Healthy Super Food Green Bananas

In this episode of the Outside Health and Fitness Podcast I’m talking with Author, Chef and Green Banana expert Susan Damas about how this superfood can help you lose weight, maintain blood sugar levels, give you more energy and more. If you’re like me and you never really gave green bananas a second thought you’ll want to check out what Susan has to say on the show today.

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About Susan

Susan is originally from Tanzania. Green bananas are a staple of the diet there. It's a very functional and practical food in Tanzania. When she came to the United States she was surprised that she was unable to find green bananas in the larger supermarkets.

She is a chef and author of the Green Banana CookBook. She works to help educate families, children and athletes about the health benefits of super food green bananas.

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Green Bananas Can Help with Weight Loss

Green bananas are a super food. They contain a resistant starch with amazing health benefits. Unlike the starch you find in potatoes resistant starch has been shown to block the bodies ability to burn carbohydrates for energy. If the body can't burn carbohydrates for energy it's forced to burn fat resulting in weight loss benefits. Additionally, as a high fiber food, green bananas can help you feel full and reduce your caloric intake.

The resistant starch found in green bananas have also been shown to increase insulin sensitivity which can help those with type two diabetes control their blood sugar levels better.

Green Bananas for Athletes

Green bananas are an excellent "pre-workout" food because they keep you full and the energy does not kick in right away. Green bananas can help you by providing the sustained energy you need to get through your workout.

Good for Children and Moms

This is an excellent super food for children and can help them sleep through the night. Something Susan reminds us is also very good for the mother too :-)

Good for Probiotic Bacteria

The resistant starch found in green bananas has also been shown to be good food for probiotic bacteria which assists in maintaining a healthy digestive system.

Other benefits people report from eating green bananas

• more energy


• better sleep


• more regular


• weightloss


• good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C and potassium


• relief from constipation

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The Green Banana CookBook

Susan has written a cookbook that shows you how to incorporate green bananas into your meal planning at home.

In her book “Green Banana Cookbook.” She offers over 40 yummy recipes that can work to help families eat healthy and provide athletes with the required energy to do what they do.

If you would like to get a copy of Susan's book you can get it by emailing her at:

susandamas@gmail.com

You can also purchase a copy of her book through Amazon or at Barnes and Noble.

If you want to get Green Bananas check health food stores, Whole Foods or ethnic type stores in your area.

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The Amazing Benefits of a Raw Food Diet

In this episode of the Outside Health and Fitness Podcast I’m excited to welcome Deborah Devar back to the show. As you may recall, Deborah is Holistic Health expert with over 35 years of experience. She runs the Path to Perfect health and when she was last on the show shared some amazing information about the benefits of essential oils. Today she is back to help us learn about how eating a raw food diet can have a big positive impact on our health.

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About Deborah

Deborah Devar is a Holistic Health expert with over 35 years of experience, including establishing and operating a state-licensed holistic health care college and authoring the book “Path to Perfect Health”, an instructional guide to natural healing.

Deborah is amazing in fact she spent 28 years doing controlled field study and clinical research which has resulted in a wealth of information, discoveries and the formulation of essential oils  that support the bodies ability to heal itself. Essential oils are amazing in their ability to help support the bodies healing process.

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What is eating raw?

When they first hear about it many people think eating raw is about eating raw and uncooked meat. It's really about eating natural and raw fruits and vegetables. Raw fruits and vegetables offer more complete nutrition that eating packaged and processed foods. Additionally, when fruits and vegetables are cooked at over 118 degrees many of the valuable enzymes and vitamins they contain are lost.

Without the necessary enzymes naturally found in food we need to really more on our bodies' stores of enzymes in order to digest the food. In addition, because much of the cooked and processed food we eat is lacking the nutrition we need we eat more. As a result, our diets become a quantity vs quality situation.

How does someone incorporate a raw food diet?

Switching to a raw and all natural fruit and vegetable diet can be an adjustment for some because our digest tracts have gotten lazy. Everyone is different and coming to a raw diet from a different dietary point. If you are someone who has a lot of toxins in the body you'll want to ease into a raw food diet more slowly.

