Is the Junk-Food Gene Making You Crave Fattening Foods? Plus, How to Overcome It

by www.SixWise.com

Junk food, fast food, we know it’s unhealthy, yet we still order takeout and frequent drive-throughs, sometimes several times a week. The top five reasons Americans eat junk food are convenience, availability, no time to cook, it’s quick and affordable -- but at what cost to their health?

Kids with the so-called “junk-food gene” are more likely to eat junk food -- and more of it -- than kids who don’t.

A study conducted by the American Institute for Cancer Research showed that a quarter of the calories Americans consume come from nutrient-dense choices, otherwise known as “junk food.”

Soft drinks accounted for 7.1 percent of the calories consumed by the 4,700 people surveyed. Altogether, soft drinks, sweets, desserts and alcoholic beverages made up nearly one-quarter (23.8 percent) of the total calorie intake!

Junk Food Cravings -- A Genetic Link

Could it be that genes are responsible for this overload of junk food in our diets?

Well, a study released by the New England Journal of Medicine reported that children with a specific gene variant were more likely to eat more energy-dense food, meaning fattening unhealthy foods.

The study however did not reveal a difference in metabolism between the kids with the genes and those without it, meaning the gene influenced the way they ate, but not necessarily the way their body digested and used the calories.

“The way the genes influence obesity is through behavior, rather than metabolism,” said Dr. Goutham Rao, clinical director of the weight management and wellness center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, on MedicineNet.com. “That means this is something you can work on. And, the good news is that a lot of kids who had the gene weren’t overweight.”

These findings are “hopeful” because the researchers didn’t find a difference in metabolism, he said. In other words … just because you have the gene it doesn’t mean you’re destined to be fat … although you may tend to want to eat a bit extra.

Upon studying the eating habits of 97 children, the researchers found children with the variant gene consumed around 100 calories more per meal -- this translates to an extra pound of weight about every 12 days!

Dr. Rao stressed the importance of practicing prevention of obesity when raising children.

“The important message from this study is that prevention is key,” said Rao on MedicineNet.com. “If you have a child whether they’re overweight or not, if they have a predilection for seeking junk food, you need to intervene. The emphasis should be on portion control. If you restrict a food completely, the message children get is that there’s something special about that food, and then they’re going to overindulge when they do get it.”

Obesity Rates in America are Skyrocketing

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity in adults has increased by 60 percent within the past 20 years and obesity in children has tripled in the past 30 years and 90% of them have not been properly diagnosed.

This increase of obesity raises concern because of its dangerous repercussions upon the health of Americans. Obesity has been linked to the risk of many diseases and health conditions including:

• Coronary heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
• Stroke
• Liver and Gallbladder disease
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
• Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
• Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility

Five Ways to Overcome Your Junk Food Addiction

Does the thought of cheese puffs, buttery popcorn, ice cream, candy and other “forbidden foods” make you salivate? Remember it’s OK to indulge on occasion, as completely depriving yourself of your favorite junk food will only make you want it more.

Even if you or your kids have the “junk-food gene,” you can still adhere to a healthy diet. Often this involves reprogramming the way you think about food.

As you eat, think about the food, give thanks for it, and really taste each bite. When you savor your food in this way, you will feel full and satisfied on much less food. If you have trouble feeling calm and focused when you eat, or tend to eat in a hurry (in front of the TV, while driving, standing at the kitchen counter, etc.) or for emotional reasons, try reprogramming these unhealthy habits with guided meditations. Some other practical ways to take back control over your eating habits include:

• Go to your local supermarket and stock up on healthy foods and snacks such as fruits, granola, yogurt, nuts, raisins and veggies.
• Reduce your intake of carbonated beverages like soda and drink more water.
• Journal your eating habits and replace calorie-dense foods with healthy alternatives.
• Stay active and keep yourself busy. Focusing on something else such as a hobby or other activity will reduce the likelihood of becoming bored and reaching for a bag of chips.
• Cook meals at home using fresh ingredients. This will give you a greater appreciation of what you’re eating and the ability to experience the true flavor of the foods.

