I've got a "Beef"...

Taco Bell has made headline news this week, as a California woman filed a lawsuit claiming that the meat at Taco Bell doesn’t contain enough meat to be properly labeled as beef. 

This is not the first time that the meat that is sold in restaurants, grocery stores, and even in schools has been questioned.  About this same time last year, the New York Times ran two articles about the processing of beef and the flaws in the federal inspection system.  The first article was a chilling look at what is actually in hamburger meat and the danger presented by pathogens such as E. coli, some strains of which can make some people very sick and even kill them.  The article begins by telling the story of a woman who had a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli and then discusses the processing of beef.  I have included a link to this article below. 

The second article in the Times talked about the use of ammonia, yes ammonia, to destroy E. Coli.  The ammonia injected as a disinfectant remains in Beef products that are sold in stores and restaurants nationwide.  The interesting thing is that studies have found that ammonia isn’t always effective at destroying E. Coli, yet it is still used, and the FDA has signed off on this.     

OK, so back to Taco Bell.  The basis of the lawsuit is the claim that there is less than 40 percent meat in Taco Bell’s beef. Taco meat filling, according to the USDA's Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, must contain at least 40 percent fresh meat.  Yes….that is right….the USDA says that there only has to be 40% meat.  Scary…right?   So what can be in the other 60 percent.   Well, it is usually meat extenders and fillers like soy lechithin.  I think this should once again remind us all that we should always know what we are eating.  At restaurants you can ask for a list of ingredients or go to the website.  Although the ingredients are usually very hard to find, they are there. 

To me, the main take-away from all of this is…

1.       Do your homework before ordering and know what you are eating and asking your body to digest.     

2.       If you eat meat, try to eat 100% ground beef.  Try to ensure there are no fillers and no additives.  

3.       If you eat meat, ensure you are getting it from a good and credible source.  You may want to also find out what parts of the cow are used and what the grade of the meat is.  Most of the time ground beef comes from various grades of meat from different parts of cows.  (I’ll just leave it at that for now.)

If you are interested in learning more about what goes into meat processing, check out the movie Food Inc.  It is a very sobering documentary on the meat industry.  

Oh, in case you were wondering… I looked it up. Taco Bell’s Seasoned Ground Beef has the following 26 ingredients:

Beef, Water, Seasoning [Isolated Oat Product, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Tomato Powder, Oats (Wheat), Soy Lecithin, Sugar, Spices, Maltodextrin, Soybean Oil (Anti-dusting Agent), Garlic Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), Silicon Dioxide, Natural Flavors, Yeast, Modified Corn Starch, Natural Smoke Flavor], Salt, Sodium Phosphates. CONTAINS SOYBEAN, WHEAT

NY Times Story- The Burger That Shattered Her Life  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html

Listen to Your Body

Wow! Last week was a wonderful yet very busy week.   School is in full swing now and I am learning so much.   For those of you who don’t know, I am doing a one-year program with the Institute of Integrated Nutrition. 

 Anyway…before writing this post, I spent quite a bit of time reflecting on what nutrition/food change made the biggest impact on me and my health.  At first, when I was brainstorming I was thinking of specific foods, food groups, and diet theories and I was trying to decide what I would consider to be the one or two most important ideas, theories, or foods that I incorporated or avoided.  But the truth is, as I have learned more and more about food and nutrition I have learned that every theory, book, and expert has a different idea about what you should eat or not eat to be healthy.   Yes, some of them have huge similarities, but there are so many different theories from the raw food diet, plant based diet, macrobiotics, anti-inflammatory diet, eat by your blood type, no carb diet, Ayurveda, zone diet, and even the cabbage soup diet, just to name a few.  Every one of these theories says it is “the one” that will make “everyone” either lose weight or become healthier.  But what I have found is that everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for the next.   The only way to know if something is or is not working for you is to listen to your body.  I decided that listening to my body and what it was telling me about the foods I was eating, was the change I made that made the biggest impact on my health.   The other difference was that I focused on becoming aware of what I was putting in my body and thus asking my body to digest.   So, for me, the two biggest nutrition/food changes that made the biggest impact on me and my health were/still are….

