I love munching on popcorn as much as anyone else (especially with a scary movie or good romantic comedy!), but I’ve decided that microwave popcorn just won’t be an option for me anymore. I hardly ever use my microwave anyway since I have a fantastic toaster oven and prefer a more natural way of heating food.

But my reason for addressing microwave popcorn in particular is an article in my local Natural Awakenings magazine stating that popcorn companies often use perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to coat the bags and this chemical has been found to cause lung disease and cancer in lab animals. In addition, the butter substitute (that somehow tastes oh-so good) used usually contains diacetyl for flavor, but also can causes a lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans.

The article didn’t mention another important fact which is that often times hydrogenated (extremely unnaturally processed) oils are hiding in microwave popcorn ingredients. Other than the kernels, it seems that I want to avoid everything in those convenient little bags!

My suggestion for avoiding microwaved popcorn would be to pop your own on the stove and add in some real melted butter and sea salt (yum!). An electric popper is what I actually have and also works great. I have yet to try coconut oil and some local pastured lard to pop it, but I am pretty sure it will taste great and I’ll feel a whole lot better when eating it. Sometimes it can be a really good thing to get back to basics with food!

Photo By: Brainloc

So yesterday we discussed the body’s physical reaction to stress and how it responds with “fight or flight” (the same reaction as fear). We finished by concluding that a person’s state of mind can influence their physical responses and possibly keep them in a state of chronic stress.

This leads into a more detailed answer to the question, “why would someone live in a way that constantly requires their body to be in “fight or flight?”. It really comes down to what Micah (the Naturopathic Practitioner who presented this information) described as a person’s “core beliefs”, which are often formed at a young age or by experiences. These beliefs impact who we are and how we view the rest of the world.

Do you believe, for example, (perhaps by influence of your parents) that you must follow rules and do everything perfectly in order to be a good person? Perhaps you believe that you must always self-sacrifice and put yourself last? Or maybe you are always on the defense because you expect others to treat you unkindly?

These are examples of core beliefs (different for everyone) and you might ask why you believe them and if you wish to continue doing so. Once we recognize our core beliefs, we can agree or disagree with them, and decide if we want to continue living by them.

A core belief that I discovered about myself after some reflection last night is that I believe that I have to be extremely busy to feel productive and thus be a worthy, valuable person. It wasn’t more than 6 months ago that I was a giant ball of stress, working full-time in a busy customer service position where it was impossible to know if a day was going to go smoothly or be disastrous.

As a result, my reaction was to sweat at work due to the stress, often times I could feel my heart racing, and of course I would notice the heavier breathing. But never once was I ever truly in physical danger. But I was essentially tricking my body into thinking that I was. This was not healthy for me, especially since it lasted for about the full 3 years of this job.

And in addition to my hectic work life, I also always managed to overbook my personal life. If I was at one place, I was already thinking about the next place I’d be racing to. I overbooked myself constantly, didn’t know how to say “no”, and at the time didn’t realize that being busy (outside of my job) was a choice. I’d schedule appointments, time with friends and family, and leave myself no free time or time to even do chores. I got burnt out.

Since I left that job, I have not been nearly as busy and stressed. But the worth and value I’ve felt recently as a person had also decreased. I now recognize this core belief, know that although I am not as busy with this health blog as I was with the job, I am still doing something truly worthy to the world, and will refuse that core belief from now on.

Unfortunately, as with my personal example above, core beliefs can keep a person in a “chronic stress” situation. So once we become aware of them, we can choose to toss them out or continue believing them. Three steps Micah mentioned for this mental healing process are below:

1. Be mindful and aware. Purposely pay attention to yourself non-judgmentally.
2. Go easy on yourself. Don’t beat yourself up mentally. For example, think “whoops, I made a mistake” instead of “I’m such an idiot”.
3. Stop feeling guilty. Micah referred to this as a useless emotion that only brings us down. How true! What does anyone stand to gain from our guilt held inside?!