In fact, when you start a diet of raw fruits and vegetables it can result in the body detoxifying pretty quickly. The result of which can be flu like symptoms. Many people misinterpret this reaction as "getting sick" when in fact, it's the result of the detoxification.

When you consider the Standard American Diet (SAD) it's amazing how well we do on very little nutrition at all.

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What are something of the benefits people can expect from switching over to a raw food diet?

First of all more nutrients and quality nutrition for less money. It's easier because you're not needing to cook and your kitchen set up can be really simple. Your food tastes better and you feel better.

Is it a hard diet to maintain?

It's not hard to stick with even if you're eating out. Most of the time you can find substitutes and if not, you can even allow yourself to consume something other than raw occasionally. Once you are eating well and providing your body with the nutrition it needs a break occasionally isn't going to hurt you.

What are the downsides to a raw food diet?

Sometimes access to organic whole foods can be a challenge. It's also important to know how the raw food you're consuming was grown. Most people will need to rely on store bought produce or produce purchased from farmer's markets. It is possible to learn to grow your own food as well. In fact, there are even techniques that will allow you to grow food year round.

Deborah's System for Cleaning and Enriching Raw Vegetables

This simple system rehydrates vegetables with 96 live electrical minerals while, at the same time kelating (or leaching out) all of the herbicides, pesticides, spray growth hormones and fungicides. It not only cleans your vegetables but it also loads them up with essential minerals at the same time.

Here's how it works:

Dissolve a quarter teaspoon of Himalayan Sea Salts or Solar Sea Salts in a kitchen sink filled with cold water. Separate your leafy greens, beet tops and herbs. You could even include carrots and apples. Soak your produce in the sink for about 20 minutes.

Fermenting

Fermenting helps to provide good bacteria and enzymes you need for good digestion. While fermenting food may sound a little scary it's important to remember that this is a process that has been used for more than 2000 years. There are plenty of information on the internet that can teach you how to ferment food safely.

[cryout-pullquote align="right" textalign="center" width="33%"] "It's not hard, it's just a transition. It's more of letting go of what you always believed a meal to be." - Deborah Devar

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What about Juicing?

You can use either a juicer or a blender (if you have a good one). It's important to go easy on the fruit because there is a bit of sugar in fruit. Deborah has some good juicing recipes on her site.

Can a Raw Food Diet be Tasty?

Raw food is a real art and with practice you can produce a wide variety of delicious dishes.

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[wptab name='Getting Started']

How does someone get started?

Are there resources available? Pinterest is a great source for raw food recipes. There are also a lot of raw recipe books. There is a little bit of preparation that is required when you're planning a raw food diet.

After soaking your produce in the sink store it in glass jars or bins that allow you to see what you have. Another important tip is to clean out your house of the processed and prepared foods you're working to avoid.

Chopping dry vegetables like broccoli and carrots ahead of time saves time later when preparing a meal. With some prep ahead of time it's easy to "whip" up an amazing meal in no time.

Get the entire family involved. The kids love to grow their own food, go to the market and then help prepare food for the week.

The other benefit of a raw food diet comes in the way of savings. A raw food diet could end up saving a family some significant money on a weekly basis.
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Follow Deborah " The Path to Perfect Health"

Raw Food Recipes on Pinterest 

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Support The Show:

Patreon is a great service that allows you to support the show per episode! Pledge any amount and set a monthly limit. Your pledge helps pay for media hosting, web hosting and the other expenses that go into producing the show. Your support allows me to continue to bring you fantastic guests and valuable information each week.
Thank you so much for helping out!

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Naturally Cleansing Your Body with Raw Food

Naturally Cleansing Your Body with Raw Food

In this audio brief of my upcoming interview with Deborah Devar we talk about the cleansing and emotional impact of switching to a more raw food diet.

A raw food diet is not hard and there are a lot of really great recipes available on the internet. It's more about letting go of what you always believed a meal to be. One thing that Deborah does is help people understand that the desire to eat is very different than nutrition.

There is an emotional connection that some people have with eating. You hear the term "comfort foods" which has an emotional connotation to it. Swtiching to a more raw food diet can surface some of the emotional attachments you've had with food. As the body start cleaning out the body takes care of little toxic gel balls that are stored in the tissue and those are emotional toxins.

