on my mind monday 12.3.12

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  A collection of what I find interesting in the world of food, nutrition, and holistic health.  Here's what's on my mind.

The Economic Cost of Food Monopolies - Our food system is broken/breaking down as corporations pursue ever greater consolidation in the race toward profits. This however squeezes out the farmer and isolates us further from our food. I believe everyone should read this report. It's important that we understand where our food comes from, why costs are rising, and why we need to know our farmer.

Changes ahead for sugar - (starts at 2:40 on the video) US prices 50-70% higher than the rest of the world? Wow that's a huge jump. Combined with the fact that processed sugar can be as much as 4 times more addictive than cocaine and we have a very expensive health crisis on our hands (in more ways than one). We could all pay attention to the label and eat less sugar.

eFarmony - I love this idea...putting those with land together with those who want to farm it. Sounds like a win-win-win with consumers getting more fresh local produce.

Allergic to spice - We hear a lot about the common food allergies, dairy, peanuts, shellfish, etc. We also hear about food sensitivity conditions the severe celiac disease to a less harmful but still challenging lactose intolerance (a lack of the digestive enzyme lactase). But many people tend to forget that food sensitivities can be to any food substance. While food sensitivities are different than a life-threatening allergy, they are no less severe for their impact on health. If you think you have food sensitivities consider working with a nutrition professional to see how you can identify what may be overwhelming your system.

Horrible Diet Ideas - With the New Year just around the corner many people begin to resolve to lose weight. Unfortunately many of them are seduced by fad diets and celebrity endorsements. Just because someone is famous does not make them an expert on nutrition. Many of these ideas are highly dangerous. If you want to lose weight it needs to be done in a healthy, supportive fashion.

Asparagus for blood sugar control? - Like asparagus? It turns out that asparagus may be useful in stabilizing blood glucose levels. More and more readily available at the grocery store it's tasty and easy to cook.  I love the fact that I've got some in my garden, we just finished moving it to it's new dog-free garden bed. Now to wait and see if it transplanted well.

Looking for a good gentle yoga routine?  Here's one I like that's very relaxing and, most importantly, reminds you to breathe deeply.



What am I reading this week?  Truthfully, nothing because I'm still busy at work on my book, The Pantry Principle: how to read the label and understand what's really in your food.  Want to learn more about the book?

Head on over to Facebook and join The Pantry Principle page.  You'll be able to stay in touch as I start posting healthy tips and news articles.

on my mind monday 11.19.12

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  A collection of what I find interesting in the world of food, nutrition, and holistic health.  Read what's on my mind.

High Riboflavin Linked to Low Lung Cancer Risk - This study was done as part of the Shanghai Women's Health Study, the participants were non-smoking females.  Not sure what the implication is for those who used to smoke but it sure can't hurt to make sure you eat foods high in riboflavin. These include:  venison, yogurt, milk, crimini mushrooms, and spinach.

Rooftop Hospital Farms - This is a great way for hospitals to utilize the space on top of their building, create healthy menus for the patients and staff, and help to contribute to a growing eco-friendly environment.  I can also envision this as a potential park-like area for inner-city patients (those able to be ambulatory), and staff to be able to spend therapeutic time in a green environment.

Fat loss odds stacked against you - It's a never-ending battle of the bulge.  Portion sizes, especially when eating out, are out of control.  Fats and sugars and salts are packed into foods to make them more tempting and convince us to overeat.  It is not in the best (profit-driven) interests of corporations to have consumers who don't overeat -- read overspend on food and then the attendant pharmaceutical/healthcare bills that come along with obesity.  We need to become more aware and more proactive in managing our health and our consumption.

Exercise Your Sperm - Turns out men who exercise not only improve their own health, they also improve the quality of their sperm.  Important for those who want to have children.  Interestingly enough the study found that endurance athletes, such as triathletes, did not have this benefit as they suffered from reduced sperm quality.  Rather it was moderate exercise which promoted the best value of sperm health and hormone levels.

One Can Equals 22 Aerobic Minutes - How hard do you have to work to burn off that cola?  And don't forget about the immune suppressing effects of all that sugar.  Drinking sugar free?  You're still taking in toxic chemicals and damaging your health. Do we really need a "calculator" to tell us that soda is not a healthy beverage choice?

I know you hear me on Facebook frequently encouraging alkalizing. Here's a great video that shows a good explanation of the acid-alkaline balance.  If you're not already participating, sign up or "like" my Facebook Fan Page to stay connection and be part of the conversation.

photo: mconnors

on my mind monday - 11.12.12

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  A collection of what I find interesting in the world of food, nutrition, and holistic health.  Here's what's on my mind.

