“Nutrition labels often leave us feeling less informed about the product.”  Kathy Thames

How well do you understand the ingredients list of the food you eat?

For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  (Prov. 2:6: NIV)

Nutrition and ingredients labels on food can often bring more confusion than clarity.  When eating a diet of whole foods such as fresh vegetables and fruits, fresh, lean unprocessed meats and fish, ingredient labels are of little concern.  On the other hand, food labels containing nutritional information and ingredient listings are found with varying degrees of disclosure on processed foods.  Even the most dedicated healthy eater has difficulty avoiding all processed foods.  So, learning how to interpret some of this labeling is necessary for optimal health.

The ingredient list on food labels is actually the most important bit of information on the label.  What is actually in that box, bottle, jar, package, or container?  The ingredient list is often hidden under a flap of packaging material in very tiny print, just barely visible to the naked eye.  I’ve searched and searched for this information when looking at some food labels.

Once you find the ingredient list, the first clue is the size of the list.  If it’s only two inches wide and two inches long, that’s a good sign that this food is quite processed.  If it reads like a chemistry book and you can’t pronounce over half of the ingredients, that’s also a clue to keep on searching for something better.  Can you recognize what this food was in the original state?  Do you see anything familiar on the label that looks like real food?

Ingredients are listed from the most to the least, according to weight and/or quantity.  So, the largest quantity or the heaviest ingredients will be listed first with the smaller quantities listed last.  In the case of sugar, it may not be the first ingredient listed, however if you add up the various forms of sugar such as dextrose, sucrose, and high fructose corn syrup, it may well be the predominant ingredient.  Avoid anything with the words “hydrogenated” in it.  That would mean the food contains hydrogenated fats or trans fats which are extremely deleterious to our health.  Enriched usually refers to flour that has been “altered” or refined by removing the bran and the germ portion of the whole wheat, which are rich in vitamins and minerals.  To compensate for the removal of approximately two dozen nutrients, 4 synthetic nutrients are added.  You’re no doubt familiar with these terms: niacin (vitamin B3), reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (synthetic vitamin B1), and riboflavin (vitamin B2). Also beware of the “ites”, “ates”, and “ides.”  Words ending in these three letters such as nitrates, sulfites and diglycerides are usually unhealthy preservatives and food additives to avoid.

Become a label literate consumer!

Prayer Power
Father, we are so thankful for the wisdom You so richly supply to us.  May we never take it for granted.

Link of the Day
Trailer for Food Matters The Film

Blessings on you as you become a label reader.
 

“Energy, like the biblical grain of the mustard-seed, will remove mountains.”  Hosea Ballou

When did you last choose a different dressing for your salad?  How was it?

It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.  (Mark 4:31; NIV)

I’ll stay with various salad dressing recipes for the month of September.  Honey mustard dressing is another one of those rather new concoctions similar to raspberry vinaigrette.  We’re not sure when they started to arrive on the salad dressing scene but they have quickly become front-runners.  I’m finding that people use honey mustard dressing as a dipping sauce as well as a salad dressing.

I’m also learning that there are multitudes of recipes out there.  Since the bottled, prepared dressings contain artificial ingredients, preservatives, and various objectionable sweeteners, why not make one in your own kitchen?  Making this honey mustard dressing is very simple and takes only minutes to create.

Begin exploring various greens when making a salad.  Hopefully, you’re not using iceberg lettuce.  It has virtually NO nutrient value at all.  Sorry if that’s news to anyone.  The darker greens such as romaine lettuce, various field greens, and spinach all contain high amounts of life-giving nutrients.  For busy schedules there is now pre-washed organic field greens (or spring mix) available.  Our local Sam’s Club carries large containers of organic spring mix and organic spinach for a very reasonable price.  That ensures that we have a salad at least once a day since washing and spinning of the lettuce isn’t needed.  I also put organic spinach in our smoothies.  And no, you can’t taste the spinach.

Having several recipes on hand for great tasting dressings will give new flavor and taste to your salads.  May I challenge you to have at least one more salad in this next week?

Prayer Power
Father, our readers are so special and wonderful!  Thank you for blessing them with healthy bodies, clear minds, and strong spirits.

Link of the Day
Honey Mustard Dressing

Blessings on you as you enjoy trying a new dressing recipe.
 