For awareness step #1, we can ask ourselves the following questions:

• What do I feel right now, in this moment?
• What prompted me to act or react that way?
• How do I feel when –someone- says that to me?
• What am I afraid of?
• What could I be trying to run away from in terms of emotions?

Taking these three steps and becoming aware of why we respond to things as we do can help us change our behavior and our responses to situations.

Also, as part of the physical healing process, Micah recommended stopping the consumption of caffeine, white flour, and white sugar as these already put stress on the adrenal glands. Also, rest and hydration are important as well as specific herbs and vitamins. Meditation, yoga, and tai chi can also be healing activities.

I wanted to finish this lengthy post by leaving you with a few questions to reflect on. I certainly have more to do- I know that was not the only core belief shaping my life!

• Does being busy almost seem like a requirement? Perhaps even like a competition between individuals of who has more to do?
• Does being busy make you feel valuable or important?
• What core beliefs do you believe in and do you want to continue believing in them?
• Have you been letting core beliefs run your life?
• What steps might you take to change any core beliefs and reactions?

Photo By: Chemtec

I had the pleasure of attending a great local Nourishing Ways meeting on Tuesday evening where Micah McLaughlin, a local Naturopathic Practitioner from Continuum Healing, spoke about stress and how it relates to health. You might be surprised by how intertwined the two are!

Before we jump into stress, if you’re not familiar with naturopathy, it’s a really interesting concept that involves treating a person as a whole with the goal of addressing the root cause of a problem instead of just the symptoms. Naturopathy involves the use of herbs, essential oils, reflexology, and more. It also takes into account the importance of preventive medicine.

The outlook of naturopathy really makes sense to me. Treating only symptoms does nothing to actually solve a problem or figure out if something more is going on in the body. And why wait until you have a problem? Preventive medicine is a great way to ensure health long-term and perhaps even less costly overall.

You’ve probably noticed already that these naturopathic tactics sound a bit different than what you might get from a traditional medical doctor’s office. Just remember that the quickest, most convenient solution may not always be the best one!

Now getting into the stress and health discussion, a strong point that Micah made is that stress is the equivalent of fear to the body as it cannot distinguish the two. The body’s reaction is to get into “fight or flight”  mode where in the old days, you would perhaps be getting attacked by a predator and had to decide to run or fight back.

“Fight or flight” is that physical response to stress and every sense in your body dials in. Your heartbeat is loud and fast, you start sweating, breathing faster, your digestion slows down, the immune system backs off a little bit, and your pupils grow large to let in as much light as possible. You are geared for one purpose: survival.

Adrenaline from your adrenal glands (part of your nervous system) surges through your body and overall you are getting blood and oxygen circulating your body faster than normal. This can result in what you have probably heard of as super strength. Once all of this starts happening, even after the stressful event is over, it can take a while for your body to get back to normal.

Now, imagine if this was happening to you every single day as a result of stress, but your body was not truly in immediate physical danger. What a huge tax on your body to prepare for fight or flight, when realistically you may simply have a big project due, a meeting with the boss, or an overloaded schedule. There is no real physical threat to your body!

However, since our bodies cannot tell the difference between stress and fear, the same physical response occurs anyway. But eventually, your body will get tired. Your adrenal glands will get overworked and can succumb to adrenal fatigue. Everyone has limits!

Issues with adrenal glands can cause serious issues such as hot flashes, heart attacks, heart palpitations, allergies, high blood pressure, and more. Even digestion problems can be related. For example, sometimes even if a person is getting enough fiber and good bacteria (probiotics) for digestion, he or she can still be constipated from stress and the flight or fight response.