Do you have a tendency to default to junk foods simply because you don’t have time to cook? With these quick dinner ideas you can create delicious meals in no time:Resist the Drive-Through With These Quick Dinner Ideas

Simple Side Dishes and Snacks: Keep your icebox stocked with frozen, canned, or fresh veggies to accompany a healthy meal. Some good fresh vegetables and fruits to have on hand are celery, carrots, and tomatoes and oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit and grapes.

Easy Baked Potato: You can have this with your meal or even as a meal by itself and in less than 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the potato, then microwave on high for about 4 minutes. Rinse it again so it's wet. Finish baking in oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Make this potato a meal by adding steamed broccoli, chopped pimentos, salsa, plain yogurt, sautéed mushrooms, tuna or sweet corn. This also works great with sweet potatoes!

Create Your Own Pasta: Put any of these toppings or a combination of these for a delicious pasta dinner. Ideally, choose whole-grain pasta rather than regular pastafor more nutrition and health benefits:

• Mushrooms                                      
• Spinach                                            
• Fresh basil and white beans                    
• Roasted red pepper
• Asparagus
• Artichokes
• Zucchini

Colorful Salads: Salads are a great source of vitamin C and with a few ingredients act as a great meal in themselves. You can dress up your salad with several tasty healthy options. Some ideas are grilled chicken, raw almonds, raw sunflower seeds, cranberries, vegetables (choose different colored vegetables such as carrots, purple cabbage, green and red pepper for variety), feta cheese, olive oil and olives.

Creative Omelets: All you need is a few fixings such as green, yellow or red peppers, mushrooms and onions for a quick dinner.

Cook Meals for the Week and Freeze: Cook up some large-volume food -- a hearty batch of soup, a pan of lasagna, turkey chili and lots of whole-wheat pasta or brown rice. Freeze the meals in small containers and take out as needed.

4 Health Foods with More Sugar than a Twinkie

Anthony Gucciardi  - Natural Society - April 11, 2012

Is sugar the last ingredient that has not been slammed by health conscious activists? Numerous crusades have been waged against GMOs (genetically modified organisms), aspartame, high-fructose corn syrup and trans fat, but where does sugar reside in the equation? Excess sugar consumption, which has now become an ‘average’ amount of sugar consumption for many families, has been linked to everything from DNA damage to excessive cancer growth — so where is the anti-sugar movement?

Some scientists and health experts are certainly declaring a health crisis over a large-scale ‘sugar epidemic’, but are you truly aware of how much sugar you intake on a daily basis? Even if you are consuming many health foods that are really free of other toxic offenders, chances are they may be containing a whopping amount of sugar — or at least enough ‘small’ amounts to set you over the edge throughout your daily nutritional intake. It is recommended you eat less than 16 grams of sugar per day (from natural sources) — even less if you are suffering from a serious health condition. A Twinkie has 18 grams of sugar in the processed form, and exceeds the daily sugar maximum in one health-threatening serving.

But what about health foods? Many contain just about as much or more than 18 grams, and it’s important to know which. Here are 4 health foods with more sugar than a Twinkie:

1. Yogurt

You may be consuming yogurt in order to take in some beneficial probiotics, but the truth of the matter is that yogurt is oftentimes loaded with sugar — it can even be added  in larger amounts by the manufacturer. The natural amount of sugar is about 12 grams of sugar per 6-ounce serving, which is below the daily allotment. One 6-ounce container of fruit-flavored yogurt, however, can contain 32 grams of sugar, which is way more than the daily recommended amount.

In order to avoid a high sugar content, look for high quality organic Greek yogurt (or avoid dairy altogether).

2. Tomato Sauce

Tomato sauce can be used for a number of different food items, but the amount in which it is used often exceeds the designated serving size. While the intended serving size is about half of a cup, many individuals use the entire cup for pasta or other meals. Many brands contain 11 or 12 grams per serving, which means a full cup can exceed 22 grams of sugar on average — more than a Twinkie.

