Forks Over Knives

Yes, it's Valentine' Day, and I was going to post a great cupcake recipe with dairy free coconut spread frosting, but I guess it will have to wait. This is too important to me. If you haven't seen this documentary, you must. AND if you have seen it and changed nothing about your life, maybe you should watch it again. 

I'm outraged and this is going to be a complete rant/sh(bad word)-show type of post so hold on to your horses, and by all means don't eat them, yes the horses. Not that I know many people that do, but that was my awkward way of segway-ing into the synopsis of this documentary,  chill on the animal eating. Yes, I've had two glasses of wine. Bear with me.

Here's the facts: 2 out of every 3 of Americans are overweight, diabetes is on the rise, 50% of Americans are on a prescription drug, we think bypass surgeries and lap bands are no big thang, heart disease, cancer and stroke are the three leading causes of death. The list goes on, how many of you know someone who is autistic? Schizophrenic? Depressed?

It all comes down to food. Food is here to keep you alive, give you medicine; not give you a reason to socialize or be happy. People in this country are eating the wrong things and it is killing us. 

Guaranteed you know someone with breast cancer or any type of cancer for that matter; do you know how many people in Kenya have breast cancer? 82% less than the United States. In other foreign countries, you hear about health issues like AIDS, hepatitis, cholera, malaria. Yes, those are huge issues, but most of them are preventable and all linked to direct causes; poor water quality, sanitation, education, nutrition, etc. It's interesting to me that you never hear about the common health problems we face over here: cancer, diabetes, autism, ADHD, cardiovascular disease, etc. Among the massive amounts of things that could be wrong out there, I can't help but wonder if they must also be doing something right (without even realizing it).

The idea of this movie is that we should be eating more plant based whole foods and shy away from animal products including meat and dairy. It is so ingrained into our heads that these staples are important. Think about it, you most likely eat meat or dairy with almost every meal. Why? Is that right? Says who? Yes, protein is important. Do you need it from an animal? NO. Yes, calcium is important. But calcium can come from so many other things than a glass of milk. AND did you know that a large number of Americans over consume calcium and it actually creates an adverse affect? Seriously, google calcium and hip fractures.  

I'm completely guilty of the meat and potatoes mentality when it comes to food and nutrition, it's how most of us were raised. In our parents time, ready available and processed foods were just coming around. It's not until now that we're seeing the harmful affects of it and it's not too late to turn things around. It's important that we instill good eating habits in our children. I just got into a debate today about whether or not pretzels were a great snack. Well yes, sometimes its fine and even better if they're being eaten as part of a nutritious meal or paired with another healthy snack. Here was their reasoning: I don't want to argue and I just want them to eat. Well A) you're child is probably not going to die of starvation, they'll get over it and eventually eat what you put in front of them, and B) you're an adult and in control (or you should be), and C) no one ever died from having a temper tantrum. Do I think kids should not eat carbs? No, they run around like wild banchies all day, they need carbs. I just think that in today's society carbs are the main ingredient in a kid's diet; they need to be taught balance, moderation, and be introduced to a wide variety of foods. I know that I cannot control what a child eats for the rest of their lives. Will they gain a freshman 15? maybe. Will they sometimes grab a bag of cheetos on their lunch break? maybe. What I do know is that I have done all that I can to help develop healthy habits and hopefully as adults they don't struggle to drink 8 glasses of water a day and an apple can be viewed satisfying afternoon snack (most of the time:)

So, do I think you should give up animal products 100%? If you can that's great, but for most of us it's unrealistic. What I hope for most is that you eat different types of food in moderation. One of my biggest beefs (pun intended) I have with vegetarians, is that they are sometimes over weight or in poor health.(side note: I once read Drew Barrymore actually lost weight when she gave up being a vegetarian). No offense to Drew, but I think this is due to our need for instant caloric satisfaction. A vegetarian can technically eat an entire box of mac n cheese and say "hey it's cool I'm a vegetarian." Um what part of that was good for you? What?! You can't hear me because you just passed out in a gluten coma. Been there, done that. 

Oh, I so wish I could go into my rant about gluten as an opiate in people on the autism spectrum....

But I'll save it. 

Here's the challenge try eating one meal a day without animal products, no dairy and no meat. I think dinner is the hardest meal to do that with, so I raise that challenge to also cooking at least one dinner a week animal free. I am so glad my boyfriend watched this with me because he is backing me up 100%. I always stress out about cooking dinner because he's an athlete and some what of a country boy and "needs his protein." I only buy grass fed, pasture raised, organic meat, so not buying so much meat is going to save me a fortune. 

