Stop... In the Naaaaame of Love! (Or Big Brother)

The Washington Post writes: One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, which in turn is a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. And while being overweight and inactive raises blood pressure, too much salt is a big culprit as well. The American Medical Association has said 150,000 lives a year could be saved by cutting in half sodium levels in processed and restaurant food.

And a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that added sugars may be playing a role in cholesterol problems.

Hmmm... ok, so maybe salt isn't good... but is salt-free dead food really all that much better? And added sugars aren’t wonderful either. But again – are sugar-free cookies really “healthy”? Let’s not get so focused on losing weight that we forget about health! Your weight is not the problem – it’s the symptom. It's the secondary result of imporoper nutrition, improper activity, and many o ther factors that may be more difficult to control. How about cutting down on processed foods, regardless of salts and sugars?

But on a different angle…

I heard on the radio this morning that the government is being urged to require food manufactures to cut down on the salt in their processed foods.

In theory, that’s a good idea. But in practice, where does that leave your personal freedom of choice? If companies want to volunteer to cut down on dangerous additives, I am all for that! But I also think people need to take responsibility for their own health. If you don’t care about your health, and want to go to town on that jumbotron-sized bag of potato chips, that’s your decision.

And yes, continued efforts need to be made to help people learn where hidden sources of these additives are – so here’s a little run-down for ya!

The American Heart Association shares this list of major food sources of sodium:
-Tomato Sauce
-Soups
-Condiments
-Canned foods (beans, veggies, sauces, etc)
-Prepared mixes (Hamburger helper, flavored rices, etc.)

Pretty much any pre-packaged food is going to have added salt to help preserve it. This includes many microwave dinners. Drinks are another source: pop and sports drinks are riddled with sodium! (Pop makes ya thirsty so ya want more! And sports drinks are for athletes who are sweating buckets due to more than 60 minutes of exercise!)

And sugar? Whoo-buddy! Where to start?

A Rose By Any Other Name Is Just As Sweet…

And sugar is no exception! It’s time to be a sleuth, my friends! Food manufacturers like to try to disguise the sugar! But we’re too smart for that sneakiness! ;-)

Sugar is known by so many names. Ready for this crazy list?

Corn syrup/High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
Cane Juice
Dextrin or dextrose
Fructose
Fruit Juice Concentrate
Glucose
Lactose
Maltodextrin
Malt Syrup
Maltose
Rice Syrup
Sorghum
Sugar/Invert Sugar
Sucrose
Syrup
Xylose

*phew!*

Read any food ingredient list, chances are it will contain at least one of those items.

Common culprits often thought of as “healthy”: fruit juice, flavored yogurt, flavored coffees and teas, pop, and even some sweetened cereals! Am I saying avoid all those things? Not if you don’t want to (doesn’t it just ROCK that you have that choice still?!) but at least be aware. Check out those sugars! Am I saying all sugar is bad? Not at all! Natural sugars definitely have their place and purpose – but stick with the natural as much as you can: fruits! Ok, ok, and moderately use other natural sources like dates, honey, and agave. (Lets face it – we love sweet things!)

So make your own personal choice to cut down on that processed stuff! Don’t wait for the government to force you – do it for yourself, your health, your wellbeing.

Go fresh, baby! :)
~Katie

Junk The Juice

At my job, one of the daily topics is JUICE.

Juice - the wonders of marketing schemes.

For the most part, juice is a waste of money. Yes, even "all natural, no sugar added, 100% juice" juices. Juice is a highly-processed form of fruit that essentially leads to nothing more than sugar water - heck, the natural vitamin C of the fruit usually isn't even there! That "100% of your Vitamin C needs" is mostly just added back in after all the processing! (That's the "ascorbic acid" on the ingredient list.) So, if you are squuuuueeeezing out all the liquid from the fruit, what do you get? Water, sugar.

The bigger question: what are you NOT getting? Fiber, phytochemicals, enzymes, and the other aspects of the "whole package" that the fruit was supposed to come with.

Most juices will contain 28 grams of sugar per serving (and if you get one of those lovely 20-ounce bottles, check the label! They usually are not 1 serving, but 2.5 so you're getting 70 grams of sugar and about 275 calories in the whole bottle!)

How much sugar is 28 grams?

That's almost the same as what you'll find in most soda! (And we've been over the lack of health THERE!) Check out this video! (Thanks to Marshall Brain, who also brought us the books on How Things Work!)

There are 7 teaspoons in 8 ounces of sugar... or over 1 tablespoon!

And do you wonder WHY they add so much sugar to pop? To cover the salty taste with all it's sodium! Why do they have so much sodium? To make you feel thirsty and therefore want more cool, "refreshing" soda! (Or so some theories go. I wouldn't be surprised!)

Push the water, try some teas, and really limit or eliminate your sugary processed junk! And if you want juice, make your own! Or just blend it so you can keep all the wonderful benefits that come with it. Good things DO come in small packages! :)

Happy Hydrated Friday!

~Katie

Poop Pop

Mmmmm, with a title like that, you KNOW this is gonna be good!

I hope pop is something you try to avoid to begin with, but now, maybe you’ll have extra motivation to abstain from fountain drinks when you go out!

Pop is already a drink to skip as much as possible with all it’s chemicals and sugar (diet or not!) It’s a very acid-forming food (wrinkles! Akk!), and there are studies now linking soda intake with bad bones. Calcium is a very alkaline substance, so if you’re dumping acid pop (or coffee!) into your system, your body will pull calcium from its stores to help buffer it. And where is a lot of calcium stored? Bones and teeth, my friend. Bones and teeth.

Well, here’s what’s new with pop…

It may have poop in it.

Uh, say again?

The International Journal of Food Microbiology did a study that was published this month. They went to soda fountain machines and tested them for bacteria. In testing, they really did check all options: regular soda, diet soda, water, and even the ice dispenser. Ahhh, and what wonderful little things did they find? Thankfully, the ice water tested just fine. But 48% had coliform bacteria, which can be found in an aquatic environment, in soil, on vegetation, or most commonly… (dun dun duuuuun) in fecal matter of warm-blooded animals. Gross!

The report goes on to say over 11% of the beverages tested had Escherichia coli, and over 17% had Chryseobacterium meningosepticum. But wait! There’s more! A whole line up of microorganisms were waiting in line: Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Candida, and Serratia. And to top it all off, most of the identified bacteria showed resistance to one or more of the 11 antibiotics tested.

Awesome. Drug-resistant poopy pop.

Chances are your immune system can handle it, but still! So, if you’re eating out at a restaurant, well, now you have yet another reason to opt out of pop. Go for the water – it’s healthier, it’s cheaper, and it’s cleaner. Squeeze a little lemon in to help with that good ol' alkalinity and beneficial enzymes! And just sip – you don’t want to over dilute your stomach acid anyways, because that's what's going to help you digest your dinner better and faster, not leaving you feeling bloated and backed up.

Have a great day! It’s Friday Eve! :)

~Katie