Ode to Organics

There has been a lot of debate about organically grown foods. What does it mean, does it matter? Well I wanted to tackle that! While I could probably come up with an entire essay on it, I'll try to hit some key points here, and maybe dive deeper another time.

So now that you're hopefully pushing your fruit and vegetable intake (c'mon, you know you should!), you may be interested in this!

To begin with: Organic vs. Conventional = HUGE business and money battles! Sadly, the more research I do digging in to nutritional politics, the more I find that money is a driving force behind it, not necessarily health.

The definition for Organics gets pretty specific when it comes to processed foods, and I can touch on that in the future. But for now, let's just look at produce. Fruit and vegetables basically are either organically grown, or they are conventionally grown.

So let's look at those two questions: what does it mean, and does it matter? Well, if you look at what it means, I would say that it will give you your answer for the latter query!

There are some key points laid out in the Organic Standard rules that growers must meet in order to be "certified organic”:

*No synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers
*No genetically modified (GM) seeds
*No fertilizer derived from sewer sludge (yeah, think what that means if you're NOT getting organically grown foods! Eep!)
*No irradiated seeds or foods
*They must document all of this to prove to the USDA inspectors that they are following the rules

So, um, yeah, I'd go with it's important! I'd rather not have GMO or sewer sludge in my food, thank ya veddy much!

If you shop at local farmers markets, small farms may not have it advertised that they use organic methods, as it costs money to have USDA inspectors come out and certify your place. So just ask them.

If you shop at a grocery store, foods will be labeled.

Opponents of organic labeling continue to put pressure on the government. Registered Dietitian Marion Nestle writes in her book What to Eat:

“Opponents of organics - and there are many, work hard to make you doubt the reliability of organic certification, to weaken the Organic Standards (so you really will have something to doubt), and to make you wonder whether organics are any better than conventionally grown foods."

She goes on to say:

"But as for attempts to weaken the rules, think 'relentless.' Political appointees at the USDA are always looking for loopholes that might favor conventional growers. Just before issuing the Organic Standards, for example, the USDA said it would be fine for farmers to use genetically modified seeds, irradiation, and sewage sludge, and still call their crops organic. After a barrage of 275,000 outraged letters, the agency backed off this peculiar idea.”

Fortunately, for now, the term “organic” is still meaningful thanks to those Organic Standard rules!

I consider it an investment in my future health to pay the extra for organics whenever possible. But, if money is tight, I would say at least treat yourself to the organically grown versions of the “dirty dozen,” the top 12 pesticide-rich produce items; and worry less about those that have become known as the “Clean 15”

The Worst Culprits:
1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (imported)
11. Carrots
12. Pears

The Safer Options:
1. Onion
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet Peas
8. Kiwifruit
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Papaya
12. Watermelon
13. Broccoli
14. Tomato
15. Sweet Potato
(for the full listing, you can click here!)


So give yourself the best! You're worth your health!

The Easiest Veggie Weapon

One of the most common concerns I hear when I work with clients is time. No one thinks they have the time to be healthy. And I hear ya! It can be difficult, but I believe 100% that it's worth it. I once stumbled across a quote:

“Those who don't make time to be healthy now will have to make time for being sick later.”
(if you know the author, please let me know! I can't remember it!)

I know it's easy to be a procrastinator (I lost track of my all-nighters during school!) but future health is important! And health NOW is important, too! Making time for health now will help with your stress, your mental clarity, and your mood.

Planning ahead is key! And making it a normal part of your routine can happen with patience.

Every weekend, I take a few short hours on Sunday to prepare for the week. Dave and I go shopping (WITH a shopping list!), and I make a giant salad that we store in the refrigerator. (An old Tupperware cake container works quite nicely! Plus that helps me not make cakes, as I'd have no where to store the thing! But you can use any container or even several bags.) This salad will then feed us lunch for the week, since I make sure to take to work some of this rich, green salad every day. This is a great weapon for your health! Just a small chunk of time one day, and you'll have a nutrient-packed, antioxidant-rich powerhouse meal and snacks ready every day for a week!

My salad base this week will be: 1-2 heads of romaine lettuce, 5+ sliced carrots, and a little tub of sprouts. I also chop up other veggies and store them separately, so I can pick and choose each morning as I put together my salad lunch. So, depending on my mood, I may pull from a tub of chopped radish and cucumber, sprinkle on some crisp red onions, tear up some other fun greens like kale or collard, or maybe even dice up an apple from a sweet variation. But I make sure it's all washed and prepped on Sunday so that I can whip together my salad in no time flat each day!

