Whole Food And More: 10/1/08

Coconut Oil For Fat Burn and More

Fats, fats, fats. We are told so much about fats. Fats kill. Fats cause heart disease. Fats cause cancer.

In 1998, the American Heart Association finally came out telling us to limit our intake of trans fats, the main ingredient in margarine.

Trans fats are also called partially hydrogenated oils. They are in all our junk foods, but some food companies are starting to cut back on their use, as sales have fallen off since revelations about trans fats began circulating.

Heating oils (almost all oils) actually starts to turn the oil into a partially hydrogenated oil.

The oils in your store, on those shelves, looking golden and clear, are ALREADY RANCID.

Coconut Oil is the healthiest fat.

Coconut oil is one of the most stable oils you can buy. It does not turn rancid easily. It does not attack your arteries.

Coconut oil was one of the foods Weston Price studied in his journeys. He discovered that the coconut was considered, by the local populations, a medicine food. He found that those who consumed coconut regularly had no cancer, heart disease, arthritis, or diabetes.

Coconut oil is antiviral, anti fungal (kills yeast too) and antibacterial.

Coconut oil is called the "low fat" fat. It acts like a carbohydrate, it is quickly broken down in the liver and used as quick energy. It is NOT stored like other fats.

It boosts one’s energy and endurance. Many athletes use it blended into their drinks. It also supports thyroid function and increases your metabolism (great if you want to lose weight).

Coconut oil improves digestion and absorption of fat soluble vitamins, minerals (especially calcium and magnesium), and amino acids.

It improves the body’s use of blood glucose and improves insulin secretion and absorption.

Cooking with coconut oil does not create any harmful byproducts.

Coconut oil helps the body heal and repair faster. It aids and supports immune function, protecting us from a variety of cancers.

Coconut oil, contrary to much hubbub, is good for your heart. It keeps our blood platelets from sticking together (and causing dangerous clots).

Coconut oil can lower your blood pressure.

Coconut oil is a natural antioxidant.

What coconut oil it does to your skin, you simply have to witness. It forms a barrier against infections, softens and moisturizes your skin, and prevents wrinkling, sagging, and age spots.

Coconut oil is often preferred by athletes and body builders and by those who are dieting. Using coconut oil increases your metabolism. This is the low fat fat that helps you lose weight. The fats in coconut oil, unlike all other fats, do not circulate through the blood looking for places to be stored. They go directly to the liver and are turned into instant energy.

Distinguish the differences between HYDROGENATED Coconut oil (the one with the bad press) and VIRGIN Coconut oil.

Expeller Press for coconut oil

I use the Coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. When I want the sweet coconut taste I use the virgin oil, for cooking or when the coconut taste wouldn't work so well I use the expeller pressed.

Don't let the media reports about coconut oil scare you - buy from a quailty source - work up to about 4 tablespoons a day, this sounds like a lot but I found it was very easy to get this much oil between cooking and adding it to my tea.

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Full Disclaimer, There may be affiliate links on this page. In some cases, I will be compensated if you decide to purchase a product based on my recommendation. In some cases, I receive free product for review purposes. I only include those links for products and services that I use myself. I work hard with researching in addition to trying-testing all the products-services before publishing to my visitors.

Asking for grass-fed beef - my experience

My family and I went camping last weekend (yes we are in Minnesota and yes it was COLD) so I didn't get to the St. Paul Farmer's Market. I needed grass-fed beef so I thought I would check a local grocery. I know they have started carrying some uncured bacon and lots of organic food.

I didn't find any so I thought I should ask for grass-fed beef, because they'll only carry it if they perceive demand.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: I'm looking for grass-fed beef, do you have any?

Butcher: Hmm, grass-fed? I don't think you can feed grass to cows.

Me: Really? Well, they're ruminant animals, so I think that's what they're supposed to eat.

Butcher: I don't think so. They love corn. They need vitamins and minerals and stuff.

Me: [mind racing] Uh.. [is all that came out].

Butcher: Now this, he points down at large, marbled slab in meat case, this is corn-fed beef. It's the best tasting beef you can get because the cows ate corn, not grass.

Me: Yeah, well, um, thanks anyway.

So my question for you is this;

If you needed a heart surgeon would you go to a foot doctor? Of course not! So why do so many people buy meat from a meat counter instead of the rancher that feeds grass. This rancher knows cows and the health benefit for his cows and us when they eat grass. He treats his cows humanely.

The choice is still up to you but for me I'll support my local farmers and ranchers because that's just the right thing, for me. I can't stand the thought of eating feed-lot meats and eggs knowing how these animals are abused. Not to forget - we are what we eat, so we are corn and other crap if we eat feed-lot animals.

I'll wait until Saturday to get my grass-fed beef. I buy it from a local rancher that only feeds grass. I also get all my pastured eggs and chicken from this same rancher.

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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Dr. Heidi Dulay's Food Cycling Fat Burn Program - Part of Whole Food Nation

Food Cycling aka Extreme Regime (ER)
The Program

What's different about this? It's based on new research showing that calorie counting and doing exercise don't help most people lose weight. The Surgeon General's Report notwithsanding.

What do we get to eat? No rabbit food required. No exercise required. So, what do I have to do?

Eat real fats and proteins. Lay off artificial sweeteners and packaged "low-carb" or "low-fat" foods. Those labels are a sure sign of fake ingredients inside. They may cause you to retain water and fat and pack on cellulite.

ER eating plans accommodate Western and Eastern foods, different blood types and food sensitivies, traveling, restaurant food, and different levels of cooking skills.

On a pauper budget? Vegetarian? There are ER food plans for you.

You get a food list, food sources and recipes.

Here are the 4 basics of the ER program:

1. Real food is good. No fake, toxic, food-like substances.

2. Fat is good, including saturated fat IF it's from happy animals. Or from coconuts.

3. Refined carbs are bad: sugar, sweets, alcohol and refined grains (white bread, pasta, rice, etc.). BAD.

4. Starving is no good. It destroys metabolism and creates fat.

What about fruits and veggies? Whole grains and legumes?

There's a place for them in ER, but it is not in the Fat Burning Cycle except for a few, for some people.

Fruits and vegetables are primary foods in Cleansing, the second big cycle in ER. Grains and legumes may be part of the Coasting cycle for some people, depending on their body type. For many people, grains and legumes are fattening, or cause digestive problems and allergies.

What's food cycling?

Food cycling grew out of very different "diet" approaches that all reported success. One explanation, it seems, is that bodies work like the seasons - they need different foods for different times.

For example, Fat Burning food is very different from Cleansing food. Coasting food, the third big cycle in ER, is also different. There are two mini-cycles: Comfort and Celebration, which keep us sane and happy.

ER Program Options

Active format. Dr. Heidi does live weekly group conference calls. She brings you up to date on clinical research findings on weight loss, and clarifies much of the confusing advice you might have heard or read. She works with you one-on-one every week to customize your program based on your own biochemical profile, conditions, preferences, reactions, and rate of progress.

