Since Valentine’s Day is upon us it is a good time to bring up chocolate and the moral consequences that goes along with purchasing the majority of chocolate we find on the shelves. Certainly chocolate has a plethora of benefits as can easily be found in research studies. These are often because of the powerful plant chemicals known as polyphenols which are made by the plant to protect itself, however us humans can ingest polyphenols for nutritional benefit. A truly polyphenol rich dessert would be a dark chocolate with Shiraz red wine which will warm and protect your heart.
Yesterday I watched a phenomenal webinar on the effects of food chemicals and child behavior. It was entitled “Driven to Distraction: Food, chemicals and child behavior” and hosted by an organization that is worth knowing, Healthy Food Action. The webinar was recorded and they promise to have it up soon, once they do I’ll post a link.
Today a video with a similar theme was posted on a Functional Medicine listserv I am on. If you want to see digestion of wholesome foods vs. processed foods you need to check out this video. Amazing how long long those Ramen noodles are intact in the stomach. I guess we can also just use a compost bin to compare processed vs. whole instead of expensive technology.
I specialize in food sensitivities where certain foods and chemicals are tested for a loss of oral tolerance (a fancy way of saying food sensitivity). I’ve seen certain chemicals cause headaches in people. Today I had a patient that determined by a methodical food challenge/washout process that she can eat a non-organic apple only if it is washed very well, otherwise she will get a headache. Although not certain we can assume it is the pesticide residues on the skin of the unwashed apple as many people are reactive to chemicals. (and do not realize it!)
When buying olive oil I often wondered how there could be so many brands at such different prices. If you go into Whole Foods the unit price cost per gallon can vary dramatically. Trader Joe’s sells its ‘organic extra-virgin’ olive oil quite inexpensively. In addition, one can see distinct color variations between oils in clear bottles. What does this difference mean in terms of phytonutrients, taste and integrity? Read the rest of this entry
For so many years when people tell me they use honey in their tea or other foods I always question to make sure it isn’t honey from a plastic squeezable bear. I am surprised how many people use inexpensive ‘honey’ from a standard grocery. You get what you pay for.
There is a great new article from the Food Safety Network entitled “Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn’t Honey”. Please read it to learn about what was found in store bought honey. The results aren’t sweet.
Interesting how chocolate is often associated with ‘love’ and ‘heart’ given its known benefit on the cardiovascular system . A review study just presented in Paris – a city that is renowned for its love of food and chocolate – showed that individuals who ate the most chocolate had a 37% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke compared with individuals who ate the least amount of chocolate.Read the rest of this entry
I am not going to go into much detail here, but there is the no-milk.com website that contains a plethora of references.
I think it is unfortunate that so many people believe that pasteurized homogenized milk that can come from many cows in one carton is healthy. Perhaps raw milk from organic grass fed cows can be healthy for people that are in a ‘deficient’ state. Or milk from goats or other animals not in feedlots (as some ‘organic’ milk is!).
But we really need to think about drinking milk. Small amounts are probably OK as the dose can make the poison in most cases. (except IgE allergies which there are many to milk products). But drinking a glass of milk is just not a smart idea.
The Environmental Working Group has released the new shopper’s guide. They have a “Dirty Dozen” produce items that need to be purchased organic and “clean 15″ that have low residues of pesticides. I was surprised to see corn as #2 on the “Clean 15″ list since any non-organic corn is almost guaranteed to contain genetically modified protein sequences that have unknown physiological effects. However then I read the preamble to the list where they suggest purchasing organic corn if we are concerned about GMO. We all need to be concerned about GMO foods.Read the rest of this entry
Given all the research about pesticide dangers and diseases it has been attributed to such as Parkinson’s it still amazes me that foods grown with chemicals still make up the vast majority of foods consumed. This is probably largely due to the fact that chemical companies have a ton of money and political lobbyists. The vast majority of commercial farmers only know the way of the past 60 years and are of the false belief that organic farming is out of their reach. Not only are we exposed to pesticides from foods, but also those nice green lawns. Read the rest of this entry
Since Valentine’s Day is upon us it is a good time to bring up chocolate and the moral consequences that goes along with purchasing the majority of chocolate we find on the shelves. Certainly chocolate has a plethora of benefits as can easily be found in research studies. These are often because of the powerful plant chemicals known as polyphenols which are made by the plant to protect itself, however us humans can ingest polyphenols for nutritional benefit. A truly polyphenol rich dessert would be a dark chocolate with Shiraz red wine which will warm and protect your heart.
