Posts filed under ‘Nutrition’
Long-term Supplement Use Could Be Bad
Merry Holidays – you can give up buying multi-vitamins and put that extra money toward Christmas gifts. Okay, I know a lot of you are going to cry foul, so let me just give you the facts as reported: A recent news article cited a new study: “…women who took multivitamins were 6 percent more likely to die than others.” You can read the rest of the article at this link: http://www.denverpost.com/fitness/ci_19167099.
That said, calcium was the one supplement in the study that appeared to be beneficial. They don’t specify every supplement they were tracking in the study, but I’m guessing they did not study the use of supplements designed to help chronic conditions such as joint issues. My experience has been that if you have a specific condition, supplements can be very helpful to get you through it until your diet and body can handle itself again.
All this is to say that everything should be applied in moderation and with solid reasoning. “We think the paradigm ‘the more the better’ is wrong,” wrote Dr. Goran Bjelakovic and Dr. Christian Gluud, two European physicians. Too few vitamins may result in vitamin deficiency, they wrote, but too many may “increase the risk of toxic effects and disease.”
Know why you are taking supplements and, as with everything, it’s good to take some time off. I usually take summers off when the sun is shining and a wide variety of fresh food is plentiful and picked at the peak of its nutritional value.
Reintegrating After the Cleanse
Try a new variety of winter squash this season.
Three days after the end of my cleanse, I have slowly integrated some of the food items I gave up for two weeks. I started with cow’s dairy and measured my body’s response to it. As I suspected, no change in energy levels or digestion. Then, just a teeny amount of sugar in the form of one Hershey’s Kiss on Monday and another on Tuesday, plus about 1/4 oz of chocolate chips after dinner both days. Last night was wine, which was nice to reincorporate. This morning it was my black tea, which tasted great.
I also just found out that it’s Celiac Awareness Month from Rudi’s Breads. They make a few gluten-free breads and are celebrating this month with the “31 days of Glorious Gluten-free Giveaways” on their Facebook page. There are Celiac awareness games as well as free loaves of bread, t-shirts and even GF toasters! Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/rudisglutenfreebakery. Their breads are lighter than most whole-grain breads that have wheat as a base, but tasty!
I’m not planning to go back to eating any wheat products until the end of the month, and probably sparingly at that point, but we’ll see. In addition to Rudi’s, both Udi’s and the Canyon Bakehouse make pretty good GF breads, so removing gluten from my diet turned out to be much easier than I thought, even though I’ve done it before.
I will also stay away from most sugary snacks and processed foods for a good long time, maybe until Thanksgiving. The afternoon sugar crash that occurs is just not worth it and I’d rather have really high-quality desserts, like fondue at a restaurant in Vancouver for which we bought a Groupon, rather than donuts and grocery-store cookies every day.
The best part is the season. I have been making soups for the past week out of yams, winter squash, potatoes, garlic, onion, leeks and all of the fall and winter produce. I’ve also been eating a salad almost every day, which is so satisfying and a nice foil for the warmth of the soups.
Fresh Eggs are Divine
Today is our day to get fresh eggs. They come from happy chickens who live east of the Springs and they are completely organic. They are fed some organic feed, which is good because a lot of feed is made from soy and that means GMOs if it’s not organic. The chickens get to be out in the sunshine, scratching in their yard. It’s a much happier arrangement than being crammed into a box with other chickens and barely enough room to move, let alone scratch (except each other).
The first delivery of eggs were the peewees from the hens who are just starting to lay. That happened in time for Easter and I know a bunch of happy families who dyed these tinier versions for their celebrations this year.
These fresh eggs also taste and look better. Store-bought eggs tend to have rather watery looking yolks that flow across the white when you crack it to make an over-easy, like they are tired. The eggs from my friend, however, have yolks that are bright orange (wakes you up) and stand up firmly in their belief that they are the best darn eggs in the world. I’ve been making egg salad every week for a month now and it’s just delicious, not to mention the Sunday morning omelette. Mmmmm.
If you haven’t tried fresh eggs, you should. It’s well worth it and the easiest animal protein to digest. Several studies have now shown that cholesterol from eating eggs does not significantly contribute to serum cholesterol and plaque build-up in arteries, yet does offer tons of nutrients, protein and healthy fats so necessary for brain and muscle function.
The simple egg, as you crack it, the moon turns into the sun, and it’s obvious I’m getting tired as I wax poetic. Off to the next food adventure!
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