The News:
Outrageous: These three issues were particularly unnerving to me this week. Two are commercials and the other was a news ad. The first commercial encourages moms to buy their kids a drink in a box called Fruitables. The USDA food guide recommends very little in the way of juice or any drink other than skim milk (recommending instead water and non caloric beverages). The reason juices are not recommended is because they do not contain the natural fiber that fruits and vegetables do. Fiber helps to regulate the sugar in fruit so it is not something that will spike blood sugar and cause an immediate and abrupt insulin response. Children, all of us, need to eat our fruits and vegetables not drink them. The second ad is for a supplement or herbal remedy that is supposed to naturally lower one’s “bad or LDL” cholesterol. That I doubt its effectiveness almost goes without saying, but what peeved me was the statement that it was a natural way of lowering the cholesterol. It is a synthesized processed something in a pill. That is not natural. The natural way to lower ones bad cholesterol is through diet and exercise. Think, walking and eating those cereal bars. The last outrage, or so I thought, was an article regarding tobacco companies’ move to increase the cost of cigarettes before the federal tax increase would force them to. In fact, the maker of Marlboro decided to raise the price 10 cents more than is required. It appears there is no worry that the tobacco user will stop buying the product. Could that be because they know how addicting the product is and have no worry that sales will tank? This is why tobacco taxes reduce NEW use, not current use and why states have NO valid argument for not also raises the taxes… what are they afraid of, that the youth will not start using tobacco and that will be a bad thing? So I was done with the outrage section, but I forgot about last week’s grocery shopping. In the sugar/sweetener isle I saw a bag of Splenda that said “ -- grams of fiber per serving”. WHAT? They added fiber to the sugar. Good grief.. Eat some oatmeal. The only reason they did that, in my opinion, is to compete with Stevia which has naturally occurring fiber. Well, I buy neither so there.
Wynona: Ah, this should be in the above section to be sure. I cannot believe the younger singing Judd has become a spokesperson for a diet PILL. Worse is that she refers to Alli as safe because it is FDA approved. By doing this commercial and through that statement she implies that the pill is effective and without side effects. I doubt it is effective and know it is not without real risk. Furthermore, the pill box states that the results are related to the amount of exercise one does and the calories they consume. So, why exactly do you need the pill? Oh yes, it helps to keep some bad fat from being absorbed, so much so that the makers advise users to start the product over the weekend or take a few days off of work. Oh yeah, that sounds safe and fun too!
Comparative Effectiveness: update- This still looks possible while being strongly opposed by drug and medical device makers. The current stimulus package has set aside funding for this research, mentioned in previous news. The Institute of Medicine will be overseeing the studies and I for one look forward to the day that I can decide on a treatment or a medication based on these variables.
ByeBye Trans Fats: Another city takes action against these unnecessary fats which increase levels of LDL cholesterol. Boston’s ban includes bakeries and prohibits use of oils, shortening and margarine with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Pills are NOT a Panacea: A report regarding heart patients in several European countries that could be generalized to American heart patients, supplies some disturbing though not surprising news. Persons taking medicines to reduce their blood pressure and lower their LDL levels are NOT changing the parts of their lifestyle that led to these problems in the first place. Well over half of them continued to have problems with these issues and were put on even more meds to treat them. The researchers are concerned that eating, physical activity and smoking factors are not addressed in this group. I have long believed that people in our country get a false sense of security from pills and are also looking for a fix that doesn’t take effort, such as eating well and exercising do. The same study found a higher incidence of obesity and diabetes in an age group comparison to 12 years ago.
That will bring us to today’s cooking video. The point of these videos is to assist you in eating food, lots of food really, without adding non nutritive and even disease promoting extras.. like saturated FAT and sugar. Today it is a dinner, next week another baking recipe.