1.        Listen to your body and what it is telling you about the foods you are eating. 

2.       Know what you are putting into your body and asking it to digest.  

These two concepts go together. In order to make changes based on what your body is telling you about what you are eating, you have to know and understand what you are eating and what you are asking your body to digest, to get nutrients from, and to get energy from.  When I first started using these two ideas, I made some huge discoveries.  

1.   Getting through the afternoon blahs on M&M’s and soda was not actually giving me anything my body could use to get more energy.   Neither of these have any nutritional value. They are really just empty calories and a whole lot of sugar.   Inherently, I knew this, but I thought I “needed” those things to get through the day. 

2.   Highly processed cereal, yes even the ones who make health claims, were not giving me the energy I needed in the morning.  I noticed such a huge change in my energy level when I made sure I was getting a whole grain and a fruit or vegetable in the morning.  

3.   My body was highly sensitive to too much sugar.   Once I eliminated most sugar from my diet, I felt like a new person.   For years, I had pain in the right side of my lower back. I called it “the spot”.  It was a dull achy pain and doctors could never figure out the cause.  After I eliminated sugar,” the spot” pain, was gone.  Now I get a visible rash on my throat all the way down to my stomach when I eat too much sugar.  Before, I just thought I always had rashes; I didn’t listen to my body well enough to understand that the rash was a warning sign that I had too much sugar. 

4.   I am very sensitive to highly processed foods.   I learned that my body could not afford to be spending energy digesting highly processed foods full of chemicals and toxins.  My body needed whole foods that were easier to digest, so it could focus on fighting lupus, purifying my blood, fighting foreign invaders and viruses, etc.  One of my teachers explained this by using the example of washing dishes.  When you are cleaning a dish you cooked a whole food like brown rice or carrots in, the dish is very easy to clean. Basically you can just rinse it out.  However, cleaning a dish of a highly processed food like a casserole made with canned soup and Velveeta “cheese” is much different. You have to scrub and scrub because the food sticks to the pot.   The  same thing happens in your stomach. It sticks to the stomach lining and is very difficult to fully digest.    

These are just a few of the things that I discovered when I started listening to my body and paying close attention to what I was eating.   Other people make very different discoveries about themselves.  Some people are highly sensitive to gluten, others have a hard time digesting raw food, etc. When we focus on the foods we are putting into our bodies we can learn a lot.  As experts are teaching us, food is our medicine; it is the very thing that gives us the nutrition we need to live on.  Although a person can live on processed foods and minimal fruits and vegetables, the consequences for me were far too serious.  I challenge you to take the time to learn about what you are eating and to listen to what your body is saying.  Even little changes can make a huge difference.     

Most of us have been ignoring the signs our bodies are sending us about food for a long time.   When I was first told to listen to my body, I didn’t even know how to start.  At that point I was in so much pain, I told my practitioner that I didn’t think I could listen to anything other than pain. I seriously doubted that eating my broccoli would take my pain away or give me the energy I needed just to get out of bed.  Yes, I really said that.  Sorry Christi! J  Christi kindly comforted me and explained that just eating broccoli wouldn’t do it, but that figuring out what my body needed and what foods were harming me and incorporating other changes like meditation and self-care techniques would help to reduce my pain and make it easier to get out of bed.  Well, she was right!  More than right…I am actually a totally different, very healthy person now.  Thanks Christi! J    

I want to leave you with a few thoughts that I found helpful.   

1.   Many people experience reactions when consuming different types of foods.  Different people of course will have different symptoms.  For example, someone might eat a food which causes severe headaches, while another person might eat the same exact food and experience stomach issues, diarrhea, or have a different reaction.  If you have continued to eat these foods for long periods of time, you may not recognize that food is what is actually triggering these reactions. 

