Who knew cookies could be good for you?

The war on food continues with new ammo! I just found an advertisement in my Sunday paper for Whuno Cookies (http://www.whonucookies.com/) and they appear to be the latest thing since sliced bread.

These cookies, which suspiciously resemble Oreos and Chips Ahoy, are packed with fiber, calcium and vitamin C. The ad, in fact, tells us three cookies can provide "as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal, as much calcium and vitamin D as an 8 oz glass of milk and as much vitamin C as a cup of blueberries." Isn't that fantastic?

Now, rather than eat oatmeal and blueberries and drink a glass of milk, you can scarf down three delicious cookies and be good to go, because we all know eating nutrition packed cookies is better for you than eating real food. It's so much easier to grab a couple of cookies than to sit down to a bowl of oatmeal and blueberries.

Of course, these nutritious cookies are aimed at kids, or parents of kids who want better nurtition for their children. We all know kids prefer cookies to spinach or oatmeal, in fact I know a lot of adults who prefer cookies to spinach and oatmeal, but does it really make sense to replace those foods with specially designed cookies?

The ingredients list for the cookies is suspiciously missing from the website, so I can't be sure, but I have an inkling there will be a lot of things in the cookies you won't find in the natural foods they replace.

The food industry constantly bombards us with replacements, things we can consume instead of real food that will supposedly act like real food where it counts [nutrition, taste] and not act like real food in the areas we fear [calories, fat]. I understand the concept of wanting to replace some of the junk kids like to eat with better choices - hey, if your kids are going to be eating cookies anyway, why not give them more nutirtious cookies, right? The only down side is, you're fostering a taste for cookies when learning to like real food will serve them better in the long run.

Have the milk and the oatmeal and the blueberries instead of a designer cookie. Who knows, maybe you'll be better off.

Complaints are lies...

…and bad manners besides.



During last week’s episode of Dr. Who on BBC America, I was treated to a commercial for a miraculous new weight loss product called Lipozene.

According to the commercial, Lipozene is the answer for people who have had problems losing weight and finally want something that works. Oh goody!

I decided to look up Lipozene and find out what the hype was all about – the very hype that the Lipozene people don’t want us to believe.

I won’t post a link to the Lipozene site, but I will tell you that Lipozene claims to be an ‘all natural remedy’ used for generations in Japan that ‘acts as a sponge in your intestines.’ That’s so much better than all those nasty lifestyle changes that can be damaging to your system.

Don’t worry, Lipozene has no side effects! It’s been clinically proven to work and best of all, if you come across any complaints or negative reviews on the Internet don’t believe them because [and here’s a quote]:



• Many people who submit complaints to these supposedly unbiased review sites say they were ripped off or that the product didn’t work. The fact is that most of them never received the product because their credit cards were declined, or they never ordered it in the first place. Our customer service department has done the research to prove the facts behind these Lipozene complaints.

Yep, anyone who has a bad report about the product, probably never really bought it in the first place! They’re just lying. Isn’t that rude?

Obviously you can trust someone who tells you all complaints about them must be lies. So there you go. A new and effective way to lose weight, safely and naturally. Stock up while the lies supplies last!

To fish or cut bait?

Since I’ve started researching nutrition, I’ve come across tons of information about the benefits of fish oil. Book after book and website after website tout the role of fish oil in heart health as well as its efficacy in helping to treat high cholesterol, depression, anxiety, AHDH, low immunity, cancer, diabetes, inflammation, arthritis, IBD, AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, eye disorders, macular degeneration and ulcers.

It sounds like a wonder drug – well, not actually a drug. Let’s call it a wonder-substance since it can be had over the counter without a prescription.

The supermarket vitamin aisle is overflowing with fish oil – in fact this past week my local store had an entire endcap devoted to large, colorful jars of the enormous amber capsules. They were on sale so the price was right – the only thing stopping me, aside from the sheer size of the pills [I could probably find a whole fish smaller than some of the capsules] was of course that I recently read information discounting everything that’s out there about the benefit of fish oil.

Insert a big sigh here.

I'd just picked up the book Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, MD which for the most part enforces a lot of what I’ve been learning about the subterfuge practiced on us by the food industry. Dr. Fuhrman advocates a diet rich in fruits and vegetables which makes sense, but on pg. 127 he opines that fish oil can actually ‘decrease the activity of the immune system’ and may have a role in liver dysfunction, citing that much of the oil in those jewel-like amber capsules may in fact be rancid.

He also believes eating fish in general [another health tip promoted heavily everywhere else] isn’t as good for us as we’ve been lead to believe thanks to elevated mercury content.

