I have a choice - so why don't I use it?

This morning I had an early departure, heading for a Nordic conference on Development held in Helsinki these days. On the way to the train I remembered that I forgot to pack my dark chocolate for the road. Then my next thought was: well, do I really need it? I have two eggs, a gluten-free sandwich (with my new obsession: Philadelphia cheese...), and avocado and some water. That will keep me in good shape until the conference coffee somewhere around ten o'clock. Besides, the chocolate I had bought (Marabou) is not "clean" - it contains at least soy lecitin, which most probably is derived from genetically modified soy. So why do I insist buying these products for consumption, although they contain substances that I in principle do not support? The question becomes even more relevant as I think of the long term effect on the child that I am bearing. How do I know that strange substances that are not natural are not affecting my off spring? This should be the most dominant human drives of all, to produce healthy off springs so that the genetic code is passed on into the future. Then I think of my laziness to bring food for lunch lately and instead eating at the university canteen - well aware of all the strange extracts and substances like maltodextrins that hide in the food-like stuff served during lunch. Or the fruits for that matter - we have "fruit week" this week for the personnel at the school. Nice beautiful fruits fill up the teachers room and everybody is indulging - also I am enjoying this extra treat, although I know that there must be pesticide residues on and in them - they are not organic. Why do I do this when I have a choice? Why not just stick to my home-cooked meals, make an extra portion each day and be happy with the organic fruits that we buy for our local veggie dealer? Why isn't that enough?

Well, first because I hate fanaticism (yeah, really - who could have imagined? Me, the sugar busting fanatic number one!). In case of products that I have not found a direct link to health concerns,I just can't stay away all the time. Particularly not when we talk about chocolate....Second, eating habits are very hard to change! Just take the example of Philadelphia above, I have been off dairy products for a considerable amount of time and just recently reintroduced raw milk to my body - after noticing that this was fine I am now also indulging in Phillly-cheese... it is just sooooooo gooooooood, and so is chocolate, did I forget to mention? Third, my lack of planning ahead with any other meal than our dinner is just beyond my capacity right now. In the morning we have oatmeal and eggs in some form and I get the kids to day care, to still remember to pack down my own lunch is just too much, really, come on, I am only human. And so it goes, I have a choice to eat according to my best of knowledges, I even have the capacity to turn raw real food organic ingredients into nutritious food, and I have the motives - but I lack the coordination and the determination. There is long road from principles to practice... but at some point I might be getting there. And in the mean time I just tell myself that I am way better off than during that first pregnancy when I blindly trusted both the state dietary recommendations and the authorities that are supposed to guarantee that the food-like products on our supermarket shelves are indeed: safe.

And then, as I am finalizing this writing, I see a post on Facebook on a new study on the side effects of the most popular herbicide in the world, glyphosate, the most popular herbicide in the world today. The abstracts starts off nicely:   "Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup®, is the most popular herbicide used worldwide. The industry asserts it is minimally toxic to humans, but here we argue otherwise." And the conclusions aren't that hard to understand either: "Consequences are most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We explain the documented effects of glyphosate and its ability to induce disease, and we show that glyphosate is the “textbook example” of exogenous semiotic entropy: the disruption of homeostasis by environmental toxins."

So what was I saying again about my choices and the future health of my off spring? Maybe I should really start using that choice of mine in a more coordinated and determined way...

Top 10 junk food, top 10 good food.

From the podcast of Helathy Life Summit with Kelly the Kitchen Cop.

Top 10 junk food:

1. Bad fats, the real artery cloggers, partially hydrogenenated anything, canola, soybean, cotton seed  oils. these are fake foods, not traditional, you want to avoid those.
Flax oil, sunflower, peanut oil - good quality oils is ok in small amounts.Canola, soy and cotton seed are not quality oils!

2. High fructose corn syrup: making people so sick, strong link between HFCS and heart desease.

3. MSG: nerve toxin, linked to migraine. Can be found in pretty much all processed foods. Hidden names for MSG, need to become a label reader, google the names to understand which names are actually MSG. Easier thing: don't buy anything that you do not understand, because there are so many names for MSG that it is hard to avoid.

4.  Preservatives and pesticides, pesticides aren't on the labels, pretty much anything grown conventionally have used pesticides to kill bugs. Preservatives have weird scientific names, probably want to avoid.

5. GMO products. ALmost all processed food includes GMO (not sure about Europe here, my comment).
 Chemicals used to fought off weed on resistant GMO plants, do we really want these chemicals in our system? Can cancer be linked to the increase in amount of chemicals in our food system?


6. Factory farmed meat, cows jammed inside, who knows what they are being fed (corn & soy), those things we do not want to eat ourselves is given to the meat we will be eating. Not living in healthy conditions. When we eat that meat it will be doing the same thing to us (if we eat pastured animal, we are basically eating what they are eating - the grass that is made for them, not they soy and hormones that they are fed).

7. Artificial food dyes and flavors - almost in everything (tooth paste, medicine, candies like skiddos and m&m:s yogurts). Many flavors start off in petroleum refineries in China, many banned but many still being used.

8. Sugar - truvia is ok, but quite strong for baking, she recommends palm sugar for baking. Anything more natural than the refined white sugar. Agave? Some say it is highly processed, stay away but others say certain types are not so bad, it does have a high level of fructose. Honey, maple syrup, traditional sugar are good. Honey stirred in raw milk is really good.

9. Low fat foods are on the baddy list. Have the same feel in the mouth as real food but are actually fake.

10. Soy: not healthy, causes thyroid issues, all fake, better just avoid it.



Top 10 good food:

1. Pastured animal meat ("salad bar beef" - cows eating grass). They are given what the nature intended, loaded with nutrients for us: higher on omega 3 than conventional, higher in vitamine D because getting sunshine, vitamine E. A lot of people not eating meat started off not eating meat because they do not want to eat that factory farmed meat, but real meat is a good option.