3. Granola Bars

Granola bars can be loaded with sugar. Granted, it may sometimes be in the form of evaporated cane sugar. More often than not, however, it will be white sugar. I’ve personally witnessed many health-conscious individuals integrate at least one granola bar into their daily life without even thinking about how much sugar they’re taking in. In one instance, the sugar from the granola bars alone totaled around 50 grams! That’s way more than a Twinkie, and that’s from just one source.

Some products like Clif Bar contain around 22 grams per bar, which surpasses the daily intake level.

4. Pre-Made Smoothies

As with juice, you simply should not be buying pre-made smoothies from the grocery store or restaurants. Make your own instead; the nutrients will actually reach your body instead of degrading over time, which ultimately makes the juice nothing but a tasty load of sugar. Smoothies from places like Jamba Juice can exceed 77 grams of sugar, while Smoothie King has options that top 117 grams. These are certainly way beyond the healthy levels. 

Lack of sleep takes years off your life! Workshop Tonite - Maitland Public Library

FREE Public Workshop:
Natural Sleep Solutions,
Wednesday, April 11th,
501 S. Maitland Ave,
Maitland Public Library,
6:30 PM RSVP 407-278-8115
or at www.GetHealthyOrlando.com and
click on Big Green "RSVP Here" Button

Are you one of at least 40 million Americans who suffer from some type of sleep disturbance? If you are, then we may have good news to you. 

Do you have difficulty getting to sleep? Do you sleep fitfully and wake up often during the night? Do you have a hard time getting back to sleep once awakened? Do you have difficulty getting up once its time to get up in the morning? 

Chronic lack of sleep can also accelerate the aging process. When you don’t get enough sleep, your brain doesn’t make the normal amounts of hormones, producing hormone levels similar to those of a much older person. However, subsequently getting a full night’s sleep reverses this aging effect, returning hormone levels to normal. 

How does this affect your life and the lives of those around you? How frequently does this occur? Are you frustrated by having tried a lot of different things and not gotten a result?

When the adrenal glands are weak, it affects your sleep due to abnormal cortisol levels. However, other adrenal hormones can also be affected.  There are several non-invasive physical exam tests that can been done to screen for weak adrenal glands.  Weak adrenals can be one of the reasons contributing to disturbed sleep. 

(My Note:)

Did you know that your body has a built in clock to know what time it is. It uses cues like daylight and your own activity to figure out if it is day or night. Travel, night shifts and poor sleep habits can confuse your body’s clock and make good quality sleep difficult. You see there's a little structure with the brain that does this and it also controls all you body functions associated with sleep, including your body's temperature , urination, blood pressure etc. This little structure also controls you body's natural melatonin so if its not working right you sleep is interrupted.  So if you would like to be rid of your sleep problem ONCE AND FOR ALL??.... Come to our Workshop tonite at Maitland Public Library, 501 S. Maitland Ave. 32751, Call to RSVP 407-278-8115 or go to www.GetHealthyOrlando.com

What is Adrenal Fatigue and Are You Unknowingly an Unecessary Victim

Do you feel constantly tired, moody and depressed? Do you wake up feeling tired even after a full night’s rest? Do you crave sugary and salty foods, and depend on your morning coffee just to keep your eyes open?

Are you constantly exhausted and reaching for coffee or sweets to wake you up? Your adrenals may be fatigued.

These are all common symptoms of adrenal fatigue -- a condition caused, in short, by too much stress and work. It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of adults suffer from adrenal fatigue, yet it continues to be a largely ignored and overlooked health problem, according to Dr. James Wilson, author of Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.

“Adrenal fatigue can affect anyone who experiences frequent, persistent or severe mental, emotional or physical stress. It can also be an important contributing factor in health conditions ranging from allergies to obesity. Despite its prevalence in our modern world, adrenal fatigue has generally been ignored and misunderstood by the medical community,” Dr. Wilson writes on his Web site.

What is Adrenal Fatigue? What are the Signs and Symptoms?

