Feeding your children processed foods… setting them up for food suicide

I am forced to quote the FDA again….  “Food manufacturers are required to list all ingredients in the food on the label. On a product label, the ingredients are listed in order of predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed in descending order by those in smaller amounts.”

So with a little common sense we can figure out that Fruit Loops is a horrible food (chemical, whatever) to feed your child for breakfast.  The very FIRST ingredient listed on the box is SUGAR.  Sugar does not provide your child with the fuel he needs to make it through until the lunch period (and if lunch comes from the school, you can almost bet it will be more of the same crap).  Besides sugar, there are several processed ingredients, as well as a TON of food dyes.  New studies show that artifical coloring agents aggravate ADHD.   Artifical color toxins + excessive sugar = serious problems in school for children alike, but especially those with ADHD.

Children need a well balanced breakfast to improve congnitive function, concentration, and memory.  The Omega 3′s will improve cognitive function.  Choline, antioxidants and whole grain all improve memory.    Making sure your child gets enough iron and H2O will significantly help mental alertness.

Well omega 3′s are super easy to add in the form of flaxseed.  I prefer ground flaxseed meal because it is almost tasteless.  Sprinkle some in yogurt, or on top of a piece of whole wheat toast.  Eggs are a great source of choline, and fruits and veggies are packed with antioxidants.  Lean meats, whole grains, and spinach have plenty of iron.

So on your busy schedule, how will you ever fix your child a meal to include all of these vital nutrients?

Breakfast Ideas

Spinach, ham and cheese omlet –> this is a great way to get spinach into your kids.

• Mix 1 egg, small pieces of spinach, and 1/2 slice of american cheese
• Pour into small pan coated with a tsp of olive oil
• Put a few pieces of NITRITE FREE ham on the top of the eggs
• Flip into an omlet
• Serve with a piece of whole wheat toast and fresh fruit

Fruit smoothie

• One banana
• 1/4 cup raspberries and blueberries
• 1 tablespoon all natural/organic peanut butter
• 1 tsp honey
• 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• 1/2 cup milk
• Blend with some ice until its a smoothie!  This is a great lunch on a weekend or during the summer as well!

Dinner Ideas

Spaghetti and Meatballs

• 1 lb 93 % lean organic, grass fed beef (available at http://wholefoods.com)
• Mix 3 cloves finely chopped garlic, 1 egg, 1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste, and fresh basil with the ground meet
• Make them into meatballs, any size you prefer.
• Coat a muffin pan with a small amount of olive oil
• Put each meatball in an individual muffin separation
• Bake at 350 degrees until cooked through (25-40 min depending on the size)
• Drop meatballs into marinara  (Use my marinara recipe from the previous post, only double the recipe)
• Cook at a simmer for at least 20 min.  If you have more time let them simmer for a couple hours for the best taste
• Serve over whole wheat pasta with a salad  (look for my avocado salad recipe soon!)

Regardless of what you feed your child for breakfast, just remember one simple rule.  If sugar is the first ingredient on the box do no buy it!!! No matter how much your kid whines, begs, and cries.  When they are adults, they will understand.  My mother never let me eat that shit and I used to be SO jealous of all the other kids.  But now I couldn’t thank her enough for not putting that shit into my growing body!

RECIPE

So.. one thing that bothers me more than anything is when I see people use jar sauce.  Yes, disgusting Ragu or some shit.  I won’t go into my rant on processed foods again, but lets just say there are SO many added ingredients that are not necessary, especially sugar and sodium.  Some are to preserve the tomato sauce, but the beautiful thing is you can make this recipe and freeze it, defrosting as you want. 

This recipe literally takes 2 minutes longer than pouring jar sauce in a pot and warming it up.

Pour 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan.  Add 3 cloves finely chopped garlic, medium heat.  Sautee until garlic is clear.

Pour in 1 can of organic crushed tomatoes (if you like chunky sauce, leave the tomatoes alone, if you like smooth, hit them with a handheld blender for a few seconds before adding)

Stir and lower heat to a simmer.  Add salt, pepper, fresh basil to taste.  You may also add any other spices you want.  For example to make a spicy marinara, add red pepper flakes.

Let simmer at least 10 min.  If you have time, simmer longer, but this is a quick sauce so 10 min will do it!

Pour over whole wheat pasta

This recipe is also great with FRESH tomatoes.  Just let simmer a little longer because they can be watery.

Nitrites….. a long, painful suicide

Processed meats.. a staple in american culture.  Hot dogs, sausage, subs (or hoagies, depending on where you’re from), bacon, etc, etc, etc.  You would think the high fat content is the most dangerous deal with these meats.  But that is not the case at all.  Nitrites are far more dangerous.

Processed meats are…well,  processed with nitrites.  Nitrites help to preserve the meat, and also give them that beautiful color that makes you want to stuff your face with them.  Unfortunately, after you do that the acidity from your stomach converts these nitrites to nitrosamines.  Nitrosamines are proven carcinogens in animals, which gives us humans reason to believe that they are carcinogenic to us.

Besides their carcinogenic effect, nitrites also can react with the hemoglobin (transports O2) in your blood.  Methemoglobin is formed.  Now not enough O2 is being transported throughout your body.

