Edison died nearly 84 years ago, and we’re only now starting to see this change in doctors … and we have a LONG way to go. If you have a doctor who emphasizes nutrition as the foundation of wellness, please let us know about her/him, below! 
Celebrate yourself!
Why I am in a Food Fight (against Junk!)
Why do we not give cigarettes to kids? Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Why do we not let them drive a car? Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Why do we not give them drugs? Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Why do we not send them off to school full of toaster pastries (candy disguised as breakfast?) Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Oh, how I wish that last one were true. But somehow our culture has slipped, we have lowered our collective bar, to the point where we don’t even think it’s odd any more to:
- Give kindergarteners an afternoon snack of “juice boxes” (poorly named as most contain no juice), even though sugar-sweetened drinks suppress immunity and induce an adrenaline response at unusually high levels in children. Not what is needed in a class of 5 year olds!
- Serve “fast food” like burgers and fries in school cafeterias, even though consumption of these junk foods has been shown to lower test scores.
- Provide “energy drinks” for student athletes during halftime, even though these chemical-laden stimulants have been linked to serious complications and even death.
And when a parent tries to call foul on this bizarre behavior, he/she tends to be viewed as “extreme,” and to be hear they should “let kids be kids.” OK, pass them a cigar – they may like that, too.
Instead, what if we could find a way to tune out the words of the food marketers (whose job it is to increase consumption of their brands – not to increase your health) … and to instead make independent, informed choices for what to feed our families and ourselves?
What would our meals look like? What would our kids’ snacks look like? And what would be the impact on our collective health?
I believe we can reverse the trend in child obesity rates, which have quadrupled, from 5 to 20% in the last 30 years, along with hospitalizations of children due to obesity complications.
I believe we can reverse the highly related Type 2 Diabetes crisis (healthcare costs of $110 billion in 2011, projected to rise to nearly $157 billion by 2017).
And, call me crazy, but I think this can and must happen quickly, overnight, even. Let’s effect a culture shift that makes healthy choices the norm … the “default” behavior, and makes unhealthy choices uncomfortable.
If you are a parent, you can help be a driver of the shift. Bring beautiful, healthy snacks and meals when called upon by your school. Demonstrate that in-season fruit, water (maybe flavored with some fresh fruit?), and veggie snacks will be gobbled up as quickly as junk food, but with FAR better long-term results. And at home, cook, or at least assemble! If you start with whole ingredients like vegetables, grains, eggs, etc., and keep the focus more on vegetable sources, it is incredibly hard to make unhealthy meals. It’s the so-called “convenience” foods that come pre-packaged, pre-measured, pre-sliced that are most dangerous to your family’s health. Think: making your own chips vs. buying them in bags. You may have them from time to time, but the volume would be drastically reduced.
If you are an educator, make your classroom a “marketing central” for a healthy lifestyle. Kids who look at appetizing pictures of fruits and veggies all day tend to choose and eat more of these foods at meals! And for goodness sake, please ask parents to send only snacks that support health.
If you are a doctor or nurse, PLEASE don’t be afraid to suggest that families limit their foods to those made from fresh, whole ingredients. It’s not “fringy” or “crunchy” … it’s based in science and just makes sense. Years ago, a few words from a pediatrician helped call my attention to a dietary choice I was making (for “convenience”) that compromised my children’s health. He made a huge impact on our lives.
If you are an influencer of others – and this includes all celebrities, athletes, journalists, bloggers, etc. – please wield your influence wisely. Since you have to maintain high energy for your high-impact life, you probably already make awesome food and lifestyle choices. Be public – very, very public – with them.
And whoever you are, for yourself, as you go through your day, ask yourself whether each food choice you’re about to make supports or damages your health. If it is damaging, exercise this opportunity to hold yourself to a higher standard … to tell yourself a new story about your value, and what your body deserves by instead choosing foods that are healthy and life-affirming.
It really doesn’t take many good choices before they suddenly start to be the easy norm for you … and even those around you!
The Petition to Amend the Standard of Identity for Milk … and the REAL Reason it Matters
Confused about all that you’ve been hearing about aspartame and milk? Me too … until I did a little digging. Now I’m not confused, I’m furious.
Background/Status
In 2009, the National Milk Producer’s Federation and the International Dairy Foods Association jointly submitted a petition to the FDA (you can see the information here) to allow the use of “any safe and suitable” sweetener as a flavoring ingredient for milk and 17 other dairy products … without (and this is the key) having to include prominent front-label notices that the milk is “reduced calorie” or “reduced-sugar,” and “artificially sweetened.” Note that manufacturers already can, and do, use the artificial sweeteners with the labeling. Also, they can and do use the unmodified “milk” label on milk with added caloric sweeteners like sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, as well as on unsweetened milk.
The FDA has just opened the petition “for public comment and data,” which is why you’re hearing about it now in the news.
Don’t be Fooled: What’s Actually at Stake
Presumably fueling the controversy is aspartame, which is surely one of the most well-known controversial ingredients around today … and I’ve written about that below. But as is so often the case, what we’re arguing about (aspartame) is actually just a distraction to the real, FAR FAR FAR more troubling issue: the dairy industry wants to add ingredients without clearly stating that they are there. Following is a verbatim (bolding is mine) snippet from the Federal Register’s request for comments:
“However, IDFA and NMPF argue that nutrient content claims such as ‘reduced calorie’ are not attractive to children, and maintain that consumers can more easily identify the overall nutritional value of milk products that are flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners if the labels do not include such claims.”
REALLY?? But oh … it gets worse:
“Further, the petitioners assert that consumers do not recognize milk—including flavored milk—as necessarily containing sugar. Accordingly, the petitioners state that milk flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners should be labeled as milk without further claims so that consumers can ‘more easily identify its overall nutritional value.'”
