by Steven Horne, RH(AHG)
With childhood obesity and diabetes running rampant, many people have jumped on the nutritional reform bandwagon.  Jamie Oliver, a British TV chef was recently awarded the prestigious TED award for his work to promote healthier school lunches.  He makes a lot of good points in his talk, Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish.

While I agree with Jamie Oliver’s “diagnosis,” I disagree with parts of his “cure.”  I sincerely doubt that more government funding into school lunches is going to solve the problem.  After all, government is a big part of the problem in the first place as the clip The Case Against Jamie Oliver explains.

I’ve never placed the responsibility for my health, or the health of my family on government, doctors or anyone else. The interests of government and big business are seldom in alignment with what’s in my best interest, or the interest of my family.  The real answer is for all of us to step up to the plate (or better yet, clean up what we put on the plate) and get the job done ourselves.  Believe me, it’s worth it!

Good Nutrition Helps Children Behave Better

Good nutrition not only affects good health, it also affects mental and emotional well-being.  Consuming empty calorie foods like refined sugar, white flour, polished white rice and refined vegetable oils leads to empty heads and affects schooling, behavior and social skills.  When my children were young we had none of these foods in our home and babysitters always said we had the best-behaved kids they had ever seen.

Instead of drugging  kids with harmful medications, we should be feeding them better quality foods. But kids aren’t going to eat these foods at school if they aren’t fed these foods at home.  Unfortunately, many parents say, “But my kids won’t eat healthy food.”  This makes me think, “Who’s in charge of the home, the kids or adults?”  If you don’t buy it, they won’t be able to eat it.

If parents knew how much easier it is to be a parent when you’re feeding your kids correctly, most parents would immediately take steps to change their family menus.  In fact, when kids are fed right, incidences of hyperactivity and antisocial behavior dramatically decrease.

Improving Your Family’s Diet Without Stress

So, take charge of what you feed your family, but not as a dictator.  Do it as a leader, which means start by setting a good example.  With a little parenting skill, your kids will learn to eat what you make available and enjoy it.  So, for starters, here are a few tips.

First, get the junk food out of the home. When unhealthy food isn’t in your home, both you and your children will be less likely to eat it. When you want a treat go out and get it, but don’t keep it in the house.

Second, learn how to prepare healthier versions of your family’s favorite foods. Take a cue from Food Network star chef Emeril Lagasse and “kick it up a notch” by learning how to make your family’s favorite foods using better ingredients.  This makes improving nutrition less stressful.

For example, children love sweets, so don’t deprive them of all treats.  Instead, gradually substitute raw honey, pure maple syrup, xylitol and other natural sweeteners for refined sugar in their diet.  You can also use whole grains instead of white flour.  Start by mixing whole grains and white flour 50-50 and gradually increase the whole grain content.

Third, when changing children’s diets, focus on the positive. Talk more about what’s healthy to eat than what’s bad for you.  Remember that what you focus on, you tend to magnify.  So give kids healthy food first. Place vegetables like carrot and celery sticks and a healthy dip out for them to eat as you are preparing the meal.  If they are hungry enough, they will eat this wholesome food  while waiting for something else.  Increase portions of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and whole grains while decreasing portions of meat and dairy foods.

Also, don’t try to control everything your children eat. What they eat when they are away from home isn’t really in your control and trying to control it engenders rebellion.  A “treat” now and then won’t hurt them if their general diet is good.  If you teach them the benefits of eating wholesome foods in a positive manner and set a good example, they will learn to control themselves.  You can’t watch them constantly, especially when they become those delightful creatures that we call teenagers!

Fourth, because they aren’t going to always eat right, take out a little “nutritional health insurance” and give them some supplements.  All the  supplements we discussed in last weeks issue of Nature’s Field can also be used for kids.  Nature’s Sunshine’s Sunshine Hero’s line features  probiotics, minerals, enzymes, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids available in chewable form.  These products taste good enough you shouldn’t have any problem getting kids to take them.

Finally, here are some specific tips for helping kids to eat better.  For starters, I’ve used licorice root to help stabilize children’s blood sugar and take away their cravings for sweets.

I’ve also used the approach of asking older kids to refrain from eating certain foods for just one week, after which they get to have a meal where they eat all they want.  They usually feel better at the end of the week, and after they indulge in their sugar, dairy, wheat or whatever, they feel horrible.  This helps reinforce the message that this food is making them sick.