Audit format. For do-it-yourselfers. No private sessions. Listen to the group calls, receive the handouts (pdfs), videos and audios, and join the private online ER discussion group.

What makes this work?

1. The food cycles.
Bodies know that there’s a time for fat burning, and a time for cleansing and rejuvenation. A time for discipline, and a time for comfort or celebration. And when it's ready it can coast, knowing what's truly good for it.

The Food Cycling/Extreme Regime Program guides you through these eating stages for lasting weight loss.

2. Commitment to health and rejuvenation.
There's nothing toxic (like artificial sweeteners or artificial bars or shakes) that's likely to compromise your health in the long run. No fat deprivation. We'd rather focus preventing or reversing aging while you lose weight.

3. Commitment to pleasure, ease and individuality.
I've been a hedonist for years. So I tailor your ER to you. How? Together, we eliminate anything stressful or unappealing. ER can accomodate your unique conditions, life style and goals.Plus if you don't like what you're eating, you might stress out. Chronic stress is harmful to health and causes fat storage. Who wants that?

What about weight loss?

Here’s what program graduates have said:

“ I finally lost the 20 lbs I thought I would never lose and kept it off even after a Mexico vacation. I’m never hungry.”
- Jennifer Grainger, Counselor, Stockton, CA

“I’m glad I lost 45 pounds in four months, but what’s more important is I feel so much better. When I came to Dr. Dulay a year ago, I couldn’t work more than 15 hours a week. Now I’m working 30.”
- Joe Thompson, Contractor, Petaluma, CA

“I lost 70 lbs in 9 months, including a 2-month plateau which I’m just coming off now. I just kept on food cycling during the plateau and I’m starting to lose again. 50 more to go. It’s part of my life now. It’s easy to eat in restaurants. It’s the way my husband and I eat now and we like it.”
- Syd Thompson, Real estate broker (Joe’s wife), Petaluma, CA

“I can feel it in the waist of my pants. They’re all looser... I’m not eating all that junk I used to eat -- Cheetos, Tostitos ... No candy bar after lunch, no Cokes except on rare occasions. I don’t miss them at all. And I now enjoy food in France without paying the weight price.”
- Nat Baker, Financial Controller, Silicon Valley

“I never thought losing weight could feel this good. Most of my perimenopausal symptoms and cravings are gone.”
- Virginia Poggi, Stockton, CA

copyright Little Spa and Whole Food Nation.

Next ER Fat Burn program Jan. 09
Learn more from Little Spa

Update: People are spaming this post with their pills, shakes, and miracle diets. I have posted some and deleted some. I left some to show what most people think is the way to lose weight. Feel free to try these pills and miracles and let me know how it works out for you. Make your own comparison and decide which sounds the healthiest and which fits you the best.

Oh and don't forget you still have to eat so why pay for the pills, shakes ebooks or whatever every month and still have to buy food? I prefer to pay once for a Doctor to guide me, this knowledge I keep forever. Now I can still have money to buy real food, cool...

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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A Detox is Like Spring Cleaning For Your Body

My early Christmas present to myself is the detox and body cleanse program I'm starting this Sunday. My first question about the program was - Will I be hungry? I've read many people say they are hungry while doing a detox or juice fast. I can't go hungry, I get too crabby to be near anyone when I'm hungry!

I also don't think it's healthy to go it alone while detoxing and juice fasting, at least not for me and not the first time. So I'm part of Dr. Heidi's 14th annual Detox/Cleanse. I'll get my brain cleared out and regenerate my body.

I will be posting about the detox during the next month so stay tuned. If you know anyone who wants to start the Holidays with a new clean body they can go here Little Spa click on registration.

You do it from home.

Here's a 3:32 cartoon animation to take the scary out.

Inside Whole Food Nation

Here's what will happen during this New You month:
Little Spa Detox

NOTE: Auditors welcome. You get the coveted ER food list too!

What better time to get your own juice back when the press is full of bad news and gloom and doom?

Register at Little Spa

Real Food Help From Real People Eating Right

In the modern food industry, novelty and technical wizardry are the rule. In the United States, 10,000 new processed foods come on the market each year, and it seems a new diet is always climbing the best-seller list.

I'm learning not to play by the health-tip rules or current advice. How am I doing this when I read daily about the latest studies telling us food is bad?

I learn from people like Dr. Heidi Dulay -- Nina Planck -- and Gary Taubes - Good Calories, Bad Calories. Along with sites such as Weston Price -- Eatwild and Local Harvest.

Here's a sample of what Nina Planck tells about her book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why
(By the way Dr. Heidi feels the same way about real food and teaches people like me what real food is.)

What kind of food do you eat? Why did you choose it?

Surprise source of vitamin D

Do you eat crude oil?

Numerous studies show that certain synthetic food additives can have serious learning, behavior, and/or health effects for sensitive people.

Those pretty colors that make the "fruit punch" red, the gelatin green and the oatmeal blue are made from petroleum (crude oil) which is also the source for gasoline.

If you eat foods that contain synthetic dyes (food colors) then yes you are eating crude oil! These artificial colorings - which are found in many foods, medicines, vitamins, and some non-foods like toothpaste and mouthwash - are synthesized from petroleum.

Artificial colors have been around for more than 100 years. (Originally they were made from coal tar oil.) And children have been eating artificially colored and flavored products for decades.

But then . . . most children ate these additives infrequently. They got an occasional lollipop from the bank or barber shop. Cotton candy was found at the circus. Jelly beans were given at Easter, orange cupcakes at Halloween and candy canes at Christmas.

Today . . . the typical child growing up in the United States is exposed to these powerful chemicals all day, every day.

You will find them on the ingredient labels, listed as "Yellow No. 5," "Red 40," "Blue #1," etc.

The label may say "FD&C" before the number. That means "Food, Drug & Cosmetics." When you see a number listed as "D&C" in a product, such as "D&C Red #33" it means that this coloring is considered safe for medicine (drugs) and cosmetics, but not for food.

What's wrong with a little petrol in my diet?

Scientists have found that many people are sensitive to these chemicals, which can trigger a wide number of behavior, learning and health problems. "Artificial flavors and colors have been associated with respiratory allergic disorders, with urticaria (hives) and angioedema, with lesions of the tongue and buccal mucosa, with digestive disturbances, with arthralgia and hydrarthroses, and with headache and behavioral disturbances, including hyperkinesis in childhood." ( Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics, 1987)

If they were harmful wouldn't they be banned?

