Breakthrough on Swedish television!!!

Things happening in Sweden. Best birthday gift ever to me!

This week a talk show has been dealing with the topic "the white poisons" (provoking according to them, normal stuff to me, but about milk, sugar and white flour and how we react on them).

Today the last program made me very emotional. Because it focused on children and their diet. And the mother that appears tell her story, which could almost have been mine, except that we never have had any "serious reactions" just subtle indications. Child with stomach problems, later serious tantrums. Couragous mother who fought for 2 years to get the doctors to agree to exclude first milk and then all milk products, eggs, white flour. In the program she shows her frustration and is straight foward with the message that doctors need to change their opinion on children's allergy to these foods. It is important to recognize that some of the most important foods that our children eat every day can cause serious problems. She goes as far as saying that this is criminal!


"If you as a mother feel that something isn't right, then something isn't right" and "I almost had a nervous breakdown for all the fighting"!!!!

 This is exactly how I feel! Lucky for us our problems aren't as acute as their sons, but still, we have the symptoms, and if we do not deal with them now they might turn serious. I expressed my frustations in this blogpost about a month ago...heh I was supposed to quit blogging... here I am "dándole duro" as the Chilean expression goes).

Thank you, thank you, thank you TV4 for dealing with these important topics! It means a world to me but I am quite sure it could make a world of difference for thousands of children if their parents are ready to do the change.

If you know Swedish, you can watch the clip here:


Efter tio - vita gifter och barn


And one more thing, its not a problem to live without wheat and milk. Not even in a family with small children. We've done it for almost a year now and our kids are doing just fine! (except that they are still not completely milk and wheat free since we are only now doing the exams....which most probably will turn negative...and  with negative results you do not get the allergy certificate needed for the municipality daycare, damn will have to turn my food beliefs into a religion then!).


And now, I'll focus on planning tomorrow's get together, what to serve and what to bake to make it apt for all members of this family!

The nutritionist and me

Went to see a nutritionist. With a good filter I managed to get something out of the meeting. But OMG the amount of "(branded) foods" on her shelves, provided by Food Industry, and mostly based on grains. The expert was also mostly concerned that we eat enough grains... Such a contrast to yesterday's movie "Hungry for Change"(once again: see it before Saturday!!!). Anyway, a doctor's certificate on avoidance of wheat was enough to not have to start debating whole grains...

She understood she'd better not press me on the margarine issue and I understood to stay quiet. What she did say though, was the rapseedoil is better than olive oil when it comes to balance of omega3/omega6. Is this true?!? I tried argumenting that it is not good for cooking as it will be destroyed in the process. She then said that I should use the normal oil, not the cold pressed, since the normal oil isn't destroyed. Well, we'll skip that advice then, since I am suspicious to industrially extracted oils. Cold pressed or forget it. She was happy to hear that we do have some flaxseed oil in our diet as well.

Then we talked milk. Because as usually, I am concerned that my kids aren't getting enough calcium since we have one possible milk allergist and we cannot be eating yogurts anymore. Well I asked about alternatives as for example sesame seeds. She said these do not absorve well enough, and I actually tend to believe her (but I will make some Halva based on this recipe " Halva" to see if the kids like it). Then I asked about broccoli and almonds. She said the amount you would have to eat to get the daily dosis is to high (1 kg of broccoli). This got me thinking afterwards, is  it really so that a childs body really needs the recommended amount of half a liter of milk every day? Or is this something that has been manipulated by other interests as well. Think about it, 100 years ago how many milking cows did you have around to get your daily dosis of calcium. Naaaa, I am skeptical on this one. But on the other hand I am not ready to sacrify the health of my children either....

So she recommended soy milk - said it is perfectly safe, even babies can have it in baby formulas nowadays. I said "no way José", my children will not be drinking soy milk on a daily basis, that is for sure! Then she said maybe oatmilk or ricemilk is ok... This was anyway a side track, since I said from the start that Kidone can tolerate milk, it is just that I prefer something else if Kidtwo can't, just to not create problems at the dinner table. And the appointment was for Kidone, not Kidtwo, so she did not really have to worry about him...

