Soy crops - genetically engineered?

Twenty years ago, no genetically engineered food crops had been planted in the United States. Then, beginning in 1987, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began to receive what has turned out to be 11,600 applications for the testing of genetically engineered food crops. By the year 2000, over 50% of all soybeans planted in the U.S. were genetically engineered. As of 2007, that number increased to 91%. Soybeans currently surpass both corn and cotton as the genetically engineered crop with the greatest planted acreage. (For a more detailed look at genetically engineered soybeans and the history of crop planting, you can visit the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) review published by its Economic Research Service, at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/biotechcrops/ExtentofAdoptionTable3.htm).

Soybeans have not been genetically modified for nutritional reasons. They've been modified for economic reasons involving the reality of present-day agribusiness. For example, growers can now purchase "Roundup Ready" soybeans that are resistant to this glycophosphate herbicide.

There is no research evidence that shows consumption of genetic engineered soybeans to be harmful to our health, but I suspect that future research will show regular consumption of genetically engineered foods, including soybeans, to carry with it certain risks. Since genetic engineering means modifications of genes, and genes are the blueprint for making proteins, GE foods are foods destined to make proteins not naturally found in their chemical structure. Many adverse reactions to food involve immune system response to proteins, and it would be logical to expect more of these adverse reactions in the case of GE foods. At present, there is also a problem with regulation of GE foods by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As long as they pass a legal test of "substantial equivalence," genetically engineered foods are allowed into the marketplace without studies testing their safety. We are concerned about this type of uncontrolled experiment with a widely consumed food crop, and it's one of the reasons we support consumption of certified organic soy products. Genetic engineering is prohibited in the production of any certified organic food, including any soy-containing, organically certified food.

whfoods.org

Grapes!

Did you know that grapes and grape products contain a health-promoting phytonutrient called resveratrol that not only acts as a powerful antioxidant but activates genes that promote our health in numerous ways, thus helping to protect against heart disease and cancer? Recent studies show that resveratrol, found in grapes, particularly purple and red grapes, has powerful health-promoting properties. Much of this research was motivated by what has come to be known as the French Paradox: the interesting phenomenon of the low incidence of heart disease among the French despite their eating a diet high in saturated fats. Increasing evidence suggests that the phytonutrients found in grapes, grape juice and red wine, particularly resveratrol, may be a key to understanding this paradox since these foods are an important part of the French diet. Like calorie restriction, resveratrol activates a gene in humans in the SIR (silent information regulator) family. This gene, called SIRT1, then increases production of seven enzymes, called the sirtuins, which trigger cell signaling that:

. mobilizes the release of stored fat and its conversion into glucose
. promotes insulin secretion, so glucose is promptly delivered to cells
. boosts the aerobic capacity of the mitochondria (the energy production factories in our cells), so the glucose is efficiently converted into energy
. inactivates p53, a gene that plays a pivotal role in cellular senescence

The net result is a much more youthful metabolism in which fats and carbohydrates are efficiently converted into energy, increasing endurance and resistance to stress, instead of stockpiling and fueling inflammation, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

whfoods.org

Is it OK to store fruits and vegetables in plastic bags in the refrigerator?

I believe that fruits and vegetables can usually be stored in plastic bags (like those you get in the market's produce section, or plastic "zip-lock" type bags) at normal refrigerator temperatures. I have yet to see research that shows significant health risks to be associated with plastic bags when used at the low refrigerator temperatures of 35-40°F (2-4°C).

On the other hand, I'd like to mention that the practice of shrink-wrapping individual foods in thin plastic wrap is not one I recommend. That's because this practice can increase the amount of food surface that comes into tight and direct contact with the plastic, potentially causing additional migration of chemicals from the plastic into the food. However slight, this added risk seems unnecessary to me and easily avoided.

I'd also like to point out that while plastic may be an acceptable storage method for produce kept in the refrigerator, the heating of plastic can be problematic in that there is a greater potential for the migration of the plastic chemicals into the food. Therefore, I would avoid all methods of cooking that involve plastics such as any type of "boil-in-a-bag" food, heating food in a plastic container in the microwave, and heating in the oven using "oven-safe" plastic containers.

whfoods.org

Does hydration enhance nutrient metabolism? Hmmm?

Being optimally hydrated is always a way to improve safety of nutrient metabolism, especially water-soluble nutrients including certain forms of minerals and proteins. Having plenty of water in your bloodstream, cells, and tissue spaces outside of the cells is one way to decrease the concentration of these nutrients as well as their metabolic breakdown products (like ammonia in the case of proteins).

whfood.org

What about potential toxic residues found in virtually all fish and shellfish?