Food: An Atlas - It's an interesting project to map food in a number of different ways; production, distribution, security, and cuisine  Should be fascinating to look at and see where your food is really coming from.

Factory Farms May Raise Blood Pressure - We know factory farms are bad for the animals that are raised there.  Overcrowding and filthy conditions are not good for any living being.  The environmental impact of CAFO's is huge.  Now it turns out that it may not be healthy for people living nearby either.  While the study is small and the results not firm, it points to another reason why CAFO's may not be the best way to raise meat.

Meat Inspections Are Down - And speaking of meat, it turns out that our government is inspecting less and less of the meat coming in to this country from other countries.  The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is instead relying more and more on those countries to self-report any issues.  Another good reason to buy local and get to know your farmer.

Women Who Exercise Still Sitting Too Much - Whoops, that would include me.  The health results of sitting are known to be bad for us.  The more we sit the more challenges we face to our health.  I try to be as active as possible but when I added up my hours spent sitting, either at work or at home, it came to far more than I thought it did.  Time to bump up the activity program and try to find ways to be more active during the course of a day.

Sports Drinks Overhyped - "There isn't much evidence that sports drinks improve athletic performance."  Truthfully not many people work out enough to need a sports beverage.  Not only that, most sports drinks are filled with garbage ingredients.  Consider drinking water, a great hydrating beverage.  Need electrolytes (and I mean really need them), then try coconut water, a perfectly balanced electrolyte beverage.

If you're going to add more exercise to your routine, don't forget to add in stretching.  And to do stretch properly as demonstrated in this video.



photo:  mconnors

on my mind monday 09.24.12

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  A collection of what I find interesting in food, nutrition, and holistic health.  Here's what's on my mind.

Before we get into the collection of news for this week I wanted to let everyone know that the Cookie Naming Contest is still going on.  Naming suggestions have been collected for a week.  It was great fun seeing all of the responses coming in.  Entered in submission order they're available in the online survey for you to vote for your favorite cookie name which will go in my book, The Pantry Principle.  The person who submitted the winning name will also receive a batch of this cookie personally baked by me.

Placebo or not acupuncture helps with pain - A lot of people turn to acupuncture for help with a variety of issues including pain.  Because it is considered an alternative medicine practice it is not always well accepted.  However in studies covering 18,000 people it appears to have a positive benefit.  California is looking at passing legislation that would make acupuncture a required-to-be-covered health benefit.  Stay tuned to see how this treatment option may become more accepted and more available.

The benefits of middle age fitness - Just as it is with dietary changes, when making changes to your physical activity level, it's never too late.  Obviously the more you take care of your body, keep it active, feed it healthy choices, the better it will work for you.  But if you've stopped those things and want to start again...right now is the best time.  "Moving out of the least fit category [only requires] 20-30 minutes of walking on most days of the week."

Your Dental Hygienist Will Be Happy - It turns out that in addition to making them look good and helping us to have clean smelling breath, regular dental cleanings (or scalings) appear to help reduce the incidence of  strokes and other heart diseases.  Another study looked at regular brushing habits and found a positive correlation with reduced rates of dementia.  Looks like keeping those pearly whites in good shape is a significant part of your self-care health plan.

Non-vegan Bananas? - It doesn't exist yet but there's a possibility that it will.  Apparently a new coating has been developed which may extend the shelf life of fresh produce.  It's made from chitosan which is a product from the shells of shrimp and crabs.  For those people who have life threatening allergies to shellfish this is highly problematic.  Not only will it remove their ability to eat anything coated with this product.  I have to wonder about the transfer factor.  If another shopper touches that product and then touches something else will there be a transfer of the coating onto the supposedly uncoated product?  Chances are high that the answer is yes.  Given that an allergy to shellfish is one of the most common allergies in the United States, this could potentially be quite problematic.

Fall is here and in many parts of the country that means apple picking season.  Here's a fun video with a good looking recipe.  Most people think of farm to table as meaning meat products.  But it also applies to produce, herbs, and other foods.  Anything that you take straight from the producer to your home and your table.  I love the use of dates in the crust of the crumble.





Photo: mconnors

on my mind monday 09.10.12

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  A collection of what I find interesting in the world of food, nutrition and holistic living.  Here's what's on my mind.

Meditation in the corporate world - According to this article more major corporations are recognizing the value of having employees take a break -- to meditate.  Meditation is known to have a variety of health benefits including lowering blood pressure as well as allowing the mind to refocus.   While we don't teach meditation techniques (and there are many) in the US, it may be something that becomes more and more common in response to this sort of corporate acceptance.

