Food for thought

By Laurin Evans Christmas means cookie time! Okay, it means a little more, but nearly everyone has that special cookie that reminds them of their favorite Christmas memories. Cookies are everywhere as it gets closer to Christmas – at work, school functions and, of course, all of the parties. What is it about the holidays that inspires people to pull out their mixer and get baking? Although cookies have the advantage of being mostly bite-sized, they can fool you because they are usually high in calories and low on nutrition. If you take every cookie offered to you in December you'll be forced to make some serious resolutions by January 1st. I'm amazed at how mostly flour, sugar and flavorings can morph into every imaginable type of tasty treat. With some minor tweaks, you can reduce the fat and calories while upping the nutritional punch of nearly every cookie recipe. I don't try to make a 100% healthy cookie, just one that is a little better for you. White flour, white suga...

This is my view. The number one problem facing our world today is overpopulation. Over 63 million people die each year from starvation related diseases. A professional sports star brings in millions per year while a buffet to these 63 million starving people would be bread and water. Anyone see something wrong with this picture? It is projected that the world food and water shortage problem is only going to get worse. The more people on the earth the more resources are needed. To meet some of this demand rainforests are being cleared at an alarming rate of 1 football field per second, 60 football fields per minute, 3,600 fields per hour and so on. If this keep up all our major rainforests in 50 years will be gone. Rainforests are considered to be the "lungs of the earth" because of all the oxygen they provide. Rainforests soak up CO2 emissions. As we clear rainforests, animals lose their habitat/are edging closer to extinction. Where are we headed folks? Solution #1: Zero Po...

From Michael Klaper, MD "To arm oneself with a sword of knowledge, a little sweet chemistry understanding is called for. Sugars do taste good, and there is no problem in enjoying the naturally occurring fructose in whole, fresh fruits. The problem is in eating sugar as a food! When you are holding a cookie in your hand, a piece of cake, a candy bar, you are holding a chunk of sugar in your hand. You would not consider going over to the sugar bowl and shoveling in tablespoons of the white stuff, but here you are, actually considering eating this large chunk of sugar as a food. If you do eat it, within minutes, your bloodstream is flooded with sugar and your pancreas is on high alert. Soon, the structural proteins in all your tissues – the elastic fibers of your skin, the hemoglobin in your blood, the filter membranes in your kidneys, the inner lining of your blood vessels, the lenses of your eyes – all get “sticky” with sugar (the chemists say they become “glycosylated.”) In the 98...

A Bloomberg Businessweek article on powerful people changing their diets to save themselves and the planet. Steve Wynn, Russell Simmons, Bill Clinton and a comparable cast of heavies are now using tempeh to assert their superiority. A look at what gives. On quitting meat, dairy, and eggs: "It's pretty clear the benefits are undeniable and many." http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_46/b4203103862097.htm

From The New York Times, this is a very important article. It just may make you think twice about eating cheese. If you would stop eating cheese, it would do you, the earth, and cows and goats a world of good. While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/07fat.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

http://www.funnyordie.com/stories/4e561641f4/the-funniest-signs-from-the-rally-to-restore-sanity-and-or-fear?playlist=featured_documents

How the Senate and the White House missed their best chance to deal with climate change. This is quite an article from the New Yorker magazine. go to http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/11/101011fa_fact_lizza This is a very long article, at 10 pages. It's very informative if you can make it through the whole thing. If you don't want to have to click each time you go to the next page, at the bottom of the first page click on "View As A Single Page", then just scroll away. The article does not paint President Obama in a positive light when it comes to climate change. He had his chance to follow through on a campaign promise to do something about climate change, but under pressure he dropped the ball- in this case the ball representing the Earth. To me it doesn't mean it's too late, but lawmakers have to pull their heads out of the sand and do something NOW, before it IS too late. In the meantime, we can each do something to help. How we each eat, and how ...

POSTED ON NOVEMBER 1, 2010 BY JOEL FUHRMAN, M.D. A study of 40,000 women in Norway aged 50-69, recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, investigated the effects of screening mammography on breast cancer mortality. Some counties in Norway conduct mammography screenings, while others do not. Four groups of women were studied: a screening counties group and a nonscreening counties group followed from 1996 to 2005; and also ‘historical’ screening and nonscreening groups, who had been followed from 1986 to 1995. The goal of the study was to find out how much of the reduction in breast cancer mortality that has been observed over time was due specifically to mammography screening. The reduction in breast cancer mortality over time was 10% greater in the screening groups than the nonscreening groups. [1] What are the risks and benefits of screening mammography? The Nordic Cochrane Centre, an independent research group that conducts extensive and thorough reviews of the medic...