“Salt is one of the most misunderstood nutrients.”  Dr. David Brownstein

What one thing can you do, starting today to eat less processed food?

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Col. 4:6; NIV)

I just came home from a quick trip to the nearest supermarket…and I didn’t buy anything!  Actually I was looking at food labels for the sodium content of some packaged foods. Since Jerry and I eat a diet of mostly whole foods, I’m less aware of how much sodium really is in prepared foods.  I stopped using regular table salt many years ago and always use unrefined sea salt instead.

Natural News states that “standard table salt is highly refined, chemically cleansed, and unfriendly to the human body. Unrefined sea salt, on the other hand, is a naturally occurring complex of sodium chloride, which includes major minerals such as calcium and magnesium and a complete complement of essential trace minerals.  This is the form of salt the body is designed to utilize — having been the salt of choice since humans first walked the earth. Refined table salt, on the other hand, is a modern invention, artificially designed to look white and pour easily. The human body doesn’t like it.”  I couldn’t have said it better.

A common table salt ingredients label lists, salt, calcium silicate (anti-caking agent), dextrose, and potassium iodide.  Another brand listed salt, sodium silocoaluminate, dextrose, potassium iodide, and sodium bicarbonate.  Ummmmm good!  NOT!  Why is sugar in salt, you ask?  Good question.  Perhaps food manufacturers are “playing” with our taste buds?

The average milligrams of sodium per day per individual should be between 1000 and 2500.  A low sodium diet is supposed to be 2300 milligrams or less of sodium per day.  Various sources say that Americans are eating anywhere from 3500 to 6000 milligrams of sodium per day!  On my little jaunt to the grocery store, I jotted down some sodium content of packaged foods.  One half cup of prepared Hamburger Helper contains 770 milligrams.  One half cup of prepared macaroni and cheese contains 550 milligrams.  Campbell’s Chicken N Noodle soup contains 820 milligrams of sodium per one half cup.  Vegetable beef was 890 for one half cup.  One half cup of that soup is over one third of the day’s suggested amount of sodium!  A frozen Hungry Man Dinner contained 1300 milligrams.   Eat two of those and you’re over the suggested limit of sodium for a day.  Processed and canned soups, ready-made gravies and sauces, snack foods such as chips, and smoked and salted meats are some of the highest sodium content foods.  How good are you at avoiding those?

Prayer Power
Father, we are so blessed by Your goodness to us.  We thank You for Your hand of protection and guidance on us each and every day.

Link of the Day
Too Much Salt May Worsen Asthma

Blessings on you as you make a shift toward eating more whole foods.
 

“Vibrant and colorful raspberry vinaigrette is a great choice to serve on a nutty or fruity salad.”  Jolinda Hackett

What is your opinion of a raspberry vinaigrette dressing on your salad?

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. (Gen 1:11; NIV)

I’m not sure when I first started hearing about raspberry vinaigrette for a salad dressing.  I’ve always loved this luscious little berry. I like everything about it–the brilliant, reddish-pink color, the sweet, almost perfume-like taste, and yes, even those tiny, little seeds.  So, making a dressing using raspberries and putting it on my salad seemed like a wonderful idea.  Several years ago I began seeing bottled raspberry vinaigrette in supermarkets.  If you’ve read many of my musings you can imagine that I wasn’t too pleased with the ingredients in the bottled dressings.  Sugar, sugar, and more sugar along with distilled vinegars and artificial colorings and flavorings.

I began looking for raspberry vinaigrette recipes.  Another disappointment.    Containing various forms of sugar and other artificial ingredients was not what I was hoping to find.   The sophisticated recipes used raspberry vinegar.  I actually thought about making some raspberry vinegar.  However, before I did that, I read many recipes and then began concocting ingredients in the kitchen using other vinegars to see what I could come up with.  Today’s recipe is a variation of some of those early attempts.  I use organic balsamic vinegar and organic brown rice vinegar.  Both of these are readily available now in health food sections of supermarkets.  Non-organic balsamic vinegars can contain sulfites and artificial colorings and flavorings.

All summer long the Sam’s Club near our home has offered beautiful, plump, organic red raspberries in a “bigger than normal” size container for a very reasonable price.  I bring some home with me every time I go!  Some times they actually make it into a dressing or a smoothie.  Most of the time they make it into my mouth as a sweet treat.  Jerry’s not fond of “the seeds,” so I get to indulge myself with one of my most favorite fruits.

