Not-So-Safe Foods You Should Avoid

Dr. Mercola


Some foods have been promoted as “healthy,” when they’re exactly the opposite. Clean Plates founder Jared Koch shared nine examples.  Here’s an expansion on his observations:

1.  Canned Tomatoes Many canned foods contain BPA, a toxic chemical linked to reproductive and neurological abnormalities, such as breast and prostate cancers, diabetes and heart disease. High acidity in tomatoes causes BPA to leach into your food. Consumer Reports‘ testing noted that only a few servings per day exceeds safety limits for children. To avoid this, don’t purchase canned foods. Stick to fresh fruits and vegetables or buy only glass containers, especially for acidic foods like tomatoes.

2.  Processed Meats A 2011 review of more than 7,000 clinical studies, commissioned by The World Cancer Research Fund examined the connection between diet and cancer confirmed previous findings that processed meats like ham and salami increase colorectal, stomach and pancreatic cancers. Processed meats should be avoided entirely because they’re typically made from animals injected with growth hormones, antibiotics and sodium nitrite, which can convert into cancer-causing nitrosamines. Other cancer-promoting chemicals proliferate when cooked at high temperatures, such as:

• Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs), associated with increased stomach, colon and breast cancer risk;
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), toxins formed when meats are  smoke-cured or grilled as fat drips onto the heat source;
• Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs), formed by pasteurization and sterilization, building slowly in your body and promoting oxidative stress, inflammation and increased disease risk.

More here.

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The Basic Principle of the Optimum Nutrition – Eat mostly raw, living foods

By Neill Abayon


At least 75% to 80% of your diet should consist of foods in their natural uncooked state. There are numerous studies which demonstrate superiority of raw, living foods, both for maintenance of health and prevention of disease, as well as for the healing of disease. Cooking destroy much of the nutritional value of most foods. Many vitamins are partly destroyed, minerals are leeched and all enzymes are destroyed by temperatures over 120O F.

Cooking also changes the biochemical structure of amino acids (proteins) and fatty acids, and makes them only partially digestible. For example, it has been demonstrated at the Max Plank Institute for Nutritional Research that you need only one-half the amount of protein in your diet if you eat protein foods raw instead of cooked.

Sprouting is an excellent way to eat seeds, beans and grains in raw form. Sprouting increases nutritional value of foods; many new vitamins are created or multiplied in seeds and grains. Some grains and legumes, which do not contain complete proteins, become complete protein foods after they are sprouted.

Another excellent way to increase the amount of raw food in your diet is to eat lots of fermented lactic acid foods, such as homemade sauerkraut, pickles or lactic acid vegetables. Especially for those who live in cold northern regions, fermenting foods is an excellent way to preserve vegetable for winter use, and not only preserve, but increase their nutritive value – without cooking.

It would be ideal, of course, to eat a 100% raw food diet. This is possible to do if you live in an ideal tropical or subtropical climate, man’s natural habitat, where fresh, natural foods are available whole year round.  In colder, northern regions of the United States, Canada and Europe, a 100% raw food diet would be difficult for most people to maintain indefinitely, although few nutritionally-well-educated raw foodists are able to do this. A good practical solution, therefore, would be to eat most of your food, perhaps 80%, in the raw, uncooked state. Practically all fruits, vegetables and seeds can be eaten raw. A few vegetables such as potatoes and yams, dried beans and peas, and some grain such as rye, rice buckwheat and millet, can be used in cooked form; however, cooked foods should not comprise more than 20% of the total caloric intake.

Top 50 Recipes for Summer

 Posted by Neill Abayon

Full of the season's best produce, our top 50 recipes for summer are perfect for picnics and potlucks.

Whether you’re making a side dish to share at a summer picnic or a no-fuss, easy dinner for a hot summer’s night, our top 50 recipes for summer are perfect recipes to make throughout the summer months. Our best recipes for summer feature lots of healthy fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, corn, zucchini, blueberries, peaches and more. Try our Baked Parmesan Tomatoes for an easy side dish or Zucchini Rice Casserole for a crowd-pleasing dish to share.

Check it here.

 

Simple Way to Prevent Cancer: Turn Down the Heat

Posted by Neill Abayon

Many love fried, baked, and barbecued foods. But there may be a less tasty side to these culinary delights: high temperature cooking methods may produce large amounts of cancer-producing compounds, aka carcinogens.

A Swedish report found that when starchy foods such as flour and potatoes are baked or fried at high temperatures, they produce the carcinogenic (i.e. cancer causing) chemical acrylamide 1. Prolonged exposure to acrylamide has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals and may do the same in humans 1.

The generation of carcinogens from frying is not limited to only starchy foods. During the process of frying protein-rich foods, such as meat and fish, various kinds of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are produced, particularly whencooking temperature is very high (above 400oF )2. Heterocyclic amines have been shown to cause malignant tumors in the colon and breast of mice and rats, and they are possible or probable carcinogens for humans 2.

Read the full article here.

U.S. Kids Increasing Daily Snack Consumption

Posted by Neill Abayon

Historically, cultural generations in America have been defined by multiple names, each representing something different about that generation. For instance, the G.I. Generation, also dubbed the Greatest Generation by journalist Tom Brokaw, includes those born from around 1916 to the mid-1920s and who came of age during the Great Depression. The Baby Boom Generation is the generation born between 1946 and the mid-1960s, a time marked by an increase in birth rates. Those born between 2000 and 2009 are being referred to as Generation Z, as well as Generation I, Digital Natives, the Internet Generation—various names given them due to their status as the first generation to grow up almost entirely within the Digital Era. But if they continue their current snacking habits, Generation Z may become known as the Generation of Non-Stop Nibblers.