Research has shown that children who have protein for breakfast (eggs, meat, whole milk yogurt, a Love and Peas protein shake, etc.) do much better in school than children who eat sugar-sweetened breakfast cereals.  In fact, children who skipped breakfast entirely did better in school than children who ate sweets and carbohydrates for breakfast.  So, if possible, get your family to eat a good, hearty breakfast with protein and good fats.

And while you’re at it, why not pack them a nutritious lunch instead of having them eat the junk food at school?  That’s a smarter option than spending billions more on school lunch programs that may or may not be the foods you want your kids to be eating.

Whats All the Hype About?

Argument 1: Increased usage of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in products is correlated with the increase in obesity. Argument 2: HFCS is natural; it has the same ingredients as table sugar and is fine in moderation. (What to do.)

Your best bet? Whole foods are always the best option. So whenever possible, choose a whole food (such as fruits, veggies, nuts) over a product with HFCS.

HFCS is found in soft drinks, yogurts, breads and many other foods and drinks. How do you avoid it? Read food labels, always drink 100% fruit juice and plan your meals ahead of time.

Eating healthy on the cheap can be tough, but if you stock your kitchen with the healthy cheap essentials it should save a great deal in the long run.

I buy certain staples like organic cheese and organic butter when they are on sale and keep them in the freezer.

Consider buying your organic meats, eggs, and fish in bulk and store in a larger freezer out in the garage.

Remember we have to pay for our health one way or another. Prevention is key. The food that graces your kitchen table is the best disease prevention money can buy. President Obama thinks that we will never fix the National Deficit until we fix the Health Care Crisis, I think we will never fix the Health Care Crisis until we fix the crisis at our kitchen tables.

Here are my favorite cheap health foods:

Flax seeds
Oatmeal
Brown Rice
Apples
Yams/Sweet potatoes
Broccoli
Spinach
Canned tomatoes
Carrots
Bananas

Tips I have learned from the Whole Foods School of Hard Knocks:

-Avoid buying a bunch of healthy stuff you don’t know how to prepare. Nothing is more wasteful than a bunch of rotting random veggies in your fridge. Instead, commit to making one new healthy recipe per week, experiment with new ingredients and recipes gradually to avoid wasting valuable grocery dollars. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the different grain options, make friends with them one recipe at a time.

-Drink a smoothie in place of one meal each day. You can easily get two servings of fruits out of the way by doing so. Buy frozen fruit when it is on sale, or save money each summer by picking and freezing your own.

-Shop at Farmer’s Markets for produce once weekly when possible. Plan meals around the foods that are in season, rely heavily on fresh herbs, pepper, garlic, and onions to season your food in lieu of organic sea salt.

-Buy frozen chicken breasts and fish on sale.

-Shop organic when possible, buy “The Dirty Dozen” organic, and save your organic dollars on the “Foods Least Likely to Contain Pesticides”.

-Avoid canned foods and opt for frozen. Always keep a little frozen broccoli, spincach, cauliflower, and mixed veggies in the freezer. You can quickly dress up any recipe by adding some steamed frozen veggies. Add one cup of frozen veggies to every frozen meal you prepare, most veggies will mix in nicely with the sauce. The fiber in the vegetables will keep you feeling full longer.

Remember that eating healthy is an investment in your current and long term health.

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Thanks to MSN Health & Fitness contributor Jean Weiss, a list of the most medically questionable and harmful additives in everyday foods has been compiled to educate the masses. There are several that may be recognizable due to news reports and popular opinion, but others may be new to some and worthy of notation.

1. Sodium nitrite
2. BHA & BHT
3. Propyl gallate
4. Monosodium glutamate
5. Trans fats
6. Aspartame
7. Acesulfame-K
8. Food colorings (Blue & , Red , Green , Yellow )
9. Olestra
10. Potassium bromate
11. White sugar
12. Sodium chloride

There are many reasons that some people choose to shop and eat a completely organic range of foods, but the primary reason seems to center around the additives in various non-organic food items. Those additives have been studied and linked to various diseases, and instead of taking the chance that unhealthy preservatives and flavorings might be integrated into grocery store items, people often opt for the strictly organic route so as to avoid them altogether.

