http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2008/3/18/health/20404047&sec=health
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3300/3350.asp?index=11373
Hello Everyone,
Well, seems I can't escape this concept that beautiful, healthy skin is directly related to the food you eat. So we're going to continue to talk about healthy food today, specifically whole grains.
If you'll recall, I've stated in past blogs that the more processed your food is, the less nutrients are left in it for your body. Not only that, there are "fillers" added to processed foods that now makes it a "food product" rather than food. These fillers can be preservatives which are almost always toxic, not to mention just not good for you. I just don't understand how a commercial bread can contain over 30 ingredients. Back in the day, and even now, when I go to make a loaf of bread it has flour, eggs, milk, yeast, and maybe some oil or butter. Expanding on that I might add another flour, some seeds, but how to get it up to 30 ingredients is beyond me.
The whole idea of "no carbs" is probably one of the sickest ideas that has come down from the
eating disorders of America. Carbs provide some of the most vital nutrients for good skin, a good digestive tract and sustained energy. I'll say it again and will continue to do so over and over again, it is the processing that has caused us all the trouble - ill health and extra weight. Of course this means we ought to be leading a balanced life. Daily walks, take the stairs, park far away in the parking lot, don't move your car once you've parked it - walk to your other errands.
Go outside and play catch with your kid or your dog. Haul wood. Just move around in balance with the time you spend sitting.
While I'm on the soapbox, turn off the computer and the TV. Take an evening stroll. Enjoy the night sky. Think a quiet thought.
I've included two links at the top of this blog. Both will give you new evidence that whole grains are vital to healthy skin, strong elastin and general good health. One source is the Cleveland Clinic and the other a study that showed by eating whole grains, people not only lost weight, but they lost it around the middle and they experienced significant reduction in the inflammation in the arteries and capillaries - reducing risk of stroke and high blood pressure and heart disease.
My personal take on this: inflammation is resistance; resistance is your reaction to stress; when you eat something that tastes delicious and is full of LIFE and nutrients, you're reconnecting yourself back to God, Life, Source. And that folks, is home and where we all ought to be living each day, in intimate connection with Life.
So stop feeling guilty. Just insist on whole foods, whole grain (rice, barley, couscous, whole wheat, etc) and enjoy partaking in Life while watching your skin get healthier. It's all around a much happier way to , well, live.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
In Defense of Your SKIN: Eat Real Food
Hello Everyone,
I know, I know, I know. I'm supposed to be talking about your skin and aging and healthy personal care products.
Well, I am. And the more I read, the more I know that it all begins with what you're putting in your mouth! And on your skin.
Ok. Today discussion is based on the writings of Michael Pollan. I've just finished his latest book: In Defense of Food. Funny title you might think. Why would food need defending? Because so little Real food is available these days. Slowly and gradually over the last 30-40 years beginning with the industrialization of farming (movement from small local farms to large industrial farms), the food supply in America has been seriously altered by genetic modification, synthetic pesticides and herbicides. We now have really cheap food and we're all really sick. Well done indeed.
Now. Before I go any further, I don't deal in fear, so this is not to scare you, but to inform you.
I can't help but think than anyone over 40 has noticed that weird things have been appearing in food to the point that you might wonder if it is, indeed, Real food or "engineered food products".
Listening to Pollan's book today, he recites the ingredients in a loaf of Sara Lee White Bread. It's baffling. When I was growing up bread had: flour, yeast, eggs, milk, and salt. That's 5 whole ingredients. Just five. That's it. It took about 2-3 hours to make a batch of bread without a machine. And it was immensely pleasurable in the making, in the baking and in the eating.
This loaf of Sara Lee bread had about 36 ingredients in it, many of which, unless you were a chemist, you wouldn't be able to pronounce let alone be sure what it was.
What I don't understand is this: wouldn't you think 5 ingredients would be a lot less trouble and cost than "manufacturing" a loaf of bread? It hardly makes any sense to me.
Enough about the bread. The point is that so many things are going into "food products" that they can scarcely (and should not be) categorized as food any longer. Thanks of course to the FDA, they get away with it. These "engineered food products" are such that they have replaced and supplanted Real nutrition. And Real Nutrition can only be found in Real food.
You might ask why? Because anything whole, natural and Real from nature is complete as it was intended for it to be. Whilst the "engineered food products" are composites of single nutrients extracted and they added back in. It's kinda like a Real Whole Food is a winning Team. It has all the players in it that make it a great Team: the defense, the offense, the cheerleaders, the front office, the back office, the stadium, the whole package. And the sum of the parts (everybody involved) is greater than the individual parts. A single quarterback, for example, couldn't make a touchdown without the line and the blocking. But there wouldn't be a game if there were the owners and the stadium.) Oh, please let me stop with this football thing. But you get the picture.