Once again, information overload wins the day. I’m not saying I believe Dr. Fuhrman over everyone else, but it’s interesting and disheartening to find yet more contradictory health information. If everything we eat is bad for us – then why not just eat anything we want?

I suppose that’s exactly what the food industry is hoping we will do.

Maybe there's a pill for that

I’m always looking for a natural way to deal with acid indigestion and acid reflux. This has been one of my crosses to bear for years now – and I know the cause. Being overweight and having a fondness for chocolate [a chief culprit for acid reflex and indigestion] I really have little hope of curing myself unless I drastically change my lifestyle.

Many years ago I took a papaya supplement that helped a bit, but I can’t seem to find it in stores any more, so I’m back to searching for a better method to control my acid reflux and still not give up my chocolate.

Unfortunately I haven’t had much luck and after reading this tidbit over at Natural News I’m not sure I ever will.

Now the article highlights treatments for stomach ulcers as well as acid indigestion. I don’t have an ulcer at the moment, but of course, I don’t want to develop one either. After reading this paragraph at the end, I’m not sure the natural treatment/cure would win any debates against good old-fashioned Western drugs.

Aloe vera is a plant that has properties that can heal and calm ulcers. Studies have shown that patients have had immediate relief and complete recovery from episodes of acute peptic ulcers. The most natural way of taking aloe vera is to simply chop up the spongy leaves into small pieces, soak them in water overnight and then drink one glass of the slimy, bitter water every 2 hours.

It was the slimy and bitter that gave me pause. One reason why so many people are dependent on drugs to deal with the symptoms of disease is that they’re easy to take. Pop a pill and you feel better – or at least your doctor tells you you’re healthier. It’s not difficult for the most part. Drinking something slimy and bitter, no matter what it promises to do for you, is not something most people are going to be comfortable with. I wonder if they can put aloe vera into pill form because the natural solution isn’t going to cure anybody.

*Update: I did two things since I wrote this article that seemed to help my acid reflux. One evening I juiced a pink grapefruit and two oranges and I drank the juice about an hour before bedtime. [Acidic drinks before sleep! Noooo!!!] I went to bed without taking any acid reflux medication and slept all night comfortably. The next night I didn’t drink any fresh squeezed juice, but I just didn’t take any acid reducing medication and I still not have any acid reflux. I’m not sure what really made the difference on those nights, but something worked.

Added value?

While reading the Saturday paper this week, I made myself a little collection of coupons for more of the fortified food products that seem to be becoming the norm at the supermarket.

Now you can get Omega-3s and Vitamin E in your milk
Smart Balance

Probiotics in your sugar substitute
Nevella

And if you don’t like drinking healthy pomegranate juice for the antioxidants it contains, you can now get it in pill form*
POMx

I’m not necessarily knocking any of these products. I just find it fascinating that so few packaged foods are unadulterated these days. The idea seems to be that by adding supplements to everything, or by turning naturally healthy foods into supplement pills value is added. You get more for your money if you’re not only sweetening your drink but boosting your immune system at the same time. It’s not enough just to drink a glass of milk, it needs to contain a dose of vitamins as well.

In our society where no one has time to eat right or exercise enough, it seems to make sense that food manufacturers are trying to help us out by giving us extra nutrition in everything we buy, but I tend to think this only helps us avoid the need to slow down and pay more attention to what we eat and how we eat it. Are we really healthier if we get the daily recommended dose of every vitamin and nutrient from just one glass of a super-fortified drink, whether it be juice, milk, water or even soda [7-Up even comes fortified with anti-oxidants these days]? Or do we just think we’re healthier because we’ve gotten some extra nutrients and saved time in the process?

* Interesting about the pomegranate pill, it also comes in concentrated liquid form...so if you don't like the juice you can take a pill and if you don't like the pill you can have a spoonful of...more juice.

There's a pill for that

Today I saw a commercial for another new product women should be taking. [Men, you can skip this post – you probably don’t want to know this anyway and it doesn’t effect you.]

RepHresh Pro-B is an over-the-counter probiotic supplement designed to promote feminine health [you know...down there.]

Apparently you take this pill like a vitamin everyday to maintain the proper balance of bacteria and yeast in your body. Anyone who has had a yeast infection knows, given that kind of discomfort, you’ll do anything to prevent it from happening again, but the interesting thing about this supplement is that, like so many pharmaceutical products, it wants us to assume that good health can only be achieved by taking the right kinds of pills.