Other things you can prepare ahead of time:

*Wash off any produce you buy so it's easy to snack on later. I love to have my cleaned apples and pears on hand when I get home from work and my appetite is raging, tempting me to binge. There's no excuse when there's clean sweet food ready for me! :) Then the crave monster quiets down, and I can go ahead and make my healthy dinner.

*Pre-portion various foods in snack bags so you can toss them in your lunch later or grab as a snack: carrots, baby tomatoes, broccoli, or celery will all keep for several days in the fridge.

*Keep a supply of transportable fruits: oranges and bananas come pre-packaged for easy travel!

*Slice up a just-browning banana, zip-loc it, and toss it in the freezer: this is a great addition to any smoothie you may make to get that extra kick of potassium and make it colder!

Well, tomorrow is Sunday, so give it a try! ;-) I know I have a date with my kitchen!

Hugs!
~Katie

Happy New Year! Happy New You!!

Welcome to your next decade!

Like so many others, I have made the resolution to recommit myself to health and wellness. Not always an easy task!

But, after drifting through my days with a so-so standard American diet, I felt that, especially as a dietitian, it was time to step things up a notch and really strive for more!

There were two main motivators for me. Things that have inspired the changes that are starting to reshape my life:

1. In Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book "Eat to Live," he had a graph that depicted the correlation between fruit and vegetable consumption, and risk of disease. Now, I know we’ve all been told to eat more fruits and vegetables (5 a Day, baby!) but I guess I’m visual, and this graph just grabbed me! The almost perfect correlation was just so glaringly obvious in his graph that it really struck home for me.

(Sadly, I don't have a copy of the graph available yet. Perhaps someday I can pester Dr. Fuhrman for permission to post that!)

2. After hearing much debate and doubt over food preparation, I did find a gem buried deep down on the USDA website. It is a huge 200+ page report listing various types of foods, showing the detrimental effect different processing methods have on several nutrients.
   The gold standard for nutrient maximums? Raw.

(Fruits begin on page 23; general vegetables on 83. Just to explain an example: if you are on page 83, looking at "VEG, GREENS, BAKED" and see "Calcium 100" - that indicates, that 100% of the calcium is retained, or kept intact when baked. Well good! But then look down; you can see that other nutrients, such as Vitamin C, are decreased to about 70% of the original, raw value.)

So, even according to the USDA, other nutrients can be depleted to as little as 20% of the original amount when processed! Cooking, boiling, steaming, drying, canning, etc. All of these things can cause nutrients to be lost. How important is that? Pretty darn, I'd say! Why not get the best possible dose of natural health I can, as often as I can?

To me, these things told me it was time to boost my intake of raw fruits and veggies as much as possible! I always aimed for a vegetable at dinner time, and maybe trying to get a salad here and there for lunch, or snack on some carrots, or celery and peanut butter… sound familiar? Yeah, that’s probably a standard goal for most people. Well, it’s just not cutting it, is it? Do you feel healthier? I sure didn’t! Is your weight where you want it? Mine sure wasn’t!

So what does all that have to do with YOU and a resolution for health and/or weight loss?

Many things!
If you push your intake of raw foods, you will:

*fill your stomach with a large volume of low-calorie foods, thus helping you feel full while staying low in calories.

*boost your vitamin and mineral intake in a NATURAL way (rather that supplements and pills) which will help boost your immune system, natural body processes, and energy! (and couldn't we all use a little more of that?)

*get extra fiber that can help with keeping you regular, which helps fight that awful bloated feeling you may get, and helps your body with its natural elimination of stored up toxins in your system.

*get extra water that remains in the raw form of the produce, which means extra hydration for you! (and your skin - helping to keep it from looking tired and dry)

*and have less cravings for other processed foods, over time! I know, I wouldn't have believed it myself, until I started to feel it.

Have a wonderful, fresh-filled day! I'm going to go eat a fruit salad :)

xoxox
~Katie

About a month before my wedding, I began doing so many raw fruits and veggies that my dear sister took me out to a juice bar for one stop of my bachelorette party! Here I am enjoying a giant cup of cucumber-carrot-orange juice. After only a week, I was able to cut my dependency on coffee (3+ cups a day) and started noticing that my urge for snacking on junk foods at night was decreasing. A cool bonus? My clothes are fitting better!