As of 2003, almost 90% of all shrimp consumed in the United States were imported from Asia and Latin America, with China, Vietnam, and Thailand serving as the three top suppliers. These shrimp imports totaled about 1.5 billion pounds! U.S. shrimp farms produce approximately 12 million pounds of shrimp each year, but that amount is less than 1% of the total shrimp imports. This huge imbalance between imported and domestically produced shrimp can be problematic due to problems with contamination in certain Asian fish farming operations and also with lack of sustainable practices on the part of many fish farming operations.

Check this out: Seafood Watch Pocket Guide...........

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx.

When it comes to purchasing shellfish-and all types of fish well-I also encourage you to ask your grocers, or fishmongers, or whoever is responsible for providing your fish, as many questions as necessary to get an idea about its overall quality and sustainability.

whfoods.org

Organic foods too expensive? not available?

Yes, if you can't afford organic produce, you can still enjoy great health. If you can't buy organic produce, I would still encourage you to buy non-organic fruits and vegetables and enjoy a full array of different types.

However, I'd also recommend taking some additional steps with the non-organic produce that you purchase. It would be important to wash your non-organic fruit and vegetables well, using a natural bristle brush to lightly scrub the surface, so that you can remove some of the pesticide residues that may be present.

You may also want to peel conventionally grown cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, and apples. This peeling recommendation is due to two factors. First, the outermost surfaces of fruits and vegetables may be the most affected by pesticide spraying. Second, the above types of produce often have petroleum-based wax coatings that may work against your best health. (The situation with the peeling of non-organic produce is exactly opposite from the situation with organic fruits and vegetables. With organic produce, you almost always want to keep the peels and skins intact because they are among the most nutrient-rich parts of any food.)

Do you have a farmer's market near you? If so, you may want to buy your produce there. Even if the produce you find there is not certified organic, chances are that it may contain less pesticide residues than produce available in larger grocery stores that do not focus on locally grown foods. Many small farmers don't go through the process of organic certification but still grow their produce with minimal, if any, agricultural chemicals.

whfoods.org

Red Pepperssssss

Did you know that a cup of sliced raw green bell pepper contains 12% of your daily value (DV) for vitamin A, but an equivalent cup of sliced red bell peppers contains 104% DV! Red bell peppers provide both color and taste to your meals, along with plenty of both vitamins C and A. They are also a concentrated source of carotenoid phytonutrients that provide powerful antioxidant protection against the oxidative damage to cells caused by free radicals. Free radicals play a major role in the cholesterol build-up associated with the increased risk of heart disease, the nerve and blood vessel damage seen in diabetes, the cloudy lenses of cataracts, and the joint pain and damage seen in arthritis. The lycopene and beta-cryptoxanthin found in red bell peppers are associated with promoting a healthy heart and lungs, while theirlutein and zeaxanthin promote vision health

whfoods.org

Cool Carrots

Did you know that carrots are by far the richest source of carotenoid phytonutrients, such as beta-carotene? Just one cup of carrots contains 1158% of the RAE for beta-carotene, which, particularly if the carrots have been lightly steamed and served with a little olive oil, our bodies may be able to convert into varying amounts of vitamin A. As an excellent source of carotenoids, which also function as potent antioxidants, carrots help promote good vision, especially night vision, and combat the free radical activity associated with an increased risk of numerous degenerative diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and age-related macular degeneration. Carrots also contain a newly discovered phytonutrient, called falcarinol, which may be one reason carrots have been associated with a reduced risk of some cancers. And remember, enjoying whole fresh carrots will provide you not only with the benefits of these phytonutrients, but the entire complex of nutrients whole, fresh unprocessed carrots deliver, including vitamin K, C, folate, potassium, B6 and dietary fiber

whfoods.org

Tahini?

Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds. It is also called sesame paste or sesame butter. It is like peanut butter but made from sesame seeds. There are several available options when you purchase tahini.

The first consideration when it comes to choosing a tahini is whether to purchase a product made from unhulled or hulled sesame seeds. Tahini made from unhulled sesame seeds is more nutrient-rich than tahini made from hulled seeds, but it is also more bitter; this type of tahini is usually referred to as sesame butter. Since both versions would still make for good food choices, you can let your taste buds decide which type-the one made from hulled seeds or the one made from unhulled seeds-is more pleasing to you.

Roasted versus raw is another choice you have to make when it comes to selecting tahini. Raw (non-roasted) tahini is sufficiently higher in nutrient content, and I believe it's the better choice here.