Back home I started thinking of when did it get some complicated to EAT? Basic instinct of survival and we need dietists to guide us!!! This is where our abundance in food has taken us. We have to ask advice from experts to make the right choices. Insane.

I am with Michael Pollan on this one; food culture is what our mothers (I would say parents, in the name of equality) tought us to eat. But since the food industry has made a mess out of our mother's and our own relationship to what to eat, we'd better go back to what our grandmothers (or great grandmothers) would have recognized as a food. Anything else, skip it. Much of the stuff on the shelves of this dietist would have sparked an enormous amount of questions for my great grandmother. This leads me to the real question: is the purpose of the traditional dietist to lead us in on the path of processed foods? I surely got that feeling based on the stuff surrounding us. But at least my nourishing efforts were considered fine and we had a very diplomatic session!

Twice a victory today

1. Kidone is eating two plates of traditionally cooked meat. Thought I never would see that day.

2. Hubby sees the movie "Hungry for change" online (you can see it until Saturday) and is starting to really grasp what I am bitching about around here.

Tomorrow we will make another green juice for breakfast for us adults (kids can have if they want): celery, lemon, spinach, zucchini. Embracing mother nature.... and one step closer to yet another freaky diet: RAW FOOD!

Oh, and tomorrow we'll be going to see a nutritionist as well. This one will be fun. Let's see who has the winning arguments! (actually I am really looking forward to getting some well balanced advice, hope she'll stay far away from trying to indoctrinate me on margarine and rapseed oil....) 

Hair Loss

I have noticed that I am loosing more hair than normal these days. I gather it is because of lack of sleep and stress but Maria Emmerich has an even better explanation of it. Once again.... it seams that the horror movie "Leaky Gut" pointing its fingers towards my head. Greatful that mother nature equipped me with an abundance of hair, so until it gets really serious I am not all that concerned. However, determined to do something about the issues as of April. Anyone else out there with hair loss?

 

HAIR LOSS
There are many reasons for hair loss; most of which links back to nutrition.

1. Alopecia (discussed in my book: Art of Eating Healthy: Desserts) is an auto-immune disease which are directly linked to food allergies.
2. Iron Deficiency: This can happen a few ways: not eating foods containing iron, heavy menstruation, heavy exercise, OR you aren't absorbing iron due to a food allergy/sensitivity/leaky gut.
3. DHT (Testosterone byproduct): This can happen with men AND women. This is when testosterone is converted to DHT (dihydro-testosterone). Nearly half of all men have an inherited gene that makes them at risk of losing their hair because too much of the testosterone in their body is getting converted to DHT and resulting in low actual testosterone. The key is to take steps before it becomes a problem.

How do we fix it?
1. Healthy Fats: Salmon, nuts, avocado, peanut butter, coconut oil. Eggs and butter are also very important because cholesterol is precursor to create important hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. Cholesterol is also important for reproduction; it brings out male and female sexual characteristics. These essential nutrients are especially beneficial for children and expectant mothers. As the use of butter in America has declined, sterility rates and problems with sexual development have increased. When animals consume butter substitutes, their growth is stunted and they are unable to sustain reproduction.
2. Zinc: A deficiency in zinc can cause a 75% drop in testosterone. Zinc supplements can cause testosterone levels to double if deficient and can increase sperm production in men. Zinc is found in pasture fed meats, chicken, yolks of eggs, oysters, crab, pine nuts and cheese.
3. Vitamin E: Vitamin E is a FAT-SOLUBLE vitamin, if you have been eating a low-fat or no-fat diet and are losing your hair, this is most likely the cause. I love almond flour because it has tons of vitamin E. Sunflower seeds, asparagus, avocado, olives, spinach and other green leafy vegetables are good sources to fill up on.
4. Allicin: RAW garlic contains the highest concentration of this testosterone-boosting compound. Cooking diminishes the effects. It also decreases cortisol, which competes with testosterone and interferes with its normal function. Add garlic and onions to your meals to stimulate testosterone’s production.
5. Cruciferous Veggies: Diindolylmethane, is a natural phytonutrient in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower (my "healthified" rice ideas), cabbage (try "healthified" pasta), broccoli, Brussels sprouts limits the effects of male estrogen. These veggies contain nutrients called indoles. Indoles lowers estrogen which also competes with testosterone production.
6. Protein: Eating protein after intense exercise has been shown to increase the amount of testosterone that enters muscle cells which stimulates muscle growth. Choose quality protein, and try supplementing with one or two whey protein shakes per day (especially after exercise).
7. B Vitamins: Studies show that consumption of B Vitamins directly correlates with an increase in testosterone. Meat, poultry, and fish contain lots of b vitamins. Vegetarians should be sure to take a b-complex vitamin.
8. Caffeine: High amounts of caffeine added to exercise can increase testosterone production. Don’t go crazy with this fact. Stick to 200-400mg of caffeine a day and keep caffeine away from bed-time. Sleep is just as important to testosterone.
9. Niacin: Studies show that niacin increases HDL; which directly links to a higher testosterone production. Increase niacin by including meat, poultry, fish, nuts, eggs and quality dairy products.
10. High Intensity Exercise: After about 20 minutes into an exercise session, blood levels of testosterone increase and remain elevated for up to three hours after exercise. Maintain muscle with consistent strength training.