Frozen raspberries work just as well as fresh in this recipe.  A key to making this rich and creamy dressing is to drizzle (pour slowly) the olive oil into the blender while the blender is running.  This will incorporate the oil and thicken the dressing.  The dressing can be strained to remove the seeds should you desire. 

Have a “berry” happy day!

Prayer Power
Father, we thank You for all of the wonderful flavors and tastes in the food that You have so abundantly blessed us with.

Link of the Day
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Blessings on you as you enjoy some raspberries.
 

“Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error”  Andrew Jackson

How aware are you of the amount of salt in your diet?

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other. (Mark 9:50; NIV)

For many, salt is looked upon as the consummate “white demon” bringing destruction to all who dare consume it.  Many have asked me about “salt.”  Is it good, is it bad, how much is too much?  As most of you know, I don’t flow in the stream of conventional medicine.  In the past several years both of my aging parents (who live over 400 miles from us) have struggled with various health issues.  They were told to eat a low-salt diet.  I made several calls to the doctor’s office to find out exactly what that meant.  No one could give me an adequate answer.   I was asking how many milligrams of sodium per day were they supposed to have.  After several days someone finally did get back to me with an answer. 

Since Jerry and I eat a diet of whole foods and very little processed foods, I’ve never had to concern myself with the amount of sodium in our diets.  The excess of sodium in people’s diets are from the processed, packaged foods.  If we’re eating a diet of mostly God-foods or superfoods, added sodium is a non-issue.

The body needs sodium to function.  It’s the main component of the body’s extra-cellular fluids, and it helps carry nutrients into the cells. Sodium also helps regulate other body functions, such as blood pressure and fluid volume, and works on the lining of blood vessels to keep the pressure balance normal.  But not all sources of sodium and salt are the same.

According to Natural News, “As far as the body is concerned, there is no connection between the chemically-cleansed sodium chloride table salt you buy in the supermarket, (which is added to virtually every processed food you buy), and the mineral rich organic sea salt available in health food stores. “One can kill you; the other heals you. In fact, it’s essential for life.”

Stay tuned for more on this misunderstood substance.

Prayer Power
Father, we thank You for the nutrients and substances that You have provided for us in nature.  May we honor you with our choices daily.

Link of the Day
Table Salt vs. Himalayan Salt

Blessings on you as you become aware of how much salt is in your diet.
 

“Every sweet has its sour; every evil its good.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

How are you doing with eating more vegetables this summer?

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.  (Prov. 10:26; NIV)

A few readers have asked for various sauce recipes to use with vegetables, chicken, or beef.  Last week’s BBQ sauce is an easy to make, healthy recipe to use with chicken, beef, or beans.  I created a sweet and sour sauce for today’s recipe.  This is a versatile sauce that can be used with stir-fry vegetables, chicken, or beef. 

According to Wikipedia, “sweet and sour is a generic term that encompasses many styles of sauce, cuisine, and cooking methods. It has long been popular in North America and Europe, where it is stereotypically considered a component of standard Chinese cuisine. It does in fact originate from China, and is now also used in some American and European cuisines.  In China traditionally the sauces are made from mixing sugar or honey with a sour liquid such as rice vinegar, soy sauce, and spices such as ginger and cloves.”

When I looked at ingredient labels for “store-bought” sweet and sour sauces, I was quite disappointed.  None of them had any real food value.  They consist mostly of some form of sugar, dextrose or high fructose corn syrup, modified food starch, distilled vinegar, some spices and lots of preservatives such as sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.   Jerry asked me why the sauces were red (mine isn’t.)  It looks like some pre-made sauces use some form of ketchup or a tomato base that makes it red.  I also saw artificial food dyes in some.

Most of the time when I make a sweet and sour dish, I add the sauce ingredients directly into the wok and allow it to thicken as it cooks.  However, with today’s recipe, this sauce can be made in a saucepan ahead of time and then added to the already prepared and cooked vegetables and meat.  Yesterday, I stir fried cut-up pieces of chicken breast (in coconut oil), then added pieces of onion, minced garlic, carrot, green and red pepper, zucchini, and yellow squash.  Next I added drained pineapple chunks.  Lastly I poured the already made sauce into the wok and allowed the mixture to heat until warm and bubbly.  And hooray!  We have leftovers for today!

