Posts Tagged ‘whole foods’

Every Bite of Food Pushes Greenhouse Gases Up or Down

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Bill McKibben and 350.org Can Magnify and Speed Their Impact

Bill McKibben, leading the international climate campaign 350.org, urged an attentive audience at Natural Products Expo West to make a difference for the future of the planet. Over 5200 demonstrations, which circled the globe in 181 countries on October 24, 2009, show grassroots understanding of the need to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide to no more than 350 parts per million. The current level of 390 parts per million, rising with no end in sight, spells catastrophe for life on earth as we know it.

The most significant part of the talk was McKibben’s answer to an audience question. One woman asked why 350.org does not include a truly sustainable diet as a critical action item in the campaign. She pointed out that a recent analysis by Worldwatch Institute demonstrates that 51% of greenhouse gases are directly traceable to raising animals for food.

The effect of these native ruminants, in an intact ecosystem, on greenhouse gases is in no way like the impact of cows

The effect of these native ruminants, in an intact ecosystem, on greenhouse gases is in no way like the impact of cows

The obvious solution to getting at least halfway to the goal of stopping climate change is simple, rapid, and no cost – eat a plant-based diet.

In his response, McKibben acknowledged that factory farming animals is a huge cause of climate change. However, he was not advocating immediate action to change diet. Instead, he advanced the idea that a carbon tax, once enacted, would make factory farmed animals so expensive that meat would be priced out of the range of most people. This would happen because people in the animal foods business would have to pay the “true cost” of their carbon impact.

McKibben also theorized that “grass fed cattle” could actually be helpful in reducing greenhouse gases. The theory is that, as large animals roam and trample vegetation into the soil, the ground itself stores carbon and keeps it from (more…)

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Can “Natural” and “Product” Really Coexist?

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Natural Product Expo West Is 300,000 Square Feet of Contradictions

The Anaheim Convention Center is host this weekend to Natural Product Expo West, an extravaganza of almost 2,000 exhibitors capitalizing on people’s desire to reconnect with nature and save the planet. While consumers have pure motives, the marketers and their offerings are a contradictory group.

This is nature

This is nature

I attended the Expo to see if the concepts of “natural” and “product” can really be married. After all, natural is from nature – that much is obvious. But a product, by definition, is manmade and saleable. So it seems a natural product would be an oxymoron.

This is nature packaged

This is nature packaged

The exhibitors with the easiest job of realizing the natural product concept were the clothing companies. Humans do need to wear clothes to survive in most climates (and avoid arrest). The range of organic cotton, hemp, and other plant fibers was heartening. Hopefully we will find more choices made from these fabrics in mainstream clothing stores.

The range of personal care and cleaning products made solely or mostly from natural ingredients (as (more…)

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Whole Foods: The Secret You Discover for Yourself

Friday, March 12th, 2010

A Healthy Foods Diet Doesn’t Stoke Industry Profits, Hence the Orthorexia Label

Vegetables. Fruits. Tasty beans. Satisfying baked potatoes and whole grains. Crunchy fresh nuts. Fragrant herbs and spices. Are you forming a picture of a delicious day of eating? Are you imagining vibrant health, a trim figure, and a sustainable garden or small family farm?

Wouldn't you think this is a healthy, delicious choice?

Wouldn't you think this is a healthy, delicious choice?

Well, according to certain “experts,” this kind of diet is downright sick. Believe it or not, there is increased media attention on a fake “eating disorder” called orthorexia. Sufferers of this “disorder” are accused of eating the most unprofitable foods – fresh from the soil, cooked at home, simple and naturally appealing. Such whole foods provide little opportunity for big business to make a buck on your ruining your health or big pharma to make a buck (or several billion of them) selling you the pills to fix the effects of the manufactured foods.

When I first read about this “disorder,” quite honestly I thought it was a joke. However, although not an official medical diagnosis, medical sources do discuss and debate orthorexia and (more…)

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Heavy Snows Are Signs of Climate Destabilization

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

“Global Warming” is Real, But The Reality Goes Far Beyond Warming

With a frigid winter chilling much of the country and heavy snows setting new records, people have an easy time concluding that global warming is just a myth. Maybe you, or people you know, think it’s a scientific theory that did not pan out.

Record snows lead the way in climate change

Record snows lead the way in climate change

In fact, once you understand global warming, you may be alarmed that all the snow so far is just a taste of what is to come over the next decade. “Global warming” indicates that the earth’s temperature, on average, is rising. It does not mean it will always be hotter in every location on each day of the year.

“Climate destabilization” and “climate change” are both more accurate descriptors of the weather shaping up worldwide. Average temperature, evaporation, wind and ocean current patterns, and forests, among many other factors, determine the complexity of weather day by day. Over time, weather on each day forms the overall pattern that is climate.

We are used to a specific climate pattern throughout the year in different parts of the globe. As those patterns shift with rising greenhouse gas concentrations and subsequent higher average temperature, weather will become more extreme. Hot places will get hotter, but the cold will get colder. Droughts and floods will (more…)

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Whole Foods for Health and Weight Loss Make All the Difference

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Kathy’s Weight Loss Success Can Be Yours Too

At age 65, Kathy Keller is more active than many people half her age. Although recently retired, she rarely takes time to pause. Her pursuits include chasing after her energetic 3 year old granddaughter, overseeing a major remodeling project, frequent travel, and almost daily volunteer commitments.

Kathy describes the typical foods she grew up with as “the standard American diet of the Midwest.” Her childhood staples included white bread, whole milk, meat, fried chicken, eggs, Velveeta, canned fish, ice cream, and pies. She also developed a taste for some

Kathy is an inspiration for the power of commitment

Kathy is an inspiration for the power of commitment

healthy foods, though, in peanut butter, home grown vegetables, and salad.

