Don't Eat That!

Happy Holidays! I've been in full vacation mode this week which means I have hardly left my house opting to stay indoors watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, spending some much desired and needed time with my boys and inhaling copious amounts of my new Keurig coffee! I want to tear up at the thought of going back to work, I just enjoy my time with my kids way too much. As I type it is late Saturday night. Alex is curled up next to me on the couch drifting off to sleep on his beloved Pillow Pet. Brennan is in bed reading one of his many new chapter books. Miles is snug in my bed and little Louie is happily munching away at his bone. I figured it was the perfect time to pop on the computer and play around. I had planned on checking email when I ended up clicking on a Yahoo story about food (what a surprise, right?). The article lists several popular foods, all processed foods, that deceive customers by insinuating it contains a particular food/ingredient when in reality the food item is totally void of the ingredient. You'll see a lot of hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup and dyes listed in these foods. I think the most surprising to me is the lack of blueberries in the blueberry cereal; I had expected dehydrated berries or freeze dried berries or even a sugary juice to be listed! Read the article for yourself at this link: http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/food-fake-out--products-with-misleading-names-and-images-214400945.html

Sick

I subscribe to a newsletter from Dr. Mercola. I am not even sure how I landed on his web site, but I've been getting his almost daily newsletters for at least four years now. I do not always read them, but sometimes an article really sands out to me. The other morning I opened my newsletter and found an article about about European health versus American health. I am always a health nut, but I'm especially aware of illness this time of the year as it is the start of the cold & flu season. I opened the article expecting to read about colds and immunity and remedies, but instead I read about how the food we eat is potentially making us ill. It was quite interesting!

Obviously I cannot nor do I want to retype the entire article, but here are some key points from Dr. Mercola:

1. Americans get more sick more often than other industrialized nations in the world. Some researchers believe this increase in illness is linked to the consumption of Genetically Engineered (GE)/Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).

2. The US government says GE/GMO foods are perfectly safe, however researchers are finding links with increased allergies, birth defects, increased cancer rates, infertility and mutations to name a few.

3. US livestock is now becoming infected with a mysterious ailment called "Sudden Death Syndrome".

4. GE/GMO foods are viewed as invaders in our bodies. This is leading to increased immune responses while is virtually attacking our bodies/immune systems.

Here are some very alarming stats from the article:

- According to the CDC, Autism is affects one in 88 children as opposed to one in 25,000 children (in the mid-1970's).

- Between 1980 and 2010, Type II Diabetes rose more than 176%.

- Celiac Disease is now four times more common as compared to 60 years ago.

- The rate of Amercians with Alzheimer's Disease have doubled since 1980. One in eight older Americans have AD.

What an alarming article!! Some people may argue that we see so many more cases of Autism because we know how to diagnose it better than we did in 1975. Some will say that more seniors are affected by Alzheimer's Disease because we live longer, fuller lives as compared to decades ago. I agree with that to a certain extent however I 100% believe our food plays a major part in our health and wellness outcome. GE/GMO are clearly labeled in Europe and most Europeans opt for the the "natural" food items. Sadly, our foods are being pumped full of hormones & antibiotics and their genetic makeup is being manipulated and modified yet not a single box or bag or label alerts the consumer of the modifications. We deserve to know what is being put into our foods.

Today we went apple picking and took a nice drive through the country. As the boys happily crunched away on their fresh apples I couldn't help but wonder what were they really putting into their tummies. Sure it looked and smelled and it certainly tasted like an apple, but how much pesticide residue was left on the skin? How different was that particular apple's composition as compared to say an apple that Johnny Appleseed planted in 1812? As we drove through the country my eyes fell upon corn and soybean crops as well as pigs and cows and chickens in the farmland. It made me so sad and extremely angry to know the animals were even mutated as compared to decades ago. When will this stop? What has to be done before someone somewhere puts a halt on this insanity? I told Bryan I wish we had enough money to build a farm and fill it full of organic, all natural foods, the way nature intended us to eat. A girl can dream....

If you do not already subscribe to Dr. Mercola, I strongly encourage you to do so! I visit the site every so often and I skim the daily newsletters for interesting articles. Some things I pass by, but a lot of the articles and videos are quite educational and interesting. Enjoy! http://www.mercola.com/

20 Snack Foods Renamed

I received this email this morning and thought I'd share. I had quite the chuckle out of these. Enjoy!

The Mac Daddy

I've been cooped up in my house with a fever virus along with my 4 year old son. Between doses of Tylenol, episodes of Dora and Diego and a lot of snuggles, I managed to catch up on some real news from around the world. One story in particular caught my eye because I thought I had read the small headline wrong. I thought I read "1,690 Calorie Burger", but that couldn't possibly be correct. I mean, that is a TON of calories for a sandwich, almost a daily serving of calories. I adjusted my glasses and reread the headline. It was no joke! Denny's is unveiling a burger that weighs in at 1,690 calories!!

The burger is called the Mac'n Cheese Big Daddy Patty Melt (The Mac Daddy for short). The Mac Daddy consists of two slices of buttered grilled potato bread, a beef burger patty layered with slices of cheese, a scoop of prepared macaroni and cheese pasta, a "Frisco" tomato based sauce and it is topped with another slice of cheese. It is served with a side of french fries. So many things ran through my mind when I read this description. First, who in their right mind would even want to eat this massive pile of crap? It makes me nauseated just looking at it. I cannot imagine how greasy this thing must be. Can you picture the heartburn, upset stomach and gas that is likely to follow ingesting this? I really wonder who created this burger. Who thought meat topped with cheese and pasta would be a tasty combo? I wonder if Denny's has any type of food nutritionist working within the company. Anyone in their right mind would know this is by far one of the unhealthiest "foods" out there; who approved this creation? I can't even call it food because real food doesn't attempt to kill you.

Tonight for dinner I made whole wheat pancakes, scrabbled organic eggs, organic all natural bacon and fresh watermelon slices. Sure the bacon is not the healthiest and one could argue that eggs are not the best option either, but I had a sick kid who requested this and happily ate almost every morsel on his plate. When compared to the Mac Daddy the bacon and eggs pale in comparison, calorie wise. If I added all of my calories up correctly, my dinner was only 395 calories.

I'm really curious who would eat this monstrous burger and why. Anyone care to share? I know I have secret lurkers so share if you dare! ;)