Prayer Power
Father, You are such a wonderful and awesome God!  Thank You for Your mighty hand of abundance.

Link of the Day
Sweet and Sour Sauce

Blessings on you as you enjoy eating more vegetables.
 

“Americans have the highest per capita daily consumption [of food] in the world, eating 3,770 calories a day.”  Reuters July 29, 2008

How are you doing at controlling your portion sizes?

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.  (Prov. 23:21 NKJ)

I know we’ve looked at “Portion Distortion” in a former Daily Gram (5/15/08).  However, since there is so much that can be said about this topic, let’s revisit it once again.  Rather than looking at portion sizes from a health perspective, a recent Reuters article was scrutinizing American portion size in light of the world food shortage and the ability to sustain the world’s food supply.  As I quoted in the above, Americans have the highest per capita daily consumption [of food] in the world, eating 3,770 calories a day. 

Although that article approaches this subject from a different perspective, I still believe that eating less food could greatly impact the health of the people of this nation.  Several years ago a documentary film was produced called “Super-Size Me.”  If you haven’t seen this film, by all means rent or buy it!  Trust me when I say that it will impact your next trip to “fast-food Mecca.”   A young, fit, athletic male did an experiment of eating fast food, three times a day for thirty days.  He developed so many health problems that the doctors monitoring him urged him to stop the experiment before the thirty days were over.  Watching this young man’s health deteriorate on the screen was frightening, to say the least.

So, rather than playing the “Super-Size Me” game, let’s look at how to “mini-size!”  Eating out is one of the predominant ways that people overeat due to the portion sizes being served.  So, an obvious solution is to eat more meals at home.  You can control the portion size (and the ingredients in the food) when you prepare meals at home.  In a society that is moving faster than a speeding bullet, making meals at home seems contrary to everyone’s lifestyle.  However, if we are to become a nation of health instead of dis-ease, it’s not an option.

Begin to picture your portion sizes.  I recently read a short piece in a fitness magazine (that we picked up from our gym) that gave some good parameters for healthy portion sizes.  You’ve probably heard that a healthy portion size for meat is 3 ounces or about the size of a deck of cards.  Fish is also about 3 ounces and the article compared it with the size of a checkbook.  One ounce of cheese looks like 4 dice.  A medium potato looks like your computer mouse and 1 cup of raw fruit looks like a baseball.   How do you “measure up” with your portion sizes?

Prayer Power
Father, we thank You that You have given us the ability to have self-control.  We ask for Your grace as we walk in what You reveal to us.

Link of the Day
U.S. Food Portions: Monuments to Decadence?

Blessings on you as you “contemplate” how much food you’re eating.
 

“Grilling, broiling, barbecuing - whatever you want to call it - is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach.”  James Beard

How aware are you of what is in your barbeque sauce?

Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. (Prov 24:13; NIV)

Building on our “Odds and Ends” theme for this month, today’s recipe is considered by many to be one of the all-time “comfort foods.”  Barbeque sauces are almost a form of “religion” in some parts of the country.  Some like them sweet, thick, and deep, dark brown.  Others swear that the sauce must be thin, hot, and red. 

Wikipedia says, “Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated BBQ sauce) is a liquid flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to quite thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking. Traditionally it has been a favored sauce for pork or beef ribs and chicken.”

Depending on what part of the country you hail from, your BBQ sauce could be a thin vinegar and tomato based sauce, spiced with pepper and slightly sweetened by molasses or a tomato-based sauce with hot chilies, cumin, and less sweet.  As I was growing up and learning to cook, we made barbeque sauce using ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and minimal spices.  Having lived in various parts of the eastern United States as an adult, I’ve learned that there is more to BBQ sauce than just using ketchup as a base.

Most commercially made BBQ sauces contain high fructose corn syrup, various preservatives and MSG, none of which your body likes or appreciates.  Making homemade barbeque sauce is very simple.  It can be made in large quantities and frozen for later use, which is what I do.  I pour the sauce on chicken breasts and bake them in the oven.  I also brown ground beef, buffalo, or turkey with onions and then pour the sauce over top and allow this to simmer for about twenty minutes for Sloppy Joes.

If you’re not able to make your own BBQ sauce, then one brand that I’ve found acceptable is Annie’s.  It uses many organic ingredients and it doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup or MSG.  Annie’s also makes an organic Worcestershire sauce also without MSG and caramel coloring which is found in commercial brands.