Specific signs of adrenal fatigue can include:

• Sugar or salt cravings
• Thirst (even when drinking plenty of water)
• Inability to sleep well (perhaps too many thoughts going through head at night)
• Tired all day
• Have a hard time relaxing
• Nervous/anxious
• Hormone imbalance
• Weight gain especially around the waist (even if you eat well and work out!)
• Thin, dry, falling out hair
• Not hungry

Other physical signs you can look for are a wiggly tongue (when some asks you to stick it out it should stay still) and large pupils even when shining light at them.

So taking a step back from the physical responses of stressful situations, you might wonder why a person might live in this manner of allowing stress to affect their life and health. Micah confirmed that this relates to the state of mind. Think about it- stress is mental! You can work yourself up mentally, prompting the physical reaction, or you can choose to not react that way to your environment.

Tomorrow, in a follow-up post, I’ll share more of Micah’s thoughts along with some of my own personal reflection and realizations. We’ll also dig further into the mental relationship with stress as well as different parts of the awareness and healing process.

Photo By: jetmedia

I love peanut butter. I eat it mixed in smoothies, with a sliced banana, and sometimes even right off a spoon. Unfortunately, some of the things I’ve been hearing about mold and a cancer causing agent in peanut butter is making me a bit hesitant. Here’s the “scoop”.

Peanuts are susceptible to a fungi known as Aspergillus which produces aflatoxins (a known carcinogen) that can inflame and impair the liver, even possibly leading to cancer or liver shutdown. Workers around peanuts are actually said to wear protection (like facial masks for breathing) from the mold and danger it creates.

In most cases, the mold cannot be seen in peanut butter and unfortunately there’s been no way determined to completely eliminate it from peanuts and peanut butter. This mold is something to be aware of, especially if you may be suffering from candida. Also, even if the Aspergillus fungus is killed through heating, the dangerous aflatoxins will remain. It seems there’s no winning here!

The Aspergillus fungus prefers warm, wet/humid conditions so some say that peanuts and peanut butters produced in dry areas (such as Arizona) are safer. Refrigerating your peanut butter at home is another option as the cool environment is said to slow the growth of the mold.

In addition, the lesser amount of time that peanut butter sits on the shelf, the better. This is also true in situations where you can freshly grind peanuts into peanut butter at health food stores. Think about this: while the FDA and USDA regulate the levels of aflatoxins upon production (since it can’t be eliminated), once the products hit the stores- there is no further regulation and who can determine how much the mold has continued to grow since sitting on the shelf?

Transport times are also a consideration and it may be worth checking product labels to see where your peanut butter is produced- overseas or somewhere more local? Other nut butters (such as almond) may be a less risky option with regards to aflatoxins. Unfortunately, it almond butter is a LOT more expensive than peanut butter. Some say that soaking nuts for several hours can be an option for helping to neutralize aflatoxins.

Pesticides are another concern with peanut butter so buying organic can be important here. Peanuts are often rotated with cotton which is sprayed heavily and of course the butter is also subject to the sprays that were used directly for peanuts. Other things to watch out for in peanut butter are hydrogenated oils, one of the worst things you can add to your diet, as well as as extra sugar.

Normally there are lots of easy alternatives when something turns out not to be as healthy as previously thought, but in this particular peanut butter case there unfortunately seems to be no obvious catch-all solution. Since peanut butter does offer some health benefits, too, I will likely to proceed by purchasing the best possible, most locally produced organic kind that I can find. I may even give into the cost and purchase some almond butter next time I stop at the health store.

Photo By: Somadjinn

It seems that as smart as humans are, we can’t figure out a healthy diet to save our lives. Literally.

However, you’ve probably noticed that if you go to the zoo, search the web, or look at any sort of animal reference book, you can quickly determine the basic diet of any animal known to man. That’s because animals seem to just know what they are supposed to eat.

For example, giraffes eat leaves and twigs, squirrels eat nuts, lions eat meat, and koala bears eat eucalyptus leaves. It’s really that simple. But not for us humans. Even though we are smart enough to control the planet’s resources and obtain any food source we’d like to consume, there is continued disagreement about what truly constitutes a healthy diet.