Some manufacturers add additional oils to their tahini. I would recommend purchasing tahini with no added oils so that the tahini is made only from pure ground sesame seeds.

Finally, there is the option of a certified organic tahini. This is recommended.

whfood.org

Yes, you can definitely freeze your spinach for later use!

First, I recommend that you clean your spinach well. Wash off the grit and remove any unhealthy leaves or sections of leaves.

Second, I suggest that you blanch the spinach for two minutes, no more or no less. What I mean by blanching is simply placing your cleaned spinach leaves in a covered steamer basket on top of a saucepan that contains boiling water. If you blanch your spinach for only a minute, you won't succeed in deactivating the enzymes in the spinach. Deactivation of these enzymes is helpful to prevent further ripening of the spinach in your freezer. Color changes, taste changes, and nutrient loss can still take place in your frozen spinach unless these enzymes are first deactivated. If you blanch your spinach for more than two minutes, you will not only deactivate the enzymes but also cause a significant amount of unnecessary nutrient loss.

Third, I recommend that you chill the spinach in ice water immediately after blanching in order to stop the cooking process. After that, thoroughly drain the cooled spinach leaves. Only after completing this last step should you go ahead and place the spinach leaves in freezer bags or other containers for storage in your freezer.

The above three steps should provide you with a supply of homegrown, frozen spinach that can last you all the way up until your next year's harvest!

whfoods.org

Garlic in oil? No-no-no....

Extreme care must be taken when preparing flavored oils with garlic or when storing garlic in oil. I agree with the following statement made by the Cooperative Extension Program at the University of California, Calaveras County:

"Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism toxin (low acidity, no free oxygen in the oil, and warm temperatures). The same hazard exists for roasted garlic stored in oil. At least three outbreaks of botulism associated with garlic-in-oil mixtures have been reported in North America."

According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/), peeled garlic cloves may be submerged in oil and stored in the freezer for several months. Definitely, do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. By law in the United States, commercially prepared garlic-in-oil has been prepared using strict guidelines and must contain citric or phosphoric acid to increase the acidity. Unfortunately, there is no easy or reliable method to acidify garlic in the home. Acidifying garlic in vinegar is a lengthy and highly variable process and therefore carries risks with it; a whole clove of garlic covered with vinegar can take from three days to more than one week to sufficiently acidify. As an alternative, properly dried garlic cloves may be safely added to flavor oils.

Given all of this, I think that you should be safe rather than sorry...not only would I not eat the green garlic, but I'd also discard the entire garlic-in-oil mixture.

whfoods.org

Cauliflower

Did you know that along with its wealth of vitamins and minerals, cauliflower, like the other cruciferous vegetables, contains powerful sulfur compounds that have repeatedly been found to help prevent cancer? Since 1993, the National Cancer Institute has been demonstrating that prevention, rather than cure, is the way to decrease deaths related to cancer. And they have found the way to prevention is eating the proper foods! Research on the prevention of cancer, as well as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, all points strongly to the food we eat as a key factor that has the potential to cut back dramatically on the rates of these chronic diseases. And some of the best foods for disease prevention are the sulfur-containing cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower. These vegetables contain compounds, including sulforaphane and isothyiocyanates, which help the liver to neutralize potentially harmful cancer-causing compounds and to suppress tumor cell growth and the movement of cancer to other parts of the body (metastasis).

whfoods.org

I Will Rise

Sang this in choir this morning.

Something very interesting happened.

For a couple of days I didn't eat very much. I tried eating only if I was very hungry. Problem is, I don't experience strong hunger since my hypothalamus has been reset. So I didn't eat very much. Each day I gained weight. I had read about this happening when I was on the hcg diet. I think what it is is, your body goes into that infamous 'starvation mode' and holds onto the weight. This could screw with my hypothalamus, and possibly un-reset it. That's something I don't what to happen.

So I changed my eating to make sure I partook in small quantities throughout the day. [I try not to eat late in the evening, but that is hard to do for me due to my schedule.] I lost 3/4 lb the first day and .5 lb the second day. That's 1.25 lbs in two days!

So I starve myself and gain weight, and eat more - but balanced - and loose weight.

Amazing!

Simple: 1 grapefruit, pink, plus 2 oranges...um...orange. :P Add some hemp protein powder [not the whole amount shown, but maybe half for my taste], and juice it all up.

Can you see how the skin on the grapefruit is scored? [It might be hard to see that the 'north and south poles' are scored.] I also do this to oranges that I pack in my lunch. Very easy to peal this way. Sections just pop right off.