Earthsave is a wonderful organization started by John Robbins, author of The Food Revolution, Diet for a New America, and Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World’s Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples. His prayer and wish:" May all be fed, may all be healed, may all be loved." The mission of EarthSave is to help people make food choices that promote health, reduce health care costs, and provide greater health independence. Please go to http://www.earthsave.org/index.html to watch the VIDEO: EarthSave's Meals for Health Program. Dr. John McDougall is a part of this program/is in the video!

Hear it straight from the great doctor McDougall. This is a tremendous free opportunity for important knowledge. I eat very healthy. After watching this I am going to eat even healthier. http://www.drmcdougall.com/video/diet_ms.html

Prediction: Breast cancer rates will skyrocket in the next 20 years. POSTED ON OCTOBER 15, 2010 BY JOEL FUHRMAN, M.D. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. I want to raise awareness that childhood diets are the major cause of adult cancers, including breast cancer. [1] I also want to raise awareness that women are not powerless against breast cancer – mammograms for ‘early detection’ are not the only defense and do not even offer significant benefits. The most important thing to be aware of is that women can achieve meaningful risk reduction with powerful preventive lifestyle measures. The American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that 40% of breast cancers are preventable through diet and lifestyle measures. I propose that we could prevent much more than 40% of breast cancers in the future, if we can ingrain healthy habits in our children at a young age. Early studies found wide international variations in breast cancer rates, originally generating the hypothesis t...

Just like so many people, not a clue. When interviewed, Kelly said, "I want to eat whatever I want. It's all about portion control." Wrong, wrong, wrong. What she says is a contradiction. You can't eat whatever you want if you have to watch how much you eat! There is a saying, "You are what you eat." So if you eat junk, what does that make you? Even if you watch your portions, if you eat unhealthy foods, you are taxing your organs by putting unhealthy fat, cholesterol, sugar/sweeteners, salt, preservatives, artificial this, artificial that, etc. through your body. If you eat and drink unhealthy you are not promoting your longevity, it is just the opposite- you are risking shortening your life. Want pain, disease, pills, and doctor's bills when you are elderly? If you make healthy choices, called a "prescription for nutritional excellence", you don't have to watch portions. You can eat all the healthy food you want (prepared in a healthy way...

1. Butter and Cheese - full of saturated fat, cholesterol, and fat delivered chemical pollutants 2. Potato Chips and French Fries - rich in trans fat, salt, and carcinogenic acrylamides 3. Doughnuts and other trans fat containing sweets - rich in trans fat, sugar, and other artificial substances 4. Sausages, hot dogs, and other luncheon meats - containing nitroso compounds that are potent carcinogens 5. Pickled, smoked, or barbequed meats - places you at risk for both stomach cancer and high blood pressure Get your children hooked on healthy foods instead! Joel Fuhrman, MD

I am up in Warroad, Minnesota on my school assembly tour, probably not the most progressive area. In a restaurant I was waiting for my meal, and happened to see this article in the Editorial Page of a newspaper from Grand Forks: (The article's headline was in big print which spanned across the entire editorial page!) Saturd ay marks World Farm Animals Day Grand Forks - Saturday marks the 28th annual observance of World Farm Animals Day, dedicated to exposing and mourning the suffering and death of 58 billion land animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses. There have been undercover investigations showing male chicks suffocated in plastic garbage bags or ground to death, their female counterparts crammed together in tiny wire-mesh cages, pigs clobbered by metal pipes and killed by hanging, and assorted farm animals skinned and dismembered at the slaughterhouses while still conscious. Studies have linked consumption of animal products with elevated risks for heart disease, stroke,...

OAKLAND, Calif. DR. PRESTON MARING was striding along a hospital corridor at double speed on a recent Friday morning, his tall frame, white hair and frequent gesticulations prompting waves of greetings from colleagues, who also took care to sidestep his forward momentum. His destination was the weekly farmers’ market he started in 2003, just outside the front door at the Kaiser Permanente medical center here. “Since it’s mine, I made the rules — all organic,” he said as he skimmed by a line of stalls where fresh fruits and vegetables are sold to hospital workers, passers-by and even, he said, those bringing patients to the emergency room. Dr. Maring, 64, a gynecologist and obstetrician with three decades as a surgeon, is well known as a former physician in chief at the hospital, the man who spearheaded the creation of its new pediatric neurosurgery unit. But increasingly, his reputation and perpetual motion revolve around his conviction that in the health professions, the kitchen must ...

