October #Unprocessed...why real food matters. #takebackourfood

This month, I am celebrating October #Unprocessed with almost 6000 other people. For this month, I have committed to eating food in its unadulterated form. No unpronounceable ingredients. No weird preservatives....no funny stuff. I am dutifully reading labels with even more intensity than I normally would. And boy...does it open my eyes. I have a mostly unprocessed diet but it is amazing how a little mindfulness reminds me how difficult it truly is for the average person to go unprocessed. Of course, I have made a few hiccups so far, usually whenever I forget about my mission for one second. "Sure, I will have that piece of chocolate"....darn!! 

You know, I am a simple gal. A good, old-fashioned vegetarian. Not a raw foodie or a Paleo enthusiast. I live by the 80/20 rule. For me, this means an 80% whole plant foods approach. That leaves 20% for some other picks...and I like me some cheese. The staple in our house is organic, raw milk cheddar but in a pinch, I picked up some pizza mozzarella from Saputo at the grocery store across the way. Then, I just happened to glance at the label. Milk...yes...modified milk ingredients...WTF???

This is cheese. I double checked! Not cheese "spread" or cheese "product". And it is not the only one. A bunch of pre-shredded cheeses from Kraft and other companies now have modified milk ingredients in their labels. 

Confused? Me too. Here is the legal definition of 'modified milk ingredient' from Health Canada: 

Modified milk ingredients are defined in item 7.1, subsection B.01.010 (3) of the FDR, as "any of the following in liquid, concentrated, dry, frozen or reconstituted form, namely, calcium reduced skim milk (obtained by the ion-exchange process), casein, caseinates, cultured milk products, milk serum proteins, ultrafiltered milk, whey, whey butter, whey cream and any other component of milk the chemical state of which has been altered from that in which it is found in milk".

The 'milk serum proteins' really freaks me out because I have no idea what it means. You want the common sense definition of a modified milk ingredient? Industrial by-products of milk. Milk too expensive for your factory food? Here, take the waste of my factory's milk usage. 

Say what you might about the role of dairy in our diet but let's defend what is good and real and simple - milk from a cow still has nutrition to offer as long as it agrees with you. Foods in their whole form are kinder to our digestive systems and have been designed by nature to nourish our bodies. What really (language alert!) pisses me off is that the average Jane, which includes me, buys food with a gentlewoman's expectation that a food that looks like real food is real. I don't expect that the weird pink "strawberry" milk is natural. Plain white cheese? Now you've gone too far...

This is happening all across our grocery stores: ice creams morphed into 'dairy desserts'; juices transformed into 'beverages' and meat bloated with water, antibiotics and salmonella. The industrial food supply...it's what's for dinner!

In North America, we are facing an unprecedented epidemic of obesity, chronic disease, digestive disturbances and allergies like never before. Our bodies are quite literally under attack from our food, our lifestyle and our environment. Why are we not more angry about this? Because we have no idea it is happening. We have been buying the same brand of cheese for 10 years and so why would we bother looking at the ingredients? Cheese is cheese, right? RIGHT?  Wrong. Ice cream isn't ice cream, either. 

Where milk, butter, flour and sugar once existed we have modified milk ingredients, esterified fatty acids of soy, franken-gluten and high fructose corn syrup. Researchers are working overtime trying to figure out how modern foods have been modified and what that is doing to our bodies. In the meantime, no one can dispute that our food has changed. And we are sick from it. 

Right about now, there might be some trickling thought that "real food" might not be affordable food. That taking a stand might be reserved for those of us lucky enough to buy 'fancy food'. However, as a dietitian, I think it is completely unethical that companies making lower cost foods are trying to soak extra profits from them by reducing ingredient quality. In fact, some companies are starting to come back around. McCain, for example, is one that actually has pronounceable ingredients on their labels. It may be a frozen pizza but at least it has real basil and tomatoes. And Hellman's Mayo has committed to using 100% cage free eggs by 2020. These are steps in the right direction for companies with the power to make real change in our food supply. Yes, some of us can afford to buy organic kale smoothies. However, I know that many of us can't - so don't think that you deserve cheap food just because you can't afford to buy expensive food. 

I feel its time to take a stand. Want to join me? Here is how:

1. Food manufacturers listen to the almighty dollar. Read labels voraciously and don't buy food with ingredients you don't understand. During October #Unprocessed, this is called the "kitchen test". Click here for more info.

2. Whenever you can, visit companies' Facebook and Twitter pages and respectfully tell them why you don't buy their products. Companies are very connected to the conversations on social media. They listen! Use the hash tag #takebackourfood

3. Share this post on your Facebook pages, Twitter profiles and Google +. Use the hash tag #takebackourfood

4. Even better, share your own thoughts and experiences and use the hash tag #takebackourfood.

Take the October #Unprocessed Pledge!

