Splendor in the Grass

This is from Nourish Magazine

By Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, PhD

And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest

eat and be satisfied. — Deut 11:15

Before the industrialization of agriculture, cattle grazed on pasture during all but the harshest weather. In winter, they ate hay (which is dried grass) or silage (which is fermented grass) or root vegetables; chickens and other fowl roamed freely in the barnyard; and pigs enjoyed the open air, either in pens or verges or woodlands.

The basis of this system was grass, consumed by ruminant animals who turned it into milk. Pigs were fattened on milk by-products, such as whey and skimmed milk. Chickens and fowl feasted on bugs that hid under cow paddies and in composted manure from healthy grass-fed animals. Grain from mature grass was an adjunct in animal diets, given to chickens to induce more frequent laying and to cattle to fatten them just before butchering.

Today’s system is based on grains (including legumes like soybeans) given to animals in confinement. In the US, almost 90 percent of dairy cattle live their entire lives in sheds with cement floors, never once feeding on green grass under an open sky. Most beef cattle spend more time in feed lots eating grain than on pasture eating green grass. Chickens have been removed from the farm to be crowded together in enormous enclosed pens. Pigs are housed in CAFO’s (Confined Animal Feeding Operations), breeding grounds for stench and disease.

Splendid Health

During the time when the cultivation of our animal foods has been transferred from farms to factories, the incidence of chronic disease has risen precipitously. Cancer and heart disease were rare 100 years ago and today allergies and autoimmune problems make life miserable for millions of people. Can the trend towards confinement feeding be cited as a cause for the upsurge in these diseases?

Almost seventy years ago, Dr. Weston Price published an interesting paper in the Journal of the American Dental Association..1 (See page 19) For years, Dr. Price had been analyzing the amount of vitamin A and Activator X in butterfat. (Activator X, which Price discovered, is similar in structure to vitamin A and a powerful catalyst to mineral absorption. It is now believed to be the fat-soluble vitamin K₂; read Chris Masterjohn’s article to see how this 60-year mystery was finally solved.) He noted that these nutrients were most plentiful in the spring and fall, when cows had access to rapidly growing green grass. During the winter and the dry summer months, levels of these vitamins in butterfat declined or disappeared completely.

Dr. Price also tabulated the number of deaths from heart attacks and pneumonia in local hospitals. When he plotted these two variables against time on the same graph he found that deaths from heart disease were inversely proportional to the vitamin content in the butter. In other words, when levels of vitamins in butterfat were high, deaths from heart disease were low; and when nutrient levels were low in the winter and summer, deaths from heart disease were high. He found this pattern in many different localities, even in areas in the far north where there was only one vitamin peak, in midsummer, due to the short growing season.

Heart disease researchers have largely ignored the possible role of vitamin A and D in protecting the heart, probably because these fat-soluble vitamins are found only in the foods they have demonized—animal fats. Yet both nutrients play numerous important roles in the body chemistry, principally as catalysts for the assimilation of protein and minerals needed for a healthy cardiovascular system.

Two of the latest theories about the origins of heart disease are chronic inflammation in the arteries and thyroid insufficiency. The fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin K₂/activator X), which occur in the fat of grass-fed animals, support endocrine function and protect against inflammation. Stress has also been cited as a cause of heart disease. Vitamin A is needed for the conversion of cholesterol into steroid hormones and, in fact, is rapidly depleted by stress. Vitamin D helps prevent high blood pressure and protects against spasms that can lead to a heart attack. As vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption, it contributes to a healthy nervous system and helps prevent arrythmias.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Price traveled throughout the world studying isolated groups of human beings. Those that consumed the products of land animals—meat and milk—put great emphasis on the quality of pasture. The Swiss recognized that the butter from their cows contained the most life-giving properties when the cows were feeding on the brilliant green pasture of early Spring. In Africa, the Masai and related tribes set fire to the savannas so that their cattle could eat newly emerging green grass. These peoples enjoyed splendid health, not just freedom from infectious and chronic disease, but also splendid bone structure and strength. They were free from tooth decay and had wide dental palates and straight teeth.

The fat-soluble vitamins in butterfat from grass-fed ruminant animals aid mineral absorption and support endocrine function, allowing optimum physical development and lifelong good health.

Chickens and pigs cannot thrive exclusively on grass, but when integrated into a system that has its basis in grass-feeding of livestock, their eggs and fat will provide fat-soluble vitamins in abundance. Pigs have skin like humans, which produces vitamin D when exposed to natural light. Pasture-raised pigs will store plentiful amounts of vitamin D in the fat under their skin, compared to lard from confinement pigs.

Pasture-raised animals have better mineral status. The diets of animals in confinement are fortified with synthetic vitamins, which are more poorly absorbed..2

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is another nutrient found in the fat of ruminant animals that feed on green grass. CLA has been found to be highly protective against cancer when added to the diets of laboratory animals..3 In addition, CLA promotes the deposition of muscle rather than fat. In a double-blind study with human volunteers, those given CLA had a significant 15 to 20 percent decline in body fat compared to those given a placebo..4 In another study, men enrolled in a bodybuilding program were given either CLA or a placebo. After 28 days, the placebo group could lift nine more pounds; but the CLA group could bench-press 30 pounds more than they had at the beginning of the program..5

It’s no accident that the New Zealand All Blacks, the national rugby team composed of players who grew up on pasture-fed New Zealand butter, is so hard to beat, even though most of the teams they play come from countries with a much larger population base.

The discovery of CLA in the fat of grass-fed animals—in butterfat, tallow and suet—and the emerging revelations as to its benefits, has posed an embarrassing dilemma for apologists of the factory farming system. Scientists are looking for feed supplements that induce confinement cows to produce CLA and for ways to produce CLA in the laboratory so it can be sold in supplement form. The solution, of course, is to phase out confinement feeding and put cows back on green pasture where they belong. As a nation that has always depended on dairy products, this is the only way to regain the robust good health we enjoyed just a generation or two ago.

Splendid Animals

Cows on pasture typically live through eight to ten lactations (or births) for a total of ten to 12 years. Cows in confinement, fed grain and soybeans, average 1.8 lactations. When they become unable to produce milk, or when their ankles can no longer hold up on the cement floors, they are shipped off to the butcher. About 25 percent of the meat consumed in America comes from these “downer” cows. The problem of downer cows in confinement dairies is increasing, even though antibiotics, drugs and nutrient supplements are routinely added to animal feed. We hear that in some confinement dairies, the typical cow is milked through one long lactation and then slaughtered. This eats into profits and has the vets throwing up heir hands in defeat.