Prayer Power
Father, may we seek You for the decisions and choices we need to make each day.

Link of the Day
Barbeque Sauce

Blessings on you as you experiment with making some homemade barbeque sauce.
 

“All the doctors of the future will give no medicine, but will interest their patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the causes and prevention of diseases.”  Thomas Edison

What steps are you employing to take more responsibility for your own health?

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; (Hosea 4:6a; NKJ)

Even though today’s Pearl of Wisdom might be an obvious exaggeration, Thomas Edison’s statement underscores the importance of preventative medicine and learning how we can take more responsibility for our own health.  Our bodies are our own responsibility.  It’s not our doctor, our spouse, our mother, our employer, or our government who is responsible for taking care of our health.  It is our own personal responsibility.  “The buck stops here,” with us.

Today’s link comes from Natural News.  It’s an article written by Mike Adams about the recent death of Bernie Mac.  Now, I know his article will bring controversy.  Many, many people believe wholeheartedly in conventional medicine and in drug therapy.  I can honestly say that I’ve been on both sides of that argument having worked as a nurse in traditional medicine for the first half of my adult life, with the remaining twenty-five or so years  being spent on the more natural side of health and healing, and avoiding drug therapy and conventional medicine.

Whatever you think of Mike Adams, Bernie Mac, or conventional medicine, the article raises some thought provoking points.  As you’ve heard me say countless times, there are many things that we can personally do to care for our own bodies.  Simple, easy to do things, such as drinking at least 2 quarts of purified water everyday (more if you are overweight),  spending at least 40 to 60 minutes, five days a week in some form of exercise, eating more God-foods (or superfoods), and taking proper supplementation are great ways to begin.  Put things into your body that promote life and health.  Get rid of the things that are robbing you of your health, such as artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, and highly processed carbohydrate foods.  What one thing can you do starting today to make a change to better your health?

Prayer Power
Father, forgive us for being complacent when caring for our physical bodies.  Thank You for Your grace as we educate ourselves on how to properly care for our “temples.”

Link of the Day
Bernie Mac Another Casualty of Conventional Medicine?

Blessings on you as you continue to educate yourself about how you can take more responsibility for your own health and well-being.
 

“The delicately flavored cashew nut is a favorite between meal snack that can be readily found in your local market year round.”  WHF

When was the last time you made a different sauce to add to your steamed veggies?

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  (Matt. 13:31; NIV)

Today’s recipe adds to our “Odds and Ends” category that we started last week.  This sauce is a nice addition to steamed vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts.  It’s also nice on fish or chicken.  The base of the sauce is cashews. 

Now, I’m not talking about the kind found in a can that have been roasted in oil with lots of salt added!  Hopefully you’ve all seen cashews that haven’t been roasted or salted.  According to World’s Healthiest Foods, “cashew nuts are actually the kidney-shaped seeds that adhere to the bottom of the cashew apple, the fruit of the cashew tree, which is native to the coastal areas of northeastern Brazil.”

You’ve probably noticed that cashews in the shell are not available in stores. This is because cashews are always sold shelled since the interior of their shells contains a resin, known as cashew balm, which must be carefully removed before they are fit for eating.  Cashews have a lower fat content than most other nuts and they are a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc.

The recipe also calls for arrowroot.  Perhaps that’s a new ingredient for some.  It’s used as a thickening agent in sauces, puddings, and pie fillings instead of cornstarch which is actually quite processed.  Arrowroot is a white powder with the look and feel similar to cornstarch, extracted from the root of a West Indian plant, Marantha arundinacea.  It’s essentially flavorless and can be used as a substitute for cornstarch in equal amounts.

The other ingredient that makes this sauce distinctive is Dijon mustard.  I’m not an expert on mustard but apparently a man named Jean Naigeon created his version of mustard in Dijon, France in 1856, using a sour liquid made from unripe grapes instead of the traditional vinegar.  Westbrae is the brand of Dijon mustard that I use.  It contains some organically grown ingredients and has no preservatives.  So, enjoy this simple and easy to make sauce on some veggies this evening.

Prayer Power
Father, we bless You.  You are so good to us and we are so thankful for the many, many ways that you bless us each and every day.

Link of the Day
Cashew Mustard Sauce

Blessings on you as you think about new ways to add flavor to your vegetables.