A new twist on urban gardening - in Chicago city lots are not just being used for urban farming.  Some are being converted to orchards where heirloom varieties will be grown.  The time investment to plant, nurture, and eventually harvest an orchard is significant.  The hope is that residents and even restaurants will be able to use and eat these heirloom fruits.  This will be an interesting project to watch, it could be a novel way for other cities to make use of public spaces.

Corn syrup in what? - This very cheap sugar finds it's way into an amazing array of foods, even those that would not necessarily be thought of as sweet (such as pizza).  The only way to avoid it in your food is to read the label.  Another important thought to remember, corn is one of the most highly genetically modified crops in the US.  So any products with corn in them (unless marked organic or non-gmo) are quite possibly genetically modified.

National Yoga Month - is September.  And there are lot of different kinds to choose from.  Yoga is a great form of exercise for people who cannot do impact exercises all the way up to those looking for a vigorous workout.  It also offers a wide range of health benefits.

Calorie restriction may not extend life - starving mouse studies seemed to indicate that mice fed 30% less than "normal" lived as much as 40% longer.  There are a number of people who follow calorie restriction in the hopes that the results will be the same for people.  Recent studies appear to indicate that it doesn't work for Rhesus monkeys.  However the monkeys did have a better quality of life with lower rates of diabetes and cancer.  I wonder what would happen if results were examined again to look at the quality of the food that the monkeys ate.

It's back to school time.  Unfortunately for a lot of teens and older kids that may mean a temptation to reach for energy drinks to try to stay on top of their hectic schedules.  Unfortunately this is not a good choice.  Here's a video from my friend Karen that talks about energy drinks and their effect on the adrenal glands.



photo:  mconnors

on my mind monday 7.30.12

news | photo: mconnors

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  It's what I find interesting in the world of food, nutrition and holistic health.  Read what's on my mind.

Non-fermented probiotic milk and juice - As I've talked about before on this blog, fermented foods and probiotics are especially beneficial to our health.  This new functional food is not yet on the market so I can't get a look at a label to give you information about it.  However it does appear that alginate, a seaweed, is being used for the thickener.  For some this will be a problem. In the meantime, if you are interested in adding healthy probiotics to your diet, it is easy to add fermented dairy such as yogurt and kefir as well as fermented beverages such as kombucha, kvass, and water kefir.

NY trans-fat ban has cut consumption - Mayor Bloomberg received a lot of flack for this initiative back in 2008.  Not necessarily, as I understand it, that much from consumers (who were still somewhat confused by the whole trans-fat issue) but from food producers.  They all claimed that it wouldn't work, that the consumers would be unhappy because of the changes, and that it would be difficult to do.  Four years later it appears to be working.  Trans-fat consumption is down.  Although saturated fat consumption bumped up modestly, it was not nearly to the degree of reduction in trans-fats.  Although there are no specific numbers that I could find, given the link between trans-fats and cardiovascular disease, this reduction most likely also reduced cardiovascular disease levels.

Put the apples where the chips are - I have to admit that I give Mayor Bloomberg a lot of credit.  It's difficult to get people to change the way they think about food.  His latest campaign is to try changing the eye-level and check-out locations of foods, replacing the unhealthy options like chips and candy with whole foods like apples and bananas.  It's a voluntary pilot program being run in the Bronx, which apparently has an obesity rate of 70%.  While some people are against this proposal it does not seem to be drawing nearly the same ire as his soda ban.  I'm not sure that this will change the way people shop, but perhaps it will encourage them to reconsider the choices they are making.  I'm very sure that the grocery stores and the junk food manufacturers are not going to be happy with this as grocery placement is a science and this will potentially be a huge hit to their profitability.

And one more for Mayor Bloomberg who wants to put baby formula under lock and key at the hospital.  This is part of the Latch On Initiative which aims to convince more mothers to breast feed their babies.  I have written about breast feeding here and here; long time readers will know I am a big proponent of it.  Not only is breast feeding best for the health of your baby (they have reduced incidence of allergies and infections and increased support for gastrointestinal health) it's also good for mom helping to reduce her lifetime risk of developing ovarian and breast cancers.  While some women are unable to breast feed I am happy to see that they are at least encouraging it and hopefully more will choose to do so.

