Monthly Archives: July 2013

What’s Really In Your Food

by additives, dairy, herbs and spices, ingredients, recipes

As you know I spend a lot of time at the grocery store and in people's pantries looking at labels.  The other day I was at a grocery store for a book signing.  I was there for two days.  While I obviously couldn't see every person in the grocery store I was sitting in an area where I had a pretty good field of vision for quite a few aisles.  It took until halfway through the second day before I saw someone actually look at a label.  I was so excited that this woman actually read the label that I ran over and told her so.  Most people either simply selected their favorites or only looked at the front of the package to compare products.

Unfortunately when we shop on autopilot we don't realize what's in our food.  Reading the label is the only way to know what you're really eating.

Below is a list of ingredients that belongs to a very common item found in many homes.  It's also especially popular with children so they consume quite a bit of it:

 Soybean Oil, Water, Egg Yolk, Sugar, Salt, Cultured Nonfat Buttermilk, Natural Flavors (Soy), Spices. Less than 1% of Dried Garlic, Dried Onion, Vinegar, Phosphoric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Modified Food Starch, Monosodium Glutamate, Artificial Flavors, Disodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA as Preservatives, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate.

So what is it?

Ranch dressing.  Specifically Hidden Valley Ranch.  I'm not focusing on them, I simply had to pick a bottle and a label.

So let's break this label down and understand what we're looking at:

Genetically modified – the soybean oil and quite possibly the modified food starch which often comes from corn.

Sugar – added sugars in the diet increase inflammation, lower the immune system response, and, in things like dressing, are, in my opinion, not necessary.

rBGH – the buttermilk almost certainly contains this hormone which was given to the cows to make them produce more milk.  Linked to an increase in IGF-1 which is linked to diabetes it's not something you want in your food.

MSG – flat out, right on the label.  This ingredient may make things taste better but it can cause a wide range of symptoms from headaches, rashes, and flushing to muscle weakness and fatigue.

Artificial flavors – why would you want to eat anything fake?

Unknown ingredients – do you really know what Phosphoric Acid, Disodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid, Calcium Disodium EDTA, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate are?  If you don't know what it is you shouldn't eat it.  Just as a brief example of some of the health risks, phosphoric acid may be linked to lowered bone density, and calcium disodium EDTA is a preservative which has the potential to cause kidney damage.

I cannot recommend strongly enough how important it is to know what's in your food and to read the label.

Looking for an alternative to packaged ranch dressing?  Try making your own, simple to make, fresh tasting, tangy and the flavors can be modified to be exactly to your personal preference.

homemade ranch dressing

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup organic whole milk*
1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon fresh chopped chives
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons organic sour cream
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Pour apple cider vinegar into milk and let sit
In a separate, wide mouth bowl place garlic and salt
Mash together with a fork until garlic turns into a paste
Add chopped herbs, mayonnaise, sour cream, and black pepper
Blend this mixture with milk, combine well
Best served immediately, however leftovers store well in the fridge for up to a week

This is delicious not only on vegetables but as an addition to mashed potatoes, as a dressing for pasta salads, and is the perfect dipping sauce for homemade wings.

*Note:  there was a typo in the original which called for 1 cup of milk.  That will make a very thin ranch dressing.  I prefer mine a little creamier and so have amended it to reflect my initial recipe.

photo: Diádoco

Vegan Shame

by change, health, vegetarian

 

What is vegan shame?

I recently read about a new website, called Vegan Shame, which has been created to publicly castigate vegans who have gone away from this style of eating. I'm stunned at the militant attitude that many people take toward their food and wonder how we've come to a point that someone's nutritional plan has become another form of tribalism; promoting a dogmatic adherence to diet.

A website geared toward creating an attitude of shame around food is, in my opinion, harmful.  You should not feel bad about what you eat.  We all need to learn to eat in a way that fits our bio-individual requirements and promotes health for our bio-individual bodies.  The most important thing to remember is that there is no one-size-fits-all nutritional plan.  It's just not possible to have one nutritional plan that provides perfect nutrition for every single person on the face of the planet.

Eat for your health

There are many different nutritional plans that work for a vast number of people.  There are basic nutritional needs that we all have.  But we cannot all eat the same thing all the time.  Sadly, because they need to sell their book, program, supplements, or meal-plans, many diets out there promote themselves as “the only plan you need.”  Many are good, some are better than others, but none that I have seen thus far are perfect for everyone.

I frequently have to remind people of this. One example I use is the Atkins Diet. Although not so popular anymore, at one point it was all the rage. Some people were delighted. “Look at me! I'm eating bacon cheeseburgers and I lost 25 pounds!” While their next-door neighbor is wondering why it's not working for them because they're following the exact same diet and yet they only lost 4 pounds. That is bio-individuality at work. 

What does your body really need?

The truth of the matter is that in addition to bio-individual health, your nutritional needs vary throughout your lifetime due to basic biological changes. Let's be realistic, if your nutrition needs never changed you'd still be drinking breast milk.   As you age you tend to produce less digestive enzymes.  Or certain health issues require you to change your diet to avoid or add foods that will be more supportive of your health.   Again, this leads to no one diet being the penultimate choice for every person throughout their lifespan. Unfortunately, society persists in promoting the myth that one size should fit all when it comes to diet.  And it makes no allowances for variables that can impact health. 

Food cultures

Food choices are complicated by a number of factors.  Firstly there are cultural food preferences; people in different countries learn to prefer different foods or food combinations.  Then there are the -isms of the food world, omnivorous eaters, vegetarians, vegans, macrobiotic eaters, and more.  This is compounded by the immense variety of “diets”, South Beach, Zone, Atkins, and a huge number more.  Then there are those who have food sensitivities and truly must avoid certain foods.  This creates a rich and diverse mix of food cultures. 

This mix is one that we should welcome.  Of more importance than creating a hardcore, militant attitude toward food, I encourage you to learn to eat well for your body. To be in tune with your body and choose what is nourishing and supportive for you.

We should all support ourselves, in health, by loving ourselves, loving our bodies, and making positive choices and associations with food.  And let's not shame or disparage those who eat differently than we do.