Choosing Health Now!

Goji berries, also called wolfberries, are a fruit native to China. Within their red-orange raisin appearance resides an impressive history of health benefits. In Tibetan medicine, goji berries or Lycium barbarum have been used for about 2,000 years to treat kidney, eye, skin, allergy, and sleep problems; diabetes; cancer; sexual dysfunction; and chronic liver disease.

Goji berries have become very popular in the past five years.  For having been around for such a long time, there is a surprising lack of quality research on many of the health claims. Still, enough of their benefits have been substantiated to earn them the “superfood” title. As to their therapeutic value, we seem to have only scratched the surface of the polysaccharide, phytochemical, carotenoid, and antioxidant properties.

Goji berry health benefits

• The goji berry is an adaptogen, a term used to describe a property in compounds that increase the body’s ability to deal with stress, trauma, fatigue and anxiety. Due to its adaptogenic nature, the goji berry is believed to aid in digestion, weight loss (stress is well known to contribute to weight gain and prevent weight loss), energy levels and heart health.
• Supports the endocrine glands responsible for muscle repair and generating energy, specifically the thymus, adrenal, thyroid and pituitary. Also, the polysaccharides in goji berries have been found to reduce muscle soreness by aiding the removal of lactic acid and other toxins that can build up during exercise.
• Low glycemic effect. Goji berries are only 29 on the Glycemic Index (anything below 50 is considered to be low glycemic), so they aren’t likely to spike blood sugar.
• Contains the phytochemicals Betain (assists in breaking down fats stored in liver), Zeaxanthin (protects the retinas in our eyes), Physalin (helps fight off certain cancers like leukemia), Solavetivone (powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial), Cyperone (lowers blood pressure and has cancer fighting properties, especially good for preventing cervical cancer), and Beta Sitoserol (anti-inflammatory and increases virility).
• Almost a complete protein. Many websites say that it contains “all 8 essential amino acids”, but there are actually 9 essential amino acids (still, pretty good for a berry) and contains 18 amino acids total.  Two amino acids in particular, l-arginine and l-glutamine, when combined with potassium (which is also high in goji berries) help your body to produce more growth hormone. Growth hormone helps your body retain lean muscle tissue.
• High in fiber: They are 21% fiber by weight.
• Nutrient density: Ounce for ounce, goji berries have more vitamin C than oranges, four-times the potassium of bananas, more beta-carotene than carrots, more iron than spinach, are high in zinc (a mineral essential for a healthy immune system), an array of B vitamins, and the fat-soluble antioxidant vitamin E.
• Supports eye health. The antioxidant zeaxanthin absorbs blue light.
• Strengthens the immune system and promotes friendly gut bacteria, impacting other areas of health including reducing inflammation, allergies, symptoms of autoimmunity disease, and increased cancer cell destruction.
• Higher in antioxidants than blueberries (5-10 times depending on who you ask). Goji berries are rated #1 on the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), which measures the antioxidant level in foods.
• Because of their powerful ability to protect cells against free radical damage, goji berries are considered the world’s most anti-aging food.

5 easy ways to use goji berries in your diet

1. In yogurt
2. Trail mix
3. Paleo cereal or in cooked cereal (as you would with raisins)
4. Salads (instead of cranberries)
5. Protein pancakes (as a topping or mixed in the batter)
   

As with any food, some people will feel better eating goji berries than others. So even though goji berries have an impressive nutritional profile, if you notice that they don’t agree with your body (cause gas, bloating, sugar cravings, foggy thinking, increased hunger, energy tanking, etc.), find another superfood that does.

Goji berries are carried in most health food stores either packaged or in bulk. They can be pricy, but if even half of the health claims about them are true, they’re well worth it.

Badges, camping, and girl bonding: These are the aspects of the Girl Scouts worth supporting. However, buying boxed cookies every year isn’t good for you or the Girl Scouts. They are unhealthy and propagate a poor example of wise food choices.