You may experience flu like symptoms and you may even hit an "emotional roller coaster" as you cleanse and heal your body. A lot of the things you put "on hold" are going to come to the surface.

We all have a choice, either take responsibility for your health or potentially live your life popping pills and standing in line for surgeries.

The full episode is scheduled for release on March 24th 2014

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listen to ‘Naturally Cleansing Your Body with Raw Food’ on Audioboo

The Bikini Chef

In this episode of the Outside Health and Fitness Podcast I am so honored to have Susan Irby, also known as the Bikini Chef on the show. Susan is an Award-winning TV and Radio Host, She’s a Best-selling author, and creator of The Bikini Chef and hosts The Bikini Lifestyles Show on Talk Radio 790 KABC and she’s interviewed some of the top names in health and entertainment like Wolfgang puck, Denise Richards,  rock star Gene simmons, comedian Bill Engval and many more. On today’s show  Susan was kind enough to share some great tips for creating healthy meals at home even if you’re like me and you’re  all thumbs in the kitchen!

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About Susan

Susan Irby is best known as "The Bikini Chef" and she hosts "The Bikini Lifestyles Show" on PBS TV and Talk Radio 790 KABC. She is also a best selling author with nine health and nutrition books available.

Susan is an amazing interviewer and has had some very notable celebrities on her show including Wolfgang Puck, Gene Simmons, Bill Engvall, Venus Williams, among others.

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How do you make "healthy food" taste good?

People have a perception that healthy food is bland and boring but it's really not true. There are things you can do to "spice it up" and help healthy food come to life and taste great. Take those old spices down from the shelf, go buy some new ones and incorporate those into your foods. Additionally, fresh herbs and citrus flavors are great ways to add to the flavor of the healthy foods you make.

What else do you have in the cupboard that can help you get fit and healthy?

While you are using the spices to make your healthy food taste great why not grab those bags of refined white flour, corn meal and sugar to help with your weight resistance? Rather than eat that stuff, Susan incorporates them as weight resistance to get in a little weight training in the kitchen.

Is there help for someone who doesn't know their way around the kitchen?

Absolutely! The first step is to fight the urge to go to the fast food restaurant or select prepackaged and heavily processed food for meals. Get used to going to the refrigerator and get in the habit of "doing it yourself".

Don't put too much pressure on yourself. The worst thing that can happen is it doesn't come out good, you give it to your pets as a snack and you try again. Start with something easy like chicken breast, boneless pork chop or fish. These are easy to make and all great sources of lean protein.

For chicken or boneless pork chop:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees


• Cover a baking sheet (cookie sheet) with aluminum foil


• Put a little bit of Olive oil on both sides


• Add some seasoning (based on what you like such as blackened or lemon pepper) on both sides.


• Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes and you're all set.

Put together a simple salad and make your own vinaigrette to round out your healthy meal.

How to make your own healthy salad and vinaigrette.

Making your own healthy salad is easy. Many supermarkets now offer bags of mixed greens which can easily be the base for your healthy salad. Next, you'll want to blend your own healthy vinaigrette to add flavor.

To make your own vinaigrette:

• Use 2 parts balsamic vinegar to 1 and 1/2 parts olive oil


• Squeeze in some fresh lemon


• Add cracked black pepper


• Add a pinch of salt


• Whisk it together

Add the vinaigrette and toss it with your mixed greens.

Remove the pork chop or chicken from the oven and slice it up. Add it to the plate and you have a  very easy, tasty and healthy meal.

Once you're comfortable you can begin making variations and adding to the salad.

Are there particular foods that you recommend staying away from, in order to eat healthy?

For the most part, stay away from breads. Susan has a bikini diet coming out that spells out in detail what her recommendations are. In general, Susan recommends fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and lean protein.

What about eating a healthy breakfast?

Breakfast can be tricky because a lot of traditional breakfast foods are loaded with carbs. There are alternatives though and fresh fruit, quinoa, greek yogurt and other healthy breakfast foods can help.

Frittata

Another excellent breakfast option is a frittata, which is like an open face omelet. A frittata is easy to make as well!