Most of the synthetic dyes have already been banned, and those few which remain have been found to trigger many problems in sensitive people. The food and Drug Administration has tried for many years to have Red Dye Number 3 baned, but has faced vigorous industry and political pressure from manufacturers. (committee on Governmental Operations/U.S. House of Representatives, 1985)

Dyes which have been banned as health hazards:

Sudan 1
Butter Yellow
Carbon Black
Red 1
Red 2
Red 4
Red 32
Citrus Red
Orange 1
Orange 2
Orange B
Yellow 1
Yellow 2
Yellow 3
Yellow 4
Green 1
Green 3
Violet 1
(Source: Public Citizen Health Research Group)

Dyes still in use in foods*:

Red 3 - Partially banned; causes thyroid cancer in animals; is also used as a pesticide, to kill fly's eggs (maggots) in manure piles. (Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Red 22 - *Not Permitted in food, but found in many lipsticks; can be used as a herbicide, to kill marijuana plants. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Red 40 - Banned in Canada, but used in the U.S.; suspected of causing cancerous tumors in test animals.
Yellow 5 - Widely used in foods and drugs; causes asthma and hives in some individuals; (U.S. Food & Drug Administration) triggers hyperactivity in sensitive children. (Lancet, Mar. 9, 1985)
Yellow 6 - Can cause urticaria (hives), rhinitis, nasal congestion, bronchoconstriction, anaphylactoid reaction, purpura, indigestion, abdominal pain, vomiting. (Source: American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs, 1985)
Blue 1 and 2 - Blue 2 has recently been approved despite continuing controversy. (Source: Public Citizen Heath Research Group)

Foods free of these and other harmful additives can be found in your supermarket; often the consumer need only switch from one brand to another. A nonprofit organization can help you avoid petroleum-based additives.

Contact:
Feingold Association of the United States
www.feingold.org ~ (800) 321-3287

If you take a multi-vitamin get this free report Are Your Vitamins Safe? to see if you are taking synthetic ingredients.

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I look skinny, but am I, really?

When I decided to audit the ER fat burn program it was to learn more about real food. I made it a point to tell Dr. Heidi I didn't need to burn fat. I was skinny. She told me even skinny people store fat and in the worse places, around internal organs. Yikes, that scared me into learning how to eat real food!

If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.

Some doctors now think that the internal fat surrounding vital organs like the heart, liver or pancreas – invisible to the naked eye – could be as dangerous as the more obvious external fat that bulges underneath the skin.

"Being thin doesn't automatically mean you’re not fat," said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create "fat maps" showing where people store their fat.

Without a clear warning signal – like rounder middle – doctors worry that thin people maybe lulled into falsely assuming that because they’re not overweight, they’re healthy.

"Just because someone is lean doesn’t make them immune to diabetes or other risk factors for heart disease," said Dr. Louis Teichholz, chief of cardiology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, who was not involved in Bell’s research.

Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores – a standard obesity measure that divides your weight by the square of your height – can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside.

Of the women scanned by Bell and colleagues, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had excessive levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent. Relating the news to what Bell refers to as TOFIs, or people who are "thin outside, fat inside," is rarely uneventful. "The thinner people are, the bigger the surprise," he said. He said that they have even found TOPIs among people who are professional models.

According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are essentially on the threshold of being obese. They eat too many fatty, sugary foods but they are not eating enough to actually be fat. Scientists believe we naturally accumulate fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.

Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some suspect it contributes to the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They theorize that internal fat disrupts the body’s communication systems. The fat enveloping internal organs might be sending the body mistaken chemical signals to store fat inside organs like the liver or pancreas. This could ultimately lead to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, or heart disease.

The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off by improving your diet.

Because many factors contribute to heart disease it’s difficult to determine the precise danger of internal fat-though it certainly doesn't help.

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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Do your kids eat breakfast?

Recent reports show 40% of kids don't eat breakfast! My son does eat breakfast everyday. In the past it might have been junk food like frozen waffles.

Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right?

Here is some proof from recent studies:

Students who ate breakfasts before starting school had better math grades, reading scores, increased student attention, reduced nurse visits, and improved behavior.

Children who eat a healthy breakfast 'meet their daily nutritional needs, keep their weight under control, have lower blood cholesterol levels and attend school more frequently.

Kids who eat breakfast are more likely than children who skip breakfast to consume foods with adequate levels of essential minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamins, such as riboflavin, vitamins A, C, and B12, and folate.

So why aren't kids eating breakfast each day?
Most likely it is because most family's are already rushed in the morning and we don't feel like we have time to provide a nutritious breakfast. But remember that a good breakfast doesn't require lots of time - especially if you have a Vita-Mix machine. There are many quick and easy breakfasts that you can give your kids that are also nutritious.

Try this Fruit smoothie:
Makes 2-1/2 cups

Processing Time: 1 minute
Speed: High

1 cup red seedless grapes
1 cup strawberries
1 banana
1 cup

Hint: If using frozen strawberries, do not add ice.

Place all ingredients in the Vita-Mix container in the order listed. Secure 2-part lid. Select VARIABLE, speed #1. Turn on machine and quickly increase speed to #10; then to HIGH. Run for 1 minute, or until smooth. Serve immediately.

I do this morning drink for my son often. He loves it and I know he is getting fruits that he might not get otherwise!

Enjoy and play around with the ingredients until you find your child's favorite.

I do have a few bottles of Big B unlabeled if anyone wants more information.

Related articles:
Foods aimed at children have poor nutrition
Why Vita-Mix gives better nutrition

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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Dr. Russell Blaylock on nutrition, health and behavior

I agree with Dr. Blaylock about dietary recommendations failing to curtail heart disease. But not on the animal fat subject. GRASS-fed livestock have the richest fat soluble vitamins important in neolithic times, yet we should avoid it now?

A big factor in heart disease is vegetable oils. Coconut and olive oils are the healthiest oils to use. Our great grandparents cooked with lard, including raw butter, yet heart disease made up 8% of mortality in the early 1900s.

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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Food Aimed At Children Rates Poor For Nutrition

Grocery shopping with my son used to be a chore and full of battles. He wanted the junk food, snacks, frozen waffles and of course mac and cheese. I've seen a slow but steady change in the food he picks now. He actually reads the labels and can tell when the health claims are hyped.

He knows if it says reduced calorie it's usually because the package size is cut in half. He knows fat free doesn't mean healthy. He will not eat white bread since he found out it is made from the same stuff as glue. He insists on pastured eggs because he knows these happy chickens get out in the sun so their eggs have vitamin D. He loves coconut oil and real butter - yes both are very healthy. He is on the train for a whole food nation!

Next - How my 10-year-old son left the junk food nation.... for a whole food nation.

Related articles:
Top concerns for children
IFS do you have it?
Weird food trends
Eggs are not all equal
Do you buy food or food-like stuff?

Did the Surgeon General Get It Wrong About Weight? Free Report

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Log Cabin Syrup is Corn Syrup

If you are trying to eat right you have to read the ingredient labels.

Yesterday I asked what is this food. What did you guess from the ingredients? Ok so this ingredient list was pretty simple because of this, artificial maple flavor.

It's Log Cabin Original Syrup. They don't call it maple syrup because there's no real maple syrup in it. Although, I did a search for Log Cabin Syrup ingredients and found this:

The ingredients I listed on this page are from the actual bottle (yes it w

as in my cabinet from my pre-label reading days, it's trashed now!)

I use Spring Tree Maple Syrup. The ingredients: Pure Maple Syrup!

If what you put in your body matters to you, look in your cabinets and start reading those ingredient labels. If it's not real food, it's not going to offer health benefits.

