Getting Started

I had nasty food habits. I was a fast food junkie who's favorite drink was Cola. When I got my license, I lived at the drive thrus. I ate fast food at least 4 times a week. I was also a gluton. I was told this since the age of 6. I ate so much and adored food. I ate good things too, but I had a food obsession. My day revolved around when I was eating and what I was going to eat.

In 2004 I found myself with no medical insurance and it suddenly clicked for me. I may not be able to control if I get hit by a car, but I can control my health. I did not even know where to start, but I started somewhere. I began to research and research and research. I read articles, books, magazines, journals, you name it. I found out a lot, which is the reason for this blog. But let me tell you how I started and maybe this may give you some ideas.

The first chore was breaking my addiction to fast food. This took me about 1 year. I was still going after a year, but more like a normal person. I began with just completely not going, but 3 weeks later, I would ferociously tear up fast food for a week. I then decided to go 6 days on (meaning not eating fast food), 1 day off. This worked best for me but everybody is different and it may not work best for you. I am just throwing out ideas and what I went through.

Along with breaking my fast food addiction, I found it pertinent to halt soda consumption. I stopped carrying it in my home which was a big help. I didn't miss it at home because I love other drinks to. At parties and such, I would feel bad for drinking it, but I rationalized to myself that I was going slowly and it was okay. I stopped drinking it at home, but I allowed myself (initially) to drink if it was available at a gathering.

Guys, this took a year of work for me. It was not easy. Do not beat yourselves up ever. Find your pace and go with that.

Next week I will go through the nitty gritty of the next step I took.

~Turmeric

Milks Of All Forms! (It's Dairy Substitution Time!!!)

This is by far my favorite topic when it comes to nutrition. Dairy Substitutes. We are lucky in this day and age that there are so many options. In the 70's, those vegetarians/vegans didn't have too many places to turn. We have it easy!

Ok!

Let's tackle the biggest product first: milk.
There are SOOO many options:
1- Soy Milk
2- Rice Milk
3- Hazelnut Milk
4 -Oat Milk
5- Hemp Milk (yes, you read right)
6 - Almond Milk (my personal favorite)
...and there is an exciting new option from a company that claims they are the only ones producing it
7- Coconut Milk drink!!!!!!

{NOW, rewind to my 2nd blog. I SAID THIS. I said that I created my own coconut milk concoction that works as a great substitute because its thick like milk. I just found out about this product A WEEK ago. (I should've acted on it!)}

Most of the milk options are wonderful AND Healthful too! Soy Milk is the only one that has its issues, but I'll tackle that in the months to come.

Let's go to spreadables. Where does one turn if butter is no longer an option:
1- Jam/Jelly (tried and true)
2- Hummus/Tahini
3- Canola Oil solid spread (hard to find. Only in natural food grocers)
4- Honey (indeed!)

Ok, making fantastic progress here. I hope you are all taking vigorous notes!
Yogurts:
1-Soy yogurt
2- Coconut milk yogurt (from the same company that makes the coconut milk drink)

Sour Cream:
1- Guacamole
2- Soy sour cream

Cheese:
1-Rice milk cheese
2-Soy milk cheese (some brands of Soy cheese actually still contain small amounts of dairy, so be mindful to read ingredients.

I would like to say that dairy from Goats and Sheep are far easier to digest than the dairy from cows. So if you are not ready to eliminate cheese from your diet, try taking baby steps by purchasing Goat Cheese and/or Pecorino, which is sheep's milk cheese. I used to sprinkle grated pecorino on my pastas like parmasian. It honestly tastes better. I dare you to call me on it!

Dairy deserts:
1- Soy ice cream
2- Coconut milk ice cream (you guessed it, from the same company as the above coconut milks)
3- Raw Cacao
- This means in a chocolate bar form
- And it means as a chocolate powder to mix with your choice of nut milks.

If you have questions on specific products that you'd like to substitute for a non-dairy version OR questions on the brand names to the food items I have listed, just write a response, I'll answer all questions within a week...and with much love.