This is a very short, worthwhile video. Who'd a thunk it! Please go to: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/09/21/intv.clinton.blitzer.weight.loss.cnn (First you have to wait for a short CNN commercial.) It's pretty amazing to hear the words coming out of Mr. Clinton's mouth! It's a shame people don't see the light until AFTER they get sick. It's what happened to me, so I can identify. Those of us who have been turned on to a healthy lifestyle must continue to spread the word, and be a good influence.

POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 BY DEANA FERRERI, PH.D. The idea that cow’s milk is an essential component of the diet for young children is one of the biggest nutritional myths. Decades of marketing by the dairy industry has convinced most parents in the U.S. that milk and cheese are indispensible for childhood health, but this is simply not true. Cow’s milk was designed by nature to be the perfect food for baby cows – not for human children. There is a strong correlation between early exposure to cow’s milk and type 1 diabetes in children.2-8 Early (12 months of age) dairy consumption is also associated with excess body fat in children.9 Milk consumption in teenagers is associated with acne.10-12 Childhood diets rich in dairy products are associated with cancer in adulthood.13 Additional conditions associated with cow’s milk consumption include allergies, Crohn’s disease, ear infections, heart attack, multiple sclerosis, and prostate cancer.14 These are serious concerns, especially when ...

It's August and it's hot and muggy here in Minnesota, no surprise. The ragweed is blooming with its yellow display of pollen filled flowers. One of my crosses to bear in life has been an annual bout with ragweed associated hay fever. I am wondering if we'll need to start closing our windows to keep the pollen out. That would be a bummer. Besides loving the fresh air, we regulate the temperature in our house by opening and closing our windows at the right times. We have a rambler- a main floor and basement. Four years ago in August, it was hot. As usual, the central air conditioner was humming away. I went downstairs into the basement for something and I got one of those lightbulb ideas. It was hotter than Hades outside, yet it was cool and comfortable as always in the basement. I thought, "Why don't we just spend more time down here when it's hot and take advantage of Mother Nature's coolness?" I went upstairs and shut off the air conditioner. We ha...

...what part of a chicken's anatomy an egg comes from? Go to http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Anatomy_and_Physiology/Anatomy_Female_reproductive.pdf Scroll down to Figure 3 on page 3 and you will see eggzactly where the egg comes from: starting in the ovary, to the uterus (shell gland), through the chicken's vagina, and then out the "vent", into the egg cartons, into the stores, to your plate, into your mouth. It's gross, but some activists refer to eggs as "bird menses," which in actuality is what they are. A great majority of eggs come from chicken factory farms, or as I call them, concentration camps for birds. In these terrible living situations the chickens are exploited for human purpose alone, with no consideration for the bird's natural life. In some factory farms the birds are stuffed in cages with other birds so small the chickens don't even have room to spread their wings. To prevent the chickens from damaging each other th...

ANIMAL FOODS = Disease and Death

Like so many celebrities doing commercials and ads regarding products that supposedly promote health, Sally Fields is sadly mistaken. In her TV commercial on Boniva, she states that yogurt, spinach, and cheese are healthy sources of calcium. Aside from the spinach she is dead wrong. Yogurt and cheese PROMOTE osteoporosis! To prevent osteoporosis a healthy diet of plant foods, exercise, and sunshine is the prescription for healthy bones. Sally needs to read any of the books from Joel Fuhrman, MD or John McDougall, MD to be educated. I wonder how much Ms. Fields is paid to work with Boniva to present this wrong info?? Check out the side effects: BONIVA is a prescription medicine for the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Important Safety Information (Tablets) You should not take BONIVA if you have certain problems with your esophagus (the tube that connects your mouth and stomach), low blood calcium, cannot sit or stand for at least 60 minutes, have severe kidney disease, or are ...

The biggest problem our world is facing is the population explosion. I don’t understand why we don’t hear more about this in the media. The more people, the more resources that are needed. The world’s rainforests are being cleared at an alarming rate. How many more years before they are gone? Scientists predict 50 years or less. Rainforest animals are becoming more endangered each day that goes by, their habitat being cleared for human purpose. Whenever you can, be a good influence. Advocate for smaller families and adoption. Be the change you wish to see in the world.