So if humans were listed in a book, what would it say we eat eat? I don’t think a generic statement would cover it. Think of the many different types of diets: vegetarian & vegan (plus other sub-types of these), fruitarian, raw food diets, grain free diets, gluten free diets, whole foods diets, and more.

These do not even take into account what seems like hundreds of other dieting strategies such as Weight Watchers, the South Beach Diet, the Atkins diet, diet pills or supplements, the “see food” diet (if you see it, you eat it!), etc. The list goes on and on.

And similarly, if you ask multiple people what foods are healthy, you are very likely to get a slew of different answers. For example, one person might think that a fat free hot dog is healthy while another might state that only minimally processed pastured or organic meat is the right choice. Another may think that iceberg lettuce is nutritious while other people would say darker leaf varieties are really a much better option.

So not only do our many food choices make deciding on a dietary lifestyle extremely difficult, but studies and reports often add to the confusion as they seem to be proving one food good and another bad almost daily. There is also an overwhelming amount of information (sometimes even contradictory) in constant circulation from the media, food industries, universities, private organizations, and more.

Further adding to the confusion is that fact that it often seems impossible to tell who’s really trying to help people or if a person or company is actually just promoting an ingredient or product for their own profits or benefit. All in all, there’s no doubt in my mind that diet-wise we’re on information overload. With all this activity going on, how can anyone identify the right diet!

Another factor worth considering is the many changes and new, non-traditional food additions to our diet (hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, anyone?). As more and more “fake” or highly processed ingredients sneak into everyday foods and make their ways to our table, how can anyone even keep up on what’s truly good or bad?

It might not even be a huge stretch to say that our own brainpower has been used against us as our eyes and mouths have been fooled by the creation and abundant use of artificial colors, flavors, and flavor enhancers. Unfortunately, it seems that lots of us will eat pretty much anything nice-looking and flavorful in a pretty package- it doesn’t even really have to be food!

Overall, it seems to me that it may be both a blessing and a curse to have such fantastic brains and a myriad of food choices. Unfortunately, we can’t ask animals if there is some other secret to their food knowledge, but maybe it’s time to consider a few different ideas:

• Do we need to get back to basics in terms of food?
• As a population, are we too smart and capable for our own good as it relates to food?
• Do the number of food options that we have available actually negatively impact our health?
• What in our habitats should we be eating?

I guess I’ll leave you with all this totally tasty food for thought. ;)

Photo by geray

We’ve talked about some of the issues with sodium fluoride in the past and unfortunately, it is still a large concern today. Ironically enough, my hometown- Grand Rapids, MI – was the first city in the world to add fluoride to drinking water back in 1945. Some speculate that because of this pioneering move, despite the many negative impacts showing up from fluoride, it will probably also be the last city to ever remove it.

Although fluoride in the water supply is certainly prevalent, as you might guess, it’s not the only way you can come into contact with it. As mentioned in our previous post, fluoride can be found in many foods (such as soups, cereals, meat, juices, etc.) as water is often used for processing.

Of course, fruits and vegetables grown with fluorinated water also can contain fluoride. This is another reason that purchasing at local farmers markets is best (since you can actually talk with the farmer and find out lots about the food production) instead of relying on food grown far away.

Unfortunately, fluoride is not something that the body can easily eliminate. According to Healthy Child, half of the fluoride taken in during a day will remain in the body as healthy kidneys can only get rid of about 50%. The rest is stored in bones and teeth. This can lead to fluoride poisoning (symptoms here) especially for individuals with lesser kidney function (such as children, the elderly, and others). Skeletal fluorosis (or build-up of fluoride in bones) is also a major concern as it makes bones brittle and weak.

What actually came as the biggest shock to me though is that Organic Health reports fluoride as a toxic sedative that Nazi and Soviet death camps actually gave it to prisoners to calm them and make them easier to handle. Terrifying, right, that it could even affect our demeanor? They also note a listing from the Natural Health and Longevity Resource Center where all sorts of facts and effects of fluoride are provided.

