Get Yourself Out of the Coop and Buy Organic Chicken

Organic foods have become very popular and mainstream within the past few years. Everyone knows that their are certain fruits and vegetables that should be purchased organically (see the dirty dozen and clean fifteen list), but what about meats, should they also be purchased organically? If you walk into any grocery store you'll notice that there are a lot of chicken, turkey, and other meat products labeling themselves as "all natural". That statement sounds really healthy, but it's simply false advertising. It seems anything can be labeled "all natural" as long as it's actually naturally the meat itself. In order to get the healthiest product, look for certified organic meat products as opposed to the all natural slogan. I understand it's more difficult to siphon out all of the all natural products and locate the organic meat product, but it's worth the search when it comes to your health.

Organic meat such as chicken is not a product of mass production and thus contains all of the natural nutrients without the hormones and additives and it simply tastes much better. Chickens that are fed hormones and antibiotics transfer those same hormones and antibiotics to the humans who are consuming those chickens. The antibiotics and hormones could make bacteria and infections more resistant to treatments and actually create stronger strains of bacteria within the consumer. The antibiotics could make bacteria and infections more resistant to treatments and create stronger strains of bacteria. Organic chickens are fed a regular meal that consists of grains and then the chickens are able to roam and find food on their own. They eat insects, leaves, seeds, or maybe even some small fish or shellfish. Since the chicken eats foods actually provided by nature the chicken has a higher amount of beneficial fats that lower cholesterol, and higher amounts of Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Vitamin A. Chickens that are not organic are given regular doses of antibiotics, vaccines, and other medications in order to become bigger at a faster pace. Organic farmers also benefit compared to chemically altered chicken farmers because they don't have to purchase all of those drugs and they can simply watch the health of their chickens in their own natural environment. The chickens get more exercise and this makes their nutritional content increase and the flavor of the meat exceeds. Organic chickens are not only good for consumption but also for the environment itself. Organic chickens eat insects and vegetation which affects the ecosystem. So search high and low for organic chicken and don't fall for the "all natural" label, just remember that it's "actually chicken meat". The health and flavor benefits you'll be giving your body outweighs the extra searching and few dollars.

Canola Oil for Optimal Health or Ultimate Hoax?

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the once called healthy canola oil recently. Canola oil was always believed to contain a healthy amount of monounsaturated fat and large amounts of omega 3s. There has been talk on the internet about canola oil not living up to it's healthy background and that the whole notion that canola oil is really good for you is coming from money hungry manufacturers. Has the public been duped into believing that canola oil is one of the best and healthiest oils? Let's explore the possibilities to see if canola oil is in fact essential for optimal health or if it's just an ultimate hoax by the oil manufacturers.

Here is a little history about what and where canola oil came from. Canola oil is derived from the rapeseed which is a member of the mustard family. Asian countries have been using rapeseed for centuries without any health problem backlash. The main reason for this is because of the rape seed being less processed compared to the United States where everything is highly processed for mass consumption. Canola oil was created by a Canadian scientist in the 1960s, 1970s(hence "Canola" oil). The problem with canola oil is it is used as a high temperature cooking oil here is the United States and since canola oil has omega 3s, at a high temperate (120 degrees) those omega 3s turn into trans fatty acids. The large amounts of omega 3s actually deodorize and transform into trans fat. The amount of trans fat is very high at 4.5%, which is even more than margarine! In some forms of canola oil, the temperature can comfortably reach a smoke point of 520 degrees, now that's trans fat city! (http://www.diabetesincontrol.com)

After the refining process of the canola oil, the next step in the process is called hydrogenation. That word might sound familiar to partially hydrogenated oils and "having a longer shelf life" might come to mind. This process of hydrogenation actually increases even more trans fats to occur within the food being cooked. The reason why supermarkets and food manufacturers are using canola oil within their products isn't because of the high amounts of omega 3s or monounsaturated (good) fats, it's because canola oil actually hydrogenates better than corn or soy oil. It is also cheap and good for shelf life, but not good for your health or mine. (http://www.diabetesincontrol.com)

According to Jonny Bowden, Ph. D, C.N.S. and author of the fantastic and informative book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, canola oil wasn't even close to making his list of healthy foods. This came as a surprise to me and probably to many others because for years we've been told that canola oil was filled with monounsaturated fats and large amounts of omega 3s. The more research and history behind the story of how canola oil originated and how it's being processed within the United States shows the ugly (and deodorized) truth behind canola oil. The fact that food manuafacturers are placing a cloak over the ugly truth behind canola oil is a disgrace. Telling people that your products contain canola oil and suggesting that it's a healthier product because of it is down right wrong. It's simply cheaper and hydrogenates really well, but when there is hydrogenation (like partially hydrogenated oils), there is a huge increase in trans fats.

