mixes, cereals, canned or packaged soups, frozen meals/snacks, salad dressings, pizza sauces, condiments, bread, flavored milks and vitamin drinks .... ]

Fat-free generally means LOTS of sugar products added. Why one is constantly hungry on low fat diets is that one is NOT giving the healthy fat that one needs while eating much more sugar than one might choose consciously. And, as I have mentioned before, sweet is added via a number of processed forms of "sugar"...high fructose corn syrup being the head of the pack. So imagine your brain, on the one hand requiring whole fat, not getting it; but also utilizing sugar rapidly  too, unhealthy over-processed forms of sugar, because it is HUNGRY!! for nutrition. And what happens next....is your brain is hard-wired to want sugar and starts craving more and more and more..... Sugar gives a beta-endorphin high. The more of this "high" the body gets, the more habituated the body becomes to it and thus needs ...more!

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more to come....... additions will continue at the bottom of the article as they are added.

Focuses to include: what are whole healthy fats? and what are unhealthy (dangerous) fats? How fat protects us from toxins....

BBC News - Scrubbing Up: Do hospitals legitimise junk food?

BBC News - Scrubbing Up: Do hospitals legitimise junk food? Following up the last blog I whipped out (admittedly!) on Brain Foods, this article from the BBC finishes another "nail on the head" of my personal list of pet peeves. There are plenty of stories one can find online that concur with what the BBC is opening for discussion. In fact, some of us have been talking about this issue for thirty years! Thank you, Cardiologist Asseem Malhotra, for writing about the problem in a fresh way. Nutrition is not all that hard to calculate.... pointedly, nutrition is still as simple as A, B, C, because we humans have not had an opportunity to mutate all that much since we began to be able to calculate the nutrients in our foods. So what is going on? Why are we being given limited choices for high quality healthy nutrition everywhere we turn? but especially, why are we being given limited choices from the places one would expect to have the best choices offered? As promised, I am working on a quick and concise discussion of why whole fats are much healthier than low fat foods. From this BBC article, you may begin to guess why. In a nutshell, right now, I will sign off saying, the less we bother the food before it gets to our kitchen, the healthier it is for our bodies. Until our next interaction, live well...Love and laugh. ~janet

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Update on this brief story line.....

I have not been able to get out of this story because I went on to discover a lot more written on the topic plus then NYT published a very thorough article on The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" six days ago. I cannot stop studying it and "Running off" in cyber land to follow up the details.....!

Crazy making lines from the astounding article "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4 :

“One article said something like, ‘If you take Lunchables apart, the most healthy item in it is the napkin.' " ===================== "... the food industry already knew some things about making people happy — and it started with sugar. Many of the Prego sauces — whether cheesy, chunky or light — have one feature in common: The largest ingredient, after tomatoes, is sugar. A mere half-cup of Prego Traditional, for instance, has the equivalent of more than two teaspoons of sugar, as much as two-plus Oreo cookies." ===================== “(Stephen)Sanger (of General Mills) was trying to say, ‘Look, we’re not going to screw around with the company jewels here and change the formulations because a bunch of guys in white coats are worried about obesity.” ===================== "These (new Lunchables) would be promoted as more healthful versions, with “fresh fruit,” but their list of ingredients — containing upward of 70 items, with sucrose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and fruit concentrate all in the same tray..." ===================== "The company’s Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills’ marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms." ===================== ....and more.... O.o