GMO apples - I've written about this a few times, mostly on my Facebook page.  The purpose of this apple is to keep it from oxidizing (turning brown) when it's cut open.  The company claims this will also prevent minor bruising from showing up.  As readers to this page will no doubt already have figured out, I am opposed to this.  First of all I do not believe we need to be producing any GM food.  Secondly I believe this is a really silly thing to GM as a squeeze of lemon juice accomplishes the same purpose without the need to interfere with the food.  The document showing where to write or call to share your opinion on this product is located here.

High Intensity Training for both weight loss and cardio - Many people don't like going to the gym or the amount of time they think they have to spend there in order to lose weight and/or get in shape.  High Intensity Training can significantly reduce your cardio time.  And for those who don't want to even go to the gym you can do it at home if you have an elipse machine, a treadmill, or even an X-iser. Here's a video of how to use an X-iser at home.




Not reading anything this week as I continue to work on the campaign to publish my book.  Yes (happy dance), a book. It's called The Pantry Principle:  learning the read the label and understand what's in your food.   This book not only talks about different categories of additives, but also covers the concepts of making different choices at the grocery store that will allow you feed yourself and your family better.  There are even a number of tasty and delicious recipes included in the book.  Currently I'm pre-selling The Pantry Principle in order to raise the funds I need to hire a Copy Editor and a Layout Design Artist.  I want to get this book off the presses and into your hands.  If you are interested in knowing what you are eating, in making healthier choices for yourself and your family, please contribute to my campaign and help me publish the book.


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parenthood and exercise not mutually exclusive

family fun time | photo: vharjadi

Today we have a guest post from Alex Webb of Tristate Orthopaedic, a sports medicine provider in  Cincinnati.  Alex is someone who has been working very hard to figure out just where exercise fits in to her busy schedule - and she doesn’t even have children yet! Follow her on twitter @alexandriakwebb.

We all think our lives are busy, but ask any parent and they will tell you that they miss "busy." Being a parent makes busy feel like Sunday brunch in bed. Without a doubt, being a parent is rewarding, but between work, household duties, family time, social obligations, and running children to all of their appointments and social engagements it’s all too easy to neglect another aspect of your life: Yourself. 

One great way to take care of yourself is through physical activity. Some of the benefits of exercising are improved health, more energy, improved mood, better sleep, and an improved sex life. While all those benefits (and the list doesn’t end there) sound great, the parents out there are most certainly saying, “Of course I should be exercising - I already know that, but when? How?”

on my mind monday 6.25.12

news | photo: mconnors

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  This is a collection of what I find interesting in the world of food, nutrition and holistic health.  Read what's on my mind.

Jumping Jacks Aren't Enough - In this excellent article by Michele Simon, author of Appetite For Profit: How the food industry undermines our health and how to fight back, she points out that the Let's Move campaign created by Mrs. Obama isn't all of the story.  Yes, moving and jumping and being more physical is important for kids (and adults too).  However diet plays a huge part. Getting proper nutrition (and nutrition education) is key to helping children to understand the connection between what they eat and their health.  Sadly the purveyor's of the worst offenders for our diet don't want consumers, especially children who could become life-long consumers, to be well educated about their choices.  Read the article, read the book and then look again at what's in your grocery cart.

All About Breasts - I've talked about breasts before, mostly in talking about breast feeding here and here, also in talking about a recently published book on nutrition and breast cancer.  Now there's another new book that's going to have to go on my reading list; Breasts: a natural and unnatural history by Florence Williams.  Breasts serve an important function when it comes to nourishing our babies and as a part of our hormonal health.  However because they are made largely of fatty tissue which tends to accumulate toxins, they can also be the repositories for our exposure to a toxic world.  Should be an interesting read.



Greener soda bottles? - no, not really.  Plastic is a problem, a big problem.  As I mentioned in an on my mind monday post a couple of weeks ago just because manufacturers stop using BPA doesn't mean they aren't using other bisphenols.  And there are all sorts of other nasties out there when it comes to plastic.  Not to mention how bad it is for the environment.  I've written quite a few posts about plastic, the stuff is everywhere.  It's hard to get rid of; I'm still working on my one-step-at-a-time effort to get rid of it.  Mostly by following Beth over at My Plastic Free Life who has a new book, Plastic Free.  I'm doing better than I was a year ago but this reminds me I need to step it up again and look for more ways to remove more plastic from my life.



Kale isn't Chikin - I am a huge fan of Bo Muller Moore and his Eat More Kale t-shirts. I asked my kids what they thought...was there any confusion between kale and chicken in their minds.  After they finally stopped laughing I explained this lawsuit to them and they were highly incredulous.  I love the fact that Bo is making the film, A Defiant Dude and am rooting for him.

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