It really depends on where you live how progressive the area. In Sauk Rapids, MN: on Bubba’s Bar marquee: Meat Raffle Wednesday In Clear Lake, MN: on a bank’s marquee: Box of Free Steaks for Opening a Checking Account In Waite Park, MN: on the American Legion marquee: Pork Chop Supper Saturday Night I live in a conventional meat and potatoes area here in Minnesota. I get very tired of all the “meat this, meat that..” There seems to be more traffic at medical clinics every time I go by. Food is a drug. All food from animals are drugs. All food from animals have unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol, which promote disease. No one likes anyone messing with their drugs, even if their “drugs” are killing them slowly. It took me 53 years to realize this. It does help to know there are a lot of people who agree with this, albeit a very small percentage of the total U.S. population. Here is my opinion: all killing, from human to animal makes for bad karma. The more people who change their...

A line from a Honey Nut Cheerios TV commercial: “Trying to find healthy food is tortuous.” How untrue! What an awful thing for a food company to say! It is quite the opposite. Trying to find healthy food is a wonderful incredible journey, especially if you can take junk food out of your diet- including all sugar and salt. Healthy food tastes so wonderful, and is so much more satisfying. You will not know what I am talking about until you take the leap to a healthier lifestyle. Beware, there are MANY commercials like this one that contain misinformation. The key to good health is education. “In order to make meaningful dietary changes, people need to be educated. They need to be given accurate information. When people are given the accurate information, they can make an educated decision. Many will be inspired to make significant dietary changes, excited about the prospect of excellent health.” drfuhrman.com, drmcdougall.com

Here is another good, short report on this topic. Go to http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/01/dirty.dozen.produce.pesticide/index.html

Someone wrote this regarding “Boot Camp for Those Who Would Like To Lose Weight”. THIS IS ALL TRUE!!! I still struggle to follow the healthiest diet from time to time...however making changes in my regular meal choices has enabled me to lose 132 pounds from April 19th, 2009 to the current day...April 29,2010. This is dramatic and due mainly to diet. I still eat meat....but no red meat and a whole let less meat/dairy than I ever used to and when I fall into old habits I do actually feel terrible. Good luck to all of you trying this lifestyle...and I say that with the best of intention. This is the way!!!

“In order to make meaningful dietary changes, people need to be educated. They need to be given accurate information. When people are given the accurate information, they can make an educated decision, and many will be inspired to make significant dietary changes, excited about the prospect of excellent health.” Clearly there are some positive aspects to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Certainly he is bringing attention to the deplorable school food situation in this country. He also genuinely wants to improve the health of our country’s children. He aims to teach people how to cook for themselves. Jamie Oliver’s passion for healthy eating is admirable, but his recommendations on healthy eating are not scientifically sound. ‘Made from scratch’ does not mean ‘health-promoting' and the missed opportunity for significant change is enormous. The science of nutrition unfortunately is not common knowledge. In order to make meaningful dietary changes, people need to be educated. They nee...

Get your attention? Ha! Ms Anderson and I are on the same side of the fence on a certain issue: animal rights. I was pleased as punch to listen to her views on Larry King. When asked if places like Sea World should be shut down, Ms Anderson answered “yes, they should.” I completely agree. I know there are many people who feel this same way- that animal exploitation for human gain/entertainment is wrong and should come to an end. If you were a killer whale, where would you be happiest? In the wild of course. If you were a monkey- in the rainforest. A fish- in the sea. A bird, free to fly. Where are animals naturally intended to live? They are intended to live free. I remember reading a true story several years ago about a depressed, trained dolphin that had been at Sea World for many years. It committed suicide by laying on the bottom of its pool. The dolphin’s trainer was so despondent, he quit working at Sea World and has since become an “anti-Sea World crusader.” My view on zoos is...

Comment: “What about the people who don’t eat healthy, smoke and drink, and live to a ripe old age?” My response: Good question. There are exceptions, whether it’s their genetic make-up, strong immune system, luck? My comment is, if they would’ve had a healthier lifestyle all along, maybe they would have lived even longer and been in better shape health-wise during the last part of their lives. What disease eventually ended their lives that was diet/lifestyle related? How much pain did they have to endure at the end because of an unhealthy lifestyle? How many pills did they have to take because they were unhealthy? I prefer to have better odds/increased chance for longevity by living the healthiest lifestyle possible: healthy food, healthy drink, regular exercise. Comment re The Truth About: the Gay Issue: “When someone states it is “the truth“, they are not allowing for any debate.” My response: I agree. I am certainly open to any debate from anyone on this issue. This is an issue I ...