• wisk some eggs together


• add diced bell pepper


• add some pancetta


• add some diced fresh mint leaves


• add a little red or white onion


• even add some asparagus tips

Wisk all of this together and put it in the omelette pan. Just don't flip or fold it and you'll end up with a really tasty and healthy breakfast.

Avocado and Egg

Take 1/2 of an avocado, scoop out the seed and a bit of the avocado. Put in one whole egg and top it with paprika, cayenne pepper, or cumin. Bake it in the oven for about 15 minutes, take it out and enjoy it with some fresh salsa for a healthy breakfast meal.

Smoothies

Another good option for breakfast is to mix up some fresh fruit smoothies.  Susan has several great recipes on her site including the very popular Kale Mock Tail!

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The Bikini Body Challenge

Susan's 30 Day Bikini Body Challenge can help jump start your weight- loss, fitness and healthy lifestyle. it starts with two days of fresh raw vegetables and then followed by the cleanse drinks with 25 days of a healthy eating plan. The bikini chef diet follows the challenge to become your new healthy way of life. It also includes workouts as well as healthy nutrition ideas.

Body Weight Training

Cardio is great but body toning is also very important. Runners, cyclists and anyone doing lots of cardio still need to include some strength training and core work. Having a good balance between cardio and strength training is important.

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Follow Susan at Thebikinichef.com and you'll find...

• ...her podcasts


• ...her programs


•  ...kitchen exercises


• ...The Bikini Diet Plan


• ...fresh frozen meals (non GMO!) "Skinny Cuisine"


• ...Free recipes


• ...Free content and articles

Get Susan's Books

 The $7.00 a Meal Pressure Cooker Cookbook -

The $7 a Meal Quick and Easy Cookbook: 301 Delicious Meals You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

The $7 a Meal Healthy Cookbook: 301 Nutritious, Delicious Recipes That the Whole Family Will Love

The Giant $7 a Meal Cookbook: 701 Inexpensive Meals the Whole Family Will Love

Boost Your Metabolism Cookbook: Fire up Your Diet for a Fit and Firm You

The Complete Idiot's Guide Quinoa Cookbook

The Substitute Yourself Skinny Cookbook: Cut the Calories, Keep the Flavor with Hundreds of Simple Substitutions!

Pressure Cooker: 50 Essential Recipes for Today's Busy Cook

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Help Support the Show:

Please consider making a donation of any size to help support the show so that I can continue to bring you great content like "The Bikini Chef" each week. Thank you for your support!

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Health and Fitness Experts vol1

Health and Fitness Experts

One of the great benefits of hosting the Outside Health and Fitness podcast is getting to talk with some of the top Health and Fitness experts in the world!  Over the past 60+ shows I've had a chance to meet some amazing people and cover a wide range of topics from nutrition, natural movement, pain relief, weight-loss, holistic health and more.

I've collected the best of the best and I want to share this information with you!  The Outside Health and Fitness Experts vol 1 is a FREE 52 page eBook packed with amazing expert commentary, tips, resources, and exclusive information you can't get anywhere else.

Who are the experts?

• Americas #1 Mind and Body Transformation Expert Bob Choat


• Nutrition Educator Mira Dessy


• Dr. Lori Shemeck who, along with Dr. Oz, was named one of america's "Top 16 Health and Fitness Experts” by the Huffington Post


• Muay Thai instructor Anthony Britton


• Author of "Chronic Pain Gone 90 Days" Dr. Daniel Twogood


• Boxer Ernesto Torres


• Craniosacral Therapist Kate Mackinnon


• World Champion Muay Thai Fighter and star of Beyond Fitness TV Jason Johnson

What's inside?

You'll learn about natural movement, aroma therapy how to make better choices by deciphering nutrition labels, simple things you can do today to eliminate chronic pain and more! I'll include links to my interviews, free on-line resources and contact information so you can connect with any of these experts yourself.

You will also get the FREE Outside Health and Fitness Newsletter every week! The newsletter is packed with the latest information, news, resources and expert advice from the world of health and fitness. It's the information you need to stay fit, active and healthy.

So what are you waiting for?

Sign up for the newsletter and get your FREE copy of Health and Fitness Experts vol 1 now!