Trans fats, artificial flavors, and corn syrup…Oh my!

Make no mistake; there is nothing healthy about Girl Scout cookies. Unlike the homemade cookies that Girl Scouts used to bake and sell starting back in the 1920′s, today’s Girl Scout cookies are:

• Processed
• Devoid of nutrition
• Made using poor quality ingredients including hydrogenated vegetable oil, corn syrup, and artificial colors & flavors
• Happily using high fructose corn syrup since it is “a specifically helpful ingredient in the browning process.” Seriously. It says it right on their website.

Click here to see the labels for yourself.

Looking beyond the label: Pesticides & politics

What isn’t obvious from the labels are the:

• Pesticides contaminating the cottonseed oil
• Nutrient robbing and immune suppressing impact of the many sweeteners used
• Lack of quality protein and fat needed to prevent skyrocketing blood sugar and cravings for more cookies (and yes, there are plenty of cookies and desserts that don’t have this problem)
• Measly 10-20% profit that local troops and girls make off each box
• Mixed messages these girls are getting by selling unhealthy, processed food to people while simultaneously trying to earn badges in “respecting yourself and others” (that should include health), “healthy living”, and “eating for beauty”.

Now, if you are saying to yourself, “It’s no big deal, it’s only once a year, blah, blah, blah…”, remember that most people aren’t buying a single box of cookies that is in and out of the house in a week. About 200 million boxes are sold every year. It isn’t uncommon for families to buy 5 or more boxes (there are up to 28 varieties).

It is possible to support the Girl Scouts while taking a stand for your health and the health of those around you. Next time you see Girl Scouts selling cookies, skip the cookies and instead, make a donation (.50 cents is equal to the profit they’d make on 1 box) along with the suggestion that they offer healthier alternatives including homemade cookies like the troops used to sell in the future.

Butter oil or high-vitamin butter oil is dairy oil extracted without heat from cows fed solely rapidly growing grass. It is more nutrient dense than standard butter from grass-fed cows and less processed than ghee.

Health benefits of butter oil

Butter oil is a nutrient dense supplement containing high amounts of Activator X, the fat-soluble vitamin K2.

• Vitamin K2 is linked to heart health, cancer prevention, healthy skin and bones, and proper growth and development.
• Vitamin K2 works synergistically with Vitamins A & D to support a healthy immune system.
• Rich in butyric acid, a main form of fuel for gut bacteria, and critical for healthy digestion and immune function
• High in CLA’s, conjugated linoleic acids, which promote healthy weight by contributing to the reduction of body fat and increase in lean muscle tissue

According to Dr. Weston A. Price, who discovered butter oil in the 1930′s, high vitamin butter oil has its most potent health impact when combined with cod liver oil. In fact, before going to have a cavity filled by your dentist, look into the remineralization studies on cod liver oil combined with high-vitamin butter oil!

Look for it in your local health food store or vitamin center. Trusted brands include Green Pastures. Keep in the refrigerator to extend shelf life.

Calling modern cereal “the breakfast of champions” couldn’t be further from the truth. ALL boxed cereal is processed, even the organic ones, by a process called extrusion. The worst cold breakfast cereals contain extruded grains along with artificial colors, multiple forms of sugar, synthetic vitamins that our bodies don’t assimilate well, and plenty of starch to send our blood sugar and insulin levels skyrocketing.

Before any cereal lovers become too depressed, keep reading for the healthy cereal alternatives at the end.

Extrusion: What is it and why is it harmful?

Per Sally Fallon of the Weston A Price Foundation:

“Dry breakfast cereals are produced by a process called extrusion. Cereal makers first create a slurry of the grains and then put them in a machine called an extruder. The grains are forced out of a little hole at high temperature and pressure. Depending on the shape of the hole, the grains are made into little o’s, flakes, animal shapes, or shreds (as in Shredded Wheat or Triscuits), or they are puffed (as in puffed rice). A blade slices off each little flake or shape, which is then carried past a nozzle and sprayed with a coating of oil and sugar to seal off the cereal from the ravages of milk and to give it crunch.

