Healthy Eating Tips!
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Healthy Eating E-zine

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!
2) Healthy Recipe of the Month
3) Your Healthy Eating Support Group Tip
4) Healthy Products and Services

This is the time of year when those cute little girls in their girl scout uniforms are knocking at your door, or standing in front of the grocery store or the bank asking you to buy girl scout cookies. Who can resist these kids? Besides learning skills that will serve them later in life, their cookie sales help fund their activities. Girl scouting helps them build character.

But what about health and nutriton? Let's take a look at what you're eating when you bite into one of those tasty cookies. There are eight different varieties, each containing:

• enriched wheat flour
  
• partially hydrogenated oil
  
• sugar
  
• corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup
  
• natural and artificial flavor (one variety contained only artificial flavor)
• a variety of other food additives that vary among the different cookie types

Enriched wheat flour is white flour. The bran and the germ part of the whole wheat, which are rich in vitamins and minerals, have been refined out. To compensate for refining out about 20 nutrients, they add back five synthetic nutrients. These nutrient additives are added to mostly refined and processed foods, giving a false sense of nutritional value, and can lead to nutritional imbalances.

Partially hydrogenated oil is associated with heart disease, breast and colon cancer, atherosclerosis, elevated cholesterol. These cookies contain total fats ranging between 31% and 53%. They state that they have trans fats ranging from 0 to 2 grams per serving. A serving ranges from 2-4 cookies. This is deceiving because any time a product has hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, it has trans fats. According to the FDA, if a product has .5 grams or less of trans fat, it can be listed on the label as 0 grams. According to at least one research report, a daily intake of only one gram of trans fatty acid may increase the risk of heart disease by as much as 20 percent. And a 2002 report from the National Academy of Sciences concluded that, "the only safe intake of trans-fat is zero."

Sugar is associated with blood sugar problems, depression, fatigue, B-vitamin deficiency, hyperactivity, tooth decay, periodontal disease, indigestion. These cookies range from 18% to 40% of their calories from sugar. One variety even has sorbitol in addition to the sugar. Sorbitol can cause extreme gastrointestinal distress and is not recommended for children.

Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are just sugar derived from corn. The same adverse effects resulting from sugar also occur with corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. In addition, allergic reactions to corn may occur in those sensitive to it.

Artificial flavors may cause allergies, behavioral problems, gastrointestinal distress, headaches, skin problems, reproductive disorders or developments problems. They may contain MSG or hydrolyzed vegetable protein. Many artificial flavors are suspected carcinogens. They are not adequately tested.

Natural flavors may be chemically extracted and processed and may trigger some of the same adverse reactions as artificial flavors. They may contain free glutamates or MSG.

Now, this isn't just about girl scout cookies, and I'm not picking on the girl scouts. It's just an example of the state of the food & nutrition affairs that exists in our society today. We have highly processed foods with hydrogenated oils, sugar in many different forms, natural and artificial colors and flavors, and a whole host of other additives designed to make nutrient depleted, empty calories aesthetically pleasing to the palate. Many of the additives used to tantalize our taste buds are unsafe and some even cause cancer.

An informed consumer is a smart consumer. You cannot be fooled by the deceptive marketing of the food industry if you know how to read labels and know what the ingredients on the label really are. If you buy packaged foods, you need to read and understand labels. FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper’s Guide To What’s Safe & What's Not. will give you the edge when it comes to reading labels and choosing safe and healthy foods for yourself and your family.

Send me your comments or questions about this discussion. I cannot answer each question individually, but I will attempt to address questions in the next newsletter.

Italian Chicken and Veggies

14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. chicken cut in 4 pieces
1 onion, sliced
2 med. red potatoes, cubed
1 large carrot, sliced
1 bell pepper cut in 1/2" pieces
2 cups green beans cut in 1" pieces
1 cup frozen corn
Italian herbs and Celtic sea salt to taste

Cook in an electric skillet at 250 degrees F or in a large skillet on medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for a couple minutes. Add the tomatoes, chicken and potatoes and cook covered for 10-15 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients and cook until the chicken is done and the potatoes are tender.

Total cooking time about 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Click here to request information on obtaining Celtic Sea Salt.

My 80-20 Rule: Eat only totally healthy foods at least 80% of the time, and enjoy an occasional treat.

FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper's Guide To What's Safe & What's Not lists over 1300 food additives classified according to safety, whether they may cause allergic reactions and if they are GRAS Generally Recognized As Safe) by the FDA. It's a handy pocket-sized book that you can carry with you when you shop to help you read food labels and make sure the food you're buying has only healthy ingredients. It will help you choose healthy foods when you shop and keep harmful chemicals out of the food you feed your family.

If the above link doesn't work, copy http://www.healthyeatingadvisor.com/foodadditives.html into the address line on your browser.

HEALTHY EATING: For Extremely Busy People Who Don't Have Time For It tells you what's healthy and what's not in a clear, concise and easy-to-use format. It gives you a system so easy to use that you can't help but succeed at eating healthfully. In less than 15 minutes, you will know how to choose healthy food and be on the right track to eating healthfully.

If the above link doesn't work, copy "http://www.healthyeatingadvisor.com/healthyeating.html" into the address line on your browser.

Threelac Candida Defense has been clinically proven to reduce candidiasis without following a strict diet.

If the above link doesn't work, copy "http://www.nomorecandida.com" into the address line on your browser.

Healthy Eating Coaching
If you would like personal, one-on-one help to get yourself eating healthfully, I offer healthy eating coaching/nutritional consulting services by telephone. The first session is free. You just have to pay for the call.

To schedule your no charge evaluation, send me an e-mail with NO CHARGE EVALUATION in the subject line. Tell me what your concerns are, what times you are available, and what time zone you're in. I will send you an e-mail with your appointment date and time, and the phone number for you to call.