2.   Sometimes the food sensitivity is not so obvious.  Some people have a mild reaction to foods they eat, and sometimes they have no obvious symptoms.  Sensitivity to certain foods means that your body has a hard time properly digesting or fully processing certain foods.  Some symptoms of food sensitivities include skin problems like rashes, hives, psoriasis, and eczema, bloating, weight gain that is hard to lose, irritable bowel syndrome, or even chronic disease and illness.  A holistic or preventative medicine physician or chiropractor maybe helpful if you are suffering with Lupus or another chronic disease and want to experiment with food as medicine along with your regular treatment.   

3.   The four main types of food sensitivities are gluten intolerance, dairy sensitivity, fructose (sugar) sensitivity, and yeast sensitivity.  Other less common sensitivities can be corn, soy, food additives, etc. 

4.   Food sensitivity may be dose related.  Some people can tolerate foods in smaller quantities but show sensitivity after consuming large quantities of a certain food. 

5.   It may take time for food to cause a reaction.  Monday’s M&M’s may be the cause of Tuesday’s rash.  You may be experiencing the “eat now, pay later” phenomenon. 

6.   Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.  It sounds easy, but being full isn’t that OMG I want to unbutton my pants feeling.  Stop eating when you still feel energized.  Try stopping at 70% rather than 100%.  This leaves room for your body to be able to fully digest your food and then get the nutrition from the food that your body needs. 

7.   This takes time.   Start slowly and make gradual changes.   As you are making a change, it may be helpful to keep track of all of the foods you eat for a week or two, and then pay close attention to any symptoms you experience, your energy level, and how your digestion has changed.   

Ayurveda and Food as Medicine

Well, I am starting to get my energy back and have a lot of relief in most of my joints. This weekend I really focused on healing. I got plenty of rest, water, and used food as medicine by eating many delicious nurturing meals. I also used the principles of Ayurveda that I learned from the Chopra center and the Sivananda Ashram. For those of you that don’t know, Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine and healing that originated in India over five thousand years ago. Ayurveda views a person as a “one of a kind individual” made up of a unique constitution, or combination of physical, mental, and emotional characteristics.

An individual’s unique constitution is made up of a combination of three doshas or categories. These doshas do not have an English translation. They are referred to in Sanskrit as vata, pitta, and kapha. Vata is the energy of movement, pitta is the energy of digestion or metabolism, and kapha is the energy of lubrication and structure. All people have qualities of vata, pitta, and kapha, but in different amounts. According to Dr. Robert Svobda, a leading Ayurvedic physician, understanding an individual’s unique constitution or make up of vata, pitta, and kapha allows us to understand what an individual’s body uniquely needs and where and why the person is out of balance, in order to prevent disease. According to Ayurveda, the cause of disease is either a lack of proper cellular function due to an excess or deficiency of vata, pitta, or kapha or the presence of toxins in the body from food, food additives and other environmental sources.

Knowledge of Ayurvedic principles and an individual’s unique constitution enables one to understand the body temperament and to identify the imbalances in the body. This knowledge then provides guidance and information on how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain balance, and then to focus on prevention and maintenance of health.

Ayurveda is currently being used in the United States to treat a host of ailments including allergies, insomnia, digestive problems, high blood pressure, back pain, and depression. An Ayurvedic lifestyle is a lifestyle that provides balance to a person’s day to day life. To bring about balance, Ayurveda focuses on positive thinking and meditation, self-care and self-nurturing, promotes exercise, specifically yoga, and promotes following a specific diet. I have found that the use of all of these Ayurvedic tools were very helpful to me in treating and managing lupus and its symptoms. I am focusing my blog on nutrition and healthy eating this month, so I want to discuss the principles of Ayurveda that relate to food and eating. Ayurveda was really my introduction to the idea of food as medicine. Below I have outlined some of the things I learned from Ayurveda that I have found very helpful in my healing journey.

1. Food is medicine. A balanced diet containing a wide variety of tastes and colors provides a wide variety of nutrients and phytochemicals that have health enhancing properties and that the body needs to perform all of its essential functions.

2. Strong digestion is very important. When our digestive power is strong we are able to extract the greatest level of nourishment from our food. When it is weak, an undigested substance or toxin is left in our body known as Ama, which leads to problems such as low energy, fatigue, and constipation. When I first went to the Chopra center I learned that I had a buildup of Ama which was weakening the efficiency of my digestive system. I used Ayurvedic herbs and several other Ayurvedic techniques to rid my body of the ama, and am a totally different person in terms of digestion now.