Your adrenal glands (located on top of each kidney) act as control centers for many hormones. One of their most important tasks is to get your body ready for the "fight or flight" stress response, which means increasing adrenaline and other hormones.

This response increases your heart rate and blood pressure, slows your digestion and basically gets your body ready to face a potential threat or challenge.

While this response is good when it's needed, many of us are constantly faced with stressors (work, environmental toxins, not enough sleep, worry, anxiety etc.) and are in this "fight or flight" mode for far too long -- much longer than was ever intended from an evolutionary standpoint.

The result? The adrenals become overworked and fatigued, and adrenal fatigue develops. If you feel one or more of the following on a regular basis, you may have adrenal fatigue, according to Dr. Wilson:

Cravings for salty or sugary foods is a symptom of adrenal fatigue.

• You feel tired for no reason.

• You have trouble getting up in the morning, even when you go to bed at a reasonable hour.

• You are feeling rundown or overwhelmed.

• You have difficulty bouncing back from stress or illness.

• You crave salty and sweet snacks.

• You feel more awake, alert and energetic after 6PM than you do all day.

Further, when your body is overly stressed your adrenal glands increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which can alter your:

• Appetite, leading to food cravings
• Energy levels, leading to fatigue and exhaustion
• Mood, leaving you feeling emotionally drained
• Memory and learning
• Muscle mass and bone density
• Immune response

You may notice symptoms began after a single, high-stress event, or alternatively after a prolonged period of daily stress. Either can over-stimulate your adrenals to the point of fatigue, and anyone may be affected. However, the following factors increase your risk of adrenal fatigue:

• Chronic illness
• Poor diet
• Too little sleep
• Too much pressure/overwork
• Substance abuse
• Repeated infections (bronchitis, pneumonia, etc.)
• Maternal adrenal fatigue during gestation

Likewise, adrenal fatigue is often associated with chronic illnesses because they also place demands on your adrenal glands. According to Dr. Wilson, the following conditions may either be related to, or exacerbated by, adrenal fatigue:

Alcoholism and Addictions Allergies Autoimmune Disease Syndrome X and Burnout Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Chronic Infections Dental Problems Blood Sugar Imbalances

Fibromyalgia Herpes HIV and Hepatitis C Hypoglycemia Mild Depression PMS and Menopause Rheumatoid Arthritis Sleep Disruptions

How to Diagnose Adrenal Fatigue

Conventional medicine typically does not acknowledge adrenal fatigue until potentially life-threatening conditions like Cushing’s syndrome (an overproduction of cortisol) and Addison’s disease (an underproduction of cortisol) develop. However, you can have adrenal fatigue or an adrenal imbalance -- along with a range of debilitating symptoms -- long before you progress into one of these extremes.

A health care provider who is knowledgeable in the area of adrenal fatigue can perform a saliva test to check your levels of cortisol over a 24-hour period. In healthy adrenal function, cortisol should be elevated in the morning, lower and steady throughout the day, and then should drop in the evening when you go to sleep. In people with adrenal fatigue, however, cortisol levels remain elevated throughout the day and rise in the evening when you should be relaxing.

If you find that your adrenals are fatigued, there is help available and by following the steps below you can restore your adrenals and regain your vim and vigor.

Five Steps for Restoring Healthy Adrenal Function

It likely took some time for your adrenals to become fatigued, and it will take some time to nurse them back to health. And, you must commit to changing your lifestyle to be less stressed and more restful if you want to get better. At this time, the most important thing should be your health and you should make time for the following in that regard:

Taking time to de-stress, unwind and relax is crucial to help your adrenal glands recover.

1. Get more sleep. Your body does most of its regeneration during sleep, so whenever you feel tired, it’s time to sleep. This includes taking naps during the day if you can, sleeping in an extra hour or two if you’re tired in the morning, and turning off the TV early so you can nod off sooner.

2. Revamp your diet with healthy foods. A healthy diet focused on fresh, whole preferably organic foods will provide your body with the strong nutrient base it needs to function. Focus on including a protein source in all your meals and snacks to keep your blood sugar stable, and eat nutritious snacks between meals so you never get overly hungry (going long periods without eating makes your adrenal glands work harder).