Polydextrose: The Truth Behind the Smiles of Fred Flintstone and Toucan Sam

Recently on television and just roaming through the supermarket, you may have noticed sugary cereals by Post that have been boasting that they have a good source of fiber. You can just imagine how excited and grateful the thousands of mothers were across the country when they first heard the news. My child can have his or her favorite cereal and still get a good source of fiber per serving?! While your child is enjoying his or her cereal and you're smiling from ear to ear like a mirror image of Fred Flintstone and Toucan Sam on the cardboard box. Now I'm going to use the appropriate phrase here "You can't have your cake and eat it too". The reason why these cereals all of the sudden have fiber is because...well...it isn't fiber at all. The ingredient that is added is something else called polydextrose, and it supposedly acts similar to the process of fiber that the FDA call actually call this ingredient fiber, when it truly is not. This may seem confusing but I'll help to break it down.

The way that the cereal manufacturers make polydextrose is quite simple (well it should be if they are making a mass production and it's all about quantity and not quality now a days right?). Polydextrose is actually synthesized from glucose and sorbitol which is a low-calorie carbohydrate. Polydextrose is one of several new aged fiber additives (others include inulin and maltodextrin) showing up in dairy and baked-goods products that previously had little to no fiber in them at all. There are two different kinds of fiber known as functional and dietary. Functional fiber is where polydextrose, inulin and maltodextrin fit in and they all appear to act like fiber within the body and they are extracted from chicory root. Dietary fiber is basically where fiber comes from naturally, like fruits, vegetables, and grains. Since polydextrose is not an all natural source of fiber but rather a man made source, it does not show any evidence of enhancing cardiovascular health such as preventing heart attacks, high cholesterol, or lowering the risk of heart disease. Polydextrose acts like dietary fiber in one way by speeding up the body's gastrointestinal tract. The confusing part of this whole matter is the FDA is labeling the use of polydextrose, inulin, and maltodextrin as being dietary fiber. So the box of several Fiber One products, for example, will state on it's nutritional fact label that it contains up to 51% of your daily fiber intake and state that the fiber is dietary when it's actually functional. There is no evidence that consuming functional fiber provides any health benefits to our bodies like dietary fiber.

Polydextrose, inulin, and maltodextrin, and other other functional fibers are basically deceiving people into believing that the junk food that they're eating contains a "good source" of fiber (mainly dietary) and they all of the sudden think that their junk food has magically turned into health food. Well in my opinion junk food is junk food even if it claims to be health food. A word of advice to read the ingredient list on the back or side of the product. Those Post cereals I mentioned earlier still contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup along with added dyes, colors, and partially hyrdrogenated oils (trans fat in disguise) in the first few ingredients. If these ingredients are at the top of the ingredient list then that states that the product is mainly constructed of. Food manufacturers can lie all over their products, boasting that they have faulty fiber, contain 100% whole grains, and contain zero grams of trans fat (when they obviously do because they have partially hydrogenated oils), but the one thing they cannot lie about is the list of ingredients. If you look at the ingredient list first and notice if the list is short or a laundry list, if there are ingredients that you can recognize and pronounce. Food manufacturers basically want to sell a product and sell in a product in mass quantities. In order for the food industry to do this they have to do some research and discover what the most and relevant trends and concerns that people have. Fiber is the example here but more recently Vitamin D is creeping up into and onto boxes of cereal and other products because people are now worried about not getting enough Vitamin D. The trend is shifting because Scott Monette, a spokesman for Ralcorp, which owns Post cereal brands said that his company is removing polydextrose from their products and they are instead adding higher doses of Vitamin D to their products because it is "more timely and relevant ingredient". These people don't care about your health, all they care about is selling a product. Keep smiling Fred Flintstone and Toucan Sam, because I know behind that smile is corporate greed, and I'm not smiling back.