In his book Fighting the Food Giants, Paul Stitt tells us that the extrusion process used for these cereals destroys most of the nutrients in the grains. It destroys the fatty acids; it even destroys the chemical vitamins that are added at the end. The amino acids are rendered very toxic by this process. The amino acid lysine, a crucial nutrient, is especially denatured by extrusion. This is how all the boxed cereals are made, even the ones sold in the health food stores. They are all made in the same way and mostly in the same factories. All dry cereals that come in boxes are extruded cereals.”

We are told there are no studies showing any difference between extruded versus non-extruded grains and the cereal industry seems to have convinced the FDA of this since there are no published studies, human or animal, on the subject.

However, according to the research out there that is under the radar, extruded grains are toxic, particularly to the nervous system. Two unpublished animal studies indicate that extruded grains are downright harmful. In Paul Stitt’s book, Fighting the Food Giants, he includes a study on 4 sets of rats:

1. Group 1 was fed whole wheat, water, and vitamins & minerals.
2. Group 2 was fed puffed (extruded) wheat, water, and the same vitamins & minerals as the first group.
3. Group 3 was fed water and white sugar.
4. Group 4 was fed water and vitamins & minerals.

Results: The group that died off first was the puffed wheat group. Mind you, this study was the cereal company’s own study. (The whole wheat group lasted 1 year, the water and vitamin group lasted 8 weeks, the white sugar group lasted for a month…but the puffed wheat group died after only 2 weeks!). The early death these rats faced is unlikely caused by malnutrition since they died before the group of rats that didn’t receive any food.

Another study by University of Michigan in Ann Arbor back in 1960 compared three groups of rats:

1. Group 1 was fed corn flakes and water,
2. Group 2 was fed cardboard box and water,
3. Group 3 was the control group and was fed rat chow.

Results: The corn flake fed rats died of malnutrition BEFORE the cardboard box and water group. The rat chow group stayed in good health. Before they died, the corn flake group developed a host of dysfunctions associated with insulin shock (dysfunction of pancreas, liver and kidneys).

Healthy cereals

If you would like to avoid extruded grains and still enjoy cereal for breakfast. Here are two healthier alternatives.

• Soaked, whole grains of your choice. Soaking overnight with liquid whey and water reduces anti-nutrients and makes the grains more digestible. Soaked grains are still high in starch and carbohydrates. To reduce high blood sugar levels from grains, consume them with plenty of healthy fats such as coconut oil, pastured butter, raw milk, cream, nuts or seeds and some protein like a side of pastured egg, sausage or bacon.

• Make your own gluten-free, low carb cereal by combining coconut flakes, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds (preferably soaked overnight with some sea salt) and goji berries in a bowl with raw cream and milk. Give the chia seeds a minute or two to expand and soften. This cereal is delicious and the nuts, seeds and fruit can be varied for an equally delicious breakfast option.

The Bay Area has plenty of health food stores and unprocessed food options. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store when you shop to help avoid processed, extruded purchases. No one can argue that cold boxed cereal is convenient. Similarly, no one can argue that poor health, illness, and disease are very inconvenient (to say the least). Make the effort to purchase and prepare foods that contribute to good health.

Time saving breakfast tips

• Cook in bulk (hard boiled eggs, a big scramble that you can portion out for several days,homemade sausage patties, soup, large batch of hot cereal, etc.)
• Choose healthier grab-and-go foods such as nuts, seeds, jerky, canned wild fish, or fruit with nut butter.
• Eat leftovers, hot or cold.

Health has many facets and the one we are going to focus on for the entire month of March is eating mindfully.

What the heck is mindful eating?