In the late 1980s, Kathy’s teenage son became vegetarian, and she decided that was the food path for her to follow as well. Six years ago, she discovered macrobiotics and became “more rigorous” about a whole foods diet based on organic, locally grown food and including miso, umeboshi plums, and sea vegetables. Here, in Kathy’s words, is how lifestyle choices impacted her health and weight.

“My health has been generally good since becoming vegetarian 22 years ago. However, having a sedentary/high stress lifestyle while I worked (retired 2007), over-indulging my sweet tooth, continuing to eat fish and dairy foods, not getting enough exercise, and aging all contributed to a 30 to 35 pound weight gain over the last five years. The Perfect Formula Diet has been instrumental in reversing this negative trend. I lost 10 pounds in my first three weeks of following this diet scrupulously… With The Perfect Formula Diet, I’ve lost weight that I needed to lose; I enjoy what I eat and am more satisfied after eating; I no longer get ravenously hungry between meals; I take pleasure in cooking for myself and others; and I feel good about the food choices that I make.”

Commitment has been absolutely critical to Kathy’s success. She makes sure she always has whole plant foods available and charts her success to maintain her resolve.

Kathy’s caring for others shows up in her food choices as much as in her service in a soup kitchen for the homeless. “Our small planet is burdened in so many ways: lower yield per acre than is optimal to feed an ever-growing population; environmental damage from (more…)

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Green Recipes for Health and Weight Loss Success

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Convenient Ideas for Endless Great Eating With Whole Foods

Whole foods are so tasty that, if you are not into cooking, you can still have excellent not-meals with little kitchen time. For example, after work, one of my favorite quick dinners is green lentils with vegetables on a whole grain tortilla.

The lentils cook from their dry form in about 40 minutes. I mix them with freshly steamed or leftover brown rice or some frozen organic corn. Then spoon onto the whole grain tortilla with some chopped leafy greens, salsa, and/or spices. Steamed fresh vegetables round out a super simple but yummy and filling start to an energetic evening.

Sometimes, though, I want a more elaborate taste experience. Just as important, I find chopping and mixing colorful whole foods to

Working with beautiful whole foods is fun and relaxing

Working with beautiful whole foods is fun and relaxing

be relaxing and fun. If you never liked cooking before, you may change your mind when you go the whole foods route.

Want cooking ideas? An unbeatable site for thousands of whole foods recipes is fatfreevegan.com. This super blog is friendly, fun, and overflowing with enough recipes to keep you happily hanging around your kitchen for years.

This site features food photos that will make you hungry if you aren’t already. The advanced search function helps you find a recipe to use up ingredients that are filling your garden or refrigerator. The home page has an extensive, convenient list of five star recipes.

Cooking ideas are conveniently grouped into categories either by ingredients (such as beans (more…)

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Whole Foods Fuel Your Own Olympic Performance

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Why Athletics, Nutrition, and Health Hang Together with a Plant-Based Diet

The current parade of Olympic athletes can make those of us with ordinary abilities a bit ambivalent. On the one hand, we admire the limits to which people can push the human body. Finely honed and trained athletes set the standard for physical achievement.

However, you can also feel discouraged. After all, an Olympic gold medal can feel life a project for another lifetime.

Snowboarding Is physically demanding

Snowboarding Is physically demanding

Be encouraged instead. You can achieve your physical potential. Land in first place with vigorous longevity and superb health. Your key is a whole foods, plant-based diet and regular exercise. Don’t try too much at first in the way of training. Make sure your doctor agrees with the exercise plan you have in mind, especially if you are overweight, out of shape, or have a chronic disease. If you persist, you will be amazed at your achievements.

Here’s a small sample of inspiring, 100% plant-based champs.

  • Carl Lewis won 10 Olympic medals in track and field – nine of them gold! His best year as an athlete was the year he stopped eating animal foods.
  • Edwin Moses, another Olympic gold medal champ, won the 400-meter hurdle competition for eight years in a row.
  • Brendan Brazier is an ultra marathon and triathlon winner.
  • Dr. Ruth Heidrich won more than 900 first place running and triathlon ribbons after she gained the (more…)

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Health Care Costs Continue Relentless Climb -You Pay

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

A Whole Foods Diet is the Best and Quickest Answer To Our National Black Hole for Money

Did you ever wonder why pharmacies are so conveniently found in supermarkets? You may take this so much for granted that even the question sounds strange. Here’s the connection.

The highest profit margin items in the supermarket are animal foods and manufactured foods. This is why industry pushes these

Put whole foods in your cart for health and savings

Put whole foods in your cart for health and savings

products with heavy advertising, coupons, and funds to develop ever more offerings. How often do you see an ad for fresh, unprocessed carrots or potatoes, or for dried beans or bulk brown rice? Industry makes few profits off these whole foods.

The animal protein, oils, and chemicals in animal and manufactured foods then contribute to chronic inflammation throughout your body. This ongoing inflammatory process underlies most chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, migraines, sinusitis, allergies, depression, and more.

So high-profit-margin drugs and over-the-counter remedies are a natural complement to the bulk of the foods that line aisle after aisle in the supermarket. You can find whole food choices, though, in the produce section and scattered throughout the store. Look closely and you will see whole wheat bread made without animal products or hydrogenated oils, whole grain cereals and oatmeal, dried and canned beans, salsas, dairy-free milks, corn tortillas, and many other tasty options.

As supermarkets get larger and the dizzying menu of manufactured foods grows, it’s little surprise that health care costs reached a (more…)

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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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