3. Cut out sugar, caffeine and artificial stimulants.When you’re tired, you may be tempted to reach for coffee, candy, doughnuts, and other refined carbs for a quick pick-me-up. But while these stimulants will give you a quick boost, they’ll be followed by an even bigger crash. Coffee can also over-stimulate your adrenals, which you want to avoid.

Instead, if you’re craving sugar or caffeine, it could be because your body is actually tired, and you’d be better off resting than trying to get artificially “energized.” You can also substitute healthier alternatives for sweets and coffee, such as fresh fruit or a cup of herbal tea.

4. Consider supplements for adrenal health: You may benefit from a whole-food supplement to help your adrenals stay healthy and return to optimal function if they’re distressed. When choosing a supplement for your adrenal health, look for one that supports both your immediate energy needs and long-term immune system function, and contains:
   
   

   Stress Melts Dr. Whitaker's solution for melting away stress and tension FAST!

   
   
5. Reduce stress: You simply must have adequate outlets for stress if you want your adrenals to be healthy. First, identify the source of your stress, and if possible make changes to eliminate it (for instance, cutting back your work hours or personal obligations). Also be certain to take into account emotional stress from guilt, arguments, relationship problems, unhealthy habits, etc., and work out ways to resolve these issues.

At the same time, be generous with stress relieving activities such as long walks, hot baths, or sitting down with a good book. Your body and mind know how to relax -- you just need to give them "permission" to do so. This is easier said than done, of course, so for those of you who need a little help, we highly recommend the Pure Relaxation: Guided Meditations for Body, Mind & Spirit CD by respected meditation expert Mary Maddux.

After making positive lifestyle changes, most people can expect to feel improvement in four to six months. For best results, make an appointment with a knowledgeable health care provider who can work with you on an individualized course of lifestyle modification and other treatment.

Unraveling the Mystery of Fibromyalgia - Natural Solutions and Alternatives

The Bolick Clinic i at Casselberry Public Library will be hosting a FREE Workshop
on Fibromyalgia Thursday April 5th . Please call 407-278-8115 for info.

Fibromyalgia breaks down as FIBRO: from fiber or fibrous – tissues. MY: from myo – meaning muscle. ALGOS: from algia – meaning pain. IA: meaning state of, or condition. Fibromyalgia simply means a condition which is characterized by pain in the muscles and soft tissue fibers of the body. According to a paper published by the American College of Rheumatology, Fibromyalgia affects up to 18 million – or as many as one in 20 Americans. Up to 90% of those diagnosed are women between the ages of 40 and 60 years old.  

Chronic widespread body pain is the primary symptom of Fibromyalgia. Most people with Fibromyalgia also experience moderate to extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, sensitivity to touch, light, and sound, and cognitive difficulties. Many individuals also experience a number of other symptoms and overlapping conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, restless leg syndrome and arthritis. Many Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) patients have been previously diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  

Diagnosis of FM can be difficult. Currently there are no laboratory tests available for diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Doctors must rely on patient histories, self-reported symptoms, a physical examination and an accurate manual tender point examination. This exam is based on the standardized American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Proper implementation of the exam determines the presence of multiple tender points at characteristic locations.  

It is estimated that it takes an average of five years for an FM patient to get an accurate diagnosis. Many doctors are still not adequately informed or educated about FM. Laboratory tests often prove negative and many FM symptoms overlap with those of other conditions, thus leading to extensive investigative costs and frustration for both the doctor and patient. Another essential point that must be considered is that the presence of other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, does not rule out an FM diagnosis. Fibromyalgia is not a diagnosis of exclusion and must be diagnosed by its own characteristic features.

 To receive a diagnosis of FM, the patient must meet the following diagnostic criteria: (1)Widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for a minimum duration of three months. (2)Tenderness or pain in at least 11 of the 18 specified tender points when pressure is applied.

