Good morning reader friends. 🙂 As I write this on Friday afternoon it's beginning to rain and I'm wondering if the possible freezing rain tomorrow will make us change our weekend plans… While I've never been one to wish time away in life, spring does sound reeeeeally good right now, huh?!
- I posted this on Facebook last week because it cracked me up, except it’s not that funny if you think about it too long. What’s in your flu vaccine:
- My friend, Stan, wrote a great post last week: Eat Fat, Live Long—the Real Food of Okinawa: “You may have heard about the longevity and health of the Okinawan people. According to records kept by the Japanese since 1879, the people of Okinawa just may be the longest-lived people in the world, often staying healthy and active into their nineties, or even longer. Many have claimed that this longevity and health is due to a low-fat, meat-free, high-vegetable diet. Being skeptical of such claims, I researched traditional Okinawan cooking and traditions…” Let me know what you think.
- The Dr. in this ABC video drove me crazy. Whether or not the study they’re quoting is accurate , what irritates me is that he said, “Regular soda is worse, we know it is linked to obesity. Diet soda is better than that, it has less calories.” As if the calories are the biggest thing to worry about! Thankfully he did go on to say that it also sets your brain up to crave more sweets, but no mention of all the scary fake chemical sweeteners that shouldn’t be going into our bodies. I’d say diet soda and regular are equally bad, just in different ways. Someone asked me recently which one I thought was worse, I said, “It depends, do you want heart disease from high fructose corn syrup, or cancer from the chemical sweeteners?” (Did you see this post about how fake sweeteners can cause weight gain?) While he did say that he doesn’t like sodas in general, he clarified with, “You don’t want to have 5 or 6 in a day.” Seriously?! He basically just gave people permission to drink 2 or 3 or 4 a day and think it’s fine! I made the mistake of watching the next interview where he assured us that “One egg a day is fine.” Gee thanks! I’m glad I know better. We try to get in as many eggs as we can since we know they’re from hens on pasture and therefore loaded with nutrients. Then he said that the eggs in 2010 were “better” because they have so much less cholesterol… Oh, how the mainstream crap wears me down sometimes. (Read more about cholesterol and healthy fats. Or have you seen this one: “What if SEX was bad for you?/Don’t forget your brain” – about studies and how to know who to believe.)
- Another good article I just found about diet soda addictions and the dangers. Here’s an excerpt: “Whether you feel dependent or not, drinking too much diet soda might be risky in the long run. In recent years, habitual diet-soda consumption has been linked to an increased risk of low bone mineral density in women, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. What's more, a growing body of research suggests that excessive diet soda intake may actually encourage weight gain.”
I suppose that’s enough politically incorrect ranting for now, have a great Monday everyone!
Erica says
Hi all,
Regarding the diet soda section, I think it’s funny how so many people become so pre-occupied with calories. We don’t and will probably never know how many calories we need in a day. The amount of calories we need varies everyday. Some days we may need more than others. We just have to listen to our bodies. Our bodies are smarter than we think. They will tell us whether we need to take in more food, as in feeling a sense of hunger. This also goes for how much water we need, as well. We need to LISTEN to our bodies 🙂
Candie says
What I really LOVE is the doctor who told my mother-in-law (recently diagnosed with Type II Diabetes) is that “mocha frappachinos are fine, as long as it’s sugar free!” Sure, that’s real nourishing….heavy on the sarcasm. Even worse my m-in-law believes the nurses and doctors over the Nutritional Therapist she has for a daughter-in-law…..
KitchenKop says
I feel for you Candie, that is SO hard. Keep loving her and hopefully she’ll come around little by little! I often think of how dense I was not that long ago, too………. Only I was probably worse than your mother in law……
Kelly
Lisa Imerman says
It is exhausting!! I just came back from a weekend camp trip with my daughter and a bunch of Girl Scouts and Girl Scout leaders and mothers. Boy it is amazing what these people think is ok to eat/drink.