Synthetics in food and more

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Know Your Ingredients - What is this food?

I've been reading labels on everything and have been surprised with how the food industry is deceiving us. The name of a product with nice pictures does not tell us anything. Read the ingredients, start with this one. It's really pretty simple to figure this one out, when you do ask why the product has zero of what you would expect.

I'll tell the product with next post.

Tell us - What you think this product is?

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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Homemade Peanut Butter With My Vita-Mix

Really quick post today. I just made my first peanut butter! I bought organic peanuts from my favorite natural food co-op Mississippi Market last week for the purpose of testing my Vita-Mix with making my own peanut butter.

It was so easy, took 1 minute and tastes so much better than the store bought peanut butter. Oh and it was a lot cheaper than buying the jars of organic peanut butter. (even organic peanut butter has more than just peanuts) I put the creamy peanut butter in a Mason Jar and will keep it in the fridge.

The clean-up was simple. I put 2 cups of hot water with a drop of dish soap in the container, ran this for 2 minutes and rinsed. :)

Note about making peanut butter in your Vita-Mix:
Over-processing will cause serious over-heating to your machine. Do not process for more than 1 minute after mixture starts circulating.

Next I'm going to make cashew butter - yum. I'll get a video for that one to show how easy it is from start to clean-up.

Vita-Mix - free shipping

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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7 Reasons I'm Doing A Detox-Cleanse Cycle

Have you ever done a juice fast or detox/cleanse cycle only to give up because you are hungry all the time? Or maybe you just felt to drained and sick to continue.

I've never done anything like this and reading how it affects others is scary, especially when they go it alone without the supervision of a trained expert. Books are good for this type of info but when it comes to my body I want the expert (Dr.) to monitor my body.

I'm going to start a detox - juice fast on Oct. 25, 08 but I won't do it alone. I've wanted to know how to detox for a while but was concerned about being hungry, no energy or throwing my body out of balance from not eating the right things.

I will be working with Dr. Heidi Dulay. She will guide me for 5 weeks to make sure I don't compromise my health.

Little Spa click on registration for options.

Why am I doing a detox?
1. Give my digestive system a vacation.
2. Clear metabolic waste.
3. Release toxins.
4. Identify any food allergies and get rid of them forever.
5. Get rid of addictions (I'll write more about this later)
6. Reduce the little bit of cellulite I have.
7. Lose baby belly fat.

My 3 biggest reasons to detox are the first three.

If you what to listen to Dr. Heidi talk about the detox program that she has working with people on for 14 years go here..... Dr. Heidi's intro Detox-Cleanse call.

Little Spa click on registration for options.Full active spots are close to being full, auditor spots available at much less cost. The auditor spots do not include the one on one calls with Dr. Heidi but you do get all handouts, get on all calls and learn from everyone through the Google group.

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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'Detoxifying' Foot Pads are a Scam

An NPR experiment on Kinoki foot pads tested to see if they'd drawn anything out of a reporter's body.

Reporter Sarah Varney and her husband bought some “detoxifying” Kinoki foot pads and wore them to bed. In the morning, they both awoke find the pads covered in the brown mess that the advertisement had promised. But when they took the foot pads to a lab and had them analyzed and compared with unused pads, the used pads were almost identical to the blank.

Further experimentation showed that the “gunk” in the pads shows up if you hold the pad over a pot of boiling water. Who knew steam had "metabolic waste"?

Source:Mercola.com

Toxicology Lab Found No Toxins in Used Foot Pads

Like reporter Sarah Varney, 20/20’s correspondent John Stossel also took used pads in for toxicology testing. And, like hers, Stossel’s results came back negative.

20/20 asked NMS Labs, a national laboratory in Willow Grove, Pa., to analyze used Kinoki and Avon pads from eight volunteers. They tested for heavy metals, including arsenic and mercury, and 23 solvents such as benzene, tolulene and styrene.

None of these common toxins were found in the used pads.

So what’s that brown, foul-smelling gunk?

It’s just a natural reaction between the ingredients and the moisture from the bottom of your foot.

Exposing the pads to moisture, either by placing them over a steaming pot of water, or putting a few drops of water on them will make the ingredients turn a darker color and emit an unpleasant odor.

Dr. Devra Davis, director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh and an expert on toxins, also conducted a similar experiment on her own, leaving the pads out overnight without their protective packaging. In an article for MSNBC she stated the pads contain “little more than green tea and vinegar,” and that the color and odor are likely the result of these ingredients “interacting with oxygen, heat or moisture.”

20/20 asked Avon and Kinoki for scientific test results showing the pads do what they claim to do, but neither company fulfilled the request.

I'll do a detox program with real food. It starts Oct. 25- 08 so stay turned to see how it goes, it will be my first detox and juice fast!

Are Your Vitamins Safe?

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Vita-Mix may increase bio-availability in food - Study

I use my Vita-Mix everyday and love it. It takes fresh fruit and veggies and makes a smooth drink in a minute. I use it to make hot fresh soups, butter, ice cream, salsa and even grind the soft bones from my chicken broth for my dogs. Many people think I'm nuts to have paid what I did for a "blender" wait - it's not a blender. A blender can't do what my Vita-Mix does.. read the new study.

Breakthrough research -- fresh from the University of Toronto

A recent study from the University of Toronto determined that the Vita-Mix processing method does indeed alter plant cell wall structure in a unique way, influence particle size differently, and may increase bioavailability.

What does this mean to you? You can only get the benefits of food when cell walls are broken to release the trapped nutrients. Chewing may only release a portion of these nutrients as shown by these lab micrographs. Vita-Mix processing power breaks open more cell walls which may release MORE of these nutrients.

Using a Vita-Mix 5200 machine makes the most of every dollar you spend on food—every day.

Here is a synopsis of this exciting research: Three plant foods--strawberry, carrot and tomato--were selected as representative of various plant cell wall densities. The selected foods were able to provide clear evidence of the different results obtained when the same food is chewed and processed in a Vita-Mix 5200.

Both chewed and Vita-Mix-processed plant tissue samples were examined by light and scanning electron microscopy.

A 2003 study conducted by Gene Spiller, PhD, CNS, FACN at Health Research and Studies Center in Los Altos, California involved plasma ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) and Carotenoid studies.

The comparison of mean peak values to fasting values showed an increase in nutrient levels for subjects consuming Vita-Mix processed rather than raw fruits and vegetables.

The results of the study suggest that parts of whole foods that are not normally consumed, but can be prepared in the Vita-Mix machine (i.e. stems, seeds, strawberry tops and pineapple core), can contribute to a higher intake of antioxidants if prepared in a way that makes these parts more digestible.

To sum it up, whole foods have it all--but teeth can't cut through food fiber to deliver all the nutrition trapped inside their cell walls, particularly the nutrient-rich skins and seeds. When whole foods are simply chewed, lots of nutrients are tossed out as inedible or they pass through the body undigested.

Again, great news for everyone who owns a Vita-Mix 5200: You get more fiber, more flavor and more nutrition than you thought possible when you make whole food meals in your Vita-Mix machine.