Engineered Food Products are like taking one or two players and a couple of the seats from the stadium and putting those only into the product. All the synergies are lost. Maybe it's the cheerleaders that turn on the power of the lineman? Or perhaps it's the fans in the seats that trigger the owners. There are a zillion interactions in the chemistry of food that rely on the presence of the other nutrients. In Engineered Food Products, those critical interactions are lost, and therefore the nutrition is lost to our bodies.
How many extra supplements are you taking now to replace the missing nutrition that you're not getting from your food? And it takes a wide variety of foods to give you the wide variety of nutrition and synergies that your body (all of it, skin included) needs.
So here's some reading for you to do: In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma; and the Biology of Desire. All three are written by Michael Pollan and I promise you no dry reads, either. He's entertaining and practical and wise all in one. He even suggest a way out of the tyranny of nutritionism (his word) and back to the enjoyment (ye gads) of food once again and restored health....and beauty. Truly a bold idea.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
I know, I know, I know. I'm supposed to be talking about your skin and aging and healthy personal care products.
Well, I am. And the more I read, the more I know that it all begins with what you're putting in your mouth! And on your skin.
Ok. Today discussion is based on the writings of Michael Pollan. I've just finished his latest book: In Defense of Food. Funny title you might think. Why would food need defending? Because so little Real food is available these days. Slowly and gradually over the last 30-40 years beginning with the industrialization of farming (movement from small local farms to large industrial farms), the food supply in America has been seriously altered by genetic modification, synthetic pesticides and herbicides. We now have really cheap food and we're all really sick. Well done indeed.
Now. Before I go any further, I don't deal in fear, so this is not to scare you, but to inform you.
I can't help but think than anyone over 40 has noticed that weird things have been appearing in food to the point that you might wonder if it is, indeed, Real food or "engineered food products".
Listening to Pollan's book today, he recites the ingredients in a loaf of Sara Lee White Bread. It's baffling. When I was growing up bread had: flour, yeast, eggs, milk, and salt. That's 5 whole ingredients. Just five. That's it. It took about 2-3 hours to make a batch of bread without a machine. And it was immensely pleasurable in the making, in the baking and in the eating.
This loaf of Sara Lee bread had about 36 ingredients in it, many of which, unless you were a chemist, you wouldn't be able to pronounce let alone be sure what it was.
What I don't understand is this: wouldn't you think 5 ingredients would be a lot less trouble and cost than "manufacturing" a loaf of bread? It hardly makes any sense to me.
Enough about the bread. The point is that so many things are going into "food products" that they can scarcely (and should not be) categorized as food any longer. Thanks of course to the FDA, they get away with it. These "engineered food products" are such that they have replaced and supplanted Real nutrition. And Real Nutrition can only be found in Real food.
You might ask why? Because anything whole, natural and Real from nature is complete as it was intended for it to be. Whilst the "engineered food products" are composites of single nutrients extracted and they added back in. It's kinda like a Real Whole Food is a winning Team. It has all the players in it that make it a great Team: the defense, the offense, the cheerleaders, the front office, the back office, the stadium, the whole package. And the sum of the parts (everybody involved) is greater than the individual parts. A single quarterback, for example, couldn't make a touchdown without the line and the blocking. But there wouldn't be a game if there were the owners and the stadium.) Oh, please let me stop with this football thing. But you get the picture.
Engineered Food Products are like taking one or two players and a couple of the seats from the stadium and putting those only into the product. All the synergies are lost. Maybe it's the cheerleaders that turn on the power of the lineman? Or perhaps it's the fans in the seats that trigger the owners. There are a zillion interactions in the chemistry of food that rely on the presence of the other nutrients. In Engineered Food Products, those critical interactions are lost, and therefore the nutrition is lost to our bodies.
How many extra supplements are you taking now to replace the missing nutrition that you're not getting from your food? And it takes a wide variety of foods to give you the wide variety of nutrition and synergies that your body (all of it, skin included) needs.
So here's some reading for you to do: In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma; and the Biology of Desire. All three are written by Michael Pollan and I promise you no dry reads, either. He's entertaining and practical and wise all in one. He even suggest a way out of the tyranny of nutritionism (his word) and back to the enjoyment (ye gads) of food once again and restored health....and beauty. Truly a bold idea.
Thanks for reading!
Kath
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