Soil specialist Jerry Brunetti..6 explains why the way cows are fed today causes them to suffer from a range of health problems. Dairy cows are fed grains and soybeans, which have high caloric and nitrogen values. Sometimes rations even include bakery waste, such as out-of-date donuts, candy and pastries. These foodstuffs upset the delicately balanced ecosystem in the cow’s rumen. As rumen microbes digest the foods eaten by the cow, they produce waste products which inhibit the growth of other microbes. One of these metabolic wastes, acetic acid (vinegar), is used as an energy source by cattle. But the waste from microbial digestion of starches—like corn and bakery waste—is lactic acid, which has no value to ruminant. It also lowers the pH in the rumen, causing acidosis. The colostrum (first milk) of such acidic cows has very few antibodies because they are immunosuppressed.

Another serious consequence of grain feeding is that cows on grain absorb lower amounts of fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E, even when these vitamins are added to feed; and, consequently, less of these vital nutrients show up in the milk..7

Of all the cull cows taken to slaughter today, only about 5 percent have livers that can be salvaged. Damage to the liver is attributed to high levels of protein in soy-based feed. Brunetti also faults the practice of spraying manure back onto fields, resulting in very high levels of free nitrogen in the hay grown on these pastures. He cites a large “progressive” dairy in a high rainfall area of western Washington state that could not get its cows to breed or produce much milk. They thought their hay was high in protein because analysis showed high nitrogen values. But much of the nitrogen was free nitrogen which had an adverse effect on both fertility and milk production. When the farm ran out of its own hay and fed apparently lesser quality hay grown in eastern Washington state, milk production improved.

When cows eat high quality forage in green pastures, the pH of the rumen returns to normal and the cows enjoy good health and produce superior quality milk.

Confinement chickens and hogs suffer from the same problems. Antibiotics and other drugs are fed to keep the animals alive until the moment of slaughter and steroids are used to get them to that point as soon as possible. (Athletes consuming meat from hormone treated chickens have actually failed their urine tests for drugs!..8 So delicate are the immune systems of confinement pigs that workers must shower and don sterile garments and masks before entering the facility.

Confinement operations could not make a profit if their animals were subject to strict health standards. Cows with mastitis are milked anyway. Poultry inspectors used to condemn all birds with air sacculitus, a disease that causes yellow fluids and mucus to break up into the lungs. Today, many of these birds are approved. “I’ve had birds that had yellow pus visibly coming out of their insides,” reported one USDA inspector, “and I was told to save the breast meat off them and even save the second joint of the wing.”..9

The government’s answer to the problems of confinement feeding is to speed up the process for drug approval. In fact, drug manufacturers are now allowed to supervise the testing procedure for their own animal drugs in order to get them to market as soon as possible. Their solution to the growing problem of salmonella and other pathogens in meat products is formaldehyde rinses and irradiation; pasteurization is no longer sufficient to destroy many of the pathogens in milk, so ultra-pasteurization is recommended.

The only long-term solution to these problems is pasture-feeding. Farmers who have gone from confinement to pasture feeding have been amazed at the improved health and increased fertility of their herds. Vet bills and drug bills decline, especially over the long run as the animals accustom themselves to traditional forage.

And production need not suffer. Joel Salatin..10 and other farmers have developed pasture feeding systems for chickens and other fowl that result in high egg yields and good growth. Hog farmers who have reverted to the old ways have seen fertility go up and diseases go down. Solar-powered moveable electric fences, pioneered in New Zealand, allow farmers to move their animals every day to new pasture, thereby preventing overgrazing and ensuring continuous fresh forage.

The highest milk and butterfat yields have come not from cows in confinement but from cows on pasture. In 1952, Carnation Milk Farms’s herd of 135 cows produced at least 1000 pounds of butterfat each per year. Its champion milker produced 42,000 pounds of milk and 1,500 pounds of butterfat. These yields came from cows eating green grasses, with supplements of silage, root vegetables, hay, minerals and molasses. Less than 2 percent of the diet came from a diverse mixture of grains.

Splendid Profits

In 1997, Roman Stoltzfoos, owner of Spring wood Farm in Kinzers, Pennsylvania spent almost $87,000 per year on feed, mostly grain, for his dairy cattle, amounting to 38 percent of gross operating expenses of over $225,000. When he told his neighbors that he was going back to grass feeding in order to eliminate grain purchases, they said it couldn’t be done. In two years he brought his feed costs down to about $36,000 and now they don’t believe him. He also lowered his vet bills by 50 percent and made almost $8,000 on sales of composted manure. In spite of reducing calorie-rich grain feeding, his herd actually produced slightly more milk. Operating costs went from $12.95 per hundred weight to $11.76. By the year 2001, Roman reckons his feed costs will be down to $10,000, mostly for mineral supplements, while composting will net him $12,000. If production continues to climb, his net operating costs can be reduced to under $6 per hundred weight.

Alan Yegerlehner of Clay City, Indiana switched to a grazing dairy operation a few years ago and has seen his profits rise. When he had a confinement dairy, he spent $30,000 yearly for grain; now he spends just a couple of thousand, mostly for kelp and mineral supplements. Vet bills have also declined and fertility has gone up. He even has hopes of paying off all the debts he incurred while running a confinement dairy. And, he says, he is having a lot more fun.

Joel Salatin raises pastured beef cattle, poultry and pigs on 100 acres of mediocre soil quality in Swoope Virginia. He nets about $750 per acre. His biggest expense is still grain, which he buys from local farmers. He notes that cows can be raised on 100 percent grass, but hogs, turkeys and chickens need supplements, especially chickens, which require grain to grow quickly and lay abundantly. Nevertheless, the system Joel has developed completely eliminates the need for antibiotics or hormones.

Increased profitability is not just the stuff of anecdotes. A study of dairy farmers in Vermont revealed that cows on well-managed pasture earned $579 net income per cow over two years, compared to $451 per cow in the most profitable confinement dairies..11

Long range benefits to farmers who graze their animals include reduced exposure to toxic chemicals, reduced medical bills for their families, elimination of orthodontist bills for their children and higher energy levels for all who work on the farm. The increase in productivity that occurs when farmers put their livestock on grass applies not only to the animals on the farm, but to the people who work there as well.