Good Luck

~Turmeric

p.s. This concludes the Month of July series on Substitutions. Next month will be tactics and strategies to adopt a new way of eating (trust me, I did NOT get this way over night)

Answers to the Food Coloring problem

As I wrote on my blog in March, Food coloring is basically in everything....edible and non-edible. I will not write a long list as I have done these past weeks of acceptible substitutes because there are too many.

What I will do is insist we all read labels. Whatever product it is: a loaf of bread, candybar, oatmeal, pasta, jam...whatever; read the labels. Food coloring is snuck into everything.

Companies that keep good practicing standards when it comes to food use food as food coloring. Natural food products with a reddish to purplish hue use extracted colors from beets. A yellow, orange, or brownish hue is usually attributed to annatto, which is a spice.

As you continue on your personal exploration for a better, healthier you, you will find those companies that "naturally" color their food.


I wish you health,
~Turmeric

Answers No. 3

Where to go to avoid Enriched, Bromated and Bleached items.

Get out of regular supermarkets. You can't find what you are looking for there.

1) For breads go to an organic or natural foods grocer. Some great grains include Spelt, Kamut, Oat, Buckwheat and Bulgar Wheat.
2) For pastas, do the same. Plus, there are non-flour options for pasta like Rice pasta, Spinach pasta, and Quinoa pasta.

Get ready to chow down, y'all

~Turmeric

Sugar Answers!

Where does one turn to get a little sugar...

Sugar!

But you don't want the white stuff; that highly processed and bleached concoction is unfriendly to the human body but there are plenty of other options.

- The closest to white sugar in taste and feel is Cane Sugar or Turbinado. This is solidified liquid cane extract. It is natural and has not been bleached.

- Honey is another fantastic option. Not only is it very sweet, but there are health benefits to consuming honey. Personally, I use a raw honey which is solid in room temperature. Buy pesticide-free when possible.

- For a lighter sweet taste, there is Agave. Agave is a liquid syrup from the Blue Agave plants of Mexico (also known for making tequila!). Agave works just like honey and is fantastic as a 'syrup' for flapjacks.

- Lastly, there is Stevia. Stevia comes from an Andean plant that has been used for centuries by the Natives of that region. It is amazingly potent where a small fraction of what you would use of sugar is needed with Stevia. Stevia has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years.

Those are my recommended options for sweeteners. Below are substitutions to the avoidances I listed in February.

1) Instead of diet cola, DRINK WATER BITCHES! I'll tell you another thing, if you have Type II Diabetes and you get your health act together, you can have your disease under control so that you can drink juices again.
2) Instead of sugar-free snacks...DON'T BUY SNACKS WITH SUGAR.
3) There are aspartame-free chewing gum at natural food grocers
4) There are natural toothpaste and mouthwash at natural food grocers.

Later Sweeties!

~Turmeric

ANSWERS!

Now, it would not be becoming of me to bash all this food without delivering to you answers directing us where we can turn to combate the lack of these foods.

This blog will give you answers to the absence of Hydrogenated Oils

I had previously listed some of the following food items that contained Hydrogenated Oils:
1- Margarine
1- Vegetable Oil
2- Breads
3- Peanut Butter
4- Baked goods/frosting
5- Crackers and such

Here are the answers following in numerical order.

1-I don't advocate the use of dairy, but when in need, just use plain old Organic butter. As much as dairy is not good for us, it is far better than margarine. I use a non-dairy canola spread from a great company that does not use GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). It looks like margarine and has the same type of container but is completely "whole". :)

2-Instead of Vegetable Oil, when cooking in high heat, use Coconut Oil. Coconut Oil is full of saturated fat; this is a good thing! Because if it wasn't, during the heating process, the chemical bonds would turn toxic. Plus, the saturated fat in Coconut Oil is Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT) which act more as a carbohydrate (giving you energy) than a fat. Coconuts are also naturally anti-viral and anti-bacterial. I know a couple of people who could stop taking ulcer medication because they began to consume 1 coconut item a day; that action kills off the bacteria in the stomach lining that creates the ulcer to begin with. Coconut products aid with hair growth, nail growth, hair shine, and creates a glowing complexion. There are 2 types of Coconut Oil; Refined and Unrefined. The Unrefined kind smells like and gives off a flavor of Coconut. The Refined is more-or-less flavorless.

