MSG dangers, low-fat foods, and other interesting tid-bits

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We’re having family over for our daughter’s birthday party, so for today here are a couple very important topics and a couple tid-bits for you to read up on – I hope you’ll take the time to check them out.

• This page explains the dangers of MSG and it’s many hidden names on ingredient labels - avoid it! It is a nerve toxin that over-excites your brain and can cause a wide-range of health problems, especially in children. (You’ll need to scroll down to get to the good MSG info on this page, the first part talks about Chinese food.) If you’d like to read more about this, I’ve heard this is a good book on the subject. (If you have trouble getting on the Mercola link above, here’s another link to a page with hidden names for MSG listed.) EXCERPT FROM MERCOLA.COM: “Food manufacturers are not stupid. They’ve caught on to the fact that people like you want to avoid eating this nasty food additive. As a result, do you think they responded by removing MSG from their products? Well, a few may have, but most of them just tried to “clean” their labels. In other words, they tried to hide the fact that MSG is an ingredient.”
  
• Check out both posts I did on healthy fats. Also read: What if it was all a big fat lie? – New York Times writer, Gary Taubes, takes on the “low-fat is good for you” mentality.
  
• Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes suggested I read this book called, “Real Food, What to Eat and Why“, by Nina Planck. I’m only part-way into it and love it already, it’s easy to read and very interesting. I’ve added it to my list of book suggestions. It’s great seeing more of the truth about nutrition becoming well-known and written about, even compared to early 2004 when I first began trying to cook healthier.
• Read here about an awesome local restaurant, Marie Catribs. Their site explains how they use mostly local foods and organic when they can, but they focus on taste as well and make everything fresh daily – I had their strawberry spinach salad the other day and it was the best I’ve ever eaten! A suggestion though: if you’ve always been more familiar with fairly traditional “Americanized” foods (whether you’re cooking or eating), be sure to print out the menu first. There are a few funky items on there and if you’re like me, you may need some time to pick from all the unique and yummy sounding menu items they offer. (Note: If you don’t live near the Grand Rapids, MI area, then just do a Google search – type in your city name along with the words “organic restaurant” or “all natural restaurant” and see what you come up with.) We need to frequent the places that are trying to serve those of us who are more health-conscious, especially when they’re serving foods as delicious as Marie Catribs’!
• Do you know of restaurants in YOUR city offering healthier menu options?  Tell us about it!
  

• My Dark Secrets
• Do diet foods make you fat?
• Trans fat dangers
• Eating healthy, without sacrifices – there’s also a link here to another great article on how we’ve been duped into thinking ALL fats are detrimental to our health
• Are supplements necessary for good health?
• My “Food Conversion” story
• Is Fluoride safe?

MORE HEALTH & NUTRITION TOPICS ALONG THE RIGHT IN THE SIDEBAR!

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