Breakfast of..um..artillery specialists? heh

Check this out:
almond milk - BAM!, cacao powder - BAM!, frozen banana - BAM!, frozen blueberries - BAM!, agave - BAM!

How I kept from sipping this before I took the pic, well, I just dunno.......

How do foods affect my sleep?

There's no doubt that there are many of us that have trouble getting a good night's sleep. The statistics here are striking. For example, 42% of all healthy, middle-aged women in the United States report some kind of sleep trouble, including difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night, or not feeling refreshed in the morning.

Sleep is a "mind-body" experience

There's no doubt that from a physiological standpoint that sleep is a complicated event and one that's related to many factors that cut across the "mind-body" spectrum. When we can't get to sleep because we're worried and feeling anxious, or depressed and feeling down, or confused and can't figure something out, we obviously aren't going to get to the root of our sleep trouble until we're able to work through the parts of our lives that we're feeling anxious or depressed about. At the same time, however, our nutritional status and the food we eat always influence our sleep. While we can't afford to overlook the psychological aspects, we also need to pay attention to the way we eat.

Patterns and timing make a difference

We've all heard the advice, "don't eat a big meal too close to bedtime." Although this advice sounds simple, it's actually very important and not that easy to follow. On our World's Healthiest Foods website, we've tried to emphasize the sheer joy of eating healthy food. Getting to savor the aroma, taste, and visual beauty of food is a part of what it means to be healthy. Many of us eat a meal late at night-within two hours of bedtime-precisely because we haven't made time during the day to enjoy food.

In fact, we let ourselves get so hungry that we don't really care any more about the joy of eating. We just want something in our stomach! Research shows that the timing and size of our evening meal is closely related to the timing and size of our other meals throughout the day. When we have a cup of coffee in the car on the way to work, grab a sandwich for lunch, or take care of all the household chores before getting around to dinner, we are setting ourselves up for a bad night's sleep.

Sometimes we rationalize and think that a big meal will actually help us get to sleep by exhausting our body as it tries to digest the large meal. It's tempting logic, but research evidence points in the opposite direction. A large meal does the opposite of slowing our body down. It asks our circulatory system to move more blood to our digestive tract. It asks our stomach to secrete more gastric acid. It asks our pancreas to become more active and produce digestive enzymes. It asks the smooth muscles around our intestines to become active. In short, when it comes to our physiology, a large meal does anything but relax us.

In addition, our digestive tracts are set up to work best when we are standing; lying down results in gravity pulling the "wrong way" to help foods digest. Even though the practice of napping after a meal is common, it isn't ideal from the standpoint of digestion. Sitting and resting are fine. For example, enjoying each other's company around the table after a delicious meal is a good idea. But lying down to sleep just doesn't help digestion.

It's also worth thinking about the physiological purpose of eating in regard to late-night meals. Nutrients and energy get released from food after we eat, not before. They help increase our vitality hours after the meal has been eaten; they cannot go back and compensate for a prior day's worth of activity that received no nutritional support. The time to have our largest meal is always before we need the most nutritional support, i.e., before we have the most physically demanding part of our day. Sleep is the least physically demanding part of the day, and the least logical target for release of food energy and nutrients. We tell ourselves we've had a hard day, and we're starved, but at this point, it's too late to repair any nutritional damage done. We need the nourishment before the hard day (and hopefully it will make the day less difficult). I should also mention how important it is not to go to bed actually hungry; this can interfere with sleep, usually by failing to keep the brain supplied with enough glucose (sugar).

whfoods.org

Back from Mom's....

This trip to mom's is the reason I made sure that I had achieved phase 4 by then. I've never eaten so much meat. And - get this - all the while reading The China Study! Uber blech! I felt like I gained a ton. So on the flight back I fasted until 5 pm. I weighed in this morning and had gained 1.25 lbs. I'm actually quite pleased with that. I would not have been surprised if I had gained over 5 lbs! I'm sure, had I not fasted yesterday, that the weigh-in would have been higher. Seriously; ice cream, cake, whipped cream desserts, meat, meat, meat, sugared cereal, bread, bread, bread, etc. It's a miracle! LOL

Now I start back to working out. My next goal: loose 5 more lbs.

Oh, and I froze some mung sprouts before I left. I'll let you know how successful that was soon. :D

Ooo, I almost forgot. Of all days, today I tried on some shorts I had in a drawer for a few years that I could not fit in anymore. And they fit! I think what's more amazing about loosing the weight on this diet, is loosing the inches!