I can understand a product that will do something to relieve discomfort when it occurs, and I’m all for prevention of disease, but I still think we need to move away from the idea that if we just have enough different bottles in our medicine cabinet we will be healthy.

Something I found interesting about the website for RepHresh Pro-B, if you notice in the box under: When pH imbalance is most likely to occur, one of the check points is: For freshness any time. So I guess pH imbalance can occur for freshness?

I also notice there are no side-effects listed. Now many dietary supplements supposedly don’t have side-effects, but I think a little blurb about it should be included anyway.

What do you think about probiotics in general? Do you think it helps to take a daily probiotic supplement, especially one designed to promote feminine health?

I did see this famous warning at the bottom of the web-site:
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

So we can assume RepHresh Pro-B is not a product of Big Pharma. It’s a product of wanna-B Big Pharma. Does that make it a better choice for our health or does it just mean if taking this product becomes popular there will eventually be a doctor-recommended prescription strength available that will cost ten times as much?

With sugar on top

I make no secret about being radically against artificial sweetners. I’m not ashamed to say loudly in public that items like Splenda (sucralose) and NutraSweet (aspartame) are poison. I tell my kids, I tell my friends.

As another alternative to the evils of processed white sugar, the Whole Earth Sweetner Company (PureVia) and Cargill, Inc. (TrueVia) have come up with sugar substitutes made from the stevia plant.

Stevia has it’s own website [which, interestingly mentions problems with the FDA in getting the supplement approved for use in the United States.] Apparently this calorie-free relative of the sunflower can provide better sweetening services than cane sugar with none of the adverse side effects of artificial sweetners. Personally, I develop a headache after using products that contain aspartame. I also find foods sweetened this way tend to have an unpleasant aftertaste. Getting less calories might be a good thing, but doing it by eating things that don’t taste right isn’t the answer for me.

I understand that sugar intake can be a serious problem for diabetics and people suffering from other disorders. Sugar substitutes have their place, but are they really a good idea for the average person looking to lose weight or avoid excess calories? We’re a society that lives on Diet Coke and low fat yogurt [often supplemented with artificial sweetners] and yet obesity is still a major health issue. Is something like Stevia really the solution?

The story of Stevia isn’t all sweet according to this article which highlights problems caused in laboratory rodents when exposed to high amounts of the supplement. Too much of anything, as we usually discover, is bad, no matter what it is.

I’m actually planning to give one of the Stevia products a try. Though I don’t normally use sugar to sweeten my drinks or my cereal anymore, and most of my sugar intake does come from already prepared food, not items I make and add sugar to myself.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has tried PureVia or TrueVia. What do you think of it? Will it replace sucralose and aspartame in popularity? Do you think sugar substitutes really have an effect in weight loss and diabetes or would a naturally reduced or sugar free diet be a better alternative?

S is for Supplements, D is for Debate

So what do you think about dietary supplements?

I was never a fan of vitamins. Once I outgrew Flintstone’s Chewables I really didn’t want to be bothered choking down the horse pills that pass for adult vitamins. I took pre-natal vitamins prior-to and during both of my pregnancies. They smelled awful and contributed to my morning sickness, but I managed to get them down because they were ‘doctor-recommended’ and ‘FDA-approved.’ [More about those two frightening catch phrases in later posts, I promise.]

After my gestating days were over, I gave up on vitamins and supplements, figuring they didn’t really offer much benefit, but now I’m finding a lot of research that tells me otherwise.

A few months ago, in a somewhat knee-jerk response to the swine-flu panic, I started taking Vitamin D and Vitamin C supplements. I’m extraordinarily wary of the H1N1 vaccine and the media hype about swine, bird and other forms of influenza, but I do want to boost my immune system any way I can. I picked up some vitamin D capsules [small and easy to swallow, that’s always a plus] and chewable vitamin C.

I haven’t gotten a cold so far this season [fall/winter]. And I do feel a might more energetic. I’m not pushing vitamins here, mind you, but after reading so much about the widespread vitamin-D deficiency we suffer from here in the US, I’m beginning to think it’s something to be even more concerned about than swine flu.

Vitamin D is reported to support bone and colon health, boost the immune system and provide some measure of protection against certain forms of cancer. We don’t get enough because we don’t spend enough time outside in the sun [thanks to ozone depletion the sun is now bad for us] and we don’t eat enough D-containing foods.

The benefits of vitamin C are widely known, chief among them support of the immune system.

Do you think an increase in C and D intake can have a significant effect on your health? Have you found the benefits of vitamins and/or other dietary supplements to be downplayed by doctors or overstated?

I’d love to hear your opinions.