This is a gravy that really adds a nice touch to a healthy meal with starch as the foundation. Pour over any kind of potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, steamed vegetables, etc. A little Nature’s Balance (a non-dairy substitute) melted first on the potatoes, etc. adds a nice taste too (especially for meals with no gravy). Take it easy on the Nature’s Balance because it is pure fat, close to zero nutrients- unhealthy, but is a much better choice than butter or margarine. Mushroom Gravy Makes about 2 ½ cups Ingredients 1 cup mushrooms any kind, sliced thin ( I like to use the white, button mushrooms.) 1 ¾ cup water (plus ½ cup water to first cook the mushrooms) 1/3- 1/2 cup flour (any healthy whole grain flour: wheat, quinoa, millet, kamut, spelt, others?) 1-3 Tbsp tamari soy sauce (Tamari is salty so I use a little more than 1 Tbsp- add to taste. Remember the more salt and sugar you take out of your diet the more healthy/sensitive your taste buds!) 1-2 tsp vegetable broth powder or 1-2 vege...

This entry is for those who are overweight, sincere about wanting to achieve their ideal weight. Here’s your chance for the healthiest and most natural method to lose weight. If you are overweight, you are playing with fire with your life. You are forcing your heart to work harder. Your extra weight is hard on your bones, muscles, and organs. Any extra weight you carry on your body the more chance you have for disease- cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes II, osteoporosis, and others. With your unhealthy lifestyle you may be shortening your life. If you’re not already, you may need to someday take expensive medication. Keep in mind taking medication for a diet related disease, ie diabetes II, does not heal the disease- it’s like putting a band-aid on a cut that never heals, not to mention the unhealthy side affects of the pills. If you are overweight you are dangerously playing with your longevity, risking dying at an earlier age than need be. If you are overweight your unh...

From Nation’s Restaurant News (verbatim from the article) Heart Attack Grill sues Florida operator When it comes to tipping the scales of justice, burger restaurants in Arizona and Florida will be facing off in court soon. Jon Basso, the owner of Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, Arizona, has filed suit in federal court against Heart Stoppers Sports Grill , which opened in Delray Beach, Florida, in December. Basso claims the Florida restaurant stole his concept. The Arizona Heart Attack Grill offers such items as the " Quadruple Bypass Burger ". Heart Stoppers offers a “Heart Stopper 3-pound Killer” burger for $21.99. Both concepts feature waitresses dressed as nurses. No court dates have been set.

Been turned on to mangoes yet? This fruit has become one of my absolute favorites. There’s a couple of different types and sizes. There’s large, medium, and a yellow, small size that is kidney shaped. All are wonderful but so far, the small one is my favorite of favorites. Its taste is especially incredible! Make sure they are fully ripe- very soft and wrinkly. One of the perks of traveling across the country as a school assembly performer is getting to go to places where certain foods are abundant and inexpensive. Especially fun is when I can discover free food! I was in Junction, Texas- a beautiful little oasis town in a valley by a river, in the the middle of nowhere! I was on a walk one evening after a very long drive, and discovered a public pecan tree grove, near a hospital. When I saw that there were many on the ground I found a plastic bag that had been caught in a fence. For the next 2 hours until sunset I gleefully picked up different size pecans. I got a nice bag full. Even...

By John McDougall, MD This truth is simple and is, therefore, easy to explain. You must eat to live. But the choice of what you eat is yours. There is an individual, specific diet that best supports the health, function, and longevity of each and every animal. The proper diet for human beings should be based on starches. The more rice, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and beans you eat, the trimmer and healthier you will be—and with those same food choices you will help save the Planet Earth too. A recommendation for eating starches puts glazed looks on people’s faces. They think of starch as something used in the laundry to stiffen shirts. Starch brings back memories of pasty bland-tasting goop, and white, airy Wonder Bread. Most disturbing is that nearly everyone believes starches are fattening and nutritionally inferior foods. Fortunately, common knowledge is completely wrong and the proof is right before your own eyes. The most important evidence supporting my claim that the natu...