As far as recipes and cooking a balanced meal with plant based whole foods, I suggest doing a little google research, or use one of the latest and greatest search engines = pinterest :) If you're a fan of Whole Foods on facebook, they have a "meatless Monday" recipe up every Monday. Some restaurants in San Francisco also abide by this and have meatless specials on Mondays. 

You can also buy cookbooks suggested from the Forks Over Knives website by clicking here. 

eat to live, don't live to eat. 

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my top 5 snacks!

1. Suzie's rice thin cakes

I owe this find to my boss, they fit perfectly in the girls lunch boxes and work great for peanut butter and jellies! They are gluten, fat, and sugar free AND only 54 calories for 3! I too love to eat them with peanut butter & jelly or some spicy hummus! 

2.  Persian cucumbers with salt & olive oil

I owe this one to the family I nanny for as well, the girls LOVE this snack, they call them slimeys :) Just grab some persian cucumbers, slice 'em, add a splash of olive oil, a dash of salt, and shake! These are so simple, yummy, and good for you! 

A win win win!

3. Terra sweets and beets chips

A serving of these chips is equal to a serving of vegetables and they are delish! crunchy, sweet, salty, what more could you need? They also have a bunch of different varieties. My only advice is don't eat an entire bag and forget about it, you will be very surprised when you go to the bathroom. yikes.

click here to view their website

4. Edamame

Otherwise known as a soybean, edamame is rich in protein, fiber, omega 3's and much more! It's super easy to make and you can buy it frozen so you always have it on hand! you can eat it plain (hot or cold) OR top it with a little salt, soy sauce, or for the wild ones - sriracha! 

5. Popcorn!

Save the best for last right?! I'm a little conflicted with this one because I do not share popcorn nor do I treat it as a snack, I eat the whole bowl!! In its natural form, popped popcorn is 93 calories for 3 cups, so it's a pretty good deal. But if you're buying packaged popcorn (yellow dye alert) or overdoing it on the salt & butter (guilty!), then no it's not so good. Next time you make popcorn, try something different: maybe sprinkle a little garlic & parmesan, or cumin & cayenne, or soy sauce? I heard Farrah from Teen Mom likes it haha :) 

snack on! 

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the gut ugly truth

This post is piggy backing on my posts devil in a white dress and love and other drugs. 


The Leaky Gut.


I'll give you the very simplified version of what this is: Your gut is not that roll that hangs over your jeans after you've eaten an entire pizza, its a part of your intestinal tract. In there, the nutrients from the food you eat are absorbed into your system. This process can be damaged by:

• hypochlorhydia (deficiency in hydrochloric acid)
• Candidiasis (yeast issues)
• Dysbiosis (bacterial imbalance in the gut)
• Alcohol
• Stress
• Allergies
• Poor Diet
• Celiac Disease
• Parasites
• Pharmaceutical drugs

When these things happen, your gut stops being able to create the necessary enzymes to break down your food and absorb nutrients properly. In some cases, the gut can be damaged so badly it develops holes. 

When we're babies, our gut is similar to the damaged version; its permeable so we can absorb the nutrients from breast milk. Here's where the milk issue comes into play. Remember all the bad stuff I talked about in the milk post? BCM 7?? Well in people that have a leaky gut, all that bad stuff is going straight into their system through those holes. And remember all those immune disorders I was talking about? Autism, schizophrenia, diabetes...yep, it's all one big connection.

Here's where I get heated. Remember those pharmaceutical reps in the bar? It's the exact same situation with doctors or mostly anyone in the medical field. They come up to you thinking they're hot stuff, but bring up this topic and they have no idea what you're talking about. Not so hot now are you buddy???

So how do you know if you have a leaky gut? Here are some common symptoms and conditions:

• chronic fatigue
• depression
• asthma
• food allergies
• chronic sinusitis
• eczema
• headaches
• migraines
• irritable bowel syndrome
• inflammatory bowel disease
• Candida
• fibromyalgia
• joint pain
• arthritis
• autoimmune disease

And how do you fix it? This is all up to you. Finding a balanced diet & food ratio, discovering food sensitivities & allergies, eating whole foods, eating cooked vegetables. It really all depends on finding out what your issues are and then finding out what works best for you, everyone is different. 

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AND important news & information like this:

FDA finally admits chicken meat contains cancer-causing arsenic (but keep eating it, yo!)

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor


(NaturalNews) After years of sweeping the issue under the rug and hoping no one would notice, the FDA has now finally admitted that chicken meat sold in the USA contains arsenic, a cancer-causing toxic chemical that's fatal in high doses. But the real story is where this arsenic comes from: It's added to the chicken feed on purpose!