Splendid Landscapes

The success of pasture-feeding operations depends on the quality of pasture, as many farmers have discovered. Cows have difficulty going onto pasture land that has formerly been intensively cultivated with monocrops such as corn or soy. It takes a few years for fields to rebuild plant diversity and healthy root structure.

According to Brunetti, high quality forage (hay or pasture) requires soil with adequate amounts of calcium in balance with other elements. Humus, which is stable organic matter in the soil, mobilizes the needed calcium and makes other minerals more available. Humus is produced largely by earthworms and is encouraged by perennial polycultures. Joel Salatin likes to say that every square yard of pasture should contain at least 40 varieties of plants.

In his classic work, Soil, Grass and Cancer, André Voisin delineates how soil mineral balance affects both the animals who graze and the people who consume the milk and meat from those animals. Soil with a high clay content may be rich in minerals, but the plants cannot assimilate them until they are incorporated into humus by earthworms and microscopic soil organisms.

Properly organized, with rotation of grazing areas as well as rotation of types of animals grazed, grass-feeding can actually improve pasture quality, encouraging diverse species and stimulating biological activity below the soil.

Cows will self-medicate if they have a sufficient variety of plants in their pastures. A number of “weeds” and hedgerow trees and shrubs are extremely rich in nutrients as well as medicinal characteristics. When fields are divided with rows of shrubs and trees, the need for pesticides is reduced.

Thus, wise grazing practices ultimately result in the division of large fields into paddocks, each sown with a variety of seeds at different times of the year, and separated by rows of trees or shrubs. The result is splendid landscapes, pleasing to the eye and the soul, the kind of landscapes that inspired the Impressionist painters in France and the idyllic descriptions of visitors to the hedgerow country in England.

The focal point of beauty in the American farm landscape has been the barn, red-sided or topped with cupolas. In the corn and soy wasteland that fills much of the American plains, beautiful old barns are falling down with neglect. Instead, grain goes to huge cement silos to be fed to animals housed in row upon row of ugly sheds. But grazing operations have barns, and income to keep their barns in good repair.

Splendid Communities

Grain feeding of confinement animals has spawned a system of agribusiness that has gradually consolidated into a handful of mega-corporations. In 1999, for example, Cargill, the largest privately held company in the world, announced a buy-out of its major competitor, Continental Grain Company. Dupont paid $7.7 billion for the largest seed company in the world, Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Food processors like Unilever are buying up small companies, like Ben and Jerry’s, at ever increasing rates.

The current situation has been compared to an hour glass, with lots of farmers producing food on the top, very few processors in the middle and many consumers at the bottom. The bottleneck in the middle gives agribusiness almost unlimited control over what food is produced, what farmers receive for it and what it is sold for. Banking interests argue that consolidation makes agriculture more efficient, but once the competitive market has been eliminated, the rule of efficiency no longer applies. The new coinage is not efficiency but power—and it is a power that has turned once thriving communities throughout America into ghost towns and has fostered urban sprawl. This same power has subverted university research and food safety oversight, resulting the degradation of our food supply and a health crisis of major proportions. Individuals and families are not only cut off from the land that nourishes them; they also must spend an inordinate amount of their time and budget dealing with disease and disability.

Grass feeding is the first step toward the rebuilding of small towns, the restoration of health and the return of that sense of community America has lost. For grazing operations to prosper and flourish, consumers must be willing to buy from the source as much as possible. Modern technology that gives us freezers and refrigerators—and trucks and airplanes—makes it possible to buy meat, butter and cheese directly from farmers, even if these farmers are thousands of miles away; vegetables, eggs, milk and cream should come directly from a local farm, through a co-op or share system.

Splendor From the Grass

Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;

So wrote the poet Wordsworth and so argue the apologists for agribusiness. Pasture-feeding is an inefficient and antiquated system, they say. Monoculture and confinement feeding is the only way to provide food for earth’s millions.

The next decade will prove such arguments false. So precarious is the confinement system that we risk an epidemic of untreatable animal disease and true famine if we do not return to a saner, safer system of animal husbandry. So weary are Americans of bad health and poor quality food that they are becoming willing to support local farms with their food dollars.

Wordsworth can be written to reflect more optimism:

Man and Nature will bring back the hour
Of splendor from the grass and glory of the bower,
That new our farms will cultivate;
We will not grieve but rather find
New wealth, new health, new paradigms;
The time is ripe and not too late
For splendid herds and splendid yields
And splendid children born of splendid fields.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

The American diet tends to be deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, a type of fat that is vitally important for the health of the brain and nervous system and for numerous biochemical processes, including those that protect us against heart disease and cancer. One of the claims made for grass-fed beef is that the fat from grass-fed animals is much richer in omega-3 fatty acids than the fat from animals that have spent many weeks in the feed lot. This notion has even led to programs entailing special feeding for beef cattle to raise the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their fat.

But this is one claim that should NOT be made for pasture-fed beef. Chickens raised on pasture or given special feed will have more omega-3 fatty acids in their skin and egg yolks than chickens fed exclusively grain, but ruminant animals like cattle are designed to produce saturated fats. No matter what they are fed, cattle will store about 7 percent of the various types of omega-3 fatty acids in their cell membranes and less than 1 percent of omega-3 fatty acids in their adipose tissue, that is, in the fat in and around their muscles.

When cattle get fat—as they do very quickly in feed lots—they put on a lot of adipose fat so that the overall percentage of omega-3 fatty acids compared to the other types of fat goes down. But the absolute amount of omega-3 fatty acids continues to climb. And the saturated fats that accumulate in the fatty tissues actually help the body assimilate the omega-3 fatty acids more efficiently.

Hunter-gatherers hunted older ruminant animals because they wanted the fat that was built up and stored under their skin. They never ate lean meat and for very good reason. The fats that come with meat help the body utilize both protein and minerals. When circumstances forced indigenous populations to eat only lean meat, they quickly developed diarrhea, followed by weakness, lethergy and death.