Hungry for Change: See it!!!

I just posted this to my Facebook-page saying that everyone should see the whole movie and the whole movie is available for free until March 31st.

Well no. Actually it was free to me because I preregistered for it. So I deleted the post from Facebook. Why bother... but,damn it was good. And I usually do not use such strong words in writing on my blogs.
Thinking of ordering the whole movie, just to make the people dearest to me see it. It's actually that important. So yes, their preregistering marketing trick worked on me. That's for sure!


The second best thing, if you do not want to get the movie,  at least watch Jamie Oliver on Tedtalks.

 But this is like watching the five minutes recap of the morning news in comparison to the whole big thing in the above movie.

Oh, and by the way, if I didn't tell you... I am going more raw food now. Aloe vera, chia, siprulina, celery, kale (found kale in the Thai store in Hakaniemi!). Superfood me - now and forever!

And as of April I promise my lifestyle will include decent sleep, less stress, more exercise. These are the things from the "Hungry for Change" that I need to work on. What are your issues?

Making Ghee

This is what I am up to:
Ghee - clarified butter

Since we are trying to avoid all that contains milk at the moment, and Kidtwo is reeeally found of butter (quiiiiiero mooooooor, spanish/swedish - want butter) I need to come up with a substitute. He is saying no to coconut oil - bummer.

Blueberry waffles with apple/blueberry mousse

I've started incorporating more veggies to my recipes, as you might have noticed in the past recipe post on carrot muffins. Two explanations: 1) trying to increase veggie intake implicitly in the kids and 2) we're out of bananas and thus yesterday I subsituted the sweet banana taste with the sweet carrot taste.

Today I made a new waffle recipe and instead of using a lot of almong flour I just threw in half a zucchini in the mixer first, then I added other incrients according to intuition¨.

Blueberry waffles:
Half a zucchini
0,5 dl almonds/almond flour
Half an apple
Handful of blueberries
3 eggs
coconut oil in the waffle iron

Mix all the ingredients and add the coconut oil to the waffle iron while heating up. Make waffles and enjoy!

Apple mousse on top (this was a new invention due to the lack of bananas)
Half an apple
Small piece of avocado
handful of blueberries
1-2 tbls coconut milk

Mix in food processer (smaller bowl) or with a mixer and enjoy with the waffles.


Once again, I made these so quickly, and they were eaten so quickly, and the kitchen was the mess it usually is when I start cooking, ergo, no pictures. But still worth while trying. Our picky eater ate A LOT.


And I do not pay attention much to mainstream media reports on studies on foods reducing the risk of this and that but today this one caugh my attention, as both the waffles and the mousse included blueberries and apples (coincidence!):

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/03/19/apples-and-blueberries-diabetes_n_1362405.html?ref=health-news&ir=Health%20News