This amazing info-graphic easily depicts how our current health woes have developed over the last few decades:
Learn more about Healthy Meals
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words…How We Got Sick
May 23, 2011 By 3 Comments
Which Food Colorings Are Dangerous?
April 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
How to find out which food colorings and additives are lurking in your foods and whether they’re dangerous
On March 31st a special FDA Food Advisory Committee voted that there is “not enough evidence to conclude that artificial dyes used to color foods contribute to hyperactivity in children. That means juices, candies, cereals, yogurts, and hundreds of other everyday foods will maintain their brighter-than-bright hues.”
This is sad news for a country that is already enduring epic numbers of children being affected by ADD/ADHD and other health issues which are exacerbated by food preservatives.
Many tudies show that “when children who are already hyperactive eat food that is artificially colored, they become even more hyper.”
As reported on CBS.com by Nancy Cordes, “an analysis of 21 of the most conclusive studies found compelling evidence that, indeed, artificial dyes could contribute to hyperactivity, restlessness, and attention problems in some children – particularly those with ADHD. What’s more, the studies suggested that removing dyes from those children’s diet was a quarter to half as effective in reducing those symptoms as giving the kids Ritalin or other stimulants. In other words, certain kids with ADHD might not need drugs if the artificial dyes were removed from their diets.”
In the European Union, the Food Standards Agency has called for a voluntary ban of sunset yellow (E110), quinoline yellow (E104), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E122) and ponceau 4R (E124) after the board “decided precautionary action was needed. (Guardian.co.uk)”
This use of the precautionary principle is too often lacking in this country. What’s the precautionary principle you might ask? Well, it’s a pretty good way to live life, as many parents will tell you. Here’s the definition from The Precautionary Principle Project:
“Precaution – the “precautionary principle” or “precautionary approach” – is a response to uncertainty, in the face of risks to health or the environment. In general, it involves acting to avoid serious or irreversible potential harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude, or causation of that harm.”
To protect yourself and your family, take it upon yourself to use this easy resource from IATP and the Center for Science In The Public Interest, the group that asked the FDA to convene the special food coloring panel in March.
Food & Food coloring database
Known as the Food & Food Coloring Database, this simple online chart allows you to search by a brand, food or additive so you can start to see which food colorings or preservatives are lurking in your snacks, meals and beverages.
Parents and doctors have been using the Feingold diet, created by Dr. Benjamin Feingold, since the 1970′s that promotes eliminating food additives such as dyes and preservatives as a way to treat hyperactive children.
Luckily, you can find delicious, safe treats for you and your family at NaturalCandyStore.com. This great resource offers candy, food colorings, and baking decorations that are created with vegetable and natural dyes. Be sure to check out their awesome Easter offerings!
Luck Of The Irish! St. Patty’s Day Cupcake Triumph
March 17, 2011 By 7 Comments
At 9:15am I received an email from the director of my son’s preschool. She wrote that another parent brought in some Irish Soda Bread for the class to share at snack time, around 10:30. The bread most certainly had eggs and dairy, which meant my son wouldn’t be able to have any.
Natural Green Food Dye For Cupcake Frosting
What’s a dairy-free mom to do? Necessity is the mother of invention, and this mama sprung into action. I took one of the cupcakes I had frozen from the Valentine’s Day batch and set it on the counter to warm up to room temperature.
I had experimented last week with making a quick frosting from warmed coconut butter and a little brown rice syrup, so I knew I had a good base to work with.
Green….green…where was I going to get green food coloring that’s non-toxic and fast?
I opened my refrigerator door and scanned its contents. Should I try to juice some parsley or a kale leaf? Those might taste too strong and ruin the cupcake-effect I was going for. Then, I looked at my condiments shelf and spotted my savior, in the form of a dark glass bottle…Liquid Chorophyll!
I usually take liquid chlorophyll for it’s blood building and cleansing effects, and I knew that green color was a powerful dye – I’ve spilled enough drops on my kitchen towels over the years to know! You can buy liquid chlorophyll at your local health food store in the supplements aisle, or online for less than $6 a bottle here:
So here’s how I made the perfect, healthy green icing in no time:
2 Tablespoons warmed coconut butter
(I put it in a small container and set that in a larger bowl, then added some hot water to surround the smaller container to warm up and soften the coconut butter)
5 drops liquid chlorophyll
1/2 teaspoon brown rice syrup
I used the back of a curved rubber spatula (AKA spoon-ula) to cream the ingredients together. You can add more drops of liquid chlorophyll to get the color just right. Once it was mixed I spread it on top of the
cupcake – easy!
I remembered that I had some St. Patty’s Day stickers in my son’s art box, and whipped up a little shamrock-on-a-toothpick for decoration. I carefully tucked the cupcake into a food container and high-tailed it up the hill to the preschool. The class was just finishing their art projects before snack time, and I had about 10 minutes to spare. Whew! My son looked thrilled with his surprise snack, and I got an extra 30 minutes of power walking into my day.
All in a days work for a super-mom….
Luck Of The Irish! St. Patty's Day Cupcake Triumph
March 17, 2011 By 7 Comments
At 9:15am I received an email from the director of my son’s preschool. She wrote that another parent brought in some Irish Soda Bread for the class to share at snack time, around 10:30. The bread most certainly had eggs and dairy, which meant my son wouldn’t be able to have any.
Natural Green Food Dye For Cupcake Frosting
What’s a dairy-free mom to do? Necessity is the mother of invention, and this mama sprung into action. I took one of the cupcakes I had frozen from the Valentine’s Day batch and set it on the counter to warm up to room temperature.