3. Don’t eat unless you are hungry and stop eating when you are satisfied. I learned to turn off the TV while I was eating so I could actually enjoy the delicious food I was eating and pay attention to the signals that were telling me I was full. This principle also applies to reading, working, or any other activity you may be doing while you eat. I also learned that it is important to not eat to the point where you are completely full. Your body actually needs ¼ of your stomach empty to aid in digestion.

4. Eat with awareness and enjoy your food. I learned that the environment in which food is prepared and eaten can make a huge impact on the ability for your body to be able to digest the food. I learned to not eat when I was upset, to slow down, and to eat with full awareness.

5. Reduce ice cold foods and beverages. Ice cold foods and beverages actually decrease digestive power or digestive fire. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT??? At a restaurant what is the first thing they bring you when you sit down…Ice cold water. I have learned to ask for water with no ice or hot water with lemon. Pouring ice cold water on your digestive fire puts out some of the flame and makes it harder for you to digest your food.

6. Digestion can be enhanced with certain herbs and spices. Ayurveda uses ginger to kindle the appetite. Cumin, coriander, fennel, and cilantro can be used to alleviate excess stomach acid. Finally, cardamom, cinnamon, bay, and roasted fennel seeds can be used to decrease gas and bloating.

7. Eat freshly prepared organic foods when possible. See the link to the “dirty dozen” under resources on the right side of my blog to help prioritize items that should definitely be organic. The dirty dozen lists the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and the 12 least contaminated fruits and vegetables. As a general rule, anything with a thin skin, meat, poultry, and peanuts (or peanut butter) should be organic when possible. Also, try to minimize white grains and sugar and focus on getting whole grains and fiber which decrease inflammation. Ayurveda also recommends trying to minimize leftovers, frozen, unnatural, microwaved, and canned foods because they usually have less nutrients, are harder to digest, and/or are loaded with chemicals. 8. Maximum nutrients are absorbed from food when they are lightly cooked. Raw foods can be harder to digest and overcooked foods have had many of the vitamins and nutrients cooked out of them.

9. Last, I learned to eat for balance in the body and mind. I learned that specific foods can help balance the body and mind, and I learned to eat foods that balanced my dosha. This last principle is hard to explain online, but if you are interested I would recommend the book Eat, Taste, Heal: An Ayurvedic Guidebook and Cookbook for Modern Living by Thomas Yarema, M.D., Daniel Rhoda, D.A.S, and Chef Johnny Brannigan.

Learning the principles of Ayurveda has been a wonderful experience for me. I have learned to use food as medicine and to access my inner pharmacy to heal. I am so grateful to Sarah who first introduced me to Ayurveda, Pam, the Chopra Center and their staff, particularly Dr. David Simon and Wendy, and finally to Jennifer who recently blessed me with her wisdom of Ayurveda and helped me make some changes to more fully incorporate Ayurveda into my life on a daily basis. I am so grateful to all of these teachers and friends. I really focused on applying many of these principles during the last week or so when I was struggling, and it helped me to get back on track. Thank you!

I do want to leave you all with one final note. I found it a little overwhelming to make too many changes at once. Maybe try one or two new things at a time. I have found that I have been much more successful when I make a few small changes, then when I try bigger commitments. I have also found that when you make a few small changes you can really pay attention to how those changes made you feel. I will blog more about other Ayurvedic principles that I have used to heal next month when I focus on self-care and self-nurturing. Have a great week and enjoy your food!

Ayurveda Resources

If you are interested in learning more about Ayurveda, I have read and would recommend any of the following books.