Even worse, the FDA says its own research shows that the arsenic added to the chicken feed ends up in the chicken meat where it is consumed by humans. So for the last sixty years, American consumers who eat conventional chicken have been swallowing arsenic, a known cancer-causing chemical. (http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/fda-so...)

Until this new study, both the poultry industry and the FDA denied that arsenic fed to chickens ended up in their meat. The fairytale excuse story we've all been fed for sixty years is that "the arsenic is excreted in the chicken feces." There's no scientific basis for making such a claim... it's just what the poultry industry wanted everybody to believe.

But now the evidence is so undeniable that the manufacturer of the chicken feed product known as Roxarsone has decided to pull the product off the shelves (http://www.grist.org/food-safety/2011-06-08-fda-admits-supermarket-chicke...). And what's the name of this manufacturer that has been putting arsenic in the chicken feed for all these years? Pfizer, of course -- the very same company that makes vaccines containing chemical adjuvants that are injected into children.

Technically, the company making the Roxarsone chicken feed is a subsidiary of Pfizer, called Alpharma LLC. Even though Alpharma now has agreed to pull this toxic feed chemical off the shelves in the United States, it says it won't necessarily remove it from feed products in other countries unless it is forced by regulators to do so. As reported by AP:

"Scott Brown of Pfizer Animal Health's Veterinary Medicine Research and Development division said the company also sells the ingredient in about a dozen other countries. He said Pfizer is reaching out to regulatory authorities in those countries and will decide whether to sell it on an individual basis." (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-06-08-fda-chicken-arse...)

Arsenic? Eat more!

But even as its arsenic-containing product is pulled off the shelves, the FDA continues its campaign of denial, claiming arsenic in chickens is at such a low level that it's still safe to eat. This is even as the FDA says arsenic is a carcinogen, meaning it increases the risk of cancer.

The National Chicken Council agrees with the FDA. In a statement issued in response to the news that Roxarsone would be pulled from feed store shelves, it stated, "Chicken is safe to eat" even while admitting arsenic was used in many flocks grown and sold as chicken meat in the United States.

What's astonishing about all this is that the FDA tells consumers it's safe to eat cancer-causing arsenic but it's dangerous to drink elderberry juice! The FDA recently conducted an armed raid in an elderberry juice manufacturer, accusing it of the "crime" of selling "unapproved drugs." (http://www.naturalnews.com/032631_elderberry_juice_FDA_raid.html) Which drugs would those be? The elderberry juice, explains the FDA. You see, the elderberry juice magically becomes a "drug" if you tell people how it can help support good health.

The FDA has also gone after dozens of other companies for selling natural herbal products or nutritional products that enhance and support health. Plus, it's waging a war on raw milk which it says is dangerous. So now in America, we have a food and drug regulatory agency that says it's okay to eat arsenic, but dangerous to drink elderberry juice or raw milk.

Eat more poison, in other words, but don't consume any healing foods. That's the FDA, killing off Americans one meal at a time while protecting the profits of the very companies that are poisoning us with their deadly ingredients.

Oh, by the way, here's another sweet little disturbing fact you probably didn't know about hamburgers and conventional beef: Chicken litter containing arsenic is fed to cows in factory beef operations. So the arsenic that's pooped out by the chickens gets consumed and concentrated in the tissues of cows, which is then ground into hamburger to be consumed by the clueless masses who don't even know they're eating second-hand chicken sh*t. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027414_chicken_disease_cows.html)

From: http://www.naturalnews.com/032659_arsenic_chicken.html

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the devil in a white dress

I feel like I am doing this post a little prematurely because there are so many little side issues on this topic that I was hoping to discuss prior so it would be less confusing, but I feel like its extremely important and effects way too many people, so bear with me. 

Statistically, 75% of percent of people have an issue digesting milk. In my life, I think I know only about 4 people who love milk and have no problems consuming it. It is more common for adults to have a dairy intolerance, however I often hear a lot from parents about their kids suffering from milk issues. Maybe because milk is such a staple in a child's diet and as adults we often don't drink too much of it, unless its accompanied by a cookie :) Do kids really need milk? Oddly enough, its a personal question. Parents feel very strongly about whether or not their kids drink milk. One, its a comfort thing; they drank milk as babies and still have that connection to it. Two, the nutritional value. Here's where it gets a little blurry. Yes, raw milk contains a lot of nutrients like vitamins and calcium. When a child drinks a glass of milk they consume all of those nutrients in one glass. Raw milk is a whole food. That's a good thing, except for the fact that after consuming milk, your body does not feel the need to consume anything else. Which is why more than likely, your child would be perfectly happy living on pasta and milk. Kind of explains those fights about broccoli right? Along with all those nutrients milk contains, there are some bad things in there as well. 