The Video Ingredients:
Outrageous: These three issues were particularly unnerving to me this week. Two are commercials and the other was a news ad. The first commercial encourages moms to buy their kids a drink in a box called Fruitables. The USDA food guide recommends very little in the way of juice or any drink other than skim milk (recommending instead water and non caloric beverages). The reason juices are not recommended is because they do not contain the natural fiber that fruits and vegetables do. Fiber helps to regulate the sugar in fruit so it is not something that will spike blood sugar and cause an immediate and abrupt insulin response. Children, all of us, need to eat our fruits and vegetables not drink them. The second ad is for a supplement or herbal remedy that is supposed to naturally lower one’s “bad or LDL” cholesterol. That I doubt its effectiveness almost goes without saying, but what peeved me was the statement that it was a natural way of lowering the cholesterol. It is a synthesized processed something in a pill. That is not natural. The natural way to lower ones bad cholesterol is through diet and exercise. Think, walking and eating those cereal bars. The last outrage, or so I thought, was an article regarding tobacco companies’ move to increase the cost of cigarettes before the federal tax increase would force them to. In fact, the maker of Marlboro decided to raise the price 10 cents more than is required. It appears there is no worry that the tobacco user will stop buying the product. Could that be because they know how addicting the product is and have no worry that sales will tank? This is why tobacco taxes reduce NEW use, not current use and why states have NO valid argument for not also raises the taxes… what are they afraid of, that the youth will not start using tobacco and that will be a bad thing? So I was done with the outrage section, but I forgot about last week’s grocery shopping. In the sugar/sweetener isle I saw a bag of Splenda that said “ -- grams of fiber per serving”. WHAT? They added fiber to the sugar. Good grief.. Eat some oatmeal. The only reason they did that, in my opinion, is to compete with Stevia which has naturally occurring fiber. Well, I buy neither so there.
Wynona: Ah, this should be in the above section to be sure. I cannot believe the younger singing Judd has become a spokesperson for a diet PILL. Worse is that she refers to Alli as safe because it is FDA approved. By doing this commercial and through that statement she implies that the pill is effective and without side effects. I doubt it is effective and know it is not without real risk. Furthermore, the pill box states that the results are related to the amount of exercise one does and the calories they consume. So, why exactly do you need the pill? Oh yes, it helps to keep some bad fat from being absorbed, so much so that the makers advise users to start the product over the weekend or take a few days off of work. Oh yeah, that sounds safe and fun too!
Comparative Effectiveness: update- This still looks possible while being strongly opposed by drug and medical device makers. The current stimulus package has set aside funding for this research, mentioned in previous news. The Institute of Medicine will be overseeing the studies and I for one look forward to the day that I can decide on a treatment or a medication based on these variables.
ByeBye Trans Fats: Another city takes action against these unnecessary fats which increase levels of LDL cholesterol. Boston’s ban includes bakeries and prohibits use of oils, shortening and margarine with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Pills are NOT a Panacea: A report regarding heart patients in several European countries that could be generalized to American heart patients, supplies some disturbing though not surprising news. Persons taking medicines to reduce their blood pressure and lower their LDL levels are NOT changing the parts of their lifestyle that led to these problems in the first place. Well over half of them continued to have problems with these issues and were put on even more meds to treat them. The researchers are concerned that eating, physical activity and smoking factors are not addressed in this group. I have long believed that people in our country get a false sense of security from pills and are also looking for a fix that doesn’t take effort, such as eating well and exercising do. The same study found a higher incidence of obesity and diabetes in an age group comparison to 12 years ago.
That will bring us to today’s cooking video. The point of these videos is to assist you in eating food, lots of food really, without adding non nutritive and even disease promoting extras.. like saturated FAT and sugar. Today it is a dinner, next week another baking recipe.
The Video Ingredients:
Quorn is a meat substitute and is found in the freezer section at Lowes Foods, Harris Teeter, Publix and Whole Foods: Not all Quorn products are low calorie or low fat. Choose Quorn naked cutlets or tenders
Quorn tenders ½ to 1 cup
Salad (nice leaf lettuces)
Mushroom, red onion, tomato
Mrs. Dash or McCormick spices
Cauliflower
Spaghetti Squash
Parmesan cheese
Garlic and Parsley
Salad Dressing (I choose Waldon’s Farms or recommend Balsamic Vinegar – not vinegarette)
Fruit of choice (but not a high sugar one, like kiwi, banana, pineapple etc)
Okay like I said most of my dinners have 200 cals or less and then I have dessert…
1 comment:
oh, glad to know the Quorn is available in the U.S. Been meaning to look into that! My toddler seems to be vegetarian & loves the Bramley apple Sausages.
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