Posts Tagged ‘lose weight’

Do-It-Yourself Vegetable Oil

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

It’s Easy…As Long as You Own a Factory

Did you ever try to make your own cooking oil at home? Say, for example, you wanted corn oil. Take a few kernels of corn and try pressing them in a mortar and pestle, or squeezing them with a binder clip, or even stepping on them. What do you get? A big mess – smashed corn and a clean-up job. But you won’t find any corn oil in your experiment.

Would you rather eat whole corn right off a healthy plant in the field, or...

Would you rather eat whole corn right off a healthy plant in the field, or...

The oil in your kernel is tightly bound with all the fiber in the whole corn, not to mention the protein, complex carbs, and other nutrients that make corn so yummy and filling. All these components are required for the kernel to do the job nature intended, which is to grow a baby corn plant. So the oil needs to hang in there pretty tight as part of nature’s complete plan for the next corn generation.

Here is the short version of how factories “refine” most oils from whole seeds – corn, soy, nuts, palm, and others. (Olive oil may require a less complex process.)

Step 1. Extraction. The “crude oil” is separated from the rest of the seed through use of a very strong press or solvents. In fact, even if some oil is obtained through mechanical pressure, solvents may be used to extract more. Hexane, a toxic, explosive chemical made from petroleum and also found is gasoline, is often used as the solvent.

Step 2. Degumming. “Impurities,” which are other natural plant components suspended in the crude oil, are separated by mixing water with warm oil and spinning the resulting mixture in a centrifugal separator revolving at high speeds.

Step 3. Neutralizing. Acids in the oil are now neutralized with caustic soda, which converts the fatty acids into an insoluble soap. Some factories may need to further wash and dry the oil to remove the rest of the soap after some settles out. The oil still is a bit yellow, though, and has smell most people would not like.

Step 4. Bleaching. The oil is bleached to make it the colorless liquid that consumers expect.

Step 5. Deodorizing. The factory uses various methods to get rid of remaining smells in the oil.

Would you rather eat the oil extracted with a chemical solvent, then bleached and deodorized?

Would you rather eat the oil extracted with a chemical solvent, then bleached and deodorized?

The oil must be kept away from air so it does not immediately oxidize, becoming rancid and (more…)

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Commitment Is the Engine of Weight Loss

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Easy Tips to Strengthen Your Commitment to a Whole Foods Diet

A whole foods diet is the vehicle that will deliver permanent, hunger-free weight loss. Commitment is the engine that makes this vehicle move. Knowledge of the weight and health benefits of unprocessed plant foods will make you comfortable with this top-of-the line diet. But facts alone are static and are not likely to get you to your goals.

Commitment is a drive that you consciously build. At first, this can require much effort. Later, commitment becomes more of a habit and worldview, reinforcing itself every time you make a positive choice.

Willpower is different, and necessarily short term. When you rely on willpower, you force yourself to do something you really don’t want to do. For example, if you don’t like your job, it takes enormous willpower to show up every day. Taking the unwanted, even

Commitment makes choosing whole foods this easy and fun

Commitment makes choosing whole foods this easy and fun

dreaded, action becomes harder each time you do it.

In contrast, commitment becomes easier over time. Eventually your choices are as effortless as floating in a refreshing pool on a hot summer day.

Commitment will keep you consistently on track to take actions you desire, but which may be drowned out by other choices if you don’t stay focused. Consider moving toward a whole foods diet as one example. You actually want to eat healthy food and learn to build your taste for crunchy vegetables, sweet fruits, and whole grain breads. To get there, you need to break old habits, overcome lazy inertia, and retrain your appetite. So commitment moves you from longing to success.

Many strategies enhance the dedication that real commitment requires. One of the most effective methods is to focus on a cause outside your own self-centered concerns. The power of caring is enormous. If weight loss is your goal and a whole foods diet is your method, choose the cause that has the most emotional impact to keep you on track. You can focus on slowing climate change through a sustainable diet, ending animal suffering, or feeding hungry people with grain otherwise destined to become animal feed.

The more methods you use to foster commitment, the sooner and more completely you will succeed. Visualization is a readily (more…)

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A Whole Foods New Year’s Tradition that Tastes Great

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Black-eyed Peas and Greens Are Fun and Healthy

The Southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas and greens on New Year’s Day is now widespread. Prosperity and luck throughout the year are the promised benefits. The peas (actually a kind of bean) symbolize coins, while the greens stand for dollars.