Don't have a Vita-Mix? Click image here:

Vita-Mix
Healthy Whole Food Meals Quick, Easy and Delicious!

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What's in the food you eat?

Today I wanted to share a guest post from my niece Nichole, who has just gotten on the real food train. Enjoy... and thanks Nichole for sharing your journey.

Nichole's story:

"First let me say I want to quit smoking, cut out my fast food habits, and all in all get healthy, so I need support on this one."

Has anyone read what's in the foods you eat? I mean really looked? Can you even pronounce half of the words? I know I can't. I love fresh everything and my personal favorite is to make marinara sauce from scratch. No packaged anything.

I admit I don't cook that way all the time, more like hardly ever, but I really do want to again. I have fallen back onto the it's easy and fast meal routine and I can feel the differences in my body. Meals in a box were never my choice but when on a budget you make do. But I crave veggies and fruits.

I have gone through periods when work has caused me to eat fast food for long periods and I have never wanted a salad more. Your body is trying to tell you something.
All the processed junk you put in it is not good for it.

Yea there are organic foods out there, but they still have chemicals in them. Organic peanut butter, has preservatives still right?

Think back on something now, way back when, before doctors and modern day medicine, people got sick, but was cancer around? People had babies without doctors, died without doctors, lived productive lives without doctors.

There is a word for every ailment out there from an allergy to runner's knee. (I have both) And the Dr's want me to take all this prescription stuff for it. Yes, I do take allergy pills, and Tylenol, but if I eat better and cut out all the crap in my diet, I don't get headaches, my nose doesn't stop up.

So now I am kicking myself thinking why do I give in to the fast and easy meals?

My view, I want to keep going to the DR. It has to be that. Why else would we sabotage our bodies the way we do?

Modern Medicine is great, but it has made us lazy. I- like most Americans, am making the Dr's and big corporations richer while ruining my own health.

Well, I for one have had enough of it. Today is a new day, I am going to take control of my own life and eat better to feel better. ---Nichole

Give Nichole your support and keep up with her journey - here's her new blog.

The Detoxification Effect of Rebounding

Rebounding offers a less stressful means of reducing body fat and simultaneously firming body tissues. Running in place on the rebounder burns calories effectively and will help detox your body!

The lymphatic system is the metabolic garbage can of the body. It rids you of toxins such as dead and cancerous cells, nitrogenous wastes, fat, infectious viruses, heavy metals, and other assorted junk cast off by the cells. The movement performed in rebounding provides the stimulus for a free-flowing system that drains away these potential poisons.

Unlike the arterial system, the lymphatic system does not have its own pump. It has no heart muscle to move the fluid around through its lymph vessels. There are just three ways to activate the flow of lymph away from the tissues it serves and back into the main pulmonary circulation. Lymphatic flow requires muscular contraction from exercise and movement, gravitational pressure, and internal massage to the valves of lymph ducts.

Rebounding supplies all three methods of removing waste products from the cells and from the body. Then arterial blood enters the capillaries in order to furnish the cells with fresh tissue fluid containing food and oxygen. The bouncing motion effectively moves and recycles the lymph and the entire blood supply through the circulatory system many times during the course of the rebounding session.

Rebounding is a lymphatic exercise. As stated earlier, it has the same effect on your body as jumping rope, but without any jarring effect to the ankles, knees, and lower back that comes from hitting the ground. Better than rope jumping, however, the lymphatic channels get put under hydraulic pressure to move fluids containing waste products of metabolism around and out of the body through the left subclavian vein.

Related articles:
Rebounding is my fitness choice
Jump 5 minutes a day

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Special Detox/Cleanse info call WED eve!

Dr. Heidi is doing a special info call to introduce her October Detox/Cleanse program.

This WED evening. October 15

5:30PM PT 6:30PM MT 7:30PM CT 8:30PM ET

712.429.0700
Pin 664114#
Detox starts October 25. It's a five-week over-the-phone consultation program with the group, you, and Dr. Heidi.

Most of the class is already filled with ER Fat Burn graduates, but there are still a few spots for Active Participants and Auditors (listen only).

Dr. Heidi's ER Fat Burn is perhaps the most successful program I have witnessed - every single person has benefited from learning what real food is, where to find it and how to eat it. Plus they all help each other on their private ER forum. You could be part of that...

95% of the Actives also lost weight. So did many auditors.

You'll have a chance to ask Dr. Heidi questions right after the
introduction to her ER Detox program.

Fondly,

Robin-

P.S. To see and hear stories of the ER Fat Burn folks, go here: ER was for my son
read, and scroll down for more.

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Why jumping on a Rebounder is my fitness choice

As much as I would love to jog for fitness I can't do it anymore. Since my son was born I can't handle any exercise that has impact. I'm sure other women know what I'm talking about.

I've had a Rebounder for several months and it works perfectly for me and my body.

Jumping on the mini-trampoline is remarkably un-strenuous on the joints. There's no solid ground to suddenly stop the bouncing of your feet. Your movements are perfectly safe, and they make the effect of gravity beneficial. By working against constant gravitational pressure while bouncing, you resist the Earth's pull. Your resistance is subtle, but it builds cellular strength. Rebounding's alternating weightlessness and double gravity produce a pumping action which pulls out waste products from the cells and forces into them, oxygen and nutrition from the bloodstream.

Rebounding aerobics is working with gravity to cleanse your tissue cells and act as an oxygenator, which, in turn, lightens the load on the heart. Also it's fun to bounce! Much more than fun, however, rebounding provides a number of physiological pick-me-ups for the person who sustains this activity for at least ten minutes, four times a day, or for a single daily session for 40 minutes. As you bounce, your feet hit the mat with twice the force of gravity. Then just as the astronauts experience while floating in space, your body is in a state of weightlessness at the top of the bounce.

Next the detoxification effect of rebounding

Needak Rebounders

Why the ER Fat Burn wasn't for me...

"I didn't need to lose weight. I audited the program because I wanted to make sure my ten-year-old son was eating right." -Robin.

"I was eating right, mostly plants, and no red meat, not too much fat and rarely ate sweets. (ok I thought I was eating right!)

"I did drink a lot of Alka Seltzer because my stomach was always upset. I was always bloated and couldn't get rid of the 10-year-old baby belly fat. I didn't have energy to play with my son or stay awake with my husband after our son went to sleep.

"I didn't sleep well, always woke up a few hours after falling asleep tossing and turning for hours. I didn't make a connection with how I felt and the food I ate.

"A little voice kept telling me the ER Fat Burn program wasn't for me because I don't like meat, I've never heard of kefir, can't drink milk, don't like fish or cod liver oil, and didn't know how to find or afford the foods on the ER list.

"It wasn't as hard to find the real food as I thought it would be. I've become a regular at the St. Paul Farmers Market. This is where I found pastured eggs, pastured chicken, and grass-fed beef.

