Salts. What's the Diff?

What is the difference between different types of salt such as kosher salt, sea salt, iodized salt, and regular salt?

The differences between types of salt-kosher salt, sea salt, iodized salt, and regular table salt-are a little more complicated than you might expect. In terms of its chemical structure, salt is a crystal composed of the elements sodium and chloride. While these two elements give salt its basic chemical structure, there are about one million trillion sodium-plus-chloride pairs in a single grain of salt.

There are three basic ways to obtain salt. First, salt can be mined since it is part of natural rock formations like halite. This mined salt can be processed and converted into ordinary table salt. Second, salt can be obtained from the ocean and produced by evaporating the water and leaving behind the salt. This salt can also be processed to produce a sea salt that looks and feels basically identical to table salt. However, because there are often additional minerals left following the evaporation of the sea water, sea salt can provide a little more nourishment in this context than other forms of salt. Third, salt can be produced from scratch in a science lab, although you won't see this type of salt in the grocery store because the other ways to obtain salt are much cheaper.

From the standpoint of religious dietary laws, "kosher salt" is somewhat of a misleading term since all pure salt would technically be considered kosher because of its purely mineral (sodium plus chloride) composition. This rule would apply to all pure salt, whether it was originally obtained from sea or land. However, in a practical, everyday sense what makes kosher salt different is its size and shape. Whether obtained from sea salt or mined salt, kosher salt production takes place with an alteration in the evaporation process that result in much larger and irregular chunks of salt.

What is the advantage of these larger-sized chunks? There is no nutritional advantage related to size, but kosher salt gets its name because it was originally designed to help in the koshering of meats. Koshering meat is a very important process in the dietary laws of several religions (especially Judaism), and many different factors are required in order for a meat to be considered kosher. One of these factors is the careful removal of all blood from the animal. Kosher salt-because of its larger grain size-dissolves more slowly when it is used to cure freshly cut meat. For this reason, it can do a better job drawing the blood out from the still uncooked meat. (If it were much bigger, however, the blood would simply spill off of it.)

Unrelated to this meat koshering process, however, many cooks like to use kosher salt because its larger size is simply more convenient and practical for certain kinds of food preparation. If you decide to cook with kosher salt, you'll need to follow the manufacturer's instructions about conversion of the fine-grained table salt amount in your recipe to the larger-grained kosher salt amount. There isn't one simple conversion method for substituting table salt with kosher salt because different manufacturers make kosher salts with grains that are always larger but vary significantly in size.

Any version of salt can be iodized or non-iodized. In the United States, iodized salt was introduced into the marketplace in the early 1920's in an effort to help lower the incidence of goiter. Goiter is a condition in which the thyroid gland enlarges to try and maintain its optimal function, and one possible cause of goiter is dietary iodine deficiency. The way salt is iodized is usually very simple and involves the addition of an iodine-containing mineral salt (like potassium iodide) to the sodium chloride. Sea salt, kosher salt, and regular table salt can all be purchased in iodized or non-iodized versions. To know whether you'd be better off purchasing iodized or non-iodized salt, it's important to know how effectively your diet is providing you with iodine.

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This is minutes from us...

Merry Christmas everybody!

Into cats? You'll love this...

Enjoy... I did! :D

Merry Christmas everybody!

http://www.godvine.com/Christmas-Lights-to-the-Music-of-Amazing-Grace-77.html

What is the best tuna to buy?

I always like to recommend foods as close to their whole, natural forms as possible. Yet, in the case of tuna, it is difficult for me to stick with this principle 100% due to the types of fresh (and frozen) tuna most widely available in the marketplace and their relative risk of mercury toxicity.

Canned light tuna, ordinarily made from skipjack tuna, actually poses a substantially lower risk in terms of mercury exposure than fresh yellowfin or albacore tuna. So this type of tuna-canned light tuna-is the type that's best for you to buy if you want to eat tuna relatively often (for example, about one meal per week). If you are only interested in eating tuna about once per month, other options include yellowfin or albacore tuna (that is either fresh or frozen, troll or pole caught), which I would describe as having a medium mercury exposure risk. While from an ecological standpoint, I would rank these tuna as "best choices" most of us will probably want to consider the mercury and health risks right alongside of the ecological ones when deciding upon our food purchases.

While canned light tuna is my "best choice" recommendation when it comes to canned tuna, it's important to take a close look at the "canned light" label as skipjack, yellowfin, bluefin, and tongol can all be sold as "light" tuna. Skipjack is your best choice among these light tuna options for lowering your risk of mercury exposure.