Eating this combo at New Year’s started about the time the Civil War was ending. Union soldiers spared the humble black-eyed peas as they confiscated or destroyed other crops in the South.

Black-eyed peas are the stars on New Year's

Black-eyed peas are the stars on New Year's

Had the troops understood the outstanding health benefits of black-eyed peas they might have targeted this food as well. This legume shares the same health benefits as other beans, filling you up and satisfying your appetite. The beans are a nutritional powerhouse, rich in minerals, complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, protein, and phytochemicals.

Just as important, black-eyed peas and greens are easy to cook and there are so many fun variations on the basic dish. Here is the recipe I made for 2010.

Any Day of the Year Black-Eyes Peas and Greens

The ingredients are: (more…)

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My Best Decade Ever: Life with Meaning

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

A Ten-Year Adventure in Plant-Based Eating

I feel younger, healthier, and more vigorous now, when the clock is within striking distance of 2010, then I did back in 1999. In that year, I was more worried about my health and weight than I was about Y2K. Aging felt like it was overpowering me. Even though I was only 47, I was tired of coping with chronic pain and fatigue, weight that had a mind of its own, and ever-tightening clothes.

In 1999 I was meat-free, but still ate eggs and dairy products. I knew the remaining animal foods were at the root of my health issues, but simply did not feel ready to give them up early in that year. Partly habit held me back, partly fear, and partly laziness. What would the “center of the meal” be without some kind of animal foods?

I remember the last time I ate eggs for breakfast. They lay in my stomach all day like a chunk of cement. Finally about 4 in the afternoon I could feel them clearing and moving on to make room for me to breathe. I decided right then to never eat chickens’ reproductive materials again.

Finally, the big breakthrough for my health came at the end of 1999. I collected enough plant-based cookbooks and recipes to know I could make

Me hiking in gorgeous Northern California this summer

Me hiking in gorgeous Northern California this summer

satisfying food all day with many delicious alternatives. The last animal food to go for me was ice cream. I discovered soy-based frozen desserts in yummy flavors and never looked back. My prefernce quickly changed to these new frozen desserts, even if they tasted a little different at first.

Within months of going plant-based, I lost 25 pounds and have never regained them! My chronic pain episodes, sinusitis, and ear infections evaporated. Every day I felt more energetic than the last. How unexpected but how welcome.

Ever since 2000, I’ve felt like I’m aging in reverse. My body is detoxifying – this process takes years, not weeks. Toxic chemicals stored in fat are well incorporated and dissolved in the body. If you are still in the throes of an animal-based diet, you have no idea how fantastic it feels to give your body the time it needs to truly heal.

I keep setting new standards for myself in terms of health. This has been a gradual and highly fulfilling process over the last decade. Watching my two daughters also choose a plant-based diet, with vast improvements in their mood and energy, has also been deeply satisfying.

I am physically active every single day now. I’ve deleted virtually all manufactured foods from my diet, including trans fats, bottled oils, chips and any deep fried foods, white bread and bagels, and (more…)

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Healthy for 2010: The Best Gift You Can Give!

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Losing Weight Permanently is on Santa’s Wish List

Stumped for what to give your friends and family that already seem to have everything? Or even if they genuinely need another sweater, maybe you have different tastes. What if giving health were as easy as giving a package with a nice bow?

The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine just published a study showing that, as a country, we are losing ground to obesity. People are smoking less, which is great. Yet the hastening of death from obesity more than wipes out the gain from reduced smoking.

On average, because of being over their ideal weight, people will live a full

You can give the gift of health to yourself and others!

You can give the gift of health to yourself and others!

year less! Of course, this is an average. Normal weight people will not lose any of their allotted years, but obese people will lose a lot more.

Would you give your family or friends cigarettes as a holiday gift? Of course not! So why would you give them food that will shorten their lifespan as much or more?

If you are giving food as a holiday gift, choose yummy whole foods. Think about a fruit basket, dried fruit in nice packages, fancy nuts, or gourmet dark chocolate.