1. Eat, Taste, Heal: An Ayurvedic Guidebook and Cookbook for Modern Living by Thomas Yarema, M.D., Daniel Rhoda, D.A.S., and Chef Johnny Brannigan

2. Perfect Health: The Complete Mind Body Guide by Deepak Chopra, M.D.

3. Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization by David Frowley

4. Ayurveda For Women: A guide to vitality and Health by Dr. Robert E. Svoboda

Cookbooks

5. Eat, Taste, Heal: An Ayurvedic Guidebook and Cookbook for Modern Living by Thomas Yarema, M.D., Daniel Rhoda, D.A.S., and Chef Johnny Brannigan

6. Ayurveda Cooking for Self-Healing by Usha Lad & Dr. Vasant Lad

7. Nourishing Body and Soul: The Chopra Center Cookbook by Deepak Chopra, M.D., David Simon, M.D., and Leanne Backer

Online Resources

Online Dosha Quiz through Chopra Center
http://doshaquiz.chopra.com/

Chopra Center Online Library
http://www.chopra.com/library

American Institute of Vedic Studies
http://www.vedanet.com/

Anti-inflammatory diet

So I woke up today feeling a little lupy, as they say in the lupus community.   My joints are pretty achy and a bit swollen this morning, I feel pretty fatigued, and I have a mouth full of sores.  These are all symptoms of a lupus flare up.   My old self would have felt nothing but gloom and doom.  I would have started having visions of hospitalization or maybe even a panic attack.  However, all I can think about today is how blessed I am to have tools in my pocket to get through this.   I can remember many times where Clint, my mom, and I would just sit around trying to figure out what to do in times of bad lupus flare ups.   We really felt like we didn’t have any control.  I was in so much pain, and other than really strong medications, that came with many horrible side effects, we didn’t know how to control it.  The reason I bring this up is because I know that many of the people following my blog are in this situation.   Lupus can be scary and I know it can control your life, but it doesn’t have to.   I have the tools to control this and that gives me the power, not lupus.   Instead of thinking of this as a lupus flare up, I think of these symptoms as signals that my body needs a little TLC.   When I get these symptoms I really focus on the foods I am eating, I make sure I am getting plenty of water and rest, I do very restorative yoga, I keep a positive outlook, and I do healing guided imagery and meditation.  This month, my blog is focusing on food, so I want to spend some time talking about why it is so important during times like this to focus on diet.  Diet is very important for lupus symptoms because certain foods have anti-inflammatory properties and other foods can actually promote inflammation, which you definitely don’t want to be doing particularly during an illness.  An anti-inflammatory diet doesn’t just benefit people with lupus, it is beneficial in helping counteract chronic inflammation, a root cause of many serious diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, many cancers, and other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.  The basics of an anti-inflammatory diet are similar to what I have been talking about in my other posts.  The diet focuses on eating “real food” and avoiding “edible food like substances” or processed foods and other foods that can actually cause inflammation in the body.   Eating an anti-inflammatory diet includes focusing on eating “real foods”, foods that actually have anti-inflammatory properties.  This diet gives you a healthy balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Most people consume an excess of omega-6 fatty acids which actually promote inflammation. These inflammation promoting fats are found in almost all processed foods and fast foods. Omega-3 fatty acids have an anti-inflammatory effect and are found in oily fish, walnuts, flax, hemp, soy, canola oils and sea vegetables. The diet also focuses on eating more whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables which have anti-inflammatory properties. This diet encourages limiting or eliminating consumption of foods which promote inflammation.  These foods include meat, poultry, margarine, vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, bread, white potatoes, crackers, chips and other processed foods, pastries, and sweetened drinks.  The diet focuses on eating less refined and processed foods, and by avoiding fast foods and products made with high fructose corn syrup.  Dr. Andrew Weil has a wealth of information on his website about eating an anti-inflammatory diet.  A link to his website can be found under resources on the right side of my blog.  I hope you all have a great weekend; I will be spending my weekend healing with great food, yoga, meditation, and rest.  Namaste!     

Thank you for your support and feedback!

Wow!   I can’t thank everyone enough for all of the wonderful feedback to the blog so far.   I am so excited that others may benefit from my experience and from what I have learned during my journey to  good health. 