View the full article here.

Just How Bad Are 'America's Unhealthiest Meals'?

Posted by Neill Abayon

The Center for Science in the Public Interest recently listed some of the unhealthiest dishes from popular chain restaurants. Two ABC news reporters decided to put the meals to the test.

Before they ate, researchers took blood samples from them and gauged the health of their arteries with an ultrasound. They then ate a three-course meal of deep fried macaroni and cheese, a quesadilla burger, and a mega-sized deep dish sundae -- 6,190 calories and 187 grams of saturated fat.

Both felt tired and sluggish after eating, and one got a severe headache. After two hours, a second blood sample showed significant differences. While the pre-meal blood sample was relatively clear, the post-meal sample was extremely cloudy -- you could literally see the fat.

If eaten regularly, these types of unhealthy meals can lead to heart attacks and a variety of other health problems.

5 Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

Posted by Neill Abayon

One of the problems in our daily lives is that many of us rush through the day, with no time for anything … and when we have time to get a bite to eat, we gobble it down.

That leads to stressful, unhealthy living.

And with the simple but powerful act of eating slower, we can begin to reverse that lifestyle immediately. How hard is it? You take smaller bites, you chew each bite slower and longer, and you enjoy your meal longer.

It takes a few minutes extra each meal, and yet it can have profound effects.

Read the full article here.

Hidden Phosphorus in Fast Food

Posted by Neill Abayon

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with advanced kidney disease are taught to avoid certain foods that are naturally high in the mineral phosphorus, which is difficult for their compromised kidneys to get rid of. But in a report published Wednesday, researchers warn that a fair amount of processed and fast food actually contains phosphorus additives, which can be just as harmful for people with advanced kidney disease.

Because high blood levels of phosphorus can lead to heart disease, bone disease, and even death among patients with advanced kidney disease, these patients must avoid certain meats, dairy products, whole grains, and nuts that are naturally high in phosphorus, the researchers note in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The problem, according to Dr. Ashwini R. Sehgal and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, is that it has become an increasingly common practice by food manufacturers to include phosphate salts to processed foods.

Read the full article here.

CHOOSE YOUR LOW-CHOLESTEROL, HEART-HEALTHY DIET

Written by Neill Abayon

MEAT,POULTRY, FISH and SHELLFISH

CHOOSE - Lean cuts of meat with the fat trimmed,chickes and fish.
GO EASY - Shellfish such as tahong and talaba.
AVOID - Fatty cuts of meat, goose, duck, liver, kidneys, sausage, bacon, lechon, regular luncheon meats, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, adobong baboy and dinuguan.

DAIRY PRODUCTS

CHOOSE - Skim milk, 1% fat milk,low fat yougurt, low fat cottage cheeses with no more than 3 grams of fat per ounce.
GO EASY - 2% fat milk, yogurt, part-skim ricotta, part-skim or immitation hard cheeses, lite cream cheese, lite sour cream.
AVOID - whole milk cream, whipped cream, hard cheeses, cream cheese, sour cream, kesong puti and queso de bola.

FATS and OILS

CHOOSE - Corn, olive, canola, sunflower, sesame, soybean and sunflower oils, margarine that has liquid vegetables oil as the first listed in ingredients and less than 2 grams of saturated fat per serving
GO EASY - Nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, peanut oil.
AVOID - SAturated fat, butter, lard, bacon fat, coconut.

BREADS, CEREALS, PASTA and RICE

CHOOSE - Most breads, pandesal, wheat bread, rice cakes, low fat crackers, hot and cold cereals, spaghetti, macaroni noodles,plain baked potato and rice.
GO EASY - Store-brought pancakes, waffles, biscuits, muffins and corn bread.
AVOID - Croissant, sweet rolls, doughnuts, crackers made with saturated or unhealthy oils, egg noodles, pasta,rice prepared with cream, butter or cheese, frenh fries.

FRUITS and VEGETABLES

CHOOSE - Fresh, frozen or dried fruits;canned fruits (watch sodium content).
GO EASY - Canned fruits in heavy syrup.
AVOID - Coconut; vegetables prepared in butter, cream or sauce.

SNACKS

CHOOSE - Low-fat frozen yogurt popsicles, hard candy, plain popcorn, freetzels, fruit juices, tea, coffee
GO EASY - Ice milk, homemade cakes, cookies and pies prepared with unsaturated oils.
AVOID - Ice cream, candy, chocolate, potato chips, buttered popcorn, milk shakes, frappes, floats, store-bought pies, most store-bought frosted and pound cakes.

EGGS

CHOOSE - Egg white.
GO EASY - Egg yolk (3-4/week)

EATING HEALTHY WHEN EATING OUT

Written by Neill Abayon

Be just as careful with your diet when you dine out as when you make your own meals.

SALAD - Use vegetable oil and vinegar dressing.

BREAD - use margarine instead of butter, if desired.

CHICKEN - Eat broiled or grilled chicken; remove skin before eating.

STEAK - Ask the chef to trim off excess fat before cooking.

HAMBURGER - Avoid cheese or mayonanaise toppings; add tomato or lettuce instead.

FISH - Select broiled or poached fillets.

PASTA - Use marinara, clam, or tomato sauce without meat or sausage; avoid cream sauces.

PIZZA - Choose vegetable toppings instead of cheese or meat toppings.

BAKED POTATO - Avoid toppings such as butter or sour cream.

VEGETABLES - Eat plenty of these, but without heavy sauces.

DESSERT - Sherbert and fresh fruit are excellent choices.

COFFEE,TEA - use skim milk or non-dairy non-fat creamer.