Organic Canola Oil is a runner up to cooking under high heat.

If sauteeing in low level heat it may be alright to use Organic Olive Oil. Personally, I use Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil for non-cooking scenarios like to dress salads or keep pasta from sticking.
There are an array of other oils that exist [Grapeseed, Peanut, Avocado, etc.] but none that stands up to high heat like Coconut Oil.

3-If you walk into any Organic or whole foods grocer, you will find PLENTY of breads to choose from. (I have yet to see sliced bread from a conventional grocer without hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient.) My grain of choice is Spelt, but there are a plethora of grains to choose from: Oat, Wheat, Rye, Kamut, Quinoa...

4-I'm sure that at least 99.9% of us do not own a peanut grinder to make our own peanut butter. But dont' fret! There are plenty of options at whole and organic grocers. I don't like to name brands, but there are quite a few. Additionally, at these grocers you can find other nut butters: Hazlenut, cashew, walnut etc. Personally, I go with Almond Butter. It's my fav!

5- Just like the above 2, you can find ready-made cupcakes and cookies and pastries at whole grocers and none of them have hydrogenated oils and taste MUCH BETTER! We can also find cake mixes in these grocers so we can prepare cakes at home with out those devil oils.

6-Crackers too are easy to find at alternative grocers. Addtionally, just like breads, we can find an array of different grain crackers: Rice, Quinoa, Spelt, Rye etc.

Happy Hunting,
~Turmeric

Drink Milk, Get Osteoporosis

Pardon the absence. This subject was the scheduled next subject and it was so important to me, that I became overwhelmed and my reaction was inaction. Well, the buck stops here.

DAIRY OFFERS ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT FOR THE HUMAN BODY!

Yes, its is true. Contrary to popular belief.

I'll walk you through this. Answer these questions for yourself:

1- What are the benefits to drinking milk?
2- What species consume milk until adulthood?
3- What species consume the milk of another species?

NUMBER 1: What did you come up with? Did you come up with Calcium? Anything else?
Well guess what? Calicium in conjuction with Animal Protein actually leeches calcium from the bone. In other words, when you consume Animal meat or dairy, it takes calcium away from your bones.
This is precisely the reason why the worlds biggest consumers of dairy: United States, Sweden, Finland, also have the highest percentage for osteoporosis in their population. CONVERSELY, it has been found that small tribes in some African nations that consume NO DAIRY, osteoporosis is almost NON-EXISTENT. CHEW ON THAT!

(In a later post I will tell you where to turn for Calcium)

NUMBER 2: Were you stumped? Did you come up with just humans? Well my friend, you are right. Human Beings are the only mammals that consume milk past childhood.

NUMBER 3: Do you get where I'm going with this? HUMAN BEINGS ARE THE ONLY SPECIES IN THIS WORLD TO CONSUME THE DAIRY OF ANOTHER SPECIES!!!! THIS SHOULD ALARM YOU!!!!

Additionally, Dairy contains 3 things that are harmful to us: Lactose, Casein, and Whey.

When we are born, most of us have a good amount of Lactase, the enzyme that breaks down the sugar Lactose. It is said that by age 5, most of us lose around 95% of this enzyme...makes sense because Nature wasn't planning on having us be breastfed past age 5!
So then what happens, well, you have a world population where 50% of humans are lactose intolerant. Your body is telling you that the dairy is poisonous, it is rejecting it. Listen to your body! It knows better than you!
So instead of suggesting an absence of milk in your diet, they create pills so that you can more easily ingest this poison AND add a pill with chemicals to your system. How Perfect!

The Dairy Industry wouldn't want to have it any other way.




p.s. This concludes the series that started in February on food avoidances. Look out in July for the healthful substitions of these avoidances.