The biggest question I have heard was whether food choices were the only change I made.  The answer is, the food issue was just one change; however, I think it was one of the most important.   I made many other changes, and will blog about them in more detail in future months. I explored and benefited from many different alternative healing therapies such as chiropractic care, acupuncture, Ayurveda, massage, and Watsu.   I also have been working with a holistic preventative medicine physician who really worked on getting to the root of the problem, which for me ended up being largely a digestive issue.  I also started doing active movement every day and incorporated yoga and Pilates into my life.  And, I made huge changes to the way I think.  I learned about meditation and positive thinking and really tried to follow those basic principles.

Next month I will focus on meditation and positive thinking in my blog.  The Chopra Center, which is one of the places where I learned more about meditation, is doing a 21 day meditation challenge.  It begins on January 24^th, 2011. Participation is free.  I put a link to it on the blog under resources.  I plan to participate in the challenge and will blog about my experience.  Please feel free to join me.   Initially, I really struggled with meditation, but it has made a big difference for me.  The Chopra Center teaches that meditation is an antidote to stress, and I found that to be true in my life.   I think the greatest thing that I learned from meditation is what a quiet mind felt like.  Once I knew what that felt like, I was able to incorporate that feeling into my daily life when I was stressed, in pain, or anxious.   Meditation has proved to be a wonderful resource for me.  Research has also shown that there are numerous benefits to meditation, including reducing stress hormones like cortisol, reducing high blood pressure, etc.  I will post more about this subject in February.   I just wanted to let you know that the Chopra Center meditation challenge is a resource that is available.     

"Edible food like substances"

Who would have thought that eating “real food” would be difficult or confusing, but it is.   This is because “edible food like substances” are often disguised as food.   For this blog, I decided to take a trip to the local grocery store to prove my point.   What I found was really interesting and illustrates why  eating “real food” can be so confusing.   First, so many “edible food like substances” were disguised with labels like “all natural”, “no artificial flavors added”, “low fat”, or just by adding the word “healthy” to the product or label.   And, I was one of the people that fell for these disguises….well not anymore.

The first thing I do when I’m shopping is to flip over the product and look at the label.   Everything that you need to know is on the ingredient list.   A food producer can put whatever they want on the front of a package to disguise “edible food like substances”, but not on the ingredient list. They have to actually list what goes into the “food” on the ingredient list.   My all-time favorite of Michael Pollan’s food rules is, avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce, like calcium propionate, cellulose, ethoxylated diglycerides, ammonium sulfate, etc.   He also says to avoid food products that contain ingredients that you wouldn’t keep in the pantry, and I have never seen a pantry with ethoxylated diglycerides in it.   These ingredients are added to food to extend the shelf life and make food look fresh even when it isn’t fresh at all.   In order to extend the shelf life and make food look fresh, food manufacturers add in chemicals and remove other nutrients that are likely to turn rancid, like omega-3 fatty acids.  The more processed a food is, the longer the shelf life, and the less nutritious it typically is.   Research has also shown that these added chemicals affect the hormones in the small intestine.  Research is showing that these chemicals cause an over production of the hormones that trigger hunger and cause a delay in the release of the hormone that tells us when we are full.

So, why would they add these chemicals to our food?  I don’t know the entire answer, but I do know this has made food manufacturers a lot of money.  I also know that food shouldn’t last for months.   Food should rot.   This actually takes us to another Pollan tip that I think is very helpful….Eat only foods that will eventually rot or go bad.  Last, don’t be fooled by the “low fat” or “no fat” disguise.  Removing the fat from foods doesn’t make them non-fattening.  Most low or no-fat products remove the fat, but boost sugars and other “edible food like substances” or chemicals to make up for the lost flavor.    You are actually better off eating the “real food” in moderation than eating these “edible food like substances” loaded with sugar or salt.  As I mentioned in my last post, pay attention to how eating makes you feel.   Notice what foods make you feel energized or satisfied.   What foods make you feel overly full or sluggish?   Listen to your body.  You are what you eat. Or, I guess we should say…you are what you absorb, because your body must digest and absorb everything you put into it, even the ethoxylated diglycerides.   YUCK!!!! 

Let me know if there are other food topics you want me to focus on.   Future blogs for this month will include the topics of whole grains and my experience/learning about limiting dairy and meat.