Let me try re-phrasing this: ‘Consumers (particularly children) aren’t smart enough to know that flavored milk contains sugar. It would just confuse them if we told them, and we don’t think they really want to know anyway, so we shouldn’t tell them. Instead, we should just quietly replace it with fake sugar, which we think will be better for them.’
Apparently the Dairy Industry thinks we can’t handle the truth.
Next on this slippery slope: ‘Consumers have an illogical fear of <rodent meat, insects, or anything else you can imagine>, unsupported by scientific evidence. Rather than troubling them with the details, food manufacturers should be able to include this valuable protein source without calling attention to it.’
Let’s Spread the Word
How do YOU feel about this petition … about the IDFA and NMPF statements above? PLEASE add your comments to this post, and share your thoughts with others.
Related Information
In include the following information because it is indeed related. But please help spread the word that it’s the least of the problem with the petition currently under consideration.
The Aspartame Controversy
One side maintains that aspartame is an “excitotoxin” or “neurotoxin” that causes brain changes that lead to ADD/ADHD symptoms, impaired learning/memory, brain tumors, and worse. I dug really hard, and while there is a lot of media noise around this, there are actually very few published reports that support this view. Many on this side accuse the powerful food lobby of “hiding” research that shows the neurological and other ill effects.
The other side points out that despite heavy assault from internet memes and hoax emails, asparatame has consistently passed the scrutiny of scientific studies, including ones by the National Cancer Institute, and has been determined to be safe for human consumption.
Personal note: For myself and my family, I’m sticking with molecules that have been around for long enough to understand long-term (and I mean generational) effects. Aspartame, introduced in 1981, doesn’t make the cut. Also, I’m negative on anything that supports further development of my sweet tooth – and at 200 times sweeter than sugar, aspartame is a taste bud bomb I don’t need.
What is Phenylalanine and how does it relate to this issue?
It has an awkward name, but it’s actually a naturally-occurring essential amino acid (amino acids are the building blocks of protein). It’s found in most animal products – meat, dairy, eggs, even human breast milk. And it is one of the breakdown products of aspartame.
The reason you see warnings about it is that about 1 in 15,000 people have a condition called Phenylketonuria, which prevents them from metabolizing phenylalanine; it instead builds up in their bodies. These warnings allow them to make safe food choices given their condition.
Hooray Puree – what a FABULOUS idea!
I heard about this new product a few days ago, and I am SO excited! 100% natural vegetable purees that you can quickly and easily slide into favorite foods. Not that it’s THAT hard to cook up carrots, spinach, or sweet potatoes … but this makes them portable, quick and excuse-proof!
Check out their recipe section for some great ideas, and definitely don’t miss the Butternut Squash and Walnut Dip!
Hooray Purée is now sold at Whole Foods, and they’re celebrating by giving away a $500 gift card. Click on the graphic above, or here: $500 Whole Foods Gift Card to enter.
NOTE: I was not paid or in any way compensated for this post. My comments reflect my genuine opinion.
Great Family Food Resolutions, from Stacy Whitman
- Yes, your kids WILL eat it … if they help make it!jazzijava / Food Photos / CC BY-NC-ND
Looking for ways to make 2013 healthier for your family? Granted, the world doesn’t make it easy, with endless messages about convenient, cheap foods full of sugar, rancid fats, and salt … but when you look around you and see where that has gotten the “average American,” you want something better for your family, right?
Check out this great article on Family Food Goals, by Stacy Whitman from the blog School Bites: One Mom’s Crusade for Better Nourished Kids at School (and at Home!). Start with one change, and aim to make them all within the next few months.
Palate and the Plate
When most people think of a healthy lifestyle, they think of what they are giving up … but if you put a little thought into it, you can easily remind yourself of what you are gaining: beautiful, vibrant health!
The plate on the left contains yellow french beans, avocado, spinach, tomatoes, spices, olive oil, vinegar and a little grated mozzarella cheese, but the net effect is arguably more appetizing than any burger and fries could ever be! In fact, most healthy foods are absolutely gorgeous, and don’t require much imagination to be composed into a mouthwatering presentation.
Also, pay attention to your choices of platter and plate colors and shapes. Check out this article about an Oxford/Polytechnic University of Valencia study about the link between presentation and perception.
I would love to see pics of your best presentation! Send them to jennifer at <the name of this blog> and I’ll post some of the best!
CNN: Study Finds That World Wastes Half its Food
This is one of the saddest articles I’ve read in a long time: The World Wastes Half its Food. And much of it due to blemishes or imperfections that the healthiest, heritage, organically-grown food will be more prone to … while the snack cakes live on.
As consumers, we are either part of the solution, or part of the problem. What we can do:
- Teach the market not to throw away viable food : insist on organically grown fruits and vegetables, and accept the imperfections that come with that. The worm in the tip of the corn, the dark spot on a banana, or the overripe leaves on the outside of a cabbage are normal and easy to strip away. Accepting this small investment of time will help teach producers and grocers not to throw away these items (and drive prices up to cover the waste).
- Be deliberate in your own shopping choices: think of the effort and work that went behind the vegetables you are buying, and the lives invested in the meat items. Refuse to squander this – buy only what you can eat or store, and if you wind up with a surplus, invite a friend to share dinner, or pass the ingredients to a local food bank before they spoil.
- Does your CSA or garden sometimes overwhelm even your hungry family? Invest in freezer space and dehydrating tools and challenge yourself to live with as little waste as possible. Fruits can be made into fruit leathers, veggies into great soups for office lunches, and more.
Have other ideas? Please comment below and share them … let’s work together to reduce this terrible waste!
