Monthly Archives: September 2014

What’s In A Biscuit

by gmo, ingredients, labeling, Uncategorized

Screenshot 2014-09-27 10.24.44

For some reason I've been seeing a number of recipes lately that seem to include the use of a can of biscuits.  Maybe it's because Fall is here and so there are more stews and “comfort” foods being made to accompany the change in seasons.

Truthfully I used to use these a lot myself. Especially when my children were younger. It was an easy to way to get a quick batch of biscuits into the oven to have with dinner. They also made great donuts when coated with cinnamon sugar and fried. Or rolled out they made a quick and seemingly tasty crust or wrap for something.  They even made great snacks when cut into bite size pieces, rolled in melted butter, and sprinkled with parmesan.

Now I shudder to think about eating that and I'm horrified at the thought of all of those chemicals that I fed my children.  For those who can and do eat gluten, if you're still eating this type of whack-and-bake product it's truly not a good choice.

Let's start with the Nutrition Facts:

This label demonstrates one of my biggest issues with how the label works.Screenshot 2014-09-27 10.31.23It doesn't tell the truth.  Right there on the label we see “Trans Fat 0g.”  That leads us to believe that there are no trans fats.  And since we've all pretty much learned that trans fats are bad for you we think we're doing a good thing by avoiding them.  But are we really?

Not here.

Because when we skip down to the Ingredients List we find the following:

Enriched Flour Bleached (wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Water, Soybean and Palm Oil, Baking Powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda), Dextrose. Contains 2% or less of: Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Sugar, Salt, Vital Wheat Gluten, Mono and Diglycerides, Xanthan Gum, Propylene Glycol Alginate, Yellow 5, TBHQ and Citric Acid (preservatives), Butter, Red 40, Color Added, Natural and Artificial Flavor.

Near the bottom we see Hydrogenated Palm Oil and Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil.  ANYTHING that is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated IS a trans fat.  So how do manufacturers get away with this?  Isn't that lying?  Not according to the standards used for nutrition fact reporting which allow them to say there are no trans fats if there is less than 0.5g per serving.

What is a serving?  It's what the label says it is.  A portion is what you serve yourself.  Regardless of how many biscuits you eat, even if you just eat one you are still getting trans fats.  Guaranteed.  Because it's in the ingredients.

And that doesn't even begin to address all of the other nutritionally damaging ingredients found in this product.

Enriched flour is nutritionally deficient.  Notice all of the ingredients after “wheat flour” in the parenthesis?  Those are mostly B vitamins with some iron that are put back into the flour by Federal mandate.  But the flour is still missing all of the other ingredients which are stripped out in processing.  And then it's bleached.  Enriched anything is not a healthy choice.

The dextrose is probably from corn and mostly likely genetically modified corn at that.  The soybeans are probably also genetically modified.  GMO foods are simply not a good choice for health.  The citric acid is possibly also sourced from corn and therefore likely to be GMO as well.

Artificial colors, yellow 5 and red 40.  While it may not look like a colored item this canned biscuit product does have artificial colors.  TBHQ, Propylene gycol alginate, artificial flavor, there's a huge array of chemicals in this product and it's not something that anyone should be consuming.

Sadly we often think that convenience foods are, well, convenient.  We don't realize that in order for them to be shelf-stable and ready to go it means lots of chemicals and not a lot of nutrition.

For those who can eat gluten and who want biscuits to go with their meal it's still possible to have them.  And although it takes a little more work, it's truly not that much effort and the results are far better (and much better for you) than a chemical concoction from a can.

Soaked Flour Biscuits

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
1 cup organic whole milk
1 tablespoon raw unfiltered vinegar

Mix vinegar and milk together and let sit 5 minutes until milk curdles slightly
Add to wheat and oat mixture, combining thoroughly
Let sit 8 hours to soak

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup organic, unsalted butter, cut into slices

Preheat oven to 450 F
Sprinkle baking powder, salt, and baking soda over the flour mixture
Add butter and gently work butter into mixture to fully incorporate
Don't over-mix the dough or your biscuits will be tough

Roll dough out on a lightly floured board to about 1″ thickness
Cut biscuits out with a glass that has been dipped in flour (so it doesn't stick)
Place on baking tray
Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown

 

 

Recovering From Knee Surgery

by enzymes, health

I had knee surgery six weeks ago.  Totally unexpected but necessary.  It turns out I had a torn ACL and needed a new one.  Under the best of circumstances surgery is never fun.  My situation is made a little more challenging due to my diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis; anytime you have general anesthetic or antibiotics it can affect your system.  This time, however, I was more prepared; I have a daily nutrition plan and know more about supporting the body.

While I'm still in the recovery phase and definitely in the “danger zone” where I'm impatient to do more but realize I need to allow my body to heal fully and well at it's own pace, I'm doing very well.  My surgeon, his PA, and my pain and torture physical therapy team are all very happy with my progress.

It goes without saying that in order for the body to heal it helps to start with a good nutritional basis.  If you live on fast food and sugars your body doesn't have  what it needs to heal efficiently.  While I'm certainly not perfect I do work hard at making sure I have a well balanced, clean, whole food diet and good supplementation.  However I believe one of the keys to my success was/is enzyme therapy.  It is giving my body the materials it needs to rebuild and heal quickly.

The company that makes these enzyme supplements is called Transformation Enzymes.  I'm a huge fan, not just now because of my surgery.  Actually if anything I'm an even bigger fan now.  Transformation Enzymes is a great company with a very clean product that they put through clinical trials before they release it.  Long time readers will know that I am passionate about knowing what's really in your food and avoiding the chemical contamination; their label says “absolutely no fillers,” it doesn't get any better than that.

Below is the protocol that I followed.  It's important to note that I was already taking the digestive enzyme and the probiotic before this happened.  I take these on a daily basis to support my health.  I also added in extra nourishing broth, 2 cups per day.

Digest – 1 with each meal – to ensure that you are getting enough nutrition from your food for healing

although if you are someone who needs to eat more gluten free then you would use CarboG instead

Probiotic 42.5 –  1 per day at bedtime – to ensure maximum digestive capacity

Protease IFC – 2 capsules 3 times per day – to calm the inflammation

RepairZyme – 1 capsule 3 times per day to provide nutritional support for healing

In addition to these supplements I took a few more:

Methylsufonylmethane – a sulfur compound that is very important for join health and also is supportive for bones, hair, skin, and for overall energy.  It's found naturally in a lot of foods, the highest being in raw milk.  For those who don't want to drink raw milk, dark leafy greens are a good way to get it.  For high needs, such as post surgery, supplementation is probably the best way to get it.

Arnica – this comes from a plant and is highly supportive for bruising, aching, and inflammation.  It comes in both a cream and a homeopathic pill.  I used both as needed.

Hypericum – I struggled with a lot of nerve pain down the front of my shin immediately after surgery.  Hypericum also comes from a plant, is available in a homeopathic pill, and is supportive for nerve pain.

I'm grateful to my medical team for the excellent work they did.  I'm also grateful to all my friends, family, and colleagues who offered support, visits, meals, and good wishes.  As I said at the top I truly believe that part of my healing process is due to having a good nutritional plan already underway.  Don't wait until you need surgery or medical information to change your eating habits.  Small changes now will add up to a large, positive effect down the road.  It's like I always say, “Eat well to be well.”