I volunteered to do the food for the group of 40 (purchase and cook) given the menu and budget they set. It was hard on that budget. It wasn’t fully the way we eat but I at least tried to do as much real as possible. We had soaked oatmeal with toppings for breakfast and several complained there wasn’t any brown sugar only real maple syrup (several said they don’t like real maple syrup only the artificial kind of syrup???) I did air popped popcorn with real butter and sea salt. We did have some junk food, but I at least got organic raisins and organic carrots. We had fruit and veggies and dip for snack (I made dill dip with an organic mix and real sour cream). I made 2 homeade soups; one with pastured chicken, organic veggies and homemade chicken stock, the other with pastured beef, organic veggies and homemade beef stock and real seasonings (not mixes, garbage, etc.) and rice noodles. One mom said she brought some cans of chicken noodle soup cause she thought that some girls wouldn’t eat real homemade soup. I said too bad!! I had lunchmeats and cheese for sandwiches (not great quality, but on their budget it wasn’t possible) and I brought organic mustard and safflower oil mayo. We had tacos with homemade refried beans and taco meat, but another leader brought frito chips to eat with the taco meat instead of the organic corn chips I brought??? We had pastured eggs made into a casserole with fresh fruit for the other breakfast and there was sausages (no MSG in them but not pastured, etc.) and the other leader brought bagels and some fake cream cheese spread too. I only planned water to drink and one leader brought apple juice and lemonade mix. I tried to explain some of it to them, but they all brought diet coke, coke and mountain dew to drink???
KitchenKop says
Wow, it sounds like you did GREAT with what you had. The Mom who brought the canned soup, grrrrrrrrrr How sad is that, when she doesn’t think some kids would like homemade soup?!
Katie says
Great article on the diet of the Okinawans. I wish I had the taste buds for organ meats and fermented fish – I never feel like my FCLO and liver “pills” are really enough.
Real Food RD says
It is exhausting sometimes! I’m clicking over to the Okinawan post- definitely tired of them always being trotted out as the justification to eat a diet high in simple carbs.
Magda says
I know what you mean about mainstream…
Check out this article:
https://annettekscott.com/2011/02/23/soda/
Stanley Fishman says
There is a big push to get people to switch from horrible corn syrup sweetened soft drinks to even worse chemically sweetened soft drinks.
Why? The chemical sweeteners are much cheaper for the manufacturer.
Fascinating how the “science” always supports more money for the big food corporations.
The days when I believed anybody just because they are a doctor or scientist are long gone. We have to think for ourselves,use common sense, and get the truth from wonderful blogs like this one.
The best number of commercial soft drinks to consume is zero.
Rebecca says
I just spent a week with my mom who filled my pantry with sugar free jelly, margarine, diet cokes, sugar free muffins (you don’t even want to know what kind of unpronounceable ingredients those contain), & prepackaged snacks! Ugh. I also had to watch her turn her nose up at the pastured eggs & bacon I made for breakfast because they were fattening! Sigh. The funny part of the story is that as soon as she left all her “healthy” sugar free and fat free foods went in the trash. I got a call from the airport and her flight had been canceled so she came back for another night only to find all her foods gone! Yikes! That didn’t go over well! Hahaha!!
KitchenKop says
That is hilarious, Rebecca!!!
Hallee the Homemaker says
I’m glad I’m not the only person who uses the word “crap” when I get frustrated with mainstream food – lol.
Hallee
Adrienne @ Whole New Mom.com says
Great post, Kelly!
I get so discouraged thinking about all of the misinformation out there too – and even more discouraged when I think of how much of it is believed by so many people! I assume you saw the great post by Sarah at The Healthy Home Economist on ibuprofen? https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/03/ibuprofen-reduces-parkinsons-risk-are-we-really-that-stupid/
Unfortunately, I think that a lot of people really are that stupid and it pains me. To be fair, I have occasionally in my past believed something without looking into it, but typically I see behind the smoke. I guess wew just need to keep working on ourselves, trying to teach and praying others will see beyond the marketing as well.
Soli says
I keep forgetting that the masses listen to that sort of stuff and often believe it. Sigh, still miles to go.
Jennifer says
I’m thankful to see you say the mainstream stuff wears you down. I’ve been feeling really worn down with it myself lately (a weekend with my low-fat/diet drinks/fake foods in-laws – that won’t even consider that their diet is mostly responsible for their health problems – will do that!). It’s nice to “have a friend in the fight” if you know what I mean.