1. Paying attention to each bite you take…no zoning out and shoveling food in your face, people!
2. Tasting, savoring and appreciating the nourishment your food is giving you. Food is for nourishment, after all. Try not to use it as a substitution for not taking care of other areas of your life. Dealing with your emotions with your fork is a major form of self-sabotage.
3. Slowing down and chewing completely.
4. Thinking about the food you are eating and why you are eating it rather than thinking of what you are going to post on Facebook later, the errands you need to run, or the conversation you had the other day. If you think of all these other things, you enter a state of mindlessness about your eating and by the time you snap out of it, you will have eaten more than you needed to and probably not chewed your food very well.

Make sense? Focus on your meal when you eat it and put your other thoughts on hold. Appreciate the food that is nourishing your body. If you are up for an extra challenge, make a food log so that you learn the patterns between what you eat and how you feel afterward in terms of fullness, energy level and ability to concentrate. It’s liberating.

This challenge officially launches on March 1st, but there is no reason to wait. This isn’t a punishment: it’s an opportunity!

Even the best diet and exercise plan goes out the window if we tune out our body’s signals for hunger and satiety. Thorough chewing plays a key role in digestion, nutrient absorption, and learning when enough is enough.

Benefits of chewing

• It takes the brain about 20 minutes to register fullness after eating a meal. Chewing thoroughly slows eating down and allows the brain more time to realize you’ve had enough to eat.
• Digestion begins in the mouth with the salivary enzyme amylase. Chewing activates amylase and signals our other enzymes to get ready.
• Chewing breaks down food into smaller pieces, increasing efficiency of our digestive enzymes by creating more surface area on food particles for enzymes to attach.
• Some health professionals think thorough chewing reduces the risk of developing food intolerance. Mixing saliva and enzymes in the mouth with food makes it more recognizable. It also breaks down large protein molecules into smaller pieces that might otherwise pass through our intestinal barrier and into our bloodstream whole.
• Provides an opportunity for awareness. Eating can be hypnotic. People tend to tune out and disconnect from their mind-body connection when they eat. Paying attention to chewing food thoroughly brings attention to the process of nourishing your body.

5 mindful eating DO’s

1. Take small bites.
2. Don’t pick up another bite of food until you have chewed and swallowed your last bite.
3. Chew your food until it’s liquid.
4. Make food choices you would brag to your nutritionist about.
5. Learn that food is for fueling, not a healthy means of changing your mood. Find a healthy substitute besides food to alter your mood (i.e. exercising, journaling, listening to music, going to the theater, reading).

Chewing is a great way to encourage permanent weight loss. The better you get at slowing down and listening to your body while you eat, the more satisfied you’ll be with reasonable portions and the better you will get at registering fullness.

Show your health some love on Valentine’s Day. Instead of loading up on sugar, try some of these amazing lower sugar alternatives.

Sweets that are sweet to your health:

• Strawberries with chocolate whipped cream (heck, even plain strawberries are delicious and only 8 grams of carbs in 3.5 ounces~about 1/2 cup).
• Dark-chocolate dipped coconut, nuts or berries. If you choose a chocolate with high cocoa content to melt, the sugar ingested is minimal.
• Organic cheese platter with slices of pear or berries.
• Tapioca pudding with stevia
• New York Cheesecake with vanilla stevia

Using sugar alternatives like xylitol, stevia, coconut sugar, and sucanat are beneficial for blood sugar balance, weight loss and maintenance, oral health, digestive health and the immune system.

Is there such a thing as healthy ranch dressing? Yes. But you’ve got to make it yourself. Store bought dressings, even the organic ones, use vegetable oil as a base and vegetable oils are not heat or light stable. They turn rancid easily when they sit on store shelves and when we ingest them, we get all that nasty damaged oil, which contributes to cellular damage. Many dressings also contain refined sweeteners, corn syrup, artificial colors and flavor enhancers. No thanks!