2. Raw milk. Ultrapastorized milk does not even need to be in refrigerator, it is dead because all bacteria have been killed. Date of expiration over two months away: unpastorized. BUT Raw milk includes all enzymes that the body needs to absorb it, are still intact. A lot of people who cannot tolerate dairy can drink raw milk because of the enzymes.

3. Animal fats. Probably the best thing about real food diet. Butter is good for you! Add 6 spoon of butter to the potatoes. High in vitamine D, and K. PArticularly good if from pastured animals. good idea to buy a lot of butter in the spring (when it is the best) and freeze it. Regarding butter: research it yourself if you are concerned about the health issues of butter, if you google it and do some research on your own you will find out about butter. Coconut oil is also good.


4. Blue bottle medicine. Cod liver oil and Vitamine D - cure any symptom of flu in high doses. Take a hit, one dose and the next morning it is away. Can also be used for PMS.

5. Produce that is not sprayed. Google "dirty dozen and the clean 15", any kind of berries (very much sprayed), cucumbers are sprayed, salad lettuce is sprayed. Clean 15 are the ones you do not have to worry so much about  because they are not so much sprayed (but buy organic if you can afford it).

6. Fermented food. Definite real food, fils the gut with healthy bacteria that kill of desease. Good way to get good bacteria in your gut. Real sauerkraut, (if it has vinegar not the real stuff but made with sea salt then it is good). If you cannot get fermented food - take probiotics (to kids who are not willing to eat fermented food).

7. Bone broth. Not the stuff you poor into the water, but actually boiling bones to get out the good gelatine and marrow out of the bones. Cook your meat with the bones! Don't buy boneless!

8. Certain breads are better for us than other; true sour dough is better than conventional, if it includes yest it is not a true sour dough! Antinutrients are broken down by the fermenting process in sour dough - easier to digest for those that have problems to digest grains.

9. More local food - has more nutrients than those that have travelled from faraway places. Organic doesn't mean that you are getting nutrient dense food.

10. Organ meats, and sea food - also good stuff.

Sweet pictures from the South

I made it to a seminar on Mapuche health, and they served some food. The seminar was good. I was a bit disappointed by the food... Wheat is not native to South America. I wish the indigenous communities would have held on to their ancient bread ingredients (potatoes and nuts from native trees). Then also I could have digged into these dishes!

From the Urban Mapuche seminar to the rural reality in Uruguay. May I present to you: a Uruguayan calf!

And a Uruguayan pig.

A very polemic (almost dried out) water well. 

The king of the place.

And a tour with the owner of his very famous cheese production site.

Cheese in the making!

Growing old.

And even older.

Uruguayan countryside. Slow living at its best.

Soon to be soy field?

Soy field. Say no more...

My dinner out as a researcher. A bit lonely sometimes..But the food was good, despite the slow service. But Uruguay is the mecca of slow living, of course the food has to be slow as well! This is btw Colonia, Uruguay.

Then I visited this place. An oasis, with a very very interesting story and project behind.

The future fridge. Today small plant storage.

Restoring the native nature of Uruguay. Almost in extinction.

Clear waters after restoring the soil. Incredible!

Do you know where you food comes from? Do you care?

The dangers of soy - 170 of them - scientifically proven.

With hubby this morning, we just talked about how badly informed people are about the effect of soy. The conversation started from that I had seen one kid bring Ades juice (soy milk sweetened with some flavor of orange or apple) as morning meal drink. His parents probably thought they were choosing the "healthier" option. I was also still affected by the article I read last night on how polluting the GMO soy is in Argentina. The numbers that sticked in my mind was 300 out of 6000 inhabitants next to a soy field, with cancer. I do not want to contribute to such numbers...somewhat ironic that many big consumers of soy are vegetarians, and one of the main purposes of that lifestyle is to defend this earth from harms of the food supply.

So if you are a soy eater, read this and reconsider! 170 scientific reasons to lose the soy in your diet

Extract:

"

For those of you who just sat down because you are so taken aback by the notion that soy is not actually the healthfood you thought it was, here are 170 scientific reasons to back up this assertion.

Please note that fermented soy in small, condimental amounts as practiced in traditional Asian cultures is fine for those who have healthy thyroid function.  Only miso, tempeh, natto and soy sauce (IF traditionally brewed) fall under this category.  In addition, if you want to sprinkle a few edamame on your salad or have a few small cubes of tofu in your miso soup from time to time, that is fine too.   Just don’t make it a regular part of your diet!

If you have any sort of thyroid issues going on, however, it is really the best policy to avoid all soy all the time as soy is a potent goitrogen (thyroid suppressor) even if fermented.

"

In sum, soy in almost any form is bad for human health. It is particularly bad for those with thyroid function. 

I think Lindt is the only chocolate I have found which doesn't include soy lecitin. And there are many many many other places where soy hides as lecitin. That is yet another reason to stay away from as much industrial processed foods as possible (and preferably only eat grass fed meat... which is not possible where I am right now).

Women, stay away from that soy!

Watch this clip:
http://www.ihealthtube.com/aspx/viewvideo.aspx?v=78795ac3a879b609


You might already know about the danger of soy, especially the GMO soy... well here some additional information why you should avoid all sorts of soy;

- Thyroid dysfunction
- Infertility
- Way too many Omega 6, in soy oils (you need to stock up on omega 3 to make your body work optimally)


I am surprised there is a babyformula based on soy. Seriously? Scary.


If you want to read more on the topic, Wellness Mama just wrote a post on the topic:
Is soy healthy?