I also recommend water-packed versus oil-packed tuna whenever you are buying canned tuna. In addition to questioning the quality of non-organic oils used in oil-packed tuna (and the unnecessary, lower-quality fat calories they provide), water-packed tuna, on average, contains a slightly higher omega-3 fat content than oil-packed tuna. However small it may be, it is yet another important benefit that it offers.

There are also more expensive, specialty brands of canned tuna available in the marketplace that may serve as a good option. Some of these specialty products give you better flavor and more omega-3 fatty acids due to higher-quality production methods.

They may also involve more sustainable fishing methods than many other forms of canned tuna.

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I never knew Ms. Taffel, but I work with her husband...amazing teacher!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid49911610001?bctid=676187650001

This is darling!

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

What does GMO mean?

"GMO" stands for "Genetically Modified Organisms," and in the case of food, it usually refers to foods which have been genetically engineered for reasons unrelated to health or nourishment. You may also see the term "GE foods" (which stands for "genetically engineered" foods) or terms like "genetically altered" or "genetically modified" or "genetically improved" to describe these foods.

The process of genetically modifying foods is very new to the world of agriculture. In 1994, there were zero acres of GE food crops in the entire United States. At present there are more than 100 million acres! The Center for Food Safety, a non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C., estimates that 70-75% of all grocery store products contain at least one genetically modified ingredient. You have almost certainly already consumed many GE foods, whether you knew it or not!

Uncertain health risks with GE foods

The health risks associated with GE foods have not been clearly identified. However, many scientists have speculated that these foods are more likely to trigger allergic reactions in some people. Additionally, they suggest that they may change the protein composition of foods in a way that could present problems for the body's immune, inflammatory, digestive, and cellular signaling systems.

GE soybeans and GE corn are of special concern

In addition, a 2004 survey conducted by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology determined that 45% of all corn, 85% of all soybeans, and 76% of all cotton produced in the U.S. were genetically engineered. This very high percentage of genetic engineering for corn and soybeans is alarming because corn and soybeans are processed into so many commonly used ingredients in processed and prepackaged foods.

For corn, of course, the most common processing product is HFCS, or high fructose corn syrup. This product is found in literally thousands of processed foods, including sodas, baked goods, and many other foods. Other processed food ingredients that often come from corn include corn syrup, corn syrup solids, malt, maltodextrin, maltose, maltol, ethyl maltol, malt syrup, mannitol, dextrose, dextrin, and polydextrose. Of course, corn starch, corn flour, and corn oil are also corn-based ingredients.

As the most common GE food in the U.S., soybeans can be even more difficult than corn to identify in processed and prepackaged foods. The list of processed food ingredients derived from soybeans is a long one and includes: hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), textured vegetable protein (TVP), textured soy protein (TSP), textured soy flour (TSF), lecithin, meat analogs, isolated soy protein, isolated vegetable protein, soy protein concentrate, and structured protein fiber (SPF). Of course, soy bran, soy fiber, soy nuts, soy oil, soy sauce, soy grits, soy meal are also made from soybeans.

Unless you stick with certified organic foods, you will need to avoid any products with the ingredients listed above if you want to minimize your risk of GE foods. There are simply too much GE corn and soybean crops being raised for you to be sure that your non-organic foods are "GE safe".

Organic will help you avoid GE foods

Since the National Organics Program forbids the genetic modification of foods to be certified as organic, you can go a long way in avoiding GE foods by purchasing organic. For example, a food that is certified as 100% organic cannot contain any of the ingredients listed above if those ingredients have been derived from genetically engineered corn or soy.

"Non-GMO" or ""GMO-free" on food labels

Unfortunately, no labeling laws for GE foods exist in the United States, even though England, France, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, China, Indonesia, and over 25 other countries require labeling of GE foods. (Some GE food crops are actually banned in many countries, including England, Japan, Brazil, Norway, India, and Thailand). In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has generally discouraged the use of terms like "GMO-free" or "non-GMO" on food labels and has expressed concern about these terms as being misleading. From the FDA's perspective, any statement that implies superiority of a "GMO-free" food is misleading because they note that there is no scientific evidence to support any increased health risks associated with GE foods. While I agree that scientific studies are sadly lacking in this area, I also believe that GE foods can logically be expected to bring with them added health risks, and I would like to see all GE foods and non-GE foods clearly labeled for this reason. However, until such labeling is widely adopted, the only way to lower your GMO risks is to stick with certified organic foods

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Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear — YES! Magazine

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear — YES! Magazine

Cuciferous - easy for you to say

Did you know that the phytonutrients found in cruciferous vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, and kale, actually signal our genes to increase production of enzymes involved in detoxification?