But everyone cannot afford the prices of organic foods or the time it takes to shop at specialty markets for them. Thus, becoming informed about the additives in everyday food items can make for an easier shopping experience and healthier items being ingested by everyone. In addition, a mass boycott of foods that contain such additives could prompt food manufacturers to remove such harmful ingredients from their products in the future.

HealthNews Dozen
Top 12 Food Additives to Remove From Your Diet
By Jennifer Newell
Health News, June 29, 2009
Straight to the Source

“We demand the systematic publication of the results of these tests, which we could only obtain on a case by case basis by taking legal action… It [the study] brings to light a significant underestimation of the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others… The health crises may be more important than the international financial crisis because of the lack of transparency of the regulators.”

Source: An alarming study published in the Journal of Biological Science this week points toward serious health hazards from genetically engineered foods and pesticides. The research, conducted by scientists from France, Italy, New Zealand, U.K. and U.S., corroborates the decade-long criticism by public interest organizations such as the Organic Consumers Association, Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth that European Food Safety bureaucrats and the U.S. FDA have used unreliable tests to assess the safety of food and products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are now found in more than 80% of (non-organic) foods sold in conventional grocery stores in the U.S., as well as the majority of animal feed in the EU.

Learn more

The Pesticide Action Network has launched a new online searchable database designed to make the public problem of pesticide exposure visible and more understandable. Whether you want to find out what’s in your apple juice, milk, peanut butter, or bottled water, this innovative tool links pesticide food residue data with the toxicology for each chemical, making this information easily searchable for the first time.

Bookmark this link! and share it with everyone you know!

My nutritional philosophy is, “If it has a label, don’t eat it.”

That said, I realize that’s not always realistic for all of us all of the time. We like to have convenience foods to help us deal with our time crunches, and that’s OK. But I recommend that you read the labels. Choose packaged foods made with real-food ingredients over those with factory-created components.

Be a smart consumer and look for things that are going to help your body thrive. When you pick something up, ask yourself the question: “Is this something my great grandmother would have eaten?” If the answer is “no,” you should probably put it back. Things like frozen blueberries or canned black beans can still be good for you, as long as they don’t contain a bunch of unhealthy and unnecessary ingredients.

STOCKING A HEALTHY PANTRY

Now that you know what to avoid, go to your cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer and toss out any foods that contain the ingredients on the avoid list.

Here’s a list of foods that you can replace in your pantry with healthier foods.

· Refined White Sugar – replace with stevia, agave nectar, honey, brown rice syrup, or Rapadura Whole Cane Organic Unrefined Sugar

· Margarine – replace with organic real butter

· Table Salt – replace with natural Celtic Sea Salt

· Skippy, Jif or other Peanut Butter – replace with natural peanut butter with only two ingredients: peanuts and salt.

· Canned veggies/fruit – eat fresh fruits and veggies

· Soft drinks – good clean water, sparkling water, herbal teas

· Pasta – replace with brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta, or whole wheat pasta if your not sensitive to gluten or wheat.

· White Flour – replace with 100% whole wheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour or other non-gluten flours.

· White Bread – replace with a good 100% whole grain bread. The ingredient list should be short with only a few ingredients such as whole wheat flour, yeast, honey, salt.

· Crackers – replace with whole grain crackers – try Ak-Mak, Mary’s Gone Crackers, or Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheats

· Breakfast Cereals – Go with a whole grain one, look for short ingredient lists.

Written by Dee McCaffrey, CDC

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is one of the most common and hazardous food additives on the market. MSG is reportedly more toxic than alcohol, tobacco and many drugs. MSG is an excitotoxin, so it tricks your brain into wanting to eat more and more foods containing the ingredient, even if you are already full. Side effects of MSG include: obesity, eye damage, headaches, depression, fatigue and disorientation. Food manufacturers know that health-conscious consumers try to avoid MSG, so it is oftentimes not listed in a product’s ingredients. MSG is banned in organic foods.

Here’s a list of ingredients that ALWAYS contain MSG:

Autolyzed Yeast — Calcium Caseinate — Gelatin Glutamate — Glutamic Acid — Hydrolyzed Protein — Monopotassium Glutamate — Monosodium Glutamate — Sodium Caseinate — Textured Protein — Yeast Extract — Yeast Food — Yeast Nutrient

Learn more