"I found raw cheese, uncured bacon and ham, real butter from grass-fed cows, Himalayan salt, sprouted bread, Kombucha and many other ER foods from my local Mississippi Market co-op. It was fun foraging for these foods. I didn't have to eat things I didn't like – fish, yuck. ( I am using lemon Cod Liver oil and drinking non-homogenized whole milk)

"The best and most unexpected thing was how my 10-year-old has grasped what I've learned in the ER program and has changed the way he eats.

"He tells all his friends what we eat now and why. He's on his own mission to help get his friends off the chicken nuggets, fast food and even low-fat milk. He will only eat eggs and meat from pastured sources. He helped me make butter a while back and loves the whole milk (I admit I haven't found raw milk yet - but I will).

"It's priceless to know I'm teaching my son how food affects health. The timing was so perfect to involve him in the things I was learning from Dr. Heidi. The entire ER group has helped shape the future of my son, so Thank you all!

"Also, my family loves grass-fed beef, that's huge for my son and me, we've never been red meat eaters.

"I haven't used Alka Seltzer in 10 weeks, no more upset stomach, bloating and the baby belly fat is gone.

"I enjoy playing with my son (and husband) again. I have energy again.

"Most nights I sleep through the night. If I do wake it's not all the tossing and turning like before.

"Thank you Dr. Heidi for showing what real food is and helping my son get on the ER food plan. Maybe when he has his own family our Extreme Regime food will be normal...

"Can't wait for ER Detox to begin Oct 25.

Thanks everyone, Robin"
What's ER Food? See 3 min animation here.

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Death Begins in The Colon - Health Begins in The Mouth

Health begins in the mouth while - Death begins in the colon. Don't believe it? Ask any coroner. Autopsies often reveal colons that are plugged up to 80 percent with waste material. You could be plugging your colon with years of waste. Years of poison.

Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints in the United States. More than 4 million Americans have frequent constipation, accounting for 2.5 million physician visits a year.

The colon is a sewerage system, but by neglect and abuse it becomes a cesspool.
When it's clean and normal we are well and happy.

Let it stagnate it will:

Distill the poisons of decay, fermentation and putrefaction, into the blood, poisoning the brain and nervous system so that we become mentally depressed and irritable.
Poison the heart so that we are weak and listless.
Poison the lungs so that the breath is foul.
Poison the digestive organs so that we are distressed and bloated.
Poison the blood so that the skin is sallow and unhealthy.

In short, every organ of the body is poisoned, and we age prematurely, look and feel old, the joints are stiff and painful, neuritis, dull eyes and a sluggish brain overtake us; the pleasure of living is gone. Source

It is critical to offer our digestive system ideal food that will nourish it and keep our colon clean, avoiding constipation. Relying on over the counter quick fixes will not result in long term good health.

I'm starting a Detox program with Dr. Heidi Dulay soon. More about the program soon.

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Recalls and Melamine Contamination

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased inspections and product testing in response to the melamine contamination problem that originated in Chinese dairy products.

Consumers should not use the following products:

Blue Cat Flavor Drinks
On Oct. 6, 2008, FDA announced that it had detected melamine contamination in Blue Cat Flavor Drinks. The distributor of the product, Tristar Food Wholesale Co. Inc., has initiated a recall of several flavors.

Mr. Brown Coffee and Milk Tea Products
On Sept. 26, 2008, FDA issued an alert that seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products were being recalled by the Taiwanese company, King Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd., due to possible contamination with melamine. King Car Food Industrial Co. used a nondairy creamer manufactured by Shandong Duqing Inc., China, which was found to be contaminated with melamine.

The recalled products are:
Mr. Brown Mandheling Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Arabica Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Caramel Macchiato Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown French Vanilla Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Mandhling Blend Instant Coffee (2-in-1)
Mr. Brown Milk Tea (3-in-1)

Sunny Maid Corp., Monterey Park, Calif., an importer and distributor of Mr. Brown instant coffee products, is recalling the products in the United States.

White Rabbit Creamy Candies
The California Department of Public Health and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority reported that their testing of White Rabbit Creamy Candies has shown melamine contamination at high levels.

In light of the widespread contamination of milk and milk-based products in China and the findings of the California Department of Public Health and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, FDA continues to recommend that consumers not eat White Rabbit Creamy Candy.

A recall by QFCO Inc., Burlingame, Calif., distributor of the White Rabbit Creamy Candies, is underway in the United States.

Monitoring Recalls
FDA is closely monitoring these recalls and will continue to perform follow-up activities of other recalls that may develop.

To date, the agency is not aware of any illnesses in the United States stemming from the consumption of Blue Cat Flavor Drinks, White Rabbit Creamy Candy, or Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products. People who have experienced health problems after consuming these products should contact their health care professional.

For More Information
FDA Statement: FDA Detects Melamine Contamination in Flavored Drink
www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01896.html

Health Information Advisory on Infant Formula
www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/formula091508.html

Date Posted: October 9, 2008

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Four Horsemen Who Spread The Plague (Bad Health)

A dark plague has crept across the land. Led by four evil horsemen who have been corrupted and enslaved by the master, the plague has cast its shadowy tentacles from sea to sea through towns and cities large and small, sparing no one.

The plague is Bad Health. Its master is Greed. And the Four Horsemen who have been corrupted and perverted into servants of greed who spread the plague are our Food, our Medicine, our Industry and our Government.

Throughout history, men have existed whose greed and lust for wealth and power has driven them to put their own selfish interests above those of humanity itself. Today the very health of modern man itself is under attack by the greedy elite who willingly trade profits for the ability of their fellow men and women to enjoy good health and live long enjoyable lives.

Food
In Michael Pollan's books, Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, I learned about how our soils have been depleted. Our food crops have been genetically engineered to produce higher yields and more bulk with less nutrition and to withstand more pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers that ensure higher profits at the cost of multitudes of health problems for those who consume them. Furthermore, the food on our grocer's shelves has had the nutrition processed out, with harmful additives processed in to enhance shelf life, color, taste and texture, with the same result. We are surviving on food-like substances. Surviving is not the same as thriving and living a longer healthy life.

When we eat meat we get much more than we think, and not good things. Cows are being fed mostly corn. A cow's digestive system is not made to eat corn so they end up with a host of digestive problems along with diseased organs. Think of Cows grazing in a lush green pasture, yes that's where they are supposed to live and eat. They are raised in feed lots where they eat, sleep and live in feces, which ends up in the meat we eat.

Medicine
For generations doctors have been taught at medical schools whose largest source of funding by far is the world pharmaceutical empire. They have been taught precious little about the role diet, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle and natural plants have to play in prevention and healing. Instead, they have been taught that the way to treat illness and disease is to prescribe medications - medications that just happen to be made by the same people who fund their education. As a result, safe, effective and less expensive natural healing methods, with hundreds and even thousands of years of proven success, has been chastised and made illegal and has been replaced by patentable and hugely profitable synthetics and isolates.

From the very first, these lab created drugs have had significant and often life-threatening side effects, and have mostly managed symptoms instead of effected cures. Often, their prolonged use leads to new illnesses and more medications in a never ending cycle so that by the time a man reaches 65 years of age in the US, he takes an average of 15 prescribed and over the counter medications daily - when it all began with one or two conditions that could have been treated naturally. Here's a free report about the dangers of taking vitamins made with synthetic ingredients.