If there is a danger in the move towards grass feeding, it is the danger of eating meat too lean. Grass-fed beef cattle can be fattened by leaving cattle longer in the field, or by supplementing their diets with grain in the final weeks before slaughter. After all, much of the goodness from grass feeding is carried in the fat—from CLA to fat-soluble vitamins to a variety of important minerals.

Facts About Factory Farming

The areas of most intensive factory farming are New York and California (dairy farms); the Chesapeake Bay area (poultry farms) and North Carolina and Iowa (hog farms).

In the cattle industry, 2 percent of feed operations account for over 40 percent of all cattle sold.

Many confinement operations are owned by multinational corporations. For example, Texas Farms, an operation of 2 million hogs, is owned by Nippon, a Japanese corporation.

Three jobs are lost for every one created by a new factory farm. Small farms produce more revenue for local and state governments than large confinement operations and put much less strain on local sewer and water services.

Over 70 percent of pork producers use a carcinogenic drug called sulfamethazine as a growth stimulant and to control rampant diseases; another toxic hormone called PST is used to reduce the high fat content of pork.

Properly composted animal manure can be a valuable source of crop nutrients; but when manure is improperly applied to the land, imbalances occur; manure runoff carries nitrogen, phosphorus and other harmful substances into surface and groundwater.

The 1,600 confinement dairies in the Central Valley of California produce more waste than a city of 21 million people.

On large factory hog farms, excrement from as many as 12,000 animals confined in metal buildings longer than football fields is stored in open pits with capacities sometimes exceeding 25 million gallons.

Spill from waste pits and underground seepage have caused serious environmental problems; odor and swarming flies often create noxious conditions for residents within a 2-mile radius.

Wastes from huge factory farms threaten water supplies with parasites, bacteria and viruses including streptococcus, giardia, salmonella, listeria and chlamydia.

Chicken wastes spilled into rivers and bays cause “algae bloom” which adversely affects fish populations; in 1997, outbreaks of the toxic microbe Pfiesteria piscicida killed approximately 450,000 fish in North Carolina and approximately 30,000 fish in the Chesapeake Bay; in the Gulf of Mexico, farm runoff including animal waste is linked to the formation of a “dead zone” of up to 7,000 square miles of water that cannot support most aquatic life.

About the Author…

Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD), a well-researched, thought-provoking guide to traditional foods with a startling message: Animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels. She joined forces with Enig again to write Eat Fat, Lose Fat, and has authored numerous articles on the subject of diet and health. The President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, Sally is also a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community activist. Her four healthy children were raised on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat. Mary G. Enig, PhD is an expert of international renown in the field of lipid biochemistry. She has headed a number of studies on the content and effects of trans fatty acids in America and Israel, and has successfully challenged government assertions that dietary animal fat causes cancer and heart disease. Recent scientific and media attention on the possible adverse health effects of trans fatty acids has brought increased attention to her work. She is a licensed nutritionist, certified by the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists, a qualified expert witness, nutrition consultant to individuals, industry and state and federal governments, contributing editor to a number of scientific publications, Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and President of the Maryland Nutritionists Association. She is the author of over 60 technical papers and presentations, as well as a popular lecturer. Dr. Enig is currently working on the exploratory development of an adjunct therapy for AIDS using complete medium chain saturated fatty acids from whole foods. She is Vice-President of the Weston A Price Foundation and Scientific Editor of Wise Traditions as well as the author of Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol, Bethesda Press, May 2000. She is the mother of three healthy children brought up on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat.

The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

Here is another great article from Men’s Health;

Maybe you should be eating more beets, left, or chopped cabbage. (Credit: Evan Sung for The New York Times, left)

(This post was originally published on June 30, 2008, and recently appeared on The New York Times’s list of most-viewed stories for 2008.)

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
   How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
   How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
   How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
   How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
   How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
   How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.” They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
   How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,” it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
   How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
    How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
    How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site, which published the original version of the list last year.

In my own house, I all of these items except sardines.  I have beets, swiss chard,  flowering kale growing — pumpkin seeds,

How about you? Have any of these foods found their way into your shopping cart?

QUICK (EXCEPT FOR OVEN TIME) POT ROAST

Serves at least 6

1 medium or 2 small bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 t. minced garlic (I buy a small jar and keep in fridge, you can use fresh)
1 boneless beef pot roast (about 3 pounds; see “Beef 101: Buying a Pot Roast,” below, for preferred cuts), patted dry with paper towels and tied with twine
2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine (1 cup)
1/2 small carrot, diced fine (1/4 cup)
1/2 small celery stalk, diced fine (1/4 cup)
2–5 tablespoons water, black coffee, or dry red or white wine
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1. Mix salt, pepper and other herbs with garlic. Rub mixture over meat. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Heat oil in a heavy pot (about 4 to 6 quarts, preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat. Put roast in pot; brown thoroughly on all sides, maintaining heat so fat sizzles briskly but does not smoke, 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure to brown meat well, then remove to a plate. Sauté vegetables until brown and crispy around edges but not blackened, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Remove veggies from pot. scrape with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add small amount of water. Reduce heat to lowest point; return roast to pot. Cover roast ½ way with water, add veggies. Cover pot and place in oven. Using spoons rather than forks to minimize juice loss, turn steak-shaped roasts every 20 minutes, loaf-shaped roasts every 30 minutes. Roast is done when internal temperature is 120 for rare, 128 for medium and 140 for well done. I know, I know….the USDA says cook to 140, but that is for people who like well done, the meat will be too dry and overdone. Buy grass-fed beef, it safer to eat with no fear of mad cow disease.

4. Remove meat; wrap in aluminum foil. Tilt pot and skim off fat, set aside. Pour juices and vegetables into a blender jar or workbowl of a food processor fitted with steel blade; process to a coarse puree. Pour into a 2-cup measure; add enough stock or broth to make 2 cups. Return juices to pot; bring to a simmer. Mix 1 1/2 tablespoons reserved cooking fat with flour. Whisk flour mixture into simmering juices, 1 teaspoon at a time, adding only as much as is necessary for the gravy to coat a spoon. Simmer to fully cook flour, about 2 minutes; adjust seasonings.

5. Unwrap meat, pouring accumulated juices into gravy. Cut meat into very thin slices — 1/8-inch, if possible — and arrange on a platter. Pour some of gravy over meat; sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately with gravy passed separately.

Mango Tarts with Tropical Nut Crust

Happy New Years, everybody!