Ready, set, go. 

Commonly, people with dairy intolerances have issues that are fairly simple. You drink a glass of milk or eat a five cheese panini (just guessing I would "never" do that :) and within minutes to an hour, your running to bathroom to you know what. I like to refer to it as "SMP" (-blank- my pants) or my other favorite "DA" (diarrhea attack). Hope that gave you all a little giggle :) 

Other issues with milk are not so simple. Milk has been linked to heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, autism and schizophrenia. Some also think the high fat content in milk is linked to childhood obesity. 

Milk consists of three things: fat/cream, whey, and milk solids. The issue is in the milk solids. The solids consists of proteins, lactase, and sugars. One of the proteins is called casein. There are many different types, but the culprit is beta casein. 

Here's the doozy. What you may not know is that there are two types of cows; A1 and A2. At one time, all cows were the same type, A2, until 5,000 years ago when a mutation occurred in the proline amino acid converting it to histidine. The cows with this mutation, are called A1 type cows and are cows commonly used in The United States, like Holstein cows. 

More science talk. ready? The side chain of the amino acid is called BCM 7. This can be a powerful opiate and have some bad effects on animals and humans. The proline has a strong bong to this chain and it cannot be traced in A2 cows. But in A1 cows, the bond is very weak and can enter your GI tract when your body breaks it down. It can also be traced in the blood and urine in A1 cows. 

BCM 7 is what causes the neurological impairment in animals and humans; i.e., autism and schizophrenic changes. And because the GI tract is connected to your immune system, hence why it causes auto immune disorders like heart disease, diabetes, autism, and schizophrenia. It also binds to mucus s and stimulates secretion.  

I feel like these issues are more present in The United States than in other countries and this kind of fuels my fire. Think about it...American cheese, good? Eh kinda, but good good, no definitely not. When you think of good cheese you think of brie, gouda, gruyere, etc. Well thats because European countries refused to use A1 cows to make cheese because it just didn't work as well. Bad cows leads to bad milk leads to bad cheese. And more importantly, leads to bad issues in people.

So what should you do? Again, that's a personal issue. But there are so many milk alternatives out there for a reason. Soy, almond, coconut, goats, and sheep's milk. I've heard parents say they don't want their children drinking the almond or coconut milk because of the sugar, but have you ever looked at the sugar content in regular milk? There's kind of a lot in there. Other milk products offer no sugar added and flavored/non flavored varieties. The choice is up to you and what works best for your family. 

If you want to read more about this, look for the book titled 

"The Devil In Milk" by Keith Woodford

moo.

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My New Year's Resolution

Aside from no longer being a pushover and speaking my mind more often (I'm sure you're thinking "you have a blog, you speak your mind all the time"), NO people take advantage of nice people and I'm over it. Anyways, so aside from those resolutions, I wanted to think of something that benefitted my health. I consider myself a pretty healthy eater now, but it has not always been that way. I grew up eating fast food, processed food, artificial food...bad stuff. When I was a kid, fast food was on the rise and corporations were making "improvements" in the food industry to make meals faster and more simple; until recently, the health concerns over these foods has not been as widely advertised. It's still not enough, or people wouldn't be eating it. So yes, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Wendys, Burger King...you name it, I love it. Some people say they feel sick after eating fast food, 

I never did, I felt great! 

Last year, I saw the movie Food Inc. and decided to give up eating meat from McDonalds. There were times I walked in there and thought "screw it, I'm getting chicken nuggets," and really those little cheeseburgers with the little diced onion and pickle...ugh I die. But I never did it. I couldn't stop getting those horrible images in my head of obese chickens and cows walking around in their own poop. So here I am a year strong, little cheeseburger and chicken nugget free. The fries are another story, I had them about 3 times, hungover, and they were fantastic!

Like I said in my "new year, new spices" post, 2011 was probably my healthiest year of eating I've ever had. But I am human and I do make mistakes, and I do have a best friend that's obsessed with Taco Bell. I went twice and had horrible heartburn for a full 24 hours. Yes, I am now one of those people that feels sick after eating fast food.

So for this year, I want to step it up a notch and give up all meat from fast food restaurants. They're all corporations and use a lot of the same meat. I knew that, but it still didn't get me as bad as McDonalds, so if I can give up those adorable little cheeseburgers, I can give up the cheesy gordita crunches (ah I can't believe I'm saying this!), late night drunken jack n the box visits, and Carl's Jr chicken stars (yes I eat them and yes it's horrifying).