Rice Milk: The Other White Drink

Do you keep hearing and seeing those milk ads that boast about milk and how many vitamins, minerals, and protein are in it? Well that's all true but the milk company is also a multimillion dollar company that has a lot of close connections with other big profit companies. The fact is people should not be drinking milk, plain and simple. There is no reason for human beings to be drinking milk once we're adults. Think about it, other mammals drink milk when they're born to get essential nutrients to grow and develop. After they grow and develop do they keep drinking milk? Do they keep drinking milk from another completely different animal? It's strange if you think about it in that respect but the milk industry wants us to believe that we need milk to survive and live a healthy long lasting life. Well I'm here to give you some milk alternatives that give you the same or even more nutrients than regular cow's milk, that originate from all natural sources such as rice, hemp, soy, and almond. The product that I believe is the best all around is rice milk, but others swear by almond or soy but when I compared rice milk to the others I found that it had better nutrients and a healthier calorie consistency.

Before I start to talk about milk alternatives, let me educate you on why cow's milk is bad contrary to what you've been told in the past. According to the book "Skinny Bitch", milk has "been linked to a host of other problems, including acne, anemia, anxiety, arthritis, ADD, ADHD, fibromyalgia, headaches, heatburn, indigestion, irritable bowel movement, joint pain, osteoporosis, poor immune function, allergies, ear infections, colic, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, autism, Crohn's disease, breast and prostate cancers, and ovarian cancer" (Freedman, Barnouin 57-58). So plain and simple, milk spreads disease instead of warding off disease and making us healthier. In a nutshell, we shouldn't be drinking milk from a cow. Another reason to not drink cow's milk is because it contains a toxic substance called Dioxin. All of the steroids, antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones you also consume when you drink cow's milk. It's basically the same as eating the cow, you get everything that's in the cow's system. With such a high demand of milk, farmers have transformed into mass producing fat cats. They inject the cattle with so many hormones and antibiotics that the cow's udder becomes so big in order to keep up with the high demand of milk production. The udders are so sore and bruised that they in turn become infected with disease and that disease is leaking into the milk that we drink (60).

Since all of the gross and unpleasant information about cow's milk is out of the way I can tell you about some milk alternatives that have even better nutrients and better overall taste than cow's milk. My favorite alternative is Rice Milk. Now you have to be careful when buying this product and the other milk alternative products in the supermarket. A word of caution when purchasing these products is don't buy the regular, but rather the unsweetened product. Unsweetened does not mean however that the product isn't sweet and is rather bland and unsatisfying, on the contrary, the unsweetened products do not have any added sugar and they contain vanilla extract which makes the product taste more naturally sweet. Unsweetened vanilla rice milk is a good choice when choosing a milk alternative. It has only 45 calories per one cup serving, as opposed to skim milk which has between 90-100 calories per serving. Rice milk also has zero grams of saturated fat and only 2 grams of total fat. It also has several important nutrients such as 20% calcium, along with 20% Vitamin D, 15% Phosphorus, 8% Vitamin A, and 20% Vitamin B12. One of the best elements that rice milk has over regular milk is simply the fiber. In one cup of rice milk you get 6 grams of fiber which is 23% of your daily amount. Regular milk doesn't even come close to that. So with half the calories, both Vitamin D and Calcium enriched, an all natural and organic source from rice, and 23% of your daily fiber, it's no question that unsweetened rice milk is a better alternative to regular cow's milk. The price of rice milk is also cheaper than the price of cow's milk. You can purchase rice milk at any supermarket that includes an organic section or a Whole Foods Supermarket. The Whole Foods 365 rice milk product is only $1.69 per 32 fl oz. container!

Spice Up Your Food Life!

Eating healthy foods such as whole grains, lean meats, fruits, and vegetables are all very important in achieving a healthy lifestyle. Consuming healthy foods is essential but you're really missing out on some great health benefits if you don't utilize the multiple spices that are out in the world. Now spices don't have to be "hot" or "spicy" but can actually be savory or sweet. When you add spices to your meals it brings out interesting and foreign flavors to the food and spices can even alter the taste of the food and put it in another level of tastiness.

The first spice that you should definitely incorporate in your daily diet is adding cinnamon to your meals. The health benefits of adding cinnamon to your food includes lowering your blood sugar, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol with people who have type 2 diabetes. You should have between 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon on cinnamon a few times a day (Roufos). You can add cinnamon to several foods and even drinks. The easiest way to add cinnamon is mixing it into your oatmeal in the morning, or in your non-fat latte or even in your plain coffee. Cinnamon can easily be added to baked goods such as muffins, cookies, and you can even add into pancake mix.