For about 20 years, we've known that many phytonutrients work as antioxidants to disarm free radicals before they can damage DNA, cell membranes and fat-containing molecules such as cholesterol. Now, research is revealing that phytonutrients in cruciferous vegetables, like Brussels sprouts, work at a much deeper level. The phytonutrients in crucifers initiate an intricate dance inside our cells in which gene response elements direct and balance the steps among dozens of detoxification enzyme partners, each performing its own protective role in perfect balance with the other dancers. The natural synergy that results optimizes our cells' ability to disarm and clear free radicals and toxins, including potential carcinogens — one reason why cruciferous vegetables appear to lower our risk of cancer more effectively than any other vegetables or fruits. So, while Brussels sprouts may be miniature in size, they are giants when it comes to helping to protect cellular structures and DNA from the damage caused by free radicals.

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I now grow my own broccoli sprouts, which are reported to contain 50 times more! nutrients than the actual broccoli. Because it's a LIVE food. My doctor recently prescribed the herb Broccolinate, which among other things, helps to prevent breast cancer. GET OUT!

Next on my books-to-read list!

Should you peel your fruit?

It is best to eat fruit that is organically grown. One of the many benefits of eating organically grown is that you can enjoy the peel and the many nutrients it contains. Non-organic fruits are often coated with wax (carnauba wax, candelilia wax, paraffin, shellac and beeswax) or sprayed with ethylene gas to hasten the ripening process. Citrus fruits, such as oranges, apples and pears are fruits that are commonly waxed to keep in moisture, extend their shelf life and to make them shiny and more appealing. Fruits such as bananas and oranges are also commonly sprayed with ethylene gas to hasten their ripening process.

Clean all of your fruit under cold running water. For all non-organic fruit, it is recommended to wash them in a solution of water and a mild dishwashing liquid since this can eliminate at least 30% of pesticide and fungicide residues. However, washing with soap or detergent does not remove the wax that is used to retain the moisture and increase the shelf life of fruit like oranges, apples and pears. Only peeling will remove this wax. While orange peels are not often eaten, we highly recommend organically grown oranges when making zest or marmalade.

Oranges do not necessarily have to have a bright orange color to be good. Oranges that are partially green or have some brown coloration may be just as ripe and tasty as those that are solid orange in color. In fact, the uniform color of non-organic oranges may be due to the injection of Citrus Red Number 2 (an artificial dye) into their skins at the level of 2 parts per million. Organically grown oranges do not contain any type of food coloring or dyes.

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I am living in an upsidedown world...........

Will it blend?

"…most of the troubles of humanity are imaginary and should be laughed out of court. It is folly to cross a bridge until you come to it, or to bid the Devil good-morning until you meet him – perfect folly. All is well until the stroke falls, and even then nine times out of ten it is not so bad as anticipated. A wise man is the confirmed optimist."

Andre Carnegie
The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie and The Gospel of Wealth

What Foods are the Most Unhealthy?

The "unhealthiest" foods tend to be those that least resemble their original natural ingredients and those that have the most added refined and artificial additives. Prime examples are the so-called "white foods"-white sugar, white flour, and white fat, and the gamut of foods in which they are the principal ingredients. It's not that these foods are white in color-many of them are actually not. It's that these foods have had many of their natural components-including their natural colors-processed away. "White foods" is simply the shorthand label that we are using when we refer to these heavily processed, nutrient-depleted foods.

"White sugar" includes refined sugar cane or sugar beets having virtually all B vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients removed. Corn syrup is also a "white sugar," made from processed cornstarch and essentially devoid of other nutrients.
"White flour," analogously, is whole wheat flour minus its nutrient-packed wheat germ and fibrous bran. Nutritionally speaking, white flour is a ghost-like shadow of its original whole grain.
"White fat" can include rendered animal lard, vegetable oils "hydrogenated" to make them hard at room temperature, and refined fats such as cottonseed oil. Hydrogenation is a chemical process that transforms natural fats into more saturated trans-fatty acids that do not occur naturally and which are strongly associated with cardiovascular disease.

Foods having "whites" as their primary ingredients are frighteningly ubiquitous! Examples include soft drinks, breads, hamburger and hotdog buns, crackers, pasta, pastries and pastry fillings, pies, cakes, frostings, margarine and bread spreads, jellies, sweets and candies, frozen dinners, pizzas, snack foods, doughnuts, candy bars, and cookies-all of which are common snack and convenience foods. Indeed, many of these combine all three whites together-white sugar, flour, and fat! Furthermore, these foods frequently contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, texturizing and processing agents, and other additives that further detract from their nutritional stature and your health.

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