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Following a Path to Perfect Health

In this episode of the Outside Health and Fitness Podcast I get a chance to talk with Deborah Devar about the Path to Perfect health. I learned a lot from Deborah in this interview and she really opened my eyes to some of the alternative options we all should investigate to ensure we’re making the best choices possible for our health and well being.

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If you have a chance, please leave me an honest rating and review on iTunes. It will help the show and our ranking immensely! Thank you so much....enjoy the show!

[wptab name='About Deborah']

Deborah Devar is a Holistic Health expert with over 35 years of experience, including establishing and operating a state-licensed holistic health care college and authoring the book "Path to Perfect Health", an instructional guide to natural healing.

Deborah is amazing in fact she spent 28 years doing controlled field study and clinical research which has resulted in a wealth of information, discoveries and the formulation of essential oils  that support the bodies ability to heal itself. Essential oils are amazing in their ability to help support the bodies healing process. They are effective, safe, easy to use and inexpensive.

Beyond the power of essential oils, Deborah's research also demonstrated that our bodies are "an old model" and haven't yet adapted to all of the chemicals, additives, preservatives and other man-made chemicals found in packaged and processed food products. Our bodies will adapt over many generations but haven't adapted to these chemicals at this point which is the basis for much of the sickness and illness we're dealing with now.

[cryout-pullquote align="right" textalign="center" width="33%"]The more we incorporate naturally grown fruits, vegetables, sprouts, herbs our body has the elements for a healthier cellular duplication every 24 hours.  [/cryout-pullquote]

People are not healing in our conventional medical system. They are managing sickness for a period of time. This is why Deborah wanted to conduct a lengthy experiment over a substantial period of time with human beings to determine what happens when you choose to support the body in healing itself.

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Through out her studies she continuously came back to essential oils as a major part of supporting the body. They are easy to use, affordable, incredibly powerful, have immediate results and have no side effects.

Essential oils are derived from nature and are 300 times more potent than the natural plant, herb, etc they are distilled from. Essential oils are in perfect harmony with our bio-chemistry.

What's the most dramatic result you've seen from the use of essential oils?

The mother of a boy who had been in a motorcycle accident contacted Deborah for help. She met with the young man, then 26 and developed the "nerve cell" formula. [cryout-pullquote align="right" textalign="center" width="33%"]"We are foolish to believe that since the body created itself out of two cells and a spark of energy in nine months that it would not have the repair guide." - Deborah Devar [/cryout-pullquote] The young man was eating fresh fruits and vegetables and had great faith in the bodies ability to heal itself. After 3 weeks his body repaired itself to the point he was able to walk again!

Deborah has also seen great benefits from essential oils with her own family and one year even help get to get 200 kids to "put away the riddlin"!

On their own essential oils are just a band-aid but combined with the right nutrition, ATP and exercise miracles can happen. It's how the body designed itself and created itself.

Most of us were never taught that our bodies could heal on it's own. The movie "Simply Raw" is an excellent example of not only what the body is capable of but how we've been shielded from this truth.

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The essentials are delivered in three, simple and different ways.

Instant Message Delivery System

Central nervous system. The thalamus and hypothalamus are the regulatory way stations receiving all sensory signals in the brain. The essential oil sends a signal through the hind brain, making its way up to the frontal cortex where it will finally register as a conscious thought.*

Email Delivery System

Endocrine System The hypothalamus sends a message to the pituitary gland, which sends a message to a specific organ system telling it to start or stop excreting signals. *

Local to Local Delivery

Skin sensory system. Apply drops directly to thhe location to assist the area and don't forget to always inhale.

Benefits of Essentials Oils

Botanicals in general work in a very different way than conventional drugs because they work in harmony with the system, they support the healing process. The essential oils that Deborah has formulated have been labeled and categorized in a very easy and simple manner to limit confusion.

* - from the Path to Perfect Health pamphlet

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The Path to Perfect Health

Find out more about Deborah or contact her through The Path to Perfect Health

Follow the Path to Perfect Health on Facebook

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Unraveling Confusion on Nutrition Labels

In this episode of the Outside Health and Fitness Podcast I am excited to have Mira Dessy on the show. Mira is a Nutrition Educator and “real food advocate” and she has some amazing tips to share about unraveling confusion on nutrition labels. I was blown away by what Mira shared with me and I was thrilled to be able to put some of what I learned from her into practice to make better choices during my next shopping trip. If you are confused by what’s on or not on nutrition labels you'll be glad you checked out my interview with Mira.