Mango Tarts with Lime and Tropical Nut Crust

These tarts are one of my favorite desserts, a perfect combination of sweet and tart, soft and crunchy. They are easy to do but are very elegant to serve.

Serves 8

Preparation time; 1 hr.

1 cup macadamias
1 cup almonds
2 cups coconut flakes
¾ cup Succanat or organic sugar
3 large egg whites
1 cup apple juice
1 T agar agar
1/3 cup lime juice
1 t arrowroot
1 mango
4 T guava jelly (optional)
1 T. butter

1) Combine nuts in food processor to coarse grind. Add coconut and buzz briefly. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, adding sugar when whites are still soft. Fold in to nuts.

2) Place mixture into buttered tart tins. Bake at 350° until moderately brown. Cool well before removing from tins.

3) Slice mangos. Then mix arrowroot and lime juice, simmer, stirring until arrowroot is melted. cool and let set ( putting it in freezer speeds this up ) then spoon into shells.

4) Place sliced mango on top of each tart.

5) Melt guava jelly and butter in a small pan and use a pastry brush to glaze mangoes.

Is Coffee Good For You?

 Plenty of health benefits are brewing in America’s beloved beverage.

By Sid Kirchheimer
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD

Want a drug that could lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and colon cancer? That could lift your mood and treat headaches? That could lower your risk of cavities?

If it sounds too good to be true, think again.

Coffee, the much maligned but undoubtedly beloved beverage, just made headlines for possibly cutting the risk of the latest disease epidemic, type 2 diabetes. And the real news seems to be that the more you drink, the better.

Reducing Disease Risk

After analyzing data on 126,000 people for as long as 18 years, Harvard researchers calculate that compared with not partaking in America’s favorite morning drink, downing one to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily can reduce diabetes risk by single digits. But having six cups or more each day slashed men’s risk by 54% and women’s by 30% over java avoiders.

Though the scientists give the customary “more research is needed” before they recommend you do overtime at Starbuck’s to specifically prevent diabetes, their findings are very similar to those in a less-publicized Dutch study. And perhaps more importantly, it’s the latest of hundreds of studies suggesting that coffee may be something of a health food — especially in higher amounts.

In recent decades, some 19,000 studies have been done examining coffee’s impact on health. And for the most part, their results are as pleasing as a gulp of freshly brewed Breakfast Blend for the 108 million Americans who routinely enjoy this traditionally morning — and increasingly daylong — ritual. In practical terms, regular coffee drinkers include the majority of U.S. adults and a growing number of children.

“Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful,” says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies, which conducts its own medical research and tracks coffee studies from around the world. “For most people, very little bad comes from drinking it, but a lot of good.”

Consider this: At least six studies indicate that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s, with three showing the more they drink, the lower the risk. Other research shows that compared to not drinking coffee, at least two cups daily can translate to a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in liver cirrhosis risk, and nearly half the risk of gallstones.

Coffee even offsets some of the damage caused by other vices, some research indicates. “People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don’t,” says DePaulis.

There’s also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable, stop a headache, boost mood, and even prevent cavities.

Is it the caffeine? The oodles of antioxidants in coffee beans, some of which become especially potent during the roasting process? Even other mysterious properties that warrant this intensive study?

Actually, yes.

Some of coffee’s reported benefits are a direct result of its higher caffeine content: An eight ounce cup of drip-brewed coffee contains about 85 mg — about three and a half times more than the same serving of tea or cola or one ounce of chocolate.

“The evidence is very strong that regular coffee consumption reduces risk of Parkinson’s disease and for that, it’s directly related to caffeine,” DePaulis tells WebMD. “In fact, Parkinson’s drugs are now being developed that contain a derivative of caffeine based on this evidence.”

Caffeine is also what helps in treating asthma and headaches. Though not widely publicized, a single dose of pain reliever such as Anacin or Excedrin contains up to 120 milligrams — what’s in a hefty mug o’ Joe.

Boost to Athleticism

It’s also caffeine — and not coffee, per se — that makes java a powerful aid in enhancing athletic endurance and performance, says physiologist and longtime coffee researcher Terry Graham, PhD, of the University of Guelph in Canada. So powerful, in fact, that until recently, caffeine in coffee or other forms was deemed a “controlled” substance by the Olympic Games Committee, meaning that it could be consumed only in small, designated amounts by competing athletes.

“What caffeine likely does is stimulate the brain and nervous system to do things differently,” he tells WebMD. “That may include signaling you to ignore fatigue or recruit extra units of muscle for intense athletic performance. Caffeine may even have a direct effect on muscles themselves, causing them to produce a stronger contraction. But what’s amazing about it is that unlike some performance-enhancing manipulation some athletes do that are specific for strength or sprinting or endurance, studies show that caffeine positively enhances all of these things.”

How does this brew affect growing minds and bodies? Very nicely, it seems, says DePaulis. Coffee, as you probably know, makes you more alert, which can boost concentration. But claims that it improves a child’s academic performance can be exaggerated. Coffee-drinking kids may do better on school tests because they’re more awake, but most task-to-task lab studies suggest that coffee doesn’t really improve mental performance, says DePaulis.

But it helps kids’ minds in another way. “There recently was a study from Brazil finding that children who drink coffee with milk each day are less likely to have depression than other children,” he tells WebMD. “In fact, no studies show that coffee in reasonable amounts is in any way harmful to children.”

On the flip side, it’s clear that coffee isn’t for everyone. Its legendary jolt in excess doses — that is, more than whatever your individual body can tolerate — can increase nervousness, hand trembling, and cause rapid heartbeat. Coffee may also raise cholesterol levels in some people and may contribute to artery clogging. But most recent large studies show no significant adverse effects on most healthy people, although pregnant women, heart patients, and those at risk for osteoporosis may still be advised to limit or avoid coffee.

The bottom line: “People who already drink a lot of coffee don’t have to feel ‘guilty’ as long as coffee does not affect their daily life,” says Hu. “They may actually benefit from coffee habits in the long run.”

In other words, consume enough caffeine — whether it’s from coffee or another source — and you will likely run faster, last longer and be stronger. What’s enough? As little as one cup can offer some benefit, but the real impact comes from at least two mugs, says Graham. By comparison, it’d take at least eight glasses of cola to get the same effect, which isn’t exactly conducive for running a marathon.