Some of the effects are stated to include inhibiting antibody formation in blood, depressing thyroid activity, causing premature aging, promoting bone cancer, disrupting tissues, confusing the immune system to attack its own body, and breaking down of collagen in bones and more.

Another effect worth mentioning is the negative effect fluoride has on IQ levels. One particular study concluded that “the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of children living in areas with a medium or severe prevalence of fluorosis was lower than that of children living in areas with only slight fluorosis or no fluorosis”. In addition, another source links fluoride in drinking water to an increase of lead in the blood levels of children.

Infants are no exception and are at risk for extreme exposure as well. Scarily enough, babies drinking formula with fluorinated water ingest the absolute highest dosage of any other age groups (and they have the smallest systems process it!). Breast-fed infants, on the other hand, receive the smallest dosage. It’s important to be aware that even some bottled water may contain fluoride not listed on the label and contacting the company for verification may be a good idea.

Natural News actually refers to fluorinated water as “mass medication” and they have a detailed video on where fluoride comes from (actually being a toxic waste product and possibly containing other heavy metals) and how it is put into our drinking water if you want further background information and have time to watch it (about 12 minutes).

What I especially don’t like about fluoride is that it’s not really something we can decide for ourselves (depending on where we live). It’s simply added to the water supply and we have to choose to drink or filter it.

What are your thoughts about fluoride in food and water? Do you take any steps to avoid it?

I was really amazed (and proud!) to see my local news channel call out possible health issues last month with high fructose corn syrup, a highly processed sweetener perhaps contributing to numerous health problems. The article and video noted the enormous increase in usage of HFCS (4000% percent in the last 40 years) as well as the corresponding increase in obesity, even in children.

The article specifically cites a study done by Princeton University showing that high fructose corn syrup causes more weight gain than sugar. Even if consuming the same amount of calories, the rats with access to HFCS gained more weight than rats with access to sugar. Furthermore, the rats with access to HFCS were actually becoming obese.

In fact, in one of the experiments rats eating a diet loaded with HFCS showed warning signs of the dangerous metabolic syndrome in humans which can increase risk of stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. The signs were said to include “abnormal weight gain, significant increases in circulating triglycerides and augmented fat deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly”. The conclusion was that the rats on the HFCS diet (instead of regular chow) exhibited 48% more weight gain.

What I thought was especially neat about the news report was that the crew made a point of actually visiting a local grocery store and searching out random items containing HFCS. As most of you might guess, finding a number of these products was not hard to do. Many processed foods including salad dressings, sauces, canned goods, and snack foods contain some level of HFCS. Even so-called health products such as yogurt and soup often have it near the top of the ingredients list.

Also, the fact that kids were mentioned to possibly be greatly affected by the excessive consumption of HFCS sadly does not surprise me at all. Think of the number of candies, juices (fresh and frozen), crackers, and even breads that are loaded with this sneaky ingredient. Many of these are foods that kids eat daily!

My hope is that this news report served as a great eye opener to people that don’t normally read labels so that they can be aware of this lurking and potentially dangerous ingredient. The reporters were straight forward in stating that avoiding HFCS would take commitment and not be easy to avoid, but in my opinion it may be very worthwhile.

I’ve been skeptical of purchasing fresh, pre-packaged meat for a long time now for many reasons such as the use of hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, and unnatural feed as well as the general treatment of the animals. My personal preference is to purchase pastured frozen meat from a local farm or at least buy fresh from a local meat shop if I need something special.

My least favorite thing to do is buy meat at a local grocery store in one of those foam and plastic sealed packages. On top of all the other probable issues noted above with the meat, there is also the fact that carbon monoxide can be used to “gas pack” the beef. Similar to food dyes, this additive provides no extra nutrition or flavor, but is simply meant to mask the true condition of the meat for purchase as it can now look bright red and fresh for weeks (instead of graying and exhibiting spoilage).