 Hormone imbalance is another important factor contributing to Fibromyalgia. As women approach peri-menopause in their early 30’s to late 40’s, hormone levels of DHEA, estrogen and testosterone decline. Excessive stress can accelerate the decline in adrenal hormones, testosterone and estradiol leading to an increase in inflammation.

The adrenal glands are located on the top of each of the kidneys. Adrenal glands contribute to the production of many hormones, including cortisol, DHEA, steroid hormones, neurotransmitters norepinephrine, epinephrine, and others.

When women are under physical, emotional or environmental stress, cortisol is released from the Adrenal glands in response to stress.When the adrenal glands become chronically stressed over time there is a decline in production of cortisol that leads to an increase in inflammation. The symptoms of menopause can be worsened by adrenal stress as more and more of the female hormones come off of the adrenal gland as a woman approaches menopause.Glucocorticoids produced by the adrenal gland help regulate blood sugar.When blood sugar is too low symptoms of hypoglycemia can occur, affecting Fibromyalgia symptoms.

Since Fibromyalgia symptoms may have a different cause or combination of causes in different people, treatment protocols may be variable for individual FM sufferers. Different FM sufferers may have different results with the same treatment. There are no specific medications for Fibromyalgia and all too often FM patients end up in pain management as a last resort.

There are some nutritional options that have been helpful. Reducing the number of simple sugars (carbohydrates, table sugar, high fructose syrup, etc.) in the diet helps support the adrenal glands and manage blood sugar that may reduce the symptoms of Fibromyalgia. Restoring normal adrenal function with Magnesium Malate has been studied in treating FM. Malic acid is important in the body’s energy production; the muscle fatigue of FM may be reduced when therapeutic doses of Magnesium and Malic acid are used over a reasonable treatment duration. Balancing hormones naturally using Bioidentical hormones can be very good in treating adrenal stress and its resulting complex of symptoms. I have been helping women for over a decade balance hormones naturally and have much experience in this area.

Help reduce FM inflammation with omega-3 fatty acids.It is important to maintain an appropriate balance of omega-3 and omega-6 (another essential fatty acid) in the diet, as these two substances work together to promote health. Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation, and most omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation. An inappropriate balance of these essential fatty acids contributes to the development of disease while a proper balance helps maintain and even improve health. A healthy diet should consist of roughly 2 – 4 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. The typical American diet tends to contain 14 – 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids, and many researchers believe this imbalance is a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States.Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids. They are essential to human health but cannot be manufactured by the body. For this reason, omega-3 fatty acids must be obtained from food. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fish, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut, other marine life such as algae and krill, certain plants (including purslane), and nut oils. Also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA’s), omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development.

There is a new non-invasive test for Fibromyalgia that may produce relief of symptoms that could last days, minutes or even weeks. Available for the first time in Florida, it will now be offered at The Bolick Clinic. People who respond well to the test are typically good candidates for this new treatment regimen. Even if you think you know all about Fibromyalgia, you will learn something new, as this has never been available in this area. If you have had failed courses of medical treatment, chiropractic or otherwise you definitely want to come and get tested and see if this is right for you.

Benefits of eating those immune building Leafy Greens,

From: Positively Positive

The fastest way to turn your diet around?

To go from not-so-great to almost perfect?

The answer is organic leafy greens.

Those life-supporting, health-inducing, nutrient-packed edibles that should take up most of the space on your plate at every meal—not just at dinnertime. Eat them or drink them, but just get them into your body every day—that’s my leafy green mantra, and I hope you will make it yours. Need a little more encouragement? Here’s the top-line low-down on my favorite health-promoters, the “leafys”:

WHY LEAFYS?

It’s incredibly simple: they improve health—benefitting virtually every cell in your body! What’s so amazing about the leafys is that calorie for calorie, they deliver more nutrients than just about any other food on the planet. Loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, leafy greens give your body the artillery it needs to fight off potential killers like heart disease and cancer.