But the harder you exercise, the more benefit you may get from coffee. “Unfortunately, where you see the enhancing effects from caffeine is in hard-working athletes, who are able to work longer and somewhat harder,” says Graham, who has studied the effects of caffeine and coffee for nearly two decades. “If you a recreational athlete who is working out to reduce weight or just feel better, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough to get an athletic benefit from coffee or other caffeinated products.”

But you can get other benefits from coffee that have nothing to do with caffeine. “Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, including a group of compounds called quinines that when administered to lab rats, increases their insulin sensitivity” he tells WebMD. This increased sensitivity improves the body’s response to insulin.

That may explain why in that new Harvard study, those drinking decaf coffee but not tea beverages also showed a reduced diabetes risk, though it was half as much as those drinking caffeinated coffee.

“We don’t know exactly why coffee is beneficial for diabetes,” lead researcher Frank Hu, MD, tells WebMD. “It is possible that both caffeine and other compounds play important roles. Coffee has large amounts of antioxidants such as chlorogenic acid and tocopherols, and minerals such as magnesium. All these components have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism.”

Meanwhile, Italian researchers credit another compound called trigonelline, which gives coffee its aroma and bitter taste, for having both antibacterial and anti-adhesive properties to help prevent dental cavities from forming. There are other theories for other conditions.

Savory Bread Pudding

no gluten, no dairy……

Yield At least 6 servings

Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the pan
• 6 cups Ezekiel Bread, the one in the orange wrapper.  diced very small
• 2 cups almond milk
• Salt and fresh black pepper
• 2 ounces Rice Parmesan
• 1/2 cup rice sour cream
• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushroom caps
• 1 T. thyme
• 1 T.

Method

• 1. Butter or oil an 8-inch souffle or baking dish, and put bread in it. Combine everything but shiitakes, and pour over bread. Submerge bread with a weighted plate, and turn oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons butter or oil in a saute pan, add shiitakes and saute until tender, about 10 minutes.
• 2. Remove plate, and stir in mushrooms. Bake until pudding is just set, 35 to 45 minutes.

2008: my year of living smaller

By Rick Jelliffe
December 29, 2008 | Comments: 15

(Warning: non technical jottings ahead!)

I tried a little experiment in 2008: living smaller.

I caught public transport only. I got rid of extra lightbulbs. I baked my own bread. I froze my own dumplings. I didn’t buy any gadget. I didn’t buy any CD. I didn’t get a flatscreen TV. No home phone; no home internet; no cable TV; no new art; no gin. I only took one international trip (which was quite important) and two domestic flights (to my dear parent’s 80th birthdays) but turned down several work opportunities that involved flying, even though it meant less satisfactory participation at SC34 WG1. I let my passport lapse.

When my kettle broke, I didn’t replace it: I use a pot. When my contact lenses broke, I didn’t even replace them (which means that when I saw the Benjamin Button movie last week, Brad Pitt looked the same in every frame, unfortunately.) When my socks had a hole, I repaired them; I didn’t buy any clothes, and I avoided wearing clothes that would need dry cleaning or special treatment. When my courtyard grapevine died due to amorous possums, I didn’t replant.

I worked less, and earned way less, and spent more time writing and thinking. I was asked to write a book, but I decided against it in 2008: living simpler means avoiding tar babies. I am increasingly attracted to the small house idea, a dogtrot house perhaps or La Maison de Plougrescant. And look at Jane Austin’s writing desk!

At various times I let my mobile phone lapse too, and toyed with the idea of getting the power cut off: a fantasy involving those camper lights with solar power and a gas burner for small meals evolved and the climate in Sydney is such that you can get away with no heating or cooling if your abode is insulated, at a pinch. Indeed, having no after-dark power might be the best thing for my night-owl-ism (which verges on diurnal manic depression, clinically.) But I couldn’t go that far…

This leads to a very placid lifestyle: I don’t think I have ever been less engaged with the rat race, and at the same time, less restless (outside office hours.) Part of this is undoubtedly due to the lack of bad news this year: I had no more rare and surprising illnesses and my three closest mates all recovered from addictions or the sicknesses coming from the needle: crystal meths, nicotine and heroin’s hep C.

2008 was a good year for my friends: no leap forwards, just the removal of long-standing shackles that moved me to tears of joy on more than one ocassion.

I don’t think I could be an eccentric recluse like a hermit unless it was in the middle of a bustling, pretty cosmopolis like Sydney: just this week I had coffee with my favourite Mongolian who had just finished his first novel in German; perhaps I should be more attracted to people in more populated categories. But perhaps a boyhood outside the metropolis gives the gift that the glamour of things is not so strong: I don’t know if a lack of consumerism will be a virtue in these molten-down times (making a virtue out the necessity of belt-tightening and small footprinting) or a flaw (since we need to spend to stimulate our economies.)

In Japan under the Shoguns, there were tight sumptuary laws that prevented ordinary people from such luxuries as chairs and tables. The result was a culture rich in fabric, ceramic, paper, paper, gardens, calligraphy and small objects that could be stored away. There is little stark about a simple traditional Japanese tatami room, which can be contrasted with the starkness of the ideological modesty of Shaker furniture, for example: indeed, the plainness of tatami room merely provides a frame which shows off the beauty of craftsmanship, design and display. So simplicity is not antagonistic to beauty.

The experiment of 2008 is over. I need my lenses. I don’t particularly feel I need my mobile, but my friends consider it unfriendly not to be at their beck and call, to invite me out to watch the transvestites at the Taxi Club or to commiserate with them when they have returned, drunk and repentant. This week I sneaked a connection to a neighbour’s unprotected wireless internet and felt very naughty: I think I will offer to share the bill with them rather than getting my own connection however. I have accepted a sponsored overseas speaking engagement for the new year.

So what did I learn? Simplicity is great if it is coupled with quality household goods, but terrible with commodity goods that bust all the time. I am using my grandparents’ knives: they use a kind of steel that has not been produced for about 70 years now: they are thin blades that never need sharpening and cut as well as a carving knife. They are great examples of the kind of quality I am looking for: when you know you will be eating with a sharp knife, you don’t need to make concessions in your cooking to making all food soft and mousse loose (which seems to be held up as a sign of good cooking in America, despite being the continent of jerky.) High quality uncomplicates the things it touches, it seems to me. Though not all our modern anxiety can be directly attributed to poor metalurgy, unfortunately.