I had experimented last week with making a quick frosting from warmed coconut butter and a little brown rice syrup, so I knew I had a good base to work with.
Green….green…where was I going to get green food coloring that’s non-toxic and fast?
I opened my refrigerator door and scanned its contents. Should I try to juice some parsley or a kale leaf? Those might taste too strong and ruin the cupcake-effect I was going for. Then, I looked at my condiments shelf and spotted my savior, in the form of a dark glass bottle…Liquid Chorophyll!
I usually take liquid chlorophyll for it’s blood building and cleansing effects, and I knew that green color was a powerful dye – I’ve spilled enough drops on my kitchen towels over the years to know! You can buy liquid chlorophyll at your local health food store in the supplements aisle, or online for less than $6 a bottle here:
So here’s how I made the perfect, healthy green icing in no time:
2 Tablespoons warmed coconut butter
(I put it in a small container and set that in a larger bowl, then added some hot water to surround the smaller container to warm up and soften the coconut butter)
5 drops liquid chlorophyll
1/2 teaspoon brown rice syrup
I used the back of a curved rubber spatula (AKA spoon-ula) to cream the ingredients together. You can add more drops of liquid chlorophyll to get the color just right. Once it was mixed I spread it on top of the
cupcake – easy!
I remembered that I had some St. Patty’s Day stickers in my son’s art box, and whipped up a little shamrock-on-a-toothpick for decoration. I carefully tucked the cupcake into a food container and high-tailed it up the hill to the preschool. The class was just finishing their art projects before snack time, and I had about 10 minutes to spare. Whew! My son looked thrilled with his surprise snack, and I got an extra 30 minutes of power walking into my day.
All in a days work for a super-mom….
How Frito Lay Has It Wrong: Fried Foods Are Dangerous
January 12, 2011 By 5 Comments
Fried Foods Are Dangerous, But My Heart Healthy Popcorn Is Crunch-tastic & Delicious!
Looks like I’m back to taking on the fast food world! I’ve been cooking up some fun videos about fast food with Erik Trinidad from Fancy Fast Food (more about that to come in future posts!).
Looking at the websites of some of the world’s biggest fast food and packaged foods (read JUNK FOOD) companies has been a little shocking – and I thought I had seen it all! (Remember in Super Size Me when I had to watch Morgan go through 30 days of torture eating nothing but McDonald’s? If you haven’t seen the movie, you can watch it for free on Hulu.com here 
I was reading on Frito Lay’s website about their crunchy Fritos brand chips, and how, as the company puts it:
“…frying isn’t unhealthy, it’s the type of oil in which the frying is done that matters.”
Both I and the USDA disagree with this idea. Frying in ANY oil produces a chemical known as acrylamide:
“Acrylamide caused cancer in animals in studies where animals were exposed to acrylamide at very high doses. Acrylamide causes nerve damage in people exposed to very high levels at work. FDA has not yet determined the exact public health impact, if any, of acrylamide from the much lower levels found in foods. FDA is conducting research studies to determine whether acrylamide in food is a potential risk to human health.”
Here’s the real scoop: fried foods aren’t healthy, no matter what oil you use. Acrylamide is a dangerous (more than likely) carcinogen and the National Institute of Health recommends against them in a heart healthy diet.
If you’re a CRUNCH lover, then try eating air-popped popcorn. Drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle some Red Star nutritional yeast flakes on top for a savory, cheesy (but dairy-free), healthy, protein-rich flavor. It’s delicious!
You can spend $20 on a great air-popper and buy organic popping corn in bulk for less than $1 a pound. I always use organic corn products so I can avoid any genetically modified organisms. That means every bowl of popcorn will cost less than a quarter after a few uses of the air popper! It’s a terrific money saver.
Cereal Boxes May Be Toxic
June 29, 2010 By 1 Comment
My favorite part of visiting my grandmother’s house was her cereal selection. She would stock little boxes of Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Puffs, and Fruit Loops for our yearly visits, and I dreamed about those hyper-colored bowls of sugar all year.
Eating sugar-coated cereals is something my parents never allowed in our house. The most “unhealthy” cereal they bought for us was Cheerios.
Now I realize why my Mom was so strict about those foods. Not only is there way too much refined sugar in those boxed cereals, but the food colorings have proven to be neurotoxins as well.
Today, we have another reason to avoid boxed cereals. Kellogg Company Voluntarily Recalls Select Packages of Kellogg’s® Corn Pops®, Kellogg’s® Honey Smacks®, Kellogg’s® Froot Loops® and Kellogg’s® Apple Jacks®.
There are dangerous chemicals lurking in the bags and linings of boxed cereals, and the Kellogg company has recalled several cereals because of strange odors coming from the plastics.
The most common liners are made from HDPE with an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) -based seal layer. Other known liners include a zinc lonomer in the sealant layer. Still another known liners (for a high sugar, high flavor cereal) include high density polyethylene (HDPE) , nylon, and an lonomer-based sealant.
What do all these scientific terms mean?
At the moment, no major studies have been conducted researching the long term risks posed by EVA fumes. Anecdotal claims report symptoms including an itchy rash (allergic reaction), severe headache, vomiting, diarrhea, mouth sores, and nose bleeds. HDPE is often made with titanium and contains phthalates, and is made from petroleum.
To ensure your long-term health, and that of your family, try to avoid eating too much food out of these containers. Plastics are everywhere, and we can’t know the long-term heath effects of ingesting the fumes and materials that we ingest with every mouthful.
Be well, Alexandra