Carbon monoxide is also used to produce the same effect for seafood. Question regarding the safety of this process has come up in recent years and one report even states that “the presence of CO can cause fish to accumulate dangerous levels of scombrotoxin or histamine and can mask a wide variety of pathogens in meat including E. Coli and Salmonella“.

Unfortunately, this leaves consumers at a serious disadvantage as with pre-packaged meats, we can only look to see if they should be fresh. It’s not until after we purchase the package that it’s possible to open and smell the meat which may help as another indicator of freshness.

This goes to show that farmer’s markets and other local resources make for optimal places to purchase beef (and fish if you live near the ocean). You can get to know the farmer personally and learn about how their particular meat is processed. Often times it is even possible to order large quantities of beef in advance from local farms to stock your freezer so you always have meat on hand and can thaw it out when you need it.

This is another thing to watch for when you buy meat from the store- I’ve noticed a lot lately that the fresh chicken available at my local grocery store is in the process of thawing. This means that it really shouldn’t be frozen again unless it’s cooked. Just one more thing to be aware of if you are purchasing something not to be used right away as freezing it may not be the best option.

http://onlygrassfed.com/frozen-not-gas-packed.html

One thing I’ve been noticing a lot lately is the abundance of food dyes in all sorts of items at the grocery store. While it’s certainly nice for food to be attractive, do we really need potentially dangerous chemicals to do this, and if so, at what cost to our health? To me, it seems unnecessary to use food dyes since they add no nutritional value or even taste. And while I expect to find food dyes in highly processed foods (and unfortunately even some whole foods- more on this below), I especially dislike how they are so prevalent in kid-favorite foods.

Take a look around on your next trip to the grocery store and you’ll see an enormous selection of fake colored juices, popsicles, ice cream, cereals, candy, cookies, pop, cakes, and snacks. The artificial colors are everywhere and can make quite a trap for shoppers who might very well buy based on looks instead of actual taste and nutrition (although food dyes don’t even begin to touch on the lacking nutrition in these foods).

But what really irks me about this whole set-up is that for any dangers in consuming food dyes, kids are really taking the brunt of the impact. Natural News states that artificial food dyes are produced from petroleum (obviously not something we’re meant to eat!) and that some colors have actually been banned in the past for causing cancer.

In addition, there is some still question as to whether the food dyes currently being used are even safe. CSPI states that the three most used dyes (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Red 40) contain carcinogens. Some food dyes have also attributed to learning disabilities, ADHD, and violent behavior. This is pretty scary stuff just to make food look more appealing!

Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, consumers still have to be careful even if purchasing whole, nutritious foods (such as fresh fruits and vegetables) as some dyes are allowed to color foods that were picked before being ripe to give the appearance of freshness and nutrition. Shoppers can easily be fooled by a fruit, such as an orange, vibrantly colored unnaturally and without the true nutrition that should be present.

Overall, for mass produced food items, it’s not possible to tell the quality of a product just by looking at it. Instead, it’s important to know how the food was grown and processed. This is another reason for the importance of purchasing locally grown foods that are truly fresh as well as getting to know the farm’s practices so you can be sure of safe and quality products.

Luckily, there are also some more naturally produced foods which use colors derived from vegetables and plants such as beet juice and annatto. These natural dyes can often be found in organic products and in food items at health stores. There’s also plenty of delicious snack options that can be easily prepared for kids without artificial coloring. For example, try making homemade popsicles from blended fruit, smoothies, natural sodas, or homemade ice cream (even if you just use a banana to make it!).

And last, but not least, I have to share one more thing with you. A “fun fact” so to speak. Guess how the food dye called carmine (a.k.a. Red #4) is made?

With ground up insects. Beetles to be exact.

I’ll pass.