So simplicity does not let us escape entirely consumerism, in the sense that it leaves one free from considering things: indeed. it seems to merely lift the game. If I want my knives to be in continuous use for fifty or one hundred years, they need to be good. And the quality equation only makes sense over commodity goods if they are beautiful or excellent.

Having zigged in 2008, probably it is time to zag.

Best wishes to all my readers in 2009. I have really enjoyed your comments and private email on the things I have written about, and I am embarrassingly flattered to have such a quality readership.

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.” Mr Micawber, David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

I wish my readers happiness, even if it is just the simple one of the nineteen nineteen six, in 2009

What Health Really Is

By Millie Barnes

Perfect health may be defined as having fullness of function. Health means complete well being, inner and outer harmony, vigor, strength, mental acuity, emotional poise, in short, total fitness.

The easiest place to begin addressing achieving perfect health is on the physical level through optimum nutrition and physical exercise. When we maintain a diet that nurtures us fully and keeps our bodies in shape through rigorous exercise, the rest falls into place. We cannot have a healthy mind within an ailing body. We need a diet that lets our bodies run efficiently while meeting our nutrient needs. We need an exercise regimen that challenges our bodies so they can stay strong and limber.

Lets look at the nutrition aspect of it first. What constitutes a perfect human diet? They requirements that we have for food are; it should meet all of our nutritional needs for vitamins, minerals, enzymes, essential fatty acids, protein, fiber and moisture. It should also not be allergenic, leaving behind a residue or contain toxins. The foods that meet all of these criteria are organic meats, eggs, fats, fruits and vegetables. Preferably fresh and in season. They are all burned efficiently in the body and meet all of our nutrient needs. When food is this nourishing, it provides perfect fuel for us, giving us very high energy, beauty and optimum health. And this, in turn, leads to emotional poise and growth. That is what the word nourish means,” to promote the growth of.”

And how does exercise play a hand in this? When our diet gives us enough health and energy, it is very difficult NOT to be in motion. That is what our bodies are made for, to be in motion. We need to not strive for 30 minutes three times a week to do aerobic exercise. We needs to feel so wonderful and filled with energy that we WANT TO GO OUT TO PLAY. We want to do the things that keep our bodies fit and graceful, but we want to love doing it so that it is play, not work. Think running, skiing, roller-blading, surfing, yoga, riding a bike, hiking, lifting weights.  You need resistance exercise, aerobic exercise and some form of serious stretching, such as yoga. When you are physically fit, you do these things because they feel great and are fun. Just like you did when you were a child. To get lost in it, not think of time, in the moment.  It’s that meditative state of perfect balance.

When your body is in motion, it stimulates the digestion, aids in detoxing, provides wonderfully addictive endorphins that help us be happier and more relaxed, keeps our cardio-vascular system healthy, tones muscles, stimulate the lymph system and brings our consciousness back into our body as well as our head. When things are working this well, you return to that high playful energy level that you had as a child. I call it that “wag your tail, on your toes” kind of feeling. Within two weeks of beginning to eat cleaner and exercise more, you can notice a substantial difference in how you look and feel. Everything in life is a whole lot funner when you feel wonderful everyday.

Incorporate Gratitude Sessions Into Your Routine

Too much busyness in your day? Try to get in a gratitude session. Life skills site Zen Habits has a few suggestions on what these might look like:

This is one of my favorite rituals: every day, take a couple of minutes to think about everything and everybody you are grateful for in your life. This may sound corny, but it is an amazing ritual. Try it right now — it only takes a minute. Who are you grateful for? What are you grateful for? I’ve found that this little ritual has so much power that it makes me happier and more compassionate.

This is definitely something I could use more of in my life. What are you grateful for? Let’s hear in the comments!

You Call THAT Health Food?

Just because the label says it’s good for you doesn’t mean it is. Here’s how to read beyond the marketing hype

By: Cassandra Forsythe, M.S. & Adam Campbell

I have added nutrition notes as I agree with most of what they are saying, but not all. My notes are in RED…. 

Take a moment and consider this logic:  1. Fat-free foods are healthy. 2. Skittles are fat-free. 3. Therefore, Skittles are healthy. Make sense? Of course not. But it’s exactly the type of reasoning that food manufacturers want you to use.

You see, in our example, we started with a false premise. That’s because the term “fat-free” is often code for “high-sugar” — an attribute that makes a product the opposite of healthy. Case in point: Johns Hopkins University researchers recently determined that high blood sugar is an independent risk factor for heart disease.  So high-glycemic foods — those such as sugars and starches that raise your blood sugar dramatically — are inherently unhealthy. (See Skittles, above.)

Unfortunately, faulty food logic is far less obvious when you’re shopping outside the candy aisle. Why? Because making healthy choices isn’t as simple as knowing that beans are packed with fiber, or that fruits are loaded with disease-fighting antioxidants. After all, manufacturers often add ingredients, such as sugar, that can instantly turn a good snack bad. As a result, many of the products that you think are wholesome are anything but. And that’s why we’ve created our list of the dirty dozen: 12 “healthy” foods that you can — and should — live without.

Yogurt with Fruit at the Bottom

The upside: Yogurt and fruit are two of the healthiest foods known to man.

Yoghurt is the healthiest form of dairy, because the acidophilus helps with digestion.  BUT, cows milk is made for baby cows, not humans.  There are WAY healthier forms of proteins for us, like grass-fed meat.

The downside: Corn syrup is not. But that’s exactly what’s used to make these products super sweet. For example, a cup of Colombo blueberry yogurt contains 36 grams (g) of sugar, only about half of which is found naturally in the yogurt and fruit. The rest comes in the form of “added” sugar — or what we prefer to call “unnecessary.”

The healthy alternative:  Eat fresh fruit!

Baked Beans

The upside: Beans are packed with fiber, which helps keep you full and slows the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream.

The downside:  The baked kind are typically covered in a sauce made with brown and white sugars. And because the fiber is located inside the bean, it doesn’t have a chance to interfere with the speed at which the sugary glaze is digested. Consider that 1 cup of baked beans contains 24 g sugar: That’s about the same amount in 8 ounces of regular soda.