 I'm done.

I decided this on January 9th. This particular day I had a horrible migraine from the bottle of champagne that I drank the day before, and after working all day and having an appointment til 10 oclock at night, I drove through Wendy's for the last time. I was forced to get the new "cheesy cheeseburger" because they don't make regular cheeseburgers anymore? ugh I don't know, but I'm glad to be through with this place. 

With that said, here are the exceptions to my rule: 

• In n Out, come on they're legit...
• Albertos or anything in San Diego County ending in a "ertos" -If you think I can give up rolled tacos and carne asada fries, you've lost your mind. 

I'm looking forward to this next year and doing more good things for myself. I'm sure it will be hard at times (road trips or 2 am when nothing else is open...), but it will all be worth it. 

chicken nuggets

chickens that never see the light of day

chickens made obese to increase the amount of breast meat produced

cow feed lots where cows can barely walk deep in their own feces, and fed corn (which they can't process) in order to fatten them up

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Dye? WHY??

Most of the time dyes are pretty obvious when you seen them: 

Sour Patch Kids? check. 

Kraft mac n cheese? check. :(

Sunkist orange soda? check.

Red Vines? check.

All of these brightly beautiful colored items contain artificial dyes, you can tell just by looking at them. However, there are foods and products out there that you would never think contained dye and you have to do a little research. key word, "little", it's so easy, simply turn the packaging over and READ.

Here are the top 5 things I was surprised to find artificial dyes in:

1. Advil Liquid Gels

This actually just came to me yesterday when I realized I was all out (which I never thought would happen, I buy the costco pack). I did a little googling and I guess I'll have to shop elsewhere to find a more natural version since they contain FD&C Green No. 3 and pharmaceutical ink (which is titanium dioxide, propylene glycol, methyl alcohol, and isopropanol; mmm sounds healthy...)

Check all of your medicines and vitamins, especially children's that are commonly dyed to make them more appealing. Many name brand companies now offer "dye free" varieties.

2. EOS Shaving Cream

I literally just bought this a couple months ago in the vanilla scent. It looks like a somewhat natural product and states that its paraben free, I never even thought twice about needing to check the ingredients. While in the shower, the bottle was turned around and two dirty little words caught my eye: Red 40 and Yellow 6. The shaving cream does have a tan tinge to it, but it certainly doesn't look dyed. Even their sensitive skin/fragrance free version is dyed, rude!

EOS website

3. Microwavable Popcorn

Now that I see it, it's pretty obvious that there's dye in there, but it was not always obvious to me. We're trained to think of butter as yellow, but we never really think why. Well, butter is yellow based on a carotene eaten in grass fed cows, this can vary based on the seasons or types of butter you buy (irish, sweet cream, etc). Natural butter may be yellow or white. If you are not shopping at a natural foods store, check the ingredients of your butter and microwavable popcorn for artificial dyes.

4. Oranges

Yep, good ole fashioned oranges. Just like Americans expect their butter to be yellow, they expect their oranges to be a perfectly bright uniform shade of orange. If you are not buying organic oranges or oranges from a natural foods store like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, you could very well be buying oranges that have been injected with artificial coloring to make them more appealing to consumers. They do the same thing with cherries. Processed foods I get, but I never expected a whole food to be tampered with. I'm disgusted with what the FDA lets go on in this country.

5. Salad Dressing

With the start of the new year, I'm sure people have been chowing down on salads. Salads can generally be pretty healthy, except when you slather them with dyes! Brands to watch out for: Ken's, Lite House, Kraft, and Wishbone. Pay extra attention to colored dressings like thousand island, catalina, french, red wine vinaigrettes, raspberry vinaigrettes, etc. They all may contain Red 40.

I feel like I'm on a roll and want to do a list of ten!! But I'll spare you all, and just give you a short list of advice for shopping dye free:

• Organic products will not contain artificial colors as well as other artificial ingredients
• Stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are committed to selling items without artificial colors and flavors
• Pay extra attention to canned goods (pickles, canned veggies & fruits) and frozen foods, they are generally very processed and cheaply made using dyes (...think blueberry Eggos)
• Cutting dyes out of your life is a great way to start eating healthier as a whole because majority of foods that contain dyes are not the best for you and could also contain other artificial ingredients and high fructose corn syrup

SHOP, READ, LIVE HEALTHIER

click here to read my informative post about the health effects of dyes

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