Normal individuals have low levels (0.5 to 2%) of methemoglobin in their blood. When this level increases to 10%, the skin and lips can take on a bluish tinge (cyanosis), and levels above 25% can cause weakness and a rapid pulse. At levels above 50 to 60%, a person can lose consciousness, go into a coma, and die. Infants are much more sensitive than adults to nitrates/nitrites, and essentially all deaths from nitrate/nitrite poisoning have been in infants. Long-term exposure tolower levels of nitrates and nitrites can cause diuresis (an increase in theamount of urine, and starchy deposits and hemorrhaging of the spleen).

 -www.ead.anl.gov/pub/doc/nitrate-ite.pdf

 

So what in the world can we do to protect ourselves from this toxic substance.  DON’T EAT IT.  There are so many products that are made nitrite free.  Just look for “nitrite free” on the label or read the ingredients.  Stores like whole foods offer nitrite free products for cheaper than you would imagine.  For a few cents more you can get chemical free meat! Imagine that.  Meat itself can be considered a carcinogen in the body (which we will get to in a later post), so why add gas to the fire?

Alright, you can’t resist and you want to contribute to a slow foodicide?  Eat foods high in Vit C and E before eating your shitty meat, I’m talking like 10 oranges.  These vitamins are shown to inhibit the conversion of nitrite to nitrosamines.  At least using this method is like russian roullette.

 

http://www.wholefoods.com  —> their deli meats are nitrite free, plus they have several grocery products that are nitrite free (pepperoni, frozen products, etc)

http://heritagefarm.com —> nitrite free sausage

http://colemannatural.com —> nitrite free hot dogs!

 

That should do you good for now!

 

 

As promised… a quick lesson on CHOLESTEROL

LDL, HDL, triglycerides.. your major components

LDL and HDL are your lipoproteins.  Lipoproteins carry cholesterol through the body.  HDL or HIGH density lipoproteins carry your cholesterol to the liver where it can be reused or excreted.  This is why it is known as the “good cholesterol”.  Your LDL or LOW density lipoproteins transports cholesterol from the liver to the rest of your body.  Increased levels can cause athersclerosis aka thickening of the artery walls and as I’m sure you know, puts you at a higher risk for heart disease.

Last but not least, the infamous tricglycerides.  When you eat, your body uses the calories from the food.  Basically, whatever is left over turns into triglycerides and stored in your fat cells for later use.  SOOOO it is pretty self explanatory why you would not want excessive triglycerides.

Here are some inciteful articles about lowering your cholestrol and cholestrol medications.

 

A Bombshell Drops on Cholesterol Medication\’s Glass House.

Healing foods beat statin drugs for lowering high cholesterol by Mike Adams the Health Ranger.

“Healthy Foods”

A monkey could tell you McDonalds sucks and eating it excessively will most likely cause you to be hypertensive, hyperglycemic, hypercholestrolemic (that’s a mouthful) and DIE.  But, what makes me so angry is the false advertising of these “health foods”.  Let’s break it down bitches.

The Fiber One Bar…

First off, let me quote the FDA to clarify a few things.

“Food manufacturers are required to list all ingredients in the food on the label. On a product label, the ingredients are listed in order of predominance, with the ingredients used in the greatest amount first, followed in descending order by those in smaller amounts.”

With that being said, the first ingredient, also the ingredient that is the most abundunt in this product is chicory root extract.  Yes this is a soluble form of fiber.  But it is also an appetite stimulunt.  Ever eat a fiber one bar and want to eat 5 more?  There ya go.

Let’s move on to scarier things..

High Maltose Corn Syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup.  HFCS is a bad sweetner because it is digested very quickly, traveling immediately to the liver, and releases enzymes that assist the body in storing fat.  This will ultimately lead to high trigylcerides, high LDL cholestrol and low HDL (good) choloestrol.  If you are still confused about HDL, LDL and TRIs, there will be a blog post to follow.  Long story short, IT IS NOT GOOD FOR YOUR BODY, no matter what those assanine HFCS commercials say.. you know the ones.. that couple sitting in the park, debating whether HFCS is bad and the guy can’t figure out why, and his stupid girlfriend tells him its just a sweetner made from corn so you can eat it.  Let’s discuss the fact that humans made this shit because it is the cheapest way to sweeten a product.. also the most deadliest.  They take glucose, a natural sugar and PROCESS it to create an extra sweet, high calorie chemical. So, many products have switched to High Maltose Corn Syrup.  That is funny because it is the EXACT same thing as HFCS, except that it is a “diglyceride” aka two sugar molecules instead of a monoglyceride.  HMCS is like HFCS’s cousin.  HMCS is not as sweet, but in turn, manufacturers will use more of this additive.  Bottom line, stay away from them.

Suicide by Food

Want to kill yourself?  It’s easy.  Just eat like shit. 

Countless diseases are linked to nutrition, but why can’t we get it through our heads?   This blog is dedicated to the uncanny eating habits of the human race.  Have we forgotten what food is for?  to provide nutrition and energy so that we can complete the tasks of the day successfully.  These tasks used to be quite simple, back in the good old days, say…  of the caveman… eat to hunt, hunt to eat.  Now, especially americans, have found so many ways to preoccupy themselves with useless tasks.  Everyone is always so busy.. so busy doing nothing. 

But with all of these daunting chores and deadlines that makes us so busy that we cannot even remember to pick up our children from school, how will we EVER learn to give ourselves the proper fuel, the proper foundation.  How will we ever live without McDonalds and Qdoba, Burger King and Taco Bell?  It seems we won’t.  And therefore, we will commit suicide by food…