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If you have a chance, please leave me an honest rating and review on iTunes. It will help the show and our ranking immensely! Thank you so much....enjoy the show!

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Mira is a Certified Nutrition Educator and "Real Food Advocate".  Originally she worked as a computer and database administrator. After a healthcare crisis she discovered what a huge difference food, and particularly what we eat, makes to our bodies. This realization had such an impact on her that she went back to school and changed careers. She now helps people learn to eat right.

Mira is an author and her book "The Pantry Principle" helps clear up confusing nutrition labels by teaching you to decipher the complexity of products on food shelves.

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Efforts to Keep You from Reading Nutrition Labels

Manufacturers spend a great deal of time and money to determine what will attract a consumers attention. They rely heavily on "buzz words", key concepts and front of package labeling to keep us looking at the front of the package so we don't see what's in the product.

Additionally, when we do look at the nutrition label we've been trained to "skim" the information. There's a sense that we don't need to really pay attention to what's on the label, that someone else is looking out for us and our safety.

Sadly, when we do take a "closer look" we find that much of what is in these products is not something we want to eat.

Front of Package Marketing

Time and money is invested in making sure that the colors, shapes, words and word placement on the front of the package works to lull us into a sense of false security about how healthy the product is.

For example, a package of corn chips may include a phrase on the front of the package that says "made with organic blue corn". This phrase makes us feel that the product is organic and good for us. However, if we flip the package over we find that some of the other ingredients are not great and the product is not 100% organic.

Even when the product is not organic a phrase like the one above relies on loopholes to imply the product is organic while not technically claiming it is. Another strategy manufacturers use is creating an organic line and a conventional line that use the same logo so it's not always clear which line you're buying.

Alarming Ingredients Found in Food Products

As a Nutrition Educator Mira is alarmed by the number of ingredients found in products that aren't food. There are some key concepts we can use to help identify non-food items when reviewing nutrition labels.

1 - Don't purchase a "food" product that has ingredients that are followed by numbers. (Nature doesn't grow food by numbers so these ingredients are NOT FOOD!)

2- All CAPS on a nutrition label is an abbreviation and we don't want to eat these. These are also not foods.

An example of an ingredient listed in all CAPS that is a dangerous product to eat is BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole) and BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene). These are often found in breakfast cereals and should be avoided.

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GMOs

When other countries around the world have banned their use why does the US allow GMOs to be used in foods?

While it's a complicated question to answer, part of it may have to do with corporations who are closely tied to agriculture. There is a belief that we are protecting the agriculture but we're are not paying attention to the challenges that are happening with regard to the impact on the environment and to the biochemical impact on our bodies.

While there continue to be more examples of the dangers of GMOs the government is not following through as they should. For example, there are crops that are genetically modified to resist pesticides. This allows the crops to be grown in a field and sprayed with pesticides. However, over time the weeds have become resistant to the pesticides as well. That requires stronger pesticides and a second round of genetic modification. All the while we're depleting the soil, creating environmental run-off and these pesticides are starting to effect our gut flora.

The last two attempts to require GMOs on nutrition labels were defeated largely because the opposition outspent the proponents 10 to 1! Even though more people are aware of the dangers of GMOs and want this information included on labels the producers of these products don't want it included. Why? Because we would be alarmed by how much genetic modification is happening and included in the foods we're consuming.

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What are some of the health dangers associated with these "non-food" ingredients?

A landmark study done in 2007 by the University of Southhampton in Great Britain showed that artificial colors and benzoates were highly disturbing to the system for children with attention deficit disorders. It made them more inattentive and more hyperactive.

Other chemicals in our food can cause a host of health problems because we're taking these toxic substances into our bodies and taxing our systems.

Things like:

• Migraines


• Rashes


• Insomnia


• and more....

Another chemical to be wary of is RBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin). RBST was created by Monsanto and it's an artificial hormone used to make cows give more milk. Unfortunately, RBST does not go away when you milk the cow. That means if you're drinking conventional milk or eating conventional dairy products you're most likely eating RBST. Unless your dairy product specifically says it's RBST free it's probably in the product.