Another spice that is not as commonly used or as popular as cinnamon is turmeric. This spice is mostly used in Indian cuisine but you can also add it to brown or wild rice or even quinoa. At breakfast time you can sprinkle turmeric over your eggs or egg whites. It will change the color of your eggs to a yellowish tint, which makes things different and more interesting to the eyes and the taste buds. You can also add turmeric to salads and bring out the textures and flavors of the ingredients. When you go to the store to buy this spice make sure that it isn't mixed with curry powder and that it's just pure turmeric. When it's mixed with curry powder there is really not much turmeric present at all. Turmeric contains curcumin, which may prevent the growth of cancer cells. You should try to have about 500 to 800 milligrams a day (Roufos).

Rosemary is another important spice, but it can also be very potent and have a strong flavor. Rosemary is great when preparing a rub for a chicken or even in tomato sauce. Rosemary stops gene mutations that may lead to cancer and it can also help prevent damage to the blood vessels that can raise your risk of a heart attack (Roufos). Oregano is another spice that is widely used mainly in Italian cuisine such as pizza and tomato sauces. What a lot of people don't know is that oregano has the highest antioxidant activity of 27 fresh culinary herbs according to a new study done by the USDA (Roufos). You can buy fresh or dried oregano, both are great and flavorful and nice on top of a healthy slice of pizza.

My favorite spice is packed with nutritional benefits and tons of flavors and it's...garlic! Yes garlic is packed with magnesium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, tryptophan, selenium, calcium, and vitamin B1 or thiamin (WHFoods: Garlic). Garlic is great because it can be used whole or crushed. When you're cooking a meal and incorporating crushed garlic to the recipe make sure that you don't add the garlic right away because if you add it too soon you'll lose all the flavor of the garlic and more importantly you'll lose a lot of the health benefits it possesses. Garlic has been shown to lower your LDL cholesterol, prevent the formation of cancer cells, and reduce the risk of heart attack and heart disease (WHFoods: Garlic). You should aim at having about a clove a day and that can easily be achieved because garlic can be used in so many different recipes and it tastes great by itself.

Ginger is another spice that has multiple health benefits. Ginger, much like rosemary, has a strong and requires an acquired taste to fully enjoy. You can buy crystallized ginger, which is simply pieces of ginger with some sugar dusted on it, and skip the ginger ale. Ginger ale may be made with real ginger but it also contains a ton of sugar and calories so go with the crystallized ginger instead. You can also use ginger powder and add it into your recipes. Ginger can also decrease motion sickness and nausea and it can relieve the pain and swelling of arthritis. Ginger also reduces the risk of blood clotting.

Another one of my all time favorite spices is paprika. I enjoy my food really spicy so paprika, red pepper flakes, and hot peppers are some of favorite cronies in my food life. I usually sprinkle some crushed red pepper flakes over my food instead of using black pepper. I find the red pepper flakes have more of a punch flavor wise and spice wise. These spicy spices contain capsaicin which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidants that lower the risk of cancer. There is no recommended dose of these hot spices so if you like it hot spice it up!

Sources: (Roufos, Anna, Fitness Magazine, May 2006)
(WHFoods: Garlic, www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=60)

Unthaw Yourself With These Healthy Cooking Alternatives

Do you often wish you could make delicious and flavorful meals at home but you assume that the recipe must incorporate a lot of butter, salt, and fats to taste good? Well there are ways to cook delicious, flavorful, and most importantly healthy meals throughout the week. I must say that it's easier just to pick up a frozen pizza or a "healthy option" frozen dinner at the supermarket, but you can make a much better version of these meals without taking much time.

The frozen dinners (even the supposedly healthier options) in the supermarket are loaded with fat, chemicals, calories, sugar, and most importantly salt. In order for these frozen meals to last and stay on the shelf they "need" these preservatives and chemicals in order to have a longer shelf life. Now I put the word need in quotes because honestly the food manufactures don't have to add a whole laundry list of chemicals and preservatives to preserve shelf life because these items are being purchased within a week, not years, or even decades! In my opinion there really isn't a need or purpose to add high fructose corn syrup or any other scientific chemical compound to preserve these frozen meals. The more preservatives the more sodium there is in the food. On average a frozen meal is over 50% of your daily recommended amount of sodium for the day and with many products the average amount of sodium is close to 100% of your whole days worth of sodium.