Making your own salad dressing is easier than you might think. Give it a try. It tastes SO much better than store bought and you’ll have the added reassurance that it contains only quality ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayo (I use Hain’s or make my own with olive oil)
• 1/2 cup organic full-fat sour cream
• 1 cup organic buttermilk
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 3 tsp Herbs of Provence or Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: onion powder and/or dill to taste

How to:

Combine all the ingredients in a mason jar (or any jar with a wide enough mouth to insert an electric hand mixer) and whip it good, as Devo would say.

Thats it. Here’s our awesome video.

Take a taste. If you wish to add more spices or garlic, go for it. Some people prefer a mayonnaise flavor, so if that’s you, use a little more mayo and less sour cream.

Really dang easy. Enjoy on salad and all your favorite dipping foods.

Before your next minty fresh experience, be sure to investigate the safety of your toothpaste.

Did you know that even “natural” toothpastes from the health food store could contain chemicals that are harmful to your health?

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are chemicals used in many body care products including toothpaste as foaming agents.

SLS is used in cosmetics as an inexpensive degreasing agent. However, according to a report in The Journal of Toxicology, even as much as .5% concentrations of SLS could cause skin irritation. Higher amounts, 10-30%, could cause major irritation. It is not uncommon for soaps to have up to 30% SLS.

Other health risks of SLS/SLES

1. Can cause permanent eye damage (even if exposure wasn’t to the eyes).
2. Immune system disruption.
3. Skin roughening and disrupted biological function of the skin.
4. Potentially carcinogenic when paired with dioxane and formaldehyde.
5. Can retard proper eye development in kids.

How is it that SLS/SLES is still used in our toothpaste, shampoo, soap and many other products? The International Journal of Toxicology concluded that these chemicals are safe in products designed for “brief, discontinuous use followed by thorough rinsing”. Daily use of several products containing these chemicals was not studied in their report and so the safety issue remains unclear.

Alternatives

There are a number of non-toxic options. It is encouraged to use the EWG cosmetics database to double check products before you buy them. Many chemicals have different names that may appear on the label making it next to impossible if you aren’t a chemist to determine if it’s safe or not.

Weleda, Jason, Herbal Choice Natural Tooth Gels, and some Tom’s of Maine (not all) are a few non-toxic brands. You can also make your own toothpaste (for example, baking soda, water, peppermint essential oil, and a small amount of hydrogen peroxide).

Take care when choosing other body care products like lotion, shampoo, and soap as well since they can also contain SLS and other chemicals.

Non-toxic products can be found in most health food stores in the Bay Area including New Leaf Community Markets, Staff of Life, Rainbow Grocery, Way of Life, and Whole Foods.

While BPA has been banned from 10 states in the U.S. (including California), China, Canada and parts of Europe, in the U.S., the ban applies mostly to BPA products for children (bottles, cups, and baby food jars). There is no guarantee that the canned items you are purchasing are free of this hormone mimicker. Industry leaders argue that the BPA lining is the lesser of two evils and that the lining helps prevent botulism, however, there is a volume of research on the negative health impacts of BPA.

Coconut milk has become a popular milk substitute for those with dairy intolerance. Boxed coconut milks often have sweeteners and additives and so BPA-free cans may be the cleanest way (unless you make your own straight from the coconut) to obtain coconut milk.

Brands of BPA-free coconut milk:

1. Native Forest, available at the Food Bin in Santa Cruz, some Whole Foods in the Bay Area, and in bulk on Amazon.
2. Trader Joe’s Light Coconut Milk. Coconuts provide healthy fats that are easy to digest due to their shorter chains and so light coconut milk does not provide as much of these beneficial fats. This can be remedied by adding some coconut oil as you cook or coconut cream (available in glass jars).
3. Aroy-D comes in a box and they do not have added preservatives. They also have coconut cream.

In regard to other packaged foods, look at the recycle code on plastics. Types 3 and 7 may be more likely to leak BPA than the other codes. When possible, buy items sold in glass containers.