Industry
Since the beginning of the industrial age and the coal burning plants, every year an increasing amount of literally thousands of metric tons of chemical pollutants, including carcinogens and thousands of other highly toxic chemicals and compounds such as mercury, lead, PCP, arsenic, etc., are spewed into our environment, polluting the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. They should make their profits - while operating morally and being good neighbors who strive to protect the health and welfare of the consumers.

Government
The public widely believes that the FDA is out to protect them, what it actually does is run a protection racket for mainstream medicine, especially the world pharmaceutical empire. Who the FDA really serves and protects becomes crystal clear when you examine their actions. They delay action, hide studies and outright lie about the safety of products like Vioxx, Bextra, Alleve and Aspartame and a host of others which have been blamed with hundreds of thousands of deaths and illnesses in order for their big pharma and big chemical industry masters to reap billions in profits while the public suffers. Now read this post about the FDA. They won't endorse and support natural products...

So here are the four horsemen of the health apocalypse:

Food - Medicine - Industry – Government

It's time that we examine what we as individuals and as a nation can do to take back control of our health, our bodies and the agencies that are supposed to serve us. It starts with us.

Food -
Buy local clean food grown in nutrient rich soil. If you must eat meat buy "grass fed" beef. I can't stress enough to buy local. Go here to find your local, clean market. Go back several generations to see what people ate. Keep food simple and eat healthy. You are what you eat so if you eat poorly you have poor health. Let food heal.

Medicine-
Use history for natural cures instead of drugs first. Keep lab created synthetic ingredients out of our food, drugs and the vitamins that are supposed to add health. Let your body holistically heal itself with healthy food and safe supplements.

Industry –
Think green. Start with this site for help.

Government –
Google "what does the FDA really do" and you will find they are not the best source if you are looking for safe drugs. Just look at all the drugs with known side effects that they approved.
Like here - Sleep Driving.

Think about the largest beef recall that took the USDA 18 days to recall and then they said it was ok to eat this beef if it was commingled with "other beef." This was food our children were eating in school, here....

Think about these 4 things and decide if your health and staying alive longer is something you want in your control or left in the hands of the 4 horsemen.

Resources

About Whole Food and More and Full Disclosure

"I will have writings and a testimonial or two about Whole Food Nation on my site. The good folks at the FTC require me to disclose that I am an affiliate for Whole Food Nation and that WFN will compensate me if you purchase the POPS, BIG B or ER FAT BURN program from me."

Also, from time to time I will be provided a range of healthy food products to evaluate so I will give my honest reviews or recommendations. :)

Thanks for reading --- Robin Plan

P.S. I also get a few cents here and there when you order a book or maybe grass fed beef from my site :)

I offer full disclosure about being an affiliate for Whole Food Nation and I do get compensation from WFN when you order the POPS, BIG B or ER FAT BURN program from my site. Whole Food Nation is an affiliate based company so all sites you find online are owned by affiliates and we all have the exact same WFN products and services.

If you have any questions about Whole Food Nation call:
From within the US: 800.595.1956 or Outside the US: 816.454.1417
To help us serve you better please let us know the following when calling:
How did you hear about Whole Food Nation: Whole Food and More site- Robin Plan

About Whole Food and More:

1. The information contained on this blog is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended for the treatment, cure, diagnosis, or prevention of any medical condition. Please consult your physician for such advice and before altering the use of medications or any other part of your medical program.

2. The statements on this blog have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Pop A Green and Pop A Purple are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. They are a good dose of nutrition - intended to help the body heal itself.

3. I am asked at times to sample and review products. When I post a product review I will give honest feedback and will state that the product was given to me for a review.

4. I do accept advertising to support my site. I may or may not actually use the products you will see from ads such as Google Ads.

We pay shipping for you on these Whole Food Vitamins
-- Be a Whole Food Nation Affiliate (Pops)
-- Sign Up - ER Fat Burn Affiliate

Are School Lunches Healthy?

Most days I send my son to school with a lunch full of organic real foods, because I see all processed foods on the school lunch menu. What's on most school lunch menus? Processed foods. Is this because of a lack of caring on the part of a large portion of American people? Maybe. I believe it's because of marketing from industrial food companies like Kraft and General Mills.

When I read this "People don't care enough anymore, people don't respect the organic farmer. They think it's best to buy cheaper products to save money, but in the end, those products rob us of our health and cost us even more money." I had to disagree, it's not the 'people' who don't care enough, it's our government (USDA), industrial food suppliers, media reports with 'junk science' (the ones like this from FoxNews) that say organic has no benefit over conventionally grown. Reports like this do nothing to help people make decisions on the right food for them.

In 2006, more than 30.1 million children consumed a hot lunch each day under the National School Lunch Program, according to the USDA's Web site. Although all food served under this program meets Federal nutrition requirements, decisions about what foods are served and how they are prepared is decided upon by local schools.

Ann Cooper, known as the Renegade Lunch Lady and author of the new book "Lunch Lessons: Changing the way we feed our children," said the current state of school lunches across the country is probably even worse than most people think.

Cooper said that schools are reimbursed $2.30 for every hot lunch served. Two-thirds of that goes toward payroll and overhead, which leaves about $.80 left, which must include the required serving of milk.

"How is it possible to serve a healthy meal to children on less than $.80?" Cooper asks.

So, what can parents do? These are our children, and every effort should be made to ensure them a lifetime of healthy eating habits and the chance to know what real food tastes like.

Cooper said that parents can begin by checking to see if the Wellness Program in their school district is being implemented and followed, and to make sure everyone involved is being held accountable. Don't be afraid to be vocal at PTA and school board meetings.

"It is everyone's responsibility – not just the schools, and not just the parents – to teach healthy food habits," Cooper said.

"Of the children born in 2000, 40 to 45 percent of them will have diabetes and be insulin-dependant. This is the first generation that has a lower life expectancy than that of the previous generation.

"Switching to more natural foods will not only improve the physical health of children, it can have benefits on their mental health as well.

"There are people out there, including children, who are helped physically and mentally by eating organic," said Kathleen Wood, a certified clinical nutritionist and employee with Harvest Health Foods. "Kids are realizing they are feeling a whole lot better when they eat the right stuff. They stay away from the bad stuff – it makes such a difference to them."

More here

Yes, Organic is more nutritious

Real food adds health value visit Whole Food Nation website.

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Yes, Organic Plant-Based Foods ARE More Nutritious

I recently read a dietitian state that eating organic foods have not been shown to offer better nutrition. I was shocked by this because I've read many studies saying the opposite. I'm happy to let this dietitian know the Facts are out. Organic foods are more nutritious.

Nutrient levels were studied in 236 matched pairs of foods with scientifically valid results on the levels of 10 nutrients, plus nitrates (high levels are undesirable because of food safety risks). Each matched pair contains, for example, an apple crop grown organically and another apple crop from a nearby conventional farm with similar soils, climate, plant genetics, irrigation systems, nitrogen levels, and harvest practices.