So in order to unthaw yourself from the frozen chains of the food manufacturers you have to learn and create healthier cooking alternatives. The most popular meals that I have at my house are pizza, chicken, salmon, and pasta. Now all of these meals are typically associated as being labeled as unhealthy food, but that's only because of the way the majority of the public prepares it. A lot of people enjoy cheesy pizza loaded with pepperoni and greasy sausage, deep fried chicken, farm raised salmon, and white pasta. You can still enjoy these foods and not feel the guilt that goes hand-in-hand with the fatty truth.

When you purchase a prepackaged frozen pizza it's convenient but you also have no control over what the ingredients are or how much of those ingredients are on the pizza. You can buy a package of multigrain or whole wheat dough from Whole Foods Market, that is loaded with fiber and only a few natural ingredients. After you roll out the dough you can make a great Margarita pizza. All you need is fresh basil, one whole onion, some fresh mozzarella (preferably the baseball form), and a can of no salt added crushed tomatoes. A lot of people use tomato sauce on their homemade pizza but the problem I have with jarred tomato sauce is the incredible amount of sugar in the sauce. When you pour almost a whole jar of tomato sauce you're getting a ton of added and hidden sugar and salt that you didn't expect to get. The can of crushed tomatoes gives the pizza a nice fresh, light, and refreshing taste.

Chicken is a very popular dish in many households but you have to be careful with the preparation of this bird. The one thing you want to avoid eating is the skin because it's just pure fat. When you're eating a chicken that's been deep fried you're eating all that fatty skin. In order to avoid the sinful skin of the chicken you can buy Belle and Evans organic skinless chicken breasts and bake it in the oven. You're probably thinking you still crave the crispy sensation from the deep fried skin, well you can still get that sensation without the fat! All you have to do is coat the chicken breasts with olive oil and then cover them with a mix of breadcrumbs (preferably Ian's Panko breadcrumbs), parsley, black pepper, and chopped garlic. Then all you have to do is bake the chicken in the oven and enjoy a great tasting and flavorful chicken dish without the added fat. If you're tired of having chicken you can always make falafel which is basically crushed chickpeas and parsley.

Salmon is a very healthy meal but if you're buying farm raised (Atlantic) salmon you're not getting all of the nutrients such as Omega 3 fatty acids as you would if you ate the wild salmon. Farmed raised salmon is very popular in restaurants but you can buy wild salmon in the frozen fish aisle in your supermarket. It's usually not much more money than farmed raised salmon and it has more Omega 3 fatty acids and less mercury and other potentially harmful compounds. I find it easy to buy and cook the wild salmon burger patties (found at Whole Foods Market). You can simply have it as a sandwich or in a salad (filled with fresh vegetables of course).

Boost Your Health With The Mighty Berry

There are so many different types of berries out there and you may be wondering which berries are the best to eat. The truth is all berries are good, but some people prefer sweet over tart, and the simple texture and taste of certain berries. One of my favorite berries is the blueberry because it has the most antioxidants when compared to other berries. Other berries have on average 3 or 4 antioxidants, while blueberries have 20 kinds of anthocyanin or antioxidants (arthritistoday.org). Antioxidants are essential for obtaining and maintaining a healthy lifestyle and they can also help infection, inflammation, and other bodily problems. Berries also contain phytochemicals and flavanoids that prevent several different types of cancer (nutrition.about.com).

Besides antioxidants, berries also have a great amount of fiber and other essential vitamins. A very common berry that people tend to consume is the strawberry, which is packed with more vitamin C than an orange in a single cup serving! Blackberries and raspberries are completely loaded with...drumroll...a total of 8 grams of fiber per one cup serving! Now that's an easy and delicious way to incorporate fiber into your daily diet. With the amount of fiber in berries you will be more satisfied and full and your digestive tract will also be regulated and that makes us all feel good. Berries can also boost your overall mood because they are packed with so much nutrients, so incorporate a serving of berries throughout your daily eating habits.

Incorporating berries into your daily eating habits is easier than you think, for example at breakfast you can add berries to just about anything you would normally eat such as oatmeal, cold cereal, or yogurt. At lunchtime you can add berries into your salad for added sweetness, flavor, and texture. The natural sweetness or tartness of the berry will make you use less salad dressing which cuts down on added calories. Even for a sweet snack or dessert, you can add your favorite berry or a whole variety of berries with some whipped cream or just by themselves in a small bowl. Your dessert can turn out to be one of the healthiest things you'll eat all day (now does that sound like the perfect world to you! Well welcome to the wonderful world of berries!). You don't have to worry if a berry is in season either because you're actually better off buying frozen berries, similar to choosing frozen vegetables, because they are frozen at the peak of their nutritional excellence.