It's hard to believe but October is just around the corner and I don't know about you but I feel ready for a challenge! For the fourth year, Andrew from Eating Rules is hosting his October Unprocessed challenge and this is the year that I will be taking the plunge. 

I eat a pretty unprocessed diet as it is; however, as with the 100 mile diet challenge I took last year...it can be pretty surprising when I have to scrutinize each choice. I am sticking with Andrew's kitchen rule: if I could make it myself, I can eat it. So "no" to soy sauce and yes to a bit of good chocolate. Hmm...seems like a challenge with plenty of delicious benefits!

Pledge now to take the challenge with me and stay tuned both here on EDBH and at The Fresh Sheet for plenty of inspiration on getting unprocessed!

UnDiet...Week 26

Hello UnDieters!


Well, this is a special post: not only does it mark the halfway point in our UnDiet journey but it is also my 100th blog post on Eat Drink Be Happy! In just a year, this little blog has come a long way. From only a handful of my friends and family reading it to over a thousand of you checking it out every month. I can't wait to see it grow even more....and am eager to know what you would like to see here too. Feel free to send me an email or make a comment and let me know what kind of topics you are interested in seeing on Eat Drink Be Happy.


For this week on the UnDiet, I want us to explore our food choices by reading the ingredients on our food packages. I am not interested in having you "label reading" but INGREDIENT reading. There is an important distinction here; we can get caught up in the nutrients and become focused on eating more fibre, less salt etc. but these well intentioned goals can be co-opted by food manufacturers to make their processed, lifeless food seem healthier. Think Lucky Charms "made with 100% whole grain". "Cholesterol free!" potato chips. "Trans fat free" Oreos. 


While you can makeover a food with differing nutrient profiles, you can't hide what is in your food in terms of ingredients. Most of the packaged food we eat today is a combination of just a few ingredients: processed sugar, wheat, corn and soy in their many derivatives. These foods just kind of fill us up; they don't really nourish our body the way modern life demands.


This week, please choose at least two days to read the ingredients on each and every food you put in your mouth. If they don't have ingredients on the package, try the internet. Most food websites will offer this info. Then really think about what you are reading. Do you understand all the names on the ingredients list? Is it a mile long or is it simple? Are most of the foods you eat little more than sweetened, salted flour? Think about the foods you are putting into your body. Perhaps after taking a close look at the ingredients, you may shift towards foods with very different ingredients lists. Or better yet, foods without ingredients lists at all. Now there is a health goal that can't be messed with!


In Good Health,
Desiree

Eat...Rhubarb

Rhubarb Compote with a little Greek Yogurt and Nature's Path Hemp Granola

At the Trout Lake Farmer's Market last weekend, I bought four hulking stalks of rhubarb, which I promptly forgot about in the fridge until Wednesday. So how to revive it? Make a super easy compote. It is so delicious and easy to eat. I ate it over yogurt and granola for breakfast, downed it by the spoonful and even made it into popsicles. 

Recipe
Cardamon Scented Rhubarb Compote

4 large stalks (2 lbs) of local rhubarb

1 cup water

1/2 cup sweetener of your choice ( I used good old fashioned sugar)

Ground Cardamon and Cinnamon to taste (start with 1/8 tsp each and work your way up)

Chop rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and combine with water and sweetener in a pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Add spices and then slowly simmer for about 15 minutes for flavours to blend. Stir occasionally and the rhubarb should breakdown and the mixture should be like a loose jam. Let cool and then refrigerate or eat on the spot!

To make into popsicles, simply fill molds and freeze. OR....I mixed about a cup of the mixture with a shot of vodka and then filled the molds. Vodka and rhubarb and popsicles? Most definitely.

Cheers,

Desiree

Sweet Surprise?

Image from http://www.sweetsurprise.com/

Thanks to a coworker, I recently came across the website http://www.sweetsurprise.com/ which was developed by the Corn Refiners Association of America to educate consumers about "the facts about high fructose corn syrup". It has been a long time since I have been this shocked by corporate nutrition messaging. This website argues for the idea that high fructose corn syrup is no worse for you than regular sugar. I beg to differ...

The authors of the site have done their homework; they have listed every major argument against the consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and created a rebuttal. The website is an astounding feat of defense - obviously manufacturers are hearing the battle cry of consumers wanting to take back their food. Poor consumers, don't you realize that you are mistaken in thinking that completely novel products of technology shouldn't be a part of your diet?

Let's be honest...refined sugar isn't that great for you either. And the core argument of the website is that HFCS is nutritionally equivalent to refined sugar (way to aim low, guys!). But the process of obtaining juice from sugar cane is a pretty simple one that humans have been using for centuries. And evaporated cane juice is a fairly unprocessed sweetener that does not require chemical intervention. It contains sucrose, which is a naturally occurring molecule that consists of one glucose and one fructose, linked together.