Comparing Nutrient Levels
The team identified eight or more valid matched pairs for 10 nutrients, plus nitrates including:
Four measures of antioxidant activity;
Precursors of three vitamins A, C and E;
Two minerals (phosphorous and potassium);
Nitrates (higher levels are undesirable), and
Total protein.

There were 191 matched pairs in which the antioxidant, vitamin and mineral levels were compared. The organic food was more nutrient dense in 119 of these pairs, or 62%, compared to 36% of the conventional matched pairs with more nutrients. There were no differences in 2% of the pairs.

Full report here...

Whole Food Nation

Food Cycling aka Extreme Regime (ER)

Food Cycling aka Extreme Regime (ER)
The Program

What's different about this? It's based on new research showing that calorie counting and doing exercise don't help most people lose weight. The Surgeon General's Report notwithsanding.

What do we get to eat? No rabbit food required. No exercise required. So, what do I have to do?

Eat real fats and proteins. Lay off artificial sweeteners and packaged "low-carb" or "low-fat" foods. Those labels are a sure sign of fake ingredients inside. They may cause you to retain water and fat and pack on cellulite.

ER eating plans accommodate Western and Eastern foods, different blood types and food sensitivies, traveling, restaurant food, and different levels of cooking skills.

On a pauper budget? Vegetarian? There are ER food plans for you.

You get a food list, food sources and recipes.

Here are the 4 basics of the ER program:

1. Real food is good. No fake, toxic, food-like substances.

2. Fat is good, including saturated fat IF it's from happy animals. Or from coconuts.

3. Refined carbs are bad: sugar, sweets, alcohol and refined grains (white bread, pasta, rice, etc.). BAD.

4. Starving is no good. It destroys metabolism and creates fat.

What about fruits and veggies? Whole grains and legumes?

There's a place for them in ER, but it is not in the Fat Burning Cycle except for a few, for some people.

Fruits and vegetables are primary foods in Cleansing, the second big cycle in ER. Grains and legumes may be part of the Coasting cycle for some people, depending on their body type. For many people, grains and legumes are fattening, or cause digestive problems and allergies.

What's food cycling?

Food cycling grew out of very different "diet" approaches that all reported success. One explanation, it seems, is that bodies work like the seasons - they need different foods for different times.

For example, Fat Burning food is very different from Cleansing food. Coasting food, the third big cycle in ER, is also different. There are two mini-cycles: Comfort and Celebration, which keep us sane and happy.

ER Program Options

Active format. Dr. Heidi does live weekly group conference calls. She brings you up to date on clinical research findings on weight loss, and clarifies much of the confusing advice you might have heard or read. She works with you one-on-one every week to customize your program based on your own biochemical profile, conditions, preferences, reactions, and rate of progress.

Audit format. For do-it-yourselfers. No private sessions. Listen to the group calls, receive the handouts (pdfs), videos and audios, and join the private online ER discussion group.

What makes this work?

1. The food cycles.
Bodies know that there’s a time for fat burning, and a time for cleansing and rejuvenation. A time for discipline, and a time for comfort or celebration. And when it's ready it can coast, knowing what's truly good for it.

The Food Cycling/Extreme Regime Program guides you through these eating stages for lasting weight loss.

2. Commitment to health and rejuvenation.
There's nothing toxic (like artificial sweeteners or artificial bars or shakes) that's likely to compromise your health in the long run. No fat deprivation. We'd rather focus preventing or reversing aging while you lose weight.

3. Commitment to pleasure, ease and individuality.
I've been a hedonist for years. So I tailor your ER to you. How? Together, we eliminate anything stressful or unappealing. ER can accomodate your unique conditions, life style and goals.Plus if you don't like what you're eating, you might stress out. Chronic stress is harmful to health and causes fat storage. Who wants that?

What about weight loss?

Here’s what program graduates have said:

“ I finally lost the 20 lbs I thought I would never lose and kept it off even after a Mexico vacation. I’m never hungry.”
- Jennifer Grainger, Counselor, Stockton, CA

“I’m glad I lost 45 pounds in four months, but what’s more important is I feel so much better. When I came to Dr. Dulay a year ago, I couldn’t work more than 15 hours a week. Now I’m working 30.”
- Joe Thompson, Contractor, Petaluma, CA

“I lost 70 lbs in 9 months, including a 2-month plateau which I’m just coming off now. I just kept on food cycling during the plateau and I’m starting to lose again. 50 more to go. It’s part of my life now. It’s easy to eat in restaurants. It’s the way my husband and I eat now and we like it.”
- Syd Thompson, Real estate broker (Joe’s wife), Petaluma, CA

“I can feel it in the waist of my pants. They’re all looser... I’m not eating all that junk I used to eat -- Cheetos, Tostitos ... No candy bar after lunch, no Cokes except on rare occasions. I don’t miss them at all. And I now enjoy food in France without paying the weight price.”
- Nat Baker, Financial Controller, Silicon Valley

“I never thought losing weight could feel this good. Most of my perimenopausal symptoms and cravings are gone.”
- Virginia Poggi, Stockton, CA

copyright Little Spa and Whole Food Nation.
Learn more from Little Spa

Don't forget your free report Did the Surgeon General get it wrong about weight?

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Synthetics in Food, Drugs and Home - Do You Care?

Sampling of the findings collected from reputable sources about what is really in our food, water, vitamins, prescription drugs, childhood vaccines, cosmetics and our homes. From this book, The Hundred Year Lie

-- When you read "made with natural flavors" on a food label, you are probably being deceived, because natural and artificial flavors usually contain the same synthetic chemicals.

-- In large feedlots, 100% of the cattle are fed five or more sex hormones to speed weight gain and these hormones are known to cause reproductive problems and cancer in humans.

-- Many of our commercial dairy and meat products come from animals that ate livestock feed made from the remains of tens of millions of dogs and cats that were euthanized with drugs at animals shelters and animal hospitals.

-- Medical evidence is emerging that suggests that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas may cause brain tumors, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The occurrence of these diseases has risen dramatically, in proportion with the expanded use of those synthetic sweeteners.

-- At least 70% of the processed foods in your grocery store contain at least one genetically engineered ingredient that has never been tested for its potential harm.

-- More than 3000 synthetic chemicals are regularly added to U.S. food products, and hardly any have been tested for their interactive toxin-producing effects in the human body.

-- Most vitamins and supplements sold in the United States that are advertised as natural are actually synthetic chemical concoctions that contain coal tar, preservatives, artificial colors, and a vast range of other potentially harmful additives. Free report here.

-- More than 25,000 chemicals are in the cosmetics sold in the United States, yet less than 4% of these ingredients have ever been tested for toxicity and safety.

-- Within the 9 or so vaccines given to your children before they enter school are additives and preservatives, including mercury, aluminum, MSG, formaldehyde, and others linked to disorders ranging from brain and nerve damage to autism and ADD.

Source -- The Hundred Year Lie, by Randall Fitzgerald pgs, 7-8

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