The healthy alternative:  Red kidney beans, packed in water. You get the nutritional benefits of legumes, but without the extra sugar. They don’t even need to be heated: Just open the can, rinse thoroughly, and serve. Try splashing some hot sauce on top for a spicy variation.  A better choice is grass fed beef, free range organic chicken, organic eggs.  Beans are hard to digest, do not have the healthy saturated fats of meats and eggs.

California Roll

The upside: The seaweed it’s wrapped in contains essential nutrients, such as iodine, selenium, calcium, and omega-3 fats.

The downside:  It’s basically a Japanese sugar cube. That’s because its two other major components are white rice and imitation crab, both of which are packed with fast-digesting carbohydrates and almost no protein.

The healthy alternative:  Real sushi made with tuna or salmon. These varieties have fewer bad carbohydrates, while providing a hefty helping of high-quality protein. Better yet, skip the rice, too, by ordering sashimi.

Granola Bars

The upside: Granola is made with whole oats, a nutritious food that’s high in fiber.  Oats, along with all grains, offer almost no nutrients, absolutely no live enzymes (crucial for the assimilation of nutrients) and spike blood sugar.

The downside:  The oats are basically glued together with ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, honey, and barley malt — all of which quickly raise blood sugar.

The healthy alternative: Grab a low-sugar meal replacement bar that contains no more than 5 g net carbs — those are the ones that affect blood sugar — and at least 15 g protein. We like Myoplex Carb Sense.  Eat fruits, veggies and high quality organic proteins…real food. I tell my clients to eat real food, it shouldn’t need a label or come in a box or package!

Pasta Salad

The upside: Most pasta-salad recipes include a variety of fresh vegetables.

The downside:  The main ingredient is white-flour pasta, a close relative of white bread.

The healthy alternative:  They suggest egg salad, a great choice if you make your own mayo with organic eggs and organic olive oil.  Most commercial mayos are now made with soy, safflower or canola oil- not fit for human consumption). Use rice pasta (for a no gluten alternative), or just veggies with dressing.

English Muffins

The upside: One English muffin — two halves — has half as many calories as two slices of bread. So it’s better for a breakfast sandwich.

The downside:   Most English muffins not only raise blood sugar significantly but are nearly devoid of fiber, protein, and vitamins. This makes them a great example of a food that provides only empty calories. This is true of ALL bread and pastas!

The healthy alternative:  One hundred percent whole-wheat English muffins are a decent start, but we like the kind made from sprouted grains, which contain no flour and are packed with nutrients. For instance, Food for Life sprouted-grain English muffins have twice as much fiber and 30 percent more protein compared with the typical 100 percent whole-wheat version. (For stores, check  foodforlife.com.)  I agree 100%!  Ezekial bread, tortillas, bagels and muffins are awesome!!!

Croutons

The upside: They’re so small they contribute very few calories to your overall meal, yet they add a satisfying crunch.

The downside:  Most croutons are made with the same refined flour that’s used in white bread, a food with a higher glycemic index than sugar.  They also almost all have all kind of nasty additives, milk powder, cheese, preservatives…

The healthy alternative:  Sliced roasted almonds. They’re crunchy, sugar-free, and high in monounsaturated fats, the same type of healthy fats found in olive oil. In fact, Harvard University researchers estimate that substituting nuts for an equivalent amount of carbohydrates results in a 30 percent reduction in heart-disease risk.

Fat-Free Salad Dressing

The upside: Cutting out the fat reduces the calories that a dressing contains.

The downside:  Sugar is added to provide flavor. But perhaps more important is that the removal of fat reduces your body’s ability to absorb many of the vitamins found in a salad’s vegetables. Ohio State University researchers discovered that people who ate a salad dressing that contained fat absorbed 15 times more beta-carotene and five times more lutein — both powerful antioxidants — than when they downed a salad topped with fat-free dressing.

The healthy alternative:  Choose a full-fat dressing that’s made with either olive oil and has less than 2 g carbs per serving.

Fruit Cocktail

The upside: The main ingredient is fruit.

The downside:  If you don’t read the label closely, you may choose a brand that’s packed in heavy syrup. For instance, a 1/2-cup serving of syrupy fruit cocktail contains 23 g added sugar.

The healthy alternative:  Look for fruit cocktail canned in “100 percent juice,” not syrup.  Better; eat whole fruit, fresh juices or organic dried fruit!!

Reduced-Fat Peanut Butter

The upside: Even the reduced-fat versions pack a substantial quantity of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.

The downside:  Many commercial brands are sweetened with “icing sugar” — the same finely ground sugar used to decorate cupcakes. In fact, each tablespoon of Skippy contains half a teaspoon of the sweet stuff. Reduced-fat versions are the worst of all, because they contain less healthy fat and even more icing sugar.

The healthy alternative:  An all-natural, full-fat peanut butter — such as Crazy Richard’s or Teddy’s — that contains no added sugar.

I disagree with all of this info, monounsaturated fats are only healthy when they come from fruits and veggies, not processed or heated.  Peanut butter is not a nut butter, it is from a legume that has been roasted, rendering it carcinogenic. See the Weston Price Foundation for more info, or Udo Erasmus’ work on fats.  Eat small amounts of almond, cashew or macadamia butter.

Pretzels

The upside: One ounce has just 110 calories.

The downside:  These twisted low-fat snacks have one of the highest glycemic indexes of any food. In fact, they rank above ice cream and jelly beans in their ability to raise blood sugar.

The healthy alternative:  Fruit is a great snack, or occasionally;  gluten free snacks.

Corn Oil

The upside: It contains omega-6 fatty acids — unsaturated fats that don’t raise cholesterol.  This is misleading as these fats do not directly raise cholesterol.  BUT, when heated, contribute to blood lipids getting sticky…which in turn raises serum cholesterol.

The downside:  Corn oil has 60 times more omega-6s than omega-3s, the type of healthy fats found in fish, walnuts, and flaxseed. Studies suggest that a high intake of omega-6 fats relative to omega-3 fats increases inflammation, which boosts your risk of cancer, arthritis, and obesity.

The healthy alternative: Olive oil, which have a far better ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s. BUT ONLY WHEN NOT HEATED!!  Olive oil should only be used in salad dressings, mayo or for flavor.  When cooking or heating use ONLY fats that re stable when heated- organic butter, coconut oil or lard!