HFCS starts out as corn...which becomes corn starch...which is then processed to convert the glucose to fructose. Then that high fructose (90%) product is cut with corn syrup until the desired level of fructose is reached. Boil corn...and you get cereal...not HFCS.

The site also offers plenty of research and expert opinion in favour of the idea that HFCS is no different than sugar. Buyer beware: there are new studies published every day to provide proof to either side of the HFCS debate. However, simply because a study gets published in a peer reviewed journal does not mean it was a high quality study. And scientific fact does not a single study make. Do a search on "high fructose corn syrup and obesity" on PubMed and you will see what I mean.

We need to take a step back and tap into some good old fashioned common sense: HFCS is the poster child for much larger problems. We are a society of hyper-processed starch junkies. So many of the foods we eat (breakfast cereals, baked goods, granola bars, crackers...) are simply a rearrangement of sugar, starch and artificial flavours and colours and texturizers. This is what is primarily responsible for our health woes. HFCS is also representative of a larger system of corporate domination of agriculture: from GM seeds that rob farmers of their autonomy to corporations benefiting from crop subsidies resulting in incredibly cheap ingredient components to make ridiculously unhealthy foods which they spend billions on advertising to ensure we fill our grocery cart with them. Many great documentaries and books exist on these topics filled with eloquent arguments which I couldn't possibly do justice.

Is HFCS a bad idea? Definitely. We will ever have unequivocal evidence of that fact? Maybe...maybe not.

So let's make a deal: avoid HFCS and foods that reek of processed sugars and starches in general and we will all be healthier, okay? Eat real food...and don't sweat the rest.

Time for you to weigh in on this juicy topic...
Desiree

Eat...super snacks!

We are a continent of snackers...the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study this month which reveals that the time between eating occasions has decreased an average of one hour since 1977 and - surprise surprise! - our average caloric intake has increased by almost 450 calories over the same time period. This study also states that caloric intake from beverages has increased by 45.5% to 422 calories! Time to put the breaks on people!

My European friends remark that "Americans are always eating" and its true! We seem to be lost without food or a drink in our hands. However, I don't want to vilify snacks in and of themselves. We all have different eating personalities: some of us feel great on three "squares" a day and others prefer to nibble all day and hate a full stomach. What is really important that no matter how we prefer to eat, we eat enough...but not too much! The worst case scenario is when that constant nibbling turns from nibbles into feasts.

For many of us, snacks are a vital part of the day and they can do a lot to boost your overall health. Snacks can ensure we feel energized when meals are more than 4 hours apart; snacks can also give us more opportunities to get our fruits and veggies in but we need to define what makes a good snack.

More often than not, we reach for "snack foods" at snack time: granola bars, chips, pretzels, candy and chocolate....not the nutrient dense and nourishing foods we should be reaching for. And wasting calories on drinks? Be it a Frappucino, sugary "vitamin" waters or pop...caloric beverages are usually a nutritional zero and set you up for weight gain in a big way. Calories from drinks don't register with our brain the way calories from foods do, so we typically end up eating more at the next meal than we would have if we had had a food based snack.

So what should we snack on? Real food, please!

Here are 15 super snacks that feature fruits, veggies, lean protein and massive nutritional value.

1. 1 apple, quartered, with 2 slices of lean turkey breast
2. 1 pkg of instant unsweetened oatmeal topped with a banana and a bit of honey
3. 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese mixed with 1/2 cup frozen cherries and 1 tsp of hemp seed
4. 1 ounce of mozzarella (or a string cheese) with 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes
5. 2 Ryvita crackers spread with 1 tbsp almond butter
6. 1 apple, sliced, dipped in 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
7. 2 tbsp dried cranberries, 1 tbsp raw almonds & 1 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds
8. 1 cup skim milk warmed with 1 tbsp cocoa & 1/2 tbsp sugar or honey
9. 1 mini can of seasoned tuna with 2 Ryvita crackers
10. 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt with 1/2 cup thawed blueberries & 1/3 cup All Bran or Smart Bran
11. 1/2 or 1 Larabar
12. 1/2 cup baby carrots or sliced celery with 1/4 cup hummus
13. 1 slice sprouted grain bread spread with 1 tbsp part skim ricotta and 1 tbsp honey
14. 1/2 tomato & 1/4 cucumber, chopped, with 1 tbsp feta & 1 tbsp dressing
15. 1/2 cup home roasted chick peas

Happy Nutrition Month everyone,
Desiree

(PS..The picture is me in front of a big spread (not fully visible...yes, there was more food!) at my grandmother's house 3 years ago. Frequently heard: "Eat, eat...you are so skinny!" Gotta love a Portuguese grandmother!)