RBST has an impact on insulin growth factor one which has a direct impact on metabolic syndrome and could eventually lead to diabetes. There is also emerging evidence that seems to indicate there are problems with girls reaching menarche at younger ages.

How do you avoid RBST (also sometimes called RBGH)?

Look for dairy products that state they are "RBST Free" or "RBGH Free" on the label or purchase "organic".

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Is eating organic the answer?

There is no clear cut answer to this because manufacturers try to throw the term around whenever possible because they know consumers will respond to it.

Organic is mandated by the federal government to actually mean something. Organic means no pesticides, no GMOs, it's free of antibiotics, free of added hormones if it's an animal product. If it's a plant based product organic means it does not have pesticides, it does not have GMOs.

While it would be great to eat 100% organic it's very difficult to do because it's expensive. Families need to make a choice based on their own budgets to determine how organically they can afford to eat. There are also some choices families can make where eating organic is not required and there are tools people can use.

The Environmental Working Group puts together the Dirty Dozen List which are the 12 fruits and vegetables most likely to be contaminated by pesticides. The group also maintains something called the Clean Fifteen List which are items you don't need to purchase organic because they have an outer coating that protects them.

How do we take action?

• Learn how to read labels


• Make changes a little at a time

Start taking back control of the food you're buying and follow these simple rules:

1. If it has a number after it, it's NOT a FOOD. Don't buy it!


2. If it has ingredients in All CAPS , it's NOT a FOOD. Don't buy it!


3. Check your breakfast cereals and stay clear of BHA and BHT


4. Check your dairy and look for RBST Free or RBGH Free labels


5. Get educated and check out Mira's books below

BONUS

Three Actionable items: 

Here are three actionable items you can implement right away:

1. Get rid of artificial colors


2. Get rid of high fructose corn syrup


3. Make a decision toward organic animal products or look up the dirty dozen

Get Mira's Books to learn more:

The Pantry Principle 

Eating Out Eating Healthy

Follow Mira on-line

The Pantry Principle Blog

Facebook

On Twitter

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I asked the community on Google what they wanted to ask Mira. Here's what you asked and here are her answers:

Louis B: What is the 2 most important items on the food labels that we should be aware of?

Mira:First, look at the grams of #sugar are in the product because there is a lot of excess sugar in our foods. They do it to because we respond to sugar on a fairly primitive level. The sweeter things are the more we think we like them.

Second, look at that list of ingredients. For example if you pick up a can of peaches and there are 12 ingredients on the label you may want to reconsider.

Paul L: With all these chemicals in our food, fake or lethal material. How are we supposed to eat safe and healthy?

Mira: Part of what you need to do is become an educated consumer.Learning what these things are and how to avoid them. For example, if you're trying to avoid artificial colors don't assume there are no colors added just because the product doesn't look like it has color. Pickles are a good example. They actually have artificial colors. One good way around this is to shop for your pickles in the international aisle.

 A. Chynal: Why aren't GMOs being labeled and how to avoid buying #gmo products if they aren't labeled?

Mira: One thing you can do is look at the "Non GMO Shopping Guide". You can learn which products are most likely to be modified genetically. Products like, corn products, soy products, canola, etc... and then for those choose organic versions.

There is also a FREE iphone app available ShopNoGMO

Rachael: What are the best foods for pregnant women?

Mira: Eat clean and make sure you're getting clean sources of animal proteins. It's a sobering thought to think that 70% of the antibiotics in the U.S. are consumed by animals. There are some studies that show women who eat organic apples and Salmon have less of a risk of having babies that have asthma.

[cryout-pullquote align="right" textalign="center" width="33%"]...when we're eating animal products, "We eat, what we eat, ate" - Mira Dessy[/cryout-pullquote]

 

One of the things that we don't tend to realize when we eat animal products is that we eat, what we eat, ate. So if these animals are eating toxins, hormones or pesticides we are too. For example there are people who are allergic to corn and it's a serious allergy. They can't eat corn fed beef because the corn lectins are in the beef and will make them sick.

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