If you are serving food over the holiday or bringing a dish to a potluck, there are thousands of whole food recipes your party will enjoy. Check out the newsletter archives at Dr. McDougall’s site or the fat free vegan site with fantastic plant-based recipes. Not only will you be boosting health for one meal, but you will be educating all those enjoying your cooking. Maybe you’ll even set them on a path to permanent weight loss. Let them grab back that year that obesity is robbing them of.

The gift of health is truly the best, and yes, you can give it. Your example of your own healthy choices paves the way, educating and motivating others all year long.

Intrigued? Now you can use our Whole Foods Blog Finder to target informative, fun postings on plant-based nutrition. Quick information at no cost!

Blog posting by Janice Stanger, Ph.D. Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet, the smart person’s nutrition book built on sustainable food choices. Enjoy six kinds of whole foods for permanent, hunger-free weight loss and health.

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Farmers Markets: Your Not-Meals’ Best Friend

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Plant-Based Nutrition Has Never Been More Colorful

How would you like a winter get-away that is close, relaxing, gorgeous, and free? Your local farmers market will reward you with all this – and more! Don’t know where there is a farmers market near you? Not a problem. Simply bring up your favorite search engine and type in farmers market plus the name of your city, town, or county for the information you need.

I make the farmers market a weekly ritual, one that never fails to delight and surprise. How often do you find such reliable gratification in the current economy? The market is a visual poem, with bright and shiny colors and

Fuji apples are abundant and crunchy

Fuji apples are abundant and crunchy

alluring shapes. The contrast of fruits, vegetables, flowers, potted plants, and other plant foods such as corn or beans constantly entertains the eye.

The market also relaxes you with sound. Usually there is music, kids laughing, and happy people chatting to each other and the farmers. Kids don’t have expensive plastic toys or junk food to beg for, and they seem content to just revel in the colors and enjoy the outdoors. What a break for parents.

The wide variety of food available changes every week – determined by what the farmer harvested. This is how it should be. The relatively predictable sameness of grocery stores cannot compete. You can buy the

Heirloom tomatoes are still flavorful in November

Heirloom tomatoes are still flavorful in November

freshest and tastiest food for your next not-meal and never miss the meat or dairy foods you leave behind.

Consider your local farmers market for your next weekend. If you already visit frequently, maybe bring a friend to share the bounty.

Intrigued? Now you can use our Whole Foods Blog Finder to target informative, fun postings on plant-based nutrition. Quick information at no cost!

Blog posting by Janice Stanger, Ph.D. Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet, the smart person’s nutrition book built on sustainable food choices. Enjoy six kinds of whole foods for permanent, hunger-free weight loss and health.

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Melt Nutrition Confusion as Quickly as Summer Thaws Snow

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

These Are the Health Facts, Whether We Want Them to Be or Not

Walk into your doctor’s office and find a coupon for cigarettes. Or maybe even a sample pack to “ease your stress.” As foreign as it may seem, this could have happened not that long ago. Physicians, well-meaning and helpful, pushed tobacco on their patients because industry assured them this was the right thing to do.

Millions of addicted people and their doctors yearned to believe smoking was healthy, or at least harmless. Public relations dollars on an unprecedented scale fueled their fantasy. Government agencies dozed in the back room, educating and protecting no one.

The dragonfly is there whether you see it or not

The dragonfly is there whether you see it or not

The tobacco industry manufactured confusion right along with cigarettes. Yet, as the English author Aldous Huxley so wisely observed, “facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

Nor do these facts cease to exist for choosing a healthy diet and spurning foods that can be as harmful as tobacco is. Billions of ad dollars paint a mass fantasy of what people should eat, but all the money in the universe can’t change the basic facts of human biology and nutritional needs.

You have a naturally perfect body. Learn the real facts to protect yourself and turn your health around with a whole foods, plant-based diet. When you find out, you will want to tell everyone you know the simple secrets to losing weight and reversing chronic disease.

As Aldous Huxley also said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.”

Intrigued? Now you can use our Whole Foods Blog Finder to target informative, fun postings on plant-based nutrition. Quick information at no cost!

Blog posting by Janice Stanger, Ph.D. Janice authored The Perfect Formula Diet, the smart person’s nutrition book built on sustainable food choices. Enjoy six kinds of whole foods for permanent, hunger-free weight loss and health.

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