MEET THE LEAFYS

My favorite leafy greens, from both a nutritional and taste standpoint, are kale, spinach, Swiss chard, and mustard and dandelion greens. You can toss them into virtually anything, as long as you give them a good washing first! Eaten raw or cooked, my favorite leafys (as well as many others in the leafy green family) add just-right doses of vitamin A, C, K, folate, potassium, and calcium to every meal.

CODDLE YOUR LEAFYS

As most leafy greens come straight out of the soil, the majority, if not all your leafys, should be organic. If price is a concern, combine organic with conventionally grown leafys, to reduce costs as well as the toxic load. Once you’ve gotten your leafys home from the market, don’t let them sit around in the crisper too long or they’ll start to lose some of their nutrients. To minimize nutrient loss, when cooking your leafys, be gentle and don’t overcook—do your steaming and sautéing as quickly as possible.

LEAFYS—MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT

One way to boost your leafy green intake is to add a lot of them to your breakfast. Recently, during a stay on the West Coast, I was very pleasantly surprised by a room service veggie omelet that was stuffed with lightly steamed greens, and accompanied by a spinach side salad. It was a good reminder, even to a greens fanatic like me, that salad shouldn’t be limited to just lunch and dinner.

SNEAK THEM IN, OR DRINK THEM IN

OK, so you’re not a huge salad eater? Not nuts for greens? Then, try upping your intake by basically tricking yourself into eating leafys. Start by dropping a few fistfuls into soups and tomato sauce or tucking a pile of greens under fish, chicken, or grass-fed meat. You can also cut to the chase and just drink your greens by blending a few fistfuls into your morning fruit smoothie. Find some recipes here.

Short on time? Traveling without a blender? There are lots of options in liquid forms from many companies. 

BLOWOUT SALE at Botanic Choice. Savings of up to 80% on a HUGE selection of vitamins, minerals, essential oils, special formulas & more.

Go green!

While the Food and Drug Administration has seemingly reached the limit for unbelievable behavior, the company’s decisions continue to astound and appall consumers and health activists alike. In the agency’s latest decision, undoubtedly amazing thousands of individuals yet again, the FDA virtually erased 1 million signatures and comments on the ‘Just Label It’ campaign calling for the labeling of genetically modified foods.

FDA Deletes 1 Million Signatures for GMO Labeling Campaign

The ‘Just Label It” campaign has gotten more signatures than any campaign in history for the labeling of genetically modified foods. Since October of 2011, the campaign has received over 900,000 signatures, with 55 politicians joining in on the movement. So what’s the problem here?

Evidently, the FDA counts the amount of signatures not by how many people signed, but how many different individual letters are brought to it. To the FDA, even tens of thousands of signatures presented on a single petition are counted as – you guessed it – a single comment. This is how, despite over a million supporters being gathered by the petition, the FDA concluded a count of only 394.

“This is an election year and there are more than a million people who say this is important to them. This is petition has nothing to do with whether or genetically modified foods are dangerous. We don’t label dangerous foods, we take them off the shelves. This petition is about a the citizens’ right to know what they are eating and whether or not these foods represent a novel change.” said Andrew Kimbrell an attorney for the Center for Food Safety, one of the partner groups on the Just Label It campaign.

The argument as to whether genetically modified foods are dangerous is a whole discussion on its own, but for the FDA to completely sidestep away from the labeling of GM foods is completely and utterly irresponsible. Consumers have every right to know what they are consuming. Needless to say, biotechology giant Monsanto is against GMO labeling, claiming that it would mislead consumers since GMOs are ‘perfectly safe’. Of course there is plenty of evidence proving that GMOs are not completely safe, and how they affect life in the long-term is questionable to say the least. Either way, there is enough controversy surrounding the issue which is cause for alarm for millions of people, and Monsanto’s opinion on GMOs safety is a sorry excuse for not labeling foods as GM. Is the FDA avoiding such an issue because so many ties exist between genetically modified makers like Monsanto and the agency?

The bottom line is that you have the right to know what is in your food, and what your food IS. Denying that right, whether it be by the essential deletion of millions of signatures on a petition, or by ignoring the voices of thousands of people on the street, is taking power away from the people.